Welcome
The newsletter's aim is to keep you up to date with what's happened recently in the world of the Linux distribution 'Frugalware'.
Features of this issue include:
- Frugalware 0.9 pre2 released
- Wine is 1(.0) Happy birthday! :)
- Tips and tricks - Which packages are installed?
Events
Here's a selection of events which have occurred since the previous newsletter:
-
Frugalware 0.9 pre2 released
On 8 July 2008, VMiklos announced the release of Frugalware 0.9pre2 (Solaria). This pre-release has some exciting changes and new packages - including Firefox 3.0 and enhancements to FUN (Frugalware Update Notifier). For full details, read VMiklos' announcement. If you can spare the time and bandwidth required, please test this pre-release. As has been mentioned before, the more bugs found now, the fewer there will be in the final release.
-
Wine is 1(.0) Happy birthday! :)
On 17 June 2008, the Wine project recently celebrated its 1.0 release. For those that don't already know, Wine provides a compatibility layer for Windows applications, allowing some to run successfully on Linux. This release is a major milestone for the project since it's been in development for 15 years! Since then, versions 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 have been released. Version 1.0 is in the Frugalware current repository.
-
The "artist" formerly known as jedifox
jedifox recently changed his nickname to "gholafox". Under his new nickname, his work on packaging continues. Although he's not (yet) a Frugalware developer, he's contributed a number of Frugalbuilds. Some of his most recent work has been on packaging games, meaning we can all spend even more time playing games. If you "see" gholafox on IRC, say "hola".
-
Bugs table now has links for all categories
In this issue I have updated the Bugs table so that each number is a link to the full details of each category of bugs or requested features.
-
Errata
It seems impossible but there's a bug in editions of the newsletter earlier than 27. In the Bugs section was a link that was supposed to list all bugs which had been closed since the previous newsletter. In fact this was a list of both bugs and feature requests. Since this section has been reformatted entirely, this bug no longer exists.
Tips and tricks
Disclaimer - Be aware that the hints & tips provided here have NOT been tested and so come with no warranty.-
Which packages are installed? - submitted by 'phayz'
Over time packages are installed, upgraded and deleted. Remembering all the packages you have installed at a point in time is impossible. If you're doing a fresh installation of Frugalware, how do you know just what needs to be reinstalled? The answer is to regularly run "pacman-g2 -Qi" and save the output: on a USB key, in an email message etc. You can then refer to this list if you need to reinstall the very same packages.
This section relies on your contributions! If have some tips and tricks that you would like to be shown in the newsletter, please post them on the forums.
Focus On Package(s)
AsciiDoc
"AsciiDoc is a text document format for writing short documents, articles, books and UNIX man pages. AsciiDoc files can be translated to HTML and DocBook markups using the asciidoc(1) command." This may not seem very exciting but ASCIIDOC is a great application. It greatly simplifies the task of writing documentation intended for publishing in many forms. From the DocBook-formatted output "can be post-processed to presentation formats such as HTML, PDF, DVI, LaTeX, roff, and Postscript using readily available Open Source tools.". All this starts from a text file which has been marked up in ASCIIDOC-specific markup language. Frugalware's documentation is maintained in ASCIIDOC format because of all the benefits it brings.
Bug fixes
The following table gives you a overview of activity on bugs and feature requests as at 19 July 2008. In each cell of the table is a link to a detailed list of the relevant bugs or feature requests.
| Activity | Bugs | Feature Requests |
|---|---|---|
| Open | 162 | 207 |
| Opened since the last newsletter | 16 | 7 |
| Closed since the previous newsletter | 14 | 10 |
Security announcements
Remember - According to the normal support arrangements for Frugalware, the release of 0.8 ("Kalgan") means that support for the previous release has ended. This means that no further security or bug fixes will be released for Frugalware 0.7 ("Sayshell").
Here is a list of security issues which have been discovered and fixed in the 0.8 release since the previous newsletter.
| FSA | Package | FSA Description | Upgrade To |
|---|---|---|---|
| FSA489 | kernel | A vulnerability has been reported in the Linux Kernel, which potentially can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service) | kernel-2.6.24-4kalgan4 |
| FSA488 | wireshark | Some vulnerabilities have been reported in Wireshark, which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose potentially sensitive information or cause a DoS (Denial of Service) | wireshark-1.0.1-1kalgan1 |
| FSA487 | phpmyadmin | Some vulnerabilities have been reported in phpMyAdmin, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct cross-site scripting attacks | phpmyadmin-2.11.7-1kalgan1 |
| FSA486 | opera | Some vulnerabilities have been reported in Opera, which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose potentially sensitive information or to conduct spoofing attacks | opera-9.50-1kalgan1 |
About the newsletter
Author
The Frugalware newsletter is written and edited by Russell Dickenson (AKA phayz). Credit for the Frugalware distribution goes to the development team.
Translations
The newsletter is currently translated into French and Danish. The French translation is provided by the French Frugalware community. The Danish translation is provided by the Danish Frugalware community. Thanks to all those involved in providing and hosting these translations.
Release
To allow time for review and corrections, each newsletter is written ahead of its release date. Therefore it may not mention events which occured in the few days before its release - e.g. security fixes. To be sure that you've got the very latest information on these topics, go to the appropriate page of the Frugalware web site.
Feedback
If you have feedback about the Frugalware newsletter - whether good or bad - please provide it via the forums. Your feedback is valuable because we want the newsletter to meet the needs of Frugalware's users.