Fedora Weekly News #144
Oisin Feeley
oisinfeeley at imapmail.org
Mon Sep 22 19:19:02 UTC 2008
= Fedora Weekly News Issue 144 =
Welcome to Fedora Weekly News Issue 144 for the week ending September
20, 2008.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue144
In this action packed issue Announcements reminds you of important
Fedora 10 freeze dates and the latest on the post security scare
clean-up. PlanetFedora muses on some "Legal" issues. Our new Marketing
beat-writer Svetoslav Chukov unveils the "Beauty found in Fedora".
Developments reveals "Fedora not Free Enough for GNU". News of imminent
deadlines in Translations is brought to you by another new writer Runa
Bhattacharjee. Infrastructure alerts you to "More Puppet Training!".
Artwork offers "Freedom for a Game" and SecurityAdvisories brings you
the weeks latest in one handy spot. Virtualization shares information on
"Migration Support in Virt-manager GUI".
Contents:
o 1.1 Announcements
+ 1.1.1 Fedora 10 feature owners--rescue your unfinished
feature pages!
+ 1.1.2 Updates to Fedora Packaging Guidelines
+ 1.1.3 Fedora 10 and translations: String freeze and
repackaging
+ 1.1.4 Fedora intrustion update
o 1.2 Planet Fedora
+ 1.2.1 Tech Tidbits
+ 1.2.2 Legal
+ 1.2.3 Events & Ambassadors
o 1.3 Marketing
+ 1.3.1 Video History of Fedora
+ 1.3.2 FUDCon Brno 2008
+ 1.3.3 The Beauty Found in Fedora.
+ 1.3.4 Plug and Run Fedora on a TOSHIBA A300D laptop
+ 1.3.5 First look at Fedora
o 1.4 Developments
+ 1.4.1 Removal of non-X Consoles (continued)
+ 1.4.2 OpenVPN and resolv.conf
+ 1.4.3 Fedora 10 Feature Owner Request
+ 1.4.4 system-autodeath Becomes Reality
+ 1.4.5 Fedora Not "Free" Enough for GNU?
o 1.5 Translation
+ 1.5.1 2008-10-14 Declared Fedora 10 Package
Translation Deadline
+ 1.5.2 Renewed Call for Volunteers for the L10n
Infrastructure
o 1.6 Infrastructure
+ 1.6.1 Planning a future L10N infrastructure (including
Fedora)
+ 1.6.2 Puppet training
+ 1.6.3 Fedora 10 Beta Release Planning Meeting
+ 1.6.4 Infrastructure update notice
+ 1.6.5 app2 disk space
o 1.7 Artwork
+ 1.7.1 Near to the Echo
+ 1.7.2 Freedom for a Game
+ 1.7.3 Infrastructure Change for Fedora Art
o 1.8 Security Advisories
+ 1.8.1 Fedora 9 Security Advisories
+ 1.8.2 Fedora 8 Security Advisories
o 1.9 Virtualization
+ 1.9.1 Enterprise Management Tools List
# 1.9.1.1 Virt-manager and Virtinst Closely
Related
# 1.9.1.2 Migration Support in Virt-manager GUI
+ 1.9.2 Fedora Xen List
# 1.9.2.1 DomU Network Interface Problem Leads to
Discussion of HVM Requirements
+ 1.9.3 Libvirt List
# 1.9.3.1 Minimal Client-only Libvirt Build
# 1.9.3.2 Access to CPU Flags
# 1.9.3.3 OpenVZ Support
+ 1.9.4 oVirt Devel List
== Announcements ==
In this section, we cover announcements from the Fedora Project.
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-announce/
Contributing Writer: Max Spevack
Fedora 10 feature owners--rescue your unfinished feature pages!
John Poelstra reminded[0] everyone that the feature freeze for Fedora 10
is coming soon, and that feature owners need to get their pages updated
to ensure that the features that belong in F10 get in, and that the
features that need to be deferred to F11 are deferred. "Please complete
this as soon as possible so that we can prepare an accurate beta release
announcement. FESCo will also be reviewing the complete feature list at
its next meeting on Wednesday, September 17, 2008, and determining which
incomplete features should remain."
[0]
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-announce/2008-September/msg00011.html
Updates to Fedora Packaging Guidelines
Tom Callaway announced[1] the most recent set of revisions to the
Packaging Guidelines, including including Haskell, Lisp, and several
other areas. For the full announcement, read the link below.
[1]
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-announce/2008-September/msg00012.html
Fedora 10 and translations: String freeze and repackaging
Dimitris Glezos reminded[2] us "that shipped packages for which Fedora
is upstream for are string frozen since the Beta freeze of September 11:
no translatable strings can be added or modified for Fedora 10."
[2]
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-announce/2008-September/msg00013.html
Fedora intrustion update
Paul Frields issued[3] his latest updated regarding the Fedora security
breach that has been news during the past few weeks. "Work on the Fedora
infrastructure has returned to normal at this point. Updates are once
again available for Fedora 8 and Fedora 9, our current releases, using
the new package signing key we've implemented."
For the full announcement, follow the link.
[3]
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2008-September/msg00009.html
== Planet Fedora ==
In this section, we cover the highlights of Planet Fedora - an
aggregation of blogs from Fedora contributors worldwide.
http://planet.fedoraproject.org
Contributing Writer: Max Spevack
=== Tech Tidbits ===
Warren Togami announced[1] the creation of a new list for
NSPluginWrapper. "NSPluginwrapper Development discussion with the goal
of isolating issues and collaboratively working on solutions should go
on this list. There was some interest from other Linux distributions and
even Adobe to cooperate on the future of nspluginwrapper
development[2]."
[1] http://wtogami.livejournal.com/28380.html
[2] https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/nspluginwrapper-devel-list
Jesus Rodriguez announced[3] the release of Spacewalk 0.2[4], the
open-source upstream for Red Hat Satellite. There is a list of features,
enhancements, bug fixes, and credits on Jesus' blog.
[3] http://zeusville.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/spacewalk-02/
[4] http://spacewalk.redhat.com/
Greg DeKoenigsberg helped[5] the OLPC folks recruit volunteers to be
part of their growing infrastructure team. "OLPC builds a lot of
packages. They are looking to set up and maintain an infrastructure that
will allow them to meet their own unique packaging needs. They need a
volunteer with a strong understanding of the Fedora packaging process --
one who either understands koji now, or can learn to understand it in
fairly short order."
[5] http://gregdek.livejournal.com/35595.html
My favorite Planet post this week came[6] from Fedora Board member Matt
Domsch, and it is worth people's time to read the entire post, to gain a
lot of insight into how Fedora's mass rebuilds work, and what triggers
them.
"One challenge to self-hosting a project the size of Fedora (now with
about 6200 source packages) is dealing with the interdependencies
between packages. When a major component, such as the compiler or an
often-used library, upgrades to a new version, you should rebuild all
packages that depend upon that major component, to ensure they continue
to work. Often, simply re-compiling or re-linking each package using the
updated compiler or library is all that is needed. In some cases though,
applications which once built, no longer do - bitrot has set in."
[6]
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/09/19/use-the-source-luke.aspx
Legal
Tom Callaway wrote[1] a lengthy post about the Mozilla EULA controversy,
which reared its head again this week in the context of Ubuntu and
Mozilla. However, Fedora dealt with this problem several months ago, at
the end of the Fedora 9 release cycle.
Spot's entire post is worth reading, as is the commentary that follows
it. Here is one excerpt:
"[The] goal was always to ensure that we could walk away with license
terms from Mozilla that:
1. Permitted Fedora to continue using the Firefox trademarks 2. Clearly
upheld the MPL as the valid software license terms for the Firefox
binaries and source (not just for Fedora, but for everyone) 3. Meet the
criteria for Free Software 4. Are presented to the user in a
non-obtrusive, non-clickthrough agreement way"
[1] http://spot.livejournal.com/299409.html
Anthony Green wrote[2] a post that referenced SGI's alteration[3] of its
Free B license, which has long been a thorn in the side of various
distros.
[2]
http://spindazzle.org/greenblog/index.php?/archives/121-Thank-you,-SGI..html
[3]
http://www.sgi.com/company_info/newsroom/press_releases/2008/september/opengl.html
=== Events & Ambassadors ===
The North American Fedora Ambassador Day is coming up at Ohio Linux Fest
in October, and there were a few posts about it on Planet this week.
Brian Powell gave[1] an update on the organization, saying:
"There have been quite a few discussions and meetings recently in
regards to FAD planning. There has been a lot of good progress and great
ideas coming out of these. With time getting close, we are looking at
finalizing the Agenda and Schedule for FADNA shortly.
If you are a North American Ambassador I would ask that you take a
moment to look at what we have come up with so far and a 'tentative'
schedule of events located at the FADNA2008 wiki page. If you have
anything to add feel free to do so."
[1] http://blog.rhatters.org/2008/09/17/fadna-2008-update/
Additionally, Karsten Wade wrote[2] a post about strategies for handling
remote meetings, and making a physical gathering of a small number of
people into a larger meeting that remotees can attend and still get
value out of, whether that attendance is via IRC, telephone, or
something collaborative like gobby.
"Think about your sessions and how it can help to interact with the rest
of us. I recommend a minimum of: live video feed, live audio feed, and
IRC, Gobby, and wiki editing projected on the wall. We can also keep a
VoIP conference room open, but my instinct is to limit the flow on the
incoming voices by subject matter. Beyond that recommendation, a live
IRC and wiki-based abd/or Gobby note taking with many laptops in the
in-person session is the bare bones, with regular usage of
talk.fedoraproject.org."
[2] http://iquaid.org/2008/09/16/formula-for-making-distance-work/
David Nalley wrote up[3] a trip report for Linux Demo Day in Charleston,
SC. "About 60 people showed up. Charleston’s LUG is relatively new, and
this was their first event. They seemed very pleased. I handed about 30
LiveCDs out and talked with a number of Fedora. In addition I spoke to
2-3 people who were intrigued with contributing to Fedora in one way or
another. I’ll be following up with these individuals." This is a great
example of an event -- low cost, but high touch!
[3] http://www.nalley.sc/david/?p=96
== Marketing ==
In this section, we cover the Fedora Marketing Project.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Marketing
Contributing Writer: Svetoslav Chukov
=== Video History of Fedora ===
The history of Fedora as recounted by GregDeKonigsberg is now
available[1] in video format
[1]
http://www.redhatmagazine.com/2008/09/16/video-the-history-of-fedora/
=== FUDCon Brno 2008 ===
Max Spevack reported[1] the result of FUDCon Brno 2008.
[1] http://www.redhatmagazine.com/2008/09/09/fudcon-brno-2008/
=== The Beauty Found in Fedora ===
A very interesting point of view[1] of a Fedora user.
[1]
http://spreadfedora.org/sf/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=47
Plug and Run Fedora on a TOSHIBA A300D laptop
This post recounted[1] some adventures with Fedora and a very tricky
laptop. It is always good to know about such success stories. Some
laptops do not even start GNU/Linux at all! But this one seemed to work
pretty well with Fedora.
[1]
http://spreadfedora.org/sf/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=51
=== First look at Fedora ===
The video article "First look at Fedora" showed[1] what one can see for
first time use. Very useful for novice users.
[1]
http://spreadfedora.org/sf/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=49
== Developments ==
In this section the people, personalities and debates on the
@fedora-devel mailing list are summarized.
Contributing Writer: Oisin Feeley
=== Removal of non-X Consoles (continued) ===
The furore over the future removal of text-mode consoles (see FWN#144
"Non-X System Consoles to be Removed"[1]) continued throughout the week.
The original thread saw some support for the idea expressed[2] by
Nicolas Mailhot on the basis that "[...] non-X-console input is a mess
[...] font support has fossilized, and support for modern high
resolution screens is severely lacking [...]" Nicholas was especially
concerned[3] with the maintenance burden imposed by the text-mode
console "[...] as someone who is an upstream maintainer for my language
of some of the bits the console use[s]."
[1]
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue143#Non-X.System.Consoles.to.be.Removed
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01341.html
[3]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01347.html
Upon being pressed by Dominik Mierzejewski for evidence of a lack of
proper maintenance Nicolas listed[4] a series of problems including the
stagnation of the console layout database and the console font set.
Dmitry Butskoy begged[5] to separate the concepts of "console" and
"serial tty" and also for the retention of the text-mode console.
Dominik promised to try to find a colleague to shoulder the maintenance
burden but Nicolas had already given up[6] in disgust. In response
elsewhere to Seth Vidal's argument that the text console did no harm and
should be left alone Nicholas expanded[7] on the maintenance costs of
"all sorts of packaging rules designed to avoid hitting console
limitations and problems" and bugs filed because of the confusion caused
by two text stacks.
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01373.html
[5]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01381.html
[6]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01388.html
[7]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01396.html
Les Mikesell got to the heart of the problem when he asked[8] "I think
I'm confused by the term 'non X consoles'. Is that something different
than the native text mode you see before X starts?" He also recommended
using FreeNX/NX instead of using the console. Nicolas responded[9] that
there were "[...]two different things. A VT to which you can attach an X
session, a serial port, a remote SSH, mingetty... and the software stack
used to display locally the VT text and collect user input." Nicolas saw
the "low-level VT bit" as fundamentally sound but the "current console
software stack" as "rotten." Les sought[10] further clarification of
this distinction between "[...] the low level part that works in
character mode and expects some hardware to supply and render the fonts
[...]" and "[...] software other than X that renders custom fonts[.]"
[8]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01353.html
[9]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01354.html
[10]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01422.html
Denis Leroy wondered[11] if there was "[...] an X-based mingetty
replacement actually exists ? Something that's proven to be sufficiently
fail-safe (will work even with half-broken X configurations and such?)"
and although Nicolas did not know of one he speculated[12] "[...] as
soon as much of the hardware pocking is moved from xorg to the kernel
and X can be run as a normal user "X-based mingetty replacement" will be
just running a x term fullscreen in an autoconfigured X instance. Of
course one could theoretically write a much lighter solution using only
freetype (cairo, pango?) and an xkb-config parser." Denis's concern
seemed to be that often a Ctrl+Alt+F1 to mingetty was the only way to
kill hanging desktop applications. Colin Walters suggested[13] making
"[...] Ctrl-Alt-Backspace just break server grabs instead of killing the
server (and of course fix the bugs in the apps that hang while holding a
server grab)."
[11]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01401.html
[12]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01407.html
[13]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01366.html
There were multiple expressions of disapprobation often coupled with use
cases. Some of these led Chris Snook to exclaim[14] "Unless I've missed
something huge, virtual terminals aren't going away. What may or may not
be going away is the x86 video BIOS text mode, to be replaced with a
kernel framebuffer, which precludes the use of console fonts, which very
few people ever mess with. The console itself will remain. Someone
please correct me if I'm wrong." [[DaveAirlie|Dave Airlie] confirmed[15]
this understanding and added "[...] vga text mode will not be enabled by
default, you will need to pass nomodeset if you want to use vga text
mode. Welcome to the 1990s." Alan Cox made[16] the correction that
framebuffer console support fonts but that framebuffers did not work on
all machines, screen reader technology and remote management cards.
[14]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01417.html
[15]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01445.html
[16]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01484.html
=== OpenVPN and resolv.conf ===
Ahmed Kamal asked[1] for help in scratching an itch and started a
concise, meaty thread. His particular problem was that he wanted to
overwrite /etc/resolv.conf with new DNS servers obtained over a vpn
tunnel, this is apparently done automatically in "Windows".
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01304.html
The suggestion to use NetworkManager was made by Paul Wouters and Dan
Williams agreed[2] and added the explanation that it "[...] mediate[d]
between services [including PPP, PPtP, DHCP, openvpn, and vpnc] that
need to update your DNS information." The alternative is that each
service needs to handle /etc/resolv.conf itself.
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01313.html
The idea of a default caching daemon was floated[3] by Simo Sorce. As he
envisioned it, the services/tools, such as OpenVPN, would "[...] tell
the caching daemon which IP ranges and which domains their provided
forwarders should be consulted for. All dynamic so that as soon as one
daemon goes away, the caching DNS will notice and revert queries to the
default DNS.} Nils Philippsen agreed[4] heartily and added that
"[i]deally, it should be something which isn't restricted to class A/B/C
like reverse DNS (seems to be), but which would route DNS requests based
on arbitrary domain name or IP-range criteria to the desired name
servers" and Paul Howarth provided[5] the further reason that changes to
/etc/resolv.conf are often not picked up by processes. This latter point
spawned a discussion on the demerits of the glibc stub resolver (which
is too simplistic) and the consequent use of the deprecated
gethostbyname in individual applications. Dan Williams recommended using
lwresd (a stripped-down, caching-only nameserver available to clients
which use the BIND 9 lightweight resolver library) or for more complex
setups a local caching nameserver. Although Simo Sorce disagreed[6] with
Dan that many applications were simply using gethostbyname he agreed
that "[a] caching nameserver that can be instructed what to do when
conditions change is what we really need."
[3]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01349.html
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01485.html
[5]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01490.html
[6]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01632.html
Ahmed asked[7] whether dnsmasq or other daemons were able to "[direct]
name resolution to specific servers according to IP ranges and/or domain
names, with the option of adding/removing servers on the fly?" and
Richard W.M. Jones[8] confirmed that this was indeed possible. Adam Tkac
suggested[9] that this could be done with view statements in BIND and
the gauntlet of how to do this for CIDR and domain names was thrown
down[10] by Nils. A detailed sub-thread followed which indicated what
while possible it was not pretty.
[7]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01498.html
[8]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01500.html
[9]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01508.html
[10]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01523.html
Adam Tkac shared[11] the information that his TODO list includes the
addition of NetworkManager support to BIND and Simo Sorce explained [12]
that nscd was not a solution for a local caching nameserver "[...] as
not all type of queries can be fulfilled by the glibc interface. For
example SRV/TXT records ... Also nscd is not smart enough to understand
network condition and adapt it's behavior." Simo agreed that it would be
nice if "[...] bind could consult different DNSs based 1) on the DNS
name to be queried, and B) the reverse IP to be queried" so that on slow
links only the necessary queries would be directed through the VPN.
[11]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01509.html
[12]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01510.html
=== Fedora 10 Feature Owner Request ===
John Poelstra requested[1] all those owning a Feature[2] to take some
actions on their feature page so that the beta release notes and
announcements are accurate. He provided a list of twenty one feature
pages which "have not been updated since the Feature Freeze on
2008-09-11 and/or are not 100% complete."
Kevin Kofler was among those who had been watching the progress of
OpenChange (see FWN#133 "Help Wanted: Samba4, Heimdahl, OpenChange"[3])
and noted[4] that due to the decision[5] of Andrew Bartlett to orphan
the feature it needed a new owner if Fedora 11 was to offer OpenChange.
Another of the listed pages was that for the Echo icon theme and Luya
Tshimbalanga asked if he should add a release note to the effect that
echo was now the default. Rahul Sundaram confirmed that this would be
helpful.
The Eclipse-3.4 (Ganymede) page was updated[6] by [JeffJohnston|Jeff
Johnston]].
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01471.html
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy/Definitions
[3]
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue133#Help.Wanted:.Samba4.2C.Heimdahl.2C.OpenChange
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01482.html
[5]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg00522.html
[6]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01548.html
=== system-autodeath Becomes Reality ===
Seth Vidal announced[1] that he had implemented his previously discussed
(FWN#140 "System Autodeath"[2]) idea to automatically remove networking
capabilities from machines which lacked system updates. The intent is to
prevent non-maintained machines from being exploited.
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01716.html
[2] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue140#System.Autodeath
Seth implemented the concept as a daily cronjob which tests a configured
"death date" against the current time. For the week leading up to the
"death date" log messages warn that on the specific date the default
route will be deleted. He requested feedback and improvements.
Matt Miller was content but suggested[3] beefing up the manpage with
details of the consequences of removing the default route. Seth noted
that he was happy to accept patches.
[3]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01779.html
A fraught note was introduced when Stephen Warren declared[4] that if
this were a default then, in combination with the proposed textconsole
removal (see this FWN#144 "Removal of non-X Consoles (continued)") and
the modesetting changes[5], he was thinking about switching distros.
Rahul Sundaram responded[6] that modesetting was going to be a feature
of all distros soon and the conversation veered[7] into explaining that
the replacement for RHGB, named "Plymouth" had a sane text-mode fallback
for unsupported chipsets. As much of Stephen's angst was due to a
perceived abandonment of those using non-Free drivers Rahul pointed out
that the nouveau drivers might work. Richard Hughes listed[8] 2-D and
xrandr as supported with kernel modesetting coming soon due to Maarten
Maathuis's work. He warned: "Don't even try 3D yet. It does work, but
only if the moon is waxing, and your pet cat is called Oliver."
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01782.html
[5]
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue143#Graphics.Modesetting.Changes
[6]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01783.html
[7]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01789.html
[8]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01802.html
Back on the main topic of the thread Seth stated[9] that
system-autodeath was not intended to be part of the default install:
"This is just a nicety for sysadmins or local-respin maintainers who
would like to put a dropdead date on their releases." In response to
Stephen's recollection Seth also stated[10] this point clearly. A
general disagreement with the idea of exposing such a feature was
expressed[11] by James Hubbard on the basis that the user should be
forced to change a config file to prevent against accidental
installation errors.
[9]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01784.html
[10]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01788.html
[11]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01850.html
=== Fedora Not "Free" Enough for GNU? ===
A long-running thread which was started[1] on 07-09-2008 by Michel Salim
continues to attracted some heated discussion over the fact that Fedora
is not recognized as a 100% Free software distribution by GNU although a
derivative named "BLAG" (see also FWN#139[2]) is recognized as FLOSS.
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg00428.html
[2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue139#Small.Machine.SIG
The central stumbling block seemed[3] to be best stated by Gregory
Maxwell as "[...] Fedora doesn't yet strip the binary firmware provided
by the Linux kernel (and still provides some re-distributable binary
firmware in other packages, the microcode package and alsa-firmware I
think)." Gregory described the situation as unfortunate due to both the
lack "[...] of acknowledgement it deserves, and the FSF is indirectly
promoting Ubuntu, a distribution which is, as far as I can tell, a
primary driving factor in new users using and depending on proprietary
software." This latter being a reference to the recognition of gNewSense
as FLOSS.
[3]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg00435.html
There had been previous very heated threads on this subject (during one
of FWN's holidays) centered around the efforts of Alexandre Oliva to
produce a "kernel-libre" and the interaction of this project with other
efforts and approaches within the kernel community. David Woodhouse
added[4] the excellent news that "We are almost at the point where we
can do a spin which remedies [the difficulties of stripping out the
non-Free firmware]." He explained that soon a completely separate
package instead of a sub-package of the normal kernel build will allow
others to produce alternative packages of firmwares for which source
code is available. Tom Callaway was worried[5] that there was still
firmware entangled in the kernel source code and noted the need for an
audit. Rahul Sundaram supplied[6] a link to a Debian inventory of
firmwares.
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01603.html
[5]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01605.html
[6]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01606.html
Other interesting points in the discussion touched on the rationales
which have been often advanced for refusing to supply source to
firmwares. These involve regulatory compliance (often for radio
devices). Alan Cox was suspicious of such arguments based[7] on the
history of examples such as ISDN code which "[...] was approved. You
could change it but then it became unapproved and not permitted in some
countries." He described this as a racket run by the phone companies
which imploded once the need to ensure robustness became important (due
to terrorist threats.) Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams listed[8] some of the
other rationales.
[7]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01745.html
[8]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-September/msg01737.html
== Translation ==
This section covers the news surrounding the Fedora Translation (L10n)
Project.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/L10N
Contributing Writer: Runa Bhattacharjee
=== 2008-10-14 Declared Fedora 10 Package Translation Deadline ===
The last date for submission of translations for Fedora 10 packages was
announced[1] as 2008-10-14 (Tuesday). This announcement was made after
an unanimous decision by the Fedora L10n Steering Committee (FLSCo)
members. The last date for the translation of Documents remains as
2008-10-21 (Tuesday).
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-trans-list/2008-September/msg00050.html
A request for rebuilding of packages post the translation freeze date,
was also made[2] to the @fedora-devel-announcement list.
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-announce/2008-September/msg00013.html
"Maintainers of the above packages need to put a reminder to issue a new
build *later* than this date and before the Development Freeze of 21/10.
The closer to the development freeze the rebuild takes place, the better
for our translators. If you have not received any translations since the
last build, a rebuild is not necessary."
=== Renewed Call for Volunteers for the L10n Infrastructure ===
Another call was made[3] at the FLSCo meeting held[ on 16th September
2008[4] seeking volunteers for the Fedora L10n infrastructure. The
earlier call was made[5] in April 2008.
[3]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-trans-list/2008-September/msg00047.html
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-trans-list/2008-September/msg00051.html
[5]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-trans-list/2008-April/msg00020.html
Meanwhile, Asgeir Frimannsson announced[6] a proposed plan for a new
L10n infrastructure which is currently being discussed[7] in various
relevant mailing lists.
[6]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2008-September/msg00108.html
[7]
http://groups.google.com/group/transifex-devel/browse_thread/thread/f9b1e06362386539
== Infrastructure ==
This section contains the discussion happening on the
fedora-infrastructure-list
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Infrastructure
Contributing Writer: HuzaifaSidhpurwala
=== Planning a future L10N infrastructure (including Fedora) ===
Asgeir Frimannsson wrote on the @fedora-infrastructure-list [1] about
his views on the current localisation infrastructure. He summarises the
current infrastructure which is used by the localisation team, which
includes the version control system and other online tools. He also
discusses transifex. He also discusses the requirements for a system
where the translation lifecycle would be managed within 'Translation
Repositories'
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2008-September/msg00108.html
=== Puppet Training ===
Mike McGrath wrote on the @fedora-infrastructure-list [2] that he is
going to hold a puppet training next wednesday. He also posted an ogg
and the slide deck [3] to which his live training will be identical.
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2008-September/msg00124.html
[3] http://mmcgrath.fedorapeople.org/puppet/
=== Fedora 10 Beta Release Planning Meeting ===
John Poelstra wrote on the @fedora-infrastructure-list [4] about the
Fedora 10 Beta Release Planning Meeting. He has also posted the list of
participants and the meeting logs.
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2008-September/msg00135.html
=== Infrastructure update notice ===
Paul W. Frields wrote on the @fedora-infrastructure-list [5] about the
announcement which went out on the fedora-announce-list [6]. Paul
confirmed that all of our services were back online now.
[5]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2008-September/msg00140.html
[6]
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-announce-list/2008-September/msg00009.html
=== app2 Disk Space ===
Mike McGrath wrote on the @fedora-infrastructure-list[7] about the
recent disk alerts on app2. It seems that the host was not built with
enough disk space similar to app1. It does raise a point about storage
for transifex though. Basically each host running transifex or damned
lies, keeps a local copy of every scm as part of its usage. For
performance reasons that should not change but its something we'll want
to figure out long term. So after the freeze the host is going to be
rebuilt.
[7]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-infrastructure-list/2008-September/msg00155.html
== Artwork ==
In this section, we cover the Fedora Artwork Project.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Artwork
Contributing Writer: Nicu Buculei
=== Near to the Echo ===
Pursuing the declared goal of having the new Echo icon theme ready to be
used as a default in Fedora 10, Martin Sourada and Luya Tshimbalanga
continued[1] the development and posted updates[2], while gathering
feed-back and improvement proposals on @fedora-art. Martin even
created[3] an animated demo "also prepared animated gif (slideshow) so
you can see all the icons in one batch" and blogged about it.
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2008-September/msg00202.html
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2008-September/msg00248.html
[3] http://mso.fedorapeople.org/echo/Actions/mail-all.gif
[4]
http://mso-chronicles.blogspot.com/2008/09/batch-of-new-mail-echo-icon.html
=== Freedom for a Game ===
Nicu Buculei relayed[1] to @fedora-art a request from the Hans deGoede,
of Games SIG fame: the Project: Starfighter game[2], which used to be
included in Fedora, was discovered to have some non-free graphic files
and needed free replacements for them. Erick Henrique offered[3] his
help "I go to unpack the archive starfighter.pak and to study a form of
I redesign everything in a new style" and Hans promised[4] to code a
needed utility "About recreating the .pak file I need to write a little
utility for that, hopefully I'll have time for that this weekend."
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2008-September/msg00231.html
[2] http://www.parallelrealities.co.uk/starfighter.php
[3]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2008-September/msg00246.html
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2008-September/msg00291.html
=== Infrastructure Change for Fedora Art ===
After an IRC consultation with Mairin Duffy, Martin Sourada proposed[1]
using fedorahosted.org services for the Art team "it might be worth
setting up a fedorahosted.org instance for the Fedora Art Team. Primary
purpose would be to host our release graphics, but it could serve other
purposes as well (e.g. using ticket system for design service come to my
mind)[.]" This initiative was received with open arms by Luya
Tshimbalanga and with some skepticism[3] by Ian Weller "I'm personally
all for the idea, but I knew there were some caveats that we should
definitely look into before we even think about proceeding. I'd also
like to see Mo's input, of course." and Nicu Buculei stated[4] "I am
strongly against something which would raise the barrier to entry, so a
NO-NO would be to require git to upload sketches (proposals) for the
upcoming release."
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2008-September/msg00242.html
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2008-September/msg00247.html
[3]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2008-September/msg00263.html
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-art-list/2008-September/msg00267.html
== Security Advisories ==
In this section, we cover Security Advisories from
fedora-package-announce.
https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-package-announce
Contributing Writer: David Nalley
=== Fedora 9 Security Advisories ===
* tomcat5-5.5.27-0jpp.2.fc9 -
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-September/msg00859.html
* fedora-package-config-smart-9-13.0.2.transitional -
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-September/msg00800.html
* fedora-package-config-apt-9-3.transitional -
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-September/msg00799.html
* ssmtp-2.61-11.6.fc9.1 -
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-September/msg00768.html
=== Fedora 8 Security Advisories ===
* ssmtp-2.61-11.6.fc8.1 -
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-September/msg00757.html
* fedora-package-config-apt-8-2.transitional -
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-September/msg00844.html
* fedora-package-config-smart-8-12.0.2.transitional -
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-September/msg00846.html
* tomcat5-5.5.27-0jpp.2.fc8 -
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2008-September/msg00889.html
== Virtualization ==
In this section, we cover discussion on the @et-mgmnt-tools-list,
@fedora-xen-list, @libvirt-list and @ovirt-devel-list of Fedora
virtualization technologies.
Contributing Writer: Dale Bewley
=== Enterprise Management Tools List ===
This section contains the discussion happening on the et-mgmt-tools list
==== Virt-manager and Virtinst Closely Related ====
After upgrading virt-manager to 0.6.0, Maikel Dollé received[1] the
error ImportError: cannot import name Storage. Cole Robinson
explained[2] virt-manager is tied closely with virtinst and installing
virtinst 0.400.0 would likely fix the problem.
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/et-mgmt-tools/2008-September/msg00038.html
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/et-mgmt-tools/2008-September/msg00039.html
==== Migration Support in Virt-manager GUI ====
Shigeki Sakamoto followed[1] up on a previous[2] request for comments on
a patch, submitted by same, which works to allow the migration of
domains from within the virt-manager GUI. Daniel P. Berrange
suggested[3] using a submenu rather than a pop-up window, and commented
on the sanity checks[4] in libvirt.
Live Migration Sanity Checks were recently discussed on @libvir list
(see FWN #141 Live Migration Sanity Checks[5]).
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/et-mgmt-tools/2008-September/msg00045.html
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/et-mgmt-tools/2008-September/msg00016.html
[3]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/et-mgmt-tools/2008-September/msg00046.html
[4] http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/TodoPreMigrationChecks
[5]
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue141#Live_Migration_Sanity_Checks
=== Fedora Xen List ===
This section contains the discussion happening on the fedora-xen list.
==== DomU Network Interface Problem Leads to Discussion of HVM
Requirements ====
Guillaume[1] asked[1] about a paravirtualized domU which did not show
any network interfaces. There was a suggestion made that this could be
due to a lack of HVM support in the host hardware, which isn't the case.
Paul Wouters cleared[2] up such confusion by describing the main
virtualization techniques used in Fedora. Quoting:
* Xen hypervisor for para_virt guests does not need HVM.
Problem here is that Fedora 8 is the last release to support this
setup on x86_64, though work is in progress to add this support to
Fedora 9/10. Para_virt guests are booted via kernel= and rootfs
images, or via pygrub, which is just a wrapper for grabbing kernel
from bootable disk images.
* Qemu is a software emulator for various architectures including PC
hardware.
It requires no HVM instructions, but it can use them if they exist
via the kernel "kvm" code. This is how Fedora9 does its VM's via the
libvirt and virt-install. This does NOT [sic] use or require a xen
hypervisor.
* Xenner is a software emulation for the Xen hypervisor.
It requires HVM because it uses the kernel "kvm" code. The idea
behind Xenner is that you can run VM's based on kernel-xen kernels
(eg migration from Fedora8)
Paul went on to mention other[5] virtualization technologies such as
VirtualBox/Vmx, lguest, uml, virtuoso, and openvz.
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2008-September/msg00018.html
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2008-September/msg00021.html
In another post[3] Paul suggested that Guillaume's domU may have an
initrd which lacks xenblk and xennet, and pointed[4] to a debate in the
FC6 era concerning the xenblk kernel module.
[3]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2008-September/msg00022.html
[4] https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2007-April/msg00054.html
[5] http://virt.kernelnewbies.org/TechComparison
=== Libvirt List ===
This section contains the discussion happening on the libvir-list.
==== Minimal Client-only Libvirt Build ====
Ben Guthro patched[1] the libvirt spec file to allow for a minimal
client-only build.
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2008-September/msg00264.html
==== Access to CPU Flags ====
Ben Guthro needed[1] to access CPU flags to determine if VMX features
were available, and suggested src/nodeinfo.c would be the place to parse
this. This however raised a concern that adding to the nodeinfo struct
breaks the API. Additionally, since this is an x86 specific change, Ben
wondered if it would be acceptable.
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2008-September/msg00271.html
Daniel P. Berrange stated[1] "any struct or API in
include/libvirt/libvirt.h is immutable to preserve ABI", and the API
shouldn't be specifically x86. Daniel did offer that the most likely
place for exposing CPU flags would be in the capabilities[3] XML format.
Where PAE, VMX, and SVM flags are already exposed.
[2]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2008-September/msg00273.html
[3]
http://libvirt.org/html/libvirt-libvirt.html#virConnectGetCapabilities
Ben noted[4] that Xen will report those flags, but oVirt running KVM
does not, and said "It seems to me that it might be useful for some sort
of "node" info driver, where we might be able to share code for
hypervisor independent info about the physical machine it is running
on." Daniel pointed[5] to src/nodeinfo.c as "a place for this useful
reusable node info code".
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2008-September/msg00292.html
[5]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2008-September/msg00316.html
==== OpenVZ Support ====
Anton Protopopov pointed[1] to a previous thread[2] on xml format for
OpenVZ driver, and asked if libvirt supported the xml format for
OpenVZ[3] driver.
[1]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2008-September/msg00320.html
[2] http://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2008-July/msg00312.html
[3] http://wiki.openvz.org
Evgeniy Sokolov replied[4] that OpenVZ uses the XML format common for
all libvirt drivers.
[4]
https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2008-September/msg00331.html
=== oVirt Devel List ===
This section contains the discussion happening on the ovirt-devel list.
Check back next week.
--
Oisin Feeley
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/OisinFeeley
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