Frugalware Linux Newsletter - Issue 82

…to inform…to educate…to entertain

:)

"One K to rule them all, one K to find them,
One K to bring them all and in the darkness bind them"

Frugalware developer Melko, promoting the KDE Software Compilation

Welcome

Welcome to another issue of the Frugalware Linux community’s newsletter, which highlights the latest events and activities of the Frugalware Linux community.

Features of this issue include:

• Frugalware Release Party was "up in the air"
• Slown is officially a developer
• Cedynamix is back!
• Tips and Tricks - "Bash shell aliases" and "Tell me when you're finished"
• Focus on Packages - Gource and Duplicity
• Frugalware Exam #3 - Answers

Here’s a selection of recent events and other items that you might find interesting:

Frugalware Linux version 1.5 released

On 15 August 2011, developer VMiklos announced the release of Frugalware Linux version 1.5, code name "Mores". Although a stable release is made every six months, this was a significant release with some major changes, including: systemd now being the default init system and an initial ARM port. It was also the first release for several of the newest members of the development team. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Frugalware Release Party was "up in the air"

In accordance with tradition, a party was held to celebrate the latest Frugalware Linux release. The French team members had prepared a banquet at the top of the Eiffel Tower and everyone drank, ate and generally enjoyed themselves. Unfortunately someone had forgotten that the very top of the tower is very narrow and so only three team members could be at the top at the same time. It all worked out well, though, because Devil505 had brought his new netbook and /dev/random was used to choose when everyone went to the top.

A highlight of the celebrations was a parachute jump high above Paris. While free-falling, everyone arranged themselves in formation to represent the Frugalware logo. Someone, whose name is to be kept a secret, started to make the Fedora logo instead but was quickly corrected by the other team members. They claim that anyone could have confused the Fedora 'f' with our 'F' but it still seems a little suspicious. Anyway, the logo appeared briefly in the bright blue Parisian sky and everyone landed safely. We haven't decided how we might celebrate the release of Frugalware Linux version 1.6 but maybe we'll keep our feet on the ground.

Slown is officially a developer

Frugalware user Slown had recently submitted a number of FrugalBuilds for new packages. After some initial reviews, VMiklos realised that his work no longer need review and so invited Slown to become an official member of the Frugalware development team. Congratulations to Slown and we look forward to many more packages in the future.

Cedynamix is back!

Just as we welcome Slown to the team, developer Cedynamix has returned after a break. We're not sure just what he's been doing but we've searched other Linux distributions' activity and are satisfied that he's not been working elsewhere. Welcome back Cedynamix.

Balint is helping with German translation

Frugalware user Balint (AKA Sigo) is helping with the translation into German of the various Frugalware projects. Help in this area is always welcome because we would like Frugalware to be accessible in everyone's native language. Even if someone is already providing translations you can help because it's good to have someone review the work of others and point out problems or raise questions, whether it's code or translation.

This section of the newsletter features packages which have been added since the previous issue.

Package	Description	Maintainer
converseen-0.4.6	A batch image conversion tool written in C++ with Qt4 and Magick++.	centuri0
clinica-0.1.1	A simple medical records manager.	Slown
libqtpascal-2.4	The Free Pascal Qt4 binding allows Free Pascal to interface with the C++ Library Qt.	kikadf
libbluray-20110920	Blu-Ray access library.	Devil505
google-music-frame-0.2	An application that runs Google Music web interface in its own window.	Devil505
minus-uploader-1.5	The Minus desktop app allows you to drag-n-drop photos and files into the taskbar and instantly upload onto Minus.	Devil505
rhash-1.2.8	Utility for verifying hash sums (SFV, CRC, etc). Supports lots of algorithms.	Slown
laptop-mode-tools-1.59	A kernel mode that allows you to extend the battery life of your laptop.	Devil505
pymp-1.1	Lean and flexible frontend for MPlayer, written in python.	Pingax
pigz-2.1.6	A gzip implementation that can use parallel threads.	James Buren
google-musicmanager-1.0.13.9715	A simple application for adding the music files on your computer to your Music library.	Devil505
rsyslog-5.8.4	Enhanced system logging and kernel message trapping daemon.	Miklos Vajna

Bash Shell Aliases

If you often type the same command or series of commands in a shell, then aliases will save you time. An alias replaces a user-defined command with other shell commands. The idea is that typing a short command and having either a longer command or several commands occur saves you time and effort. Here is a very simple Bash shell alias:

alias pu='pacman-g2 -Syu'

With this alias defined, when you enter the command "pu" in a Bash shell, "pacman-g2 -Syu" will actually be run instead. Keep in mind that aliases are simply shorter versions of commands you would normally type.

If you often use the same set of options for a command, an alias is an easy way of setting those as the default. For example, if you want to always use the "-h" option for the "df" (Disk Free) command, you can define the following alias:

alias df='df -h'

You might think that this would create an infinite loop, but it doesn't. :) When you now enter the command "df", the "-h" option is always added. Note that you can't use replaceable parameters in an alias but if you have such a need, use a shell function instead.

To see a list of all currently defined aliases, enter "alias" in a terminal. User-defined aliases are configured in your Bash configuration file: ~/.bashrc. Changes to this file don't take effect immediately but you can activate them by entering the command ". ~/.bashrc". Note the space between the first full stop/period (.) and the Bash configuration file. This has only been a very brief coverage of Bash aliases, so refer to the Bash man page for more details. A little time learning just some of its features will certainly save you time in the long run.

Tell me when you're finished

If you're running a command in a terminal emulator that you expect to take a while, it's boring to sit, watch and wait for it to finish. If you install the "libnotify" package you have a very useful application available: notify-send. This application allows you to specify from the command line a custom popup message to appear on the desktop. The content of the message and for how long it remains visible are all customisable. Here's an example command which will popup a message when a CLI command is complete:

wget <file> ; notify-send --urgency=critical "File download is complete."

In this case a message with the text "File download is complete." will appear after the command has exited. I can't remember what happens under Xfce or KDE but on GNOME 3 a message with an urgency of "critical" stays visible until you click on it. Messages with other urgency ratings will hide again after a brief delay. notify-send doesn't have a man page but you can see all available parameters by entering "notify-send -?".

The next time you're downloading an ISO or perhaps converting video files from one format to another, try notify-send and give yourself some free time. :)

Do you have any tips or tricks to share?

If you have some tips and tricks that you would like to share, please post them on the forums or in the comments section below.

Gource

My knowledge of version control systems (VCS) is roughly the same as my knowledge of cars: I can operate them well enough to get me from A to B but don't know how to fix them if something goes wrong. When I read about new utilities for VCS I get a little worried, thinking that I just might do more harm than good but I can't help being curious. You run Gource in a terminal, providing the path to a VCS repository as a parameter, with support for VCS including git, Subversion and Mercurial. In a window, Gource draws bright blobs which represent the objects in the repository and lines between them to represent the links between the objects. It works forward through the repository's history, illustrating the changes in the repository by dynamically changing the displayed blobs and lines. It looks a little like a fireworks screensaver but it's much more interesting to watch. Try it for yourself and I'm sure you'll be entertained, possibly for hours. :D

Duplicity

Duplicity is a CLI backup application with two major features: it encrypts the backups and uses the librsync utility, which minimises the amount of disk space required. The backups themselves are encrypted with GnuPG and can be stored on either a local or remote file server, with options including: ftp, ssh/scp, rsync, WebDAV, WebDAVs, HSi, IMAP, Ubuntu One and Amazon S3. The first backup of any directory will be a full backup but any subsequent backups are incremental, making Duplicity very efficient on disk space. Command-line parameters allow you to specify exactly what you want, allowing for a full backup if you specifically want it, exclusion of specific directories, and the option of verifying what's on the source is an exact copy of what's contained in the specified backup. All operations are logged for review if needed.

Backups are useful only if you can recover what you need when you need it. Duplicity offers plenty of options, including restoration of individual files and directories, also time-based restoration. To restore the directory /home/me to as it was at the most recent backup:

duplicity scp://uid@other.host/some_dir /home/me

To restore an individual file to as it was 3 days ago:

duplicity -t 3D --file-to-restore Mail/article 
  scp://uid@other.host/some_dir /home/me/restored_file

Below are the answers to the Frugalware exam which featured in newsletter issue 81. If you haven't yet taken the exam, please test yourself then return here. If you cheat and look at the answers before taking the exam we'll send someone to your house to steal the [Enter] keys from all your keyboards. :P

Check your answers against the list below and for each correct answer you earn 1 point. Add up all your points and compare your total against the table to find out your Frugalware rating.

Correct Answers

What's required to become a member of the Frugalware development team?

3. Submission of enough FrugalBuild patches to have proven you know what you're doing.

Frugalware packages are available around the world from what type of source?

2. mirrors

Which of the following is NOT a label commonly applied to one or more Frugalware package repositories?

4. almost-stable-but-sometimes-makes-your-PC-explode

Which of the following is NOT a recommended method of communicating with others in the Frugalware community?

1. ouija board

Frugalware's package manager (pacman-g2) is a fork of which package manager?

3. ArchLinux's pacman

What is the aim of the newsletter?

3. Inform readers about recent events and activities in the community.

Who can edit the wiki?

3. Anyone with a wiki account.

A Feature Request in the Bug Tracking System can be made if you want what?

3. A new feature or package, or an existing feature changed.

Rating

Total Score	Rating
8	Have you considered becoming a contributor?
6-7	Well done! Keep up the good work.
3-5	Maybe read the newsletters and documentation more closely?
0-2	Have you tried other Linux distributions? :P

In this edition we have quite a large numbers of users' desktop screenshots. Even better, they show just how varied Linux desktops can be, featuring different desktop environments, even no desktop environment. Thankyou to everyone who posted their screenshot to the forums. If you would like your own desktop to feature in this section, please submit it the Frugalware forums and I'll copy it from there. If there is a large number of screenshots submitted I may not feature all of them so if you don't see yours, please don't be offended because I'm not judging them on their quality or whether or not I like them

Fore

Fore's screenshot was submitted on 5 September 2011 and features GNOME 3 with the Nord theme and, at the bottom, the Plank dock.

Lenezir

Lenezir's screenshot was submitted on 17 September 2011, featuring an interesting desktop background and at the bottom is what I believe is the Tint2 panel.

Pingax

Pingax's screenshot was submitted on 15 August 2011 and features the Xfce desktop environment and an amazing nightscape as the desktop background. Note that Pingax has two panels on the desktop, the usual one at the top of the screen and one at the right-hand side with a few application launchers.

Tuxgas

Tuxgas' screenshot was submitted on 5 September 2011 and features the KDE 4 software compilation and an amazing desktop background, apparently sourced from the Desktopography site. If you have never visited the site, please do because it features some absolutely amazing artwork for your desktop.

Slown

Slown's screenshot was submitted on 31 August 2011 and features the Xfce desktop with an extra, transparent panel at the bottom for application launchers. To be honest I'm not entirely sure of any of this but that's what I think it is. If I'm wrong I hope Slown will correct me. :D

This new section of the newsletter highlights recent additions and changes to the wiki.

Pacman-g2: Pacman-g2 wrapper

This is a shell script which adds some quite useful functions to the pacman-g2 package manager.

Xonotic - FPS

Xonotic is a first-person shooter-style (FPS) game which has recently been packaged for Frugalware.

TODO 1.6 - updated

This wiki page is used by the developers to both brainstorm and track progress on improvements planned for the 1.6 release. Keep up to date with this page if you're keen to track progress. Understand, though, that some of what's on the page are proposals only and may not feature in the final release.

Frugalware FAQ

This page contains all documented FAQs about Frugalware. The content was previously hosted as part of the official web site but has been moved to the wiki because it's then easier to maintain.

Laptop Mode Tools

This page documents a new set of applications which are for use with laptops.

Post-Installation

"New" user Ariszlo contributed some excellent information on topics you may need after having installed Frugalware.

Broadcomm wireless

Unfortunately wireless support in Linux is still a topic which is a problem for many people. Broadcom is one of the most common brands of wireless chipsets and so it's great that Devil505 has added some troubleshooting information to this page.

XFCE

User Korrode added a tip for XFCE for getting "Open" and "Show in Folder" working. I have had this problem myself but didn't know to fix it.

Virtualbox

User and contributor Botchchikii has added a French-language page about Virtualbox.

UUID

Developer Devil505 has added a page about UUID, a scheme for persistent naming of block devices.

The following table gives you a overview of activity on bugs and feature requests as at 4 October 2011.

Activity	Bugs	Feature Requests
Open	115	144
Opened since the previous newsletter	31	4
Closed since the previous newsletter	44	31

Remember - According to the normal support arrangements for Frugalware, the release of 1.5 ("Mores") means that no further security or bug fixes will be released for Frugalware 1.4 ("Nexon") or earlier.

Here is a list of security issues which have been discovered and fixed in the 1.5 release since the previous newsletter.

FSA	Package	FSA Description	Upgrade To
FSA745	django	Some vulnerabilities have been reported in Django, which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose certain system information, manipulate certain data, conduct cache poisoning attacks, and cause a DoS (Denial of Service)	django-1.3.1-1mores1
FSA744	librsvg	A vulnerability has been reported in librsvg, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service) and potentially compromise an application using the library	librsvg-2.34.1-1mores1
FSA743	mantis	Some vulnerabilities have been reported in MantisBT, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct cross-site scripting attacks and disclose potentially sensitive information and by malicious users to compromise a vulnerable system	mantis-1.2.8-1mores1
FSA742	apache	Kingcope has discovered a vulnerability in Apache HTTP Server, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service)	apache-2.2.20-1mores1
FSA741	foomatic-filters	It was found that foomatic-rip filter used insecurely created temporary file for storage of PostScript data by rendering the data, intended to be sent to the PostScript filter, when the debug mode was enabled	foomatic-filters-4.0.1-6mores1
FSA740	phpmyadmin	Some vulnerabilities have been reported in phpMyAdmin, which can be exploited by malicious users to conduct script insertion attacks	phpmyadmin-3.4.4-1mores1
FSA739	stunnel	A vulnerability has been reported in Stunnel, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service) and potentially compromise a vulnerable system	stunnel-4.42-1mores1
FSA738	krb5	1) A vulnerability has been reported in Kerberos, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service)	krb5-1.7.2-1mores1
FSA737	mantis	A vulnerability has been discovered in MantisBT, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct cross-site scripting attacks	mantis-1.2.7-1mores1
FSA736	roundcube	A vulnerability has been reported in RoundCube Webmail, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct cross-site scripting attacks	roundcube-0.5.4-1mores1
FSA735	xpdf	Some vulnerabilities have been reported in Xpdf, which can be exploited by malicious people to potentially compromise a user's system	xpdf-3.02-7mores1
FSA734	flashplugin	Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Adobe Flash Player, which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose sensitive information and compromise a user's system	flashplugin-10.3.183.5-1mores1

Author

The Frugalware newsletter is written and edited by Russell Dickenson (AKA phayz). Credit for the Frugalware distribution goes to the development team.

Release

To allow time for review and corrections, each newsletter is written ahead of its release date. Therefore it may not mention events which occurred 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.

If you would like to comment on the Frugalware newsletter, please do so in the forums or the comments section below. Your feedback is valuable because we want the newsletter to meet the needs of Frugalware’s users.

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