Upcoming Bugzilla Changes
by TK009
The time is almost here to reap the harvest on which so many have toiled and
enjoy the bounty that is Fedora 12. With each new Fedora release comes some
Bugzilla housekeeping. This e-mail is designed to let you know about two things
happening around November 17, 2009 (Fedora 12 release day) and
what you need to do, if anything.
(1) We will be automatically changing the version all rawhide bugs to Fedora 12.
This will result in regular bugs reported against rawhide during the Fedora 12
development cycle being changed to version '12' instead of their current
assignment, 'rawhide'. This is done in order to more accurately tell where in
the lineage of releases the bug was last reported because over time 'rawhide'
becomes ambiguous.
Note that this procedure does not apply to bugs that are against component
'Package Review' or bugs that have the 'FutureFeature' or 'Tracking' keywords
set.
They will stay open as rawhide bugs indefinitely.
If you do not want your bugs changed to version '12', add the FutureFeature
keyword.
If you need help changing a large amount of bugs manually, we'd be glad to help.
Stop by #fedora-bugzappers on irc.freenode.net and we'll help you.
(2) All bugs for upcoming EOL releases (at this point, Fedora 10) will get a
comment on release day, explaining that one month of maintenance remains.
These bugs must move to a later version if still applicable or they will be
automatically closed in one month with a resolution of WONTFIX.
More about these processes is here:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers/HouseKeeping
Thanks for reading,
Edward Kirk
Fedora Bug Triage Team
13 years, 11 months
Notice: Fedora 12 Tagging Status Update
by Warren Togami
Fedora Release Engineering decided to deal with the 250+ backlog of
Bodhi update requests by tagging them all into f12-final. Bodhi is now
disabled for Fedora 12 updates.
Questions
=========
1) Why tag all Update requests into f12-final?
At this point of the schedule we realized that there were updates
sitting in the queue from since October. They were sitting there. Not
getting pushed to any repository. Rawhide gives these packages several
more weeks of testing exposure. This was decided to be better than a
flood of day zero updates that are poorly tested.
2) When will we be able to submit Updates again?
Rel-eng will decide when to begin accepting Updates for Fedora 12 again
during Monday's rel-eng meeting. Meanwhile please use the rel-eng
ticketing system to request tagging into f12-final.
3) How do I file a tag request to include my package into Fedora 12?
https://fedorahosted.org/rel-eng/
Please file tag request tickets here if you want your package build to
be included in Fedora 12. Please include details like:
* Full Name-Version-Release of your package(s)
* What changed?
* How risky is this change?
* How important is this change?
* How well tested is this package build?
* Is this package in the critical-path list?
4) Which packages are critical-path?
https://fedorahosted.org/pipermail/autoqa-results/2009-October/001714.html
Unfortunately we do not yet have a permanent URL with the critical-path
list. This page contains an auto-generated list of critical-path
packages as of today.
If your package is not critical-path and not a risk to others to update,
then it is highly likely proper to tag at this point of the schedule.
5) How many untagged packages are there?
koji list-tagged --latest dist-f12-updates-candidate
This command lists all packages that are not tagged for f12-final. In
some cases these are false positives because a newer package is instead
tagged into f12-final. After you have tested your package and verified
it doesn't make things worse, please file rel-eng tickets to have it
included.
Please direct questions to fedora-devel-list.
Warren Togami
wtogami(a)redhat.com
13 years, 11 months
Reminder: Tagging Policy for Fedora 12
by Warren Togami
This is just a reminder about the tagging policy for packages built for
Fedora 12 past the development freeze.
What Qualifies for Tagging?
===========================
* You must have tested the build yourself. Great shame to be bestowed
if you break things so close to the release! Great Shame!
* http://wwoods.fedorapeople.org/files/critical-path/deplist.txt
Anything on the critical path list requires two votes from Fedora
release engineering. Critical path is loosely defined as packages that
can break the ability to install or update. Typically rel-eng might do
some sanity tests of your package as well, but don't count on them to
find non-obvious issues.
* Anything not on the critical path list can be approved by release
engineering with a single vote.
* You DID test it right?
Many Builds Not Tagged, but Probably Should Be
==============================================
# koji list-tagged --latest dist-f12-updates-candidate
This command shows over 400 packages are built for F-12 but not tagged
for release.
https://admin.fedoraproject.org/updates/F12/pending
Currently there are 270+ packages in the pending queue to become Fedora
12 updates. Many if not all of the packages requested update at this
point probably belong tagged into rawhide immediately. Requesting it
for updates at this point is problematic because you miss out on several
weeks of testing only for it to show up as an update on day zero when
Fedora 12 is released. Tagging policy might tighten up in the coming
weeks then it might make sense to push as day zero updates at that point.
How to Request Tagging
======================
https://fedorahosted.org/rel-eng
Please file requests to have your post-freeze build included here.
Please include the full Name-Version-Release of your build in the
Summary of the ticket. To save rel-eng's time it might be helpful to
mention a few other details like:
* How important is this?
* How much have you tested it?
* Is it on the critical path list?
Upcoming Deadlines
==================
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Schedule
Warren Togami
wtogami(a)redhat.com
13 years, 11 months
Fedora 12 Beta now available!
by Jesse Keating
Fedora is a leading edge, free and open source operating system that
continues to deliver innovative features to many users, with a new
release every six months. We have reached the Fedora 12 Beta, the last
important development milestone of Fedora 12. Only critical bug fixes
will be pushed as updates leading up to the general release of Fedora
12, scheduled to be released in mid-November. We invite you to join us
and participate in making Fedora 12 a solid release by downloading,
testing, and providing us your valuable feedback.
http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease
Of course, this is a beta release, some problems may still be lurking.
Should you trip across one of them, be sure it gets fixed before release
by reporting your discovery at:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/
Thank you!
What's New in Fedora 12?
* Optimized performance - All software packages on 32-bit (x86_32)
architecture have been compiled for i686 systems with special
optimization for Intel Atom processors used in many netbooks but without
losing compatibility with the overwhelming majority of CPUs. There is a
list of the rare CPUs which will no longer be supported.
* Smaller and faster updates - In Fedora 11, the optional yum-presto
plugin, developed by Fedora contributor Jonathan Dieter, reduced update
size by transmitting only the changes in the updated packages. Now, the
plugin is installed by default. Also, RPMs now use XZ rather than gzip
for compression, providing smaller package sizes without the memory and
CPU penalties associated with bzip2. This lets us fit more software into
each Fedora image, and uses less space on mirrors, making their
administrators' lives a little easier. Thanks to the Fedora
infrastructure team for their work in generating delta RPMs.
* NetworkManager broadband and other enhancements - NetworkManager,
originally developed by Red Hat's Dan Williams, was introduced in Fedora
7 and has become the de facto network configuration solution for
distributions everywhere. Enhancements to NetworkManager make both
system-wide connections and mobile broadband connections easier than
ever. Signal strength and network selection are available for choosing
the best mobile broadband connection when you're on the road. Bluetooth
PAN support offers a simple click through process to access the Internet
from your mobile phone. NetworkManager can now configure always-on and
static address connections directly from the desktop. PolicyKit
integration has been added so configuration management can be done via
central policy where needed. IPv6 support has also been improved.
* Next-generation (Ogg) Theora video - For several years, Theora, the
open and free format not encumbered by known patents has provided a way
for freedom-loving users to share video. Fedora 12 includes the new
Theora 1.1, which achieves near-H.264 quality, meeting the expectations
of demanding users with crisp, vibrant media in both streaming and
downloadable form. Thanks to the work of the Xiph.Org Foundation's
Christopher "Monty" Montgomery, sponsored by Red Hat, other Xiph
developers, and the contribution of Mozilla.org, Firefox 3.5 can deliver
free media on the web out of the box, using the Theora video and Vorbis
audio formats even better than the previous release of Fedora.
* Graphics support improvements - Fedora 12 introduces experimental 3D
support for AMD Radeon HD 2400 and later graphics cards. To try it out,
install the mesa-dri-drivers-experimental package. On many cards, this
support should allow desktop effects to be used. Kernel mode setting
(KMS) support, which was introduced on AMD hardware in Fedora 10 and
extended to Intel hardware in Fedora 11, is now extended to NVIDIA
hardware as well, meaning the great majority of systems now benefit from
the smooth, fully-graphical startup sequence made possible by KMS. The
Fedora graphical startup sequence now works better on systems with
multiple monitors. Also on multiple monitor systems, the desktop will
now automatically be spread across all monitors by default, rather than
having all monitors display the same output, including on NVIDIA chips
(where multiple monitor spanning was not possible without manual
configuration changes in Fedora 11). Systems with NVIDIA graphics chips
also gain initial support for suspend and resume functionality via the
default Nouveau driver. Initial support for the new DisplayPort display
connector has been added for Intel graphics chips. Support for Nvidia
and ATI systems is already under rapid development and will be included
in the next release of Fedora. Thanks to the Red Hat Xorg team including
Adam Jackson (X server), Kristian Høgsberg (Intel driver), Dave Airlie
and Jerome Glisse (Radeon driver for AMD), and Ben Skeggs (Nouveau
driver for NVIDIA).
* Virtualization improvements - Not content with all the improvements in
Fedora 11, we've kicked virtualization based on KVM up another notch in
Fedora 12. There are extensive improvements in performance, management,
resource sharing, and still more security enhancements. A new library
(libguestfs) and an interactive tool (guestfish) are now available for
directly accessing and modifying virtual machine disk images.
* Automatic reporting of crashes and SELinux issues - Abrt, a tool to
help non-power users report crashes to Bugzilla with a few mouse clicks,
is now enabled by default. Abrt collects detailed information
automatically and helps developers identify and resolve issues faster,
improving the quality of individual upstream components and Fedora. The
SELinux alert monitoring tool has also added the ability to report
SELinux issues to Bugzilla quickly and easily with just a couple of
clicks.
* New Dracut initrd generation tool - Up until Fedora 11, the boot
system (initial ram disk or initrd) used to boot Fedora was monolithic,
very distribution specific and didn't provide much flexibility. This has
been replaced with Dracut, an initial ram disk generation tool with an
event-based framework designed to be distribution-independent thanks to
the Dracut team including Harald Hoyer, Jeremy Katz, Dave Jones and many
others. It has been also adopted by OLPC which uses Fedora; OLPC modules
for Dracut are available in the Fedora repository.
* PackageKit plugins - PackageKit now has a plugin which can install an
appropriate package when a user tries to run a command from a missing
package. Another new plugin allows installation of software packages
from a web browser. Thanks to Red Hat's Richard Hughes and the
PackageKit team.
* Bluetooth on-demand - Bluetooth services are automatically started
when needed and stopped 30 seconds after last device use, reducing
initial startup time and resource use when Bluetooth is not in active
use. Thanks to Red Hat's Bastien Nocera.
* Moblin graphical interface for netbooks - The Moblin graphical
interface and applications are fully integrated thanks to Peter
Robinson, a Fedora Project volunteer, and others. To use it, just
install the Moblin Desktop Environment package group using yum or the
graphical software management tools, and choose Moblin from the login
manager. A F12 Moblin Fedora Remix (installable Live CD) will also be
available.
* PulseAudio enhancements - Red Hat's Lennart Poettering and several
others have made significant improvements to the PulseAudio system.
Improved mixer logic makes volume control more fine-grained and
reliable. Integration with the Rygel UPnP media server means you can
stream audio directly from your system to any UPnP / DLNA client, such
as a Playstation 3. Hotplug support has been made more intelligent, so
if you configure a device as the default output for a stream, unplug
that device -- causing the stream(s) to be moved to another output
device -- and later replug it, the stream is moved back to the preferred
device. Finally, Bluetooth audio support means pairing with any
Bluetooth audio device makes it available for use through PulseAudio.
* Lower process privileges - In order to mitigate the impact of security
vulnerabilities, permissions have been hardened for many files and
system directories and process privileges have been lowered for a number
of core components that require super user privileges. Red Hat's Steve
Grubb has developed a new library, libcap-ng, and integrated it into
many core system components to improve the security of Fedora.
* SELinux sandbox - It is now possible to confine applications' access
to the system and run them in a secure sandbox that takes advantage of
the sophisticated capabilities of SELinux. Dan Walsh, SELinux developer
at Red Hat, explains the details at
http://danwalsh.livejournal.com/31146.html
* Open Broadcom firmware - The openfwwf open source Broadcom firmware is
included by default. This means wireless networking will be available
out of the box on some Broadcom chipsets.
* Hybrid live images - The Live images provided in this release can be
directly imaged onto a USB stick using dd (or any equivalent tool) to
create bootable Live USB keys. The Fedora Live USB Creator for Windows
and the livecd-tools for Fedora are still recommended for data
persistence and non-destructive writes. Thanks to Jeremy Katz.
* Better webcam support - While Fedora 11 improved webcam support, in
Fedora 12 you can expect even better video quality, especially for less
expensive webcams. Red Hat's Hans de Goede, developer of the libv4l
library, has more details on his continuous upstream webcam support
enhancements at http://hansdegoede.livejournal.com/6989.html.
* GNOME 2.28 - The latest version of the GNOME desktop includes the
lighter Gnote replacement for Tomboy as the default note application,
and Empathy replaces Pidgin as the default instant messenger. The new
volume control application, first seen in Fedora 11, has been improved
to restore some of the popular functionality from earlier releases
without making the interface too complex.
* GNOME Shell preview - Fedora 12 includes an early version of GNOME
Shell, which will become the default interface for GNOME 3.0 and beyond.
To try it, install the gnome-shell package, and use the Desktop Effects
configuration tool to enable it. It will only work correctly from the
GNOME desktop environment, not others such as KDE or Xfce. This is a
preview technology, and some video cards may not be supported.
* KDE 4.3 - The new KDE features an updated "Air" theme and fully
configurable keyboard shortcuts in Plasma, improved performance and new
desktop effects in the window manager, a new bug reporting tool, and a
configuration tool for the LIRC infra-red remote control system.
* Cool new stuff for developers beginning with Eclipse Galileo, which
includes more plugins than ever before. Perl 6 is now included, along
with PHP 5.3. For Haskell developers, the Haskell Platform now provides
a standardized set of libraries and tools. But one of the biggest
changes for developers is that most of the nice new features of Fedora
12, from Bluetooth to WebCams is implemented through underlying
libraries, and many of the improvements will be included simply by
relinking your application. Also available in this release are SystemTap
1.0 for improved instrumenting and debugging of binaries, complete with
Eclipse integration, and the newest NetBeans IDE for Java development.
* Cool new stuff for sysadmins includes added functionality for
clustered Samba services (including active/active configurations) over
GFS2; and the ability to boot a cluster of Fedora systems from a single,
shared root file system.
* Multi-Pointer X - The update to X.Org server 1.7 introduces the X
Input Extension version 2.0 (XI2), with much work contributed by Red
Hat's Peter Hutterer. This extension provides a new client API for
handling input devices and also Multi-Pointer X (MPX) functionality. MPX
functionality allows X to cope with many inputs of arbitrary types
simultaneously, a prerequisite for (among others) multitouch-based
desktops and multi-user interaction on a single screen. This is
low-level work that applications and desktop environments will
incrementally take advantage of in future releases. More details are
available in the Release Notes and in the XI2 tag of Peter Hutterer's
blog at http://who-t.blogspot.com/search/label/xi2
A full feature list is available on the wiki at
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/12/FeatureList
OK, go get it. You know you can't wait.
http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease
Draft release notes and guides for several languages are available at
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/drafts.html
--
Jesse Keating
Fedora -- Freedom² is a feature!
identi.ca: http://identi.ca/jkeating
13 years, 11 months
Fedora 12 Beta Release Rescheduled to 2009-10-20
by John Poelstra
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/12/Schedule
At the Release Engineering meeting today
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2009-October/msg00244.html
it was noted that we still do not have a beta RC composed because a few
blocker bugs remain.
The decision was made to move the Fedora 12 Beta Release date to
2009-10-20 instead of its scheduled date of 2009-10-13 (one week from
Tuesday). The original intention was also to move the final release
date of Fedora 12 to 2009-11-17, but that decision has been deferred
until Thursday while the Infrastructure team researches some issues
related to an upcoming data center move.
The next meeting to determine the final release date for Fedora 12 will
be this Thursday, 2009-10-08 at 18:00 UTC (2 PM EDT) in #fedora-meeting.
After that meeting all of the detailed Fedora 12 team schedules will
be fully updated to reflect the plan of record.
REMINDER: we are in and will remain in FINAL FREEZE for Fedora 12. This
is not a new opportunity for more time to continue development work or
squeeze more bug fixes into Fedora 12. A new branch is already open
where this work can continue for Fedora 13.
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Beta_Freeze_Policy
John
13 years, 12 months
Docs preparing to convert to Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 Unported license
by Ian Weller
Today, the Docs team finalized the conversion of the licensing of our
documentation and project content from the Open Publication License
(OPL) to a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
(CC-BY-SA). Docs originally reached a consensus to change the license in
June 2009, and after answering questions raised by the community, the
Docs team decided to go ahead with the transition.
While OPL is a free and open documentation license, moving to a more
widely known and adopted license and the one used by the likes of
Wikipedia and GNOME Project helps us share our content more easily with
the rest of the Free software community.
Additional information can be found at:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Relicensing_OPL_to_CC_BY_SA
We'd like to thank Tom 'spot' Callaway, Fedora's legal ninja, and
Richard Fontana of Red Hat Legal for their help with the conversion. We
look forward to continue working with the community and share our
documentation freely.
--
Ian Weller <ian(a)ianweller.org>
"Why, a four-year-old could understand this report.
Find me a four-year-old child.
I can't make head or tail out of it." -- Groucho Marx, "Duck Soup"
13 years, 12 months
Heads-up: rb_libtorrent bump (Rawhide), rebuilds required
by Peter Gordon
Hi, all.
I just pushed an update to rb_libtorrent 0.14.16 in rawhide (F13+),
which bumps the library soname from "libtorrent-rasterbar.so.3" to
"libtorrent-rasterbar.so.5".
Because of this change, applications which use this library will need to
be rebuilt. According to repoquery, these are qbittorrent and
springlobby (maintainers CC-ed). I've successfully rebuilt these two
packages locally (from their CVS devel/ branches) with this update
earlier today and did not see any problems, so I don't expect any issues
in updating.
Packages such as Deluge and Miro which use rb_libtorrent through its
Python bindings remain unaffected by this change.
Please let me know if there are any related problems or questions as
they arise.
Thanks.
--
Peter Gordon (codergeek42) <peter(a)thecodergeek.com>
Who am I? :: http://thecodergeek.com/about-me
14 years