Arch Linux Newsletter

Summary

Welcome to the Arch Linux Newsletter. This document attempts to give you an "at a glance" look at the world of Arch Linux.

Table Of Contents

Front Page News

1. UPDATE: kernel 2.6.17 series in testing, big changes
   
   kernel 2.6.17rc6 launched to testing!
   Changes:
   - replaces kernel24 and kernel24-scsi
   - switches to mkinitcpio, mkinitrd is still there
   Known broken modules:
   - ivtv
   If you find a way to compile the modules, inform us to safe us work :)
   
   Notes on mkinitcpio:
   It's the successor of mkinitrd script, if you don't know what it is and how it works please look at the wiki:
   Click here
   it explains how it works, it should come with decent default config, though it hasn't been tested much so please fill bug reports if you find bugs.
   You have to change your bootloader to use it by default, as mentioned while installing.
   
   We will leave this stuff for a long period in this stage to smash all bugs until moving it to mkinitcpio only setup.
   
   Thanks for your help in finding bugs.
   
   
2. Arch CDs for sale
   
   Though Arch CDs have long been available for purchase from third-party linux vendors, this is the first time that Arch has actually teamed up with a vendor to sell CDs.
   
   From now on, if you buy an Arch CD from OSDisc.com, the Arch Linux project will receive a cut.
   
   Click here to purchase one, or click the "Get a CD" link on your right.
   
   Thanks!
   
   
3. NEW nforce/nvidia/nvidia-legacy went to extra
   
   nvidia/nvidia-legacy:
   you were first asked to remove either nvidia or nvidia-legacy package.
   answer with y
   then ask yourself what kernel do I use?
   - for kernel26 do pacman -S nvidia
   - for kernel26-beyond do pacman -S nvidia-beyond
   - custom kernel users, build your kernel module by abs/cvs
   you need to package it now yourself, like any other extra module.
   (if you use legacy driver add always -legacy behind nvidia example)
   nforce:
   nforce custom kernel users please build it now on your own
   
   It's now a clean solution for all of us, custom kernel users have to change to own build, so be aware of that.
   
   
4. GNUTLS and DB updates in testing
   
   If things weren't bad enough with OpenSSL, glibc and gcc already, GNUTLS and DB will get updated to 1.4.0 and 4.4.x also, which means many applications will break. If you don't know how to handle these things and if you depend on your system, you should disable testing for a while until the big transitions are done.
   
   

Devland

1. Not a whole lot new in devland. Just a lot of package updates.

Forum Highlights

1. CyRiX_BlAcK wanted opinions on a taskbar app for updates.
2. user suggested a compile farm setup.
3. Dusty informed everyone of a self-written python text editor.
4. mdv was looking for a disk encryption tool.

Mailing List Highlights

1. A script was made in order to help find packages needing a rebuild with the new changes in testing.
2. An attempt to track down sound problems.
3. Solving of a privilege problem in makepkg.

Package Highlights

• Numerous changes continue on inside testing.

FAQ

Q: What is the difference between AUR, COMMUNITY, and UNSUPPORTED?

A: AUR(Arch User Repository) is the name of the whole new system which is maintained by the TUs(Trusted Users). It lets anybody that signs up to upload PKGBUILDs to UNSUPPORTED but only TUs have access to COMMUNITY which is a binary repo that you can use with Pacman.

Q: Why aren't all packages in UNSUPPORTED added to COMMUNITY?

A: There are several reasons for that. The most important is that the package hasn't got many votes. It's also important that you vote for packages that already are in COMMUNITY, otherwise they could be disowned by the TUs and moved to UNSUPPORTED. Other reasons could be that the package is unmaintained upstream or has a licensing problem. Last but not least, no TU wants to do it.

Archstats

To Participate, visit: http://www.archlinux.org/~simo/archstats

Number of registered systems: 693
Longest recorded uptime: 476 days, 3 hours, 29 minutes, 25 seconds.
Average uptime: 12 days, 19 hours, 19 minutes, 13 seconds.
Average installed packages: 426
Average system memory: 714MB
Lowest Bogomips: 266.13
Average Bogomips: 3531.63
Highest Bogomips: 6811.60

Seti@Home

To Participate, visit: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/team_display.php?teamid=116975

Members: 28
Total credit: 309,530.12

folding@Home

Arch Linux Team Page
Extended Team Statistics

Team Number: 45032
Members: 58
Score: 650209
Ranking: 568 of 44336

Bugs

• AUR: Closed 8 - Opened 5
• Arch: Closed 84 - Opened 76

Closing

That's it for this time folks. If you have any opinions on the newsletter or have some things you wanna add, just send us a mail and we'll look into it.
Very best regards / Team Arch