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. Official Arch64 install cd available
   
   The Arch64 project has been working for over a year getting Archlinux to work on the x86_64 platform. Now they've released their first official install cd. Go to their project page and give it a try!
   
   
2. ipw2x00 package rename to ipw2x00-fw
   
   Renamed the packages so that they represent the correct content. Those packages only contain firmware and no modules anymore. Modules are in stock kernel included.
   
   
3. Broken alsa oss emulation in kernel 2.6.16.1-5/-6
   
   Sorry folks the last alsa patch introduced a weird upstream bug that could cause weird hangs or sound issues. oss emulation is broken in 2.6.16.1-5/-6 please update to 2.6.16.1-7 that includes a fix for that.
   
   

Devland

1. IPv6 was made a module. So far, no one seems to have complained...
2. It looks like the newest version of glibc 2.4 doesn't even support linuxthreads anymore. This means that the 2.4 kernel won't work when we upgrade. So far no one has any good suggestions, so if you do feel free to tell one of the developers.

Forum Highlights

1. ody made a script in case anyone wants to undo the optimization script.
2. jinn was curious about the status of Xorg 7.1 because of the release of Xorg 7.1RC1.
3. PJ made some themes for various login managers.
4. jfryman voiced some opinions on how to improve security in Arch Linux.

Mailing List Highlights

1. Discussion on a possible way for graphical boot without a special kernel patch.
2. The anwser to using Pacman "replaces" field properly.
3. The meaning of a common suspend2 informational message.

Package Highlights

• With many major packages updated, more focus was set on smaller individual packages.
• gawk is now located in base as an AWK interpreter instead of mawk.

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: 728
Longest recorded uptime: 496 days, 9 hours, 22 minutes, 38 seconds.
Average uptime: 12 days, 17 hours, 9 minutes, 55 seconds.
Average installed packages: 521
Average system memory: 668MB
Lowest Bogomips: 266.12
Average Bogomips: 3554.79
Highest Bogomips: 6914.04

Seti@Home

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

Members: 21
Total credit: 236,931.89

folding@Home

Arch Linux Team Page

Team Number: 45032
Members: 46
Score: 442274
Ranking: 703 of 43708

Bugs

• AUR: Closed 0 - Opened 1
• Arch: Closed 88 - Opened 134

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