Issue #89 of openSUSE Weekly News is now out!

In this week’s issue:

• openSUSE Conference
• Bryen Yunashko: Upcoming Board Elections
• Andreas Jaeger: Build Service Intro
• openSUSE Forums: Switching ext3 to ext4?
• LWN.net/Nathan Willis: Toward a long-term SUSE-based distribution

For a list of available translations see this page:
http://en.opensuse.org/OpenSUSE_Weekly_News/89/Translations.

The openSUSE Project is happy to announce that the openSUSE 11.2 Milestone 7 (M7) is available for download. This release includes GNOME 2.28 beta 2, KDE 4.3.1, RPM 4.7.1, and much more.

This is a Milestone Release, one of several that lead up to the 11.2 final release in November. It may not be suitable for production systems, but is ready for contributors who want to help with testing and development for 11.2. This release is of “beta” quality, and would have been labeled a beta in past openSUSE development cycles.

Changes Since openSUSE 11.2 Milestone 6

Milestone 7 includes an initial version of the YaST2 installer theme, new KDE theming, is built with RPM 4.7.1, and adds the “–download-only” option for several Zypper commands. And, of course, it includes many updated packages:

• Linux kernel 2.6.31-rc9
• Valgrind 3.5
• Samba 3.4.0
• Evolution 2.27.91
• OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 RC 1
• Gwibber 1.2

A more complete list can be found on the wiki and an updated list of Factory packages can be found on DistroWatch.

11.2 is looking fantastic. Want screenshots? We’ve got ‘em! Check out the shots here, and/or add your own.

Most Annoying Bugs

As this is a milestone release, 11.2 M7 does contain a few bugs that we know about, but should not stand between courageous contributors and release testing. The big bugs in 11.2 M7 are:

• grub and bootsplash still use 11.1 artwork
• Bug 537343: GNOME live system asks for root password to mount
• Bug 537470: GNOME YaST Control Center cannot be started

You can track the Most Annoying Bugs on the wiki along with 11.2 development.

Testing! Testing! Testing!

As you can see, 11.2 M7 does have a few bugs that we know about — but there may be more lurking somewhere in the release that haven’t been found yet. If you want to make sure 11.2 final is free of Most Annoying Bugs, we’ll need your help finding, reporting, and fixing those hidden bugs.

To learn more about testing openSUSE, visit the Testing pages on the openSUSE wiki. To follow the testing and development process, we suggest that you subscribe to the openSUSE-Factory mailing list, and join the #openSUSE-Factory channel on Freenode to discuss openSUSE development.

Get Milestone 7 Today!

What are you waiting for? Grab the milestone release today! Downloads are available at software.opensuse.org/developer/ now.

Note, if you need to try the live CD on a machine with no CD-ROM drive, you can copy it to a USB key with the following command:

dd if=image.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M

Replace “image.iso” with the name of the ISO image that you have downloaded, and replace “sdX” with the actual device name of your USB drive. Be careful! This will erase the target device, so make sure you have the correct device name and have any vital data backed up!

The next milestone is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2009. A reminder: only one more milestone release is planned for 11.2, followed by two release candidate (RC) releases. See the detailed roadmap on the on the wiki.

From Sep 12 to Sep 13 we will have a power outage in the Nuernberg office.

Downtime is planned from 2009-09-11 20:00 CEST (18:00 UTC) until 2009-09-14 10:00 CEST (08:00 UTC). So it might become a long weekend especially for developers – but we plan to avoid restrictions for endusers during this downtime.

So far, the following services are affected by this downtime:

• Build Service
• Mailing lists
• …and more

Please have a look at the “downtime” wiki page to see the full list of affected hosts.

Not affected:

• news.opensuse.org
• <lang>.opensuse.org (all opensuse wikis)
• forums.opensuse.org
• irc.freenode.net/opensuse* channels
• bugzilla.novell.com
• download.opensuse.org (replacement host)
• software.opensuse.org (search will not work as the buildservice is down)

With kind regards,
Lars (on behalf of the openSUSE-Admins)

Although openSUSE 11.2 is still two months away updated openSUSE 11.1 KDE4 Reloaded images previewing some changes are available now. They are respins of openSUSE 11.1 including KDE 4.3.1, Firefox 3.5 and all the online updates which have been released for openSUSE 11.1.

These installable Live-CDs are useful for people who want to test out KDE 4.3 and users who are doing new installs and want the most recent openSUSE updates straight out of the box, saving a lot of installation time. New in this version is that the images can be also dumped to a USB stick and booted from there.

See the KDE 4.3 announcement for more information on the improvements and new features in KDE 4.3.

Compared to openSUSE 11.1 KDE4 desktop, the images include the latest KDE4 version of applications like Amarok, Digikam, KNetworkManager and the new Qt4-based YaST Control Center. Some additional applications like Choqok, Kompare, Marble and Okteta could be added thanks to a more efficient compression algorithm.

A Note of Caution

Please note that this is not an “official” openSUSE release, and has not undergone the same kind of testing that stable releases receive.

The openSUSE Conference isn’t just an opportunity to work together — it’s also an opportunity to play together. During the conference, we’ll have several activities for attendees to get together and have a lot of fun!

Conference Social Event

Work Hard, Play Harder! – That will be the motto for Thursday Night. We’ll convert part of the Novell Office into Joe’s Tavern and everybody from the conference is invited to join us for some ice-cold Stuff and Flaming Joe’s! The party will get going at 7PM. Food, drinks and entertainment will be provided. See the “How to get there” page on, guess what, how to get there. The Office is also on the Conference Map.

Creative Commons Short Film Nights

Movies free to copy and distribute. Movies that can be shared both with friends and with the Internet community. For many that’s hard to believe, but it’s reality. Thanks to Creative Commons, which is established as both an alternative and a complement to the traditional ways of commercial distribution when it comes to media. The Creative Commons night at the KommKino Nuremberg will show that the CC-model is also working for the distribution of short films. Together with the openSUSE Conference the KommKino will show short movies and music videos licensed under Creative Commons-licenses on Friday and Saturday. Everyone who brings an USB-Stick, external harddrive or notebook will be able to take the movies home. The movies start at 9:15 PM, admission is free. The KommKino is very close to the Main Railway Station. See the Conference Map and the “How to get there” page for directions.

The next openSUSE Project meeting will take place tomorrow (Wednesday September 9th) at 12:00 UTC. See all time zones on the Fixed Time World Clock. As always, the meeting will be held in IRC on the #opensuse-project channel on Freenode.

Please add your topics to the meeting wiki page at:

http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/Project_Meeting_2009-09-09

Please add topics as soon as possible. Also, if you have questions for the meeting, but can’t attend (we know that the meeting times can’t work for everyone) please add them to the agenda as well. We also take live questions, of course.

For more on IRC meetings, see: http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/About.

As always, we meet in #opensuse-project on Freenode. Fire up your favorite IRC client and head over to #opensuse-project.

Not familiar with IRC? A good overview can be found at irchelp.org. This site is not affiliated with openSUSE. For more information on Freenode, see http://freenode.net/.

Wondering what meeting times are? Check the openSUSE Meetings page. All project meetings and team meetings should be listed there.

The openSUSE Project is happy to announce that Lenz Grimmer will be delivering the opening keynote for the first-ever openSUSE Conference. The openSUSE Conference will be held September 17 through September 20 in Nürnberg, Germany. Register today!

Grimmer’s keynote, “Working in a Virtual Community,” This session will talk about the pros and cons of working in a virtual organization, some proven best practices and tools, and how everyone can benefit from this working environment. Grimmer will discuss how to build trust, passion, and self-motivation, and how communities can work in distributed environments.

Leslie Hawthorn, Google’s Program Manager for open source, was originally scheduled to deliver the opening keynote. Due to a schedule conflict, Hawthorn won’t be able to attend the openSUSE Conference. She sends her regrets and hopes to attend an openSUSE event in the near future.

Our closing keynote will be delivered by Gianugo Rabellino, Chief Executive Officer of Sourcesense and member of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF).

The openSUSE Conference is an opportunity for openSUSE contributors to attend talks, workshops, Birds of a Feather sessions, and collaborate together face to face. The conference will be held from September 17 through September 20 in Nürnberg, Germany. Register today to reserve your spot!

The conference will have two daily tracks of pre-planned talks, plus “BarCamp” style tracks for attendees to plan and provide their own content. Scheduled talks include:

• Insights into openSUSE Infrastructure: Klaas Freitag
• News from the GNOME Zoo: Vincent Untz
• Samba @ openSUSE: Lars Müller

Unconference

The openSUSE Conference will also have a major “unconference” component, where talks and sessions can be scheduled in BarCamp format. We’ll have plenty of time for contributors to discuss and work on topics they’re interested in face to face.

Unconference planning is being done on the openSUSE wiki. Want to lead a session? Jump in and edit the wiki!

Register Today!

The conference is less than two weeks away. If you haven’t registered yet, you need to do so today! Registration is at conference.opensuse.org/registration. We’ll accept registrations up to the conference, but space is limited. We also have a limited number of t-shirts on hand. Registered attendees will get preference over unregistered attendees.

Hotels and Getting There

Time is running out to book your hotel for the openSUSE Conference. Limited space is still available in the venue. All registrants should have received information on booking hotel. Registrations are being made through Alexia Henrie (ahenrie at novell.com). More information on hotels and directions can be found on the Web site.

From Sep 12 to Sep 13 we will have a power outage in the Nuernberg office.

Downtime is planned from 2009-09-11 20:00 CEST (18:00 UTC) until 2009-09-14 10:00 CEST (08:00 UTC). So it might become a long weekend especially for developers – but we plan to avoid restrictions for endusers during this downtime.

So far, the following services are affected by this downtime:

• Build Service
• Mailing lists
• …and more

Please have a look at the “downtime” wiki page to see the full list of affected hosts.

Not affected:

• news.opensuse.org
• <lang>.opensuse.org (all opensuse wikis)
• forums.opensuse.org
• irc.freenode.net/opensuse* channels
• bugzilla.novell.com
• download.opensuse.org (replacement host in place)
• static.opensuse.org (replacement host in place)
• software.opensuse.org (search will not work as the buildservice is down)

We plan no replacement for the other services as the downtime is not too large.

We will try to reduce/disable building on build.opensuse.org on Thursday, so all mirrors should have “up-to date” packages over the weekend.

With kind regards,
Lars (on behalf of the openSUSE-Admins)

Extend the web of trust! Take part at the Keysigning Party during openSUSE Conference.

There will be two Keysigning Party sessions during the openSUSE Conference, so everybody has the chance to participate:

1. Thursday 16:45 – 17:30
2. Saturday 16:45 – 17:30

Both sessions will be in the Unconference Track.

If you want to participate, follow the instructions in the openSUSE wiki now!  Deadline for key submissions is Sunday September, 13 at 12:00 UTC.

Thanks to Jan Weber for organizing this!  He needs a volunteer to lead the second session, please contact him if you are interested.

From Sep 12 to Sep 13 we will have a power outage in the Nuernberg office.

Downtime is planned from 2009-09-11 20:00 CEST (18:00 UTC) until 2009-09-14 10:00 CEST (08:00 UTC). So it might become a long weekend especially for developers – but we plan to avoid restrictions for endusers during this downtime.

So far, the following services are affected by this downtime:

• Build Service
• Mailing lists
• …and more

Please have a look at the “downtime” wiki page to see the full list of affected hosts.

Not affected:

• <lang>.opensuse.org (all opensuse wikis)
• forums.opensuse.org
• irc.freenode.net/opensuse* channels
• bugzilla.novell.com

The discussion to host at least download.opensuse.org and static.opensuse.org somewhere else is work in progress. We plan no replacement for the other services as the downtime is not too large.

We will try to reduce/disable building on build.opensuse.org on Thursday, so all mirrors should have “up-to date” packages over the weekend.

With kind regards,
Lars (on behalf of the openSUSE-Admins)