Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 813

Ubuntu Weekly News
1

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 813 for the week of November 5 - 11, 2023.

In this Issue

  • Responses Needed: Flavor Participation for 24.04 LTS
  • Welcome New Members and Developers
  • Ubuntu Stats
  • Hot in Support
  • Ubuntu India Local Community (Ubuntu-In)
  • LoCo Events
  • Working with the new Mir “graphics platform” APIs
  • Rockcraft 1.0.0
  • Debconf 23 Video: Adulting
  • Ubuntu 23.10 InstallFest @University of Macedonia
  • Ubuntu Summit 2023 was a success
  • qqc2-breeze5-style 6 Alpha
  • Oxygen Icons 6 Alpha Released
  • Other Community News
  • Ubuntu Cloud News
  • Canonical News
  • In the Press
  • In the Blogosphere
  • In Other News
  • Other Articles of Interest
  • Featured Audio and Video
  • Meeting Reports
  • Upcoming Meetings and Events
  • Updates and Security for 20.04, 22.04, 23.04 and 23.10
  • And much more!

General Community News

Responses Needed: Flavor Participation for 24.04 LTS

Simon Quigley (on behalf of the Ubuntu Release team), in addressing the Ubuntu flavors, provides links to his initial mailing-list post, plus a later updated post from Utkarsh Gupta. The flavors are asked to confirm participation in the upcoming 24.04 LTS release. Also mentioned is a reminder that two representatives need to be provided as flavor contacts, plus details of the LTS Qualification Process with the Ubuntu Technical Board. Links are provided.

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/responses-needed-flavor-participation-for-24-04-lts/40075

Welcome New Members and Developers

Congratulations to these contributors!

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

  • Open: 143209 (+150)
  • Critical: 318 (-1)
  • Unconfirmed: 72128 (+121)

As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

Translations

  • Ukrainian: 87.37% (40173/1025)
  • German: 86.47% (43050/91)
  • French: 82.33% (56232/7108)
  • Spanish: 80.22% (62942/4948)
  • Swedish: 77.54% (71443/840)

Hot in Support

Ask Ubuntu Top 5 Questions

Ask (and answer!) questions at: https://askubuntu.com/

Ubuntu Forums Top 5 Threads

Find more support at: https://ubuntuforums.org/

LoCo News

Ubuntu India Local Community (Ubuntu-In)

Aryan Kaushik posts about Ubuntu India which is being re-established. The two team leaders are listed, and the team telegram channel is given, plus we’re told more resources are being created.

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/ubuntu-india-local-community-ubuntu-in/39994

LoCo Events

The following LoCo team events are currently scheduled in the next two weeks:

  • Arizona LoCo: Virtual Installfest/Linux Workshop - 18 November, 1000-1600 - Big Blue Button, https://bbb.azloco.net (co-hosted with the Phoenix Linux User Group)
  • Ubuntu Catalan LoCo: Ubuntu 23.10 Release Party - November 18 - Tarragonès
  • Ubuntu Korea LoCo: Ubuntu 23.10 Release Party + InstallFest - November 18, 14:00 ~ 18:00 (UTC+9) - Busan
  • Arizona LoCo: Team Meeting - 19 November, 2100-2130 - irc.libera.chat, channel ubuntu.us.az

Looking beyond the next two weeks? Visit the respective LoCo Team calendar to browse upcoming events.

Please see:

The Hub

Working with the new Mir “graphics platform” APIs

Alan Griffiths reminds us of the Mir graphics platform APIs being reworked. We’re told some feature-flags were disabled because of reported issues, with some of these ready to change later this month. Next we’re told of a new ‘virtual display’ platform, and given examples of where it may be useful, then told of a presentation of Miriway given at Ubuntu Summit.

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/working-with-the-new-mir-graphics-platform-apis/40041

Rockcraft 1.0.0

Tiago Nobrega tells us Rockcraft 1.0.0 is ‘live’, and gives thanks to all contributors. We’re also told “Rockcraft will now follow the same stability expectations of the other Craft applications”.

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/rockcraft-1-0-0/40036

Debconf 23 Video: Adulting

Ian Weisser provides a link to the Debconf 23 Video of the “Adulting” talk given by Debian developer Enrico Zini. Ian describes the video a “best pragmatic look at community needs and individual community member growth that I have seen in years”, and asks if it’s useful for the Ubuntu community as well. This post is intended to start a discussion.

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/debconf-23-video-adulting/40049

Ubuntu 23.10 InstallFest @University of Macedonia

Efstathios Iosifidis gives us details of a Ubuntu 23.10 InstallFest, including time/date, location and details. This post is in Greek.

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/ubuntu-23-10-installfest-university-of-macedonia/40052

The Planet

Ubuntu Summit 2023 was a success

Alan Pope gives us a “tl;dr” summary of the Ubuntu Summit 2023 as “a great, well-organised and run event with interesting speakers”. We’re then given a detailed “trip report” and a conclusion.

https://popey.com/blog/2023/11/ubuntu-summit-2023-was-a-success/

qqc2-breeze5-style 6 Alpha

Jonathan Esk-Riddell posts about qqc2-breeze5-style being “a theme used by Plasma Mobile” which has been re-bundled for use by distros so (alpha) Plasma 6 desktops using Qt5 apps are “themed appropriately”.

https://jriddell.org/2023/11/08/qqc2-breeze5-style-6-alpha/

Oxygen Icons 6 Alpha Released

Another post by Jonathan Esk-Riddell reports the release of Oxygen Icons 6 alpha, which is expected to be released fully in February 2024. We’re told no more pre-final releases are expected, with this a replacement for the prior version that was released with KDE Frameworks 5.

https://jriddell.org/2023/11/08/oxygen-icons-6-alpha-released/

Other Community News

KDE’s 6th Megarelease - Alpha

This KDE Project press release announces the Alpha release of KDE’s 6th Megarelease. We’re told it will include KDE Plasma 6, KDE Gear, KDE Frameworks 6, and using Qt6. Details on contributing are included, including how to report any discovered bugs, along with reminders of what alpha software is and thus the warnings, and more.

https://kde.org/announcements/kdes-6th-megarelease-alpha/

Ubuntu Cloud News

Canonical News

In the Press

Microsoft surprised the Linux community by attending the Ubuntu Summit 2023

We’re reminded of details of the Ubuntu Summit 2023 in Riga Latvia, and told Microsoft was there too. We’re told Microsoft is aiming for greater collaboration with open source communities, and told of the workshops presented by Microsoft.

https://nationworldnews.com/microsoft-surprised-the-linux-community-by-attending-the-ubuntu-summit-2023/

Canonical reveals more details about Ubuntu Core Desktop

Liam Proven reminds us a new Ubuntu LTS release is only a few months away, which will include a new immutable desktop release. Liam tells us Canonical revealed more details of the new Ubuntu Core Desktop at the Ubuntu Summit 2023 in Riga Latvia, and provides an overview of what we’ll likely see. A discussion is also provided contrasting it to other offerings from SUSE’s and Red Hat’s efforts, and why it may be superior.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/08/ubuntu_core_desktop_details/

Canonical shows how to use Snaps without the Snap Store

Liam Proven writes about Snap packaging, and notes many details about it that are commonly repeated are little more than FUD. We’re told the Reg FOSS desk talked with Ubuntu developer advocate Igor Ljubuncic at the Ubuntu Summit 2023, with this article attempting to address the “fallacies” around Snap and its tooling. These details include how we can download a snap package, then install it on various machines, control the built-in update mechanism, and more.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/10/snap_without_ubuntu_tools/

In the Blogosphere

Ubuntu: The Flagship Distro of the Linux World

Bobby Borisov explores the Ubuntu distribution of Linux. We’re reminded of what Ubuntu is, the history, Canonical’s involvement, Ubuntu products and more. This is a reasonably concise summary for those that want an introduction about Ubuntu.

https://linuxiac.com/ubuntu/

Intel’s TDX Tech Preview Now available on Ubuntu 23.10

Mehedi Hasan writes a little about Intel’s Trust Domain Extensions (TDX), which will be available as a preview in Ubuntu 23.10. We’re given some details of TDX, and told to expect everything should be available in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

https://www.ubuntupit.com/intels-tdx-tech-preview-now-available-on-ubuntu-23-10/

Ubuntu Touch OTA-3 Out Now with OTA Support for PinePhone and PineTab Devices

Marius Nestor reports the UBports Foundation has released “Ubuntu Touch 20.04 OTA-3 as the latest stable version of this Ubuntu-based privacy and freedom-respecting mobile operating system for smartphones and tablets”. We’re given details of what is in this release, and what devices it’s available for.

https://9to5linux.com/ubuntu-touch-ota-3-out-now-with-ota-support-for-pinephone-and-pinetab-devices

In Other News

Highly invasive backdoor snuck into open source packages targets developers

Dan Goodin writes that “invasive malware targeting software developers is once again circulating in Trojanized code libraries”. Some details of the “pyobfgood” tool is given, including what it maliciously did to developers who used it. Details of some other malware (all of which had “pyobf” at the start of the name) is provided. The US appears to have been the primary target and a check to reveal if one has been targeted is provided. Links are provided for greater details.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/11/developers-targeted-with-malware-that-monitors-their-every-move/

Featured Audio and Video

Ubuntu AI | S1, Ep 7: Data for AI

“In this episode we’re talking about the Data in AI. We have a special guest, together with whom we’re discussing how to manage data with AI, how to make collaboration easier, and in general: how to deal with data for the good of the business”

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4BvS9htliHDHUBoD3YjrFR?si=8b487ba61d0c4b9d&nd=1

Canonical Ubuntu: Trusted open source for everyone

“Since 2004, Canonical has worked closely with the open source community to deliver Ubuntu, the most popular OS in the public cloud, known for its reliability and ease of use. Today, Canonical extends the principles behind Ubuntu to a wider portfolio of open source products. Our footprint spans from the smallest devices to the largest clouds and from the kernel to data fabric and AI solutions. With customers that include top tech brands, emerging startups, governments and home users, Canonical delivers trusted open source for everyone.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T55PXmsD9mo

Ubuntu Portugal Podcast: Episode 273 - A Cimeira Que Interessa

“O Miguel foi apanhado de surpresa por problemas relacionados com lítio e anuncia a sua demissão de Ubuntu Touch; apesar do choque, consternação e surpresa, o povo juntou-se em apoteose na Estação de Santa Apolónia, de cravos na mão, para acolher o regresso triunfal de Diogo Constantino, de volta de uma importante Cimeira na Letónia! Rodeado de coroas de flores, bandas filarmónicas e beijos cheios de cuspo, comunicou num breve mas contundente discurso, tudo o que viu e aprendeu no grande Congresso da Internacional Ubuntista! Viva Diogo! Viva Ubuntu! Viva a Liberdade!”

https://podcastubuntuportugal.org/e272/

Meeting Reports

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Times shown are UTC. For more details and farther dates please visit: https://fridge.ubuntu.com/calendars/

Updates and Security for 20.04, 22.04, 23.04 and 23.10

Security Updates

Ubuntu 20.04 Updates

End of Standard Support: April 2025

Ubuntu 22.04 Updates

End of Standard Support: April 2027

Ubuntu 23.04 Updates

End of Life: January 2024

Ubuntu 23.10 Updates

End of Life: July 2024

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Archive

For recent issues of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter (Issue 786 & later) please visit: https://discourse.ubuntu.com/c/uwn/124 and older issues (809 and earlier) available at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Archive

Further News

As always you can find more Ubuntu news and announcements at:

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter.

See you next week!

Credits

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

  • Krytarik Raido
  • Bashing-om
  • Chris Guiver
  • Wild Man
  • Simon Quigley
  • And many others

Glossary of Terms

Other acronyms can be found at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/glossary

Get Involved

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