Meat the Beefy Miracle: Announcing the release of Fedora 17 Alpha!
by Dennis Gilmore
Hot dog! The Fedora 17 "Beefy Miracle" Alpha Release is available! This
release offers a preview of some of the best and meatiest free and open
source technology currently under development. Relish in a glimpse of
the future:
http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease
== What is the Alpha release? ==
The Alpha release contains all the bunderful features of Fedora 17 in a
form that anyone can help test. This testing, guided by the Fedora QA
team, helps us target and identify bugs. When these bugs are fixed, we
make a Beta release available. A Beta release is code-complete, and
bears a very strong resemblance to the third and final release. The
final release of Fedora 17 is due in early May.
Frankly, we think Fedora 17 will be the best release ever, but we know
we can't do it without your help. Please take a moment of your time to
download and try out the Alpha and make sure the things that are
important to you are working. If you find a bug, please report it --
every bug you uncover is a chance to improve the experience for millions
of Fedora users worldwide. Together, we can make Fedora a franktastic,
rock-solid distribution. (Read down to the end of this announcement for
more information on how to help.)
== Condiments ==
When we said Beefy, we weren't kidding: an a-bun-dance of condiments,
err, features, are available to help you feed your hunger for the best
in free and open source software. We take pride in our toppings, and in
our fine ingredients; Fedora 17 includes both over- and under-the-bun
improvements that show off the power and flexibility of the advancing
state of free (range) software.
Check out our menu, certain to please a variety of appetites:
<https://fedoraproject.org/w/index.php?title=F17_Alpha_release_announcemen...>
* End Users *
End users will see numerous improvements in Fedora 17.
* GIMP has been updated to the long awaited 2.8 release, with an
a-bun-dant list of new features, such as the single window mode, layer
groups, and on-canvas text editing.
* Improved language and font support: A number of Lohit fonts, enabling
Indian script, have been added, as well as support for Inscript 2 for
keymapping; libpinyin increases pinyin input speed by adding predictive
intelligence.
* Desktops galore! Whether you like your bun covered in GNOME, KDE,
Sugar, or otherwise, we've updated it to the sauciest, tastiest version
available.
<https://fedoraproject.org/w/index.php?title=F17_Alpha_release_announcemen...>
* Systems Administrators *
Serving up hot dogs all day long? Increase your reliability and
versatility with the new enhancements to the clustering stack in Fedora
17. Load balancing and high availability improvements have been made,
allowing systems administrators to deploy Fedora in environments
requiring greater availability and clustered file systems; both Corosync
2.0 and the Pacemaker Cluster Resource Manager 1.1.7 are included. JBoss
Application Server (AS) 7 has also been added to Fedora 17; this fast,
lightweight, and modular application server allows you to run full Java
EE applications.
<https://fedoraproject.org/w/index.php?title=F17_Alpha_release_announcemen...>
* Developers *
Developers can cook up fresh code with the updates and additions of
numerous languages in Fedora 17. Java 7, Ruby 1.9.3, and PHP 5.4 are
just some of the latest-and-greatest; we've also got updates and
additions in the Haskell platform, Erlang, and D, as well as the
addition of the Opa programming language. GCC has been updated to 4.7,
and Fedora 17 has additionally been rebuilt with this new version,
resulting in compiled code improvements.
<https://fedoraproject.org/w/index.php?title=F17_Alpha_release_announcemen...>
* Virtualization *
A a-bun-dance of virtualization features are ready for consumption in
Fedora 17:
* Open vSwitch is a flexible, multi-layer software switch typically used
in virtualization environments as the network switching component in the
hypervisor, providing virtual machines their network connectivity.
* KVM improvements, including the addition of a virtualized PMU
(performance monitoring unit)for guests, and a live block copy features,
allowing an image backing a guest disk to be copied while the guest is
online.
* Virtualization sandboxing provides a new application development
library (libvirt-sandbox) to facilitate the embedding of virtualization.
<https://fedoraproject.org/w/index.php?title=F17_Alpha_release_announcemen...>
* Hot Dogs as a Service (HDaaS) *
Kidding! We couldn't resist jumping into the game with our own acronym.
Seriously, though, we have a frank-tastic variety of cloud technologies
coming in Fedora 17, including the fresh additions of some of the best
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platforms in free and open source
software -- Cloudstack, Eucalyptus, and OpenNebula. OpenStack gets
bumped in Fedora 17 to the Essex release, and other OpenStack features
have been added or updated as well, including Horizon and Quantum, and
the ability to use OpenStack with libguestfs and qpid.
These and many other improvements provide a wide and solid base for
future Fedora releases. This release increases the range of
possibilities for developers and helps Fedora to maintain its position
at the leading edge of free and open source technology.
Ketchup with the full list of features for Fedora 17 here:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/17/FeatureList
We also have nightly composes of alternate spins available here:
http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/
== Issues and Details ==
For more information including common and known bugs, tips on how to
report bugs, and the official release schedule, please refer to the
release notes:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_17_Alpha_release_notes
A shorter list of common bugs can be found here:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F17_bugs
== Contributing ==
Ever wonder how sausage is made? Yeah, we didn't want to know either.
Hot dogs, on the other hand, are glorious creations, and the Alpha
release of Beefy Miracle is yet another fine example of a long line of
solid Alpha releases. We can't do it without you, though. Bug reports
are especially helpful as we move from the hot dog factory to the
finished Beefy Miracle. If you encounter any issues, please report them!
Mustard up the confidence to contribute? Don't worry -- we don't bite!
(Except... tasty, delicious hot dogs. Mmmmmm. Hot dogs.) Fedora is a
fantastic, friendly community, and we have many ways in which you can
contribute, including Documentation, Marketing, Design, QA, Development,
and more.
To learn how to help us cook a better hot dog, visit:
http://join.fedoraproject.org
Thank you, and we hope to see you in the Fedora project!
12 years, 2 months
Fedora 18 Development - orphaned & retired packages
by Bill Nottingham
Just a quick note - now that Fedora 18 development is open, we encourage
mantainers who are planning on orphaning or retiring their packages to do so
as early in the process as possible. That gives other maintainers a longer
runway to fix dependencies and possibly pick up maintenance if they so
desire.
Bill
12 years, 2 months
Fedora 17 Alpha is hereby declared GOLD(en mustard color)!
by Robyn Bergeron
At the F17 Alpha Go/No-Go meeting today, the Fedora 17 Alpha release
(RC4) was declared GOLD, and ready for shipment on February 28, 2012.
GOLD is the color of mustard, and, as you know, mustard indicates
progress. A huge thank you to everyone who made this on-time(!!!) Alpha
release possible. My (occasionally inaccurate) research tells me that
the last time we shipped an Alpha according to schedule was Fedora 10.
That is some excellent progress, in my humble opinion :)
Meeting details can be seen here:
Minutes:
http://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/fedora-meeting-1/2012-02-22/f17_alpha_go...
Minutes (text):
http://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/fedora-meeting-1/2012-02-22/f17_alpha_go...
Log:
http://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/fedora-meeting-1/2012-02-22/f17_alpha_go...
Full minutes are posted below.
RELEASE THE HOT DOGS!
-Robyn
=============================================
#fedora-meeting-1: F17 Alpha Go No-Go Meeting
=============================================
Meeting started by rbergeron at 22:00:00 UTC. The full logs are
available at
http://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/fedora-meeting-1/2012-02-22/f17_alpha_go...
.
Meeting summary
---------------
* Roll Call (rbergeron, 22:00:19)
* tflink is here for QA (rbergeron, 22:00:45)
* nirik here for fesco/devel in some way; dgilmore here for rel-eng
(rbergeron, 22:01:49)
* also present: rbergeron for wranglin', brunowolff for awesomeness
and helpfulness (rbergeron, 22:02:07)
* We are Gathered to Serve a Alpha Taste Test of The Beefy Miracle, and
determine if we are ready to ship said Holiness. (rbergeron,
22:02:43)
* Looking have the blocker list clear:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Current_Release_Blockers (rbergeron,
22:03:09)
* Test Matrices need to be complete (rbergeron, 22:03:17)
* LINK:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Results:Fedora_17_Alpha_RC4_Install
(rbergeron, 22:03:30)
* LINK:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Results:Fedora_17_Alpha_RC4_Desktop
(rbergeron, 22:03:44)
* This will determine if release criteria have been met, if we can
ship. (rbergeron, 22:03:57)
* Release Blocker Review (rbergeron, 22:05:07)
* LINK: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Current_Release_Blockers
(rbergeron, 22:05:16)
* LINK: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=796261 (tflink,
22:06:58)
* LINK: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=796261 (tflink,
22:07:03)
* Bootloader not installed? (F17 Alpha RC4) (tflink, 22:07:18)
* AGREED: - 796261 - RejectedBlocker - This seems to be an isolated
incident since we have several positive results and only the one
negative (tflink, 22:10:30)
* No more remaining blockers for F17 alpha. (rbergeron, 22:10:44)
* Test Matrices (rbergeron, 22:12:04)
* LINK:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Results:Fedora_17_Alpha_RC4_Install
(rbergeron, 22:12:19)
* LINK:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Results:Fedora_17_Alpha_RC4_Desktop
(rbergeron, 22:12:22)
* remaining failures on test cases for alpha are not blockers (related
to creation of usb media; issue is with livecd-tools and not alpha
itself, should have a new build in the next few days) (rbergeron,
22:13:57)
* AGREED: Test Matrices are acceptably complete, given livecd-tools
fix coming, things look great and we have many other install methods
working properly. (rbergeron, 22:16:32)
* The Hot Dog Looks Tasty and Ready. Can we ship F17 Alpha? (rbergeron,
22:17:05)
* AGREED: All criteria for shipping F17 alpha are met; QA, rel-eng,
devel are prepared to ship on tuesday. (rbergeron, 22:20:45)
* AGREED: F17 Alpha RC4 is accepted as Alpha! (rbergeron, 22:21:23)
* Thanks to everyone for an on-time Alpha release, you rock! RELEASE
THE HOT DOGS! (rbergeron, 22:22:17)
* ACTION: rbergeron to send out GOLD announcement and meeting logs
(rbergeron, 22:22:34)
* Any other business? (rbergeron, 22:22:40)
Meeting ended at 22:24:50 UTC.
Action Items
------------
* rbergeron to send out GOLD announcement and meeting logs
Action Items, by person
-----------------------
* rbergeron
* rbergeron to send out GOLD announcement and meeting logs
* **UNASSIGNED**
* (none)
People Present (lines said)
---------------------------
* rbergeron (65)
* tflink (20)
* adamw (14)
* dgilmore (7)
* nirik (6)
* brunowolff (5)
* zodbot (5)
* satellit_ (3)
* jsmith (1)
Generated by `MeetBot`_ 0.1.4
.. _`MeetBot`: http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot
12 years, 2 months
Fedora Engineering "Open House" IRC Meeting - Thursday, February 23, 2012 - 1800 UTC
by Tom Callaway
Apologies in advance for the wide distribution of this message.
The Fedora Engineering team is holding an "Open House" IRC meeting on
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 18:00 UTC (12:00 PM EST). This will be a
moderated meeting in which we will briefly present the upcoming projects
for the Fedora Engineering team, then take questions, suggestions, and
feedback from the Fedora Community. The meeting will take place in
#fedora-meeting on irc.freenode.net, and it will be logged.
We will be following the Fedora Meeting Protocol, which is documented
here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_use_IRC#Meeting_Protocol
In case you have not heard of Fedora Engineering, the short answer is
that we are the team at Red Hat made up of people who work full-time on
improving Fedora and ensuring it has a robust and useful infrastructure.
The longer answer can be found here:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Engineering
Our proposed projects and goals for the next year are documented here:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Engineering/FY13_Plan
In the spirit of transparency and community, we would like to encourage
all Fedora community members (whether users, testers, writers, artists,
translators, ambassadors, packagers, or any other type of contributor)
to come and meet the team and learn about our plans for the next year.
Thanks,
Tom Callaway
Fedora Engineering Manager
12 years, 2 months
Fedora 17 Mass branching
by Dennis Gilmore
We have completed mass branching for Fedora 17 you now need make sure
that you build things for Fedora 17 from the f17 branch, master is now
for Fedora 18.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/17/Schedule We have the Alpha
Change Freeze On Feb 14th this means that we will land f17-candidate
builds to land in f17 until then. Bodhi updates will be enabled on
February 14.
Feature Freeze has passed and all features need to be testable for TC2.
Any feature that is invasive and intended for Fedora 18 should be
landing ASAP now.
Releng
12 years, 2 months
Translation
by Noriko Mizumoto
Fedora packages maintainers
It is Software String Freeze on 14th February next week Tuesday.
>From this point, Fedora translators for over 40 languages exert every
possible effort to complete software translation 100%.
So please make sure that your package's latest translatable file is
pushed/uploaded and available at Transifex BY THIS DATE.
Silent string freeze break can cost translation task. If it needs to
happen please tell us at trans at lists, so that we can address it.
Thanks
noriko
Fedora Localization Project
12 years, 2 months
python-sqlite2 retirement/orphaning
by Toshio Kuratomi
In cleaning up some half-retired packages yesterday, we discovered that
the python-sqlite2 maintainer wishes to retire the package. There are a few
packages that depend on it but after reviewing the history and the code of
the packages, I think that it is reasonably safe to let this go ahead.
Historically, there was a python-sqlite module. This version is not required
by any of the code we ship now. It was replaced by python-sqlite2 (in
python, this is import pysqlite2). In python-2.5, this library entered the
python stdlib as sqlite3 (import sqlite3). The pysqlite2 library continues
to be released outside of the stdlib, mainly so that people who want to get
changes to the module (perhaps bugfixes or optimizations) at a faster rate
than the python stdlib's release cycle are able to.
In Fedora, there are several packages that have an explicit:
Requires: python-sqlite2
I've reviewed the code for all of them and discovered that most will try to
import sqlite3 from the stdlib if pysqlite2 is not present. Likely, these
just need to have the Requires: python-sqlite2 removed and the package is
then rebuilt:
* anki
* supybot-gribble
* bibus
* conduit
* firmware-extract
* gourmet
* griffith
* hamster-applet
* mysql-workbench
* python-tg-devtools
* python-sqlobject
* roundup
* sigul
* transifex
* trytond-sqlite
* yokadi
* python-keystone
There is one package that actually has a code dependency on pysqlite2. I've
submitted a patch and asked someone I know who uses the package to test it:
* plague https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=788189
There are two packages that have a requirement on sqlite but don't actually
have any code that uses it:
* synce-sync-engine -- Looks like it may have at one time but has been ported
to a lighterweight, internal, picklable data struct instead.
* poky-depends -- This is supposed to be a metapackage:
The poky-depends is to ensure all the required packages are installed to
build poky images. Please note that this only installs the dependency
packages.
If you want to build images, you will need to download Poky. Please refer:
http://pokylinux.org/getit/
http://pokylinux.org/support/
I'll have to talk to the poky-depends maintainer to find out if the poky
upstream works with sqlite3 from the stdlib since we aren't actually
shipping the poky code... just this package that installs the
dependencies.
If it seems acceptable to everyone involved, I'll go ahead and modify and
rebuild the packages in the first group for F17/rawhide. I'll continue to
work on porting plague and contact the maintainers of synce-sync-engine and
poky-depends to see if it's okay to remove their deps. Once all that's
done, I'll finish up the retire package process for the python-sqlite2
maintainer.
If people want to keep the python-sqlite2 package around, I'd strongly
suggest they volunteer to take over maintainance of the package so the
current maintainer can release ownership to them.
Thanks,
-Toshio
12 years, 2 months
Fedora 17 Feature Freeze is TOMORROW, February 7.
by Robyn Bergeron
A friendly reminder as we move towards a miraculous, beefy release:
* Feature freeze is tomorrow, February 7, 2012. At this point, all
accepted features should be substantially complete, and testable.
Additionally, if a feature is to be enabled by default, it must be so
enabled at Feature Freeze.
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Feature_Freeze_Policy
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy/Milestones#Feature_Freeze
If you are a FEATURE OWNER:
* The percentage of completion on your feature's wiki page should
reflect your current progress. Feature pages should be updated *at
least* monthly.
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy/Status
* Features which do not appear to be substantially complete will be sent
to FESCo for review as to whether or not they should continue to be
listed as a release feature. Your feature's wiki page status and
indication of progress is what determines whether or not it will be sent
to FESCo.
Please, for the love of Beefy, UPDATE YOUR PAGES. There are 62 features
(!!!!) currently slated for F17. Updating your feature page's completion
percentage, along with the date that you updated your page, prevents me
from having to relentlessly beg you all individually via e-mail to do
the same thing. :)
If you have questions, concerns, flames, or winning lottery tickets
which will prevent you from completing your feature, please don't
hesitate to contact me.
-Robyn
12 years, 2 months
