- Arch-dev-public - lists.archlinux.org

Arch Linux in August 2024
by Levente Polyak 18 Sep '24

18 Sep '24

## Staff We would like to welcome [Quentin Michaud][0] as part of the Arch Linux Package Maintainer team. ## RFC A previously proposed [Distribution Developer Manual RFC][1] has been accepted with the intention to document how to run the distribution while leveraging GitLab's collaboration features and streamlined workflows for maintaining and evolving the resulting specifications. We have proposed an [RFC to license all Arch Linux package sources][2] under the terms of the Zero-Clause BSD license. We have proposed an [RFC to streamline the writing and publishing of RFCs][3] by relying on markdown and dedicated spellcheckers and linters. ## archinstall We have released [archinstall up to v2.8.6][4], featuring Limine configuration changes, optimized mirror listing including improved handling of speed tests, and several bug fixes. These updates also add support for Catalan translation. ## Infrastructure We have deployed Tempo as an APM (Application Performance Monitoring) within our infrastructure and connected it as a data source in Grafana. The first integration has been implemented in AURWeb, allowing us to trace individual requests and database queries for better performance insights. Furthermore we enabled the [body Sieve extension in Dovecot][5] for our staff, allowing for more advanced email filtering as well as rolled out HTTP/3 for several of our services. ## Packaging ### Ruby We have successfully rebuilt all relevant packages for Ruby 3.2.4 including collaborative effort to make packages ready for the new interpreter version. Ruby 3.2.4 is now available in the official repositories. ### Statistics In this month, we’ve successfully rolled out 4797 package updates addressing various enhancements and rebuilds, including 2354 package upgrades. Additionally, we’ve received 163 new package issues, while resolving a total of 131 issues. [0]: https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/aur-general@lists.archlinux.org/t… [1]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/21 [2]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/40 [3]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/43 [4]: https://github.com/archlinux/archinstall/releases/tag/v2.8.6 [5]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/infrastructure/-/merge_requests/862

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Arch Linux in July 2024
by Levente Polyak 18 Sep '24

18 Sep '24

## Pacman [Pacman v7.0.0][0] has been released as a major feature version. A new `DownloadUser` configuration option allows for dropping privileges when downloading files to a temporary directory. On top of this security measure, the new Landlock sandbox also prevents writing outside the restricted download directory. Additionally, `makepkg` removes `GITFLAGS` support, as it required breaking changes to git source handling. Furthermore this release addresses unstable git checksumming influenced by specific user configuration. On top, it now prevents `PKGBUILD` from overriding `BUILDENV` to avoid undesired side effects. ## ArchWeb We have released [ArchWeb 2024-07-29][1], featuring improvements in rebuilderd integration for reproducible builds status, enhanced caching for several pages, and implementation of a Django Prometheus exporter for better monitoring inside our Grafana dashboards. ## ArchISO [ArchISO v79][2] is a minor update that introduces reproducibility for the ext4 image, thanks to improvements related to `tune2fs`. ## infrastructure ArchWeb now exports Prometheus metrics via the `/metrics` endpoint, including request duration data. We are now scraping the endpoint and added visualization in our Grafana dashboards. ## SPI We have drafted a project status update highlighting our major achievements and key focus areas for the [2023 Annual SPI Report][3]. ## Packaging ### Statistics In this month, we’ve successfully rolled out 6084 package updates addressing various enhancements and rebuilds, including 2476 package upgrades. Additionally, we’ve received 200 new package issues, while resolving a total of 143 issues. [0]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/pacman/pacman/-/releases/v7.0.0 [1]: https://github.com/archlinux/archweb/releases/tag/release_2024-07-29 [2]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archiso/-/tags/v79 [3]: https://www.spi-inc.org/corporate/annual-reports/2023.pdf

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Arch Linux in June 2024
by Levente Polyak 18 Sep '24

18 Sep '24

## archinstall The [archinstall v2.8.1][0] update has been released, featuring several bug fixes and improvements to partitioning and desktop profiles, along with the introduction of experimental LVM support and the addition of Finnish translation. ## ArchWeb [ArchWeb 2024-06-12][1] has been rolled out, which includes an update to Django's latest major version, Django 5.0 as well as small improvements within our Ruff configuration used as our Python linter. ## devtools We have released [devtools v1.2.1][2], which includes several small bug fixes as well as the ability in `mkarchroot` to specify a file destination inside the chroot and support for bind mounting a tmpfs with `makechrootpkg`. ## bugbuddy We have released [bugbuddy v0.3.0][3], our GitLab bot, which now automatically assigns security team members when the `scope::security` label is set for any issues or merge requests. ## Packaging ### Ruby We have completed the bootstrapping of Ruby 3.2.4 and will now begin the initial migration work toward its full release. ### Statistics In this month, we’ve successfully rolled out 4054 package updates addressing various enhancements and rebuilds, including 2259 package upgrades. Additionally, we’ve received 197 new package issues, while resolving a total of 183 issues. [0]: https://github.com/archlinux/archinstall/releases/tag/v2.8.1 [1]: https://github.com/archlinux/archweb/releases/tag/release_2024-06-12 [2]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/devtools/-/releases/v1.2.1 [3]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/bugbuddy/-/releases/v0.3.0

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Arch Linux in May 2024
by Levente Polyak 18 Sep '24

18 Sep '24

## Staff We would like to welcome [Bert Peters][0] (bertptrs) as well as [Giovanni Harting][1] (anonfunc) as part of the Arch Linux Package Maintainer team. ## RFC An [RFC has been accepted][2] to introduce "Arch Linux Ports" as testbed for unofficial architectures until they are integrated in the main Arch Linux repositories. ## devtools We have released [devtools v1.2.0][3], featuring several new enhancements and improvements. This release includes distro flag changes, notably the addition of `no-omit-frame-pointer` flags and `_FORTIFY_SOURCE` level 3. A new `pkgctl version setup` command has been implemented to automatically detect and configure nvchecker. We also added `pkgctl repo clean` which allows for the removal of untracked files. `arch-nspawn` now supports Pacman `CacheServer`, and offload building fetches logs from the remote server, making debugging easier for packagers. Additionally, `pkgctl release` now ensures split package uploads are released as a single batch, fixing a race condition when releasing in parallel. ## mkinitcpio We have released [mkinitcpio v39][4], featuring various improvements and fixes. The use of global variables for retrieving cmdline parameters is now deprecated, and hook authors should update their hooks to use the getarg function. This release also adds support for ARM zImage and introduces a new `acpi_override` hook for ACPI table upgrades and overrides. Additionally, `lsinitcpio` now supports listing, analyzing, and extracting UKIs. ## AurWeb We have released [AurWeb v6.2.10][5], which includes several improvements such as adding a maximum limit for comment length. Additionally, all application dependencies have been updated, and leftover mentions of `[community]` have been replaced with `[extra]`. ## ArchISO We have released [ArchISO v78][6], which includes several improvements and bug fixes. Notable changes include fixing the check for microcode update files in initramfs images and formatting the EFI system partition as FAT32 with a reduced size of 36 MiB, down from 512 MiB. ## Infrastructure We have added GitLab packages for pacman at [pacman.archlinux.page][7], which now serves as the new homepage for our package manager. ## ArchWeb We have released [ArchWeb 2024-05-02][9], featuring minor HTML fixes and an updated bootstrap tarball extension to align with ArchISO v77's switch from gzip to zstd compression. Additionally, this release includes compatibility dependency updates for Python 3.12. ## Gluebuddy [Gluebuddy v0.6.2][8], our infrastructure automation tool, now allows external contributors to remain part of our GitLab group without being automatically offboarded. ## Packaging ### Statistics In this month, we’ve successfully rolled out 5383 package updates addressing various enhancements and rebuilds, including 2604 package upgrades. Additionally, we’ve received 285 new package issues, while resolving a total of 323 issues. [0]: https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/aur-general@lists.archlinux.org/t… [1]:https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/aur-general@lists.archlinux.or… [2]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/32 [3]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/devtools/-/releases/v1.2.0 [4]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/mkinitcpio/mkinitcpio/-/releases/v39 [5]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/aurweb/-/tags/v6.2.10 [6]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archiso/-/tags/v78 [7]: https://pacman.archlinux.page/ [8]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/gluebuddy/-/releases/v0.6.2 [9]: https://github.com/archlinux/archweb/releases/tag/release_2024-05-11

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Arch Linux in April 2024
by Levente Polyak 18 Sep '24

18 Sep '24

## Staff ### Project Leader Election Recently, we held our [Arch Linux Project Leader][0] election, and the current Project Leader, Levente "anthraxx" Polyák, was the sole nominee. As per our election rules, he has been re-elected for another term. Congratulations to Levente, and we wish him continued success in his leadership! ## RFC An [RFC has been accepted][1] to grant all Arch Linux staff members, not limited to those in packaging roles, the privilege to initiate RFCs directly, aligning with the broad range of topics these documents encompass. ## archinstall [Archinstall v2.8.0][2] has been released, bringing various fixes and improvements, including enhancements in microcode handling, partitioning, and an increase in ESP size to 1 GiB. ## ArchISO We have released [ArchISO v77][3], which adds a Memtest86+ boot entry for systemd-boot. Additionally, this version now uses mkinitcpio's microcode hook instead of external microcode images and switches the UEFI boot loader from GRUB to systemd-boot. ## ArchWeb We have released [ArchWeb 2024-04-28][4], introducing the ability for packagers to easily add notes to Todo lists via our HedgeDoc instance. Additionally, references to external microcode images have been removed, as ArchISO v77 now includes microcode within the single initramfs. ## Packaging ### Python We have successfully bootstrapped Python 3.12 and rebuilt all relevant packages including collaborative effort to make packages ready for the new interpreter version. Python 3.12.3 is now available in the official repositories. ### Statistics In this month, we’ve successfully rolled out 7186 package updates addressing various enhancements and rebuilds, including 2335 package upgrades. Additionally, we’ve received 282 new package issues, while resolving a total of 265 issues. [0]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/DeveloperWiki:Project_Leader [1]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/31 [2]: https://github.com/archlinux/archinstall/releases/tag/v2.8.0 [3]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archiso/-/tags/v77 [4]: https://github.com/archlinux/archweb/releases/tag/release_2024-04-28

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Arch Linux in March 2024
by Levente Polyak 18 Sep '24

18 Sep '24

## Staff We would like to welcome [Carl Smedstad][0] as part of the Arch Linux Package Maintainer team. Furthermore, we would like to welcome svartkanin as Support Staff for the archinstall project, assisting with issue tracking and handling of merge requests. ### Project Leader Election The 2024 [Arch Linux Project Leader][1] election process has started, with the nomination period now officially open for candidate submissions. ## RFC A previously proposed [RFC has been accepted][2] to create a dedicated role for the moderation of the AUR that supports and eventually replaces the Package Maintainers as the current moderators. An [RFC has been proposed][3] to introduce "Arch Linux Ports" as testbed for unofficial architectures until they are integrated in the main Arch Linux repositories. An [RFC has been proposed][4] to grant all Arch Linux staff members, not limited to those in packaging roles, the privilege to initiate RFCs directly, aligning with the broad range of topics these documents encompass. ## mkinitcpio [mkinitcpio v38.1 has been released][5] as a bugfix update, addressing various regressions. Additionally, the encrypt and sd-encrypt hooks now always include the hid-generic module, which is required for FIDO tokens. ## Pacman [Pacman 6.1.0][6] introduces several key features and improvements. Cache server support has been added, allowing cache servers to be tried before non-cache servers, though they won't be used for database files. The update also replaces libdepends and libprovides with autodeps, enabling automatic addition of libraries to the depends and provides arrays. Additionally, a new `verify()` function has been implemented for custom source verification, allowing for the use of verification schemes not natively supported by makepkg. Lastly, checksum support for git, mercurial, and bzr sources has been added, enabling packagers to use simple refnames in the `PKGBUILD` while ensuring the security of immutable build inputs. ## ArchWeb The ArchWeb 2024-03-05 release includes several small changes, like ISO downloads are now linked exclusively via HTTPS mirrors, improving user security in certain scenarios. Additionally, the ability to add blogs to "ArchWeb Planet" has been restricted to official Arch Linux staff only. ## archinstall We have released [archinstall v2.7.2][7], featuring several improvements and fixes, including enhancements related to Unified Kernel Images (UKIs). ## Infrastructure We have made the "Geo Mirrors" dashboard and metrics [publicly available][8]. This offers valuable insights for mirror administrators and mirror owners, allowing them to monitor performance and distribution more effectively. ## Packaging ### Spring Cleanup We successfully completed our [annual spring cleanup][9], adopting orphaned packages and removing obsolete or unmaintained ones from the official repositories. This effort led to a significant reduction of abandoned packages, keeping our repositories well-maintained and relevant. ### Statistics In this month, we’ve successfully rolled out 7777 package updates addressing various enhancements and rebuilds, including 2684 package upgrades. Additionally, we’ve received 306 new package issues, while resolving a total of 303 issues. [0]: https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/aur-general@lists.archlinux.org/t… [1]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/DeveloperWiki:Project_Leader [2]: https://rfc.archlinux.page/0019-aur-moderator-role/ [3]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/32 [4]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/31 [5]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/mkinitcpio/mkinitcpio/-/releases/v38… [6]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/pacman/pacman/-/releases/v6.1.0 [7]: https://github.com/archlinux/archinstall/releases/tag/v2.7.2 [8]: https://dashboards.archlinux.org/d/EWz2Faunz/geo-mirrors [9]: https://lists.archlinux.org/hyperkitty/list/arch-dev-public@lists.archlinux…

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Arch Linux in February 2024
by Levente Polyak 18 Sep '24

18 Sep '24

## Staff We would like to welcome Vincent Dahmen (wahrwolf) as Arch Linux Support Staff with their new role as Mirror Admin. On top we would like to welcome [andreymal and codingkoopa][0] to their new role as ArchWiki Maintainers. Additionally, we would like to congratulate Christian Heusel (gromit) on his promotion to a full DevOps member. ## Testing Team In early February, we issued a [call for participation][1] about joining the [Arch Testing Team][2] which was also shared on the [Forum][3], [Mastodon][4], [Reddit][5] and IRC. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with over 60 new testing accounts created, significantly extending our capacity for more reliable package update testing! For those who haven't joined yet, there's still time! 😉 ## ArchISO For the first time in history, the official Arch ISO [does not fit in a CD][6] as it now exceeds even the largest 900 MiB capacity CDs. Those few still using the coaster form factor instead of USB flash drives will need to switch to a DVD for burning the ISO. ## devtools We released [devtools 1.1.0][7], a major update packed with bug fixes, improvements, and new workflow commands. Notable additions include the `pkgctl version` subcommand, which uses nvchecker to check and apply newer upstream versions, the `pkgctl search` subcommand to search expressions across the entire packaging group, and the `pkgctl aur` subcommand to assist in transitioning packages from official repos to the AUR. Additionally, `makechrootpkg` now allows users to drop into a debug shell for inspecting failed builds within the chroot. All packaging repo clones also come with a default excludes file to ignore common artifacts. Further changes are listed in the [changelog][7]. ## mkinitcpio The latest [mkinitcpio release v38][8] introduces key changes, including the deprecation of `--microcode` option in favor of a new microcode hook for early microcode loading. mkinitcpio now supports creating an early CPIO image, with the `microcode` hook handling the integration of early microcode into this image. ## ArchWiki To enhance readability, [the color of visited links has been updated][9] from gray to the MediaWiki default purple. In addition to [welcoming CodingKoopa and Andreymal][0] to their new roles as ArchWiki Maintainers, we are also excited to [welcome Dybdeskarphet][0], who joins as a new Translator. ## RFC An [RFC has been accepted][10] to add `-fno-omit-frame-pointer` and `-mno-omit-leaf-frame-pointer` to the default compilation flags to improve the effectiveness of profiling and debugging tools. ## Packaging ### ghc We have successfully rolled out GHC 9.2 after resolving all outstanding issues, marking another step toward the latest GHC. ### Plasma 6 Plasma 6, KDE Frameworks 6 and KDE Applications 24.02 (mostly ported to Qt6) are now available in the repositories. ### Statistics In this month, we’ve successfully rolled out 8196 package updates addressing various enhancements and rebuilds, including 2612 package upgrades. Additionally, we’ve received 168 new package issues, while resolving a total of 216 issues. [0]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/ArchWiki:News#2024/02/29_-_New_maintainers… [1]: https://lists.archlinux.org/hyperkitty/list/arch-general@lists.archlinux.or… [2]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Testing_Team [3]: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=293464 [4]: https://fosstodon.org/@archlinux/111907965691846810 [5]: https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/1aniloc/join_the_arch_testing_t… [6]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archiso/-/issues/144 [7]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/devtools/-/releases/v1.1.0 [8]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/mkinitcpio/mkinitcpio/-/releases/v38 [9]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Special:Permalink/800562#Visited_links_are… [10]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/26

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Enabling split debug for kernels?
by Jan Alexander Steffens (heftig) 14 Sep '24

14 Sep '24

Hi list, As of Pacman 7.0.0, we can have makepkg create debug packages for our kernels, however... Compressed modules are not scanned, meaning either we continue to use INSTALL_MOD_STRIP=1 (throwing away debuginfo for all modules), we disable compression, or we have to enhance makepkg further. For reference, without module compression, the package size of linux drops from 135 MiB to 98 MiB and its installed size rises from 135 MiB to 562 MiB. Debian has been compressing their kernel modules since last year. Instead of splitting debuginfo, they install unstripped modules into /usr/lib/debug/: https://salsa.debian.org/kernel-team/linux/-/commit/e8b64e4b4318aaaf7222f47… Fedora & RHEL do not compress kernel modules, for the same reason of incompatibility with split debuginfo: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1349651 In addition, with compression disabled, the split debuginfo step of packaging linux takes 1½ hours on our build server, which is less than optimal. From what I can tell, that time is spent in the # create any needed hardlinks loop, causing runtime to explode quadratically (amount of stripped files × amount of files in the package). When the kernel is built with module compression, it also adds support for decompressing modules with the selected compression without help from kmod. This seems to be needed in some edge cases, so reënabling compression wouldn't be as easy as adding a module compression stage to makepkg. Debian ran into problems when they missed enabling this support: https://salsa.debian.org/kernel-team/linux/-/merge_requests/980 The issue tracking split debug is at https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/packaging/packages/linux/-/issues/2 The MR to test split debug is at https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/packaging/packages/linux/-/merge_req… It would be nice to have full debuginfo available. Greetings, Jan

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News draft: Manual intervention for pacman 7.0.0 and local repositories required
by gromit 13 Sep '24

13 Sep '24

Hello everyone, with the move of pacman version 7.0.0 a few changes might require manual intervention from end users, which shall be described in the following news item! If you have feedback to it feel free to reply directly! ------ # Manual intervention for pacman 7.0.0 and local repositories required With the release of [version 7.0.0][0] pacman has added support for downloading packages as a separate user with dropped privileges, which we deem a good default for our distribution. For users with local repos however this might imply that the download user does not have access to the files in question, which can be fixed by assigning the files and folder to the "alpm" group. $ chown $USER:alpm -R /path/to/local/repo This is of course only relevant after you have successfully [merged the .pacnew][1] files. Pacman also introduced [a change][2] to improve checksum stability for git repos that utilize .gitattributes files. This might require a one-time checksum change for PKGBUILDs that use git sources. [0]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/pacman/pacman/-/blob/master/NEWS?ref_type=heads [1]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman/Pacnew_and_Pacsave [2]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/pacman/pacman/-/commit/9548d6cc765b1a8dcf933e8…

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Replacing mlocate with plocate
by Morten Linderud 10 Sep '24

10 Sep '24

Yo! I'm going to drop `mlocate` from the repositories and provide `plocate` as the default locate in Arch Linux. mlocate is very much an abandoned project, while plocate is a modern implementation with a faster database implementation along with io_uring support. https://plocate.sesse.net/ The question is if people feel a strong desire to keep a locate implementation in `[core]` or if we are fine with this living inside `[extra]`. Adding `plocate` to `[core]` would mean we would need to move a `liburing` to `[core]` and I don't really know if we need that. Any opinions? -- Morten Linderud PGP: 9C02FF419FECBE16

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