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Arch Linux in September 2023
by Levente Polyak 22 Oct '23

22 Oct '23

## Staff We would like to welcome [Fabian Bornschein (fabiscafe)][0] as part of the Arch Linux Package Maintainer team. ## Bug weekend During the 1st to 3rd of September, we conducted a [bug weekend][1] with the aim of resolving old bugs and implementing proposed solutions. This effort not only reduced the backlog but also contributed to streamlining the upcoming bug tracker migration, resulting in the resolution of approximately 200 bugs. ## devtools We've [released devtools v1.0.4][2], concentrating on bug fixes. Additionally, we implemented unique scope names for nspawn containers, enabling them to fit within a slice hierarchy for better resource management. Also, we now generate a `.SRCINFO` file in the Git repository, simplifying the retrieval of release and source metadata. ## OCI images With the exception of the official DockerHub library image, all [Arch Linux OCI images][3] are now [signed using the built-in sigstore feature][4] in podman and can be verified through cosign. ## RFC We [proposed and accepted an RFC][5] to extend our `LDFLAGS` in order to reduce the size of relocations. You can find more details about [this RFC][5] on GitLab. By making this change, we ensure to reduce the installed size of native packages. ## systemd-boot Starting from version `254.2-1`, the systemd package includes [IA32 systemd-boot EFI binaries][6]. This change allows users with IA32 UEFI systems to opt for the more straightforward [systemd-boot][7] instead of being restricted to the Grub bootloader. ## TU bylaws In September, we discussed and implemented a [change in the Trusted User Bylaws][8]. This update migrates proposed amendments to be submitted as GitLab merge requests, streamlining our workflows and aligning with modern practices applied across our distribution. [0]: https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/aur-general@lists.archlinux.org/t… [1]: https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/arch-dev-public@lists.archlinux.o… [2]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/devtools/-/releases/v1.0.4 [3]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archlinux-docker#arch-linux-oci-imag… [4]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archlinux-docker/-/merge_requests/77 [5]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/23 [6]: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/79531 [7]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/systemd-boot [8]: https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/aur-general@lists.archlinux.org/m…

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dbscripts leftover packages in staging and testing
by Levente Polyak 21 Oct '23

21 Oct '23

Hi all, this is mostly a notification mail about some inconsistencies with dbscripts where under specific circumstances some leftover packages remain in staging or testing. This issue seems to exist since the last major rollout in June. There seem to be at least two different bugs involved, one in `db remove` and another one in `db move`. I've tracked down the `db remove` one, and am debugging the other issue which also affects libreoffice. I've also written an `fsck` script to detect issues inside the pacman binary repo or within the dbscripts state repo. It seems since June this lead to around 15 occurrences. If you encounter a new leftover package, please feel welcomed to send me a ping. I'm happy to try to help you, or just check if it may be a new or an existing issue. However, there isn't any actionable for packagers for the time being as leftover packages can't be manually removed via `db remove`. I'll correct the inconsistencies as soon as the bug is resolved. Hope this helps one or the other packager to get some insights into the existence of this issue. Cheers, Levente

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News Draft: Incoming changes in JDK / JRE packages may require manual intervention
by Leonidas Spyropoulos 12 Oct '23

12 Oct '23

We are introducing a change in JDK/JRE packages of our distro. This is triggered from the way a JRE is build in modern versions of Java (>9). To sum it up instead of having JDK and JRE packages coexist in the same system we will be making them conflict. The JDK variant package includes the runtime environment to execute Java applications so if one needs compilation and runtime of Java they need only the JDK package in the future. If, on the other hand, they need just runtime of Java then JRE (or jre-headless) will work. This will (potentially) require a manual user action during upgrade: if users have both JDK and JRE installed the can manually install the JDK with pacman -Sy jdk-openjdk and this remove the JRE related packages. if users have both JRE and JRE-headless they will need to choose one of them and install it manually since they would conflict each other now. If they only have one of the JDK/JRE/JRE-headless pacman should resolve dependencies normally no user action is needed. The above are also valid for Java 17 and Java 11 packages as well but not for Java 1.8 since they don’t support modules. -- Leonidas Spyropoulos Developer & DevOps PGP: 59E43E106B247368

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Incoming changes in JDK /JRE packages
by Leonidas Spyropoulos 09 Oct '23

09 Oct '23

Hello, We are introducing a change in JDK/JRE packages of our distro. This is triggered from the way a JRE is build in modern versions of Java (>9). To sum it up instead of having JDK and JRE packages coexist in the same system we will be making them conflict. The JDK variant package includes the runtime environment to execute Java applications so if one needs compilation and runtime of Java they need only the JDK package in the future. If, on the other hand, they need just runtime of Java then JRE (or jre-headless) will work. This will (potentially) require a manual user action during upgrade: - if users have both JDK and JRE installed the can manually install the JDK with `pacman -Sy jdk-openjdk` and this remove the JRE related packages. - if users have both JRE and JRE-headless they will need to choose one of them and install it manually since they would conflict each other now. - If they only have one of the JDK/JRE/JRE-headless pacman should resolve dependencies normally no user action is needed. The above are also valid for Java 17 and Java 11 packages as well but not for Java 1.8 since they don't support modules. Cheers, -- Leonidas Spyropoulos Developer & DevOps PGP: 59E43E106B247368

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RFC Final Comment Period: Add -Wl,-z,pack-relative-relocs
by Jan Alexander Steffens (heftig) 25 Sep '23

25 Sep '23

An RFC has now entered its Final Comment Period. In 14 days, discussion will end and the proposal will either be accepted, rejected or withdrawn: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/23 Please visit the above link for discussion. Summary: Add -Wl,-z,pack-relative-relocs to our LDFLAGS in order to reduce the size of relocations.

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News Draft: Default password hashing algorithm changed to yescrypt
by David Runge 20 Sep '23

20 Sep '23

Hi all, with shadow 4.14.0 I introduced some changes to default password hashing algorithms and would like to post the following on the website once the relevant packages (filesystem, pambase, shadow) move to [core]: ```markdown With shadow >= `4.14.0`, Arch Linux's default password hashing algorithm changed from `SHA512` to [yescrypt](https://www.openwall.com/yescrypt/) and [PAM](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PAM) honors the chosen `ENCRYPT_METHOD` in /etc/login.defs. While this should not require any direct user intervention, do note that since we now fully integrate with PAM the `YESCRYPT_COST_FACTOR` setting in `/etc/login.defs` is currently without effect, until [PAM implements reading its value](https://github.com/linux-pam/linux-pam/issues/607). If a `YESCRYPT_COST_FACTOR` higher (or lower) than the default (`5`) is needed, it can be set using the `rounds` option of the [pam_unix](https://man.archlinux.org/man/pam_unix.8) module (i.e. in /etc/pam.d/system-auth). Furthermore, additional changes in the filesystem (>= `2023.09.18`) and pambase (>= `20230918`) packages now ensure [umask](https://man.archlinux.org/man/umask.1p) being set centrally in /etc/login.defs instead of /etc/profile. ``` Best, David -- https://sleepmap.de

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Bug Day
by Jelle van der Waa 17 Sep '23

17 Sep '23

Hey All, I'd like to propose that we have a bug weekend on 1-3 September to clean up our bug tracker before we fully migrate it to Gitlab. We already have less issues then before! [1] But getting the number of issues to be migrated down would be a good thing and make our users happy :-) There is a list of "easy" of fail to build from source and issues with patches. [2] [3] Most of the coordination should happen on #archlinux-bugs on libera.chat. [1] https://dashboards.archlinux.org/d/c9a9b812-a067-4534-96bf-c21ba7a0c47d/fly… [2] https://bugs.archlinux.org/index.php?string=FTBFS&project=0 [3] https://bugs.archlinux.org/index.php?string=&project=0&opened=loqs Greetings, Jelle van der Waa

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News Draft: ppp >= 2.5.0-1 update may require manual intervention
by Felix Yan 14 Sep '23

14 Sep '23

As you may or may not have noticed, both `ppp` and `rp-pppoe` package used to ship a `rp-pppoe.so` and they are not 100% compatible. Back in 2021, ppp 2.4.9 starts to rename its own copy of `rp-pppoe.so` to `pppoe.so`. As of `ppp 2.5.0`, upstream decided to remove the `rp-pppoe.so` symlink and thus broke configurations with the old name. If you still have the old ppp package's `rp-pppoe.so` configured somewhere (likely in /etc/ppp/peers/), please update it to use just `pppoe.so`. Configurations with the same plugin from the `rp-pppoe` package (using full path like /usr/lib/rp-pppoe/rp-pppoe.so) are not affected. -- Regards, Felix Yan

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Arch Linux in August 2023
by Levente Polyak 10 Sep '23

10 Sep '23

## Staff We would like to welcome Tomaz Canabrava (tcanabrava) as part of the Arch Linux Package Maintainer team. ## AURWeb In [AURWeb v6.2.7][0], we primarily focused on bug fixes while revamping Prometheus metrics. We introduced new measures like request tracking and cache-hit/miss ratios for search queries, enhancing our ability to make development decisions and aiding the AUR moderation team in identifying trends. Collaborating with the DevOps team, we introduced a CI/CD feature called [Review Apps][1]. This feature enables us to create virtual machines running AURWeb for each merge request, facilitating change showcases, manual testing, and involving a wider audience for performance, stress-testing, and UI verification. ## RFC We [proposed and accepted an RFC][2] to define the default of not using `PyPI` for Python package sources and only use the platform if there is no other alternative. You can find more details about [this RFC][2] on GitLab. By making this change, we ensure to have a more reliable and less cumbersome default. ## Trademark Policy We've [relocated our Trademark Policy][3] from the Developer area of the ArchWiki to the [service-agreements GitLab repository][4], which is published at [`terms.archlinux.org`][5]. This move centralizes all legal documents, ensuring consistent collaboration across our service agreement materials. [0]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/aurweb/-/tags/v6.2.7 [1]: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/review_apps/ [2]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/20 [3]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/service-agreements/-/merge_requests/… [4]: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/service-agreements/ [5]: https://terms.archlinux.org/docs/trademark-policy/

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RFC: Add -Wl,-z,pack-relative-relocs
by Jan Alexander Steffens (heftig) 03 Sep '23

03 Sep '23

A new RFC (request for comment) has been opened here: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/23 Please visit the above link for discussion. Summary: Add -Wl,-z,pack-relative-relocs to our LDFLAGS in order to reduce the size of relocations.

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