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[arch-dev-public] Goals / Mission Statement
by Aaron Griffin 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

Hey all, This has been brought up a few times by Andy, but it seems it's fallen on deaf ears recently. I want to make sure we get this done this time. One of our recent "growing pains" we've had is that there is a certain sense of direction that is unclear. We don't have a clear set of "goals" defined. So lets do that now. Our dev wiki (for the benefit of the subscribed users) contains some ideas which are rather raw. I will strip the names to make things anonymous. Below you will find the points listed in our dev wiki. What I want to do, right now, is flesh this out. We need to define ourselves a clear set of goals. It's important to note that a goal is not "make sure packages go to testing" - that's an implementation detail. A goal is something more ethereal, such as "provide stable, up-to-date software". I would like all of you to read through these (feel free to add your own) and try and list 3-5 of these that you feel are important. On Thursday, I'd like to compile a list of the responses, and we can go through and cherrypick our goals from this subset from everyone - yes this includes those of you without write access to this list. Email me directly, if you want to remain anonymous. Please look these over, and reply with anything you feel is important. Thanks, Aaron ----------------- Dev Wiki Entries ----------------- * Provide the latest software as is practical, while aiming to achieve a reasonable level of stability * Not be dependent on any graphical interface for any system function * Remain a lightweight, general purpose distribution that is simple in it's implementation * Continue to be a strongly community oriented distribution * Provide a good set of reliable and modern Linux technologies for desktop, server and portable PCs * Be equally suitable for home, educational, small business and corporate use * Provide a solid base for creating custom Arch (ISOs and repos) variants for users specific purposes * Remain a "install once, run forever" distribution * Provide good i18n and l10n support * Simple design. Reasoning: "Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it." – Brian W. Kernighan * Vanilla. As few patches as is reasonable to make things play together in the ways necessary, and then primarily as stopgap solutions until things get fixed upstream. This creates predictability and allows smart people with general GNU/Linux knowledge to pick up Arch instantly. It also keeps us from maintaining more and more custom patches over time. * Easy packaging with pacman. The SINGLE thing that will probably keep me from ever leaving Arch is how simple it is to create packages with Pacman. The thought of ever having to write another RPM spec file or something else as obtuse or complicated or ill-conceived as that makes me want to toss my lunch. When I find new software on the Web to help me do my work, I can have it packaged and integrated into my bag of tricks usually in less than an hour. As a result of this simplicity, we have a Community who understands what's going on and can be productively helpful and supportive of each other. * Binary distribution. Unlike Gentoo, we can download and install Firefox on a reasonably fast machine with a reasonably fast link in less than a minute. Also, we test and certify binaries, so quirks of people's machines don't bugger up their compile processes. The result is that after a pacman -Syu, on any machine, most things just work. * This might not be exactly where or what we are, but someone once called Arch a "meta distribution". That is, it gives you tools and a very nice base with which you can do whatever you want. I think this also coincides with 2 of the "goals" I would like to see - that is, (a) like Andy said, we provide a very nice base system and not much more, and (b) "Slackware with pacman" - we get likened to Slackware enough, and I think the simplicity that slackware strives for is ideal for us as well. * I say focus more on the core packages.. the underlying fundamentals. Push the addons higher into the stack. I liken Arch to one of the BSD's, oddly enough. The BSD team focuses on handling the core. They deal with things that come about when the system goes from poweroff to running a base network os. Then ports managers handle the packages that lay on top of this core system. Just a thought.

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[arch-dev-public] problem with community repo db files
by eliott 30 May '07

30 May '07

There is some problem with the script that updates the community db file. I couldn't figure out exactly what the breakage is..other than the script itself not working. As a temporary measure, I manually regenerated the i686 and x86_64 repo db's.

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[arch-dev-public] glibc-2.6/gcc-4.2.0 migration status
by Jan de Groot 29 May '07

29 May '07

Hi all, gcc-4.2.0 and glibc 2.6 have been in testing for a while now. I haven't received many bugs for this one and we still have some small todos open. Please test these packages very carefully, as these packages are very important for everyones system. I added a bug-catcher in flyspray: http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/7295 Please add new bugs for anything new you find that isn't linked to that one. If possible, link it to this bug-catcher. I hope to see gcc 4.2.0 and glibc 2.6 in current very soon after the bugs on that list are fixed.

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[arch-dev-public] [drotschm@linuxtag.org: [LT07-Pro-Announce] Infomail #7, May 28, 2007]
by Christoph Neuroth 28 May '07

28 May '07

24 hours till plane leaves MUC :) see you guys ----- Forwarded message from Wolfgang Drotschmann <drotschm(a)linuxtag.org> ----- Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 16:23:50 +0200 From: Wolfgang Drotschmann <drotschm(a)linuxtag.org> To: projects-announce(a)linuxtag.org Subject: [LT07-Pro-Announce] Infomail #7, May 28, 2007 Dear Projects, we are busily sorting out things at the site, thus just a quick infomail about o Booth Setup o Additional Tables and Chairs o How to Contact the Project's Office o Project Check-in Here we go... 1. Booth Setup LinuxTag and Messe Berlin spent a lot of ressources (time and money) in the fair and the presentation of Free Software Projects. Additionally, there is less space available for the booths this year. Thus the concept of "booth islands" and open design should be seen as a chance to abandon the habit of building up the booth nearly completely. Less can often mean more. Please keep in mind the view of a "normal" visitor. Too much furniture debases this concept. Together with you, Project Committee and Messe Berlin wants to do a inspection after construction on Tuesday evening. 2. Additional Tables and Chairs We'll have very few additional tables (and chairs) to distribute at setup time. At dismantling time please leave them at your booth, we'll collect them separately. 3. How to Contact the Project's Office You can reach us by phone via the Front Desk. Ask for Marko or Wolfgang. The number is: +49-30-3038-7550 4. Project Check-in Please send someone of your setup group to register the project at the Front Desk. There you will receive a "Welcome Package", including your exhibitor passes and a coupon for the social event tickets. See you tomorrow :-) Regards, Susanne Pfeifer, Wolfgang Drotschmann & Marko Jung Project Committee LinuxTag 2007 ----- End forwarded message -----

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[arch-dev-public] 2007.05 Duke Linuxtag2007 ISOs released
by Tobias Powalowski 28 May '07

28 May '07

Hi Archlinux Community, 28th May, 22:00 CEST (Central European Summer Time) it's done final 2007.05 Duke Linuxtag2007 ISOs for i686 and x86_64 are ready :) Get Archlinux ISOs in /iso/2007.05-Linuxtag2007/{i686,x86_64} on your favorite mirror. Download_Wiki: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mirrors or Download_Homepage: http://www.archlinux.org/download/>Download_Homepage Please don't forget to check md5sums. It's a little update to our latest ISO, to provide people who visits us at Linuxtag2007 booth :) the latest and greatest Archlinux stuff. Changelog to last Duke installation ISO: - kernel 2.6.21.3 usage Setup changes: - some minor text changes - selection to copy installation network setup to final installed system (bugs fixed) - selection of primary pacman sync server added (bugs fixed) for fixed bugs reference: http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/6767 Feedback about 2007.05 Duke installations is here: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=251210#p251210 I would like to thank you all, who assisted in testing and of course finding/fixing bugs, you users/devs simply rock. Happy installing and have fun. greetings tpowa -- Tobias Powalowski Archlinux Developer & Package Maintainer (tpowa) http://www.archlinux.org tpowa(a)archlinux.org

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[arch-dev-public] Duke CD covers
by Roman Kyrylych 28 May '07

28 May '07

Hi! In the Non-official CD-cover [Duke & Voodoo] thread PJ posted updated version of his cover design: LightScribe CD/DVD cover: http://www.geocities.com/kinortkele/archlinux-duke-cdlabel.tar.gz Normal CD/DVD cover: http://www.geocities.com/kinortkele/archlinux-duke.tar.gz Deutch language is available too! I think it will be very nice if they will be used on our CDs on LinuxTag! There is also current official design made by Elasticdog, but it was not yet updated for Duke (also, PJ's design looks better on lightscribed disc). -- Roman Kyrylych (Роман Кирилич)

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[arch-dev-public] Absence: 28/05 - 11/06
by James Rayner 27 May '07

27 May '07

I'll be busy for at least this week, probably this fortnight. Busy with university exams, tests and assignments. I'll only be checking my inbox, not mailing lists and forums until I have time, so if you need me, send me a direct email. On return, i'll be pushing to have my network scripts merged, the current plan to merge them is on this page, but consider it a rough draft till I return. http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Network_Scripts Cheers James

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[arch-dev-public] back from vacation
by Varun Acharya 25 May '07

25 May '07

Hi all, Just got back from vacation, and am still fighting some crazy jet lag. Will get back to arch over the weekend. Thanks ganja_guru

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[arch-dev-public] ISP problems, severely curtailed activity
by Tom K 24 May '07

24 May '07

Hi all. My ISP has decided to fsck up my DSL, so I'm on dial-up until they fix it. This means that I will only be online for a few short periods every day, long enough to check mail basically, and I will definitely not be uploading any packages. If anyone wants to update any of mine before I'm back, please feel free. All the best Tom K.

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[arch-dev-public] Linuxtag: Final booth plan
by Christoph Neuroth 23 May '07

23 May '07

So, finally the Linuxtag guys and Messe Berlin finished the booth planning. We have a little bit more space now (4 instead of 5 projects on ~35m^2). http://www.linuxtag.org/2007/tmp/aufplanung/final/LinuxTag2007-12-20 Mandriva ansi.jpg http://www.linuxtag.org/2007/tmp/aufplanung/final/LinuxTag2007-12-20 Mandriva gf.jpg Not included in the plan is one table (80x160cm) for each of the projects. So we need to organize some tablecloth so we can use the tables to hide our stuff under it and make the booth look cleaner. only one week to go :)

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