June 2023 - Arch-dev-public - lists.archlinux.org

Consolidating our mkinitcpio hooks
by Morten Linderud 03 Mar '24

03 Mar '24

Hi, Currently we have a lot of our mkinitcpio hooks in several packages which has never been consolidated. This makes it confusing where stuff belong and what is provided where, and I really want to consolidate everything. It would help keeping up the development of the hooks, patch everything and ultimately write a test suite for mkinitcpio. I also have long term plans on moving the default hooks from busybox to systemd, but this will happen at a later point. Initially I really want to move the hooks from `cryptsetup` and `systemd`: * encrypt and sd-encrypt from core/cryptsetup * systemd and udev from core/systemd We could maybe consider a few other hooks from [core] depending on peoples opinion? We are missing a good networking hook for systemd, and that should preferably be solved at some point. A list of possibly other relevant mkinitcpio stuff: Hook Package * btrfs btrfs-progs * dmraid dmraid * mdadm mdadm * mdadm_udev mdadm * lvm2 lvm2 * sd-lvm2 lvm2 * net mkinitcpio-nfs-utils * netconf mkinitcpio-netconf # Migration It's unclear to me how we should best move these hooks. We would need to merge them upstream into `mkinitcpio` first, then remove them from the packages. Is a news item is enough for this? Or do we want to include a couple of package constraints to ensure people are accidentally removing their hooks? What are peoples opinions? -- Morten Linderud PGP: 9C02FF419FECBE16

5 10

bash 5.2.x status
by Tobias Powalowski 29 Oct '23

29 Oct '23

Hi, yesterday anthraxx stated this: - major breakage in potentially a lot of scripts including pacman, dbscripts, devtools and who knows what kind of packages. I tried devtools with 5.2.15 and fixed the only thing I ran into, with this MR: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/devtools/-/merge_requests/133 shopt handling seems to have changed a bit. I would like to proceed in getting latest bash version into our distribution. Adding bash 5.2.x to staging or testing repository and start fixing eventually borken stuff. Would this ok for you guys? greetings tpowa -- Tobias Powalowski Arch Linux Developer & Package Maintainer (tpowa) https://www.archlinux.org <http://www.archlinux.org> tpowa(a)archlinux.org Archboot Developer https://bit.ly/archboot St. Martin-Apotheke Herzog-Georg-Str. 25 89415 Lauingen https://www.st-martin-apo.de info(a)st-martin-apo.de

3 5

RFC Final Comment Period: Use of SPDX license identifiers in PKGBUILDs
by Morten Linderud 15 Jul '23

15 Jul '23

An RFC has now entered 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/16 Please visit the above link for discussion. Summary: Change to using SPDX license identifiers in the PKGBUILD `license` value for packages in all repositories. Cheers, Morten

2 1

Stepping down
by Jerome Leclanche 04 Jul '23

04 Jul '23

Hi folks I've not been able to update any of my packages in a couple of months and unfortunately I don't see the situation resolving itself any time soon with my life being busier than ever. I'd rather officially step down and re-apply in the future if it makes sense. I'd sign this email but I can't even find my updated arch GPG key. Bleh. Jerome Leclanche

2 2

icu rebuilds - only couchdb/erlang pending
by Andreas Radke 27 Jun '23

27 Jun '23

The icu rebuild are finished except for couchdb. This package won't build since erlang has been bumped to v26.x release. I couldn't get any response from Bruno (couchdb) or Alexander (erlang). Please consider downgrading erlang or add some compatibility erland-25 package to the repos to get the icu list done. -Andy

1 1

RFC: Moderator role for the AUR
by Torsten Keßler 27 Jun '23

27 Jun '23

A new RFC (request for comment) has been opened here: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/rfcs/-/merge_requests/19 Please visit the above link for discussion. Summary: Create a dedicated role for the moderation of the AUR that supports and eventually replaces the Package Maintainers as the current moderators.

1 0

NEWS DRAFT: TeX Live package reorganization
by Antonio Rojas 17 Jun '23

17 Jun '23

Starting from version 2023.66594-9, TeX Live packages have been reorganized to mirror upstream collections. Even though the new texlive-basic replaces the old texlive-core, many of the texlive-core contents (including language specific files) are now split between different packages. To find out which Arch package contains a specific CTAN package, you can use the tlmgr utility, eg. $ tlmgr info euler | grep collection collection: collection-latexrecommended which means the euler CTAN package is contained in texlive-latexrecommended. You may also use 'pacman -F' to query for specific files. A new metapackage texlive-meta is available to install all subpackages (except for language specific ones), and the new texlive-doc package provides the full documentation for offline use.

2 1

Arch Linux in May 2023
by Levente Polyak 13 Jun '23

13 Jun '23

## Staff We would like to welcome Anton Hvornum (torxed) and Christian Heusel (gromit) among the Arch Linux Package Maintainers. On top we would like to welcome Leonidas Spyropoulos (artafinde) to their new additional duties as Arch Linux Developer ## Git packaging We are thrilled to announce the successful migration [0] of our packaging ecosystem to Git, with package sources now accessible on GitLab [1]. As part of this transition, we have developed a powerful new tool called `pkgctl` [2], available through `devtools`, offering a user-centric design and streamlined user experience for interacting with all aspects of Arch Linux packaging for users and packagers alike. Please note that our bugtracker remains on Flyspray, and we are not currently accepting merge requests. However, opening the issue tracker and accepting merge requests on GitLab package repositories is a top priority for us, and we are actively working towards making this transition in the near future. ## Infrastructure ### security-tracker We implemented nginx caching for the feed and API endpoints of the security-tracker, effectively reducing server resource consumption. This heavily improved server efficiency and the ability to handle a much higher volume of requests. ### GitLab In preparation for the migration of our packaging infrastructure to GitLab, we successfully transferred the GitLab instance from a VPS to a harder, better, faster, stronger bare metal server. This move not only provided a more responsive user experience but also eliminated bottlenecks that occured during peak times. To enhance the search capabilities across our GitLab instance, we've set up an OpenSearch instance. This allows us to enable advanced search functionality [3], facilitating faster and more efficient searches across the entire GitLab platform. Users can now benefit from improved search accuracy and speed, allowing for a more streamlined and productive experience when locating specific content within GitLab. ## Open Technology Fund Our official application to the Open Technology Fund for a comprehensive audit of Pacman and its integration in Arch Linux has been approved. As the package manager plays a central role in fetching software updates over the network, it is vital for us to prioritize the safety and security of our user base. By undertaking this audit, we aim to enhance the overall reliability and protection of our distribution, ensuring a secure environment for our users. The timeline for the audit is yet to be determined, and further planning on both sides is underway. ## ArchISO We have removed [4] the PGP-based signature for the root file system (`/arch/x86_64/airootfs.sfs.sig`) within the ISO. Its replacement is an OpenSSL CMS based signature which is available since the 2022.10.01 ISO. The signature is made using the same code signing certificate as already used for netboot images. The `verify=y` kernel command line option will stop working and must be replaced with `cms_verify=y`. The official netboot [5] and ISO's PXE menu entries have already been adjusted. Any custom PXE setups will need to update their boot menu entries manually. This is done because GPG integrates poorly in the ISO build process. This only concerns PXE booting, the PGP signature for the ISO itself is still there and that will not change. ## mkinitcpio We have released mkinitcpio v36, which brings a lot of improvements and several noteworthy changes [6]. These include support for kernel command line drop-ins for UKIs in `/etc/cmdline.d/` and `mkinitcpio.conf` drop-in files in `/etc/mkinitcpio.conf.d/`. To utilize the `mkinitcpio.conf` drop-in files, existing presets in `/etc/mkinitcpio.d/*.preset` must have `ALL_config` commented out. Additionally, a new `run_emergencyhook` function has been added for busybox-based hooks, running before the emergency shell is launched. ## alpm-types We started development on the Rust based alpm-types project [7], which is meant to provide low-level types for working with Arch Linux Package Management (ALPM). This library strives to provide all underlying types for writing ALPM based software. ## AURWeb We have released AURWeb 6.2.4 [8], which includes a number of bug fixes and improvements. Notably, we have incorporated important dependency updates to ensure compatibility with the latest software libraries. Additionally, we have implemented a new package name filter option for the "Requests" feature and support for the new repository layout for the git migration. ## bash 5.2 Preparations for the bash 5.2 upgrade are underway, including compatibility fixes in various projects such as pacman, devtools, and others. These proactive measures ensure a seamless transition to the new version while minimizing any compatibility issues and disruptions within our ecosystem. [0] https://archlinux.org/news/git-migration-completed/ [1] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/packaging/packages [2] https://man.archlinux.org/man/pkgctl.1 [3] https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/search/advanced_search.html [4] https://github.com/pierres/archiso-manager/pull/17 [5] https://github.com/archlinux/archweb/pull/436 [6] https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/arch-projects%40lists.archlinux.o… [7] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/alpm/alpm-types [8] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/aurweb/-/tags/v6.2.4 [9] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/devtools/-/commit/0365edb264c08b6520… [10] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/pacman/pacman/-/commit/0e938f188692c710be36f9d…

1 0

pulling grub from core-testing
by Christian Hesse 12 Jun '23

12 Jun '23

Hello everbody, grub 2:2.06.r557.gac560966d-1 was reported to be bad... Looks like it results in stalled boot and black screen (on some systems). No idea what caused this for now. Pulling from core-testing so it can not cause more harm... -- main(a){char*c=/* Schoene Gruesse */"B?IJj;MEH" "CX:;",b;for(a/* Best regards my address: */=0;b=c[a++];) putchar(b-1/(/* Chris cc -ox -xc - && ./x */b/42*2-3)*42);}

1 0

OpenSSL 3.1 Update
by Pierre Schmitz 10 Jun '23

10 Jun '23

Hi all, I am about to push version 3.1 of OpenSSL into the core-testing repository. This time it is an actual minor update which is compatible with 3.0. That means there is no soname change and no rebuild should be required. However, packages might do runtime checks and ask for the specific version they were built with. OpenSSH is such a case. So far I have not noticed any other package having this check, but I guess we have to figure this out in [testing]. If you notice an issue, please let me know so I can add it to the todo list: https://archlinux.org/todo/openssl-31/ Greetings, Pierre -- Pierre Schmitz, https://pierre-schmitz.com

2 3