FOSS Roundup #6 - Where have all the good bugs gone?

Sean Davis
Newsletter
March 13, 2022

Table of Contents

Welcome to the sixth edition of my Weekly FOSS Roundup! I’ve been hard at it this week, cleaning up Xubuntu bugs and hacking on docs. A new Linux vulnerability, “Dirty Pipe,” was announced. And Xfce has been accepted into the 2022 Google Summer of Code program. What a week!

Dirty Pipe Linux Vulnerability Discovered

A new Linux vulnerability that allows attackers to overwrite read-only files, including immutable files and those on read-only Btrfs snapshots. Kernel versions 5.10.102, 5.15.25, and 5.16.11 have already been patched. Update your machines now!

Xfce Accepted into Google Summer of Code 2022

Xfce will again participate in the Google Summer of Code (abbreviated “GSoC”) in 2022. GSoC is a program focused on attracting new contributors to open-source software development through a 12-plus-week mentorship program.

Submissions for the 22.04 Xubuntu Wallpaper Contest are Now Closed

After receiving a fantastic 126 submissions from numerous contributors, the 22.04 Xubuntu Wallpaper Contest is now closed for additional submissions. The Xubuntu Team will begin the voting process, with expected results within the next two weeks.

Submissions for the 22.04 Xubuntu Wallpaper Contest are now closed! We received 126 submissions, and will now begin the voting process. Look forward to news of the winning entries in the near future. In the meantime, you can browse the entries here: https://t.co/HamoGf1sQp
— Xubuntu (@Xubuntu) March 13, 2022

This Week’s Xfce Releases

Xfce Screenshooter 1.9.10 features a handful of fixes and now uses symbolic icons for the interface. This means the application will automatically look better regardless of using a dark or light GTK theme.

Xubuntu Bug Spring Cleaning

I’m unsure what prompted me, but I got into a cleaning mood this week. I started the long and arduous task of cleaning up Xubuntu’s bug reports. After starting with nearly 2,000 bug reports that affect Xubuntu and its related packages, I’ve reduced this list to a (still large) 1,584 bugs! There’s still lots of work and probably a hundred or more bugs that could be cleaned up or de-duplicated.

My first pass is finally done. Down from nearly 2,000 bugs to 1,584! What remains now are bugs that are reported or confirmed for 20.04+. I also didn’t touch blueman, onboard, synaptic, or the Mate apps.
Next steps: Triage in 22.04, tag duplicates, and report bugs upstream. pic.twitter.com/omNBENUNan
— Sean Davis 🦣 @bluesabre@floss.social (@bluesabredavis) March 11, 2022

Making Strides with Xubuntu Documentation

I had a really productive week with the Xubuntu Documentation, getting the to-do list down to just two more chapters. I need to go through and clean up some of the formatting and tag usage, but we should be ready to merge this week! The latest documentation has been built here.