GNOME-2.14 Status

Hi all,

Many of you may be wondering what is up with the GNOME-2.14
update.
So, I thought I'd pass along a status update. I've sort of
been
feeling guilty about not updating GNOME, but seeing how
paldo.org
just updated to 2.14.1 in the last week, I know we're not
that
far behind. I'd bet not many distros are shipping 2.14.x
and for
that matter, I'd bet there are still distros shipping 2.10
or
less!

Anyway, here are things that I've been thinking about that
have
affected my decision to hold off on the GNOME update.

1. I'd like to get new DBUS, HAL and gnome mount into the
mix.
2. I'd like to use GNOME-2.14.2.
3. I thought LFS would have already by now put a package
freeze
   so that we can get a new release out (hint, hint)
4. I needed to check KDE against the newer Udev/DBUS/HAL
stuff.
5. I was waiting to see if LFS would move with different
Linux
   headers (incorporate Inotify)

If I had to do it over, I probably would have put
GNOME-2.14.0 in
the book right after it was released, and then updated
versions
later. Oh well. Hindsight doesn't help us here.

Anyway, here are some notes:

1. GNOME-2.14.2 is due out in 10 days, it only makes sense
now to
use that version. Hopefully, LFS will get something together
and
publish a release, and BLFS should be right behind that.
GNOME-2.14.3 isn't due out until the beginning of August, I
don't
think it wise to count on that version as I hope we've
released
by then. So 2.14.2 is the most logical choice. 2.16.0 isn't
due
out until September, so that is out of the question.

2. I've now managed to get *many* new packages tested.
Current
LFS SVN with new CUPS, DBUS, HAL, Apache, OpenSSL/SSH, NFS
Utils
and the newest GTK/Cairo/ATK/Glib/Pango stuff. The only
thing
I have left to do is check out GNOME Mount with KDE.
Unfortunately,
new HAL/DBUS without fstab sync won't auto-mount drives any
more.
Gnome-Mount will have to be the solution.

3. The new libpng seems to work fine. We still need to check
out
the Gimp with it, but Joerg seemed to indicate the fix was
trivial
if needed. So, we should be able to move with that.

4. CUPS-1.2.0 is a much-needed update to that package. It
seems
to be fine. KDE required a trivial patch, and by the time we
release we should have been able to fully test new CUPS.

I expect to have GNOME-2.14.2 in the book by the end of the
first
week of June (it will be released 5/31). That should give us
plenty of time for testing before release. Plus many have
been
using 2.14.0/1 (including me), so I don't anticipate any
issues.

-- 
Randy

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Randy McMurchy wrote:

> 3. I thought LFS would have already by now put a
package freeze
>    so that we can get a new release out (hint, hint)

Yeah, I know.  Real life has been getting in the way.  I
should be able 
to declare a package freeze some time this week.  The plan
will be:

1) Package freeze (Wed. 24th)
2) Cut an RC1     (Wed. 24th)
3) Release (Wed. 31st)

Obviously, further RCs will be released as required
following testing 
from the community.  Each RC will be followed by a 1-week
soak period.

Anyone having issues with any of the above feel free to
point fingers 
and laugh in my general direction, oh and anything more
constructive 
would be appreciated too 

Regards,

Matt.

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Randy McMurchy wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Many of you may be wondering what is up with the
GNOME-2.14 update.
> So, I thought I'd pass along a status update. I've
sort of been
> feeling guilty about not updating GNOME, but seeing how
paldo.org
> just updated to 2.14.1 in the last week, I know we're
not that
> far behind. I'd bet not many distros are shipping
2.14.x and for
> that matter, I'd bet there are still distros shipping
2.10 or
> less!
>
> Anyway, here are things that I've been thinking about
that have
> affected my decision to hold off on the GNOME update.
>
> 1. I'd like to get new DBUS, HAL and gnome mount into
the mix.
> 2. I'd like to use GNOME-2.14.2.
> 3. I thought LFS would have already by now put a
package freeze
>    so that we can get a new release out (hint, hint)
> 4. I needed to check KDE against the newer
Udev/DBUS/HAL stuff.
> 5. I was waiting to see if LFS would move with
different Linux
>    headers (incorporate Inotify)
>
> If I had to do it over, I probably would have put
GNOME-2.14.0 in
> the book right after it was released, and then updated
versions
> later. Oh well. Hindsight doesn't help us here.
>
> Anyway, here are some notes:
>
> 1. GNOME-2.14.2 is due out in 10 days, it only makes
sense now to
> use that version. Hopefully, LFS will get something
together and
> publish a release, and BLFS should be right behind
that.
> GNOME-2.14.3 isn't due out until the beginning of
August, I don't
> think it wise to count on that version as I hope we've
released
> by then. So 2.14.2 is the most logical choice. 2.16.0
isn't due
> out until September, so that is out of the question.
>
> 2. I've now managed to get *many* new packages tested.
Current
> LFS SVN with new CUPS, DBUS, HAL, Apache, OpenSSL/SSH,
NFS Utils
> and the newest GTK/Cairo/ATK/Glib/Pango stuff. The only
thing
> I have left to do is check out GNOME Mount with KDE.
Unfortunately,
> new HAL/DBUS without fstab sync won't auto-mount
drives any more.
> Gnome-Mount will have to be the solution.
>
> 3. The new libpng seems to work fine. We still need to
check out
> the Gimp with it, but Joerg seemed to indicate the fix
was trivial
> if needed. So, we should be able to move with that.
>
> 4. CUPS-1.2.0 is a much-needed update to that package.
It seems
> to be fine. KDE required a trivial patch, and by the
time we
> release we should have been able to fully test new
CUPS.
>
> I expect to have GNOME-2.14.2 in the book by the end of
the first
> week of June (it will be released 5/31). That should
give us
> plenty of time for testing before release. Plus many
have been
> using 2.14.0/1 (including me), so I don't anticipate
any issues.
>
>   
Cups 1.2 doesn't work correctly with KDE 3.5.2. although it
compiles
fine with the patch, apparently their has been some ABI
changes, that
cause it to not work with the KDE print module, how do i
know? Just
built about three times!!!

cheers
Martin
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Martin Ward wrote these words on 05/21/06 09:25 CST:

> Cups 1.2 doesn't work correctly with KDE 3.5.2.
although it compiles
> fine with the patch, apparently their has been some ABI
changes, that
> cause it to not work with the KDE print module

I am seeing different behavior. I think it works perfectly.
Can you
explain what is going wrong for you? I can go to the print
manager,
select printers, print to them, all from KDE. And the
printers I
print to are set up in CUPS as SMB printers attached to
Windows PC's.

I do know that the configuration of CUPS is different with
the new
version. The syntax of the cupsd.conf file is different, and
there
are some default authorization and encryption settings that
are
different than previous versions. Ensure you have all this
set up
properly.

I always put the 'Print System' applet in my taskbar
(kicker). If you
click on this and then select 'KDE Print Settings' and
then select
'Cups Servers' from the icons on the left side it should
list all
the settings for CUPS there. Are you certain these all match
up
with what is in cupsd.conf?

We can work this out, I'm sure. It works for me, and I have
what I
think is a fairly complicated printing setup on my network
(actually
it isn't, but it requires Samba and Cups to be set up
correctly).

If I open up the Printing Manager
(Main KDE Menu - Settings - Printing Manager)
and look at the setup I have, I see:

Local Printer
URI:    ipp://rmlinux.mcmurchy.prv:631/printers/LaserJet
Device: smb//randy/laserjet

What do you see?

-- 
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Randy McMurchy wrote:
> Martin Ward wrote these words on 05/21/06 09:25 CST:
>
>   
>> Cups 1.2 doesn't work correctly with KDE 3.5.2.
although it compiles
>> fine with the patch, apparently their has been some
ABI changes, that
>> cause it to not work with the KDE print module
>>     
>
> I am seeing different behavior. I think it works
perfectly. Can you
> explain what is going wrong for you? I can go to the
print manager,
> select printers, print to them, all from KDE. And the
printers I
> print to are set up in CUPS as SMB printers attached to
Windows PC's.
>
> I do know that the configuration of CUPS is different
with the new
> version. The syntax of the cupsd.conf file is
different, and there
> are some default authorization and encryption settings
that are
> different than previous versions. Ensure you have all
this set up
> properly.
>
> I always put the 'Print System' applet in my taskbar
(kicker). If you
> click on this and then select 'KDE Print Settings'
and then select
> 'Cups Servers' from the icons on the left side it
should list all
> the settings for CUPS there. Are you certain these all
match up
> with what is in cupsd.conf?
>
> We can work this out, I'm sure. It works for me, and I
have what I
> think is a fairly complicated printing setup on my
network (actually
> it isn't, but it requires Samba and Cups to be set up
correctly).
>
> If I open up the Printing Manager
> (Main KDE Menu - Settings - Printing Manager)
> and look at the setup I have, I see:
>
> Local Printer
> URI:   
ipp://rmlinux.mcmurchy.prv:631/printers/LaserJet
> Device: smb//randy/laserjet
>
> What do you see?
>
>   
I can print test pages util the cows come home, from the
cups
administration  page, so i know cups is working correctly, i
have two
usb printers, a hp deskjet and brother laser. I just can't
start the
print manager, i think you are correct, i need to have  a
look at the
cups.conf file to see what's up..

thanks for the pointers

martin
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On 5/21/06, Randy McMurchy <randylinuxfromscratch.org>
wrote:
>
> 1. I'd like to get new DBUS, HAL and gnome mount into
the mix.

If you want gnome-mount, then we either need to include
pam_console or
make some fixes to hal.  Mainly, we would need to add groups
to
hal.conf to allow the hal mount methods to be invoked by
unprivelaged
users.

> 2. I've now managed to get *many* new packages tested.
Current
> LFS SVN with new CUPS, DBUS, HAL, Apache, OpenSSL/SSH,
NFS Utils
> and the newest GTK/Cairo/ATK/Glib/Pango stuff. The only
thing
> I have left to do is check out GNOME Mount with KDE.
Unfortunately,
> new HAL/DBUS without fstab sync won't auto-mount
drives any more.
> Gnome-Mount will have to be the solution.

Also, you need gnome-volume-manager as that invokes
gnome-mount.  And
if we're not including pam_console, then
gnome-volume-manager needs to
be built --disable-multiuser.

Also, it seems that gnome-volume-manager/gnome-mount/hal
don't respect
fstab.  I had to remove entries for my removable media from
fstab or
hal would throw "Permission Denied".  I believe
I read on the hal list
that this behavior would be fixed in the future.  I.e., hal
would read
fstab and use the options and mountpoint specified there.  I
could be
wrong about all this, but that was my experience.

--
Dan
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Dan Nicholson wrote these words on 05/21/06 17:26 CST:

> If you want gnome-mount, then we either need to include
pam_console or
> make some fixes to hal.

Thanks Dan. I snipped everything, but my message really
doesn't have
a whole lot to do with your excellent summary.

I'm going to summarize what I know about KDE so far using
new
HAL/DBUS as it pertains to mounting removable media.

I don't think KDE is an issue at all, really. KDE properly
identifies
the plug-in media (USB) by volume label and/or hardware
specs. So if
you're at the console (KDE non-remote, or more technically
correct,
non-XDMCP access), and you have the 'media storage' applet
in your
panel, you just need to hover your mouse over the removable
storage
icon that appeared when you plugged in the media and it will
tell
you what the device is.

As far as automatic-mount, KDE can be configured so that it
does it
on its own, providing there is an available entry in the
fstab file
for the device. How it works is when KDE recognizes media
has been
pluged in, a dialog comes up asking you if you want to open
the
media in a new window (which mounts the device) or do
nothing.
If you say you want the media displayed in a new window, and
then
click the "do this every time" (or something
similar) box, it will
appear to be auto-mounting.

I can see why some don't want automount though. If you have
KDE
mount the media, it does it as the user logged into the
console and
is running the KDE session. So, any other user cannot write
to the
device (assuming you have the 'users' option in the fstab
line).
This might suck. So not having it automount means that any
user
can mount the drive. This may be desirable in a situation
where
there is a user at the console and other users logged in
remotely.

Bottom line is I'm prepared to say that KDE is "just
fine" with
the existing methods of mounting removable media with the
new
HAL/DBUS. Though it requires a system admin to initially
populate the fstab file for any device that may be expected
to
be present (plugged-in).

Does this sound cool to everyone?

-- 
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Randy McMurchy wrote these words on 05/21/06 18:00 CST:

> I'm going to summarize what I know about KDE so far
using new
> HAL/DBUS as it pertains to mounting removable media.

I forgot to mention that the only thing I really miss about
not
having the fs-sync and automatic mount-point creation is
that
the devices are mounted to generic mount points instead of
the
nice custom ones that older HAL did. Example from new HAL:

Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1             119M   22M   98M  18% /media/usb1
/dev/sdb1             112G   76G   37G  68% /media/usb2
/dev/sdc1             492M  200K  492M   1% /media/usb3
/dev/sdd1             250M   61M  190M  25% /media/usb4

Now from a machine with old HAL (note this is a SCSI based
main hard disk so the devices start at /dev/sdb:

Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdb1             119M   22M   98M  18%
/media/TRAVELDRIVE
/dev/sdc1             112G   76G   37G  68% /media/WDC_Combo
/dev/sdd1             492M  200K  492M   1% /media/usbdisk
/dev/sde1             250M   61M  190M  25%
/media/MINI-CRUZER

Here is output from lsusb:

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0545:8080 Xirlink, Inc. IBM C-It
WebCam
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 017: ID 0781:8185 SanDisk Corp. SDCZ2 Cruzer
Mini Flash Drive (older, thick)
Bus 001 Device 016: ID 13fe:1a21
Bus 001 Device 015: ID 1058:0200 Western Digital
Technologies, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 014: ID 08ec:0008 M-Systems Flash Disk
Pioneers
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05e3:0605 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB 2.0
Hub [ednet]
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

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