Many reports can cover the same kind of violation of the rules, and handling it can be redundant. Moderators can customize their own set of canned responses in order to reuse them where they need it. Content Moderation is part of the beta program. Our journey into content moderation began back in October 2023, initially addressing comment locks and report categories. Since then, we’ve expanded this feature to include canned responses and moderator decisions, facilitating...

One of my favorite instruments is the church organ. A few weeks ago we already listened to organ and drums, but those were just covers of some popular songs. However, the church organ is also used in original music, including some really well-known songs.

Next to Bach, probably the best-known appearance of a church organ is in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. As a kid, first, I copied it from vinyl to tape, after which I also bought it on CD. It was one of the very few CDs I ever sold from my collection: after a while, I started listening almost purely to instrumental music, and it did not fit that world… But, as a high school student I still listened to it a lot – at close to maximum volume :-)

TIDAL: https://listen.tidal.com/album/619259/track/619270

Talking about instrumental music. When I first visited my favorite CD shop, I was asked what kind of music I liked. When I told them I listened mostly to instrumental, I was told I was missing out on the really good part. But I also got some fantastic recommendations, one of which was the album “The Eight Wives Of Henry VI” by Rick Wakeman (did I mess up the numbers again?). It is one of my most listened to albums of all time. I have it on CD, and now also as high resolution FLAC files from HDtracks.

TIDAL: https://listen.tidal.com/album/40992779

Finally, one of my recent discoveries: music by Gary Ginsberg and Vitalij Kuprij. All songs have piano in them, and some even the church organ. Unfortunately, while it is available on YouTube and TIDAL, I could not find a CD version or downloadable FLAC files.

TIDAL: https://listen.tidal.com/album/104821378

As much as I like the church organ, there isn’t much contemporary music featuring it. A few more songs by Rick Wakeman,Gary Ginsberg, and Vitalij Kuprij. If you know any others, let me know! You can reach me on Twitter / Mastodon / etc., the links are in the upper right corner of my blog.

There was a service degradation of our reference server. On December 7, 2023 for 35 minutes the response time of OBS was slow for anyone trying to use the server and in many cases connections were even dropped completely with an error message: “This website is under heavy load (queue full)”. We want to give you some insight into what happened and what we are doing to avoid similar problems in the future. Detection We...

OBS was unresponsive because of slow backend response on 7th of December Date: 07.12.2023 Impact: Response time was longer than expected and in some cases, connections were dropped. Root Causes: OBS response was slow as the backend was under heavy load because of too many interconnect requests from the IBS. Trigger: Too many build requests from interconnect. Resolution: Everything went back to normal after the build requests processed. Detection: We got notified through alerts coming...

Dear Tumbleweed users and hackers,

The last two weeks have been filled with Tumbleweed snapshots! A staggering 13 releases (1123…1206, without 1125) found their way over the ether to your computers. Even if you don’t do daily updates, you get all the updates whenever you want.

The following changes were applied to your system in this period:

• Python 3.11.6
• PHP 8.2.13
• Mozilla Firefox 120.0
• Pipewire 1.0.0
• Perl 5.38.2
• gpgme 1.23.2
• systemd: permissions tightened on DRM render nodes
• LLVM 17.0.6
• MariaDB 11.1.2
• Qt 6.6.1
• GNOME 45.2
• SQLite 3.44.1
• the package cnf-rs was renamed to cnf (matching the command name)
• Sudo/polkit changes introduce configurations for the sudo/wheel group to self auth. Use the two packages sudo-policy-sudo-auth-self and sudo-policy-wheel-auth-self to configure your system

Many things from the last review are still pending in the staging projects – and are likely to stay there for quite a bit longer unless somebody starts fixing the issues identified

• KDE Plasma 5.27.9
• KDE Gear 23.08.4
• cmake 3.28.0: breaks libzypp (fix in progress) and ceph
• libxml 2.12.0 – I can’t even start to list what is not building
• openSSL 3.2.0
• RPM 4.19
• c-ares 1.21.0: breaks nodejs
• wxWidgets 3.2.3: breaks wxPython bindings
• Testing of the two compiler flags -fcf-protection=full and -ftrivial-auto-var-init=pattern: not compatible with gcc13 on i586
• dbus-broker: no progress: openQA fails to launch the network stack in the installer

This week openSUSE Tumbleweed has been on a constant roll as consecutive snapshots arrive with fresh software updates.

MariaDB, GTK and gnome-software were part of a range of updates introduced this week, in addition to the ones highlighted in the headline.

Just two packages updated in snapshot 20231206. The Chinese lunar date library lunar-date has a new major version with the 3.0.1 update; it introduces a localized interface and changes the project option names. The package also updates its license as it has been changed to LGPL-2.1. The update of the rubygem-rubocop 1.58.0 package resolves issues like false negatives for various styles, improves some code quality and ensures more accurate autocorrections for different code patterns. The 1.58.0 rubygem-rubocop version was also updated in the Arm Tumbleweed 20231206 snapshot.

An update of snapshot gnome-shell 45.2 became available in snapshot 20231205. The release addresses several performance issues, improves GNOME’s application search function, and fixes bugs related to the on-screen keyboard. The update improves high-contrast styling, fixes tablet ring and strip mapping, addresses some crashes and updates translations. There were bug fixes that caused unnecessary reloading of the trip query with gnome-maps 45.2. Various enhancements were made with the fwupd 1.9.10 update along with bug fixes. Notable additions were support for not_hardware requirements and loongarch64 microprocessors. The update improves USB claim retry count configuration, enforces version requirements, hides sensitive information in debugging logs, and refines device-specific functionalities, such as Wacom USB device emulation. An update of sudo 1.9.15p2 addresses sudo -l command warning messages, enhances security against rowhammer attacks, and makes improvements to log messages for better user understanding and system security. An 123 version update of the application development toolkit for controlling system-wide privileges, polkit introduces enhanced safety measures, such as deeper restrictions on configuration files, owner restriction for the daemon under systemd, and improves sandboxing within systemd units with the aim to better system security. An update of sqlite3 3.44.2 rectifies issues such as CLI mistakes, Full-Text Search (FTS5) problems identified during internal testing and compiler warnings in debug builds with GNU Compiler Collection 16. The snapshot had updates for hwdata 0.377, ncurses 6.4.20231202 and more. Many of the same packages updated in the Arm Tumbleweed 20231205 snapshot.

Several Qt 6 subpackages updated in snapshot 20231204. The 6.6.1 version of qt6-base fixes QMenuBar functionality limitations and corrects errors related to QFont’s feature Application Programming Interfaces. The update of qt6-wayland 6.6.1 fixes crashes related to texture orphanage and fixes issues with drag and drop with a Wayland display. An update of ibus 1.5.29 enhances Continuous Integration (CI), adds signals to PostProcessKeyEvent, which prevents a tab from being committed by the Input Method and fixes key typing, Emoji, and Unicode issues. The libguestfs 1.51.8 package, which is a tool for accessing and modifying virtual machine (VM) disk images, adds a --chown option for virt-customize and a new --tar-in operation. A few other packages were updated in the snapshot.

An update of snapshot llvm17 17.0.6 landed in snapshot 20231203. The update for the compiler and toolchain package includes rebase patches, adjustments to the versioned executables for better support, and standardizes the management of clang-cpp using update-alternatives akin to other binaries for smoother operation. The 11.1.2 version of mariadb includes several fixes related to unwanted binary locations, memory constraints on ppc64le and skipped tests. An update of the a calendar widget for Chinese lunar library lunar-calendar 3.0.1 involves a modification of the license that transitions to LGPL-2.1 from the previous licensing terms.

An update of gnome-software 45.2 came in snapshot 20231202 and primarily focuses on translations updates for multiple languages, according to the changelog. An older GNU Compiler Collection had a git update with gcc13 13.2.1+git8109. It had fix for building MariaDB on i686 systems and implements changes related to LLVM dependency. An update of inkscape 1.3.2 addresses a data loss issue and corrects a saving error related to some shapes and 3D boxes. The app for organizing personal data and scheduling, evolution, updates to version 3.50.2 and fixes a crash and a memory leak; it also fixes an issue with the search functionality. The gtk4 4.12.4 update improves accessibility name computation, fixes memory format table errors, updated translations and makes some additional refinements.

The snapshot starting off the week was 20231201. An update of perl 5.38.2 fixes two Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures. One of those was CVE-2023-47038, which occurs when a crafted regular expression is compiled by perl. The other was CVE-2023-47039. Snapper 0.10.7 addresses issues related to diff for Logical Volume Manager-based configs and SystemCmd accepting a collection of strings. An update of iproute2 6.6 removes several features and adds backup support in the bridge along with adjustments for the security protocol suite. Other packages to update in the snapshot were ethtool 6.6, gpgme 1.23.2 and more.

Two other Arm Tumbleweed snapshots this week were 20231204 and 20231203.

One of my favorite albums is Vedres Csaba és a Kairosz kvartett – Áldott Idő / Blessed Time. It was made by Hungarian pianist Csaba Vedres, who worked together with a string quartet. Their music taught me that string quartets playing alone, with a piano, or with any other instrument can do some fantastic music.

The band was founded by Csaba Vedres, who had a classical music education. Besides playing the piano, he also researched the topic of classical vs. popular music. And just like me, he does not like these categories. One of his examples was Trilogy from ELP, but that will be another story :-) This album sounds more like what we usually call classical music, but not completely. Csaba is one of the best rock pianists of Hungary and you can hear that from some of the songs. I could only find a single song from the album on YouTube, but luckily you can find the full album on TIDAL.

TIDAL: https://listen.tidal.com/album/27780222

You can also find the CD at the publisher http://perifericrecords.com/hun/catalogue.php?cont=artist&artist_id=1002, together with other albums from Csaba Vedres.

I must admit that I’m not a big Jethro Tull fan. However, seeing the album cover of “The String Quartets”, I became curious and listened to the album. I was quickly addicted to it. Many old Jethro Tull songs are rearranged for a String Quartet and of course for the flute. And best of all, most songs are purely instrumental.

TIDAL: https://listen.tidal.com/album/71409468

Another album, Silver Lining Suite, which I listened to because it was a piano and a string quartet was made by Hiromi, a Japanese piano player. She wrote the album during Covid. I quickly bought it and another one of her albums on HDtracks in maximum quality, and listened to the album many times. It is difficult to choose a favorite from the album, so let me just simply link the first song. Its title is typical to Covid: “Isolation”.

TIDAL: https://listen.tidal.com/album/199559675

Finally, listen to a piece from a string quartet without any additional instruments. The Sturcz-kvartett plays their arrangement of a song by Solaris, a progrock group. It is probably the least classical sounding of the four songs, showing that a string quartet can really play any kind of music. This song was played on the 40th anniversary of Solaris as part of an online concert, due to Covid. This song is only available on YouTube.

I really hope that the rest of the songs from that concert will be available online or on Blu-Ray!

One of the most frequent syslog-ng feature requests is now resolved. Welcome the –check-startup option, allowing you to check the syntax and also spot spelling mistakes!

You can learn more about it at: https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/syslog-ng-can-now-do-a-full-configuration-check

The open-source world is in the midst of an exciting transformation as the openSUSE community prepares to phase in a new project logo.

While the competition, which has more than 5,000 votes, has yet to conclude, below is a bit of information to help people understand the reasoning for rebranding the project’s logo and information about the next steps for the openSUSE brand once the logos contest is complete.

The beloved Chameleon passionately known as Geeko was first introduced in 2005 when the project began and was slightly changed in 2007 when the type was modified for the brand.

The openSUSE Project adopted the SUSE logo from 2003, but was characterized by a different text beneath it, marking an era of brand association for the community lead project. SUSE has refreshed its brand over the years and its newest logo revealed in 2020 differs completely from that of openSUSE’s. However, the brands of both SUSE and openSUSE can oftentimes confuse people who don’t understand the relationship between the open-source company SUSE and the open-source community project openSUSE.

To help reduce this cross-branding confusion, the community seeks to create a unique brand identity, but to help provide a distinction between the company and the community project; hence, the chameleon inspired logo design contest. Differing logos is a first step to help people identify the difference between the two brands and should alleviate issues that have or could arise in community projects from oozing into the company’s brand identity.

The new logo aims to create a distinct identity for openSUSE, enabling a clearer separation from SUSE. The new logo is expected to be distinguishable from SUSE’s branding and is expected to share a similar style with the logos of its distributions.

The next steps after the logo competition concludes is to discuss the winning selection during the openSUSE Community meeting on Dec. 12 at 14:30 UTC. People are welcome to attend and discuss the results and how the project should move forward with the designs.

After the new logo is announced, the old Geeko logo will be used alongside the new one in stickers and other marketing material to bridge this transition to the new logo. Introducing the new logo alongside the old one will help users adapt to the new identity gradually.

Community members will likely see the logo on table clothes, clothing and other apparel during the transition period, which should make these items unique collectibles. Community members can help get information out about the new logo by attending open-source events and organize a booth at one of the several events.

People within the community who will have feedback about the newly selected logo can email the project’s artwork mailing list or discuss in on the project’s marketing Telegram group.

The person doing the branding changes and maintenance for the distributions has a say in any changes. The ultimate brand decision will rest with members of the project doing the implementation, but the results from this logo competition will provide an expressed opinion of the brand identity project wide.

Vote now at survey.opensuse.org.

The ways communities connect and interact have also transformed over the year.

Amidst a time where people saw every square inch/cm of their homes, two openSUSE members founded an innovative way to foster camaraderie and engagement among its community; through a virtual bar.

What began as an idea to bridge distances and create a welcoming space for enthusiasts has now blossomed into a three-year tradition, marking its anniversary.

When the world was navigating the uncharted waters of remote interactions in 2020, the openSUSE community took a bold step to launch its virtual bar at meet.opensuse.org/bar.

Aimed to emulate the lively atmosphere of a physical bar where individuals gather, chat, share knowledge, stories and, most importantly, bond over their passion for openSUSE and Linux. It even has a Telegram group to let people know when the bar is open.

From its inception on December 19, 2020, this virtual watering hole serves as a hub for both seasoned veterans and newcomers. People on the platform share insights, troubleshoot technical issues, discuss the latest developments in the world of Linux, and build lasting connections over drinks of their choice that transcend geographical boundaries.

The success of the openSUSE virtual bar lies not just in its technical infrastructure but in its vibrant community.

The community gears up to celebrate its third anniversary on December 19, 2023, starting at noon UTC time.

The virtual bar has become more than just a place for technical discussions; it has evolved into a support network where members find encouragement, mentorship, and a sense of belonging. Newcomers, in particular, have found solace in the welcoming environment and are actively participating in the openSUSE Community.

Raise your virtual glasses and join the openSUSE community in commemorating three years of friendship, learning, and camaraderie at the virtual bar.