TeX Live package reorganization

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.

https://archlinux.org/news/tex-live-package-reorganization/

#news

budgie-desktop >= 10.7.2-6 update requires manual intervention

When upgrading from budgie-desktop 10.7.2-5 to 10.7.2-6, the package mutter43 must be replaced with magpie-wm, which currently depends on mutter. As mutter43 conflicts with mutter, manual intervention is required to complete the upgrade.

First remove mutter43, then immediately perform the upgrade. Do not relog or reboot between these steps.

pacman -Rdd mutter43

pacman -Syu

https://archlinux.org/news/budgie-desktop-1072-6-update-requires-manual-intervention/

#news

ansible-core >= 2.15.3-1 update may require manual intervention

As of ansible-core 2.15.3, upstream moved documentation and examples to a separate dedicated repository (see the related changelogs).
This means that, starting from version 2.15.3 the ansible-core package will stop shipping documentation and a default configuration example under /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg.

Regarding the documentation, it is available online: https://docs.ansible.com/
As for the configuration file, as explained in the wiki, a base config can be generated with the following command:

ansible-config init --disabled > ansible.cfg

After updating from ansible-core <= 2.15.2-1 to >= 2.15.3-1, everyone using a custom global Ansible configuration file stored under /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg will have their configuration saved as a pacsave file.
To restore it, run the following command:

mv /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg.pacsave /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg

https://archlinux.org/news/ansible-core-2153-1-update-may-require-manual-intervention/

#news

Changes to default password hashing algorithm and umask settings

With shadow >= 4.14.0, Arch Linux's default password hashing algorithm changed from SHA512 to yescrypt [1].

Furthermore, the umask [2] settings are now configured in /etc/login.defs instead of /etc/profile.

This should not require any manual intervention.

Reasons for Yescrypt

The password-based key derivation function (KDF) and password hashing scheme yescrypt has been chosen due to its adoption (readily available in libxcrypt, which is used by pam [3]) and its stronger resilience towards password cracking attempts over SHA512.

Although the winner of the Password Hashing Competition [4] has been argon2, this even more resilient algorithm is not yet available in libxcrypt [5][6].

Configuring yescrypt

The YESCRYPT_COST_FACTOR setting in /etc/login.defs is currently without effect, until pam implements reading its value [7]. If a YESCRYPT_COST_FACTOR higher (or lower) than the default (5) is needed, it can be set using the rounds option of the pam_unix [8] module (i.e. in /etc/pam.d/system-auth).

General list of changes

▪️yescrypt is used as default password hashing algorithm, instead of SHA512
▪️pam honors the chosen ENCRYPT_METHOD in /etc/login.defs and does not override the chosen method anymore
▪️changes in the filesystem (>= 2023.09.18) and pambase (>= 20230918) packages ensure, that umask is set centrally in /etc/login.defs instead of /etc/profile

https://archlinux.org/news/changes-to-default-password-hashing-algorithm-and-umask-settings/

#news

Store ssh keys inside the TPM: ssh-tpm-agent

After writing age-plugin-tpm a friend of mine at the hackerspace was super excited to finally have easy file encryption with TPM sealed keys, all without having to rely on gnupg. “This is great!” he said. “I wish I could have my SSH keys sealed in a TPM just as easily”. We should have left it at that. I shouldn’t have replied with a random assortment of facts like “I know google/go-tpm now”, or “but Go has a ssh-agent protocol implementation” followed-up with “Filippo has already implemented yubikey-agent, it can’t be that hard”.

https://linderud.dev/blog/store-ssh-keys-inside-the-tpm-ssh-tpm-agent/

#planetarch

September

Arch Linux in September 2023 # Staff # We would like to welcome Fabian Bornschein (fabiscafe) as part of the Arch Linux Package Maintainer team. Bug weekend # During the 1st to 3rd of September, we conducted a bug weekend with the aim of resolving old bugs and implementing proposed solutions. This effort not only reduced the backlog but also contributed to streamlining the upcoming bug tracker migration, resulting in the resolution of approximately 200 bugs.

https://monthly-reports.archlinux.page/2023/09/

#planetarch

Fully Automated Releases for Rust Projects

Here is how you can publish a Rust project with a single click of a button and automate everything.

https://blog.orhun.dev/automated-rust-releases/

#planetarch

Incoming changes in JDK / JRE 21 packages may require manual intervention

We are introducing a change in JDK/JRE packages of our distro. This is triggered from the way a JRE is build in modern versions of Java (>9). We are introducing this change in Java 21. To sum it up instead of having JDK and JRE packages coexist in the same system we will be making them conflict. The JDK variant package includes the runtime environment to execute Java applications so if one needs compilation and runtime of Java they need only the JDK package in the future. If, on the other hand, they need just runtime of Java then JRE (or jre-headless) will work. This will (potentially) require a manual user action during upgrade:

▪️ If you have both JDK and JRE installed you can manually install the JDK with pacman -Syu jdk-openjdk and this removes the JRE related packages.
▪️ If you have both JRE and JRE-headless you will need to choose one of them and install it manually since they would conflict each other now.
▪️ If you only have one of the JDK/JRE/JRE-headless pacman should resolve dependencies normally and no action is needed.

At the moment this is only valid for the upcoming JDK 21 release.

https://archlinux.org/news/incoming-changes-in-jdk-jre-21-packages-may-require-manual-intervention/

#news

Grants for Operating Systems

Over the past years I have written (unsuccessful) funding applications for free software projects, associated with the Arch Linux Operating System. This article is about my experiences with applying for numerous funds and my advice for people trying to get their work funded. TL;DR: Writing funding applications is extremely tedious and the selection process mostly intransparent and discouraging. Depending on what you apply for and who you apply with, you may never get funding due to other, additional factors. Read more… (8 min remaining to read)

https://sleepmap.de/2023/grants-for-operating-systems/

#planetarch

Operating System Bias in Next Generation Internet and NLnet

In Grants for Operating Systems I discussed my journey through the grant application writing business since beginning of last year. To keep things light and somewhat focused, I left out a topic, that I would like to write about in more detail in the following sections. It's about selection bias in grants provided by Next Generation Internet (NGI), that can be applied for directly or through NLnet. Read more… (11 min remaining to read)

https://sleepmap.de/2023/operating-system-bias-in-next-generation-internet-and-nlnet/

#planetarch

Bugtracker migration to GitLab completed

We are happy to announce that the migration of the bugtracker to GitLab is done! 🥳

Thanks to everyone who has helped during the migration!

This means the issue tracker and merge requests on the GitLab package repos are now enabled.

The old bugtracker will subsequently be closed down. For archiving reasons there will be a static copy so that links (for example the randomly picked Task #56716) are still stable, migrated bugs have a closing comment pointing to the new URL on GitLab.

Packaging bugs are now opened on the repo hosting the corresponding packaging sources, the "Add a new Bug" button on the package page on archlinux.org will automatically direct you to the correct place to open the issue. The workflow afterwards is mostly the same, first our Bug Wranglers will have a look at the issues and triage them, and then they will be handed over to the respective Package Maintainers to fix. A list of all issues can be found here.

If you do not have an account for GitLab already (which authenticates against our SSO service), please write us a mail with your desired username to accountsupport@archlinux.org as advised in the banner.

https://archlinux.org/news/bugtracker-migration-to-gitlab-completed/

#news

November

Arch Linux in November 2023 # Arch Summit 2023 # The Arch Summit took place in Hamburg, Germany, on November 4th and 5th, bringing together Arch Linux staff and invited guests. The summit provided an opportunity for the staff to connect, socialize, and delve into discussions regarding various aspects of our distro. A range of topics were explored including but not limited to infrastructure and mirror management, rebuilders for packages, signing enclave, mkinitcpio, packaging tooling improvements, and community building.

https://monthly-reports.archlinux.page/2023/11/

#planetarch

Reflecting on my 2023

I figured I’d write a post about this last year, maybe to crystalize thoughts I’ve been having, and to help figure some things out for the times ahead.

https://rubin55.org/blog/reflecting-on-my-2023/

#planetarch

Stream to chromecast with resolved, vlc and bash

Chromecast is one of those devices I just generally use a lot. They are small practical and enables me to stream video or music to my TV from multiple devices. But it also requires you to have a supported browser or video player. This is obviously a bit boring. There has been multiple command line chromecast streamers through the years. But their ffmpeg usage has been shoddy at best with no hardware decoding support and usually quite bad implementations.

https://linderud.dev/blog/stream-to-chromecast-with-resolved-vlc-and-bash/

#planetarch

Plans and ideas for 2024

A follow-up to my reflections on 2023, my plans and ideas for 2024.

https://rubin55.org/blog/plans-and-ideas-for-2024/

#planetarch

Making dbus-broker our default D-Bus daemon

We are making dbus-broker our default implementation of D-Bus, for improved performance, reliability and integration with systemd.

For the foreseeable future we will still support the use of dbus-daemon, the previous implementation. Pacman will ask you whether to install dbus-broker-units or dbus-daemon-units. We recommend picking the default.

For a more detailed rationale, please see our RFC 25.

https://archlinux.org/news/making-dbus-broker-our-default-d-bus-daemon/

#news

Why stdout is faster than stderr?

I recently realized stdout is much faster than stderr for Rust. Here are my findings after diving deep into this rabbit hole.

https://blog.orhun.dev/stdout-vs-stderr/

#planetarch

GNOME battery charge control

As someone who has to use a laptop for work, I keep my laptop plugged in 8 hours or more a day, 7 days a week. The laptop's battery during these days would discharge and charge, slowly degrading the battery because only the last ~ 20% would be charged and discharged …

https://vdwaa.nl/gnome-upower-charge-thresholds.html

#planetarch

My FOSDEM 2024 Experience

Sharing my experience after giving a talk at FOSDEM 2024!

https://blog.orhun.dev/fosdem-2024-experience/

#planetarch

Uninterupted desktop streaming vs. NetworkManager

For maybe more than a year (maybe two) I’ve been struggling with getting desktop streaming from Linux desktop client to a Windows or Linux host system working flawlessly. I mean without interruptions in video frame speed (60fps) or audio drop-outs.

https://rubin55.org/blog/uninterupted-desktop-streaming-vs-network-manager/

#planetarch

mkinitcpio hook migration and early microcode

With the release of mkinitcpio v38, several hooks previously provided by Arch packages have been moved to the mkinitcpio upstream project. The hooks are: systemd, udev, encrypt, sd-encrypt, lvm2 and mdadm_udev.

To ensure no breakage of users' setup occurs, temporary conflicts have been introduced into the respective packages to prevent installing packages that are no longer compatible.

The following packages needs to be upgraded together:

* mkinitcpio 38-3
* systemd 255.4-2
* lvm2 2.03.23-3
* mdadm 4.3-2
* cryptsetup 2.7.0-3

Please note that the mkinitcpio flag --microcode, and the microcode option in the preset files, has been deprecated in favour of a new microcode hook. This also allows you to drop the microcode initrd lines from your boot configuration as they are now packed together with the main initramfs image.

https://archlinux.org/news/mkinitcpio-hook-migration-and-early-microcode/

#news