Bubulle's weblog

Bug #710000

Tue, 28 May 2013 19:19:00 +0200

Alexander Reichle-Schmehl created Debian bug #710000 on Monday May 27th 2013, against the ftp.debian.org pseudo-package, by cloning a bug report by Rene Engelhard. So, technically speaking, Rene reported this bug....but Tolimar is responsible for that.

Bug #700000 was reported as of February 7th: 3 months and 20 days for 10,000 bugs. This is again a VERY significant drop in the bug reporting rate in Debian. Is that related to the release of jessie? We'll see that in the upcoming 4 months.

Wheezy is out: my main box upgraded the same day

Mon, 06 May 2013 04:50:00 +0200

As you may have noticed, Debian 7.0 wheezy was released yesterday.

And, well, for the first time ever, I upgraded my main server (kheops....running Debian since buzz is out) to the finest and latest release the same day it was released.

I didn't run into many problems, just a few glitches (some of them might still get some of our users angry, though).

Most noticeably, I couldn't easily update two key packages on this serveer (where I receive all my incoming mail) : roundcube and dovecot.

Roundcube indeed lost support for SQLite backend and that was probably the reason for which I falled into the "Could not perform immediat econfiguration" trap for it. The workarounds mentioned in the release notes did not work and the only solution was to remove the Roundcobe packages then re-add them later on. Not a big deal, as Roundcube is only used by my son (who will attend Debconf again, by the way) for the few mail he still receives on kheops.

Dovecot was more tricky and my mail server temporarily stopped working for my lapto pto grab mail from it. OK, admitedly, I should have read NEWS.Debian that was explaining all problems one might have, particularly problems related to SSL certificates and the use of the "mail" group. But, indeed, that should have deserved a note in the release notes. After all, we're talking there about an obscure php5-suhosin package, right? :-)

Finally, it took me less than 3 hours to upgrade everything with no service interruption for users on my local network, except a 30-minute stop of the IMAP server.

I still have to reboot to get the new kernel in operation and voilà.

Let's now go on our way to jessie!

[life] Running update: January-April...and more.

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 17:40:00 +0200

It seems that I didn't send any update to my international friends for quite a while, at least when it comes at my running activities.

So, in short, I ran A LOT during the first months of April 2013. I mean it. As of now (April 28th), I cumulated 1424 kilometers, with a peak in March up to 375 kilometers. So, that's an average 12 kilometers per day.

How did I achieve this? Among many other things, by doing part of my commute to work by running, which means 14 kilometers in one day, with a backpack containing everything needed to be dressed "normally" while working, plus my laptop, my rain jacket, etc....so up to 4 kilograms on my shoulders. And, yes, I can use a shower at work and I don't stink all day long!

This alone already makes a fairly good training. Of course, all alone, it wouldn't be really funny, so I, of course, add some runs during the week-end, mostly trail running, enjoying the nature around our place.

Official races have been mostly trail races during these months. The only road race has been an half-marathon in Bullion, back in February (4th year in a row I'm running this one, which is traditionnaly the "resume road races" competition in the area). I completed it in 1h39, quite close to my PB, even if....that was meant to be a training only.

In February, still as a preparation race for Paris Ecotrail, I ran a 20km trail in Auffargis (a neat small village in the neighbourhood of our place), again completing it with great success, with a big negative split (for non hard-core runners, a negative split happens when one runs the second half of a race faster than the first one).

All this was in preparation for Paris Ecotrail race, my second time on this 80km race that ends up at Eiffel Tower. Last year, being my first attempt on such distance,, I completed it in 11 hours 5 minutes. To make it short, this year, I finished 579th out of more than 2000 runners, in 9h36. That was indeed a really great result, in line with my 8h15 time back in November for the 70km "Le Puy-Firminy" night race.

Moreover, I could indeed recover very quickly : the race was run on a Saturday and I resumed my "commute runs" on Wednesday.

The next target were two trail races in April : I originally planned a 44km race on April 21st and finally ended up adding to it a 35km trail race on April 7th (the day of Paris Marathon), only 3 weeks after Ecotrail..:-)

And I completed both these with a huge success. Indeed my best trail races ever, again with two negative splits and also a very good place. Indeed, I now usually complete races close to the very first women...:-).

So, on April 7th, the trail du Josas (35km, 800m positive climb... which means about the equivalent of a marathon) was completed in 3h40....and last Sunday, the trail des Lavoirs (44km, 1100m positive climb) was completed in 4h40, with the last 2 kilometers being run above 13km/h. Describing how one can feel when "flying" in the very last kilometers of such a long run is just....impossible. Great, great, great memories.

Then, during the week following the trail des Lavoirs, I ran 101km in 6 days, confirming that recovery is perfect.

So, definitely, I am stunned by what I could achieve during these months, without injury, without big pain. Just good training and good results, without suffering and a giant pleasure.

Yes, running is definitely a drug and I'm deeply addicted. Well, the result is, in short, that I feel good and well, so I think I won't stop soon...:-)

Next challenge : Mont-Blanc marathon, in Chamonix : 42.195km....and 2500meters positive climb, with 1500 meters negative. Start in Chamonix at 1050m high and end at Planpraz (2050m), facing the Mont-Blanc, with a maximum altitude of 2267m during the race. Quite an interesting "marathon", isn't it? That will be my first race in real mountains...and, I guess not the last one. Target time: 6 hours. Secret wish: 5h30.

During summer, I will mostly be preparing for the second part of the year....but I'll certainly enjoy the neighbourhood of Vaumarcus, Switzerland, where I'll attend DebConf. Challenge : combine running, hacking, cheese eating and fit all this in 24 hours every day.

For the end of the year, challenges should peak between October and December:

October 27th: Toulouse marathon. A "real" one, this time....and eventually my first attempt to get a Boston qualifying time (I need 3h30).
November 17th: Le Puy-Firminy night race, with 70km half-road, half (easy) trails and 1200m positive climb. Challenge: beat my best time there and complete it for the 3rd year in a row
December 8th: Saintélyon, a 75km night race between my birth city of St-Étienne and the nearby town of Lyon, through hills....and often with snow. Challenge: finish it..:-)

So, well, see you soon on this blog for another update after Mont-Blanc marathon. Let's hope I'll give you good news.

DPL game or why I'm not your man

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 22:20:00 +0100

I am in some way flattered (en_FR?) that some people think that I should stand as DPL candidate (here, or there, or there). Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your confidence, it's appreciated.

Still, I won't stand and I feel like I should explain why.

Yes, I now have some experience in the Debian Project after more than 11 years as DD. Yes, I like to represent the project and I think I don't do that so badly when I do it (which is not as often as one might imagine).

Yes, I feel like I have some experience in acting as a "leader" though I often have doubts about this, probably just like many people who have management duties in their professional life.

Yes, I often define myself as a non-technical person which helps in dealing with problems and projects with different perspectives. Still, this is often not so true and that extends to my professionnal activity. I *am* indeed a technical person but I'm more a "specialist of everything and nothing" in this aspect. That's probably good for a DPL.

But, still I won't stand. There are indeed many reasons for this and I'll try to give them here.

First of all, Debian has always been a hobby for me. A hobby that sometimes ate several hours a day and still eats part of my time. But still a hobby. It can't become the major part of my life. And I think that someone spending one year as DPL "has" to do it as the major part of her|his life.

I can't free time from my work schedule. My work, though being in IT, has few to relate with Free Software, and I can't divert part of it with Debian duties...or merge it with Debian duties. For about 3 years, I compensate the loss of two people in my team by working hard and VERY fast, in a constant stress....connecting with Onera nearly all time long and maintaining the level of services our users deserve as high as I can. And I like it.

I can't free time from my family schedule. Of course, my children don't request much attention right now, they all live their own lives. Jean-Baptiste is now having a full-time paid job and does great things in a geeky style I recognize very well. Sophie will soon be a great graduated social worker and will start working in next Summer. And Magali is studying physical therapy so that she can later help me recovering after too hard running races..:-). However, last and definitely not least, I have a wonderful wife who I want to share as much as I can with. And I can't share Debian with her. Indeed, Elizabeth is the very first reason for my reasoning.....because she is the center of my life for more than 30 years now.

You also know that I happen to run a little bit..:-)...and that requires time too. Something I won't sacrifice as it brought more equilibrium in my life (and a great health, at an age where one has to care about one's health, now).

All this doesn't leave much room. And I indeed noticed that my involvement in Debian has reduced noticeably in the past months. That is indeed the most important point: I'm "slowing down" in Debian...or, at least, I'm trying to find an equilibrium where it represents only a part of my hobbies....and not an ever-growing one.

Last...maybe not least, I'm somehow pessimistic about the future of the project. You may have read that subtly in my writings, here or there. I feel like we are slowing down in innovation and are slowly feeling short of resources. Renewal in project members doesn't come as fast as it used to. You are free to disagree with me and I hope you'll be right to. But, still, that won't remove my pessimism. And, well, it's hard to lead a project when you're partly pessimistic about it, isn't it?

In short, all in all, I'm currently "fighting" in some way to keep motivation for something I deeply love being involved in. And that's really important. And that's why I can't stand: it wouldn't be a good service to the project. It would be good for my ego, certainly (yes, I have one....and sometimes not a small one)....but it wouldn't be a good service to the project, and I also feel it could very well lead me to burnout.

And, if you "nominated" me...or think I would candidate for DPL, you don't want me to burnout and vanish from Debian, right? So, this is why I won't stand.

And this is why you'll continue to have great Cheese and Wine parties at Debconfs....or boring l10n reports....or, here or there, some broken uploads in the archive..:-)....but not another French DPL, at least not /me.

PS: by the way, I have my own list of preferred candidates. Not sure I want it to be public, though...:-)...you'll see soon if I change my mind!

Bet for Debian bug #800000

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 14:21:00 +0100

Yesterday, I launched the contest for prediction of the day Debian bugs #800000 and #1000000 will be reported.

For bug #1000000, this is the second set of bets after those we placed back in 2008 when bug #500000 was reported. I then proposed that we have different bets, refined each time. That gives an interesting light on how people estimate the bug report rate (and, to some extent, the project's life).

Have you bet already?

You don't need to be a DD or a DM in order to bet. Just someone wanting to have some fun with Debian contributors. Easy and costless.