Journal Slackware 10.1 beta 1 - yes!

http://www.slackware.com/changelog/current.php?cpu=i386(...)

Sat Jan 22 18:12:37 PST 2005
"Goes to show, you don't ever know"

Hi folks!
I'm going to call this Slackware 10.1 beta 1, because we're at a state where things are relatively stable. There have been a great deal of improvements over Slackware 10.0, and it would be best to get this out before trying to tackle the major changes for Slackware 11.

As far as I know, there are no serious security issues remaining in the -current tree at this time. There may still be a few image decoder bugs, but these seem to be crash bugs at worst, if even that. I've yet to hear of any of them allowing remote access, or privilege escalation. I do not think they are worth delaying a Slackware release over. I'd like to get to them, but my condition is preventing this, and so I'm going to tell it like I think it is: The sky is not really falling, regardless of what you read on BugTraq. If I am missing anything major though, please mail to security at slackware.com and let me know about it. As always, I want this to be a high-quality release.

And about my status... I didn't want to have to bring this up again, but since a lot of people are under the impression that I've recovered and I'm just fine (and are beginning to make the usual demands of my time ;-), I'd better clarify what's going on. Especially since I'm not exactly fine.

Back on Thu Nov 25, I posted in the ChangeLog that I thought I had infective endocarditis (and was promptly flamed for self-diagnosing again). After so much beating around the bush without getting a referral to a cardiologist, I finally called one myself and waited the two weeks it takes to get in. He is a top-notch doctor and heart surgeon (I was very lucky to be able get in to see him), and with no planting of any suggestion from me whatsoever came to the conclusion that it seemed to be infective endocarditis. I'm still waiting for more test results, but it looks like I finally have someone working on my side. So, lets hope that they get some conclusive diagnostics (I get another echo on Wednesday), that I make it until they do, and that it's not too late for this to be treated without a need for valve (or heart) replacement. I've had a rough couple of weeks (well, months really, but especially the last two weeks), and I have to say that while it's good to have a near-death experience every couple of years to keep your head clear and your focus on the important things in life, having one every morning is too often. With that frequency, they start to become a distraction. ;-)

So, this verson is going to be wrapped up pretty quickly. I hope people will support the release, because I'm sure I'll have a lot more bills before all of this is through, and I'm blowing through what little money I've managed to save. Again, I'm not asking for donations, but I hope that when Slackware 10.1 comes out that people wanting to help out will order it. Also, in case of emergency I've left instructions with some very trusted people, so nobody should have to worry that if something happens to me that their Slackware systems will be orphaned and unsupported. It may be a long road back for me, but there will be people taking care of security issues as they crop up (like the folks at GUS-BR and SlackSec), and if I should make an unplanned departure there are is a basic plan of succession in place.

Thanks again to all the kind folks I've known over the years, and I hope to know you for many more. :-)

Your Humble Slackware Maintainer,

Pat

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