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The freeze has already started for the non-essential tool chain and libraries. The developers will not modify these packages unless there is a significant reason to do so.

The Release Team has announced a total freeze for the whole Lenny branch. In a posting to the project mailing lists, the Release Team advised developers to upload any final changes to the software packages they maintain as quickly as possible. To motivate contributors, the team added a Cowsay graphic to its message:

______________________
< We freeze next week! >
----------------------
\ ^__^
\ (oo)\_______
(__)\ )\/\
||----w |
|| ||

The Debian Community has already achieved some of its Debian 5.0, codename Lenny, release objectives, including the move to Python version 2.5 and localization of all packages used by the Debconf system.

Further objectives include removing Bash specific instructions for scripts that call the "/bin/sh" interpreter to allow Debian users to migrate to alternatives such as the Debian-Almquist Shell (Dash) as their default shell. On top of this, scripts in the "/etc/init.d" should be compatible with state-of-art init systems that do not start services in a fixed order but instead rely on a system of dependencies.

Besides this, says the Release Manager, there are currently around 360 bugs that need to be squashed before Lenny can be released. To handle this, Bug Squashing Parties will take place in cities all over the world to allow Debian developers to get together and tackle the remaining issues.

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