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  13  <h1>
  14      <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/">Petter Reinholdtsen</a>
  15
  16  </h1>
  17
  18 </div>
  19
  20
  21     <h3>Entries tagged "english".</h3>
  22
  23     <div class="entry">
  24       <div class="title">
  25         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Creepy__visualise_geotagged_social_media_information___nice_free_software.html">Creepy, visualise geotagged social media information - nice free software</a>
  26       </div>
  27       <div class="date">
  28         24th January 2016
  29       </div>
  30       <div class="body">
  31         <p>Most people seem not to realise that every time they walk around
  32 with the computerised radio beacon known as a mobile phone their
  33 position is tracked by the phone company and often stored for a long
  34 time (like every time a SMS is received or sent).  And if their
  35 computerised radio beacon is capable of running programs (often called
  36 mobile apps) downloaded from the Internet, these programs are often
  37 also capable of tracking their location (if the app requested access
  38 during installation).  And when these programs send out information to
  39 central collection points, the location is often included, unless
  40 extra care is taken to not send the location.  The provided
  41 information is used by several entities, for good and bad (what is
  42 good and bad, depend on your point of view).  What is certain, is that
  43 the private sphere and the right to free movement is challenged and
  44 perhaps even eradicated for those announcing their location this way,
  45 when they share their whereabouts with private and public
  46 entities.</p>
  47
  48 <p align="center"><img width="70%" src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2016-01-24-nice-creepy-desktop-window.png"></p>
  49
  50 <p>The phone company logs provide a register of locations to check out
  51 when one want to figure out what the tracked person was doing.  It is
  52 unavailable for most of us, but provided to selected government
  53 officials, company staff, those illegally buying information from
  54 unfaithful servants and crackers stealing the information.  But the
  55 public information can be collected and analysed, and a free software
  56 tool to do so is called
  57 <a href="http://www.geocreepy.com/">Creepy or Cree.py</a>.  I
  58 discovered it when I read
  59 <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/Slik-kan-du-bli-overvaket-pa-Twitter-og-Instagram-uten-a-ane-det-7787884.html">an
  60 article about Creepy</a> in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten i
  61 November 2014, and decided to check if it was available in Debian.
  62 The python program was in Debian, but
  63 <a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/creepy">the version in
  64 Debian</a> was completely broken and practically unmaintained.  I
  65 uploaded a new version which did not work quite right, but did not
  66 have time to fix it then.  This Christmas I decided to finally try to
  67 get Creepy operational in Debian.  Now a fixed version is available in
  68 Debian unstable and testing, and almost all Debian specific patches
  69 are now included
  70 <a href="https://github.com/jkakavas/creepy">upstream</a>.</p>
  71
  72 <p>The Creepy program visualises geolocation information fetched from
  73 Twitter, Instagram, Flickr and Google+, and allow one to get a
  74 complete picture of every social media message posted recently in a
  75 given area, or track the movement of a given individual across all
  76 these services.  Earlier it was possible to use the search API of at
  77 least some of these services without identifying oneself, but these
  78 days it is impossible.  This mean that to use Creepy, you need to
  79 configure it to log in as yourself on these services, and provide
  80 information to them about your search interests.  This should be taken
  81 into account when using Creepy, as it will also share information
  82 about yourself with the services.</p>
  83
  84 <p>The picture above show the twitter messages sent from (or at least
  85 geotagged with a position from) the city centre of Oslo, the capital
  86 of Norway.  One useful way to use Creepy is to first look at
  87 information tagged with an area of interest, and next look at all the
  88 information provided by one or more individuals who was in the area.
  89 I tested it by checking out which celebrity provide their location in
  90 twitter messages by checkout out who sent twitter messages near a
  91 Norwegian TV station, and next could track their position over time,
  92 making it possible to locate their home and work place, among other
  93 things.  A similar technique have been
  94 <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/does-this-soldiers-instagram-account-prove-russia-is-covertl">used
  95 to locate Russian soldiers in Ukraine</a>, and it is both a powerful
  96 tool to discover lying governments, and a useful tool to help people
  97 understand the value of the private information they provide to the
  98 public.</p>
  99
 100 <p>The package is not trivial to backport to Debian Stable/Jessie, as
 101 it depend on several python modules currently missing in Jessie (at
 102 least python-instagram, python-flickrapi and
 103 python-requests-toolbelt).</p>
 104
 105 <p>(I have uploaded
 106 <a href="https://screenshots.debian.net/package/creepy">the image to
 107 screenshots.debian.net</a> and licensed it under the same terms as the
 108 Creepy program in Debian.)</p>
 109
 110       </div>
 111       <div class="tags">
 112
 113
 114         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nice free software">nice free software</a>.
 115
 116
 117       </div>
 118     </div>
 119     <div class="padding"></div>
 120
 121     <div class="entry">
 122       <div class="title">
 123         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Always_download_Debian_packages_using_Tor___the_simple_recipe.html">Always download Debian packages using Tor - the simple recipe</a>
 124       </div>
 125       <div class="date">
 126         15th January 2016
 127       </div>
 128       <div class="body">
 129         <p>During his DebConf15 keynote, Jacob Appelbaum
 130 <a href="https://summit.debconf.org/debconf15/meeting/331/what-is-to-be-done/">observed
 131 that those listening on the Internet lines would have good reason to
 132 believe a computer have a given security hole</a> if it download a
 133 security fix from a Debian mirror.  This is a good reason to always
 134 use encrypted connections to the Debian mirror, to make sure those
 135 listening do not know which IP address to attack.  In August, Richard
 136 Hartmann observed that encryption was not enough, when it was possible
 137 to interfere download size to security patches or the fact that
 138 download took place shortly after a security fix was released, and
 139 <a href="http://richardhartmann.de/blog/posts/2015/08/24-Tor-enabled_Debian_mirror/">proposed
 140 to always use Tor to download packages from the Debian mirror</a>.  He
 141 was not the first to propose this, as the
 142 <tt><a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/apt-transport-tor">apt-transport-tor</a></tt>
 143 package by Tim Retout already existed to make it easy to convince apt
 144 to use <a href="https://www.torproject.org/">Tor</a>, but I was not
 145 aware of that package when I read the blog post from Richard.</p>
 146
 147 <p>Richard discussed the idea with Peter Palfrader, one of the Debian
 148 sysadmins, and he set up a Tor hidden service on one of the central
 149 Debian mirrors using the address vwakviie2ienjx6t.onion, thus making
 150 it possible to download packages directly between two tor nodes,
 151 making sure the network traffic always were encrypted.</p>
 152
 153 <p>Here is a short recipe for enabling this on your machine, by
 154 installing <tt>apt-transport-tor</tt> and replacing http and https
 155 urls with tor+http and tor+https, and using the hidden service instead
 156 of the official Debian mirror site.  I recommend installing
 157 <tt>etckeeper</tt> before you start to have a history of the changes
 158 done in /etc/.</p>
 159
 160 <blockquote><pre>
 161 apt install apt-transport-tor
 162 sed -i 's% http://ftp.debian.org/%tor+http://vwakviie2ienjx6t.onion/%' /etc/apt/sources.list
 163 sed -i 's% http% tor+http%' /etc/apt/sources.list
 164 </pre></blockquote>
 165
 166 <p>If you have more sources listed in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/, run
 167 the sed commands for these too.  The sed command is assuming your are
 168 using the ftp.debian.org Debian mirror.  Adjust the command (or just
 169 edit the file manually) to match your mirror.</p>
 170
 171 <p>This work in Debian Jessie and later.  Note that tools like
 172 <tt>apt-file</tt> only recently started using the apt transport
 173 system, and do not work with these tor+http URLs.  For
 174 <tt>apt-file</tt> you need the version currently in experimental,
 175 which need a recent apt version currently only in unstable.  So if you
 176 need a working <tt>apt-file</tt>, this is not for you.</p>
 177
 178 <p>Another advantage from this change is that your machine will start
 179 using Tor regularly and at fairly random intervals (every time you
 180 update the package lists or upgrade or install a new package), thus
 181 masking other Tor traffic done from the same machine.  Using Tor will
 182 become normal for the machine in question.</p>
 183
 184 <p>On <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">Freedombox</a>, APT
 185 is set up by default to use <tt>apt-transport-tor</tt> when Tor is
 186 enabled.  It would be great if it was the default on any Debian
 187 system.</p>
 188
 189       </div>
 190       <div class="tags">
 191
 192
 193         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
 194
 195
 196       </div>
 197     </div>
 198     <div class="padding"></div>
 199
 200     <div class="entry">
 201       <div class="title">
 202         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/OpenALPR__find_car_license_plates_in_video_streams___nice_free_software.html">OpenALPR, find car license plates in video streams - nice free software</a>
 203       </div>
 204       <div class="date">
 205         23rd December 2015
 206       </div>
 207       <div class="body">
 208         <p>When I was a kid, we used to collect "car numbers", as we used to
 209 call the car license plate numbers in those days.  I would write the
 210 numbers down in my little book and compare notes with the other kids
 211 to see how many region codes we had seen and if we had seen some
 212 exotic or special region codes and numbers.  It was a fun game to pass
 213 time, as we kids have plenty of it.</p>
 214
 215 <p>A few days I came across
 216 <a href="https://github.com/openalpr/openalpr">the OpenALPR
 217 project</a>, a free software project to automatically discover and
 218 report license plates in images and video streams, and provide the
 219 "car numbers" in a machine readable format.  I've been looking for
 220 such system for a while now, because I believe it is a bad idea that the
 221 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recognition">automatic
 222 number plate recognition</a> tool only is available in the hands of
 223 the powerful, and want it to be available also for the powerless to
 224 even the score when it comes to surveillance and sousveillance.  I
 225 discovered the developer
 226 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/747509">wanted to get the tool into
 227 Debian</a>, and as I too wanted it to be in Debian, I volunteered to
 228 help him get it into shape to get the package uploaded into the Debian
 229 archive.</p>
 230
 231 <p>Today we finally managed to get the package into shape and uploaded
 232 it into Debian, where it currently
 233 <a href="https://ftp-master.debian.org//new/openalpr_2.2.1-1.html">waits
 234 in the NEW queue</a> for review by the Debian ftpmasters.</p>
 235
 236 <p>I guess you are wondering why on earth such tool would be useful
 237 for the common folks, ie those not running a large government
 238 surveillance system?  Well, I plan to put it in a computer on my bike
 239 and in my car, tracking the cars nearby and allowing me to be notified
 240 when number plates on my watch list are discovered.  Another use case
 241 was suggested by a friend of mine, who wanted to set it up at his home
 242 to open the car port automatically when it discovered the plate on his
 243 car.  When I mentioned it perhaps was a bit foolhardy to allow anyone
 244 capable of placing his license plate number of a piece of cardboard to
 245 open his car port, men replied that it was always unlocked anyway.  I
 246 guess for such use case it make sense.  I am sure there are other use
 247 cases too, for those with imagination and a vision.</p>
 248
 249 <p>If you want to build your own version of the Debian package, check
 250 out the upstream git source and symlink ./distros/debian to ./debian/
 251 before running "debuild" to build the source.  Or wait a bit until the
 252 package show up in unstable.</p>
 253
 254       </div>
 255       <div class="tags">
 256
 257
 258         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nice free software">nice free software</a>.
 259
 260
 261       </div>
 262     </div>
 263     <div class="padding"></div>
 264
 265     <div class="entry">
 266       <div class="title">
 267         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_appstream_with_isenkram_to_install_hardware_related_packages_in_Debian.html">Using appstream with isenkram to install hardware related packages in Debian</a>
 268       </div>
 269       <div class="date">
 270         20th December 2015
 271       </div>
 272       <div class="body">
 273         <p>Around three years ago, I created
 274 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">the isenkram
 275 system</a> to get a more practical solution in Debian for handing
 276 hardware related packages.  A GUI system in the isenkram package will
 277 present a pop-up dialog when some hardware dongle supported by
 278 relevant packages in Debian is inserted into the machine.  The same
 279 lookup mechanism to detect packages is available as command line
 280 tools in the isenkram-cli package.  In addition to mapping hardware,
 281 it will also map kernel firmware files to packages and make it easy to
 282 install needed firmware packages automatically.  The key for this
 283 system to work is a good way to map hardware to packages, in other
 284 words, allow packages to announce what hardware they will work
 285 with.</p>
 286
 287 <p>I started by providing data files in the isenkram source, and
 288 adding code to download the latest version of these data files at run
 289 time, to ensure every user had the most up to date mapping available.
 290 I also added support for storing the mapping in the Packages file in
 291 the apt repositories, but did not push this approach because while I
 292 was trying to figure out how to best store hardware/package mappings,
 293 <a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/software/appstream/docs/">the
 294 appstream system</a> was announced.  I got in touch and suggested to
 295 add the hardware mapping into that data set to be able to use
 296 appstream as a data source, and this was accepted at least for the
 297 Debian version of appstream.</p>
 298
 299 <p>A few days ago using appstream in Debian for this became possible,
 300 and today I uploaded a new version 0.20 of isenkram adding support for
 301 appstream as a data source for mapping hardware to packages.  The only
 302 package so far using appstream to announce its hardware support is my
 303 pymissile package.  I got help from Matthias Klumpp with figuring out
 304 how do add the required
 305 <a href="https://appstream.debian.org/html/sid/main/metainfo/pymissile.html">metadata
 306 in pymissile</a>.  I added a file debian/pymissile.metainfo.xml with
 307 this content:</p>
 308
 309 <blockquote><pre>
 310 &lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;
 311 &lt;component&gt;
 312   &lt;id&gt;pymissile&lt;/id&gt;
 313   &lt;metadata_license&gt;MIT&lt;/metadata_license&gt;
 314   &lt;name&gt;pymissile&lt;/name&gt;
 315   &lt;summary&gt;Control original Striker USB Missile Launcher&lt;/summary&gt;
 316   &lt;description&gt;
 317     &lt;p&gt;
 318       Pymissile provides a curses interface to control an original
 319       Marks and Spencer / Striker USB Missile Launcher, as well as a
 320       motion control script to allow a webcamera to control the
 321       launcher.
 322     &lt;/p&gt;
 323   &lt;/description&gt;
 324   &lt;provides&gt;
 325     &lt;modalias&gt;usb:v1130p0202d*&lt;/modalias&gt;
 326   &lt;/provides&gt;
 327 &lt;/component&gt;
 328 </pre></blockquote>
 329
 330 <p>The key for isenkram is the component/provides/modalias value,
 331 which is a glob style match rule for hardware specific strings
 332 (modalias strings) provided by the Linux kernel.  In this case, it
 333 will map to all USB devices with vendor code 1130 and product code
 334 0202.</p>
 335
 336 <p>Note, it is important that the license of all the metadata files
 337 are compatible to have permissions to aggregate them into archive wide
 338 appstream files.  Matthias suggested to use MIT or BSD licenses for
 339 these files.  A challenge is figuring out a good id for the data, as
 340 it is supposed to be globally unique and shared across distributions
 341 (in other words, best to coordinate with upstream what to use).  But
 342 it can be changed later or, so we went with the package name as
 343 upstream for this project is dormant.</p>
 344
 345 <p>To get the metadata file installed in the correct location for the
 346 mirror update scripts to pick it up and include its content the
 347 appstream data source, the file must be installed in the binary
 348 package under /usr/share/appdata/.  I did this by adding the following
 349 line to debian/pymissile.install:</p>
 350
 351 <blockquote><pre>
 352 debian/pymissile.metainfo.xml usr/share/appdata
 353 </pre></blockquote>
 354
 355 <p>With that in place, the command line tool isenkram-lookup will list
 356 all packages useful on the current computer automatically, and the GUI
 357 pop-up handler will propose to install the package not already
 358 installed if a hardware dongle is inserted into the machine in
 359 question.</p>
 360
 361 <p>Details of the modalias field in appstream is available from the
 362 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DEP-11">DEP-11</a> proposal.</p>
 363
 364 <p>To locate the modalias values of all hardware present in a machine,
 365 try running this command on the command line:</p>
 366
 367 <blockquote><pre>
 368 cat $(find /sys/devices/|grep modalias)
 369 </pre></blockquote>
 370
 371 <p>To learn more about the isenkram system, please check out
 372 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram/">my
 373 blog posts tagged isenkram</a>.</p>
 374
 375       </div>
 376       <div class="tags">
 377
 378
 379         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
 380
 381
 382       </div>
 383     </div>
 384     <div class="padding"></div>
 385
 386     <div class="entry">
 387       <div class="title">
 388         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_GNU_General_Public_License_is_not_magic_pixie_dust.html">The GNU General Public License is not magic pixie dust</a>
 389       </div>
 390       <div class="date">
 391         30th November 2015
 392       </div>
 393       <div class="body">
 394         <p>A blog post from my fellow Debian developer Paul Wise titled
 395 "<a href="http://bonedaddy.net/pabs3/log/2015/11/27/sfc-supporter/">The
 396 GPL is not magic pixie dust</a>" explain the importance of making sure
 397 the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GPL</a> is enforced.
 398 I quote the blog post from Paul in full here with his permission:<p>
 399
 400 <blockquote>
 401
 402 <p><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/"><img src="https://sfconservancy.org/img/supporter-badge.png" width="194" height="90" alt="Become a Software Freedom Conservancy Supporter!" align="right" border="0" /></a></p>
 403
 404 <blockquote>
 405 The GPL is not magic pixie dust. It does not work by itself.<br/>
 406
 407 The first step is to choose a
 408 <a href="https://copyleft.org/">copyleft</a> license for your
 409 code.<br/>
 410
 411 The next step is, when someone fails to follow that copyleft license,
 412 <b>it must be enforced</b><br/>
 413
 414 and its a simple fact of our modern society that such type of
 415 work<br/>
 416
 417 is incredibly expensive to do and incredibly difficult to do.
 418 </blockquote>
 419
 420 <p><small>-- <a href="http://ebb.org/bkuhn/">Bradley Kuhn</a>, in
 421 <a href="http://faif.us/" title="Free as in Freedom">FaiF</a>
 422 <a href="http://faif.us/cast/2015/nov/24/0x57/">episode
 423 0x57</a></small></p>
 424
 425 <p>As the Debian Website
 426 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/794116">used</a>
 427 <a href="https://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/webwml/webwml/english/intro/free.wml?r1=1.24&amp;r2=1.25">to</a>
 428 imply, public domain and permissively licensed software can lead to
 429 the production of more proprietary software as people discover useful
 430 software, extend it and or incorporate it into their hardware or
 431 software products.  Copyleft licenses such as the GNU GPL were created
 432 to close off this avenue to the production of proprietary software but
 433 such licenses are not enough.  With the ongoing adoption of Free
 434 Software by individuals and groups, inevitably the community's
 435 expectations of license compliance are violated, usually out of
 436 ignorance of the way Free Software works, but not always.  As Karen
 437 and Bradley explained in <a href="http://faif.us/" title="Free as in
 438 Freedom">FaiF</a>
 439 <a href="http://faif.us/cast/2015/nov/24/0x57/">episode 0x57</a>,
 440 copyleft is nothing if no-one is willing and able to stand up in court
 441 to protect it.  The reality of today's world is that legal
 442 representation is expensive, difficult and time consuming.  With
 443 <a href="http://gpl-violations.org/">gpl-violations.org</a> in hiatus
 444 <a href="http://gpl-violations.org/news/20151027-homepage-recovers/">until</a>
 445 some time in 2016, the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/">Software
 446 Freedom Conservancy</a> (a tax-exempt charity) is the major defender
 447 of the Linux project, Debian and other groups against GPL violations.
 448 In March the SFC supported a
 449 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/">lawsuit
 450 by Christoph Hellwig</a> against VMware for refusing to
 451 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/vmware-lawsuit-faq.html">comply
 452 with the GPL</a> in relation to their use of parts of the Linux
 453 kernel.  Since then two of their sponsors pulled corporate funding and
 454 conferences
 455 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/nov/24/faif-carols-fundraiser/">blocked
 456 or cancelled their talks</a>.  As a result they have decided to rely
 457 less on corporate funding and more on the broad community of
 458 individuals who support Free Software and copyleft.  So the SFC has
 459 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/nov/23/2015fundraiser/">launched</a>
 460 a <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">campaign</a> to create
 461 a community of folks who stand up for copyleft and the GPL by
 462 supporting their work on promoting and supporting copyleft and Free
 463 Software.</p>
 464
 465 <p>If you support Free Software,
 466 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/nov/26/like-what-I-do/">like</a>
 467 what the SFC do, agree with their
 468 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/principles.html">compliance
 469 principles</a>, are happy about their
 470 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">successes</a> in 2015,
 471 work on a project that is an SFC
 472 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/members/current/">member</a> and or
 473 just want to stand up for copyleft, please join
 474 <a href="https://identi.ca/cwebber/image/JQGPA4qbTyyp3-MY8QpvuA">Christopher
 475 Allan Webber</a>,
 476 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/nov/24/faif-carols-fundraiser/">Carol
 477 Smith</a>,
 478 <a href="http://www.jonobacon.org/2015/11/25/supporting-software-freedom-conservancy/">Jono
 479 Bacon</a>, myself and
 480 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/sponsors/#supporters">others</a> in
 481 becoming a
 482 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">supporter</a>.  For the
 483 next week your donation will be
 484 <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/nov/27/black-friday/">matched</a>
 485 by an anonymous donor.  Please also consider asking your employer to
 486 match your donation or become a sponsor of SFC.  Don't forget to
 487 spread the word about your support for SFC via email, your blog and or
 488 social media accounts.</p>
 489
 490 </blockquote>
 491
 492 <p>I agree with Paul on this topic and just signed up as a Supporter
 493 of Software Freedom Conservancy myself.  Perhaps you should be a
 494 supporter too?</p>
 495
 496       </div>
 497       <div class="tags">
 498
 499
 500         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>.
 501
 502
 503       </div>
 504     </div>
 505     <div class="padding"></div>
 506
 507     <div class="entry">
 508       <div class="title">
 509         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/PGP_key_transition_statement_for_key_EE4E02F9.html">PGP key transition statement for key EE4E02F9</a>
 510       </div>
 511       <div class="date">
 512         17th November 2015
 513       </div>
 514       <div class="body">
 515         <p>I've needed a new OpenPGP key for a while, but have not had time to
 516 set it up properly.  I wanted to generate it offline and have it
 517 available on <a href="http://shop.kernelconcepts.de/#openpgp">a OpenPGP
 518 smart card</a> for daily use, and learning how to do it and finding
 519 time to sit down with an offline machine almost took forever.  But
 520 finally I've been able to complete the process, and have now moved
 521 from my old GPG key to a new GPG key.  See
 522 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-11-17-new-gpg-key-transition.txt">the
 523 full transition statement, signed with both my old and new key</a> for
 524 the details.  This is my new key:</p>
 525
 526 <pre>
 527 pub   3936R/<a href="http://pgp.cs.uu.nl/stats/111D6B29EE4E02F9.html">111D6B29EE4E02F9</a> 2015-11-03 [expires: 2019-11-14]
 528       Key fingerprint = 3AC7 B2E3 ACA5 DF87 78F1  D827 111D 6B29 EE4E 02F9
 529 uid                  Petter Reinholdtsen &lt;pere@hungry.com&gt;
 530 uid                  Petter Reinholdtsen &lt;pere@debian.org&gt;
 531 sub   4096R/87BAFB0E 2015-11-03 [expires: 2019-11-02]
 532 sub   4096R/F91E6DE9 2015-11-03 [expires: 2019-11-02]
 533 sub   4096R/A0439BAB 2015-11-03 [expires: 2019-11-02]
 534 </pre>
 535
 536 <p>The key can be downloaded from the OpenPGP key servers, signed by
 537 my old key.</p>
 538
 539 <p>If you signed my old key
 540 (<a href="http://pgp.cs.uu.nl/stats/DB4CCC4B2A30D729.html">DB4CCC4B2A30D729</a>),
 541 I'd very much appreciate a signature on my new key, details and
 542 instructions in the transition statement. I m happy to reciprocate if
 543 you have a similarly signed transition statement to present.</p>
 544
 545       </div>
 546       <div class="tags">
 547
 548
 549         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
 550
 551
 552       </div>
 553     </div>
 554     <div class="padding"></div>
 555
 556     <div class="entry">
 557       <div class="title">
 558         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Is_Pentagon_deciding_the_Norwegian_negotiating_position_on_Internet_governance_.html">Is Pentagon deciding the Norwegian negotiating position on Internet governance?</a>
 559       </div>
 560       <div class="date">
 561          3rd November 2015
 562       </div>
 563       <div class="body">
 564         <p>In Norway, all government offices are required by law to keep a
 565 list of every document or letter arriving and leaving their offices.
 566 Internal notes should also be documented.  The document list (called a mail
 567 journal - "postjournal" in Norwegian) is public information and thanks
 568 to the Norwegian Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) the mail
 569 journal is available for everyone.  Most offices even publish the mail
 570 journal on their web pages, as PDFs or tables in web pages.  The state-level offices even have a shared web based search service (called
 571 <a href="https://www.oep.no/">Offentlig Elektronisk Postjournal -
 572 OEP</a>) to make it possible to search the entries in the list.  Not
 573 all journal entries show up on OEP, and the search service is hard to
 574 use, but OEP does make it easier to find at least some interesting
 575 journal entries .</p>
 576
 577 <p>In 2012 I came across a document in the mail journal for the
 578 Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications on OEP that
 579 piqued my interest.  The title of the document was
 580 "<a href="https://www.oep.no/search/resultSingle.html?journalPostId=4192362">Internet
 581 Governance and how it affects national security</a>" (Norwegian:
 582 "Internet Governance og påvirkning på nasjonal sikkerhet").  The
 583 document date was 2012-05-22, and it was said to be sent from the
 584 "Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations".  I asked for a
 585 copy, but my request was rejected with a reference to a legal clause said to authorize them to reject it
 586 (<a href="http://lovdata.no/lov/2006-05-19-16/§20">offentleglova § 20,
 587 letter c</a>) and an explanation that the document was exempt because
 588 of foreign policy interests as it contained information related to the
 589 Norwegian negotiating position, negotiating strategies or similar.  I
 590 was told the information in the document related to the ongoing
 591 negotiation in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).  The
 592 explanation made sense to me in early January 2013, as a ITU
 593 conference in Dubay discussing Internet Governance
 594 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Telecommunication_Union#World_Conference_on_International_Telecommunications_2012_.28WCIT-12.29">World
 595 Conference on International Telecommunications - WCIT-12</a>) had just
 596 ended,
 597 <a href="http://www.digi.no/kommentarer/2012/12/18/tvil-om-usas-rolle-pa-teletoppmote">reportedly
 598 in chaos</a> when USA walked out of the negotiations and 25 countries
 599 including Norway refused to sign the new treaty.  It seemed
 600 reasonable to believe talks were still going on a few weeks later.
 601 Norway was represented at the ITU meeting by two authorities, the
 602 <a href="http://www.nkom.no/">Norwegian Communications Authority</a>
 603 and the <a href="https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dep/sd/">Ministry of
 604 Transport and Communications</a>.  This might be the reason the letter
 605 was sent to the ministry.  As I was unable to find the document in the
 606 mail journal of any Norwegian UN mission, I asked the ministry who had
 607 sent the document to the ministry, and was told that it was the Deputy
 608 Permanent Representative with the Permanent Mission of Norway in
 609 Geneva.</p>
 610
 611 <p>Three years later, I was still curious about the content of that
 612 document, and again asked for a copy, believing the negotiation was
 613 over now.  This time
 614 <a href="https://mimesbronn.no/request/kopi_av_dokumenter_i_sak_2012914">I
 615 asked both the Ministry of Transport and Communications as the
 616 receiver</a> and
 617 <a href="https://mimesbronn.no/request/brev_om_internet_governance_og_p">asked
 618 the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva as the sender</a> for a
 619 copy, to see if they both agreed that it should be withheld from the
 620 public.  The ministry upheld its rejection quoting the same law
 621 reference as before, while the permanent mission rejected it quoting a
 622 different clause
 623 (<a href="http://lovdata.no/lov/2006-05-19-16/§20">offentleglova § 20
 624 letter b</a>), claiming that they were required to keep the
 625 content of the document from the public because it contained
 626 information given to Norway with the expressed or implied expectation
 627 that the information should not be made public.  I asked the permanent
 628 mission for an explanation, and was told that the document contained
 629 an account from a meeting held in the Pentagon for a limited group of NATO
 630 nations where the organiser of the meeting did not intend the content
 631 of the meeting to be publicly known.  They explained that giving me a
 632 copy might cause Norway to not get access to similar information in
 633 the future and thus hurt the future foreign interests of Norway.  They
 634 also explained that the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva was not
 635 the author of the document, they only got a copy of it, and because of
 636 this had not listed it in their mail journal.</p>
 637
 638 <p>Armed with this
 639 knowledge I asked the Ministry to reconsider and asked who was the
 640 author of the document, now realising that it was not same as the
 641 "sender" according to Ministry of Transport and Communications.  The
 642 ministry upheld its rejection but told me the name of the author of
 643 the document.  According to
 644 <a href="https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/unga69_rapport1/id2001204/">a
 645 government report</a> the author was with the Permanent Mission of
 646 Norway in New York a bit more than a year later (2014-09-22), so I
 647 guessed that might be the office responsible for writing and sending
 648 the report initially and
 649 <a href="https://www.mimesbronn.no/request/mote_2012_i_pentagon_om_itu">asked
 650 them for a copy</a> but I was obviously wrong as I was told that the
 651 document was unknown to them and that the author did not work there
 652 when the document was written.  Next, I asked the Permanent Mission of
 653 Norway in Geneva and the Foreign Ministry to reconsider and at least
 654 tell me who sent the document to Deputy Permanent Representative with
 655 the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva.  The Foreign Ministry also
 656 upheld its rejection, but told me that the person sending the document
 657 to Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva was the defence attaché with
 658 the Norwegian Embassy in Washington.  I do not know if this is the
 659 same person as the author of the document.</p>
 660
 661 <p>If I understand the situation correctly, someone capable of
 662 inviting selected NATO nations to a meeting in Pentagon organised a
 663 meeting where someone representing the Norwegian defence attaché in
 664 Washington attended, and the account from this meeting is interpreted
 665 by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to expose Norways
 666 negotiating position, negotiating strategies and similar regarding the
 667 ITU negotiations on Internet Governance.  It is truly amazing what can
 668 be derived from mere meta-data.</p>
 669
 670 <p>I wonder which NATO countries besides Norway attended this meeting?
 671 And what exactly was said and done at the meeting?  Anyone know?</p>
 672
 673       </div>
 674       <div class="tags">
 675
 676
 677         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>.
 678
 679
 680       </div>
 681     </div>
 682     <div class="padding"></div>
 683
 684     <div class="entry">
 685       <div class="title">
 686         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_book___Fri_kultur__by__lessig__a_Norwegian_Bokm_l_translation_of__Free_Culture__from_2004.html">New book, "Fri kultur" by @lessig, a Norwegian Bokmål translation of "Free Culture" from 2004</a>
 687       </div>
 688       <div class="date">
 689         31st October 2015
 690       </div>
 691       <div class="body">
 692         <p>People keep asking me where to get the various forms of the book I
 693 published last week, the Norwegian Bokmål edition of Lawrence Lessigs
 694 book <a href="http://www.free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a>.  It was
 695 published on paper via lulu.com, and is also available in PDF, ePub
 696 and MOBI format.  I currently sell the paper edition for self cost
 697 from lulu.com, but might extend the distribution to book stores like
 698 Amazon and Barnes & Noble later.  This will double the price and force
 699 me to make a profit from selling the book.  Anyway, here are links to
 700 get the book in different formats:</p>
 701
 702 <ul>
 703
 704   <li><a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/fri-kultur/paperback/product-22406445.html">Buy
 705     paper edition from lulu.com</a></li>
 706
 707   <li><a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf">Download
 708     PDF, size 7.9 MiB</a> (gratis/free)</li>
 709
 710   <li><a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub">Download
 711     ePub, size 11 MiB</a> (gratis/free)</li>
 712
 713   <li><a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/archive/freeculture.nb.mobi">Download
 714     MOBI, size 3.8 MiB</a> (gratis/free)</li>
 715
 716 </ul>
 717
 718 <p>Note that the MOBI version have problems with the table of content,
 719 at least with the viewers I have been able to test.  And the ePub file
 720 have several problems according to
 721 <a href="https://github.com/IDPF/epubcheck">epubcheck</a>, but seem
 722 to display fine in the viewers I have tested.  All the files needed to
 723 create the book in various forms are available from
 724 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">the
 725 github project page</a>.</p>
 726
 727 <p>The project got press coverage from the Norwegian IT news site
 728 digi.no.  Check out the article
 729 "<a href="http://www.digi.no/juss_og_samfunn/2015/10/29/vil-apne-politikernes-oyne-for-creative-commons">Vil
 730 åpne politikernes øyne for Creative Commons</a>".</li>
 731
 732 <p>I've <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">blogged
 733 about the project</a> as it moved along.  The blogs document the translation
 734 progress and insights I had along the way.</p>
 735
 736       </div>
 737       <div class="tags">
 738
 739
 740         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
 741
 742
 743       </div>
 744     </div>
 745     <div class="padding"></div>
 746
 747     <div class="entry">
 748       <div class="title">
 749         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_Free_Culture__by__lessig___The_background_story_for_Creative_Commons___new_edition_available.html">"Free Culture" by @lessig - The background story for Creative Commons - new edition available</a>
 750       </div>
 751       <div class="date">
 752         23rd October 2015
 753       </div>
 754       <div class="body">
 755         <p><a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/free-culture/paperback/product-22402863.html">Click
 756 here to buy the book</a>.</p>
 757
 758 <p>In 2004, as the <a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons
 759 movement</a> gained momentum, its creator Lawrence Lessig wrote the
 760 book <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Culture_(book)">Free
 761 Culture</a> to explain the problems with increasing copyright
 762 regulation and suggest some solutions.  I read the book back then and
 763 was very moved by it.  Reading the book inspired me and changed the
 764 way I looked on copyright law, and I would love it if more people
 765 would read it too.</p>
 766
 767 <p>Because of this, I decided in the summer of 2012 to translate it to
 768 Norwegian Bokmål and publish it for those of my friends and family
 769 that prefer to read books in Norwegian.  I translated the book using
 770 docbook and a gettext PO file, and a byproduct of this process is a
 771 new edition of the English original.  I've been in touch with the
 772 author during by work, and he said it was fine with him if I also
 773 published an English version.  So I decided to do so.  Today, I made
 774 this edition
 775 <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/free-culture/paperback/product-22402863.html">available
 776 for sale on Lulu.com</a>, for those interested in a paper book.  This
 777 is the cover:
 778
 779 <p align="center"><a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/free-culture/paperback/product-22402863.html"><img align="center" src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-10-23-free-culture-english-published-cover.png"/></a></p>
 780
 781 <p>The Norwegian Bokmål version will be available for purchase in a
 782 few days.  I also plan to publish a French version in a few weeks or
 783 months, depending on the amount of people with knowledge of French to
 784 join the translation project.  So far there is only one active
 785 person, but the French book is almost completely translated but
 786 need some proof reading.</p>
 787
 788 <p>The book is also available in PDF, ePub and MOBI formats from
 789 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">my
 790 github project page</a>.  Note the ePub and MOBI versions have some
 791 formatting problems I believe is due to bugs in the docbook tool
 792 dbtoepub (Debian BTS issues
 793 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=795842">#795842</a>
 794 and
 795 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=796871">#796871</a>),
 796 but I have not taken the time to investigate.  I recommend the PDF and
 797 ePub version for now, as they seem to show up fine in the viewers I
 798 have available.</p>
 799
 800 <p>After the translation to Norwegian Bokmål was complete, I was able
 801 to secure some sponsoring from
 802 <a href="http://www.nuugfoundation.no/">the NUUG Foundation</a> to
 803 print the book.  This is the reason their logo is located on the back
 804 cover. I am very grateful for their contribution, and will use it to
 805 give a copy of the Norwegian edition to members of the Norwegian
 806 Parliament and other decision makers here in Norway.</p>
 807
 808       </div>
 809       <div class="tags">
 810
 811
 812         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
 813
 814
 815       </div>
 816     </div>
 817     <div class="padding"></div>
 818
 819     <div class="entry">
 820       <div class="title">
 821         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lawrence_Lessig_interviewed_Edward_Snowden_a_year_ago.html">Lawrence Lessig interviewed Edward Snowden a year ago</a>
 822       </div>
 823       <div class="date">
 824         19th October 2015
 825       </div>
 826       <div class="body">
 827         <p>Last year, <a href="https://lessig2016.us/">US president candidate
 828 in the Democratic Party</a> Lawrence interviewed Edward Snowden.  The
 829 one hour interview was
 830 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_Sr96TFQQE">published by
 831 Harvard Law School 2014-10-23 on Youtube</a>, and the meeting took
 832 place 2014-10-20.</p>
 833
 834 <p>The questions are very good, and there is lots of useful
 835 information to be learned and very interesting issues to think about
 836 being raised.  Please check it out.</p>
 837
 838 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o_Sr96TFQQE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 839
 840 <p>I find it especially interesting to hear again that Snowden did try
 841 to bring up his reservations through the official channels without any
 842 luck.  It is in sharp contrast to the answers made 2013-11-06 by the
 843 Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg to the Norwegian Parliament,
 844 <a href="https://tale.holderdeord.no/speeches/s131106/68">claiming
 845 Snowden is no Whistle-Blower</a> because he should have taken up his
 846 concerns internally and using official channels.  It make me sad
 847 that this is the political leadership we have here in Norway.</p>
 848
 849       </div>
 850       <div class="tags">
 851
 852
 853         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
 854
 855
 856       </div>
 857     </div>
 858     <div class="padding"></div>
 859
 860     <div class="entry">
 861       <div class="title">
 862         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Story_of_Aaron_Swartz___Let_us_all_weep_.html">The Story of Aaron Swartz - Let us all weep!</a>
 863       </div>
 864       <div class="date">
 865          8th October 2015
 866       </div>
 867       <div class="body">
 868         <p>The movie "<a href="http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy">The
 869 Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz</a>" is both inspiring
 870 and depressing at the same time.  The work of Aaron Swartz has
 871 inspired me in my work, and I am grateful of all the improvements he
 872 was able to initiate or complete.  I wish I am able to do as much good
 873 in my life as he did in his.  Every minute of this 1:45 long movie is
 874 inspiring in documenting how much impact a single person can have on
 875 improving the society and this world.  And it is depressing in
 876 documenting how the law enforcement of USA (and other countries) is
 877 corrupted to a point where they can push a bright kid to his death for
 878 downloading too many scientific articles.  Aaron is dead.  Let us all
 879 weep.</p>
 880
 881 <p>The movie is also available on
 882 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXr-2hwTk58">Youtube</a>.  I
 883 wish there were Norwegian subtitles available, so I could show it to
 884 my parents.</p>
 885
 886       </div>
 887       <div class="tags">
 888
 889
 890         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>.
 891
 892
 893       </div>
 894     </div>
 895     <div class="padding"></div>
 896
 897     <div class="entry">
 898       <div class="title">
 899         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/French_Docbook_PDF_EPUB_MOBI_edition_of_the_Free_Culture_book.html">French Docbook/PDF/EPUB/MOBI edition of the Free Culture book</a>
 900       </div>
 901       <div class="date">
 902          1st October 2015
 903       </div>
 904       <div class="body">
 905         <p>As I wrap up the Norwegian version of
 906 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">Free
 907 Culture</a> book by Lawrence Lessig (still waiting for my final proof
 908 reading copy to arrive in the mail), my great
 909 <a href="http://dblatex.sourceforge.net/">dblatex</a> helper and
 910 developer of the dblatex docbook processor, Benoît Guillon, decided a
 911 to try to create a French version of the book.  He started with the
 912 French translation available from the
 913 <a href="http://www.wikilivres.ca/wiki/Culture_libre">Wikilivres wiki
 914 pages</a>, and wrote a program to convert it into a PO file, allowing
 915 the translation to be integrated into the po4a based framework I use
 916 to create the Norwegian translation from the English edition.  We meet
 917 on the <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/%23dblatex">#dblatex IRC
 918 channel</a> to discuss the work.  If you want to help create a French
 919 edition, check out
 920 <a href="https://github.com/marsgui/free-culture-lessig">his git
 921 repository</a> and join us on IRC.  If the French edition look good,
 922 we might publish it as a paper book on lulu.com.  A French version of
 923 the drawings and the cover need to be provided for this to happen.</p>
 924
 925       </div>
 926       <div class="tags">
 927
 928
 929         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
 930
 931
 932       </div>
 933     </div>
 934     <div class="padding"></div>
 935
 936     <div class="entry">
 937       <div class="title">
 938         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_life_and_death_of_a_laptop_battery.html">The life and death of a laptop battery</a>
 939       </div>
 940       <div class="date">
 941         24th September 2015
 942       </div>
 943       <div class="body">
 944         <p>When I get a new laptop, the battery life time at the start is OK.
 945 But this do not last.  The last few laptops gave me a feeling that
 946 within a year, the life time is just a fraction of what it used to be,
 947 and it slowly become painful to use the laptop without power connected
 948 all the time.  Because of this, when I got a new Thinkpad X230 laptop
 949 about two years ago, I decided to monitor its battery state to have
 950 more hard facts when the battery started to fail.</p>
 951
 952 <img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-09-24-laptop-battery-graph.png"/>
 953
 954 <p>First I tried to find a sensible Debian package to record the
 955 battery status, assuming that this must be a problem already handled
 956 by someone else.  I found
 957 <a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/battery-stats">battery-stats</a>,
 958 which collects statistics from the battery, but it was completely
 959 broken.  I sent a few suggestions to the maintainer, but decided to
 960 write my own collector as a shell script while I waited for feedback
 961 from him.  Via
 962 <a href="http://www.ifweassume.com/2013/08/the-de-evolution-of-my-laptop-battery.html">a
 963 blog post about the battery development on a MacBook Air</a> I also
 964 discovered
 965 <a href="https://github.com/jradavenport/batlog.git">batlog</a>, not
 966 available in Debian.</p>
 967
 968 <p>I started my collector 2013-07-15, and it has been collecting
 969 battery stats ever since. Now my
 970 /var/log/hjemmenett-battery-status.log file contain around 115,000
 971 measurements, from the time the battery was working great until now,
 972 when it is unable to charge above 7% of original capacity.  My
 973 collector shell script is quite simple and look like this:</p>
 974
 975 <pre>
 976 #!/bin/sh
 977 # Inspired by
 978 # http://www.ifweassume.com/2013/08/the-de-evolution-of-my-laptop-battery.html
 979 # See also
 980 # http://blog.sleeplessbeastie.eu/2013/01/02/debian-how-to-monitor-battery-capacity/
 981 logfile=/var/log/hjemmenett-battery-status.log
 982
 983 files="manufacturer model_name technology serial_number \
 984     energy_full energy_full_design energy_now cycle_count status"
 985
 986 if [ ! -e "$logfile" ] ; then
 987     (
 988         printf "timestamp,"
 989         for f in $files; do
 990             printf "%s," $f
 991         done
 992         echo
 993     ) > "$logfile"
 994 fi
 995
 996 log_battery() {
 997     # Print complete message in one echo call, to avoid race condition
 998     # when several log processes run in parallel.
 999     msg=$(printf "%s," $(date +%s); \
1000         for f in $files; do \
1001             printf "%s," $(cat $f); \
1002         done)
1003     echo "$msg"
1004 }
1005
1006 cd /sys/class/power_supply
1007
1008 for bat in BAT*; do
1009     (cd $bat && log_battery >> "$logfile")
1010 done
1011 </pre>
1012
1013 <p>The script is called when the power management system detect a
1014 change in the power status (power plug in or out), and when going into
1015 and out of hibernation and suspend.  In addition, it collect a value
1016 every 10 minutes.  This make it possible for me know when the battery
1017 is discharging, charging and how the maximum charge change over time.
1018 The code for the Debian package
1019 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/battery-status">is now
1020 available on github</a>.</p>
1021
1022 <p>The collected log file look like this:</p>
1023
1024 <pre>
1025 timestamp,manufacturer,model_name,technology,serial_number,energy_full,energy_full_design,energy_now,cycle_count,status,
1026 1376591133,LGC,45N1025,Li-ion,974,62800000,62160000,39050000,0,Discharging,
1027 [...]
1028 1443090528,LGC,45N1025,Li-ion,974,4900000,62160000,4900000,0,Full,
1029 1443090601,LGC,45N1025,Li-ion,974,4900000,62160000,4900000,0,Full,
1030 </pre>
1031
1032 <p>I wrote a small script to create a graph of the charge development
1033 over time.  This graph depicted above show the slow death of my laptop
1034 battery.</p>
1035
1036 <p>But why is this happening?  Why are my laptop batteries always
1037 dying in a year or two, while the batteries of space probes and
1038 satellites keep working year after year.  If we are to believe
1039 <a href="http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries">Battery
1040 University</a>, the cause is me charging the battery whenever I have a
1041 chance, and the fix is to not charge the Lithium-ion batteries to 100%
1042 all the time, but to stay below 90% of full charge most of the time.
1043 I've been told that the Tesla electric cars
1044 <a href="http://my.teslamotors.com/de_CH/forum/forums/battery-charge-limit">limit
1045 the charge of their batteries to 80%</a>, with the option to charge to
1046 100% when preparing for a longer trip (not that I would want a car
1047 like Tesla where rights to privacy is abandoned, but that is another
1048 story), which I guess is the option we should have for laptops on
1049 Linux too.</p>
1050
1051 <p>Is there a good and generic way with Linux to tell the battery to
1052 stop charging at 80%, unless requested to charge to 100% once in
1053 preparation for a longer trip?  I found
1054 <a href="http://askubuntu.com/questions/34452/how-can-i-limit-battery-charging-to-80-capacity">one
1055 recipe on askubuntu for Ubuntu to limit charging on Thinkpad to
1056 80%</a>, but could not get it to work (kernel module refused to
1057 load).</p>
1058
1059 <p>I wonder why the battery capacity was reported to be more than 100%
1060 at the start.  I also wonder why the "full capacity" increases some
1061 times, and if it is possible to repeat the process to get the battery
1062 back to design capacity.  And I wonder if the discharge and charge
1063 speed change over time, or if this stay the same.  I did not yet try
1064 to write a tool to calculate the derivative values of the battery
1065 level, but suspect some interesting insights might be learned from
1066 those.</p>
1067
1068 <p>Update 2015-09-24: I got a tip to install the packages
1069 acpi-call-dkms and tlp (unfortunately missing in Debian stable)
1070 packages instead of the tp-smapi-dkms package I had tried to use
1071 initially, and use 'tlp setcharge 40 80' to change when charging start
1072 and stop.  I've done so now, but expect my existing battery is toast
1073 and need to be replaced.  The proposal is unfortunately Thinkpad
1074 specific.</p>
1075
1076       </div>
1077       <div class="tags">
1078
1079
1080         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1081
1082
1083       </div>
1084     </div>
1085     <div class="padding"></div>
1086
1087     <div class="entry">
1088       <div class="title">
1089         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Book_cover_for_the_Free_Culture_book_finally_done.html">Book cover for the Free Culture book finally done</a>
1090       </div>
1091       <div class="date">
1092          3rd September 2015
1093       </div>
1094       <div class="body">
1095         <p>Creating a good looking book cover proved harder than I expected.
1096 I wanted to create a cover looking similar to the original cover of
1097 the
1098 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">Free
1099 Culture</a> book we are translating to Norwegian, and I wanted it in
1100 vector format for high resolution printing.  But my inkscape knowledge
1101 were not nearly good enough to pull that off.
1102
1103 <p>But thanks to the great inkscape community, I was able to wrap up
1104 the cover yesterday evening.  I asked on the
1105 <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/%23inkscape">#inkscape IRC channel</a>
1106 on Freenode for help and clues, and Marc Jeanmougin (Mc-) volunteered
1107 to try to recreate it based on the PDF of the cover from the HTML
1108 version.  Not only did he create a
1109 <a href="https://marc.jeanmougin.fr/share/copy1.svg ">SVG document with
1110 the original and his vector version side by side</a>, he even provided
1111 an <a href="https://marc.jeanmougin.fr/share/out-1.ogv">instruction
1112 video</a> explaining how he did it</a>.  But the instruction video is
1113 not easy to follow for an untrained inkscape user. The video is a
1114 recording on how he did it, and he is obviously very experienced as
1115 the menu selections are very quick and he mentioned on IRC that he did
1116 use some keyboard shortcuts that can't be seen on the video, but it
1117 give a good idea about the inkscape operations to use to create the
1118 stripes with the embossed copyright sign in the center.</p>
1119
1120 <p>I took his SVG file, copied the vector image and re-sized it to fit
1121 on the cover I was drawing.  I am happy with the end result, and the
1122 current english version look like this:</p>
1123
1124 <img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-09-03-free-culture-cover.png" width="70%" align="center"/>
1125
1126 <p>I am not quite sure about the text on the back, but guess it will
1127 do.  I picked three quotes from the official site for the book, and
1128 hope it will work to trigger the interest of potential readers.  The
1129 Norwegian cover will look the same, but with the texts and bar code
1130 replaced with the Norwegian version.</p>
1131
1132 <p>The book is very close to being ready for publication, and I expect
1133 to upload the final draft to Lulu in the next few days and order a
1134 final proof reading copy to verify that everything look like it should
1135 before allowing everyone to order their own copy of Free Culture, in
1136 English or Norwegian Bokmål.  I'm waiting to give the the productive
1137 proof readers a chance to complete their work.</p>
1138
1139       </div>
1140       <div class="tags">
1141
1142
1143         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
1144
1145
1146       </div>
1147     </div>
1148     <div class="padding"></div>
1149
1150     <div class="entry">
1151       <div class="title">
1152         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/In_my_hand__a_pocket_book_edition_of_the_Norwegian_Free_Culture_book_.html">In my hand, a pocket book edition of the Norwegian Free Culture book!</a>
1153       </div>
1154       <div class="date">
1155         19th August 2015
1156       </div>
1157       <div class="body">
1158         <p>Today, finally, my first printed draft edition of the Norwegian
1159 translation of Free Culture I have been working on for the last few
1160 years arrived in the mail.  I had to fake a cover to get the interior
1161 printed, and the exterior of the book look awful, but that is
1162 irrelevant at this point.  I asked for a printed pocket book version
1163 to get an idea about the font sizes and paper format as well as how
1164 good the figures and images look in print, but also to test what the
1165 pocket book version would look like.  After receiving the 500 page
1166 pocket book, it became obvious to me that that pocket book size is too
1167 small for this book.  I believe the book is too thick, and several
1168 tables and figures do not look good in the size they get with that
1169 small page sizes.  I believe I will go with the 5.5x8.5 inch size
1170 instead.  A surprise discovery from the paper version was how bad the
1171 URLs look in print.  They are very hard to read in the colophon page.
1172 The URLs are red in the PDF, but light gray on paper.  I need to
1173 change the color of links somehow to look better.  But there is a
1174 printed book in my hand, and it feels great. :)</p>
1175
1176 <p>Now I only need to fix the cover, wrap up the postscript with the
1177 store behind the book, and collect the last corrections from the proof
1178 readers before the book is ready for proper printing.  Cover artists
1179 willing to work for free and create a Creative Commons licensed vector
1180 file looking similar to the original is most welcome, as my skills as
1181 a graphics designer are mostly missing.</p>
1182
1183       </div>
1184       <div class="tags">
1185
1186
1187         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
1188
1189
1190       </div>
1191     </div>
1192     <div class="padding"></div>
1193
1194     <div class="entry">
1195       <div class="title">
1196         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_paper_version_of_the_Norwegian_Free_Culture_book_heading_my_way.html">First paper version of the Norwegian Free Culture book heading my way</a>
1197       </div>
1198       <div class="date">
1199          9th August 2015
1200       </div>
1201       <div class="body">
1202         <p>Typesetting a book is harder than I hoped.  As the translation is
1203 mostly done, and a volunteer proof reader was going to check the text
1204 on paper, it was time this summer to focus on formatting my translated
1205 <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> based version of the
1206 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> book by Lawrence
1207 Lessig.  I've been trying to get both docboox-xsl+fop and dblatex to
1208 give me a good looking PDF, but in the end I went with dblatex, because
1209 its Debian maintainer and upstream developer were responsive and very
1210 helpful in solving my formatting challenges.</p>
1211
1212 <p>Last night, I finally managed to create a PDF that no longer made
1213 <a href="http://www.lulu.com/">Lulu.com</a> complain after uploading,
1214 and I ordered a text version of the book on paper.  It is lacking a
1215 proper book cover and is not tagged with the correct ISBN number, but
1216 should give me an idea what the finished book will look like.</p>
1217
1218 <p>Instead of using Lulu, I did consider printing the book using
1219 <a href="http://www.createspace.com/">CreateSpace</a>, but ended up
1220 using Lulu because it had smaller book size options (CreateSpace seem
1221 to lack pocket book with extended distribution).  I looked for a
1222 similar service in Norway, but have not seen anything so far.  Please
1223 let me know if I am missing out on something here.</p>
1224
1225 <p>But I still struggle to decide the book size.  Should I go for
1226 pocket book (4.25x6.875 inches / 10.8x17.5 cm) with 556 pages, Digest
1227 (5.5x8.5 inches / 14x21.6 cm) with 323 pages or US Trade (6x8 inches /
1228 15.3x22.9 cm) with 280 pages?  Fewer pager give a cheaper book, and a
1229 smaller book is easier to carry around.  The test book I ordered was
1230 pocket book sized, to give me an idea how well that fit in my hand,
1231 but I suspect I will end up using a digest sized book in the end to
1232 bring the prize down further.</p>
1233
1234 <p>My biggest challenge at the moment is making nice cover art.  My
1235 inkscape skills are not yet up to the task of replicating the original
1236 cover in SVG format.  I also need to figure out what to write about
1237 the book on the back (will most likely use the same text as the
1238 description on web based book stores).  I would love help with this,
1239 if you are willing to license the art source and final version using
1240 the same CC license as the book.  My artistic skills are not really up
1241 to the task.</p>
1242
1243 <p>I plan to publish the book in both English and Norwegian and on
1244 paper, in PDF form as well as EPUB and MOBI format.  The current
1245 status can as usual be found on
1246 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>
1247 in the archive/ directory.  So far I have spent all time on making the
1248 PDF version look good.  Someone should probably do the same with the
1249 dbtoepub generated e-book.  Help is definitely needed here, as I
1250 expect to run out of steem before I find time to improve the epub
1251 formatting.</p>
1252
1253 <p>Please let me know via github if you find typos in the book or
1254 discover translations that should be improved.  The final proof
1255 reading is being done right now, and I expect to publish the finished
1256 result in a few months.</p>
1257
1258       </div>
1259       <div class="tags">
1260
1261
1262         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
1263
1264
1265       </div>
1266     </div>
1267     <div class="padding"></div>
1268
1269     <div class="entry">
1270       <div class="title">
1271         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Typesetting_DocBook_footnotes_as_endnotes_with_dblatex.html">Typesetting DocBook footnotes as endnotes with dblatex</a>
1272       </div>
1273       <div class="date">
1274         16th July 2015
1275       </div>
1276       <div class="body">
1277         <p>I'm still working on the Norwegian version of the
1278 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture book by Lawrence
1279 Lessig</a>, and is now working on the final typesetting and layout.
1280 One of the features I want to get the structure similar to the
1281 original book is to typeset the footnotes as endnotes in the notes
1282 chapter.  Based on the
1283 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/685063">feedback from the Debian
1284 maintainer and the dblatex developer</a>, I came up with this recipe I
1285 would like to share with you.  The proposal was to create a new LaTeX
1286 class file and add the LaTeX code there, but this is not always
1287 practical, when I want to be able to replace the class using a make
1288 file variable.  So my proposal misuses the latex.begindocument XSL
1289 parameter value, to get a small fragment into the correct location in
1290 the generated LaTeX File.</p>
1291
1292 <p>First, decide where in the DocBook document to place the endnotes,
1293 and add this text there:</p>
1294
1295 <pre>
1296 &lt;?latex \theendnotes ?&gt;
1297 </pre>
1298
1299 <p>Next, create a xsl stylesheet file dblatex-endnotes.xsl to add the
1300 code needed to add the endnote instructions in the preamble of the
1301 generated LaTeX document, with content like this:</p>
1302
1303 <pre>
1304 &lt;?xml version='1.0'?&gt;
1305 &lt;xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'&gt;
1306   &lt;xsl:param name="latex.begindocument"&gt;
1307     &lt;xsl:text&gt;
1308 \usepackage{endnotes}
1309 \let\footnote=\endnote
1310 \def\enoteheading{\mbox{}\par\vskip-\baselineskip }
1311 \begin{document}
1312     &lt;/xsl:text&gt;
1313   &lt;/xsl:param&gt;
1314 &lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt;
1315 </pre>
1316
1317 <p>Finally, load this xsl file when running dblatex, for example like
1318 this:</p>
1319
1320 <pre>
1321 dblatex --xsl-user=dblatex-endnotes.xsl freeculture.nb.xml
1322 </pre>
1323
1324 <p>The end result can be seen on github, where
1325 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">my
1326 book project</a> is located.</p>
1327
1328       </div>
1329       <div class="tags">
1330
1331
1332         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
1333
1334
1335       </div>
1336     </div>
1337     <div class="padding"></div>
1338
1339     <div class="entry">
1340       <div class="title">
1341         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MPEG_LA_on__Internet_Broadcast_AVC_Video__licensing_and_non_private_use.html">MPEG LA on "Internet Broadcast AVC Video" licensing and non-private use</a>
1342       </div>
1343       <div class="date">
1344          7th July 2015
1345       </div>
1346       <div class="body">
1347         <p>After asking the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK)
1348 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hva_gj_r_at_NRK_kan_distribuere_H_264_video_uten_patentavtale_med_MPEG_LA_.html">why
1349 they can broadcast and stream H.264 video without an agreement with
1350 the MPEG LA</a>, I was wiser, but still confused.  So I asked MPEG LA
1351 if their understanding matched that of NRK.  As far as I can tell, it
1352 does not.</p>
1353
1354 <p>I started by asking for more information about the various
1355 licensing classes and what exactly is covered by the "Internet
1356 Broadcast AVC Video" class that NRK pointed me at to explain why NRK
1357 did not need a license for streaming H.264 video:
1358
1359 <p><blockquote>
1360
1361 <p>According to
1362 <a href="http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/226/n-10-02-02.pdf">a
1363 MPEG LA press release dated 2010-02-02</a>, there is no charge when
1364 using MPEG AVC/H.264 according to the terms of "Internet Broadcast AVC
1365 Video".  I am trying to understand exactly what the terms of "Internet
1366 Broadcast AVC Video" is, and wondered if you could help me.  What
1367 exactly is covered by these terms, and what is not?</p>
1368
1369 <p>The only source of more information I have been able to find is a
1370 PDF named
1371 <a href="http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/avc/Documents/avcweb.pdf">AVC
1372 Patent Portfolio License Briefing</a>, which states this about the
1373 fees:</p>
1374
1375 <ul>
1376  <li>Where End User pays for AVC Video
1377   <ul>
1378    <li>Subscription (not limited by title) – 100,000 or fewer
1379      subscribers/yr = no royalty; &gt; 100,000 to 250,000 subscribers/yr =
1380      $25,000; &gt;250,000 to 500,000 subscribers/yr = $50,000; &gt;500,000 to
1381      1M subscribers/yr = $75,000; &gt;1M subscribers/yr = $100,000</li>
1382
1383    <li>Title-by-Title - 12 minutes or less = no royalty; &gt;12 minutes in
1384      length = lower of (a) 2% or (b) $0.02 per title</li>
1385   </ul></li>
1386
1387  <li>Where remuneration is from other sources
1388   <ul>
1389    <li>Free Television - (a) one-time $2,500 per transmission encoder or
1390      (b) annual fee starting at $2,500 for &gt; 100,000 HH rising to
1391      maximum $10,000 for &gt;1,000,000 HH</li>
1392
1393    <li>Internet Broadcast AVC Video (not title-by-title, not subscription)
1394      – no royalty for life of the AVC Patent Portfolio License</li>
1395   </ul></li>
1396 </ul>
1397
1398 <p>Am I correct in assuming that the four categories listed is the
1399 categories used when selecting licensing terms, and that "Internet
1400 Broadcast AVC Video" is the category for things that do not fall into
1401 one of the other three categories?  Can you point me to a good source
1402 explaining what is ment by "title-by-title" and "Free Television" in
1403 the license terms for AVC/H.264?</p>
1404
1405 <p>Will a web service providing H.264 encoded video content in a
1406 "video on demand" fashing similar to Youtube and Vimeo, where no
1407 subscription is required and no payment is required from end users to
1408 get access to the videos, fall under the terms of the "Internet
1409 Broadcast AVC Video", ie no royalty for life of the AVC Patent
1410 Portfolio license?  Does it matter if some users are subscribed to get
1411 access to personalized services?</p>
1412
1413 <p>Note, this request and all answers will be published on the
1414 Internet.</p>
1415 </blockquote></p>
1416
1417 <p>The answer came quickly from Benjamin J. Myers, Licensing Associate
1418 with the MPEG LA:</p>
1419
1420 <p><blockquote>
1421 <p>Thank you for your message and for your interest in MPEG LA.  We
1422 appreciate hearing from you and I will be happy to assist you.</p>
1423
1424 <p>As you are aware, MPEG LA offers our AVC Patent Portfolio License
1425 which provides coverage under patents that are essential for use of
1426 the AVC/H.264 Standard (MPEG-4 Part 10).  Specifically, coverage is
1427 provided for end products and video content that make use of AVC/H.264
1428 technology.  Accordingly, the party offering such end products and
1429 video to End Users concludes the AVC License and is responsible for
1430 paying the applicable royalties.</p>
1431
1432 <p>Regarding Internet Broadcast AVC Video, the AVC License generally
1433 defines such content to be video that is distributed to End Users over
1434 the Internet free-of-charge.  Therefore, if a party offers a service
1435 which allows users to upload AVC/H.264 video to its website, and such
1436 AVC Video is delivered to End Users for free, then such video would
1437 receive coverage under the sublicense for Internet Broadcast AVC
1438 Video, which is not subject to any royalties for the life of the AVC
1439 License.  This would also apply in the scenario where a user creates a
1440 free online account in order to receive a customized offering of free
1441 AVC Video content.  In other words, as long as the End User is given
1442 access to or views AVC Video content at no cost to the End User, then
1443 no royalties would be payable under our AVC License.</p>
1444
1445 <p>On the other hand, if End Users pay for access to AVC Video for a
1446 specific period of time (e.g., one month, one year, etc.), then such
1447 video would constitute Subscription AVC Video.  In cases where AVC
1448 Video is delivered to End Users on a pay-per-view basis, then such
1449 content would constitute Title-by-Title AVC Video.  If a party offers
1450 Subscription or Title-by-Title AVC Video to End Users, then they would
1451 be responsible for paying the applicable royalties you noted below.</p>
1452
1453 <p>Finally, in the case where AVC Video is distributed for free
1454 through an "over-the-air, satellite and/or cable transmission", then
1455 such content would constitute Free Television AVC Video and would be
1456 subject to the applicable royalties.</p>
1457
1458 <p>For your reference, I have attached
1459 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-07-07-mpegla.pdf">a
1460 .pdf copy of the AVC License</a>. You will find the relevant
1461 sublicense information regarding AVC Video in Sections 2.2 through
1462 2.5, and the corresponding royalties in Section 3.1.2 through 3.1.4.
1463 You will also find the definitions of Title-by-Title AVC Video,
1464 Subscription AVC Video, Free Television AVC Video, and Internet
1465 Broadcast AVC Video in Section 1 of the License.  Please note that the
1466 electronic copy is provided for informational purposes only and cannot
1467 be used for execution.</p>
1468
1469 <p>I hope the above information is helpful.  If you have additional
1470 questions or need further assistance with the AVC License, please feel
1471 free to contact me directly.</p>
1472 </blockquote></p>
1473
1474 <p>Having a fresh copy of the license text was useful, and knowing
1475 that the definition of Title-by-Title required payment per title made
1476 me aware that my earlier understanding of that phrase had been wrong.
1477 But I still had a few questions:</p>
1478
1479 <p><blockquote>
1480 <p>I have a small followup question.  Would it be possible for me to get
1481 a license with MPEG LA even if there are no royalties to be paid?  The
1482 reason I ask, is that some video related products have a copyright
1483 clause limiting their use without a license with MPEG LA.  The clauses
1484 typically look similar to this:
1485
1486 <p><blockquote>
1487   This product is licensed under the AVC patent portfolio license for
1488   the personal and non-commercial use of a consumer to (a) encode
1489   video in compliance with the AVC standard ("AVC video") and/or (b)
1490   decode AVC video that was encoded by a consumer engaged in a
1491   personal and non-commercial activity and/or AVC video that was
1492   obtained from a video provider licensed to provide AVC video. No
1493   license is granted or shall be implied for any other use. additional
1494   information may be obtained from MPEG LA L.L.C.
1495 </blockquote></p>
1496
1497 <p>It is unclear to me if this clause mean that I need to enter into
1498 an agreement with MPEG LA to use the product in question, even if
1499 there are no royalties to be paid to MPEG LA.  I suspect it will
1500 differ depending on the jurisdiction, and mine is Norway.  What is
1501 MPEG LAs view on this?</p>
1502 </blockquote></p>
1503
1504 <p>According to the answer, MPEG LA believe those using such tools for
1505 non-personal or commercial use need a license with them:</p>
1506
1507 <p><blockquote>
1508
1509 <p>With regard to the Notice to Customers, I would like to begin by
1510 clarifying that the Notice from Section 7.1 of the AVC License
1511 reads:</p>
1512
1513 <p>THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE AVC PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSE FOR
1514 THE PERSONAL USE OF A CONSUMER OR OTHER USES IN WHICH IT DOES NOT
1515 RECEIVE REMUNERATION TO (i) ENCODE VIDEO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AVC
1516 STANDARD ("AVC VIDEO") AND/OR (ii) DECODE AVC VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED
1517 BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM
1518 A VIDEO PROVIDER LICENSED TO PROVIDE AVC VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED
1519 OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE
1520 OBTAINED FROM MPEG LA, L.L.C. SEE HTTP://WWW.MPEGLA.COM</p>
1521
1522 <p>The Notice to Customers is intended to inform End Users of the
1523 personal usage rights (for example, to watch video content) included
1524 with the product they purchased, and to encourage any party using the
1525 product for commercial purposes to contact MPEG LA in order to become
1526 licensed for such use (for example, when they use an AVC Product to
1527 deliver Title-by-Title, Subscription, Free Television or Internet
1528 Broadcast AVC Video to End Users, or to re-Sell a third party's AVC
1529 Product as their own branded AVC Product).</p>
1530
1531 <p>Therefore, if a party is to be licensed for its use of an AVC
1532 Product to Sell AVC Video on a Title-by-Title, Subscription, Free
1533 Television or Internet Broadcast basis, that party would need to
1534 conclude the AVC License, even in the case where no royalties were
1535 payable under the License.  On the other hand, if that party (either a
1536 Consumer or business customer) simply uses an AVC Product for their
1537 own internal purposes and not for the commercial purposes referenced
1538 above, then such use would be included in the royalty paid for the AVC
1539 Products by the licensed supplier.</p>
1540
1541 <p>Finally, I note that our AVC License provides worldwide coverage in
1542 countries that have AVC Patent Portfolio Patents, including
1543 Norway.</p>
1544
1545 <p>I hope this clarification is helpful.  If I may be of any further
1546 assistance, just let me know.</p>
1547 </blockquote></p>
1548
1549 <p>The mentioning of Norwegian patents made me a bit confused, so I
1550 asked for more information:</p>
1551
1552 <p><blockquote>
1553
1554 <p>But one minor question at the end.  If I understand you correctly,
1555 you state in the quote above that there are patents in the AVC Patent
1556 Portfolio that are valid in Norway.  This make me believe I read the
1557 list available from &lt;URL:
1558 <a href="http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/PatentList.aspx">http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/PatentList.aspx</a>
1559 &gt; incorrectly, as I believed the "NO" prefix in front of patents
1560 were Norwegian patents, and the only one I could find under Mitsubishi
1561 Electric Corporation expired in 2012.  Which patents are you referring
1562 to that are relevant for Norway?</p>
1563
1564 </blockquote></p>
1565
1566 <p>Again, the quick answer explained how to read the list of patents
1567 in that list:</p>
1568
1569 <p><blockquote>
1570
1571 <p>Your understanding is correct that the last AVC Patent Portfolio
1572 Patent in Norway expired on 21 October 2012.  Therefore, where AVC
1573 Video is both made and Sold in Norway after that date, then no
1574 royalties would be payable for such AVC Video under the AVC License.
1575 With that said, our AVC License provides historic coverage for AVC
1576 Products and AVC Video that may have been manufactured or Sold before
1577 the last Norwegian AVC patent expired.  I would also like to clarify
1578 that coverage is provided for the country of manufacture and the
1579 country of Sale that has active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents.</p>
1580
1581 <p>Therefore, if a party offers AVC Products or AVC Video for Sale in
1582 a country with active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents (for example,
1583 Sweden, Denmark, Finland, etc.), then that party would still need
1584 coverage under the AVC License even if such products or video are
1585 initially made in a country without active AVC Patent Portfolio
1586 Patents (for example, Norway).  Similarly, a party would need to
1587 conclude the AVC License if they make AVC Products or AVC Video in a
1588 country with active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents, but eventually Sell
1589 such AVC Products or AVC Video in a country without active AVC Patent
1590 Portfolio Patents.</p>
1591 </blockquote></p>
1592
1593 <p>As far as I understand it, MPEG LA believe anyone using Adobe
1594 Premiere and other video related software with a H.264 distribution
1595 license need a license agreement with MPEG LA to use such tools for
1596 anything non-private or commercial, while it is OK to set up a
1597 Youtube-like service as long as no-one pays to get access to the
1598 content.  I still have no clear idea how this applies to Norway, where
1599 none of the patents MPEG LA is licensing are valid.  Will the
1600 copyright terms take precedence or can those terms be ignored because
1601 the patents are not valid in Norway?</p>
1602
1603       </div>
1604       <div class="tags">
1605
1606
1607         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
1608
1609
1610       </div>
1611     </div>
1612     <div class="padding"></div>
1613
1614     <div class="entry">
1615       <div class="title">
1616         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_laptop___some_more_clues_and_ideas_based_on_feedback.html">New laptop - some more clues and ideas based on feedback</a>
1617       </div>
1618       <div class="date">
1619          5th July 2015
1620       </div>
1621       <div class="body">
1622         <p>Several people contacted me after my previous blog post about my
1623 need for a new laptop, and provided very useful feedback.  I wish to
1624 thank every one of these.  Several pointed me to the possibility of
1625 fixing my X230, and I am already in the process of getting Lenovo to
1626 do so thanks to the on site, next day support contract covering the
1627 machine.  But the battery is almost useless (I expect to replace it
1628 with a non-official battery) and I do not expect the machine to live
1629 for many more years, so it is time to plan its replacement.  If I did
1630 not have a support contract, it was suggested to find replacement parts
1631 using <a href="http://www.francecrans.com/">FrancEcrans</a>, but it
1632 might present a language barrier as I do not understand French.</p>
1633
1634 <p>One tip I got was to use the
1635 <a href="https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=nb">Skinflint</a> web service to
1636 compare laptop models.  It seem to have more models available than
1637 prisjakt.no.  Another tip I got from someone I know have similar
1638 keyboard preferences was that the HP EliteBook 840 keyboard is not
1639 very good, and this matches my experience with earlier EliteBook
1640 keyboards I tested.  Because of this, I will not consider it any further.
1641
1642 <p>When I wrote my blog post, I was not aware of Thinkpad X250, the
1643 newest Thinkpad X model.  The keyboard reintroduces mouse buttons
1644 (which is missing from the X240), and is working fairly well with
1645 Debian Sid/Unstable according to
1646 <a href="http://www.corsac.net/X250/">Corsac.net</a>.  The reports I
1647 got on the keyboard quality are not consistent.  Some say the keyboard
1648 is good, others say it is ok, while others say it is not very good.
1649 Those with experience from X41 and and X60 agree that the X250
1650 keyboard is not as good as those trusty old laptops, and suggest I
1651 keep and fix my X230 instead of upgrading, or get a used X230 to
1652 replace it.  I'm also told that the X250 lack leds for caps lock, disk
1653 activity and battery status, which is very convenient on my X230.  I'm
1654 also told that the CPU fan is running very often, making it a bit
1655 noisy.  In any case, the X250 do not work out of the box with Debian
1656 Stable/Jessie, one of my requirements.</p>
1657
1658 <p>I have also gotten a few vendor proposals, one was
1659 <a href="http://pro-star.com">Pro-Star</a>, another was
1660 <a href="http://shop.gluglug.org.uk/product/libreboot-x200/">Libreboot</a>.
1661 The latter look very attractive to me.</p>
1662
1663 <p>Again, thank you all for the very useful feedback.  It help a lot
1664 as I keep looking for a replacement.</p>
1665
1666 <p>Update 2015-07-06: I was recommended to check out the
1667 <a href="">lapstore.de</a> web shop for used laptops.  They got several
1668 different
1669 <a href="http://www.lapstore.de/f.php/shop/lapstore/f/411/lang/x/kw/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X_Serie/">old
1670 thinkpad X models</a>, and provide one year warranty.</p>
1671
1672       </div>
1673       <div class="tags">
1674
1675
1676         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1677
1678
1679       </div>
1680     </div>
1681     <div class="padding"></div>
1682
1683     <div class="entry">
1684       <div class="title">
1685         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_to_find_a_new_laptop__as_the_old_one_is_broken_after_only_two_years.html">Time to find a new laptop, as the old one is broken after only two years</a>
1686       </div>
1687       <div class="date">
1688          3rd July 2015
1689       </div>
1690       <div class="body">
1691         <p>My primary work horse laptop is failing, and will need a
1692 replacement soon.  The left 5 cm of the screen on my Thinkpad X230
1693 started flickering yesterday, and I suspect the cause is a broken
1694 cable, as changing the angle of the screen some times get rid of the
1695 flickering.</p>
1696
1697 <p>My requirements have not really changed since I bought it, and is
1698 still as
1699 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html">I
1700 described them in 2013</a>.  The last time I bought a laptop, I had
1701 good help from
1702 <a href="http://www.prisjakt.no/category.php?k=353">prisjakt.no</a>
1703 where I could select at least a few of the requirements (mouse pin,
1704 wifi, weight) and go through the rest manually.  Three button mouse
1705 and a good keyboard is not available as an option, and all the three
1706 laptop models proposed today (Thinkpad X240, HP EliteBook 820 G1 and
1707 G2) lack three mouse buttons).  It is also unclear to me how good the
1708 keyboard on the HP EliteBooks are.  I hope Lenovo have not messed up
1709 the keyboard, even if the quality and robustness in the X series have
1710 deteriorated since X41.</p>
1711
1712 <p>I wonder how I can find a sensible laptop when none of the options
1713 seem sensible to me?  Are there better services around to search the
1714 set of available laptops for features?  Please send me an email if you
1715 have suggestions.</p>
1716
1717 <p>Update 2015-07-23: I got a suggestion to check out the FSF
1718 <a href="http://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/respects-your-freedom">list
1719 of endorsed hardware</a>, which is useful background information.</p>
1720
1721       </div>
1722       <div class="tags">
1723
1724
1725         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1726
1727
1728       </div>
1729     </div>
1730     <div class="padding"></div>
1731
1732     <div class="entry">
1733       <div class="title">
1734         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MakerCon_Nordic_videos_now_available_on_Frikanalen.html">MakerCon Nordic videos now available on Frikanalen</a>
1735       </div>
1736       <div class="date">
1737          2nd July 2015
1738       </div>
1739       <div class="body">
1740         <p>Last oktober I was involved on behalf of
1741 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a> with recording the talks at
1742 <a href="http://www.makercon.no/">MakerCon Nordic</a>, a conference for
1743 the Maker movement.  Since then it has been the plan to publish the
1744 recordings on <a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a>, which
1745 finally happened the last few days.  A few talks are missing because
1746 the speakers asked the organizers to not publish them, but most of the
1747 talks are available.  The talks are being broadcasted on RiksTV
1748 channel 50 and using multicast on Uninett, as well as being available
1749 from the Frikanalen web site.  The unedited recordings are
1750 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MakerConNordic/">available on
1751 Youtube too</a>.</p>
1752
1753 <p>This is the list of talks available at the moment.  Visit the
1754 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/?q=makercon">Frikanalen video
1755 pages</a> to view them.</p>
1756
1757 <ul>
1758
1759   <li>Evolutionary algorithms as a design tool - from art
1760       to robotics (Kyrre Glette)</li>
1761
1762   <li>Make and break (Hans Gerhard Meier)</li>
1763
1764   <li>Making a one year school course for young makers
1765       (Olav Helland)</li>
1766
1767   <li>Innovation Inspiration - IPR Databases as a Source of
1768       Inspiration (Hege Langlo)</li>
1769
1770   <li>Making a toy for makers (Erik Torstensson)</li>
1771
1772   <li>How to make 3D printer electronics (Elias Bakken)</li>
1773
1774   <li>Hovering Clouds: Looking at online tool offerings for Product
1775       Design and 3D Printing (William Kempton)</li>
1776
1777   <li>Travelling maker stories (Øyvind Nydal Dahl)</li>
1778
1779   <li>Making the first Maker Faire in Sweden (Nils Olander)</li>
1780
1781   <li>Breaking the mold: Printing 1000’s of parts (Espen Sivertsen)</li>
1782
1783   <li>Ultimaker — and open source 3D printing (Erik de Bruijn)</li>
1784
1785   <li>Autodesk’s 3D Printing Platform: Sparking innovation (Hilde
1786       Sevens)</li>
1787
1788   <li>How Making is Changing the World – and How You Can Too!
1789       (Jennifer Turliuk)</li>
1790
1791   <li>Open-Source Adventuring: OpenROV, OpenExplorer and the Future of
1792       Connected Exploration (David Lang)</li>
1793
1794   <li>Making in Norway (Haakon Karlsen Jr., Graham Hayward and Jens
1795       Dyvik)</li>
1796
1797   <li>The Impact of the Maker Movement (Mike Senese)</li>
1798
1799 </ul>
1800
1801 <p>Part of the reason this took so long was that the scripts NUUG had
1802 to prepare a recording for publication were five years old and no
1803 longer worked with the current video processing tools (command line
1804 argument changes).  In addition, we needed better audio normalization,
1805 which sent me on a detour to
1806 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Measuring_and_adjusting_the_loudness_of_a_TV_channel_using_bs1770gain.html">package
1807 bs1770gain for Debian</a>.  Now this is in place and it became a lot
1808 easier to publish NUUG videos on Frikanalen.</p>
1809
1810       </div>
1811       <div class="tags">
1812
1813
1814         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
1815
1816
1817       </div>
1818     </div>
1819     <div class="padding"></div>
1820
1821     <div class="entry">
1822       <div class="title">
1823         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Graphing_the_Norwegian_company_ownership_structure.html">Graphing the Norwegian company ownership structure</a>
1824       </div>
1825       <div class="date">
1826         15th June 2015
1827       </div>
1828       <div class="body">
1829         <p>It is a bit work to figure out the ownership structure of companies
1830 in Norway.  The information is publicly available, but one need to
1831 recursively look up ownership for all owners to figure out the complete
1832 ownership graph of a given set of companies.  To save me the work in
1833 the future, I wrote a script to do this automatically, outputting the
1834 ownership structure using the Graphviz/dotty format.  The data source
1835 is web scraping from <a href="http://www.proff.no/">Proff</a>, because
1836 I failed to find a useful source directly from the official keepers of
1837 the ownership data, <a href="http://www.brreg.no/">Brønnøysundsregistrene</a>.</p>
1838
1839 <p>To get an ownership graph for a set of companies, fetch
1840 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/brreg-norway-ownership-graph">the code from git</a> and run it using the organisation number.  I'm
1841 using the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet as an example here, as its
1842 ownership structure is very simple:</p>
1843
1844 <pre>
1845 % time ./bin/eierskap-dotty 958033540 > dagbladet.dot
1846
1847 real    0m2.841s
1848 user    0m0.184s
1849 sys     0m0.036s
1850 %
1851 </pre>
1852
1853 <p>The script accept several organisation numbers on the command line,
1854 allowing a cluster of companies to be graphed in the same image.  The
1855 resulting dot file for the example above look like this.  The edges
1856 are labeled with the ownership percentage, and the nodes uses the
1857 organisation number as their name and the name as the label:</p>
1858
1859 <pre>
1860 digraph ownership {
1861 rankdir = LR;
1862 "Aller Holding A/s" -> "910119877" [label="100%"]
1863 "910119877" -> "998689015" [label="100%"]
1864 "998689015" -> "958033540" [label="99%"]
1865 "974530600" -> "958033540" [label="1%"]
1866 "958033540" [label="AS DAGBLADET"]
1867 "998689015" [label="Berner Media Holding AS"]
1868 "974530600" [label="Dagbladets Stiftelse"]
1869 "910119877" [label="Aller Media AS"]
1870 }
1871 </pre>
1872
1873 <p>To view the ownership graph, run "<tt>dotty dagbladet.dot</tt>" or
1874 convert it to a PNG using "<tt>dot -T png dagbladet.dot >
1875 dagbladet.png</tt>".  The result can be seen below:</p>
1876
1877 <img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-06-15-ownership-graphs-norway-dagbladet.png" width="80%">
1878
1879 <p>Note that I suspect the "Aller Holding A/S" entry to be incorrect
1880 data in the official ownership register, as that name is not
1881 registered in the official company register for Norway.  The ownership
1882 register is sensitive to typos and there seem to be no strict checking
1883 of the ownership links.</p>
1884
1885 <p>Let me know if you improve the script or find better data sources.
1886 The code is licensed according to GPL 2 or newer.</p>
1887
1888 <p>Update 2015-06-15: Since the initial post I've been told that
1889 "<a href="http://www.proff.dk/firma/carl-allers-etablissement-aktieselskab/københavn-v/hovedkontorer/13624518-3/">Aller
1890 Holding A/S</a>" is a Danish company, which explain why it did not
1891 have a Norwegian organisation number.  I've also been told that there
1892 is a <a href="http://www.brreg.no/automatiske/webservices/">web
1893 services API available</a> from Brønnøysundsregistrene, for those
1894 willing to accept the terms or pay the price.</p>
1895
1896       </div>
1897       <div class="tags">
1898
1899
1900         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn</a>.
1901
1902
1903       </div>
1904     </div>
1905     <div class="padding"></div>
1906
1907     <div class="entry">
1908       <div class="title">
1909         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Measuring_and_adjusting_the_loudness_of_a_TV_channel_using_bs1770gain.html">Measuring and adjusting the loudness of a TV channel using bs1770gain</a>
1910       </div>
1911       <div class="date">
1912         11th June 2015
1913       </div>
1914       <div class="body">
1915         <p>Television loudness is the source of frustration for viewers
1916 everywhere.  Some channels are very load, others are less loud, and
1917 ads tend to shout very high to get the attention of the viewers, and
1918 the viewers do not like this.  This fact is well known to the TV
1919 channels.  See for example the BBC white paper
1920 "<a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp-pdf-files/WHP202.pdf">Terminology
1921 for loudness and level dBTP, LU, and all that</a>" from 2011 for a
1922 summary of the problem domain.  To better address the need for even
1923 loadness, the TV channels got together several years ago to agree on a
1924 new way to measure loudness in digital files as one step in
1925 standardizing loudness.  From this came the ITU-R standard BS.1770,
1926 "<a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-BS.1770/en">Algorithms to
1927 measure audio programme loudness and true-peak audio level</a>".</p>
1928
1929 <p>The ITU-R BS.1770 specification describe an algorithm to measure
1930 loadness in LUFS (Loudness Units, referenced to Full Scale). But
1931 having a way to measure is not enough.  To get the same loudness
1932 across TV channels, one also need to decide which value to standardize
1933 on.  For European TV channels, this was done in the EBU Recommondaton
1934 R128, "<a href="https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/r/r128.pdf">Loudness
1935 normalisation and permitted maximum level of audio signals</a>", which
1936 specifies a recommended level of -23 LUFS.  In Norway, I have been
1937 told that NRK, TV2, MTG and SBS have decided among themselves to
1938 follow the R128 recommondation for playout from 2016-03-01.</p>
1939
1940 <p>There are free software available to measure and adjust the loudness
1941 level using the LUFS.  In Debian, I am aware of a library named
1942 <a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/libebur128">libebur128</a>
1943 able to measure the loudness and since yesterday morning a new binary
1944 named <a href="http://bs1770gain.sourceforge.net">bs1770gain</a>
1945 capable of both measuring and adjusting was uploaded and is waiting
1946 for NEW processing.  I plan to maintain the latter in Debian under the
1947 <a href="https://qa.debian.org/developer.php?email=pkg-multimedia-maintainers%40lists.alioth.debian.org">Debian
1948 multimedia</a> umbrella.</p>
1949
1950 <p>The free software based TV channel I am involved in,
1951 <a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a>, plan to follow the
1952 R128 recommondation ourself as soon as we can adjust the software to
1953 do so, and the bs1770gain tool seem like a good fit for that part of
1954 the puzzle to measure loudness on new video uploaded to Frikanalen.
1955 Personally, I plan to use bs1770gain to adjust the loudness of videos
1956 I upload to Frikanalen on behalf of <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">the
1957 NUUG member organisation</a>.  The program seem to be able to measure
1958 the LUFS value of any media file handled by ffmpeg, but I've only
1959 successfully adjusted the LUFS value of WAV files.  I suspect it
1960 should be able to adjust it for all the formats handled by ffmpeg.</p>
1961
1962       </div>
1963       <div class="tags">
1964
1965
1966         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
1967
1968
1969       </div>
1970     </div>
1971     <div class="padding"></div>
1972
1973     <div class="entry">
1974       <div class="title">
1975         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Norwegian_citizens_now_required_by_law_to_give_their_fingerprint_to_the_police.html">Norwegian citizens now required by law to give their fingerprint to the police</a>
1976       </div>
1977       <div class="date">
1978         10th May 2015
1979       </div>
1980       <div class="body">
1981         <p>5 days ago, the Norwegian Parliament decided, unanimously, that all
1982 citizens of Norway, no matter if they are suspected of something
1983 criminal or not, are
1984 <a href="https://www.holderdeord.no/votes/1430838871e">required to
1985 give fingerprints to the police</a> (vote details from Holder de
1986 ord).  The law make it sound like it will be optional, but in a few
1987 years there will be no option any more.  The ID will be required to
1988 vote, to get a bank account, a bank card, to change address on the
1989 post office, to receive an electronic ID or to get a drivers license
1990 and many other tasks required to function in Norway.  The banks plan
1991 to stop providing their own ID on the bank cards when this new
1992 national ID is introduced, and the national road authorities plan to
1993 change the drivers license to no longer be usable as identity cards.
1994 In effect, to function as a citizen in Norway a national ID card will
1995 be required, and to get it one need to provide the fingerprints to
1996 the police.</p>
1997
1998 <p>In addition to handing the fingerprint to the police (which
1999 promised to not make a copy of the fingerprint image at that point in
2000 time, but say nothing about doing it later), a picture of the
2001 fingerprint will be stored on the RFID chip, along with a picture of
2002 the face and other information about the person.  Some of the
2003 information will be encrypted, but the encryption will be the same
2004 system as currently used in the passports.  The codes to decrypt will
2005 be available to a lot of government offices and their suppliers around
2006 the globe, but for those that do not know anyone in those circles it
2007 is good to know that
2008 <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/nov/17/news.homeaffairs">the
2009 encryption is already broken</a>.  And they
2010 <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/article/2215057/wireless/bad-guys-could-read-rfid-passports-at-217-feet--maybe-a-lot-more.html">can
2011 be read from 70 meters away</a>.  This can be mitigated a bit by
2012 keeping it in a Faraday cage (metal box or metal wire container), but
2013 one will be required to take it out of there often enough to expose
2014 ones private and personal information to a lot of people that have no
2015 business getting access to that information.</p>
2016
2017 <p>The new Norwegian national IDs are a vehicle for identity theft,
2018 and I feel sorry for us all having politicians accepting such invasion
2019 of privacy without any objections.  So are the Norwegian passports,
2020 but it has been possible to function in Norway without those so far.
2021 That option is going away with the passing of the new law.  In this, I
2022 envy the Germans, because for them it is optional how much biometric
2023 information is stored in their national ID.</p>
2024
2025 <p>And if forced collection of fingerprints was not bad enough, the
2026 information collected in the national ID card register can be handed
2027 over to foreign intelligence services and police authorities, "when
2028 extradition is not considered disproportionate".</p>
2029
2030 <p>Update 2015-05-12: For those unable to believe that the Parliament
2031 really could make such decision, I wrote
2032 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Blir_det_virkelig_krav_om_fingeravtrykk_i_nasjonale_ID_kort_.html">a
2033 summary of the sources I have</a> for concluding the way I do
2034 (Norwegian Only, as the sources are all in Norwegian).</p>
2035
2036       </div>
2037       <div class="tags">
2038
2039
2040         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
2041
2042
2043       </div>
2044     </div>
2045     <div class="padding"></div>
2046
2047     <div class="entry">
2048       <div class="title">
2049         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_would_it_cost_to_store_all_phone_calls_in_Norway_.html">What would it cost to store all phone calls in Norway?</a>
2050       </div>
2051       <div class="date">
2052          1st May 2015
2053       </div>
2054       <div class="body">
2055         <p>Many years ago, a friend of mine calculated how much it would cost
2056 to store the sound of all phone calls in Norway, and came up with the
2057 cost of around 20 million NOK (2.4 mill EUR) for all the calls in a
2058 year.  I got curious and wondered what the same calculation would look
2059 like today.  To do so one need an idea of how much data storage is
2060 needed for each minute of sound, how many minutes all the calls in
2061 Norway sums up to, and the cost of data storage.</p>
2062
2063 <p>The 2005 numbers are from
2064 <a href="http://www.digi.no/analyser/2005/10/04/vi-prater-stadig-mindre-i-roret">digi.no</a>,
2065 the 2012 numbers are from
2066 <a href="http://www.nkom.no/aktuelt/nyheter/fortsatt-vekst-i-det-norske-ekommarkedet">a
2067 NKOM report</a>, and I got the 2013 numbers after asking NKOM via
2068 email.  I was told the numbers for 2014 will be presented May 20th,
2069 and decided not to wait for those, as I doubt they will be very
2070 different from the numbers from 2013.</p>
2071
2072 <p>The amount of data storage per minute sound depend on the wanted
2073 quality, and for phone calls it is generally believed that 8 Kbit/s is
2074 enough.  See for example a
2075 <a href="http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/voice/voice-quality/7934-bwidth-consume.html#topic1">summary
2076 on voice quality from Cisco</a> for some alternatives.  8 Kbit/s is 60
2077 Kbytes/min, and this can be multiplied with the number of call minutes
2078 to get the storage requirements.</p>
2079
2080 <p>Storage prices varies a lot, depending on speed, backup strategies,
2081 availability requirements etc.  But a simple way to calculate can be
2082 to use the price of a TiB-disk (around 1000 NOK / 120 EUR) and double
2083 it to take space, power and redundancy into account.  It could be much
2084 higher with high speed and good redundancy requirements.</p>
2085
2086 <p>But back to the question, What would it cost to store all phone
2087 calls in Norway?  Not much.  Here is a small table showing the
2088 estimated cost, which is within the budget constraint of most medium
2089 and large organisations:</p>
2090
2091 <table border="1">
2092 <tr><th>Year</th><th>Call minutes</th><th>Size</th><th>Price in NOK / EUR</th></tr>
2093 <tr><td>2005</td><td align="right">24 000 000 000</td><td align="right">1.3 PiB</td><td align="right">3 mill / 358 000</td></tr>
2094 <tr><td>2012</td><td align="right">18 000 000 000</td><td align="right">1.0 PiB</td><td align="right">2.2 mill / 262 000</td></tr>
2095 <tr><td>2013</td><td align="right">17 000 000 000</td><td align="right">950 TiB</td><td align="right">2.1 mill / 250 000</td></tr>
2096 </table>
2097
2098 <p>This is the cost of buying the storage.  Maintenance need to be
2099 taken into account too, but calculating that is left as an exercise
2100 for the reader.  But it is obvious to me from those numbers that
2101 recording the sound of all phone calls in Norway is not going to be
2102 stopped because it is too expensive.  I wonder if someone already is
2103 collecting the data?</p>
2104
2105       </div>
2106       <div class="tags">
2107
2108
2109         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
2110
2111
2112       </div>
2113     </div>
2114     <div class="padding"></div>
2115
2116     <div class="entry">
2117       <div class="title">
2118         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Jessie_based_Debian_Edu_beta_release.html">First Jessie based Debian Edu beta release</a>
2119       </div>
2120       <div class="date">
2121         26th April 2015
2122       </div>
2123       <div class="body">
2124         <p>I am happy to report that the Debian Edu team sent out
2125 <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2015/04/msg00000.html">this
2126 announcement today</a>:</p>
2127
2128 <pre>
2129 the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project is pleased to announce the first
2130 *beta* release of Debian Edu "Jessie" 8.0+edu0~b1, which for the first
2131 time is composed entirely of packages from the current Debian stable
2132 release, Debian 8 "Jessie".
2133
2134 (As most reading this will know, Debian "Jessie" hasn't actually been
2135 released by now. The release is still in progress but should finish
2136 later today ;)
2137
2138 We expect to make a final release of Debian Edu "Jessie" in the coming
2139 weeks, timed with the first point release of Debian Jessie. Upgrades
2140 from this beta release of Debian Edu Jessie to the final release will
2141 be possible and encouraged!
2142
2143 Please report feedback to debian-edu@lists.debian.org and/or submit
2144 bugs: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs
2145
2146 Debian Edu - sometimes also known as "Skolelinux" - is a complete
2147 operating system for schools, universities and other
2148 organisations. Through its pre- prepared installation profiles
2149 administrators can install servers, workstations and laptops which
2150 will work in harmony on the school network.  With Debian Edu, the
2151 teachers themselves or their technical support staff can roll out a
2152 complete multi-user, multi-machine study environment within hours or
2153 days.
2154
2155 Debian Edu is already in use at several hundred schools all over the
2156 world, particularly in Germany, Spain and Norway. Installations come
2157 with hundreds of applications pre-installed, plus the whole Debian
2158 archive of thousands of compatible packages within easy reach.
2159
2160 For those who want to give Debian Edu Jessie a try, download and
2161 installation instructions are available, including detailed
2162 instructions in the manual explaining the first steps, such as setting
2163 up a network or adding users.  Please note that the password for the
2164 user your prompted for during installation must have a length of at
2165 least 5 characters!
2166
2167 == Where to download ==
2168
2169 A multi-architecture CD / usbstick image (649 MiB) for network booting
2170 can be downloaded at the following locations:
2171
2172     http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-CD.iso
2173     rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-CD.iso .
2174
2175 The SHA1SUM of this image is: 54a524d16246cddd8d2cfd6ea52f2dd78c47ee0a
2176
2177 Alternatively an extended DVD / usbstick image (4.9 GiB) is also
2178 available, with more software included (saving additional download
2179 time):
2180
2181     http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-USB.iso
2182     rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-USB.iso
2183
2184 The SHA1SUM of this image is: fb1f1504a490c077a48653898f9d6a461cb3c636
2185
2186 Sources are available from the Debian archive, see
2187 http://ftp.debian.org/debian-cd/8.0.0/source/ for some download
2188 options.
2189
2190 == Debian Edu Jessie manual in seven languages ==
2191
2192 Please see https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/ for
2193 the English version of the Debian Edu jessie manual.
2194
2195 This manual has been fully translated to German, French, Italian,
2196 Danish, Dutch and Norwegian Bokmål. A partly translated version exists
2197 for Spanish.  See http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/ for
2198 online version of the translated manual.
2199
2200 More information about Debian 8 "Jessie" itself is provided in the
2201 release notes and the installation manual:
2202 - http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes
2203 - http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual
2204
2205
2206 == Errata / known problems ==
2207
2208     It takes up to 15 minutes for a changed hostname to be updated via
2209     DHCP (#780461).
2210
2211     The hostname script fails to update LTSP server hostname (#783087).
2212
2213 Workaround: run update-hostname-from-ip on the client to update the
2214 hostname immediately.
2215
2216 Check https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie for a possibly
2217 more current and complete list.
2218
2219 == Some more details about Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~b1 Codename Jessie released 2015-04-25 ==
2220
2221 === Software updates ===
2222
2223 Everything which is new in Debian 8 Jessie, e.g.:
2224
2225  * Linux kernel 3.16.7-ctk9; for the i386 architecture, support for
2226    i486 processors has been dropped; oldest supported ones: i586 (like
2227    Intel Pentium and AMD K5).
2228
2229  * Desktop environments KDE Plasma Workspaces 4.11.13, GNOME 3.14,
2230    Xfce 4.12, LXDE 0.5.6
2231    * new optional desktop environment: MATE 1.8
2232    * KDE Plasma Workspaces is installed by default; to choose one of
2233      the others see the manual.
2234  * the browsers Iceweasel 31 ESR and Chromium 41
2235  * LibreOffice 4.3.3
2236  * GOsa 2.7.4
2237  * LTSP 5.5.4
2238  * CUPS print system 1.7.5
2239  * new boot framework: systemd
2240  * Educational toolbox GCompris 14.12
2241  * Music creator Rosegarden 14.02
2242  * Image editor Gimp 2.8.14
2243  * Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.13.1
2244  * golearn 0.9
2245  * tuxpaint 0.9.22
2246  * New version of debian-installer from Debian Jessie.
2247  * Debian Jessie includes about 43000 packages available for installation.
2248  * More information about Debian 8 Jessie is provided in its release
2249    notes and the installation manual, see the link above.
2250
2251 === Installation changes ===
2252
2253     Installations done via PXE now also install firmware automatically
2254     for the hardware present.
2255
2256 === Fixed bugs ===
2257
2258 A number of bugs have been fixed in this release; the most noticeable
2259 from a user perspective:
2260
2261  * Inserting incorrect DNS information in Gosa will no longer break
2262    DNS completely, but instead stop DNS updates until the incorrect
2263    information is corrected (710362)
2264
2265  * shutdown-at-night now shuts the system down if gdm3 is used (775608).
2266
2267 === Sugar desktop removed ===
2268
2269 As the Sugar desktop was removed from Debian Jessie, it is also not
2270 available in Debian Edu jessie.
2271
2272
2273 == About Debian Edu / Skolelinux ==
2274
2275 Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based on
2276 Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely
2277 configured school network. Directly after installation a school server
2278 running all services needed for a school network is set up just
2279 waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable
2280 Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after
2281 initial installation of the main server from CD or USB stick all other
2282 machines can be installed via the network. The provided school server
2283 provides LDAP database and Kerberos authentication service,
2284 centralized home directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other
2285 services.  The desktop contains more than 60 educational software
2286 packages and more are available from the Debian archive, and schools
2287 can choose between KDE, GNOME, LXDE, Xfce and MATE desktop
2288 environment.
2289
2290 == About Debian ==
2291
2292 The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly
2293 free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of
2294 the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of
2295 volunteers from all over the world work together to create and
2296 maintain Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a
2297 huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the universal
2298 operating system.
2299
2300 == Thanks ==
2301
2302 Thanks to everyone making Debian and Debian Edu / Skolelinux happen!
2303 You rock.
2304 </pre>
2305
2306       </div>
2307       <div class="tags">
2308
2309
2310         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
2311
2312
2313       </div>
2314     </div>
2315     <div class="padding"></div>
2316
2317     <div class="entry">
2318       <div class="title">
2319         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Shirish_Agarwal.html">Debian Edu interview: Shirish Agarwal</a>
2320       </div>
2321       <div class="date">
2322         15th April 2015
2323       </div>
2324       <div class="body">
2325         <p>It was a surprise to me to learn that project to create a complete
2326 computer system for schools I've involved in,
2327 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>, was
2328 being used in India.  But apparently it is, and I managed to get an
2329 interview with one of the friends of the project there, Shirish
2330 Agarwal.</p>
2331
2332 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
2333
2334 <p>My name is Shirish Agarwal. Based out of the educational and
2335 historical city of Pune, from the western state of Maharashtra, India.
2336 My bread comes from giving training, giving policy tips,
2337 installations on free software to mom and pop shops in different
2338 fields from Desktop publishing to retail shops as well as work with
2339 few software start-ups as well.</p>
2340
2341 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
2342 project?</strong></p>
2343
2344 <p>It started innocently enough. I have been using Debian for a few
2345 years and in one local minidebconf / debutsav I was asked if there was
2346 anything for schools or education. I had worked / played with free
2347 educational softwares such as Gcompris and Stellarium for my many
2348 nieces and nephews so researched and found Debian Edu or Skolelinux as
2349 it was known then.  Since then I have started using the various
2350 education meta-packages provided by the project.</p>
2351
2352 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian
2353 Edu?</strong></p>
2354
2355 <p>It's closest I have seen where a package full of educational
2356 software are packed, which are free and open (both literally and
2357 figuratively).  Even if I take the simplest software which is
2358 gcompris, the number of activities therein are amazing. Another one of
2359 the softwares that I have liked for a long time is stellarium. Even
2360 pysycache is cool except for couple of issues I encountered
2361 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/781841">#781841</a> and
2362 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/781842">#781842</a>.</p>
2363
2364 <p>I prefer software installed on the system over web based solutions,
2365 as a web site can disappear any time but the software on disk has the
2366 possibility of a larger life span.  Of course with both it's more a
2367 question if it has enough users who make it fun or sustainable or both
2368 for the developer per-se.</p>
2369
2370 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
2371 Edu?</strong></p>
2372
2373 <p>I do see that the Debian Edu team seems to be short-handed and I
2374 think more efforts should be made to make it popular and ask and take
2375 help from people and the larger community wherever possible.</p>
2376
2377 <p>I don't see any disadvantage to use Skolelinux apart from the fact
2378 that most apps. are generic which is good or bad how you see it.
2379 However, saying that I do acknowledge the fact that the canvas is
2380 pretty big and there are lot of interesting ideas that could be done
2381 but for reasons not known not done or if done I don't know about them.
2382 Let me share some of the ideas (these are more upstream based but
2383 still) I have had for a long time :</p>
2384
2385 <p>1. Classical maths question of two trains in opposing directions
2386 each running @x kmph/mph at y distance, when they will meet and how
2387 far would each travel and similar questions like these.
2388
2389 <p>The computer is a fantastic system where questions like these can
2390 be drawn, animated and the methodology and answers teased out in
2391 interactive manner. While sites such as the
2392 <a href="http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.two.trains.html">Ask
2393 Dr. Math FAQ on The Two Trains problem</a> (as an example or point of
2394 inspiration) can be used there is lot more that can be done.  I dunno
2395 if there is a free software which does something like this.  The idea
2396 being a blend of objects + animation + interaction which does
2397 this. The whole interaction could be gamified with points or sounds or
2398 colourful celebration whenever the user gets even part of the question
2399 or/and methodology right. That would help reinforce good behaviour.
2400 This understanding could be used to share/showcase everything from how
2401 the first wheel came to be, to evolution to how astronomy started,
2402 psychics and everything in-between.</p>
2403
2404 <p>One specific idea in the train part was having the Linux mascot on
2405 one train and the BSD or GNU mascot on the other train and they
2406 meeting somewhere in-between. Characters from blender movies could
2407 also be used.</p>
2408
2409 <p>2. Loads of crossword-puzzles with reference to subjects: We have
2410 enormous data sets in Wikipedia and Wikitionary.  I don't think it
2411 should be a big job to design crossword puzzles. Using categories and
2412 sub-categories it should be doable to have Q&A single word answers
2413 from the existing data-sets. What would make it easy or hard could be
2414 the length of the word + existence of many or few vowels depending on
2415 the user's input.</p>
2416
2417 <p>3. Jigsaw puzzles - We already have a great software called
2418 palapeli with number of slicers making it pretty interesting. What
2419 needs to be done is to download large number of public domain and
2420 copyleft images, tease and use IPTC tags to categorise them into
2421 nature, history etc.  and let it loose. This could turn to be really
2422 huge collection of images. One source could be taken from
2423 commons.wikimedia.org, others could be huge collection of royalty-free
2424 stock photos. Potential is immense.</p>
2425
2426 <p>Apart from this, free software suffers in two directions, we lag
2427 both in development (of using new features per-se) and maintenance a
2428 lot.  This is more so in educational software as these applications
2429 need to be timely and the opportunity cost of missing deadlines is
2430 immense. If we are able to solve issues of funding for development and
2431 maintenance of such software I don't see any big difficulties. I know
2432 of few start-ups in and around India who would love to develop and
2433 maintain such software if funding issues could be solved.</p>
2434
2435 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
2436
2437 <p>That would be huge list. Some of the softwares are obviously apt,
2438 aptitude, debdelta, leafpad, the shell of course (zsh nowadays),
2439 quassel for IRC. In games I use shisen-sho while card-games are evenly
2440 between kpat and Aiselriot.  In desktops it's a tie between
2441 gnome-flashback and mate.</p>
2442
2443 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
2444 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
2445
2446 <p>I think it should first start with using specific FOSS apps. in
2447 whatever environment they are. If it's MS-Windows or Mac so be it.
2448 Once they are habitual with the apps. and there is buy-in from the
2449 school management then it could be installed anywhere. Most of the
2450 people now understand the concept of a repository because of the
2451 various online stores so it isn't hard to convince on that front.</p>
2452
2453 <p>What is harder is having enough people with technical skills and
2454 passion to service them. If you get buy-in from one or two teachers
2455 then ideas like above could also be asked to be done as a project as
2456 well.</p>
2457
2458 <p>I think where we fall short more than anything is in marketing. For
2459 instance, Debian has this whole range of fonts in its archive but
2460 there isn't even a page where all those different fonts in the La
2461 Ipsum format could be tried out for newcomers.</p>
2462
2463 <p>One of the issues faced constantly in installations is with updates
2464 and upgrades.  People have this myth that each update and upgrade
2465 means the user interface will / has to change. I have seen this
2466 innumerable times.  That perhaps is one of the reasons which browsers
2467 like Iceweasel / Firefox change user interfaces so much, not because
2468 it might be needed or be functional but because people believe that
2469 changed user interfaces are better. This, can easily be pointed with
2470 the user interfaces changed with almost every MS-Windows and Mac OS
2471 releases.</p>
2472
2473 <p>The problems with Debian Edu for deployment are many. The biggest
2474 is the huge gap between what is taught in schools and what Debian Edu
2475 is aimed at.
2476
2477 <p>Me and my friends did teach on week-ends in a government school for
2478 around 2 years, and
2479 <a href="https://flossexperiences.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/sharings/">gathered
2480 some experience</a> there.  Some of the things we learnt/discovered
2481 there was :</p>
2482
2483 <ol>
2484
2485   <li>Most of the teachers are very territorial about their subjects
2486    and they do not want you to teach anything out of the
2487    portion/syllabus given.</li>
2488
2489   <li>They want any activity on the system in accordance to whatever
2490    is in the syllabus.</li>
2491
2492   <li>There are huge barriers both with the English language and at
2493    times with objects or whatever. An example, let's say in gcompris
2494    you have objects falling down and you have to name them and let's
2495    say the falling object is a hat or a fedora hat, this would not be
2496    as recognizable as say a
2497    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puneri_Pagadi">Puneri
2498    Pagdi</a> so there is need to inject local objects, words wherever
2499    possible. Especially for word-games there are so many hindi words
2500    which have become part of english vocabulary (for instance in
2501    parley), those could be made into a hinglish collection or
2502    something but that is something for upstream to do.</li>
2503
2504 </ol>
2505
2506       </div>
2507       <div class="tags">
2508
2509
2510         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
2511
2512
2513       </div>
2514     </div>
2515     <div class="padding"></div>
2516
2517     <div class="entry">
2518       <div class="title">
2519         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_m_going_to_the_Open_Source_Developers__Conference_Nordic_2015_.html">I'm going to the Open Source Developers' Conference Nordic 2015!</a>
2520       </div>
2521       <div class="date">
2522          7th April 2015
2523       </div>
2524       <div class="body">
2525         <p>I am happy to let you all know that I'm going to the <a
2526 href="http://act.osdc.no/osdc2015no/">Open Source Developers'
2527 Conference Nordic 2015</a>!</p>
2528
2529 <p>It take place Friday 8th to Sunday 10th of May in Oslo next to
2530 where I work, and I finally got around to submitting
2531 <a href="http://act.osdc.no/osdc2015no/talk/6192">a talk proposal for
2532 it</a> (dead link for most people until the talk is accepted).  As
2533 part of my involvement with the
2534 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group member
2535 association</a> I have been slightly involved in the planning of this
2536 conference for a while now, with a focus on organising a Civic Hacking
2537 Hackathon with our friends
2538 over at <a href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a> and
2539 <a href="http://www.holderdeord.no/">Holder de ord</a>.  This part is
2540 named the 'My Society' track in the program.  There is still space for
2541 more talks and participants.  I hope to see you there.</p>
2542
2543 <p>Check out <a href="http://act.osdc.no/osdc2015no/talks">the talks
2544 submitted and accepted so far</a>.</p>
2545
2546       </div>
2547       <div class="tags">
2548
2549
2550         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn</a>.
2551
2552
2553       </div>
2554     </div>
2555     <div class="padding"></div>
2556
2557     <div class="entry">
2558       <div class="title">
2559         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Proof_reading_the_Norwegian_translation_of_Free_Culture_by_Lessig.html">Proof reading the Norwegian translation of Free Culture by Lessig</a>
2560       </div>
2561       <div class="date">
2562          4th April 2015
2563       </div>
2564       <div class="body">
2565         <p>During eastern I had some time to continue working on the Norwegian
2566 <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> version of the 2004 book
2567 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig.
2568 At the moment I am proof reading the finished text, looking for typos,
2569 inconsistent wordings and sentences that do not flow as they should.
2570 I'm more than two thirds done with the text, and welcome others to
2571 check the text up to chapter 13.  The current status is available on the
2572 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>
2573 project pages.  You can also check out the
2574 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a>,
2575 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a>
2576 and HTML version available in the
2577 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/tree/master/archive">archive
2578 directory</a>.</p>
2579
2580 <p>Please report typos, bugs and improvements to the github project if
2581 you find any.</p>
2582
2583       </div>
2584       <div class="tags">
2585
2586
2587         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
2588
2589
2590       </div>
2591     </div>
2592     <div class="padding"></div>
2593
2594     <div class="entry">
2595       <div class="title">
2596         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikanalen__Norwegian_TV_channel_for_technical_topics.html">Frikanalen, Norwegian TV channel for technical topics</a>
2597       </div>
2598       <div class="date">
2599          9th March 2015
2600       </div>
2601       <div class="body">
2602         <p>The <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group</a>,
2603 where I am a member, and where people interested in free software,
2604 open standards and UNIX like operating systems like Linux and the BSDs
2605 come together, record our monthly technical presentations on video.
2606 The purpose is to document the talks and spread them to a wider
2607 audience.  For this, the the Norwegian nationwide open channel
2608 <a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a> is a useful venue.
2609 Since a few days ago, when I figured out the
2610 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/api/">REST API</a> to program the
2611 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/guide/">channel time schedule</a>,
2612 the channel has been filled with NUUG talks, related recordings and
2613 some Creative Commons licensed TED talks (from archive.org).  I fill
2614 all "leftover bits" on the channel with content from NUUG, which at
2615 the moment is almost 17 of 24 hours every day.</p>
2616
2617 <p>The list of NUUG videos
2618 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/organization/82">uploaded so far</a>
2619 include things like a
2620 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/625090">one hour talk by John
2621 Perry Barlow when he visited Oslo</a>, a presentation of
2622 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/624275">Haiku, the BeOS
2623 re-implementation</a>, the
2624 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/624493">history of FiksGataMi,
2625 the Norwegian version of FixMyStreet</a>, the good old
2626 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/623566">Warriors of the net
2627 video</A> and many others.</p>
2628
2629 <p>We have a large backlog of NUUG talks not yet uploaded to
2630 Frikanalen, and plan to upload every useful bit to the channel to
2631 spread the word there.  I also hope to find useful recordings from the
2632 Chaos Computer Club and Debian conferences and spread them on the
2633 channel as well.  But this require locating the videos and their meta
2634 information (title, description, license, etc), and preparing the
2635 recordings for broadcast, and I have not yet had the spare time to
2636 focus on this.  Perhaps you want to help.  Please join us on IRC,
2637 <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/%23nuug">#nuug on irc.freenode.net</a>
2638 if you want to help make this happen.</p>
2639
2640 <p>But as I said, already the channel is already almost exclusively
2641 filled with technical topics, and if you want to learn something new
2642 today, check out the <a href="http://www.frikanalen.tv/se">Ogg Theora
2643 web stream</a> or use one of the other ways to get access to the
2644 channel.  Unfortunately the Ogg Theora recoding for distribution still
2645 do not properly sync the video and sound.  It is generated by recoding
2646 a internal MPEG transport stream with MPEG4 coded video (ie H.264) to
2647 Ogg Theora / Vorbis, and we have not been able to find a way that
2648 produces acceptable quality.  Help needed, please get in touch if you
2649 know how to fix it using free software.</p>
2650
2651       </div>
2652       <div class="tags">
2653
2654
2655         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
2656
2657
2658       </div>
2659     </div>
2660     <div class="padding"></div>
2661
2662     <div class="entry">
2663       <div class="title">
2664         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Citizenfour_documentary_on_the_Snowden_confirmations_to_Norway.html">The Citizenfour documentary on the Snowden confirmations to Norway</a>
2665       </div>
2666       <div class="date">
2667         28th February 2015
2668       </div>
2669       <div class="body">
2670         <p>Today I was happy to learn that the documentary
2671 <a href="https://citizenfourfilm.com/">Citizenfour</a> by
2672 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Poitras">Laura Poitras</a>
2673 finally will show up in Norway.  According to the magazine
2674 <a href="http://montages.no/">Montages</a>, a deal has finally been
2675 made for
2676 <a href="http://montages.no/nyheter/snowden-dokumentaren-citizenfour-far-norsk-kinodistribusjon/">Cinema
2677 distribution in Norway</a> and the movie will have its premiere soon.
2678 This is great news.  As part of my involvement with
2679 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">the Norwegian Unix User Group</a>, me and
2680 a friend have
2681 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Dokumentar_om_Snowdenbekreftelsene_til_Norge_.shtml">tried
2682 to get the movie to Norway</a> ourselves, but obviously
2683 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Dokumentar_om_Snowdenbekreftelsene_endelig_til_Norge_.shtml">we
2684 were too late</a> and Tor Fosse beat us to it.  I am happy he did, as
2685 the movie will make its way to the public and we do not have to make
2686 it happen ourselves.
2687 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiGwAvd5mvM">The trailer</a>
2688 can be seen on youtube, if you are curious what kind of film this
2689 is.</p>
2690
2691 <p>The whistle blower Edward Snowden really deserve political asylum
2692 here in Norway, but I am afraid he would not be safe.</p>
2693
2694       </div>
2695       <div class="tags">
2696
2697
2698         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
2699
2700
2701       </div>
2702     </div>
2703     <div class="padding"></div>
2704
2705     <div class="entry">
2706       <div class="title">
2707         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Norwegian_open_channel_Frikanalen___24x7_on_the_Internet.html">The Norwegian open channel Frikanalen - 24x7 on the Internet</a>
2708       </div>
2709       <div class="date">
2710         25th February 2015
2711       </div>
2712       <div class="body">
2713         <p>The Norwegian nationwide open channel
2714 <a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a> is still going
2715 strong.  It allow everyone to send the video they want on national
2716 television.  It is a TV station administrated completely using a web
2717 browser, running only <ahref="https://github.com/Frikanalen">Free
2718 Software</a>, providing <ahref="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/api">a REST
2719 api</a> for administrators and members, and with distribution on the
2720 national DVB-T distribution network RiksTV.  But only between 12:00
2721 and 17:30 Norwegian time.  This has finally changed, after many years
2722 with limited distribution.  A few weeks ago, we set up a Ogg Theora
2723 stream via icecast to allow everyone with Internet access to check out
2724 the channel the rest of the day.  This is presented on
2725 <a href="http://www.frikanalen.tv/se">the Frikanalen web site now</a>.  And
2726 since a few days ago, the channel is also available
2727 via <a href="https://www.uninett.no/iptv-tilgang">multicast on
2728 UNINETT</a>, available for those using IPTV TVs and set-top boxes in
2729 the Norwegian National Research and Education network.</p>
2730
2731 <p>If you want to see what is on the channel, point your media player
2732 to one of these sources.  The first should work with most players and
2733 browsers, while as far as I know, the multicast UDP stream only work
2734 with VLC.</p>
2735
2736 <ul>
2737   <li><a href="http://video.nuug.no/frikanalen.ogv">http://video.nuug.no/frikanalen.ogv</a></li>
2738   <li>udp://@224.17.43.129:1234</li>
2739 </ul>
2740
2741 <p>The Ogg Theora / icecast stream is not working well, as the video
2742 and audio is slightly out of sync.  We have not been able to figure
2743 out how to fix it.  It is generated by recoding a internal MPEG
2744 transport stream with MPEG4 coded video (ie H.264) to Ogg Theora /
2745 Vorbis, and the result is less then stellar.  If you have ideas how to
2746 fix it, please let us know on frikanalen (at) nuug.no.  We currently
2747 use this with ffmpeg2theora 0.29:</p>
2748
2749 <blockquote><pre>
2750 ./ffmpeg2theora.linux &lt;OBE_gemini_URL.ts&gt; -F 25 -x 720 -y 405 \
2751  --deinterlace --inputfps 25 -c 1 -H 48000 --keyint 8 --buf-delay 100 \
2752  --nosync -V 700 -o - | oggfwd video.nuug.no 8000 &lt;pw&gt; /frikanalen.ogv
2753 </pre></blockquote>
2754
2755 <p>If you get the multicast UDP stream working, please let me know, as
2756 I am curious how far the multicast stream reach.  It do not make it to
2757 my home network, nor any other commercially available network in
2758 Norway that I am aware of.</p>
2759
2760       </div>
2761       <div class="tags">
2762
2763
2764         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
2765
2766
2767       </div>
2768     </div>
2769     <div class="padding"></div>
2770
2771     <div class="entry">
2772       <div class="title">
2773         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Nude_body_scanner_now_present_on_Norwegian_airport.html">Nude body scanner now present on Norwegian airport</a>
2774       </div>
2775       <div class="date">
2776         10th February 2015
2777       </div>
2778       <div class="body">
2779         <p>Aftenposten, one of the largest newspapers in Norway, today report
2780 that
2781 <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/reise/Slik-skannes-kroppen-din-i-fremtidens-sikkerhetskontroll-490666_1.snd">three
2782 of the nude body scanners now is put to use at Gardermoen</a>, the
2783 main airport in Norway.  This way the travelers can have their body
2784 photographed without cloths when visiting Norway.  Of course this
2785 horrible news is presented with a positive spin, stating that "now
2786 travelers can move past the security check point faster and more
2787 efficiently", but fail to mention that the machines in question take
2788 pictures of their nude bodies and store them internally in the
2789 computer, while only presenting sketch figure of the body to the
2790 public.  The article is written in a way that leave the impression
2791 that the new machines do not take these nude pictures and only create
2792 the sketch figures.  In reality the same nude pictures are still
2793 taken, but not presented to everyone.  They are still available for
2794 the owners of the system and the people doing maintenance of the
2795 scanners, as long as they are taken and stored.</p>
2796
2797 <p>Wikipedia have a more on
2798 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_body_scanner">Full body
2799 scanners</a>, including example images and a summary of the
2800 controversy about these scanners.</p>
2801
2802 <p>Personally I will decline to use these machines, as I believe strip
2803 searches of my body is a very intrusive attack on my privacy, and not
2804 something everyone should have to accept to travel.</p>
2805
2806       </div>
2807       <div class="tags">
2808
2809
2810         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>.
2811
2812
2813       </div>
2814     </div>
2815     <div class="padding"></div>
2816
2817     <div class="entry">
2818       <div class="title">
2819         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Nagios_module_to_check_if_the_Frikanalen_video_stream_is_working.html">Nagios module to check if the Frikanalen video stream is working</a>
2820       </div>
2821       <div class="date">
2822          8th February 2015
2823       </div>
2824       <div class="body">
2825         <p>When running a TV station with both broadcast and web stream
2826 distribution, it is useful to know that the stream is working.  As I
2827 am involved in the Norwegian open channel
2828 <a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a> as part of my
2829 activity in the <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG member
2830 organisation</a>, I wrote a script to use mplayer to connect to a
2831 video stream, pick two images 35 seconds apart and compare them.  If
2832 the images are missing or identical, something is probably wrong with
2833 the stream and an alarm should be triggered.  The script is written as
2834 a Nagios plugin, allowing us to use Nagios to run the check regularly
2835 and sound the alarm when something is wrong.  It is able to detect
2836 both a hanging and a broken video stream.</p>
2837
2838 <p>I just uploaded the code for the script into the
2839 <a href="https://github.com/Frikanalen/frikanalen/blob/master/nagios-plugin/check_video_stream_images">Frikanalen
2840 git repository</a> on github.  If you run a TV station with web
2841 streaming, perhaps you can find it useful too.</p>
2842
2843 <p>Last year, the Frikanalen public TV station transformed into using
2844 only Linux based free software to administrate, schedule and
2845 distribute the TV content.  The
2846 <a href="https://github.com/Frikanalen">source code for the entire TV
2847 station</a> is available from the Github project page.  Everyone can
2848 use it to send their content on national TV, and we provide both a web
2849 GUI and <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/api/">a web API</a> to
2850 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/login/?next=/members/video/">add</a>
2851 and <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/members/plan/">schedule
2852 content</a>.  And thanks to last weeks developer gathering and
2853 following activity, we now have the schedule
2854 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/xmltv/2015/01/01">available as
2855 XMLTV</a> too.  Still a lot of work left to do, especially with the
2856 process to add videos and with the scheduling, so your contribution is
2857 most welcome.  Perhaps you want to set up your own TV station?</p>
2858
2859 <p>Update 2015-02-25: Got a tip from Uninett about their
2860 <a href="https://scm.uninett.no/maalepaaler/qstream/">qstream
2861 monitoring system</a>, which gather connection time, jitter, packet
2862 loss and burst bandwidth usage.  It look useful to check if UDP
2863 streams are working as they should.</p>
2864
2865       </div>
2866       <div class="tags">
2867
2868
2869         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
2870
2871
2872       </div>
2873     </div>
2874     <div class="padding"></div>
2875
2876     <div class="entry">
2877       <div class="title">
2878         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Norwegian_Bokm_l_subtitles_for_the_FSF_video_User_Liberation.html">Norwegian Bokmål subtitles for the FSF video User Liberation</a>
2879       </div>
2880       <div class="date">
2881         12th January 2015
2882       </div>
2883       <div class="body">
2884         <p>A few days ago, the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/">Free Software
2885 Foundation</a> announced a new video
2886 <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/user-liberation-watch-and-share-our-new-video">explaining
2887 Free software</a> in simple terms.  The video named User Liberation is
2888 3 minutes long, and I recommend showing it to everyone you know as a
2889 way to explain what Free Software is all about.  Unfortunately several
2890 of the people I know do not understand English and Spanish, so it did
2891 not make sense to show it to them.</p>
2892
2893 <p>But today I was told that
2894 <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/user-liberation-watch-and-share-our-new-video">English
2895 subtitles were available</a> and set out to provide Norwegian Bokmål
2896 subtitles based on these.  The result has been sent to FSF and made
2897 available in
2898 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/fsf-video-user-liberation-subtitles">a
2899 git repository</a> provided by Github.  Please let me know if you find
2900 errors or have improvements to the subtitles.</p>
2901
2902 <p>Update 2015-02-03: Since I publised this post, FSF created a
2903 Libreplanet
2904 <a href="http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:FSF/User_Liberation_Video_Translation">project
2905 to track subtitles</A> for the video.</p>
2906
2907       </div>
2908       <div class="tags">
2909
2910
2911         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
2912
2913
2914       </div>
2915     </div>
2916     <div class="padding"></div>
2917
2918     <div class="entry">
2919       <div class="title">
2920         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Updated_version_of_the_Norwegian_web_service_FiksGataMi.html">Updated version of the Norwegian web service FiksGataMi</a>
2921       </div>
2922       <div class="date">
2923         30th December 2014
2924       </div>
2925       <div class="body">
2926         <p>I am very happy that we in the
2927 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User group (NUUG)</a>,
2928 spearheaded by Marius Halden from NUUG and Matthew Somerville from
2929 <a href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a>, finally managed to
2930 upgrade the code base for the Norwegian version of
2931 <a href="http://fixmystreet.org/">FixMyStreet</a>.  This
2932 was the first major update since 2011. The refurbished
2933 <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</a> is already live, and
2934 seem to hold up the pressure.  The
2935 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Pressemelding__FiksGataMi_i_oppdatert_og_mobilvennlig_klesdrakt.shtml">press
2936 release and announcement</a> went out this morning.</p>
2937
2938 <p>FixMyStreet is a web platform for allowing the citizens to easily
2939 report problems with public infrastructure to the responsible
2940 authorities.  Think of it as a shared mail client with map support,
2941 allowing everyone to see what already was reported and comment on the
2942 reports in public.</p>
2943
2944       </div>
2945       <div class="tags">
2946
2947
2948         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
2949
2950
2951       </div>
2952     </div>
2953     <div class="padding"></div>
2954
2955     <div class="entry">
2956       <div class="title">
2957         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Of_course_USA_loses_in_cyber_war___NSA_and_friends_made_sure_it_would_happen.html">Of course USA loses in cyber war - NSA and friends made sure it would happen</a>
2958       </div>
2959       <div class="date">
2960         19th December 2014
2961       </div>
2962       <div class="body">
2963         <p>So, Sony caved in
2964 (<a href="https://twitter.com/RobLowe/status/545338568512917504">according
2965 to Rob Lowe</a>) and demonstrated that America lost its first cyberwar
2966 (<a href="https://twitter.com/newtgingrich/status/545339074975109122">according
2967 to Newt Gingrich</a>).  It should not surprise anyone, after the
2968 whistle blower Edward Snowden documented that the government of USA
2969 and their allies for many years have done their best to make sure the
2970 technology used by its citizens is filled with security holes allowing
2971 the secret services to spy on its own population.  No one in their
2972 right minds could believe that the ability to snoop on the people all
2973 over the globe could only be used by the personnel authorized to do so
2974 by the president of the United States of America.  If the capabilities
2975 are there, they will be used by friend and foe alike, and now they are
2976 being used to bring Sony on its knees.</p>
2977
2978 <p>I doubt it will a lesson learned, and expect USA to lose its next
2979 cyber war too, given how eager the western intelligence communities
2980 (and probably the non-western too, but it is less in the news) seem to
2981 be to continue its current dragnet surveillance practice.</p>
2982
2983 <p>There is a reason why China and others are trying to move away from
2984 Windows to Linux and other alternatives, and it is not to avoid
2985 sending its hard earned dollars to Cayman Islands (or whatever
2986 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_haven">tax haven</a>
2987 Microsoft is using these days to collect the majority of its
2988 income. :)</p>
2989
2990       </div>
2991       <div class="tags">
2992
2993
2994         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
2995
2996
2997       </div>
2998     </div>
2999     <div class="padding"></div>
3000
3001     <div class="entry">
3002       <div class="title">
3003         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_stay_with_sysvinit_in_Debian_Jessie.html">How to stay with sysvinit in Debian Jessie</a>
3004       </div>
3005       <div class="date">
3006         22nd November 2014
3007       </div>
3008       <div class="body">
3009         <p>By now, it is well known that Debian Jessie will not be using
3010 sysvinit as its boot system by default.  But how can one keep using
3011 sysvinit in Jessie?  It is fairly easy, and here are a few recipes,
3012 courtesy of
3013 <a href="http://www.vitavonni.de/blog/201410/2014102101-avoiding-systemd.html">Erich
3014 Schubert</a> and
3015 <a href="http://smcv.pseudorandom.co.uk/2014/still_universal/">Simon
3016 McVittie</a>.
3017
3018 <p>If you already are using Wheezy and want to upgrade to Jessie and
3019 keep sysvinit as your boot system, create a file
3020 <tt>/etc/apt/preferences.d/use-sysvinit</tt> with this content before
3021 you upgrade:</p>
3022
3023 <p><blockquote><pre>
3024 Package: systemd-sysv
3025 Pin: release o=Debian
3026 Pin-Priority: -1
3027 </pre></blockquote><p>
3028
3029 <p>This file content will tell apt and aptitude to not consider
3030 installing systemd-sysv as part of any installation and upgrade
3031 solution when resolving dependencies, and thus tell it to avoid
3032 systemd as a default boot system.  The end result should be that the
3033 upgraded system keep using sysvinit.</p>
3034
3035 <p>If you are installing Jessie for the first time, there is no way to
3036 get sysvinit installed by default (debootstrap used by
3037 debian-installer have no option for this), but one can tell the
3038 installer to switch to sysvinit before the first boot.  Either by
3039 using a kernel argument to the installer, or by adding a line to the
3040 preseed file used.  First, the kernel command line argument:
3041
3042 <p><blockquote><pre>
3043 preseed/late_command="in-target apt-get install --purge -y sysvinit-core"
3044 </pre></blockquote><p>
3045
3046 <p>Next, the line to use in a preseed file:</p>
3047
3048 <p><blockquote><pre>
3049 d-i preseed/late_command string in-target apt-get install -y sysvinit-core
3050 </pre></blockquote><p>
3051
3052 <p>One can of course also do this after the first boot by installing
3053 the sysvinit-core package.</p>
3054
3055 <p>I recommend only using sysvinit if you really need it, as the
3056 sysvinit boot sequence in Debian have several hardware specific bugs
3057 on Linux caused by the fact that it is unpredictable when hardware
3058 devices show up during boot.  But on the other hand, the new default
3059 boot system still have a few rough edges I hope will be fixed before
3060 Jessie is released.</p>
3061
3062 <p>Update 2014-11-26: Inspired by
3063 <ahref="https://www.mirbsd.org/permalinks/wlog-10-tg_e20141125-tg.htm#e20141125-tg_wlog-10-tg">a
3064 blog post by Torsten Glaser</a>, added --purge to the preseed
3065 line.</p>
3066
3067       </div>
3068       <div class="tags">
3069
3070
3071         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
3072
3073
3074       </div>
3075     </div>
3076     <div class="padding"></div>
3077
3078     <div class="entry">
3079       <div class="title">
3080         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_Debian_package_for_SMTP_via_Tor__aka_SMTorP__using_exim4.html">A Debian package for SMTP via Tor (aka SMTorP) using exim4</a>
3081       </div>
3082       <div class="date">
3083         10th November 2014
3084       </div>
3085       <div class="body">
3086         <p>The right to communicate with your friends and family in private,
3087 without anyone snooping, is a right every citicen have in a liberal
3088 democracy.  But this right is under serious attack these days.</p>
3089
3090 <p>A while back it occurred to me that one way to make the dragnet
3091 surveillance conducted by NSA, GCHQ, FRA and others (and confirmed by
3092 the whisleblower Snowden) more expensive for Internet email,
3093 is to deliver all email using SMTP via Tor.  Such SMTP option would be
3094 a nice addition to the FreedomBox project if we could send email
3095 between FreedomBox machines without leaking metadata about the emails
3096 to the people peeking on the wire.  I
3097 <a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/freedombox-discuss/2014-October/006493.html">proposed
3098 this on the FreedomBox project mailing list in October</a> and got a
3099 lot of useful feedback and suggestions.  It also became obvious to me
3100 that this was not a novel idea, as the same idea was tested and
3101 documented by Johannes Berg as early as 2006, and both
3102 <a href="https://github.com/pagekite/Mailpile/wiki/SMTorP">the
3103 Mailpile</a> and <a href="http://dee.su/cables">the Cables</a> systems
3104 propose a similar method / protocol to pass emails between users.</p>
3105
3106 <p>To implement such system one need to set up a Tor hidden service
3107 providing the SMTP protocol on port 25, and use email addresses
3108 looking like username@hidden-service-name.onion.  With such addresses
3109 the connections to port 25 on hidden-service-name.onion using Tor will
3110 go to the correct SMTP server.  To do this, one need to configure the
3111 Tor daemon to provide the hidden service and the mail server to accept
3112 emails for this .onion domain.  To learn more about Exim configuration
3113 in Debian and test the design provided by Johannes Berg in his FAQ, I
3114 set out yesterday to create a Debian package for making it trivial to
3115 set up such SMTP over Tor service based on Debian.  Getting it to work
3116 were fairly easy, and
3117 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/exim4-smtorp">the
3118 source code for the Debian package</a> is available from github.  I
3119 plan to move it into Debian if further testing prove this to be a
3120 useful approach.</p>
3121
3122 <p>If you want to test this, set up a blank Debian machine without any
3123 mail system installed (or run <tt>apt-get purge exim4-config</tt> to
3124 get rid of exim4).  Install tor, clone the git repository mentioned
3125 above, build the deb and install it on the machine.  Next, run
3126 <tt>/usr/lib/exim4-smtorp/setup-exim-hidden-service</tt> and follow
3127 the instructions to get the service up and running.  Restart tor and
3128 exim when it is done, and test mail delivery using swaks like
3129 this:</p>
3130
3131 <p><blockquote><pre>
3132 torsocks swaks --server dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion \
3133   --to fbx@dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion
3134 </pre></blockquote></p>
3135
3136 <p>This will test the SMTP delivery using tor.  Replace the email
3137 address with your own address to test your server. :)</p>
3138
3139 <p>The setup procedure is still to complex, and I hope it can be made
3140 easier and more automatic.  Especially the tor setup need more work.
3141 Also, the package include a tor-smtp tool written in C, but its task
3142 should probably be rewritten in some script language to make the deb
3143 architecture independent.  It would probably also make the code easier
3144 to review.  The tor-smtp tool currently need to listen on a socket for
3145 exim to talk to it and is started using xinetd.  It would be better if
3146 no daemon and no socket is needed.  I suspect it is possible to get
3147 exim to run a command line tool for delivery instead of talking to a
3148 socket, and hope to figure out how in a future version of this
3149 system.</p>
3150
3151 <p>Until I wipe my test machine, I can be reached using the
3152 <tt>fbx@dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion</tt> mail address, deliverable over
3153 SMTorP. :)</p>
3154
3155       </div>
3156       <div class="tags">
3157
3158
3159         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freedombox">freedombox</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
3160
3161
3162       </div>
3163     </div>
3164     <div class="padding"></div>
3165
3166     <div class="entry">
3167       <div class="title">
3168         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Jessie_based_Debian_Edu_released__alpha0_.html">First Jessie based Debian Edu released (alpha0)</a>
3169       </div>
3170       <div class="date">
3171         27th October 2014
3172       </div>
3173       <div class="body">
3174         <p>I am happy to report that I on behalf of the Debian Edu team just
3175 sent out
3176 <a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2014/10/msg00000.html">this
3177 announcement</a>:</p>
3178
3179 <pre>
3180 The Debian Edu Team is pleased to announce the release of Debian Edu
3181 Jessie 8.0+edu0~alpha0
3182
3183 Debian Edu is a complete operating system for schools. Through its
3184 various installation profiles you can install servers, workstations
3185 and laptops which will work together on the school network. With
3186 Debian Edu, the teachers themselves or their technical support can
3187 roll out a complete multi-user multi-machine study environment within
3188 hours or a few days. Debian Edu comes with hundreds of applications
3189 pre-installed, but you can always add more packages from Debian.
3190
3191 For those who want to give Debian Edu Jessie a try, download and
3192 installation instructions are available, including detailed
3193 instructions in the manual[1] explaining the first steps, such as
3194 setting up a network or adding users. Please note that the password
3195 for the user your prompted for during installation must have a length
3196 of at least 5 characters!
3197
3198  [1] &lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie">https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie</a> &gt;
3199
3200 Would you like to give your school's computer a longer life? Are you
3201 tired of sneaker administration, running from computer to computer
3202 reinstalling the operating system? Would you like to administrate all
3203 the computers in your school using only a couple of hours every week?
3204 Check out Debian Edu Jessie!
3205
3206 Skolelinux is used by at least two hundred schools all over the world,
3207 mostly in Germany and Norway.
3208
3209 About Debian Edu and Skolelinux
3210 ===============================
3211
3212 Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux[2], is a Linux distribution based
3213 on Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely
3214 configured school network. Immediately after installation a school
3215 server running all services needed for a school network is set up just
3216 waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable
3217 Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after
3218 initial installation of the main server from CD or USB stick all other
3219 machines can be installed via the network.  The provided school server
3220 provides LDAP database and Kerberos authentication service,
3221 centralized home directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other
3222 services.  The desktop contains more than 60 educational software
3223 packages[3] and more are available from the Debian archive, and
3224 schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE, Xfce and MATE desktop
3225 environment.
3226
3227  [2] &lt;URL: <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">http://www.skolelinux.org/</a> &gt;
3228  [3] &lt;URL: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html</a> &gt;
3229
3230 Full release notes and manual
3231 =============================
3232
3233 Below the download URLs there is a list of some of the new features
3234 and bugfixes of Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie. The full
3235 list is part of the manual. (See the feature list in the manual[4] for
3236 the English version.) For some languages manual translations are
3237 available, see the manual translation overview[5].
3238
3239  [4] &lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/Features">https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/Features</a> &gt;
3240  [5] &lt;URL: <a href="http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/">http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/</a> &gt;
3241
3242 Where to get it
3243 ---------------
3244
3245 To download the multiarch netinstall CD release (624 MiB) you can use
3246
3247  * <a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso</a>
3248  * <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso</a>
3249  * rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso .
3250
3251 The SHA1SUM of this image is: 361188818e036ce67280a572f757de82ebfeb095
3252
3253 New features for Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie released 2014-10-27
3254 ===============================================================================
3255
3256
3257 Installation changes
3258 --------------------
3259
3260  * PXE installation now installs firmware automatically for the hardware present.
3261
3262 Software updates
3263 ----------------
3264
3265 Everything which is new in Debian Jessie 8.0, eg:
3266
3267  * Linux kernel 3.16.x
3268  * Desktop environments KDE "Plasma" 4.11.12, GNOME 3.14, Xfce 4.10,
3269    LXDE 0.5.6 and MATE 1.8 (KDE "Plasma" is installed by default; to
3270    choose one of the others see manual.)
3271  * the browsers Iceweasel 31 ESR and Chromium 38
3272  * !LibreOffice 4.3.3
3273  * GOsa 2.7.4
3274  * LTSP 5.5.4
3275  * CUPS print system 1.7.5
3276  * new boot framework: systemd
3277  * Educational toolbox GCompris 14.07
3278  * Music creator Rosegarden 14.02
3279  * Image editor Gimp 2.8.14
3280  * Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.13.0
3281  * golearn 0.9
3282  * tuxpaint 0.9.22
3283  * New version of debian-installer from Debian Jessie.
3284  * Debian Jessie includes about 42000 packages available for
3285    installation.
3286  * More information about Debian Jessie 8.0 is provided in the release
3287    notes[6] and the installation manual[7].
3288
3289  [6] &lt;URL: <a href="http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes">http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes</a> &gt;
3290  [7] &lt;URL: <a href="http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual">http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual</a> &gt;
3291
3292 Fixed bugs
3293 ----------
3294
3295  * Inserting incorrect DNS information in Gosa will no longer break
3296    DNS completely, but instead stop DNS updates until the incorrect
3297    information is corrected (Debian bug #710362)
3298  * and many others.
3299
3300 Documentation and translation updates
3301 -------------------------------------
3302
3303  * The Debian Edu Jessie Manual is fully translated to German, French,
3304    Italian, Danish and Dutch. Partly translated versions exist for
3305    Norwegian Bokmal and Spanish.
3306
3307 Other changes
3308 -------------
3309
3310  * Due to new Squid settings, powering off or rebooting the main
3311    server takes more time.
3312  * To manage printers localhost:631 has to be used, currently www:631
3313    doesn't work.
3314
3315 Regressions / known problems
3316 ----------------------------
3317
3318  * Installing LTSP chroot fails with a bug related to eatmydata about
3319    exim4-config failing to run its postinst (see Debian bug #765694
3320    and Debian bug #762103).
3321  * Munin collection is not properly configured on clients (Debian bug
3322    #764594).  The fix is available in a newer version of munin-node.
3323  * PXE setup for Main Server and Thin Client Server setup does not
3324    work when installing on a machine without direct Internet access.
3325    Will be fixed when Debian bug #766960 is fixed in Jessie.
3326
3327 See the status page[8] for the complete list.
3328
3329  [8] &lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie">https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie</a> &gt;
3330
3331 How to report bugs
3332 ------------------
3333
3334 &lt;URL: <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a> &gt;
3335
3336 About Debian
3337 ============
3338
3339 The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly
3340 free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of
3341 the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of
3342 volunteers from all over the world work together to create and
3343 maintain Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a
3344 huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the universal
3345 operating system.
3346
3347 Contact Information
3348 For further information, please visit the Debian web pages[9] or send
3349 mail to press@debian.org.
3350
3351  [9] &lt;URL: <a href="http://www.debian.org/">http://www.debian.org/</a> &gt;
3352 </pre>
3353
3354       </div>
3355       <div class="tags">
3356
3357
3358         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
3359
3360
3361       </div>
3362     </div>
3363     <div class="padding"></div>
3364
3365     <div class="entry">
3366       <div class="title">
3367         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_spent_last_weekend_recording_MakerCon_Nordic.html">I spent last weekend recording MakerCon Nordic</a>
3368       </div>
3369       <div class="date">
3370         23rd October 2014
3371       </div>
3372       <div class="body">
3373         <p>I spent last weekend at <a href="http://www.makercon.no/">Makercon
3374 Nordic</a>, a great conference and workshop for makers in Norway and
3375 the surrounding countries.  I had volunteered on behalf of the
3376 Norwegian Unix Users Group (NUUG) to video record the talks, and we
3377 had a great and exhausting time recording the entire day, two days in
3378 a row.  There were only two of us, Hans-Petter and me, and we used the
3379 regular video equipment for NUUG, with a
3380 <a href="http://dvswitch.alioth.debian.org/wiki/">dvswitch</a>, a
3381 camera and a VGA to DV convert box, and mixed video and slides
3382 live.</p>
3383
3384 <p>Hans-Petter did the post-processing, consisting of uploading the
3385 around 180 GiB of raw video to Youtube, and the result is
3386 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MakerConNordic/">now becoming
3387 public</a> on the MakerConNordic account.  The videos have the license
3388 NUUG always use on our recordings, which is
3389 <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/no/">Creative
3390 Commons Navngivelse-Del på samme vilkår 3.0 Norge</a>.  Many great
3391 talks available.  Check it out! :)</p>
3392
3393       </div>
3394       <div class="tags">
3395
3396
3397         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
3398
3399
3400       </div>
3401     </div>
3402     <div class="padding"></div>
3403
3404     <div class="entry">
3405       <div class="title">
3406         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/listadmin__the_quick_way_to_moderate_mailman_lists___nice_free_software.html">listadmin, the quick way to moderate mailman lists - nice free software</a>
3407       </div>
3408       <div class="date">
3409         22nd October 2014
3410       </div>
3411       <div class="body">
3412         <p>If you ever had to moderate a mailman list, like the ones on
3413 alioth.debian.org, you know the web interface is fairly slow to
3414 operate.  First you visit one web page, enter the moderation password
3415 and get a new page shown with a list of all the messages to moderate
3416 and various options for each email address.  This take a while for
3417 every list you moderate, and you need to do it regularly to do a good
3418 job as a list moderator.  But there is a quick alternative,
3419 <a href="http://heim.ifi.uio.no/kjetilho/hacks/#listadmin">the
3420 listadmin program</a>.  It allow you to check lists for new messages
3421 to moderate in a fraction of a second.  Here is a test run on two
3422 lists I recently took over:</p>
3423
3424 <p><blockquote><pre>
3425 % time listadmin xiph
3426 fetching data for pkg-xiph-commits@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue
3427 fetching data for pkg-xiph-maint@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue
3428
3429 real    0m1.709s
3430 user    0m0.232s
3431 sys     0m0.012s
3432 %
3433 </pre></blockquote></p>
3434
3435 <p>In 1.7 seconds I had checked two mailing lists and confirmed that
3436 there are no message in the moderation queue.  Every morning I
3437 currently moderate 68 mailman lists, and it normally take around two
3438 minutes.  When I took over the two pkg-xiph lists above a few days
3439 ago, there were 400 emails waiting in the moderator queue.  It took me
3440 less than 15 minutes to process them all using the listadmin
3441 program.</p>
3442
3443 <p>If you install
3444 <a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/listadmin">the listadmin
3445 package</a> from Debian and create a file <tt>~/.listadmin.ini</tt>
3446 with content like this, the moderation task is a breeze:</p>
3447
3448 <p><blockquote><pre>
3449 username username@example.org
3450 spamlevel 23
3451 default discard
3452 discard_if_reason "Posting restricted to members only. Remove us from your mail list."
3453
3454 password secret
3455 adminurl https://{domain}/mailman/admindb/{list}
3456 mailman-list@lists.example.com
3457
3458 password hidden
3459 other-list@otherserver.example.org
3460 </pre></blockquote></p>
3461
3462 <p>There are other options to set as well.  Check the manual page to
3463 learn the details.</p>
3464
3465 <p>If you are forced to moderate lists on a mailman installation where
3466 the SSL certificate is self signed or not properly signed by a
3467 generally accepted signing authority, you can set a environment
3468 variable when calling listadmin to disable SSL verification:</p>
3469
3470 <p><blockquote><pre>
3471 PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 listadmin
3472 </pre></blockquote></p>
3473
3474 <p>If you want to moderate a subset of the lists you take care of, you
3475 can provide an argument to the listadmin script like I do in the
3476 initial screen dump (the xiph argument).  Using an argument, only
3477 lists matching the argument string will be processed.  This make it
3478 quick to accept messages if you notice the moderation request in your
3479 email.</p>
3480
3481 <p>Without the listadmin program, I would never be the moderator of 68
3482 mailing lists, as I simply do not have time to spend on that if the
3483 process was any slower. The listadmin program have saved me hours of
3484 time I could spend elsewhere over the years.  It truly is nice free
3485 software.</p>
3486
3487 <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my
3488 activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
3489 <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
3490
3491 <p>Update 2014-10-27: Added missing 'username' statement in
3492 configuration example.  Also, I've been told that the
3493 PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 setting do not work for everyone.  Not
3494 sure why.</p>
3495
3496       </div>
3497       <div class="tags">
3498
3499
3500         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nice free software">nice free software</a>.
3501
3502
3503       </div>
3504     </div>
3505     <div class="padding"></div>
3506
3507     <div class="entry">
3508       <div class="title">
3509         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Jessie__PXE_and_automatic_firmware_installation.html">Debian Jessie, PXE and automatic firmware installation</a>
3510       </div>
3511       <div class="date">
3512         17th October 2014
3513       </div>
3514       <div class="body">
3515         <p>When PXE installing laptops with Debian, I often run into the
3516 problem that the WiFi card require some firmware to work properly.
3517 And it has been a pain to fix this using preseeding in Debian.
3518 Normally something more is needed.  But thanks to
3519 <a href="https://packages.qa.debian.org/i/isenkram.html">my isenkram
3520 package</a> and its recent tasksel extension, it has now become easy
3521 to do this using simple preseeding.</p>
3522
3523 <p>The isenkram-cli package provide tasksel tasks which will install
3524 firmware for the hardware found in the machine (actually, requested by
3525 the kernel modules for the hardware).  (It can also install user space
3526 programs supporting the hardware detected, but that is not the focus
3527 of this story.)</p>
3528
3529 <p>To get this working in the default installation, two preeseding
3530 values are needed.  First, the isenkram-cli package must be installed
3531 into the target chroot (aka the hard drive) before tasksel is executed
3532 in the pkgsel step of the debian-installer system.  This is done by
3533 preseeding the base-installer/includes debconf value to include the
3534 isenkram-cli package.  The package name is next passed to debootstrap
3535 for installation.  With the isenkram-cli package in place, tasksel
3536 will automatically use the isenkram tasks to detect hardware specific
3537 packages for the machine being installed and install them, because
3538 isenkram-cli contain tasksel tasks.</p>
3539
3540 <p>Second, one need to enable the non-free APT repository, because
3541 most firmware unfortunately is non-free.  This is done by preseeding
3542 the apt-mirror-setup step.  This is unfortunate, but for a lot of
3543 hardware it is the only option in Debian.</p>
3544
3545 <p>The end result is two lines needed in your preseeding file to get
3546 firmware installed automatically by the installer:</p>
3547
3548 <p><blockquote><pre>
3549 base-installer base-installer/includes string isenkram-cli
3550 apt-mirror-setup apt-setup/non-free boolean true
3551 </pre></blockquote></p>
3552
3553 <p>The current version of isenkram-cli in testing/jessie will install
3554 both firmware and user space packages when using this method.  It also
3555 do not work well, so use version 0.15 or later.  Installing both
3556 firmware and user space packages might give you a bit more than you
3557 want, so I decided to split the tasksel task in two, one for firmware
3558 and one for user space programs.  The firmware task is enabled by
3559 default, while the one for user space programs is not.  This split is
3560 implemented in the package currently in unstable.</p>
3561
3562 <p>If you decide to give this a go, please let me know (via email) how
3563 this recipe work for you. :)</p>
3564
3565 <p>So, I bet you are wondering, how can this work.  First and
3566 foremost, it work because tasksel is modular, and driven by whatever
3567 files it find in /usr/lib/tasksel/ and /usr/share/tasksel/.  So the
3568 isenkram-cli package place two files for tasksel to find.  First there
3569 is the task description file (/usr/share/tasksel/descs/isenkram.desc):</p>
3570
3571 <p><blockquote><pre>
3572 Task: isenkram-packages
3573 Section: hardware
3574 Description: Hardware specific packages (autodetected by isenkram)
3575  Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific packages are
3576  proposed.
3577 Test-new-install: show show
3578 Relevance: 8
3579 Packages: for-current-hardware
3580
3581 Task: isenkram-firmware
3582 Section: hardware
3583 Description: Hardware specific firmware packages (autodetected by isenkram)
3584  Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific firmware
3585  packages are proposed.
3586 Test-new-install: mark show
3587 Relevance: 8
3588 Packages: for-current-hardware-firmware
3589 </pre></blockquote></p>
3590
3591 <p>The key parts are Test-new-install which indicate how the task
3592 should be handled and the Packages line referencing to a script in
3593 /usr/lib/tasksel/packages/.  The scripts use other scripts to get a
3594 list of packages to install.  The for-current-hardware-firmware script
3595 look like this to list relevant firmware for the machine:
3596
3597 <p><blockquote><pre>
3598 #!/bin/sh
3599 #
3600 PATH=/usr/sbin:$PATH
3601 export PATH
3602 isenkram-autoinstall-firmware -l
3603 </pre></blockquote></p>
3604
3605 <p>With those two pieces in place, the firmware is installed by
3606 tasksel during the normal d-i run. :)</p>
3607
3608 <p>If you want to test what tasksel will install when isenkram-cli is
3609 installed, run <tt>DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical tasksel --test
3610 --new-install</tt> to get the list of packages that tasksel would
3611 install.</p>
3612
3613 <p><a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/">Debian Edu</a> will be
3614 pilots in testing this feature, as isenkram is used there now to
3615 install firmware, replacing the earlier scripts.</p>
3616
3617       </div>
3618       <div class="tags">
3619
3620
3621         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sysadmin">sysadmin</a>.
3622
3623
3624       </div>
3625     </div>
3626     <div class="padding"></div>
3627
3628     <div class="entry">
3629       <div class="title">
3630         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Ubuntu_used_to_show_the_bread_prizes_at_ICA_Storo.html">Ubuntu used to show the bread prizes at ICA Storo</a>
3631       </div>
3632       <div class="date">
3633          4th October 2014
3634       </div>
3635       <div class="body">
3636         <p>Today I came across an unexpected Ubuntu boot screen.  Above the
3637 bread shelf on the ICA shop at Storo in Oslo, the grub menu of Ubuntu
3638 with Linux kernel 3.2.0-23 (ie probably version 12.04 LTS) was stuck
3639 on a screen normally showing the bread types and prizes:</p>
3640
3641 <p align="center"><img width="70%" src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2014-10-04-ubuntu-ica-storo-crop.jpeg"></p>
3642
3643 <p>If it had booted as it was supposed to, I would never had known
3644 about this hidden Linux installation.  It is interesting what
3645 <a href="http://revealingerrors.com/">errors can reveal</a>.</p>
3646
3647       </div>
3648       <div class="tags">
3649
3650
3651         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
3652
3653
3654       </div>
3655     </div>
3656     <div class="padding"></div>
3657
3658     <div class="entry">
3659       <div class="title">
3660         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_lsdvd_release_version_0_17_is_ready.html">New lsdvd release version 0.17 is ready</a>
3661       </div>
3662       <div class="date">
3663          4th October 2014
3664       </div>
3665       <div class="body">
3666         <p>The <a href="https://sourceforge.net/p/lsdvd/">lsdvd project</a>
3667 got a new set of developers a few weeks ago, after the original
3668 developer decided to step down and pass the project to fresh blood.
3669 This project is now maintained by Petter Reinholdtsen and Steve
3670 Dibb.</p>
3671
3672 <p>I just wrapped up
3673 <a href="https://sourceforge.net/p/lsdvd/mailman/message/32896061/">a
3674 new lsdvd release</a>, available in git or from
3675 <a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/lsdvd/files/lsdvd/">the
3676 download page</a>.  This is the changelog dated 2014-10-03 for version
3677 0.17.</p>
3678
3679 <ul>
3680
3681  <li>Ignore 'phantom' audio, subtitle tracks</li>
3682  <li>Check for garbage in the program chains, which indicate that a track is
3683    non-existant, to work around additional copy protection</li>
3684  <li>Fix displaying content type for audio tracks, subtitles</li>
3685  <li>Fix pallete display of first entry</li>
3686  <li>Fix include orders</li>
3687  <li>Ignore read errors in titles that would not be displayed anyway</li>
3688  <li>Fix the chapter count</li>
3689  <li>Make sure the array size and the array limit used when initialising
3690    the palette size is the same.</li>
3691  <li>Fix array printing.</li>
3692  <li>Correct subsecond calculations.</li>
3693  <li>Add sector information to the output format.</li>
3694  <li>Clean up code to be closer to ANSI C and compile without warnings
3695    with more GCC compiler warnings.</li>
3696
3697 </ul>
3698
3699 <p>This change bring together patches for lsdvd in use in various
3700 Linux and Unix distributions, as well as patches submitted to the
3701 project the last nine years.  Please check it out. :)</p>
3702
3703       </div>
3704       <div class="tags">
3705
3706
3707         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lsdvd">lsdvd</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>.
3708
3709
3710       </div>
3711     </div>
3712     <div class="padding"></div>
3713
3714     <div class="entry">
3715       <div class="title">
3716         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_test_Debian_Edu_Jessie_despite_some_fatal_problems_with_the_installer.html">How to test Debian Edu Jessie despite some fatal problems with the installer</a>
3717       </div>
3718       <div class="date">
3719         26th September 2014
3720       </div>
3721       <div class="body">
3722         <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux
3723 project</a> provide a Linux solution for schools, including a
3724 powerful desktop with education software, a central server providing
3725 web pages, user database, user home directories, central login and PXE
3726 boot of both  clients without disk and the installation to install Debian
3727 Edu on machines with disk (and a few other services perhaps to small
3728 to mention here).  We in the Debian Edu team are currently working on
3729 the Jessie based version, trying to get everything in shape before the
3730 freeze, to avoid having to maintain our own package repository in the
3731 future.  The
3732 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie">current
3733 status</a> can be seen on the Debian wiki, and there is still heaps of
3734 work left.  Some fatal problems block testing, breaking the installer,
3735 but it is possible to work around these to get anyway.  Here is a
3736 recipe on how to get the installation limping along.</p>
3737
3738 <p>First, download the test ISO via
3739 <a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.no/cd-edu-testing-nolocal-netinst/debian-edu-amd64-i386-NETINST-1.iso">ftp</a>,
3740 <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.no/cd-edu-testing-nolocal-netinst/debian-edu-amd64-i386-NETINST-1.iso">http</a>
3741 or rsync (use
3742 ftp.skolelinux.org::cd-edu-testing-nolocal-netinst/debian-edu-amd64-i386-NETINST-1.iso).
3743 The ISO build was broken on Tuesday, so we do not get a new ISO every
3744 12 hours or so, but thankfully the ISO we already got we are able to
3745 install with some tweaking.</p>
3746
3747 <p>When you get to the Debian Edu profile question, go to tty2
3748 (use Alt-Ctrl-F2), run</p>
3749
3750 <p><blockquote><pre>
3751 nano /usr/bin/edu-eatmydata-install
3752 </pre></blockquote></p>
3753
3754 <p>and add 'exit 0' as the second line, disabling the eatmydata
3755 optimization.  Return to the installation, select the profile you want
3756 and continue.  Without this change, exim4-config will fail to install
3757 due to a known bug in eatmydata.</p>
3758
3759 <p>When you get the grub question at the end, answer /dev/sda (or if
3760 this do not work, figure out what your correct value would be.  All my
3761 test machines need /dev/sda, so I have no advice if it do not fit
3762 your need.</p>
3763
3764 <p>If you installed a profile including a graphical desktop, log in as
3765 root after the initial boot from hard drive, and install the
3766 education-desktop-XXX metapackage.  XXX can be kde, gnome, lxde, xfce
3767 or mate.  If you want several desktop options, install more than one
3768 metapackage.  Once this is done, reboot and you should have a working
3769 graphical login screen.  This workaround should no longer be needed
3770 once the education-tasks package version 1.801 enter testing in two
3771 days.</p>
3772
3773 <p>I believe the ISO build will start working on two days when the new
3774 tasksel package enter testing and Steve McIntyre get a chance to
3775 update the debian-cd git repository.  The eatmydata, grub and desktop
3776 issues are already fixed in unstable and testing, and should show up
3777 on the ISO as soon as the ISO build start working again.  Well the
3778 eatmydata optimization is really just disabled.  The proper fix
3779 require an upload by the eatmydata maintainer applying the patch
3780 provided in bug <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/702711">#702711</a>.
3781 The rest have proper fixes in unstable.</p>
3782
3783 <p>I hope this get you going with the installation testing, as we are
3784 quickly running out of time trying to get our Jessie based
3785 installation ready before the distribution freeze in a month.</p>
3786
3787       </div>
3788       <div class="tags">
3789
3790
3791         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
3792
3793
3794       </div>
3795     </div>
3796     <div class="padding"></div>
3797
3798     <div class="entry">
3799       <div class="title">
3800         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Suddenly_I_am_the_new_upstream_of_the_lsdvd_command_line_tool.html">Suddenly I am the new upstream of the lsdvd command line tool</a>
3801       </div>
3802       <div class="date">
3803         25th September 2014
3804       </div>
3805       <div class="body">
3806         <p>I use the <a href="https://sourceforge.net/p/lsdvd/">lsdvd tool</a>
3807 to handle my fairly large DVD collection.  It is a nice command line
3808 tool to get details about a DVD, like title, tracks, track length,
3809 etc, in XML, Perl or human readable format.  But lsdvd have not seen
3810 any new development since 2006 and had a few irritating bugs affecting
3811 its use with some DVDs.  Upstream seemed to be dead, and in January I
3812 sent a small probe asking for a version control repository for the
3813 project, without any reply.  But I use it regularly and would like to
3814 get <a href="https://packages.qa.debian.org/lsdvd">an updated version
3815 into Debian</a>.  So two weeks ago I tried harder to get in touch with
3816 the project admin, and after getting a reply from him explaining that
3817 he was no longer interested in the project, I asked if I could take
3818 over.  And yesterday, I became project admin.</p>
3819
3820 <p>I've been in touch with a Gentoo developer and the Debian
3821 maintainer interested in joining forces to maintain the upstream
3822 project, and I hope we can get a new release out fairly quickly,
3823 collecting the patches spread around on the internet into on place.
3824 I've added the relevant Debian patches to the freshly created git
3825 repository, and expect the Gentoo patches to make it too.  If you got
3826 a DVD collection and care about command line tools, check out
3827 <a href="https://sourceforge.net/p/lsdvd/git/ci/master/tree/">the git source</a> and join
3828 <a href="https://sourceforge.net/p/lsdvd/mailman/">the project mailing
3829 list</a>. :)</p>
3830
3831       </div>
3832       <div class="tags">
3833
3834
3835         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lsdvd">lsdvd</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>.
3836
3837
3838       </div>
3839     </div>
3840     <div class="padding"></div>
3841
3842     <div class="entry">
3843       <div class="title">
3844         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Speeding_up_the_Debian_installer_using_eatmydata_and_dpkg_divert.html">Speeding up the Debian installer using eatmydata and dpkg-divert</a>
3845       </div>
3846       <div class="date">
3847         16th September 2014
3848       </div>
3849       <div class="body">
3850         <p>The <a href="https://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> installer could be
3851 a lot quicker.  When we install more than 2000 packages in
3852 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux / Debian Edu</a> using
3853 tasksel in the installer, unpacking the binary packages take forever.
3854 A part of the slow I/O issue was discussed in
3855 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/613428">bug #613428</a> about too
3856 much file system sync-ing done by dpkg, which is the package
3857 responsible for unpacking the binary packages.  Other parts (like code
3858 executed by postinst scripts) might also sync to disk during
3859 installation.  All this sync-ing to disk do not really make sense to
3860 me.  If the machine crash half-way through, I start over, I do not try
3861 to salvage the half installed system.  So the failure sync-ing is
3862 supposed to protect against, hardware or system crash, is not really
3863 relevant while the installer is running.</p>
3864
3865 <p>A few days ago, I thought of a way to get rid of all the file
3866 system sync()-ing in a fairly non-intrusive way, without the need to
3867 change the code in several packages.  The idea is not new, but I have
3868 not heard anyone propose the approach using dpkg-divert before.  It
3869 depend on the small and clever package
3870 <a href="https://packages.qa.debian.org/eatmydata">eatmydata</a>, which
3871 uses LD_PRELOAD to replace the system functions for syncing data to
3872 disk with functions doing nothing, thus allowing programs to live
3873 dangerous while speeding up disk I/O significantly.  Instead of
3874 modifying the implementation of dpkg, apt and tasksel (which are the
3875 packages responsible for selecting, fetching and installing packages),
3876 it occurred to me that we could just divert the programs away, replace
3877 them with a simple shell wrapper calling
3878 "eatmydata&nbsp;$program&nbsp;$@", to get the same effect.
3879 Two days ago I decided to test the idea, and wrapped up a simple
3880 implementation for the Debian Edu udeb.</p>
3881
3882 <p>The effect was stunning.  In my first test it reduced the running
3883 time of the pkgsel step (installing tasks) from 64 to less than 44
3884 minutes (20 minutes shaved off the installation) on an old Dell
3885 Latitude D505 machine.  I am not quite sure what the optimised time
3886 would have been, as I messed up the testing a bit, causing the debconf
3887 priority to get low enough for two questions to pop up during
3888 installation.  As soon as I saw the questions I moved the installation
3889 along, but do not know how long the question were holding up the
3890 installation.  I did some more measurements using Debian Edu Jessie,
3891 and got these results.  The time measured is the time stamp in
3892 /var/log/syslog between the "pkgsel: starting tasksel" and the
3893 "pkgsel: finishing up" lines, if you want to do the same measurement
3894 yourself.  In Debian Edu, the tasksel dialog do not show up, and the
3895 timing thus do not depend on how quickly the user handle the tasksel
3896 dialog.</p>
3897
3898 <p><table>
3899
3900 <tr>
3901 <th>Machine/setup</th>
3902 <th>Original tasksel</th>
3903 <th>Optimised tasksel</th>
3904 <th>Reduction</th>
3905 </tr>
3906
3907 <tr>
3908 <td>Latitude D505 Main+LTSP LXDE</td>
3909 <td>64 min (07:46-08:50)</td>
3910 <td><44 min (11:27-12:11)</td>
3911 <td>>20 min 18%</td>
3912 </tr>
3913
3914 <tr>
3915 <td>Latitude D505 Roaming LXDE</td>
3916 <td>57 min (08:48-09:45)</td>
3917 <td>34 min (07:43-08:17)</td>
3918 <td>23 min 40%</td>
3919 </tr>
3920
3921 <tr>
3922 <td>Latitude D505 Minimal</td>
3923 <td>22 min (10:37-10:59)</td>
3924 <td>11 min (11:16-11:27)</td>
3925 <td>11 min 50%</td>
3926 </tr>
3927
3928 <tr>
3929 <td>Thinkpad X200 Minimal</td>
3930 <td>6 min (08:19-08:25)</td>
3931 <td>4 min (08:04-08:08)</td>
3932 <td>2 min 33%</td>
3933 </tr>
3934
3935 <tr>
3936 <td>Thinkpad X200 Roaming KDE</td>
3937 <td>19 min (09:21-09:40)</td>
3938 <td>15 min (10:25-10:40)</td>
3939 <td>4 min 21%</td>
3940 </tr>
3941
3942 </table></p>
3943
3944 <p>The test is done using a netinst ISO on a USB stick, so some of the
3945 time is spent downloading packages.  The connection to the Internet
3946 was 100Mbit/s during testing, so downloading should not be a
3947 significant factor in the measurement.  Download typically took a few
3948 seconds to a few minutes, depending on the amount of packages being
3949 installed.</p>
3950
3951 <p>The speedup is implemented by using two hooks in
3952 <a href="https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/">Debian
3953 Installer</a>, the pre-pkgsel.d hook to set up the diverts, and the
3954 finish-install.d hook to remove the divert at the end of the
3955 installation.  I picked the pre-pkgsel.d hook instead of the
3956 post-base-installer.d hook because I test using an ISO without the
3957 eatmydata package included, and the post-base-installer.d hook in
3958 Debian Edu can only operate on packages included in the ISO.  The
3959 negative effect of this is that I am unable to activate this
3960 optimization for the kernel installation step in d-i.  If the code is
3961 moved to the post-base-installer.d hook, the speedup would be larger
3962 for the entire installation.</p>
3963
3964 <p>I've implemented this in the
3965 <a href="https://packages.qa.debian.org/debian-edu-install">debian-edu-install</a>
3966 git repository, and plan to provide the optimization as part of the
3967 Debian Edu installation.  If you want to test this yourself, you can
3968 create two files in the installer (or in an udeb).  One shell script
3969 need do go into /usr/lib/pre-pkgsel.d/, with content like this:</p>
3970
3971 <p><blockquote><pre>
3972 #!/bin/sh
3973 set -e
3974 . /usr/share/debconf/confmodule
3975 info() {
3976     logger -t my-pkgsel "info: $*"
3977 }
3978 error() {
3979     logger -t my-pkgsel "error: $*"
3980 }
3981 override_install() {
3982     apt-install eatmydata || true
3983     if [ -x /target/usr/bin/eatmydata ] ; then
3984         for bin in dpkg apt-get aptitude tasksel ; do
3985             file=/usr/bin/$bin
3986             # Test that the file exist and have not been diverted already.
3987             if [ -f /target$file ] ; then
3988                 info "diverting $file using eatmydata"
3989                 printf "#!/bin/sh\neatmydata $bin.distrib \"\$@\"\n" \
3990                     > /target$file.edu
3991                 chmod 755 /target$file.edu
3992                 in-target dpkg-divert --package debian-edu-config \
3993                     --rename --quiet --add $file
3994                 ln -sf ./$bin.edu /target$file
3995             else
3996                 error "unable to divert $file, as it is missing."
3997             fi
3998         done
3999     else
4000         error "unable to find /usr/bin/eatmydata after installing the eatmydata pacage"
4001     fi
4002 }
4003
4004 override_install
4005 </pre></blockquote></p>
4006
4007 <p>To clean up, another shell script should go into
4008 /usr/lib/finish-install.d/ with code like this:
4009
4010 <p><blockquote><pre>
4011 #! /bin/sh -e
4012 . /usr/share/debconf/confmodule
4013 error() {
4014     logger -t my-finish-install "error: $@"
4015 }
4016 remove_install_override() {
4017     for bin in dpkg apt-get aptitude tasksel ; do
4018         file=/usr/bin/$bin
4019         if [ -x /target$file.edu ] ; then
4020             rm /target$file
4021             in-target dpkg-divert --package debian-edu-config \
4022                 --rename --quiet --remove $file
4023             rm /target$file.edu
4024         else
4025             error "Missing divert for $file."
4026         fi
4027     done
4028     sync # Flush file buffers before continuing
4029 }
4030
4031 remove_install_override
4032 </pre></blockquote></p>
4033
4034 <p>In Debian Edu, I placed both code fragments in a separate script
4035 edu-eatmydata-install and call it from the pre-pkgsel.d and
4036 finish-install.d scripts.</p>
4037
4038 <p>By now you might ask if this change should get into the normal
4039 Debian installer too?  I suspect it should, but am not sure the
4040 current debian-installer coordinators find it useful enough.  It also
4041 depend on the side effects of the change.  I'm not aware of any, but I
4042 guess we will see if the change is safe after some more testing.
4043 Perhaps there is some package in Debian depending on sync() and
4044 fsync() having effect?  Perhaps it should go into its own udeb, to
4045 allow those of us wanting to enable it to do so without affecting
4046 everyone.</p>
4047
4048 <p>Update 2014-09-24: Since a few days ago, enabling this optimization
4049 will break installation of all programs using gnutls because of
4050 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/702711">bug #702711</a>.  An updated
4051 eatmydata package in Debian will solve it.</p>
4052
4053 <p>Update 2014-10-17: The bug mentioned above is fixed in testing and
4054 the optimization work again.  And I have discovered that the
4055 dpkg-divert trick is not really needed and implemented a slightly
4056 simpler approach as part of the debian-edu-install package.  See
4057 tools/edu-eatmydata-install in the source package.</p>
4058
4059 <p>Update 2014-11-11: Unfortunately, a new
4060 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/765738">bug #765738</a> in eatmydata only
4061 triggering on i386 made it into testing, and broke this installation
4062 optimization again.  If <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/768893">unblock
4063 request 768893</a> is accepted, it should be working again.</p>
4064
4065       </div>
4066       <div class="tags">
4067
4068
4069         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
4070
4071
4072       </div>
4073     </div>
4074     <div class="padding"></div>
4075
4076     <div class="entry">
4077       <div class="title">
4078         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Good_bye_subkeys_pgp_net__welcome_pool_sks_keyservers_net.html">Good bye subkeys.pgp.net, welcome pool.sks-keyservers.net</a>
4079       </div>
4080       <div class="date">
4081         10th September 2014
4082       </div>
4083       <div class="body">
4084         <p>Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a talk with the
4085 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group</a> about
4086 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20140909-sks-keyservers/">the
4087 OpenPGP keyserver pool sks-keyservers.net</a>, and was very happy to
4088 learn that there is a large set of publicly available key servers to
4089 use when looking for peoples public key.  So far I have used
4090 subkeys.pgp.net, and some times wwwkeys.nl.pgp.net when the former
4091 were misbehaving, but those days are ended.  The servers I have used
4092 up until yesterday have been slow and some times unavailable.  I hope
4093 those problems are gone now.</p>
4094
4095 <p>Behind the round robin DNS entry of the
4096 <a href="https://sks-keyservers.net/">sks-keyservers.net</a> service
4097 there is a pool of more than 100 keyservers which are checked every
4098 day to ensure they are well connected and up to date.  It must be
4099 better than what I have used so far. :)</p>
4100
4101 <p>Yesterdays speaker told me that the service is the default
4102 keyserver provided by the default configuration in GnuPG, but this do
4103 not seem to be used in Debian.  Perhaps it should?</p>
4104
4105 <p>Anyway, I've updated my ~/.gnupg/options file to now include this
4106 line:</p>
4107
4108 <p><blockquote><pre>
4109 keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net
4110 </pre></blockquote></p>
4111
4112 <p>With GnuPG version 2 one can also locate the keyserver using SRV
4113 entries in DNS.  Just for fun, I did just that at work, so now every
4114 user of GnuPG at the University of Oslo should find a OpenGPG
4115 keyserver automatically should their need it:</p>
4116
4117 <p><blockquote><pre>
4118 % host -t srv _pgpkey-http._tcp.uio.no
4119 _pgpkey-http._tcp.uio.no has SRV record 0 100 11371 pool.sks-keyservers.net.
4120 %
4121 </pre></blockquote></p>
4122
4123 <p>Now if only
4124 <a href="http://ietfreport.isoc.org/idref/draft-shaw-openpgp-hkp/">the
4125 HKP lookup protocol</a> supported finding signature paths, I would be
4126 very happy.  It can look up a given key or search for a user ID, but I
4127 normally do not want that, but to find a trust path from my key to
4128 another key.  Given a user ID or key ID, I would like to find (and
4129 download) the keys representing a signature path from my key to the
4130 key in question, to be able to get a trust path between the two keys.
4131 This is as far as I can tell not possible today.  Perhaps something
4132 for a future version of the protocol?</p>
4133
4134       </div>
4135       <div class="tags">
4136
4137
4138         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
4139
4140
4141       </div>
4142     </div>
4143     <div class="padding"></div>
4144
4145     <div class="entry">
4146       <div class="title">
4147         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Do_you_need_an_agreement_with_MPEG_LA_to_publish_and_broadcast_H_264_video_in_Norway_.html">Do you need an agreement with MPEG-LA to publish and broadcast H.264 video in Norway?</a>
4148       </div>
4149       <div class="date">
4150         25th August 2014
4151       </div>
4152       <div class="body">
4153         <p>Two years later, I am still not sure if it is legal here in Norway
4154 to use or publish a video in H.264 or MPEG4 format edited by the
4155 commercially licensed video editors, without limiting the use to
4156 create "personal" or "non-commercial" videos or get a license
4157 agreement with <a href="http://www.mpegla.com">MPEG LA</a>.  If one
4158 want to publish and broadcast video in a non-personal or commercial
4159 setting, it might be that those tools can not be used, or that video
4160 format can not be used, without breaking their copyright license.  I
4161 am not sure.
4162 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Trenger_en_avtale_med_MPEG_LA_for___publisere_og_kringkaste_H_264_video_.html">Back
4163 then</a>, I found that the copyright license terms for Adobe Premiere
4164 and Apple Final Cut Pro both specified that one could not use the
4165 program to produce anything else without a patent license from MPEG
4166 LA.  The issue is not limited to those two products, though.  Other
4167 much used products like those from Avid and Sorenson Media have terms
4168 of use are similar to those from Adobe and Apple.  The complicating
4169 factor making me unsure if those terms have effect in Norway or not is
4170 that the patents in question are not valid in Norway, but copyright
4171 licenses are.</p>
4172
4173 <p>These are the terms for Avid Artist Suite, according to their
4174 <a href="http://www.avid.com/US/about-avid/legal-notices/legal-enduserlicense2">published
4175 end user</a>
4176 <a href="http://www.avid.com/static/resources/common/documents/corporate/LICENSE.pdf">license
4177 text</a> (converted to lower case text for easier reading):</p>
4178
4179 <p><blockquote>
4180 <p>18.2. MPEG-4. MPEG-4 technology may be included with the
4181 software. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice: </p>
4182
4183 <p>This product is licensed under the MPEG-4 visual patent portfolio
4184 license for the personal and non-commercial use of a consumer for (i)
4185 encoding video in compliance with the MPEG-4 visual standard (“MPEG-4
4186 video”) and/or (ii) decoding MPEG-4 video that was encoded by a
4187 consumer engaged in a personal and non-commercial activity and/or was
4188 obtained from a video provider licensed by MPEG LA to provide MPEG-4
4189 video.  No license is granted or shall be implied for any other
4190 use. Additional information including that relating to promotional,
4191 internal and commercial uses and licensing may be obtained from MPEG
4192 LA, LLC.  See http://www.mpegla.com. This product is licensed under
4193 the MPEG-4 systems patent portfolio license for encoding in compliance
4194 with the MPEG-4 systems standard, except that an additional license
4195 and payment of royalties are necessary for encoding in connection with
4196 (i) data stored or replicated in physical media which is paid for on a
4197 title by title basis and/or (ii) data which is paid for on a title by
4198 title basis and is transmitted to an end user for permanent storage
4199 and/or use, such additional license may be obtained from MPEG LA,
4200 LLC. See http://www.mpegla.com for additional details.</p>
4201
4202 <p>18.3. H.264/AVC. H.264/AVC technology may be included with the
4203 software.  MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice:</p>
4204
4205 <p>This product is licensed under the AVC patent portfolio license for
4206 the personal use of a consumer or other uses in which it does not
4207 receive remuneration to (i) encode video in compliance with the AVC
4208 standard (“AVC video”) and/or (ii) decode AVC video that was encoded
4209 by a consumer engaged in a personal activity and/or was obtained from
4210 a video provider licensed to provide AVC video. No license is granted
4211 or shall be implied for any other use. Additional information may be
4212 obtained from MPEG LA, L.L.C. See http://www.mpegla.com.</p>
4213 </blockquote></p>
4214
4215 <p>Note the requirement that the videos created can only be used for
4216 personal or non-commercial purposes.</p>
4217
4218 <p>The Sorenson Media software have
4219 <a href="http://www.sorensonmedia.com/terms/">similar terms</a>:</p>
4220
4221 <p><blockquote>
4222
4223 <p>With respect to a license from Sorenson pertaining to MPEG-4 Video
4224 Decoders and/or Encoders: Any such product is licensed under the
4225 MPEG-4 visual patent portfolio license for the personal and
4226 non-commercial use of a consumer for (i) encoding video in compliance
4227 with the MPEG-4 visual standard (“MPEG-4 video”) and/or (ii) decoding
4228 MPEG-4 video that was encoded by a consumer engaged in a personal and
4229 non-commercial activity and/or was obtained from a video provider
4230 licensed by MPEG LA to provide MPEG-4 video. No license is granted or
4231 shall be implied for any other use. Additional information including
4232 that relating to promotional, internal and commercial uses and
4233 licensing may be obtained from MPEG LA, LLC. See
4234 http://www.mpegla.com.</p>
4235
4236 <p>With respect to a license from Sorenson pertaining to MPEG-4
4237 Consumer Recorded Data Encoder, MPEG-4 Systems Internet Data Encoder,
4238 MPEG-4 Mobile Data Encoder, and/or MPEG-4 Unique Use Encoder: Any such
4239 product is licensed under the MPEG-4 systems patent portfolio license
4240 for encoding in compliance with the MPEG-4 systems standard, except
4241 that an additional license and payment of royalties are necessary for
4242 encoding in connection with (i) data stored or replicated in physical
4243 media which is paid for on a title by title basis and/or (ii) data
4244 which is paid for on a title by title basis and is transmitted to an
4245 end user for permanent storage and/or use. Such additional license may
4246 be obtained from MPEG LA, LLC. See http://www.mpegla.com for
4247 additional details.</p>
4248
4249 </blockquote></p>
4250
4251 <p>Some free software like
4252 <a href="https://handbrake.fr/">Handbrake</A> and
4253 <a href="http://ffmpeg.org/">FFMPEG</a> uses GPL/LGPL licenses and do
4254 not have any such terms included, so for those, there is no
4255 requirement to limit the use to personal and non-commercial.</p>
4256
4257       </div>
4258       <div class="tags">
4259
4260
4261         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
4262
4263
4264       </div>
4265     </div>
4266     <div class="padding"></div>
4267
4268     <div class="entry">
4269       <div class="title">
4270         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Bernd_Zeitzen.html">Debian Edu interview: Bernd Zeitzen</a>
4271       </div>
4272       <div class="date">
4273         31st July 2014
4274       </div>
4275       <div class="body">
4276         <p>The complete and free “out of the box” software solution for
4277 schools, <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
4278 Skolelinux</a>, is used quite a lot in Germany, and one of the people
4279 involved is Bernd Zeitzen, who show up on the project mailing lists
4280 from time to time with interesting questions and tips on how to adjust
4281 the setup.  I managed to interview him this summer.</p>
4282
4283 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
4284
4285 <p>My name is Bernd Zeitzen and I'm married with Hedda, a self
4286 employed physiotherapist.  My former profession is tool maker, but I
4287 haven't worked for 30 years in this job.  30 years ago I started to
4288 support my wife and become her officeworker and a few years later the
4289 administrator for a small computer network, today based on Ubuntu
4290 Server (Samba, OpenVPN). For her daily work she has to use Windows
4291 Desktops because the software she needs to organize her business only
4292 works with Windows . :-(</p>
4293
4294 <p>In 1988 we started with one PC and DOS, then I learned to use
4295 Windows 98, 2000, XP, …, 8, Ubuntu, MacOSX.  Today we are running a
4296 Linux server with 6 Windows clients and 10 persons (teacher of
4297 children with special needs, speech therapist, occupational therapist,
4298 psychologist and officeworkers) using our Samba shares via OpenVPN to
4299 work with the documentations of our patients.</p>
4300
4301 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
4302 project?</strong></p>
4303
4304 <p>Two years ago a friend of mine asked me, if I want to get a job in
4305 his school (<a href="http://www.gymnasium-harsewinkel.de/">Gymnasium
4306 Harsewinkel</a>).  They started with Skolelinux / Debian Edu and they
4307 were looking for people to give support to the teachers using the
4308 software and the network and teaching the pupils increasing their
4309 computer skills in optional lessons.  I'm spending 4-6 hours a week
4310 with this job.</p>
4311
4312 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian
4313 Edu?</strong></p>
4314
4315 <p>The independence.</p>
4316
4317 <p>First: Every person is allowed to use, share and develop the
4318 software. Even if you are poor, you are allowed to use the software
4319 included in Skolelinux/Debian Edu and all the other Free Software.</p>
4320
4321 <p>Second: The software runs on old machines and this gives us the
4322 possibility to recycle computers, weeded out from offices.  The
4323 servers and desktops are running for more than two years and they are
4324 working reliable. </p>
4325
4326 <p>We have two servers (one tjener and one terminal server), 45
4327 workstations in three classrooms and seven laptops as a mobile
4328 solution for all classrooms.  These machines are all booting from the
4329 terminal server.  In the moment we are installing 30 laptops as mobile
4330 workstations.  Then the pupils have the possibility to work with these
4331 machines in their classrooms.  Internet access is realized by a WLAN
4332 router, connected to the schools network. This is all done without a
4333 dedicated system administrator or a computer science teacher.</p>
4334
4335 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
4336 Edu?</strong></p>
4337
4338 <p>Teachers and pupils are Windows users.  &lt;Irony on&gt; And Linux
4339 isn't cool. It's software for freaks using the command line. &lt;Irony
4340 off&gt; They don't realize the stability of the system. </p>
4341
4342 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
4343
4344 <p>Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, Ubuntu Server 12.04 (Samba,
4345 Apache, MySQL, Joomla!, … and Skolelinux / Debian Edu)</p>
4346
4347 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
4348 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
4349
4350 <p>In Germany we have the situation: every school is free to decide
4351 which software they want to use. This decision is influenced by
4352 teachers who learned to use Windows and MS Office. They buy a PC with
4353 Windows preinstalled and an additional testing version of MS
4354 Office. They don't know about the possibility to use Free Software
4355 instead.  Another problem are the publisher of school books.  They
4356 develop their software, added to the school books, for Windows.</p>
4357
4358       </div>
4359       <div class="tags">
4360
4361
4362         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
4363
4364
4365       </div>
4366     </div>
4367     <div class="padding"></div>
4368
4369     <div class="entry">
4370       <div class="title">
4371         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/98_6_percent_done_with_the_Norwegian_draft_translation_of_Free_Culture.html">98.6 percent done with the Norwegian draft translation of Free Culture</a>
4372       </div>
4373       <div class="date">
4374         23rd July 2014
4375       </div>
4376       <div class="body">
4377         <p>This summer I finally had time to continue working on the Norwegian
4378 <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> version of the 2004 book
4379 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig,
4380 to get a Norwegian text explaining the problems with todays copyright
4381 law.  Yesterday, I finally completed translated the book text.  There
4382 are still some foot/end notes left to translate, the colophon page
4383 need to be rewritten, and a few words and phrases still need to be
4384 translated, but the Norwegian text is ready for the first proof
4385 reading. :) More spell checking is needed, and several illustrations
4386 need to be cleaned up.  The work stopped up because I had to give
4387 priority to other projects the last year, and the progress graph of
4388 the translation show this very well:</p>
4389
4390 <p><img width="80%" align="center" src="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/progress.png"></p>
4391
4392 <p>If you want to read the result, check out the
4393 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>
4394 project pages and the
4395 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a>,
4396 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a>
4397 and HTML version available in the
4398 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/tree/master/archive">archive
4399 directory</a>.</p>
4400
4401 <p>Please report typos, bugs and improvements to the github project if
4402 you find any.</p>
4403
4404       </div>
4405       <div class="tags">
4406
4407
4408         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
4409
4410
4411       </div>
4412     </div>
4413     <div class="padding"></div>
4414
4415     <div class="entry">
4416       <div class="title">
4417         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/From_English_wiki_to_translated_PDF_and_epub_via_Docbook.html">From English wiki to translated PDF and epub via Docbook</a>
4418       </div>
4419       <div class="date">
4420         17th June 2014
4421       </div>
4422       <div class="body">
4423         <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux
4424 project</a> provide an instruction manual for teachers, system
4425 administrators and other users that contain useful tips for setting up
4426 and maintaining a Debian Edu installation.  This text is about how the
4427 text processing of this manual is handled in the project.</p>
4428
4429 <p>One goal of the project is to provide information in the native
4430 language of its users, and for this we need to handle translations.
4431 But we also want to make sure each language contain the same
4432 information, so for this we need a good way to keep the translations
4433 in sync.  And we want it to be easy for our users to improve the
4434 documentation, avoiding the need to learn special formats or tools to
4435 contribute, and the obvious way to do this is to make it possible to
4436 edit the documentation using a web browser.  We also want it to be
4437 easy for translators to keep the translation up to date, and give them
4438 help in figuring out what need to be translated. Here is the list of
4439 tools and the process we have found trying to reach all these
4440 goals.</p>
4441
4442 <p>We maintain the authoritative source of our manual in the
4443 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/">Debian
4444 wiki</a>, as several wiki pages written in English.  It consist of one
4445 front page with references to the different chapters, several pages
4446 for each chapter, and finally one "collection page" gluing all the
4447 chapters together into one large web page (aka
4448 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/AllInOne">the
4449 AllInOne page</a>).  The AllInOne page is the one used for further
4450 processing and translations.  Thanks to the fact that the
4451 <a href="http://moinmo.in/">MoinMoin</a> installation on
4452 wiki.debian.org support exporting pages in
4453 <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">the Docbook format</a>, we can fetch
4454 the list of pages to export using the raw version of the AllInOne
4455 page, loop over each of them to generate a Docbook XML version of the
4456 manual.  This process also download images and transform image
4457 references to use the locally downloaded images.  The generated
4458 Docbook XML files are slightly broken, so some post-processing is done
4459 using the <tt>documentation/scripts/get_manual</tt> program, and the
4460 result is a nice Docbook XML file (debian-edu-wheezy-manual.xml) and
4461 a handfull of images.  The XML file can now be used to generate PDF, HTML
4462 and epub versions of the English manual.  This is the basic step of
4463 our process, making PDF (using dblatex), HTML (using xsltproc) and
4464 epub (using dbtoepub) version from Docbook XML, and the resulting files
4465 are placed in the debian-edu-doc-en binary package.</p>
4466
4467 <p>But English documentation is not enough for us.  We want translated
4468 documentation too, and we want to make it easy for translators to
4469 track the English original.  For this we use the
4470 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/p/poxml.html">poxml</a> package,
4471 which allow us to transform the English Docbook XML file into a
4472 translation file (a .pot file), usable with the normal gettext based
4473 translation tools used by those translating free software.  The pot
4474 file is used to create and maintain translation files (several .po
4475 files), which the translations update with the native language
4476 translations of all titles, paragraphs and blocks of text in the
4477 original.  The next step is combining the original English Docbook XML
4478 and the translation file (say debian-edu-wheezy-manual.nb.po), to
4479 create a translated Docbook XML file (in this case
4480 debian-edu-wheezy-manual.nb.xml).  This translated (or partly
4481 translated, if the translation is not complete) Docbook XML file can
4482 then be used like the original to create a PDF, HTML and epub version
4483 of the documentation.</p>
4484
4485 <p>The translators use different tools to edit the .po files.  We
4486 recommend using
4487 <a href="http://www.kde.org/applications/development/lokalize/">lokalize</a>,
4488 while some use emacs and vi, others can use web based editors like
4489 <a href="http://pootle.translatehouse.org/">Poodle</a> or
4490 <a href="https://www.transifex.com/">Transifex</a>.  All we care about
4491 is where the .po file end up, in our git repository.  Updated
4492 translations can either be committed directly to git, or submitted as
4493 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/src:debian-edu-doc">bug reports
4494 against the debian-edu-doc package</a>.</p>
4495
4496 <p>One challenge is images, which both might need to be translated (if
4497 they show translated user applications), and are needed in different
4498 formats when creating PDF and HTML versions (epub is a HTML version in
4499 this regard).  For this we transform the original PNG images to the
4500 needed density and format during build, and have a way to provide
4501 translated images by storing translated versions in
4502 images/$LANGUAGECODE/.  I am a bit unsure about the details here.  The
4503 package maintainers know more.</p>
4504
4505 <p>If you wonder what the result look like, we provide
4506 <a href="http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/">the content
4507 of the documentation packages on the web</a>.  See for example the
4508 <a href="http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/it/debian-edu-wheezy-manual.pdf">Italian
4509 PDF version</a> or the
4510 <a href="http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/de/debian-edu-wheezy-manual.html">German
4511 HTML version</a>.  We do not yet build the epub version by default,
4512 but perhaps it will be done in the future.</p>
4513
4514 <p>To learn more, check out
4515 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/debian-edu-doc.html">the
4516 debian-edu-doc package</a>,
4517 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/">the
4518 manual on the wiki</a> and
4519 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/Translations">the
4520 translation instructions</a> in the manual.</p>
4521
4522       </div>
4523       <div class="tags">
4524
4525
4526         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
4527
4528
4529       </div>
4530     </div>
4531     <div class="padding"></div>
4532
4533     <div class="entry">
4534       <div class="title">
4535         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_software_car_computer_solution_.html">Free software car computer solution?</a>
4536       </div>
4537       <div class="date">
4538         29th May 2014
4539       </div>
4540       <div class="body">
4541         <p>Dear lazyweb.  I'm planning to set up a small Raspberry Pi computer
4542 in my car, connected to
4543 <a href="http://www.dx.com/p/400a-4-0-tft-lcd-digital-monitor-for-vehicle-parking-reverse-camera-1440x272-12v-dc-57776">a
4544 small screen</a> next to the rear mirror.  I plan to hook it up with a
4545 GPS and a USB wifi card too.  The idea is to get my own
4546 "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carputer">Carputer</a>".  But I
4547 wonder if someone already created a good free software solution for
4548 such car computer.</p>
4549
4550 <p>This is my current wish list for such system:</p>
4551
4552 <ul>
4553
4554  <li>Work on Raspberry Pi.</li>
4555
4556  <li>Show current speed limit based on location, and warn if going too
4557    fast (for example using color codes yellow and red on the screen,
4558    or make a sound).  This could be done either using either data from
4559    <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/">Openstreetmap</a> or OCR
4560    info gathered from a dashboard camera.</li>
4561
4562  <li>Track automatic toll road passes and their cost, show total spent
4563    and make it possible to calculate toll costs for planned
4564    route.</li>
4565
4566  <li>Collect GPX tracks for use with OpenStreetMap.</li>
4567
4568  <li>Automatically detect and use any wireless connection to connect
4569    to home server.  Try IP over DNS
4570    (<a href="http://dev.kryo.se/iodine/">iodine</a>) or ICMP
4571    (<a href="http://code.gerade.org/hans/">Hans</a>) if direct
4572    connection do not work.</li>
4573
4574  <li>Set up mesh network to talk to other cars with the same system,
4575    or some standard car mesh protocol.</li>
4576
4577  <li>Warn when approaching speed cameras and speed camera ranges
4578    (speed calculated between two cameras).</li>
4579
4580  <li>Suport dashboard/front facing camera to discover speed limits and
4581    run OCR to track registration number of passing cars.</li>
4582
4583 </ul>
4584
4585 <p>If you know of any free software car computer system supporting
4586 some or all of these features, please let me know.</p>
4587
4588       </div>
4589       <div class="tags">
4590
4591
4592         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
4593
4594
4595       </div>
4596     </div>
4597     <div class="padding"></div>
4598
4599     <div class="entry">
4600       <div class="title">
4601         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Half_the_Coverity_issues_in_Gnash_fixed_in_the_next_release.html">Half the Coverity issues in Gnash fixed in the next release</a>
4602       </div>
4603       <div class="date">
4604         29th April 2014
4605       </div>
4606       <div class="body">
4607         <p>I've been following <a href="http://www.getgnash.org/">the Gnash
4608 project</a> for quite a while now.  It is a free software
4609 implementation of Adobe Flash, both a standalone player and a browser
4610 plugin.  Gnash implement support for the AVM1 format (and not the
4611 newer AVM2 format - see
4612 <a href="http://lightspark.github.io/">Lightspark</a> for that one),
4613 allowing several flash based sites to work.  Thanks to the friendly
4614 developers at Youtube, it also work with Youtube videos, because the
4615 Javascript code at Youtube detect Gnash and serve a AVM1 player to
4616 those users. :) Would be great if someone found time to implement AVM2
4617 support, but it has not happened yet.  If you install both Lightspark
4618 and Gnash, Lightspark will invoke Gnash if it find a AVM1 flash file,
4619 so you can get both handled as free software.  Unfortunately,
4620 Lightspark so far only implement a small subset of AVM2, and many
4621 sites do not work yet.</p>
4622
4623 <p>A few months ago, I started looking at
4624 <a href="http://scan.coverity.com/">Coverity</a>, the static source
4625 checker used to find heaps and heaps of bugs in free software (thanks
4626 to the donation of a scanning service to free software projects by the
4627 company developing this non-free code checker), and Gnash was one of
4628 the projects I decided to check out.  Coverity is able to find lock
4629 errors, memory errors, dead code and more.  A few days ago they even
4630 extended it to also be able to find the heartbleed bug in OpenSSL.
4631 There are heaps of checks being done on the instrumented code, and the
4632 amount of bogus warnings is quite low compared to the other static
4633 code checkers I have tested over the years.</p>
4634
4635 <p>Since a few weeks ago, I've been working with the other Gnash
4636 developers squashing bugs discovered by Coverity.  I was quite happy
4637 today when I checked the current status and saw that of the 777 issues
4638 detected so far, 374 are marked as fixed.  This make me confident that
4639 the next Gnash release will be more stable and more dependable than
4640 the previous one.  Most of the reported issues were and are in the
4641 test suite, but it also found a few in the rest of the code.</p>
4642
4643 <p>If you want to help out, you find us on
4644 <a href="https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnash-dev">the
4645 gnash-dev mailing list</a> and on
4646 <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/#gnash">the #gnash channel on
4647 irc.freenode.net IRC server</a>.</p>
4648
4649       </div>
4650       <div class="tags">
4651
4652
4653         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
4654
4655
4656       </div>
4657     </div>
4658     <div class="padding"></div>
4659
4660     <div class="entry">
4661       <div class="title">
4662         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Install_hardware_dependent_packages_using_tasksel__Isenkram_0_7_.html">Install hardware dependent packages using tasksel (Isenkram 0.7)</a>
4663       </div>
4664       <div class="date">
4665         23rd April 2014
4666       </div>
4667       <div class="body">
4668         <p>It would be nice if it was easier in Debian to get all the hardware
4669 related packages relevant for the computer installed automatically.
4670 So I implemented one, using
4671 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">my Isenkram
4672 package</a>.  To use it, install the tasksel and isenkram packages and
4673 run tasksel as user root.  You should be presented with a new option,
4674 "Hardware specific packages (autodetected by isenkram)".  When you
4675 select it, tasksel will install the packages isenkram claim is fit for
4676 the current hardware, hot pluggable or not.<p>
4677
4678 <p>The implementation is in two files, one is the tasksel menu entry
4679 description, and the other is the script used to extract the list of
4680 packages to install.  The first part is in
4681 <tt>/usr/share/tasksel/descs/isenkram.desc</tt> and look like
4682 this:</p>
4683
4684 <p><blockquote><pre>
4685 Task: isenkram
4686 Section: hardware
4687 Description: Hardware specific packages (autodetected by isenkram)
4688  Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific packages are
4689  proposed.
4690 Test-new-install: mark show
4691 Relevance: 8
4692 Packages: for-current-hardware
4693 </pre></blockquote></p>
4694
4695 <p>The second part is in
4696 <tt>/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/for-current-hardware</tt> and look like
4697 this:</p>
4698
4699 <p><blockquote><pre>
4700 #!/bin/sh
4701 #
4702 (
4703     isenkram-lookup
4704     isenkram-autoinstall-firmware -l
4705 ) | sort -u
4706 </pre></blockquote></p>
4707
4708 <p>All in all, a very short and simple implementation making it
4709 trivial to install the hardware dependent package we all may want to
4710 have installed on our machines.  I've not been able to find a way to
4711 get tasksel to tell you exactly which packages it plan to install
4712 before doing the installation.  So if you are curious or careful,
4713 check the output from the isenkram-* command line tools first.</p>
4714
4715 <p>The information about which packages are handling which hardware is
4716 fetched either from the isenkram package itself in
4717 /usr/share/isenkram/, from git.debian.org or from the APT package
4718 database (using the Modaliases header).  The APT package database
4719 parsing have caused a nasty resource leak in the isenkram daemon (bugs
4720 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/719837">#719837</a> and
4721 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/730704">#730704</a>).  The cause is in
4722 the python-apt code (bug
4723 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/745487">#745487</a>), but using a
4724 workaround I was able to get rid of the file descriptor leak and
4725 reduce the memory leak from ~30 MiB per hardware detection down to
4726 around 2 MiB per hardware detection.  It should make the desktop
4727 daemon a lot more useful.  The fix is in version 0.7 uploaded to
4728 unstable today.</p>
4729
4730 <p>I believe the current way of mapping hardware to packages in
4731 Isenkram is is a good draft, but in the future I expect isenkram to
4732 use the AppStream data source for this.  A proposal for getting proper
4733 AppStream support into Debian is floating around as
4734 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DEP-11">DEP-11</a>, and
4735 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/SummerOfCode2014/Projects#SummerOfCode2014.2FProjects.2FAppStreamDEP11Implementation.AppStream.2FDEP-11_for_the_Debian_Archive">GSoC
4736 project</a> will take place this summer to improve the situation.  I
4737 look forward to seeing the result, and welcome patches for isenkram to
4738 start using the information when it is ready.</p>
4739
4740 <p>If you want your package to map to some specific hardware, either
4741 add a "Xb-Modaliases" header to your control file like I did in
4742 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/pymissile">the pymissile
4743 package</a> or submit a bug report with the details to the isenkram
4744 package.  See also
4745 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram/">all my
4746 blog posts tagged isenkram</a> for details on the notation.  I expect
4747 the information will be migrated to AppStream eventually, but for the
4748 moment I got no better place to store it.</p>
4749
4750       </div>
4751       <div class="tags">
4752
4753
4754         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
4755
4756
4757       </div>
4758     </div>
4759     <div class="padding"></div>
4760
4761     <div class="entry">
4762       <div class="title">
4763         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/FreedomBox_milestone___all_packages_now_in_Debian_Sid.html">FreedomBox milestone - all packages now in Debian Sid</a>
4764       </div>
4765       <div class="date">
4766         15th April 2014
4767       </div>
4768       <div class="body">
4769         <p>The <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">Freedombox
4770 project</a> is working on providing the software and hardware to make
4771 it easy for non-technical people to host their data and communication
4772 at home, and being able to communicate with their friends and family
4773 encrypted and away from prying eyes.  It is still going strong, and
4774 today a major mile stone was reached.</p>
4775
4776 <p>Today, the last of the packages currently used by the project to
4777 created the system images were accepted into Debian Unstable.  It was
4778 the freedombox-setup package, which is used to configure the images
4779 during build and on the first boot.  Now all one need to get going is
4780 the build code from the freedom-maker git repository and packages from
4781 Debian.  And once the freedombox-setup package enter testing, we can
4782 build everything directly from Debian. :)</p>
4783
4784 <p>Some key packages used by Freedombox are
4785 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/freedombox-setup">freedombox-setup</a>,
4786 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/plinth">plinth</a>,
4787 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/pagekite">pagekite</a>,
4788 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/tor">tor</a>,
4789 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/privoxy">privoxy</a>,
4790 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/owncloud">owncloud</a> and
4791 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/dnsmasq">dnsmasq</a>.  There
4792 are plans to integrate more packages into the setup.  User
4793 documentation is maintained on the Debian wiki.  Please
4794 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Manual/Jessie">check out
4795 the manual</a> and help us improve it.</p>
4796
4797 <p>To test for yourself and create boot images with the FreedomBox
4798 setup, run this on a Debian machine using a user with sudo rights to
4799 become root:</p>
4800
4801 <p><pre>
4802 sudo apt-get install git vmdebootstrap mercurial python-docutils \
4803   mktorrent extlinux virtualbox qemu-user-static binfmt-support \
4804   u-boot-tools
4805 git clone http://anonscm.debian.org/git/freedombox/freedom-maker.git \
4806   freedom-maker
4807 make -C freedom-maker dreamplug-image raspberry-image virtualbox-image
4808 </pre></p>
4809
4810 <p>Root access is needed to run debootstrap and mount loopback
4811 devices.  See the README in the freedom-maker git repo for more
4812 details on the build.  If you do not want all three images, trim the
4813 make line.  Note that the virtualbox-image target is not really
4814 virtualbox specific.  It create a x86 image usable in kvm, qemu,
4815 vmware and any other x86 virtual machine environment.  You might need
4816 the version of vmdebootstrap in Jessie to get the build working, as it
4817 include fixes for a race condition with kpartx.</p>
4818
4819 <p>If you instead want to install using a Debian CD and the preseed
4820 method, boot a Debian Wheezy ISO and use this boot argument to load
4821 the preseed values:</p>
4822
4823 <p><pre>
4824 url=<a href="http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-jessie.dat">http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-jessie.dat</a>
4825 </pre></p>
4826
4827 <p>I have not tested it myself the last few weeks, so I do not know if
4828 it still work.</p>
4829
4830 <p>If you wonder how to help, one task you could look at is using
4831 systemd as the boot system.  It will become the default for Linux in
4832 Jessie, so we need to make sure it is usable on the Freedombox.  I did
4833 a simple test a few weeks ago, and noticed dnsmasq failed to start
4834 during boot when using systemd.  I suspect there are other problems
4835 too. :) To detect problems, there is a test suite included, which can
4836 be run from the plinth web interface.</p>
4837
4838 <p>Give it a go and let us know how it goes on the mailing list, and help
4839 us get the new release published. :) Please join us on
4840 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org:6667/%23freedombox">IRC (#freedombox on
4841 irc.debian.org)</a> and
4842 <a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss">the
4843 mailing list</a> if you want to help make this vision come true.</p>
4844
4845       </div>
4846       <div class="tags">
4847
4848
4849         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freedombox">freedombox</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
4850
4851
4852       </div>
4853     </div>
4854     <div class="padding"></div>
4855
4856     <div class="entry">
4857       <div class="title">
4858         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/S3QL__a_locally_mounted_cloud_file_system___nice_free_software.html">S3QL, a locally mounted cloud file system - nice free software</a>
4859       </div>
4860       <div class="date">
4861          9th April 2014
4862       </div>
4863       <div class="body">
4864         <p>For a while now, I have been looking for a sensible offsite backup
4865 solution for use at home.  My requirements are simple, it must be
4866 cheap and locally encrypted (in other words, I keep the encryption
4867 keys, the storage provider do not have access to my private files).
4868 One idea me and my friends had many years ago, before the cloud
4869 storage providers showed up, was to use Google mail as storage,
4870 writing a Linux block device storing blocks as emails in the mail
4871 service provided by Google, and thus get heaps of free space.  On top
4872 of this one can add encryption, RAID and volume management to have
4873 lots of (fairly slow, I admit that) cheap and encrypted storage.  But
4874 I never found time to implement such system.  But the last few weeks I
4875 have looked at a system called
4876 <a href="https://bitbucket.org/nikratio/s3ql/">S3QL</a>, a locally
4877 mounted network backed file system with the features I need.</p>
4878
4879 <p>S3QL is a fuse file system with a local cache and cloud storage,
4880 handling several different storage providers, any with Amazon S3,
4881 Google Drive or OpenStack API.  There are heaps of such storage
4882 providers.  S3QL can also use a local directory as storage, which
4883 combined with sshfs allow for file storage on any ssh server.  S3QL
4884 include support for encryption, compression, de-duplication, snapshots
4885 and immutable file systems, allowing me to mount the remote storage as
4886 a local mount point, look at and use the files as if they were local,
4887 while the content is stored in the cloud as well.  This allow me to
4888 have a backup that should survive fire.  The file system can not be
4889 shared between several machines at the same time, as only one can
4890 mount it at the time, but any machine with the encryption key and
4891 access to the storage service can mount it if it is unmounted.</p>
4892
4893 <p>It is simple to use.  I'm using it on Debian Wheezy, where the
4894 package is included already.  So to get started, run <tt>apt-get
4895 install s3ql</tt>.  Next, pick a storage provider.  I ended up picking
4896 Greenqloud, after reading their nice recipe on
4897 <a href="https://greenqloud.zendesk.com/entries/44611757-How-To-Use-S3QL-to-mount-a-StorageQloud-bucket-on-Debian-Wheezy">how
4898 to use S3QL with their Amazon S3 service</a>, because I trust the laws
4899 in Iceland more than those in USA when it come to keeping my personal
4900 data safe and private, and thus would rather spend money on a company
4901 in Iceland.  Another nice recipe is available from the article
4902 <a href="http://www.admin-magazine.com/HPC/Articles/HPC-Cloud-Storage">S3QL
4903 Filesystem for HPC Storage</a> by Jeff Layton in the HPC section of
4904 Admin magazine.  When the provider is picked, figure out how to get
4905 the API key needed to connect to the storage API.  With Greencloud,
4906 the key did not show up until I had added payment details to my
4907 account.</p>
4908
4909 <p>Armed with the API access details, it is time to create the file
4910 system.  First, create a new bucket in the cloud.  This bucket is the
4911 file system storage area.  I picked a bucket name reflecting the
4912 machine that was going to store data there, but any name will do.
4913 I'll refer to it as <tt>bucket-name</tt> below.  In addition, one need
4914 the API login and password, and a locally created password.  Store it
4915 all in ~root/.s3ql/authinfo2 like this:
4916
4917 <p><blockquote><pre>
4918 [s3c]
4919 storage-url: s3c://s.greenqloud.com:443/bucket-name
4920 backend-login: API-login
4921 backend-password: API-password
4922 fs-passphrase: local-password
4923 </pre></blockquote></p>
4924
4925 <p>I create my local passphrase using <tt>pwget 50</tt> or similar,
4926 but any sensible way to create a fairly random password should do it.
4927 Armed with these details, it is now time to run mkfs, entering the API
4928 details and password to create it:</p>
4929
4930 <p><blockquote><pre>
4931 # mkdir -m 700 /var/lib/s3ql-cache
4932 # mkfs.s3ql --cachedir /var/lib/s3ql-cache --authfile /root/.s3ql/authinfo2 \
4933   --ssl s3c://s.greenqloud.com:443/bucket-name
4934 Enter backend login:
4935 Enter backend password:
4936 Before using S3QL, make sure to read the user's guide, especially
4937 the 'Important Rules to Avoid Loosing Data' section.
4938 Enter encryption password:
4939 Confirm encryption password:
4940 Generating random encryption key...
4941 Creating metadata tables...
4942 Dumping metadata...
4943 ..objects..
4944 ..blocks..
4945 ..inodes..
4946 ..inode_blocks..
4947 ..symlink_targets..
4948 ..names..
4949 ..contents..
4950 ..ext_attributes..
4951 Compressing and uploading metadata...
4952 Wrote 0.00 MB of compressed metadata.
4953 # </pre></blockquote></p>
4954
4955 <p>The next step is mounting the file system to make the storage available.
4956
4957 <p><blockquote><pre>
4958 # mount.s3ql --cachedir /var/lib/s3ql-cache --authfile /root/.s3ql/authinfo2 \
4959   --ssl --allow-root s3c://s.greenqloud.com:443/bucket-name /s3ql
4960 Using 4 upload threads.
4961 Downloading and decompressing metadata...
4962 Reading metadata...
4963 ..objects..
4964 ..blocks..
4965 ..inodes..
4966 ..inode_blocks..
4967 ..symlink_targets..
4968 ..names..
4969 ..contents..
4970 ..ext_attributes..
4971 Mounting filesystem...
4972 # df -h /s3ql
4973 Filesystem                              Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
4974 s3c://s.greenqloud.com:443/bucket-name  1.0T     0  1.0T   0% /s3ql
4975 #
4976 </pre></blockquote></p>
4977
4978 <p>The file system is now ready for use.  I use rsync to store my
4979 backups in it, and as the metadata used by rsync is downloaded at
4980 mount time, no network traffic (and storage cost) is triggered by
4981 running rsync.  To unmount, one should not use the normal umount
4982 command, as this will not flush the cache to the cloud storage, but
4983 instead running the umount.s3ql command like this:
4984
4985 <p><blockquote><pre>
4986 # umount.s3ql /s3ql
4987 #
4988 </pre></blockquote></p>
4989
4990 <p>There is a fsck command available to check the file system and
4991 correct any problems detected.  This can be used if the local server
4992 crashes while the file system is mounted, to reset the "already
4993 mounted" flag.  This is what it look like when processing a working
4994 file system:</p>
4995
4996 <p><blockquote><pre>
4997 # fsck.s3ql --force --ssl s3c://s.greenqloud.com:443/bucket-name
4998 Using cached metadata.
4999 File system seems clean, checking anyway.
5000 Checking DB integrity...
5001 Creating temporary extra indices...
5002 Checking lost+found...
5003 Checking cached objects...
5004 Checking names (refcounts)...
5005 Checking contents (names)...
5006 Checking contents (inodes)...
5007 Checking contents (parent inodes)...
5008 Checking objects (reference counts)...
5009 Checking objects (backend)...
5010 ..processed 5000 objects so far..
5011 ..processed 10000 objects so far..
5012 ..processed 15000 objects so far..
5013 Checking objects (sizes)...
5014 Checking blocks (referenced objects)...
5015 Checking blocks (refcounts)...
5016 Checking inode-block mapping (blocks)...
5017 Checking inode-block mapping (inodes)...
5018 Checking inodes (refcounts)...
5019 Checking inodes (sizes)...
5020 Checking extended attributes (names)...
5021 Checking extended attributes (inodes)...
5022 Checking symlinks (inodes)...
5023 Checking directory reachability...
5024 Checking unix conventions...
5025 Checking referential integrity...
5026 Dropping temporary indices...
5027 Backing up old metadata...
5028 Dumping metadata...
5029 ..objects..
5030 ..blocks..
5031 ..inodes..
5032 ..inode_blocks..
5033 ..symlink_targets..
5034 ..names..
5035 ..contents..
5036 ..ext_attributes..
5037 Compressing and uploading metadata...
5038 Wrote 0.89 MB of compressed metadata.
5039 #
5040 </pre></blockquote></p>
5041
5042 <p>Thanks to the cache, working on files that fit in the cache is very
5043 quick, about the same speed as local file access.  Uploading large
5044 amount of data is to me limited by the bandwidth out of and into my
5045 house.  Uploading 685 MiB with a 100 MiB cache gave me 305 kiB/s,
5046 which is very close to my upload speed, and downloading the same
5047 Debian installation ISO gave me 610 kiB/s, close to my download speed.
5048 Both were measured using <tt>dd</tt>.  So for me, the bottleneck is my
5049 network, not the file system code.  I do not know what a good cache
5050 size would be, but suspect that the cache should e larger than your
5051 working set.</p>
5052
5053 <p>I mentioned that only one machine can mount the file system at the
5054 time.  If another machine try, it is told that the file system is
5055 busy:</p>
5056
5057 <p><blockquote><pre>
5058 # mount.s3ql --cachedir /var/lib/s3ql-cache --authfile /root/.s3ql/authinfo2 \
5059   --ssl --allow-root s3c://s.greenqloud.com:443/bucket-name /s3ql
5060 Using 8 upload threads.
5061 Backend reports that fs is still mounted elsewhere, aborting.
5062 #
5063 </pre></blockquote></p>
5064
5065 <p>The file content is uploaded when the cache is full, while the
5066 metadata is uploaded once every 24 hour by default.  To ensure the
5067 file system content is flushed to the cloud, one can either umount the
5068 file system, or ask S3QL to flush the cache and metadata using
5069 s3qlctrl:
5070
5071 <p><blockquote><pre>
5072 # s3qlctrl upload-meta /s3ql
5073 # s3qlctrl flushcache /s3ql
5074 #
5075 </pre></blockquote></p>
5076
5077 <p>If you are curious about how much space your data uses in the
5078 cloud, and how much compression and deduplication cut down on the
5079 storage usage, you can use s3qlstat on the mounted file system to get
5080 a report:</p>
5081
5082 <p><blockquote><pre>
5083 # s3qlstat /s3ql
5084 Directory entries:    9141
5085 Inodes:               9143
5086 Data blocks:          8851
5087 Total data size:      22049.38 MB
5088 After de-duplication: 21955.46 MB (99.57% of total)
5089 After compression:    21877.28 MB (99.22% of total, 99.64% of de-duplicated)
5090 Database size:        2.39 MB (uncompressed)
5091 (some values do not take into account not-yet-uploaded dirty blocks in cache)
5092 #
5093 </pre></blockquote></p>
5094
5095 <p>I mentioned earlier that there are several possible suppliers of
5096 storage.  I did not try to locate them all, but am aware of at least
5097 <a href="https://www.greenqloud.com/">Greenqloud</a>,
5098 <a href="http://drive.google.com/">Google Drive</a>,
5099 <a href="http://aws.amazon.com/s3/">Amazon S3 web serivces</a>,
5100 <a href="http://www.rackspace.com/">Rackspace</a> and
5101 <a href="http://crowncloud.net/">Crowncloud</A>.  The latter even
5102 accept payment in Bitcoin.  Pick one that suit your need.  Some of
5103 them provide several GiB of free storage, but the prize models are
5104 quite different and you will have to figure out what suits you
5105 best.</p>
5106
5107 <p>While researching this blog post, I had a look at research papers
5108 and posters discussing the S3QL file system.  There are several, which
5109 told me that the file system is getting a critical check by the
5110 science community and increased my confidence in using it.  One nice
5111 poster is titled
5112 "<a href="http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/adtsc/publications/science_highlights_2013/docs/pg68_69.pdf">An
5113 Innovative Parallel Cloud Storage System using OpenStack’s SwiftObject
5114 Store and Transformative Parallel I/O Approach</a>" by Hsing-Bung
5115 Chen, Benjamin McClelland, David Sherrill, Alfred Torrez, Parks Fields
5116 and Pamela Smith.  Please  have a look.</p>
5117
5118 <p>Given my problems with different file systems earlier, I decided to
5119 check out the mounted S3QL file system to see if it would be usable as
5120 a home directory (in other word, that it provided POSIX semantics when
5121 it come to locking and umask handling etc).  Running
5122 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Testing_if_a_file_system_can_be_used_for_home_directories___.html">my
5123 test code to check file system semantics</a>, I was happy to discover that
5124 no error was found.  So the file system can be used for home
5125 directories, if one chooses to do so.</p>
5126
5127 <p>If you do not want a locally file system, and want something that
5128 work without the Linux fuse file system, I would like to mention the
5129 <a href="http://www.tarsnap.com/">Tarsnap service</a>, which also
5130 provide locally encrypted backup using a command line client.  It have
5131 a nicer access control system, where one can split out read and write
5132 access, allowing some systems to write to the backup and others to
5133 only read from it.</p>
5134
5135 <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my
5136 activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
5137 <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
5138
5139       </div>
5140       <div class="tags">
5141
5142
5143         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nice free software">nice free software</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
5144
5145
5146       </div>
5147     </div>
5148     <div class="padding"></div>
5149
5150     <div class="entry">
5151       <div class="title">
5152         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ReactOS_Windows_clone___nice_free_software.html">ReactOS Windows clone - nice free software</a>
5153       </div>
5154       <div class="date">
5155          1st April 2014
5156       </div>
5157       <div class="body">
5158         <p>Microsoft have announced that Windows XP reaches its end of life
5159 2014-04-08, in 7 days.  But there are heaps of machines still running
5160 Windows XP, and depending on Windows XP to run their applications, and
5161 upgrading will be expensive, both when it comes to money and when it
5162 comes to the amount of effort needed to migrate from Windows XP to a
5163 new operating system.  Some obvious options (buy new a Windows
5164 machine, buy a MacOSX machine, install Linux on the existing machine)
5165 are already well known and covered elsewhere.  Most of them involve
5166 leaving the user applications installed on Windows XP behind and
5167 trying out replacements or updated versions. In this blog post I want
5168 to mention one strange bird that allow people to keep the hardware and
5169 the existing Windows XP applications and run them on a free software
5170 operating system that is Windows XP compatible.</p>
5171
5172 <p><a href="http://www.reactos.org/">ReactOS</a> is a free software
5173 operating system (GNU GPL licensed) working on providing a operating
5174 system that is binary compatible with Windows, able to run windows
5175 programs directly and to use Windows drivers for hardware directly.
5176 The project goal is for Windows user to keep their existing machines,
5177 drivers and software, and gain the advantages from user a operating
5178 system without usage limitations caused by non-free licensing.  It is
5179 a Windows clone running directly on the hardware, so quite different
5180 from the approach taken by <a href="http://www.winehq.org/">the Wine
5181 project</a>, which make it possible to run Windows binaries on
5182 Linux.</p>
5183
5184 <p>The ReactOS project share code with the Wine project, so most
5185 shared libraries available on Windows are already implemented already.
5186 There is also a software manager like the one we are used to on Linux,
5187 allowing the user to install free software applications with a simple
5188 click directly from the Internet.  Check out the
5189 <a href="http://www.reactos.org/screenshots">screen shots on the
5190 project web site</a> for an idea what it look like (it looks just like
5191 Windows before metro).</p>
5192
5193 <p>I do not use ReactOS myself, preferring Linux and Unix like
5194 operating systems.  I've tested it, and it work fine in a virt-manager
5195 virtual machine.  The browser, minesweeper, notepad etc is working
5196 fine as far as I can tell.  Unfortunately, my main test application
5197 is the software included on a CD with the Lego Mindstorms NXT, which
5198 seem to install just fine from CD but fail to leave any binaries on
5199 the disk after the installation.  So no luck with that test software.
5200 No idea why, but hope someone else figure out and fix the problem.
5201 I've tried the ReactOS Live ISO on a physical machine, and it seemed
5202 to work just fine.  If you like Windows and want to keep running your
5203 old Windows binaries, check it out by
5204 <a href="http://www.reactos.org/download">downloading</a> the
5205 installation CD, the live CD or the preinstalled virtual machine
5206 image.</p>
5207
5208       </div>
5209       <div class="tags">
5210
5211
5212         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nice free software">nice free software</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reactos">reactos</a>.
5213
5214
5215       </div>
5216     </div>
5217     <div class="padding"></div>
5218
5219     <div class="entry">
5220       <div class="title">
5221         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Roger_Marsal.html">Debian Edu interview: Roger Marsal</a>
5222       </div>
5223       <div class="date">
5224         30th March 2014
5225       </div>
5226       <div class="body">
5227         <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>
5228 keep gaining new users.  Some weeks ago, a person showed up on IRC,
5229 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/#debian-edu">#debian-edu</a>, with a
5230 wish to contribute, and I managed to get a interview with this great
5231 contributor Roger Marsal to learn more about his background.</p>
5232
5233 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
5234
5235 <p>My name is Roger Marsal, I'm 27 years old (1986 generation) and I
5236 live in Barcelona, Spain. I've got a strong business background and I
5237 work as a patrimony manager and as a real estate agent.  Additionally,
5238 I've co-founded a British based tech company that is nowadays on the
5239 last development phase of a new social networking concept.</p>
5240
5241 <p>I'm a Linux enthusiast that started its journey with Ubuntu four years
5242 ago and have recently switched to Debian seeking rock solid stability
5243 and as a necessary step to gain expertise.</p>
5244
5245 <p>In a nutshell, I spend my days working and learning as much as I
5246 can to face both my job, entrepreneur project and feed my Linux
5247 hunger.</p>
5248
5249 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
5250 project?</strong></p>
5251
5252 <p>I discovered the <a href="http://www.ltsp.org/">LTSP</a> advantages
5253 with "Ubuntu 12.04 alternate install" and after a year of use I
5254 started looking for an alternative.  Even though I highly value and
5255 respect the Ubuntu project, I thought it was necessary for me to
5256 change to a more robust and stable alternative.  As far as I was using
5257 Debian on my personal laptop I thought it would be fine to install
5258 Debian and configure an LTSP server myself.  Surprised, I discovered
5259 that the Debian project also supported a kind of Edubuntu equivalent,
5260 and after having some pain I obtained a Debian Edu network up and
5261 running.  I just loved it.</p>
5262
5263 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian
5264 Edu?</strong></p>
5265
5266 <p>I found a main advantage in that, once you know "the tips and
5267 tricks", a new installation just works out of the box. It's the most
5268 complete alternative I've found to create an LTSP network. All the
5269 other distributions seems to be made of plastic, Debian Edu seems to
5270 be made of steel.</p>
5271
5272 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
5273 Edu?</strong></p>
5274
5275 <p>I found two main disadvantages.</p>
5276
5277 <p>I'm not an expert but I've got notions and I had to spent a considerable
5278 amount of time trying to bring up a standard network topology. I'm quite
5279 stubborn and I just worked until I did but I'm sure many people with few
5280 resources (not big schools, but academies for example) would have switched
5281 or dropped.</p>
5282
5283 <p>It's amazing how such a complex system like Debian Edu has achieved
5284 this out-of-the-box state. Even though tweaking without breaking gets
5285 more difficult, as more factors have to be considered. This can
5286 discourage many people too.</p>
5287
5288 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
5289
5290 <p>I use Debian, Firefox, Okular, Inkscape, LibreOffice and
5291 Virtualbox.</p>
5292
5293
5294 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
5295 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
5296
5297 <p>I don't think there is a need for a particular strategy. The free
5298 attribute in both "freedom" and "no price" meanings is what will
5299 really bring free software to schools. In my experience I can think of
5300 the <a href="http://www.r-project.org/">"R" statistical language</a>; a
5301 few years a ago was an extremely nerd tool for university people.
5302 Today it's being increasingly used to teach statistics at many
5303 different level of studies.  I believe free and open software will
5304 increasingly gain popularity, but I'm sure schools will be one of the
5305 first scenarios where this will happen.</p>
5306
5307       </div>
5308       <div class="tags">
5309
5310
5311         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
5312
5313
5314       </div>
5315     </div>
5316     <div class="padding"></div>
5317
5318     <div class="entry">
5319       <div class="title">
5320         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Public_Trusted_Timestamping_services_for_everyone.html">Public Trusted Timestamping services for everyone</a>
5321       </div>
5322       <div class="date">
5323         25th March 2014
5324       </div>
5325       <div class="body">
5326         <p>Did you ever need to store logs or other files in a way that would
5327 allow it to be used as evidence in court, and needed a way to
5328 demonstrate without reasonable doubt that the file had not been
5329 changed since it was created?  Or, did you ever need to document that
5330 a given document was received at some point in time, like some
5331 archived document or the answer to an exam, and not changed after it
5332 was received?  The problem in these settings is to remove the need to
5333 trust yourself and your computers, while still being able to prove
5334 that a file is the same as it was at some given time in the past.</p>
5335
5336 <p>A solution to these problems is to have a trusted third party
5337 "stamp" the document and verify that at some given time the document
5338 looked a given way.  Such
5339 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notarius">notarius</a> service
5340 have been around for thousands of years, and its digital equivalent is
5341 called a
5342 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_timestamping">trusted
5343 timestamping service</a>.  <a href="http://www.ietf.org/">The Internet
5344 Engineering Task Force</a> standardised how such service could work a
5345 few years ago as <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3161">RFC
5346 3161</a>.  The mechanism is simple.  Create a hash of the file in
5347 question, send it to a trusted third party which add a time stamp to
5348 the hash and sign the result with its private key, and send back the
5349 signed hash + timestamp.  Both email, FTP and HTTP can be used to
5350 request such signature, depending on what is provided by the service
5351 used. Anyone with the document and the signature can then verify that
5352 the document matches the signature by creating their own hash and
5353 checking the signature using the trusted third party public key.
5354 There are several commercial services around providing such
5355 timestamping.  A quick search for
5356 "<a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rfc+3161+service">rfc 3161
5357 service</a>" pointed me to at least
5358 <a href="https://www.digistamp.com/technical/how-a-digital-time-stamp-works/">DigiStamp</a>,
5359 <a href="http://www.quovadisglobal.co.uk/CertificateServices/SigningServices/TimeStamp.aspx">Quo
5360 Vadis</a>,
5361 <a href="https://www.globalsign.com/timestamp-service/">Global Sign</a>
5362 and <a href="http://www.globaltrustfinder.com/TSADefault.aspx">Global
5363 Trust Finder</a>.  The system work as long as the private key of the
5364 trusted third party is not compromised.</p>
5365
5366 <p>But as far as I can tell, there are very few public trusted
5367 timestamp services available for everyone.  I've been looking for one
5368 for a while now. But yesterday I found one over at
5369 <a href="https://www.pki.dfn.de/zeitstempeldienst/">Deutches
5370 Forschungsnetz</a> mentioned in
5371 <a href="http://www.d-mueller.de/blog/dealing-with-trusted-timestamps-in-php-rfc-3161/">a
5372 blog by David Müller</a>.  I then found
5373 <a href="http://www.rz.uni-greifswald.de/support/dfn-pki-zertifikate/zeitstempeldienst.html">a
5374 good recipe on how to use the service</a> over at the University of
5375 Greifswald.</p>
5376
5377 <p><a href="http://www.openssl.org/">The OpenSSL library</a> contain
5378 both server and tools to use and set up your own signing service.  See
5379 the ts(1SSL), tsget(1SSL) manual pages for more details.  The
5380 following shell script demonstrate how to extract a signed timestamp
5381 for any file on the disk in a Debian environment:</p>
5382
5383 <p><blockquote><pre>
5384 #!/bin/sh
5385 set -e
5386 url="http://zeitstempel.dfn.de"
5387 caurl="https://pki.pca.dfn.de/global-services-ca/pub/cacert/chain.txt"
5388 reqfile=$(mktemp -t tmp.XXXXXXXXXX.tsq)
5389 resfile=$(mktemp -t tmp.XXXXXXXXXX.tsr)
5390 cafile=chain.txt
5391 if [ ! -f $cafile ] ; then
5392     wget -O $cafile "$caurl"
5393 fi
5394 openssl ts -query -data "$1" -cert | tee "$reqfile" \
5395     | /usr/lib/ssl/misc/tsget -h "$url" -o "$resfile"
5396 openssl ts -reply -in "$resfile" -text 1>&2
5397 openssl ts -verify -data "$1" -in "$resfile" -CAfile "$cafile" 1>&2
5398 base64 < "$resfile"
5399 rm "$reqfile" "$resfile"
5400 </pre></blockquote></p>
5401
5402 <p>The argument to the script is the file to timestamp, and the output
5403 is a base64 encoded version of the signature to STDOUT and details
5404 about the signature to STDERR.  Note that due to
5405 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=742553">a bug
5406 in the tsget script</a>, you might need to modify the included script
5407 and remove the last line.  Or just write your own HTTP uploader using
5408 curl. :) Now you too can prove and verify that files have not been
5409 changed.</p>
5410
5411 <p>But the Internet need more public trusted timestamp services.
5412 Perhaps something for <a href="http://www.uninett.no/">Uninett</a> or
5413 my work place the <a href="http://www.uio.no/">University of Oslo</a>
5414 to set up?</p>
5415
5416       </div>
5417       <div class="tags">
5418
5419
5420         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
5421
5422
5423       </div>
5424     </div>
5425     <div class="padding"></div>
5426
5427     <div class="entry">
5428       <div class="title">
5429         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Video_DVD_reader_library___python_dvdvideo___nice_free_software.html">Video DVD reader library / python-dvdvideo - nice free software</a>
5430       </div>
5431       <div class="date">
5432         21st March 2014
5433       </div>
5434       <div class="body">
5435         <p>Keeping your DVD collection safe from scratches and curious
5436 children fingers while still having it available when you want to see a
5437 movie is not straight forward.  My preferred method at the moment is
5438 to store a full copy of the ISO on a hard drive, and use VLC, Popcorn
5439 Hour or other useful players to view the resulting file.  This way the
5440 subtitles and bonus material are still available and using the ISO is
5441 just like inserting the original DVD record in the DVD player.</p>
5442
5443 <p>Earlier I used dd for taking security copies, but it do not handle
5444 DVDs giving read errors (which are quite a few of them).  I've also
5445 tried using
5446 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Ripping_problematic_DVDs_using_dvdbackup_and_genisoimage.html">dvdbackup
5447 and genisoimage</a>, but these days I use the marvellous python library
5448 and program
5449 <a href="http://bblank.thinkmo.de/blog/new-software-python-dvdvideo">python-dvdvideo</a>
5450 written by Bastian Blank.  It is
5451 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/p/python-dvdvideo.html">in Debian
5452 already</a> and the binary package name is python3-dvdvideo. Instead
5453 of trying to read every block from the DVD, it parses the file
5454 structure and figure out which block on the DVD is actually in used,
5455 and only read those blocks from the DVD.  This work surprisingly well,
5456 and I have been able to almost backup my entire DVD collection using
5457 this method.</p>
5458
5459 <p>So far, python-dvdvideo have failed on between 10 and
5460 20 DVDs, which is a small fraction of my collection.  The most common
5461 problem is
5462 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=720831">DVDs
5463 using UTF-16 instead of UTF-8 characters</a>, which according to
5464 Bastian is against the DVD specification (and seem to cause some
5465 players to fail too).  A rarer problem is what seem to be inconsistent
5466 DVD structures, as the python library
5467 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=723079">claim
5468 there is a overlap between objects</a>.  An equally rare problem claim
5469 <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=741878">some
5470 value is out of range</a>.  No idea what is going on there.  I wish I
5471 knew enough about the DVD format to fix these, to ensure my movie
5472 collection will stay with me in the future.</p>
5473
5474 <p>So, if you need to keep your DVDs safe, back them up using
5475 python-dvdvideo. :)</p>
5476
5477       </div>
5478       <div class="tags">
5479
5480
5481         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nice free software">nice free software</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
5482
5483
5484       </div>
5485     </div>
5486     <div class="padding"></div>
5487
5488     <div class="entry">
5489       <div class="title">
5490         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Freedombox_on_Dreamplug__Raspberry_Pi_and_virtual_x86_machine.html">Freedombox on Dreamplug, Raspberry Pi and virtual x86 machine</a>
5491       </div>
5492       <div class="date">
5493         14th March 2014
5494       </div>
5495       <div class="body">
5496         <p>The <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">Freedombox
5497 project</a> is working on providing the software and hardware for
5498 making it easy for non-technical people to host their data and
5499 communication at home, and being able to communicate with their
5500 friends and family encrypted and away from prying eyes.  It has been
5501 going on for a while, and is slowly progressing towards a new test
5502 release (0.2).</p>
5503
5504 <p>And what day could be better than the Pi day to announce that the
5505 new version will provide "hard drive" / SD card / USB stick images for
5506 Dreamplug, Raspberry Pi and VirtualBox (or any other virtualization
5507 system), and can also be installed using a Debian installer preseed
5508 file.  The Debian based Freedombox is now based on Debian Jessie,
5509 where most of the needed packages used are already present.  Only one,
5510 the freedombox-setup package, is missing.  To try to build your own
5511 boot image to test the current status, fetch the freedom-maker scripts
5512 and build using
5513 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/vmdebootstrap">vmdebootstrap</a>
5514 with a user with sudo access to become root:
5515
5516 <pre>
5517 git clone http://anonscm.debian.org/git/freedombox/freedom-maker.git \
5518   freedom-maker
5519 sudo apt-get install git vmdebootstrap mercurial python-docutils \
5520   mktorrent extlinux virtualbox qemu-user-static binfmt-support \
5521   u-boot-tools
5522 make -C freedom-maker dreamplug-image raspberry-image virtualbox-image
5523 </pre>
5524
5525 <p>Root access is needed to run debootstrap and mount loopback
5526 devices.  See the README for more details on the build. If you do not
5527 want all three images, trim the make line.  But note that thanks to <a
5528 href="https://bugs.debian.org/741407">a race condition in
5529 vmdebootstrap</a>, the build might fail without the patch to the
5530 kpartx call.</p>
5531
5532 <p>If you instead want to install using a Debian CD and the preseed
5533 method, boot a Debian Wheezy ISO and use this boot argument to load
5534 the preseed values:</p>
5535
5536 <pre>
5537 url=<a href="http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-jessie.dat">http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-jessie.dat</a>
5538 </pre>
5539
5540 <p>But note that due to <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/740673">a
5541 recently introduced bug in apt in Jessie</a>, the installer will
5542 currently hang while setting up APT sources.  Killing the
5543 '<tt>apt-cdrom ident</tt>' process when it hang a few times during the
5544 installation will get the installation going.  This affect all
5545 installations in Jessie, and I expect it will be fixed soon.</p>
5546
5547 <p>Give it a go and let us know how it goes on the mailing list, and help
5548 us get the new release published. :) Please join us on
5549 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org:6667/%23freedombox">IRC (#freedombox on
5550 irc.debian.org)</a> and
5551 <a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss">the
5552 mailing list</a> if you want to help make this vision come true.</p>
5553
5554       </div>
5555       <div class="tags">
5556
5557
5558         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freedombox">freedombox</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
5559
5560
5561       </div>
5562     </div>
5563     <div class="padding"></div>
5564
5565     <div class="entry">
5566       <div class="title">
5567         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_add_extra_storage_servers_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux.html">How to add extra storage servers in Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>
5568       </div>
5569       <div class="date">
5570         12th March 2014
5571       </div>
5572       <div class="body">
5573         <p>On larger sites, it is useful to use a dedicated storage server for
5574 storing user home directories and data.  The design for handling this
5575 in <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>, is
5576 to update the automount rules in LDAP and let the automount daemon on
5577 the clients take care of the rest.  I was reminded about the need to
5578 document this better when one of the customers of
5579 <a href="http://www.slxdrift.no/">Skolelinux Drift AS</a>, where I am
5580 on the board of directors, asked about how to do this.  The steps to
5581 get this working are the following:</p>
5582
5583 <p><ol>
5584
5585 <li>Add new storage server in DNS.  I use nas-server.intern as the
5586 example host here.</li>
5587
5588 <li>Add automoun LDAP information about this server in LDAP, to allow
5589 all clients to automatically mount it on reqeust.</li>
5590
5591 <li>Add the relevant entries in tjener.intern:/etc/fstab, because
5592 tjener.intern do not use automount to avoid mounting loops.</li>
5593
5594 </ol></p>
5595
5596 <p>DNS entries are added in GOsa², and not described here.  Follow the
5597 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/GettingStarted">instructions
5598 in the manual</a> (Machine Management with GOsa² in section Getting
5599 started).</p>
5600
5601 <p>Ensure that the NFS export points on the server are exported to the
5602 relevant subnets or machines:</p>
5603
5604 <p><blockquote><pre>
5605 root@tjener:~# showmount -e nas-server
5606 Export list for nas-server:
5607 /storage         10.0.0.0/8
5608 root@tjener:~#
5609 </pre></blockquote></p>
5610
5611 <p>Here everything on the backbone network is granted access to the
5612 /storage export.  With NFSv3 it is slightly better to limit it to
5613 netgroup membership or single IP addresses to have some limits on the
5614 NFS access.</p>
5615
5616 <p>The next step is to update LDAP.  This can not be done using GOsa²,
5617 because it lack a module for automount.  Instead, use ldapvi and add
5618 the required LDAP objects using an editor.</p>
5619
5620 <p><blockquote><pre>
5621 ldapvi --ldap-conf -ZD '(cn=admin)' -b ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
5622 </pre></blockquote></p>
5623
5624 <p>When the editor show up, add the following LDAP objects at the
5625 bottom of the document.  The "/&" part in the last LDAP object is a
5626 wild card matching everything the nas-server exports, removing the
5627 need to list individual mount points in LDAP.</p>
5628
5629 <p><blockquote><pre>
5630 add cn=nas-server,ou=auto.skole,ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
5631 objectClass: automount
5632 cn: nas-server
5633 automountInformation: -fstype=autofs --timeout=60 ldap:ou=auto.nas-server,ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
5634
5635 add ou=auto.nas-server,ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
5636 objectClass: top
5637 objectClass: automountMap
5638 ou: auto.nas-server
5639
5640 add cn=/,ou=auto.nas-server,ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
5641 objectClass: automount
5642 cn: /
5643 automountInformation: -fstype=nfs,tcp,rsize=32768,wsize=32768,rw,intr,hard,nodev,nosuid,noatime nas-server.intern:/&
5644 </pre></blockquote></p>
5645
5646 <p>The last step to remember is to mount the relevant mount points in
5647 tjener.intern by adding them to /etc/fstab, creating the mount
5648 directories using mkdir and running "mount -a" to mount them.</p>
5649
5650 <p>When this is done, your users should be able to access the files on
5651 the storage server directly by just visiting the
5652 /tjener/nas-server/storage/ directory using any application on any
5653 workstation, LTSP client or LTSP server.</p>
5654
5655       </div>
5656       <div class="tags">
5657
5658
5659         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>.
5660
5661
5662       </div>
5663     </div>
5664     <div class="padding"></div>
5665
5666     <div class="entry">
5667       <div class="title">
5668         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_home_and_release_1_0_for_netgroup_and_innetgr__aka_ng_utils_.html">New home and release 1.0 for netgroup and innetgr (aka ng-utils)</a>
5669       </div>
5670       <div class="date">
5671         22nd February 2014
5672       </div>
5673       <div class="body">
5674         <p>Many years ago, I wrote a GPL licensed version of the netgroup and
5675 innetgr tools, because I needed them in
5676 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a>.  I called the project
5677 ng-utils, and it has served me well.  I placed the project under the
5678 <a href="http://www.hungry.com/">Hungry Programmer</a> umbrella, and it was maintained in our CVS
5679 repository.  But many years ago, the CVS repository was dropped (lost,
5680 not migrated to new hardware, not sure), and the project have lacked a
5681 proper home since then.</p>
5682
5683 <p>Last summer, I had a look at the package and made a new release
5684 fixing a irritating crash bug, but was unable to store the changes in
5685 a proper source control system.  I applied for a project on
5686 <a href="https://alioth.debian.org/">Alioth</a>, but did not have time
5687 to follow up on it.  Until today. :)</p>
5688
5689 <p>After many hours of cleaning and migration, the ng-utils project
5690 now have a new home, and a git repository with the highlight of the
5691 history of the project.  I published all release tarballs and imported
5692 them into the git repository.  As the project is really stable and not
5693 expected to gain new features any time soon, I decided to make a new
5694 release and call it 1.0.  Visit the new project home on
5695 <a href="https://alioth.debian.org/projects/ng-utils/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/ng-utils/</a>
5696 if you want to check it out.  The new version is also uploaded into
5697 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/n/ng-utils.html">Debian Unstable</a>.</p>
5698
5699       </div>
5700       <div class="tags">
5701
5702
5703         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
5704
5705
5706       </div>
5707     </div>
5708     <div class="padding"></div>
5709
5710     <div class="entry">
5711       <div class="title">
5712         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Testing_sysvinit_from_experimental_in_Debian_Hurd.html">Testing sysvinit from experimental in Debian Hurd</a>
5713       </div>
5714       <div class="date">
5715          3rd February 2014
5716       </div>
5717       <div class="body">
5718         <p>A few days ago I decided to try to help the Hurd people to get
5719 their changes into sysvinit, to allow them to use the normal sysvinit
5720 boot system instead of their old one.  This follow up on the
5721 <a href="https://teythoon.cryptobitch.de//categories/gsoc.html">great
5722 Google Summer of Code work</a> done last summer by Justus Winter to
5723 get Debian on Hurd working more like Debian on Linux.  To get started,
5724 I downloaded a prebuilt hard disk image from
5725 <a href="http://ftp.debian-ports.org/debian-cd/hurd-i386/current/debian-hurd.img.tar.gz">http://ftp.debian-ports.org/debian-cd/hurd-i386/current/debian-hurd.img.tar.gz</a>,
5726 and started it using virt-manager.</p>
5727
5728 <p>The first think I had to do after logging in (root without any
5729 password) was to get the network operational.  I followed
5730 <a href="https://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/hurd-install">the
5731 instructions on the Debian GNU/Hurd ports page</a> and ran these
5732 commands as root to get the machine to accept a IP address from the
5733 kvm internal DHCP server:</p>
5734
5735 <p><blockquote><pre>
5736 settrans -fgap /dev/netdde /hurd/netdde
5737 kill $(ps -ef|awk '/[p]finet/ { print $2}')
5738 kill $(ps -ef|awk '/[d]evnode/ { print $2}')
5739 dhclient /dev/eth0
5740 </pre></blockquote></p>
5741
5742 <p>After this, the machine had internet connectivity, and I could
5743 upgrade it and install the sysvinit packages from experimental and
5744 enable it as the default boot system in Hurd.</p>
5745
5746 <p>But before I did that, I set a password on the root user, as ssh is
5747 running on the machine it for ssh login to work a password need to be
5748 set.  Also, note that a bug somewhere in openssh on Hurd block
5749 compression from working.  Remember to turn that off on the client
5750 side.</p>
5751
5752 <p>Run these commands as root to upgrade and test the new sysvinit
5753 stuff:</p>
5754
5755 <p><blockquote><pre>
5756 cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/experimental.list &lt;&lt;EOF
5757 deb http://http.debian.net/debian/ experimental main
5758 EOF
5759 apt-get update
5760 apt-get dist-upgrade
5761 apt-get install -t experimental initscripts sysv-rc sysvinit \
5762     sysvinit-core sysvinit-utils
5763 update-alternatives --config runsystem
5764 </pre></blockquote></p>
5765
5766 <p>To reboot after switching boot system, you have to use
5767 <tt>reboot-hurd</tt> instead of just <tt>reboot</tt>, as there is not
5768 yet a sysvinit process able to receive the signals from the normal
5769 'reboot' command.  After switching to sysvinit as the boot system,
5770 upgrading every package and rebooting, the network come up with DHCP
5771 after boot as it should, and the settrans/pkill hack mentioned at the
5772 start is no longer needed.  But for some strange reason, there are no
5773 longer any login prompt in the virtual console, so I logged in using
5774 ssh instead.
5775
5776 <p>Note that there are some race conditions in Hurd making the boot
5777 fail some times.  No idea what the cause is, but hope the Hurd porters
5778 figure it out.  At least Justus said on IRC (#debian-hurd on
5779 irc.debian.org) that they are aware of the problem.  A way to reduce
5780 the impact is to upgrade to the Hurd packages built by Justus by
5781 adding this repository to the machine:</p>
5782
5783 <p><blockquote><pre>
5784 cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hurd-ci.list &lt;&lt;EOF
5785 deb http://darnassus.sceen.net/~teythoon/hurd-ci/ sid main
5786 EOF
5787 </pre></blockquote></p>
5788
5789 <p>At the moment the prebuilt virtual machine get some packages from
5790 http://ftp.debian-ports.org/debian, because some of the packages in
5791 unstable do not yet include the required patches that are lingering in
5792 BTS.  This is the completely list of "unofficial" packages installed:</p>
5793
5794 <p><blockquote><pre>
5795 # aptitude search '?narrow(?version(CURRENT),?origin(Debian Ports))'
5796 i   emacs                   - GNU Emacs editor (metapackage)
5797 i   gdb                     - GNU Debugger
5798 i   hurd-recommended        - Miscellaneous translators
5799 i   isc-dhcp-client         - ISC DHCP client
5800 i   isc-dhcp-common         - common files used by all the isc-dhcp* packages
5801 i   libc-bin                - Embedded GNU C Library: Binaries
5802 i   libc-dev-bin            - Embedded GNU C Library: Development binaries
5803 i   libc0.3                 - Embedded GNU C Library: Shared libraries
5804 i A libc0.3-dbg             - Embedded GNU C Library: detached debugging symbols
5805 i   libc0.3-dev             - Embedded GNU C Library: Development Libraries and Hea
5806 i   multiarch-support       - Transitional package to ensure multiarch compatibilit
5807 i A x11-common              - X Window System (X.Org) infrastructure
5808 i   xorg                    - X.Org X Window System
5809 i A xserver-xorg            - X.Org X server
5810 i A xserver-xorg-input-all  - X.Org X server -- input driver metapackage
5811 #
5812 </pre></blockquote></p>
5813
5814 <p>All in all, testing hurd has been an interesting experience. :)
5815 X.org did not work out of the box and I never took the time to follow
5816 the porters instructions to fix it.  This time I was interested in the
5817 command line stuff.<p>
5818
5819       </div>
5820       <div class="tags">
5821
5822
5823         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
5824
5825
5826       </div>
5827     </div>
5828     <div class="padding"></div>
5829
5830     <div class="entry">
5831       <div class="title">
5832         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_fist_full_of_non_anonymous_Bitcoins.html">A fist full of non-anonymous Bitcoins</a>
5833       </div>
5834       <div class="date">
5835         29th January 2014
5836       </div>
5837       <div class="body">
5838         <p>Bitcoin is a incredible use of peer to peer communication and
5839 encryption, allowing direct and immediate money transfer without any
5840 central control.  It is sometimes claimed to be ideal for illegal
5841 activity, which I believe is quite a long way from the truth.  At least
5842 I would not conduct illegal money transfers using a system where the
5843 details of every transaction are kept forever.  This point is
5844 investigated in
5845 <a href="https://www.usenix.org/publications/login">USENIX ;login:</a>
5846 from December 2013, in the article
5847 "<a href="https://www.usenix.org/system/files/login/articles/03_meiklejohn-online.pdf">A
5848 Fistful of Bitcoins - Characterizing Payments Among Men with No
5849 Names</a>" by Sarah Meiklejohn, Marjori Pomarole,Grant Jordan, Kirill
5850 Levchenko, Damon McCoy, Geoffrey M. Voelker, and Stefan Savage.  They
5851 analyse the transaction log in the Bitcoin system, using it to find
5852 addresses belong to individuals and organisations and follow the flow
5853 of money from both Bitcoin theft and trades on Silk Road to where the
5854 money end up.  This is how they wrap up their article:</p>
5855
5856 <p><blockquote>
5857 <p>"To demonstrate the usefulness of this type of analysis, we turned
5858 our attention to criminal activity. In the Bitcoin economy, criminal
5859 activity can appear in a number of forms, such as dealing drugs on
5860 Silk Road or simply stealing someone else’s bitcoins. We followed the
5861 flow of bitcoins out of Silk Road (in particular, from one notorious
5862 address) and from a number of highly publicized thefts to see whether
5863 we could track the bitcoins to known services. Although some of the
5864 thieves attempted to use sophisticated mixing techniques (or possibly
5865 mix services) to obscure the flow of bitcoins, for the most part
5866 tracking the bitcoins was quite straightforward, and we ultimately saw
5867 large quantities of bitcoins flow to a variety of exchanges directly
5868 from the point of theft (or the withdrawal from Silk Road).</p>
5869
5870 <p>As acknowledged above, following stolen bitcoins to the point at
5871 which they are deposited into an exchange does not in itself identify
5872 the thief; however, it does enable further de-anonymization in the
5873 case in which certain agencies can determine (through, for example,
5874 subpoena power) the real-world owner of the account into which the
5875 stolen bitcoins were deposited.  Because such exchanges seem to serve
5876 as chokepoints into and out of the Bitcoin economy (i.e., there are
5877 few alternative ways to cash out), we conclude that using Bitcoin for
5878 money laundering or other illicit purposes does not (at least at
5879 present) seem to be particularly attractive."</p>
5880 </blockquote><p>
5881
5882 <p>These researches are not the first to analyse the Bitcoin
5883 transaction log.  The 2011 paper
5884 "<a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.4524">An Analysis of Anonymity in
5885 the Bitcoin System</A>" by Fergal Reid and Martin Harrigan is
5886 summarized like this:</p>
5887
5888 <p><blockquote>
5889 "Anonymity in Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic currency system, is a
5890 complicated issue. Within the system, users are identified by
5891 public-keys only. An attacker wishing to de-anonymize its users will
5892 attempt to construct the one-to-many mapping between users and
5893 public-keys and associate information external to the system with the
5894 users. Bitcoin tries to prevent this attack by storing the mapping of
5895 a user to his or her public-keys on that user's node only and by
5896 allowing each user to generate as many public-keys as required. In
5897 this chapter we consider the topological structure of two networks
5898 derived from Bitcoin's public transaction history. We show that the
5899 two networks have a non-trivial topological structure, provide
5900 complementary views of the Bitcoin system and have implications for
5901 anonymity. We combine these structures with external information and
5902 techniques such as context discovery and flow analysis to investigate
5903 an alleged theft of Bitcoins, which, at the time of the theft, had a
5904 market value of approximately half a million U.S. dollars."
5905 </blockquote></p>
5906
5907 <p>I hope these references can help kill the urban myth that Bitcoin
5908 is anonymous.  It isn't really a good fit for illegal activites.  Use
5909 cash if you need to stay anonymous, at least until regular DNA
5910 sampling of notes and coins become the norm. :)</p>
5911
5912 <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my
5913 activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
5914 <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
5915
5916       </div>
5917       <div class="tags">
5918
5919
5920         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/usenix">usenix</a>.
5921
5922
5923       </div>
5924     </div>
5925     <div class="padding"></div>
5926
5927     <div class="entry">
5928       <div class="title">
5929         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_chrpath_release_0_16.html">New chrpath release 0.16</a>
5930       </div>
5931       <div class="date">
5932         14th January 2014
5933       </div>
5934       <div class="body">
5935         <p><a href="http://www.coverity.com/">Coverity</a> is a nice tool to
5936 find problems in C, C++ and Java code using static source code
5937 analysis.  It can detect a lot of different problems, and is very
5938 useful to find memory and locking bugs in the error handling part of
5939 the source.  The company behind it provide
5940 <a href="https://scan.coverity.com/">check of free software projects as
5941 a community service</a>, and many hundred free software projects are
5942 already checked.  A few days ago I decided to have a closer look at
5943 the Coverity system, and discovered that the
5944 <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/">gnash</a> and
5945 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ipmitool/">ipmitool</a>
5946 projects I am involved with was already registered.  But these are
5947 fairly big, and I would also like to have a small and easy project to
5948 check, and decided to <a href="http://scan.coverity.com/projects/1179">request
5949 checking of the chrpath project</a>.  It was
5950 added to the checker and discovered seven potential defects.  Six of
5951 these were real, mostly resource "leak" when the program detected an
5952 error.  Nothing serious, as the resources would be released a fraction
5953 of a second later when the program exited because of the error, but it
5954 is nice to do it right in case the source of the program some time in
5955 the future end up in a library.  Having fixed all defects and added
5956 <a href="https://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/chrpath-devel">a
5957 mailing list for the chrpath developers</a>, I decided it was time to
5958 publish a new release.  These are the release notes:</p>
5959
5960 <p>New in 0.16 released 2014-01-14:</p>
5961
5962 <ul>
5963
5964   <li>Fixed all minor bugs discovered by Coverity.</li>
5965   <li>Updated config.sub and config.guess from the GNU project.</li>
5966   <li>Mention new project mailing list in the documentation.</li>
5967
5968 </ul>
5969
5970 <p>You can
5971 <a href="https://alioth.debian.org/frs/?group_id=31052">download the
5972 new version 0.16 from alioth</a>.  Please let us know via the Alioth
5973 project if something is wrong with the new release.  The test suite
5974 did not discover any old errors, so if you find a new one, please also
5975 include a test suite check.</p>
5976
5977       </div>
5978       <div class="tags">
5979
5980
5981         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/chrpath">chrpath</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
5982
5983
5984       </div>
5985     </div>
5986     <div class="padding"></div>
5987
5988     <div class="entry">
5989       <div class="title">
5990         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Dominik_George.html">Debian Edu interview: Dominik George</a>
5991       </div>
5992       <div class="date">
5993         25th December 2013
5994       </div>
5995       <div class="body">
5996         <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux
5997 project</a> consist of both newcomers and old timers, and this time I
5998 was able to get an interview with a newcomer in the project who showed
5999 up on the IRC channel a few weeks ago to let us know about his
6000 successful installation of Debian Edu Wheezy in his School.  Say hello
6001 to <a href="https://www.ohloh.net/accounts/Natureshadow">Dominik
6002 George</a>.</p>
6003
6004 <!-- http://www.dominik-george.de/images/foto.jpg -->
6005
6006 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
6007
6008 <p>I am a 23 year-old student from Germany who has spent half of his
6009 life with open source. In "real life", I am, as already mentioned, a
6010 student in the fields of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering,
6011 Information Technologies and Anglistics. Due to my (only partially
6012 voluntary) huge engagement in the open source world, these things are
6013 a bit vacant right now however.</p>
6014
6015 <p>I also have been working as a project teacher at a Gymasnium
6016 (public school) for various years now. I took up that work some time
6017 around 2005 when still attending that school myself and have continued
6018 it until today. I also had been running the (kind of very advanced)
6019 network of that school together with a team of very interested and
6020 talented students in the age of 11 to 15 years, who took the chance to
6021 learn a lot about open source and networking before I left the school
6022 to help building another school's informational education concept from
6023 scratch.</p>
6024
6025 <p>That said, one might see me as a kind of "glue" between school kids
6026 and the elderly of teachers as well as between the open source
6027 ecosystem and the (even more complex) educational ecosystem.</p>
6028
6029 <p>When I am not busy with open source or education, I like Geocaching
6030 and cycling.</p>
6031
6032 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
6033 project?</strong></p>
6034
6035 <p>I think that happened some time around 2009 when I first attended
6036 <a href="http://www.froscon.org">FrOSCon</a> and visited the project
6037 booth. I think I wasn't too interested back then because I used to
6038 have an attitude of disliking software that does too much stuff on its
6039 own. Maybe I was too inexperienced to realise the upsides of an
6040 "out-of-the-box" solution ;).</p>
6041
6042 <p>The first time I actively talked to Skolelinux people was at
6043 <a href="http://www.openrheinruhr.de">OpenRheinRuhr</a> 2011 when the
6044 BiscuIT project, a home-grewn software used by my school for various
6045 really cool things from timetables and class contact lists to lunch
6046 ordering, student ID card printing and project elections first got to
6047 a stage where it could have been published. I asked the Skolelinux
6048 guys running the booth if the project were interested in it and gave a
6049 small demonstration, but there wasn't any real feedback and the guys
6050 seemed rather uninterested.</p>
6051
6052 <p>After I left the school where I developed the software, it got
6053 mostly lost, but I am now reimplementing it for my new school. I have
6054 reusability and compatibility in mind, and I hop there will be a new
6055 basis for contributing it to the Skolelinux project ;)!</p>
6056
6057 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian
6058 Edu?</strong></p>
6059
6060 <p>The most important advantage seems to be that it "just
6061 works". After overcoming some minor (but still very annoying) glitches
6062 in the installer, I got a fully functional, working school network,
6063 without the month-long hassle I experienced when setting all that up
6064 from scratch in earlier years. And above that, it rocked - I didn't
6065 have any real hardware at hand, because the school was just founded
6066 and has no money whatsoever, so I installed a combined server (main
6067 server, terminal services and workstation) in a VM on my personal
6068 notebook, bridging the LTSP network interface to the ethernet port,
6069 and then PXE-booted the Windows notebooks that were lying around from
6070 it. I could use 8 clients without any performance issues, by using a
6071 tiny little VM on a tiny little notebook. I think that's enough to say
6072 that it rocks!</p>
6073
6074 <p>Secondly, there are marketing reasons. Life's bad, and so no
6075 politician will ever permit a setup described as "Debian, an universal
6076 operating system, with some really cool educational tools" while they
6077 will be jsut fine with "Skolelinux, a single-purpose solution for your
6078 school network", even if both turn out to be the very same thing (yes,
6079 this is unfair towards the Skolelinux project, and must not be taken
6080 too seriously - you get the idea, anyway).</p>
6081
6082 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
6083 Edu?</strong></p>
6084
6085 <p>I have not been involved with Skolelinux long enough to really
6086 answer this question in a fair way. Thus, please allow me to put it in
6087 other words: "What do you expect from Skolelinux to keep liking it?" I
6088 can list a few points about that:</p>
6089
6090 <ul>
6091
6092  <li>always strive to get all things integrated into Debian upstream
6093  <li>be open to discussion about changes and the like, even with newcomers
6094  <li>be helpful at being helpful ;)
6095
6096 </ul>
6097
6098 <p>I'm really sorry I cannot say much more about that :(!</p>
6099
6100 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
6101
6102 <p>First of all, all software I use is free and open. I have abandoned
6103 all non-free software (except for firmware on my darned phone) this
6104 year.</p>
6105
6106 <p>I run Debian GNU/Linux on all PC systems I use. On that, I mostly
6107 run text tools. I use
6108 <a href="https://www.mirbsd.org/mksh.htm">mksh</a> as shell,
6109 <a href="https://www.mirbsd.org/jupp.htm">jupp</a> as very advanced
6110 text editor (I even got the developer to help me write a script/macro
6111 based full-featured student management software with the two),
6112 <a href="http://mcabber.com/">mcabber</a> for XMPP and
6113 <a href="http://www.irssi.org/">irssi</a> for IRC. For that overly
6114 coloured world called the WWW, I use
6115 <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/">Iceweasel
6116 (Firefox)</a>. Oh, and <a href="http://www.mutt.org/">mutt</a> for
6117 e-mail.</p>
6118
6119 <p>However, while I am personally aware of the fact that text tools
6120 are more efficient and powerful than anything else, I also use (or at
6121 least operate) some tools that are suitable to bring open source to
6122 kids. One of these things is <a href="http://jappix.org/">Jappix</a>,
6123 which I already introduced to some kids even before they got aware of
6124 Facebook, making them see for themselves that they do not need
6125 Facebook now ;).</p>
6126
6127 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
6128 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
6129
6130 <p>Well, that's a two-sided thing. One side is what I believe, and one
6131 side is what I have experienced.</p>
6132
6133 <p>I believe that the right strategy is showing them the benefits. But
6134 that won't work out as long as the acceptance of free alternatives
6135 grows globally. What I mean is that if all the kids are almost forced
6136 to use Windows, Facebook, Skype, you name it at home, they will not
6137 see why they would want to use alternatives at school. I have seen
6138 students take seat in front of a fully-functional, modern Debian
6139 desktop that could do anything their Windows at home could do, and
6140 they jsut refused to use it because "Linux sucks". It is something
6141 that makes the council of our city spend around 600000 € to buy
6142 software - not including hardware, mind you - for operating school
6143 networks, and for installing a system that, as has been proved, does
6144 not work. For those of you readers who are good at maths, have you
6145 already found out how many lives could have been saved with that money
6146 if we had instead used it to bring education to parts of the world
6147 that need it? I have, and found it to be nothing less dramatic than
6148 plain criminal.</p>
6149
6150 <p>That said, the only feasible way appears to be the bottom up
6151 method. We have to bring free software to kids and parents. I have
6152 founded an association named
6153 <a href="https://www.teckids.org">Teckids</a> here in Germany that does
6154 just that. We organise several events for kids and adolescents in the
6155 area of free and open source software, for example the
6156 <a href="http://kids.froscon.org">FrogLabs</a>, which share staff with
6157 Teckids and are the youth programme of
6158 <a href="http://www.froscon.org">the Free and Open Source Software
6159 Conference (FrOSCon)</a>. We do a lot more than most other conferences
6160 - this year, we first offered the FrogLabs as a holiday camp for kids
6161 aged 10 to 16. It was a huge success, with approx. 30 kids taking part
6162 and learning with and about free software through a whole weekend. All
6163 of us had a lot of fun, and the results were really exciting.</p>
6164
6165 <p>Apart from that, we are preparing a campaign that is supposed to bring
6166 the message of free alternatives to stuff kids use every day to them and
6167 their parents, e.g. the use of Jabber / Jappix instead of Facebook and
6168 Skype. To make that possible, we are planning to get together a team of
6169 clever kids who understand very well what their peers need and can bring
6170 it across to them. So we will have a peer-driven network of adolescents
6171 who teach each other and collect feedback from the community of minors.
6172 We then take that feedback and our own experience to work closely with
6173 open source projects, such as Skolelinux or Jappix, at improving their
6174 software in a way that makes it more and more attractive for the target
6175 group. At least I hope that we will have good cooperation with
6176 Skolelinux in the future ;)!</p>
6177
6178 <p>So in conclusion, what I believe is that, if it weren't for the world
6179 being so bad, it should be very clear to the political decision makers
6180 that the only way to go nowadays is free software for various reasons,
6181 but I have learnt that the only way that seems to work is bottom up.</p>
6182
6183 <!--
6184
6185 >  * Who should be interviewed with this questions in the future?
6186
6187 That's probably the hardest question of them all, as I do not know the
6188 community. However, I would be willing to do the following:
6189
6190  <li>Run an interview with a German headteacher who is very open to
6191    free software, and also prefers it, but cannot really use it because
6192    of the decision makers above;
6193  <li>Run interviews with some kids, both with and without previous
6194    knowledge about free software
6195
6196 If that is wanted, just let me know ;).
6197
6198 -->
6199
6200       </div>
6201       <div class="tags">
6202
6203
6204         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
6205
6206
6207       </div>
6208     </div>
6209     <div class="padding"></div>
6210
6211     <div class="entry">
6212       <div class="title">
6213         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Klaus_Knopper.html">Debian Edu interview: Klaus Knopper</a>
6214       </div>
6215       <div class="date">
6216          6th December 2013
6217       </div>
6218       <div class="body">
6219         <p>It has been a while since I managed to publish the last interview,
6220 but the <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
6221 Skolelinux</a> community is still going strong, and yesterday we even
6222 had a new school administrator show up on
6223 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/#debian-edu">#debian-edu</a> to share
6224 his success story with installing Debian Edu at their school.  This
6225 time I have been able to get some helpful comments from the creator of
6226 Knoppix, Klaus Knopper, who was involved in a Skolelinux project in
6227 Germany a few years ago.</p>
6228
6229 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
6230
6231 <p>I am Klaus Knopper.  I have a master degree in electrical
6232 engineering, and is currently professor in information management at
6233 the university of applied sciences Kaiserslautern / Germany and
6234 freelance Open Source software developer and consultant.</p>
6235
6236 <p>All of this is pretty much of the work I spend my days with. Apart
6237 from teaching, I'm also conducting some more or less experimental
6238 projects like the <a href="http://www.knoppix.org">Knoppix GNU/Linux live
6239 system</a> (Debian-based like Skolelinux),
6240 <a href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-adriane/index-en.html">ADRIANE</a>
6241 (a blind-friendly talking desktop system) and
6242 <a href="http://www.knopper.net/linbo/index-en.html">LINBO</a>
6243 (Linux-based network boot console, a fast remote install and repair
6244 system supporting various operating systems).</p>
6245
6246 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
6247 project?</strong></p>
6248
6249 <p>The credit for this have to go to Kurt Gramlich, who is the German
6250 coordinator for Skolelinux.  We were looking for an all-in-one open
6251 source community-supported distribution for schools, and Kurt
6252 introduced us to Skolelinux for this purpose.</p>
6253
6254 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian
6255 Edu?</strong></p>
6256
6257 <ul>
6258   <li>Quick installation,</li>
6259   <li>works (almost) out of the box,</li>
6260   <li>contains many useful software packages for teaching and learning,</li>
6261   <li>is a purely community-based distro and not controlled by a
6262     single company,</li>
6263   <li>has a large number of supporters and teachers who share their
6264     experience and problem solutions.</li>
6265 </ul>
6266
6267 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
6268 Edu?</strong></p>
6269
6270 <ul>
6271   <li>Skolelinux is - as we had to learn - not easily upgradable to
6272   the next version.  Opposed to its genuine Debian base, upgrading to
6273   a new version means a full new installation from scratch to get it
6274   working again reliably.
6275
6276   <li>Skolelinux is based on Debian/stable, and therefore always a
6277   little outdated in terms of program versions compared to Edubuntu or
6278   similar educational Linux distros, which rather use Debian/testing
6279   as their base.
6280
6281   <li>Skolelinux has some very self-opinionated and stubborn default
6282   configuration which in my opinion adds unnecessary complexity and is
6283   not always suitable for a schools needs, the preset network
6284   configuration is actually a core definition feature of Skolelinux
6285   and not easy to change, so schools sometimes have to change their
6286   network configuration to make it "Skolelinux-compatible".
6287
6288   <li>Some proposed extensions, which were made available as
6289   contribution, like secure examination mode and lecture material
6290   distribution and collection, were not accepted into the mainline
6291   Skolelinux development and are now not easy to maintain in the
6292   future because of Skolelinux somewhat undeterministic update
6293   schemes.</li>
6294
6295   <li>Skolelinux has only a very tiny number of base developers
6296   compared to Debian.</li>
6297
6298 </ul>
6299
6300 <p>For these reasons and experience from our project, I would now
6301 rather consider using plain Debian for schools next time, until
6302 Skolelinux is more closely integrated into Debian and becomes
6303 upgradeable without reinstallation.</p>
6304
6305 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
6306
6307 <p>GNU/Linux with LXDE desktop, bash for interactive dialog and
6308 programming, texlive for documentation and correspondence,
6309 occasionally LibreOffice for document format conversion. Various
6310 programming languages for teaching.</p>
6311
6312 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
6313 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
6314
6315 <p>Strong arguments are</p>
6316
6317 <ul>
6318
6319   <li>Knowledge is free, and so should be methods and tools for
6320     teaching and learning.</li>
6321
6322   <li>Students can learn with and use the same software at school, at
6323     home, and at their working place without running into license or
6324     conversion problems.</li>
6325
6326   <li>Closed source or proprietary software hides knowledge rather
6327     than exposing it, and proprietary software vendors try to bind
6328     customers to certain products.  But teachers need to teach
6329     science, not products.</li>
6330
6331   <li>If you have everything you for daily work as open source, what
6332     would you need proprietary software for?</li>
6333
6334 </ul>
6335
6336       </div>
6337       <div class="tags">
6338
6339
6340         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
6341
6342
6343       </div>
6344     </div>
6345     <div class="padding"></div>
6346
6347     <div class="entry">
6348       <div class="title">
6349         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnadsnett_for_alle__a_wireless_community_network_in_Oslo__take_shape.html">Dugnadsnett for alle, a wireless community network in Oslo, take shape</a>
6350       </div>
6351       <div class="date">
6352         30th November 2013
6353       </div>
6354       <div class="body">
6355         <p>If you want the ability to electronically communicate directly with
6356 your neighbors and friends using a network controlled by your peers in
6357 stead of centrally controlled by a few corporations, or would like to
6358 experiment with interesting network technology, the
6359 <a href="http://www.dugnadsnett.no/">Dugnasnett for alle i Oslo</a>
6360 might be project for you.  39 mesh nodes are currently being planned,
6361 in the freshly started initiative from NUUG and Hackeriet to create a
6362 wireless community network.  The work is inspired by
6363 <a href="http://freifunk.net/">Freifunk</a>,
6364 <a href="http://www.awmn.net/">Athens Wireless Metropolitan
6365 Network</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roofnet">Roofnet</a>
6366 and other successful mesh networks around the globe.  Two days ago we
6367 held a workshop to try to get people started on setting up their own
6368 mesh node, and there we decided to create a new mailing list
6369 <a href="http://lists.nuug.no/mailman/listinfo/dugnadsnett">dugnadsnett
6370 (at) nuug.no</a> and IRC channel
6371 <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/#dugnadsnett.no">#dugnadsnett.no</a> to
6372 coordinate the work.  See also the NUUG blog post
6373 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/E_postliste_og_IRC_kanal_for_Dugnadsnett_for_alle_i_Oslo.shtml">announcing
6374 the mailing list and IRC channel</a>.</p>
6375
6376       </div>
6377       <div class="tags">
6378
6379
6380         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/mesh network">mesh network</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
6381
6382
6383       </div>
6384     </div>
6385     <div class="padding"></div>
6386
6387     <div class="entry">
6388       <div class="title">
6389         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_chrpath_release_0_15.html">New chrpath release 0.15</a>
6390       </div>
6391       <div class="date">
6392         24th November 2013
6393       </div>
6394       <div class="body">
6395         <p>After many years break from the package and a vain hope that
6396 development would be continued by someone else, I finally pulled my
6397 acts together this morning and wrapped up a new release of chrpath,
6398 the command line tool to modify the rpath and runpath of already
6399 compiled ELF programs.  The update was triggered by the persistence of
6400 Isha Vishnoi at IBM, which needed a new config.guess file to get
6401 support for the ppc64le architecture (powerpc 64-bit Little Endian) he
6402 is working on.  I checked the
6403 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/chrpath">Debian</a>,
6404 <a href="https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/chrpath">Ubuntu</a> and
6405 <a href="https://admin.fedoraproject.org/pkgdb/acls/name/chrpath">Fedora</a>
6406 packages for interesting patches (failed to find the source from
6407 OpenSUSE and Mandriva packages), and found quite a few nice fixes.
6408 These are the release notes:</p>
6409
6410 <p>New in 0.15 released 2013-11-24:</p>
6411
6412 <ul>
6413
6414   <li>Updated config.sub and config.guess from the GNU project to work
6415    with newer architectures.  Thanks to isha vishnoi for the heads
6416    up.</li>
6417
6418   <li>Updated README with current URLs.</li>
6419
6420   <li>Added byteswap fix found in Ubuntu, credited Jeremy Kerr and
6421    Matthias Klose.</li>
6422
6423   <li>Added missing help for -k|--keepgoing option, using patch by
6424    Petr Machata found in Fedora.</li>
6425
6426   <li>Rewrite removal of RPATH/RUNPATH to make sure the entry in
6427    .dynamic is a NULL terminated string.  Based on patch found in
6428    Fedora credited Axel Thimm and Christian Krause.</li>
6429
6430 </ul>
6431
6432 <p>You can
6433 <a href="https://alioth.debian.org/frs/?group_id=31052">download the
6434 new version 0.15 from alioth</a>.  Please let us know via the Alioth
6435 project if something is wrong with the new release.  The test suite
6436 did not discover any old errors, so if you find a new one, please also
6437 include a testsuite check.</p>
6438
6439       </div>
6440       <div class="tags">
6441
6442
6443         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/chrpath">chrpath</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
6444
6445
6446       </div>
6447     </div>
6448     <div class="padding"></div>
6449
6450     <div class="entry">
6451       <div class="title">
6452         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/All_drones_should_be_radio_marked_with_what_they_do_and_who_they_belong_to.html">All drones should be radio marked with what they do and who they belong to</a>
6453       </div>
6454       <div class="date">
6455         21st November 2013
6456       </div>
6457       <div class="body">
6458         <p>Drones, flying robots, are getting more and more popular.  The most
6459 know ones are the killer drones used by some government to murder
6460 people they do not like without giving them the chance of a fair
6461 trial, but the technology have many good uses too, from mapping and
6462 forest maintenance to photography and search and rescue.  I am sure it
6463 is just a question of time before "bad drones" are in the hands of
6464 private enterprises and not only state criminals but petty criminals
6465 too.  The drone technology is very useful and very dangerous.  To have
6466 some control over the use of drones, I agree with Daniel Suarez in his
6467 TED talk
6468 "<a href="https://archive.org/details/DanielSuarez_2013G">The kill
6469 decision shouldn't belong to a robot</a>", where he suggested this
6470 little gem to keep the good while limiting the bad use of drones:</p>
6471
6472 <blockquote>
6473
6474 <p>Each robot and drone should have a cryptographically signed
6475 I.D. burned in at the factory that can be used to track its movement
6476 through public spaces. We have license plates on cars, tail numbers on
6477 aircraft. This is no different. And every citizen should be able to
6478 download an app that shows the population of drones and autonomous
6479 vehicles moving through public spaces around them, both right now and
6480 historically. And civic leaders should deploy sensors and civic drones
6481 to detect rogue drones, and instead of sending killer drones of their
6482 own up to shoot them down, they should notify humans to their
6483 presence. And in certain very high-security areas, perhaps civic
6484 drones would snare them and drag them off to a bomb disposal facility.</p>
6485
6486 <p>But notice, this is more an immune system than a weapons system. It
6487 would allow us to avail ourselves of the use of autonomous vehicles
6488 and drones while still preserving our open, civil society.</p>
6489
6490 </blockquote>
6491
6492 <p>The key is that <em>every citizen</em> should be able to read the
6493 radio beacons sent from the drones in the area, to be able to check
6494 both the government and others use of drones.  For such control to be
6495 effective, everyone must be able to do it.  What should such beacon
6496 contain?  At least formal owner, purpose, contact information and GPS
6497 location.  Probably also the origin and target position of the current
6498 flight.  And perhaps some registration number to be able to look up
6499 the drone in a central database tracking their movement.  Robots
6500 should not have privacy.  It is people who need privacy.</p>
6501
6502       </div>
6503       <div class="tags">
6504
6505
6506         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
6507
6508
6509       </div>
6510     </div>
6511     <div class="padding"></div>
6512
6513     <div class="entry">
6514       <div class="title">
6515         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_a_wireless_community_network_in_Oslo_.html">Lets make a wireless community network in Oslo!</a>
6516       </div>
6517       <div class="date">
6518         13th November 2013
6519       </div>
6520       <div class="body">
6521         <p>Today NUUG and Hackeriet announced
6522 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Bli_med___bygge_dugnadsnett_for_alle_i_Oslo.shtml">our
6523 plans to join forces and create a wireless community network in
6524 Oslo</a>.  The workshop to help people get started will take place
6525 Thursday 2013-11-28, but we already are collecting the geolocation of
6526 people joining forces to make this happen.  We have
6527 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/meshfx-node/blob/master/oslo-nodes.geojson">9
6528 locations plotted on the map</a>, but we will need more before we have
6529 a connected mesh spread across Oslo.  If this sound interesting to
6530 you, please join us at the workshop.  If you are too impatient to wait
6531 15 days, please join us on the IRC channel
6532 <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/%23nuug">#nuug on irc.freenode.net</a>
6533 right away. :)</p>
6534
6535       </div>
6536       <div class="tags">
6537
6538
6539         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/mesh network">mesh network</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
6540
6541
6542       </div>
6543     </div>
6544     <div class="padding"></div>
6545
6546     <div class="entry">
6547       <div class="title">
6548         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Running_TP_Link_MR3040_as_a_batman_adv_mesh_node_using_openwrt.html">Running TP-Link MR3040 as a batman-adv mesh node using openwrt</a>
6549       </div>
6550       <div class="date">
6551         10th November 2013
6552       </div>
6553       <div class="body">
6554         <p>Continuing my research into mesh networking, I was recommended to
6555 use TP-Link 3040 and 3600 access points as mesh nodes, and the pair I
6556 bought arrived on Friday.  Here are my notes on how to set up the
6557 MR3040 as a mesh node using
6558 <a href="http://www.openwrt.org/">OpenWrt</a>.</p>
6559
6560 <p>I started by following the instructions on the OpenWRT wiki for
6561 <a href="http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-mr3040">TL-MR3040</a>,
6562 and downloaded
6563 <a href="http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3040-v2-squashfs-factory.bin">the
6564 recommended firmware image</a>
6565 (openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-mr3040-v2-squashfs-factory.bin) and
6566 uploaded it into the original web interface.  The flashing went fine,
6567 and the machine was available via telnet on the ethernet port.  After
6568 logging in and setting the root password, ssh was available and I
6569 could start to set it up as a batman-adv mesh node.</p>
6570
6571 <p>I started off by reading the instructions from
6572 <a href="http://wirelessafrica.meraka.org.za/wiki/index.php?title=Antoine's_Research">Wireless
6573 Africa</a>, which had quite a lot of useful information, but
6574 eventually I followed the recipe from the Open Mesh wiki for
6575 <a href="http://www.open-mesh.org/projects/batman-adv/wiki/Batman-adv-openwrt-config">using
6576 batman-adv on OpenWrt</a>.  A small snag was the fact that the
6577 <tt>opkg install kmod-batman-adv</tt> command did not work as it
6578 should.  The batman-adv kernel module would fail to load because its
6579 dependency crc16 was not already loaded.  I
6580 <a href="https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/14452">reported the bug</a> to
6581 the openwrt project and hope it will be fixed soon.  But the problem
6582 only seem to affect initial testing of batman-adv, as configuration
6583 seem to work when booting from scratch.</p>
6584
6585 <p>The setup is done using files in /etc/config/.  I did not bridge
6586 the Ethernet and mesh interfaces this time, to be able to hook up the
6587 box on my local network and log into it for configuration updates.
6588 The following files were changed and look like this after modifying
6589 them:</p>
6590
6591 <p><tt>/etc/config/network</tt></p>
6592
6593 <pre>
6594
6595 config interface 'loopback'
6596         option ifname 'lo'
6597         option proto 'static'
6598         option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
6599         option netmask '255.0.0.0'
6600
6601 config globals 'globals'
6602         option ula_prefix 'fdbf:4c12:3fed::/48'
6603
6604 config interface 'lan'
6605         option ifname 'eth0'
6606         option type 'bridge'
6607         option proto 'dhcp'
6608         option ipaddr '192.168.1.1'
6609         option netmask '255.255.255.0'
6610         option hostname 'tl-mr3040'
6611         option ip6assign '60'
6612
6613 config interface 'mesh'
6614         option ifname 'adhoc0'
6615         option mtu '1528'
6616         option proto 'batadv'
6617         option mesh 'bat0'
6618 </pre>
6619
6620 <p><tt>/etc/config/wireless</tt></p>
6621 <pre>
6622
6623 config wifi-device 'radio0'
6624         option type 'mac80211'
6625         option channel '11'
6626         option hwmode '11ng'
6627         option path 'platform/ar933x_wmac'
6628         option htmode 'HT20'
6629         list ht_capab 'SHORT-GI-20'
6630         list ht_capab 'SHORT-GI-40'
6631         list ht_capab 'RX-STBC1'
6632         list ht_capab 'DSSS_CCK-40'
6633         option disabled '0'
6634
6635 config wifi-iface 'wmesh'
6636         option device 'radio0'
6637         option ifname 'adhoc0'
6638         option network 'mesh'
6639         option encryption 'none'
6640         option mode 'adhoc'
6641         option bssid '02:BA:00:00:00:01'
6642         option ssid 'meshfx@hackeriet'
6643 </pre>
6644 <p><tt>/etc/config/batman-adv</tt></p>
6645 <pre>
6646
6647 config 'mesh' 'bat0'
6648         option interfaces 'adhoc0'
6649         option 'aggregated_ogms'
6650         option 'ap_isolation'
6651         option 'bonding'
6652         option 'fragmentation'
6653         option 'gw_bandwidth'
6654         option 'gw_mode'
6655         option 'gw_sel_class'
6656         option 'log_level'
6657         option 'orig_interval'
6658         option 'vis_mode'
6659         option 'bridge_loop_avoidance'
6660         option 'distributed_arp_table'
6661         option 'network_coding'
6662         option 'hop_penalty'
6663
6664 # yet another batX instance
6665 # config 'mesh' 'bat5'
6666 #       option 'interfaces' 'second_mesh'
6667 </pre>
6668
6669 <p>The mesh node is now operational.  I have yet to test its range,
6670 but I hope it is good.  I have not yet tested the TP-Link 3600 box
6671 still wrapped up in plastic.</p>
6672
6673       </div>
6674       <div class="tags">
6675
6676
6677         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/mesh network">mesh network</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
6678
6679
6680       </div>
6681     </div>
6682     <div class="padding"></div>
6683
6684     <div class="entry">
6685       <div class="title">
6686         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_init_d_boot_script_example_for_rsyslog.html">Debian init.d boot script example for rsyslog</a>
6687       </div>
6688       <div class="date">
6689          2nd November 2013
6690       </div>
6691       <div class="body">
6692         <p>If one of the points of switching to a new init system in Debian is
6693 <a href="http://thomas.goirand.fr/blog/?p=147">to get rid of huge
6694 init.d scripts</a>, I doubt we need to switch away from sysvinit and
6695 init.d scripts at all.  Here is an example init.d script, ie a rewrite
6696 of /etc/init.d/rsyslog:</p>
6697
6698 <p><pre>
6699 #!/lib/init/init-d-script
6700 ### BEGIN INIT INFO
6701 # Provides:          rsyslog
6702 # Required-Start:    $remote_fs $time
6703 # Required-Stop:     umountnfs $time
6704 # X-Stop-After:      sendsigs
6705 # Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
6706 # Default-Stop:      0 1 6
6707 # Short-Description: enhanced syslogd
6708 # Description:       Rsyslog is an enhanced multi-threaded syslogd.
6709 #                    It is quite compatible to stock sysklogd and can be
6710 #                    used as a drop-in replacement.
6711 ### END INIT INFO
6712 DESC="enhanced syslogd"
6713 DAEMON=/usr/sbin/rsyslogd
6714 </pre></p>
6715
6716 <p>Pretty minimalistic to me... For the record, the original sysv-rc
6717 script was 137 lines, and the above is just 15 lines, most of it meta
6718 info/comments.</p>
6719
6720 <p>How to do this, you ask?  Well, one create a new script
6721 /lib/init/init-d-script looking something like this:
6722
6723 <p><pre>
6724 #!/bin/sh
6725
6726 # Define LSB log_* functions.
6727 # Depend on lsb-base (>= 3.2-14) to ensure that this file is present
6728 # and status_of_proc is working.
6729 . /lib/lsb/init-functions
6730
6731 #
6732 # Function that starts the daemon/service
6733
6734 #
6735 do_start()
6736 {
6737         # Return
6738         #   0 if daemon has been started
6739         #   1 if daemon was already running
6740         #   2 if daemon could not be started
6741         start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON --test > /dev/null \
6742                 || return 1
6743         start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON -- \
6744                 $DAEMON_ARGS \
6745                 || return 2
6746         # Add code here, if necessary, that waits for the process to be ready
6747         # to handle requests from services started subsequently which depend
6748         # on this one.  As a last resort, sleep for some time.
6749 }
6750
6751 #
6752 # Function that stops the daemon/service
6753 #
6754 do_stop()
6755 {
6756         # Return
6757         #   0 if daemon has been stopped
6758         #   1 if daemon was already stopped
6759         #   2 if daemon could not be stopped
6760         #   other if a failure occurred
6761         start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --retry=TERM/30/KILL/5 --pidfile $PIDFILE --name $NAME
6762         RETVAL="$?"
6763         [ "$RETVAL" = 2 ] && return 2
6764         # Wait for children to finish too if this is a daemon that forks
6765         # and if the daemon is only ever run from this initscript.
6766         # If the above conditions are not satisfied then add some other code
6767         # that waits for the process to drop all resources that could be
6768         # needed by services started subsequently.  A last resort is to
6769         # sleep for some time.
6770         start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --oknodo --retry=0/30/KILL/5 --exec $DAEMON
6771         [ "$?" = 2 ] && return 2
6772         # Many daemons don't delete their pidfiles when they exit.
6773         rm -f $PIDFILE
6774         return "$RETVAL"
6775 }
6776
6777 #
6778 # Function that sends a SIGHUP to the daemon/service
6779 #
6780 do_reload() {
6781         #
6782         # If the daemon can reload its configuration without
6783         # restarting (for example, when it is sent a SIGHUP),
6784         # then implement that here.
6785         #
6786         start-stop-daemon --stop --signal 1 --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --name $NAME
6787         return 0
6788 }
6789
6790 SCRIPTNAME=$1
6791 scriptbasename="$(basename $1)"
6792 echo "SN: $scriptbasename"
6793 if [ "$scriptbasename" != "init-d-library" ] ; then
6794     script="$1"
6795     shift
6796     . $script
6797 else
6798     exit 0
6799 fi
6800
6801 NAME=$(basename $DAEMON)
6802 PIDFILE=/var/run/$NAME.pid
6803
6804 # Exit if the package is not installed
6805 #[ -x "$DAEMON" ] || exit 0
6806
6807 # Read configuration variable file if it is present
6808 [ -r /etc/default/$NAME ] && . /etc/default/$NAME
6809
6810 # Load the VERBOSE setting and other rcS variables
6811 . /lib/init/vars.sh
6812
6813 case "$1" in
6814   start)
6815         [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg "Starting $DESC" "$NAME"
6816         do_start
6817         case "$?" in
6818                 0|1) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 0 ;;
6819                 2) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 1 ;;
6820         esac
6821         ;;
6822   stop)
6823         [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg "Stopping $DESC" "$NAME"
6824         do_stop
6825         case "$?" in
6826                 0|1) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 0 ;;
6827                 2) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 1 ;;
6828         esac
6829         ;;
6830   status)
6831         status_of_proc "$DAEMON" "$NAME" && exit 0 || exit $?
6832         ;;
6833   #reload|force-reload)
6834         #
6835         # If do_reload() is not implemented then leave this commented out
6836         # and leave 'force-reload' as an alias for 'restart'.
6837         #
6838         #log_daemon_msg "Reloading $DESC" "$NAME"
6839         #do_reload
6840         #log_end_msg $?
6841         #;;
6842   restart|force-reload)
6843         #
6844         # If the "reload" option is implemented then remove the
6845         # 'force-reload' alias
6846         #
6847         log_daemon_msg "Restarting $DESC" "$NAME"
6848         do_stop
6849         case "$?" in
6850           0|1)
6851                 do_start
6852                 case "$?" in
6853                         0) log_end_msg 0 ;;
6854                         1) log_end_msg 1 ;; # Old process is still running
6855                         *) log_end_msg 1 ;; # Failed to start
6856                 esac
6857                 ;;
6858           *)
6859                 # Failed to stop
6860                 log_end_msg 1
6861                 ;;
6862         esac
6863         ;;
6864   *)
6865         echo "Usage: $SCRIPTNAME {start|stop|status|restart|force-reload}" >&2
6866         exit 3
6867         ;;
6868 esac
6869
6870 :
6871 </pre></p>
6872
6873 <p>It is based on /etc/init.d/skeleton, and could be improved quite a
6874 lot.  I did not really polish the approach, so it might not always
6875 work out of the box, but you get the idea.  I did not try very hard to
6876 optimize it nor make it more robust either.</p>
6877
6878 <p>A better argument for switching init system in Debian than reducing
6879 the size of init scripts (which is a good thing to do anyway), is to
6880 get boot system that is able to handle the kernel events sensibly and
6881 robustly, and do not depend on the boot to run sequentially.  The boot
6882 and the kernel have not behaved sequentially in years.</p>
6883
6884       </div>
6885       <div class="tags">
6886
6887
6888         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
6889
6890
6891       </div>
6892     </div>
6893     <div class="padding"></div>
6894
6895     <div class="entry">
6896       <div class="title">
6897         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Browser_plugin_for_SPICE__spice_xpi__uploaded_to_Debian.html">Browser plugin for SPICE (spice-xpi) uploaded to Debian</a>
6898       </div>
6899       <div class="date">
6900          1st November 2013
6901       </div>
6902       <div class="body">
6903         <p><a href="http://www.spice-space.org/">The SPICE protocol</a> for
6904 remote display access is the preferred solution with oVirt and RedHat
6905 Enterprise Virtualization, and I was sad to discover the other day
6906 that the browser plugin needed to use these systems seamlessly was
6907 missing in Debian.  The <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/668284">request
6908 for a package</a> was from 2012-04-10 with no progress since
6909 2013-04-01, so I decided to wrap up a package based on the great work
6910 from Cajus Pollmeier and put it in a collab-maint maintained git
6911 repository to get a package I could use.  I would very much like
6912 others to help me maintain the package (or just take over, I do not
6913 mind), but as no-one had volunteered so far, I just uploaded it to
6914 NEW.  I hope it will be available in Debian in a few days.</p>
6915
6916 <p>The source is now available from
6917 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/spice-xpi.git;a=summary">http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/spice-xpi.git;a=summary</a>.</p>
6918
6919       </div>
6920       <div class="tags">
6921
6922
6923         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
6924
6925
6926       </div>
6927     </div>
6928     <div class="padding"></div>
6929
6930     <div class="entry">
6931       <div class="title">
6932         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Teaching_vmdebootstrap_to_create_Raspberry_Pi_SD_card_images.html">Teaching vmdebootstrap to create Raspberry Pi SD card images</a>
6933       </div>
6934       <div class="date">
6935         27th October 2013
6936       </div>
6937       <div class="body">
6938         <p>The
6939 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/v/vmdebootstrap.html">vmdebootstrap</a>
6940 program is a a very nice system to create virtual machine images.  It
6941 create a image file, add a partition table, mount it and run
6942 debootstrap in the mounted directory to create a Debian system on a
6943 stick.  Yesterday, I decided to try to teach it how to make images for
6944 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/RaspberryPi">Raspberry Pi</a>, as part
6945 of a plan to simplify the build system for
6946 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">the FreedomBox
6947 project</a>.  The FreedomBox project already uses vmdebootstrap for
6948 the virtualbox images, but its current build system made multistrap
6949 based system for Dreamplug images, and it is lacking support for
6950 Raspberry Pi.</p>
6951
6952 <p>Armed with the knowledge on how to build "foreign" (aka non-native
6953 architecture) chroots for Raspberry Pi, I dived into the vmdebootstrap
6954 code and adjusted it to be able to build armel images on my amd64
6955 Debian laptop.  I ended up giving vmdebootstrap five new options,
6956 allowing me to replicate the image creation process I use to make
6957 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_Raspberry_Pi_based_batman_adv_Mesh_network_node.html">Debian
6958 Jessie based mesh node images for the Raspberry Pi</a>.  First, the
6959 <tt>--foreign /path/to/binfm_handler</tt> option tell vmdebootstrap to
6960 call debootstrap with --foreign and to copy the handler into the
6961 generated chroot before running the second stage.  This allow
6962 vmdebootstrap to create armel images on an amd64 host.  Next I added
6963 two new options <tt>--bootsize size</tt> and <tt>--boottype
6964 fstype</tt> to teach it to create a separate /boot/ partition with the
6965 given file system type, allowing me to create an image with a vfat
6966 partition for the /boot/ stuff.  I also added a <tt>--variant
6967 variant</tt> option to allow me to create smaller images without the
6968 Debian base system packages installed.  Finally, I added an option
6969 <tt>--no-extlinux</tt> to tell vmdebootstrap to not install extlinux
6970 as a boot loader.  It is not needed on the Raspberry Pi and probably
6971 most other non-x86 architectures.  The changes were accepted by the
6972 upstream author of vmdebootstrap yesterday and today, and is now
6973 available from
6974 <a href="http://git.liw.fi/cgi-bin/cgit/cgit.cgi/vmdebootstrap/">the
6975 upstream project page</a>.</p>
6976
6977 <p>To use it to build a Raspberry Pi image using Debian Jessie, first
6978 create a small script (the customize script) to add the non-free
6979 binary blob needed to boot the Raspberry Pi and the APT source
6980 list:</p>
6981
6982 <p><pre>
6983 #!/bin/sh
6984 set -e # Exit on first error
6985 rootdir="$1"
6986 cd "$rootdir"
6987 cat &lt;&lt;EOF > etc/apt/sources.list
6988 deb http://http.debian.net/debian/ jessie main contrib non-free
6989 EOF
6990 # Install non-free binary blob needed to boot Raspberry Pi.  This
6991 # install a kernel somewhere too.
6992 wget https://raw.github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-update/master/rpi-update \
6993     -O $rootdir/usr/bin/rpi-update
6994 chmod a+x $rootdir/usr/bin/rpi-update
6995 mkdir -p $rootdir/lib/modules
6996 touch $rootdir/boot/start.elf
6997 chroot $rootdir rpi-update
6998 </pre></p>
6999
7000 <p>Next, fetch the latest vmdebootstrap script and call it like this
7001 to build the image:</p>
7002
7003 <pre>
7004 sudo ./vmdebootstrap \
7005     --variant minbase \
7006     --arch armel \
7007     --distribution jessie \
7008     --mirror http://http.debian.net/debian \
7009     --image test.img \
7010     --size 600M \
7011     --bootsize 64M \
7012     --boottype vfat \
7013     --log-level debug \
7014     --verbose \
7015     --no-kernel \
7016     --no-extlinux \
7017     --root-password raspberry \
7018     --hostname raspberrypi \
7019     --foreign /usr/bin/qemu-arm-static \
7020     --customize `pwd`/customize \
7021     --package netbase \
7022     --package git-core \
7023     --package binutils \
7024     --package ca-certificates \
7025     --package wget \
7026     --package kmod
7027 </pre></p>
7028
7029 <p>The list of packages being installed are the ones needed by
7030 rpi-update to make the image bootable on the Raspberry Pi, with the
7031 exception of netbase, which is needed by debootstrap to find
7032 /etc/hosts with the minbase variant.  I really wish there was a way to
7033 set up an Raspberry Pi using only packages in the Debian archive, but
7034 that is not possible as far as I know, because it boots from the GPU
7035 using a non-free binary blob.</p>
7036
7037 <p>The build host need debootstrap, kpartx and qemu-user-static and
7038 probably a few others installed.  I have not checked the complete
7039 build dependency list.</p>
7040
7041 <p>The resulting image will not use the hardware floating point unit
7042 on the Raspberry PI, because the armel architecture in Debian is not
7043 optimized for that use.  So the images created will be a bit slower
7044 than <a href="http://www.raspbian.org/">Raspbian</a> based images.</p>
7045
7046       </div>
7047       <div class="tags">
7048
7049
7050         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freedombox">freedombox</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/mesh network">mesh network</a>.
7051
7052
7053       </div>
7054     </div>
7055     <div class="padding"></div>
7056
7057     <div class="entry">
7058       <div class="title">
7059         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_Raspberry_Pi_based_batman_adv_Mesh_network_node.html">A Raspberry Pi based batman-adv Mesh network node</a>
7060       </div>
7061       <div class="date">
7062         21st October 2013
7063       </div>
7064       <div class="body">
7065         <p>The last few days I have been experimenting with
7066 <a href="http://www.open-mesh.org/projects/batman-adv/wiki">the
7067 batman-adv mesh technology</a>.  I want to gain some experience to see
7068 if it will fit <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">the
7069 Freedombox project</a>, and together with my neighbors try to build a
7070 mesh network around the park where I live.  Batman-adv is a layer 2
7071 mesh system ("ethernet" in other words), where the mesh network appear
7072 as if all the mesh clients are connected to the same switch.</p>
7073
7074 <p>My hardware of choice was the Linksys WRT54GL routers I had lying
7075 around, but I've been unable to get them working with batman-adv.  So
7076 instead, I started playing with a
7077 <a href="http://www.raspberrypi.org/">Raspberry Pi</a>, and tried to
7078 get it working as a mesh node.  My idea is to use it to create a mesh
7079 node which function as a switch port, where everything connected to
7080 the Raspberry Pi ethernet plug is connected (bridged) to the mesh
7081 network.  This allow me to hook a wifi base station like the Linksys
7082 WRT54GL to the mesh by plugging it into a Raspberry Pi, and allow
7083 non-mesh clients to hook up to the mesh.  This in turn is useful for
7084 Android phones using <a href="http://servalproject.org/">the Serval
7085 Project</a> voip client, allowing every one around the playground to
7086 phone and message each other for free.  The reason is that Android
7087 phones do not see ad-hoc wifi networks (they are filtered away from
7088 the GUI view), and can not join the mesh without being rooted.  But if
7089 they are connected using a normal wifi base station, they can talk to
7090 every client on the local network.</p>
7091
7092 <p>To get this working, I've created a debian package
7093 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/meshfx-node">meshfx-node</a>
7094 and a script
7095 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/meshfx-node/blob/master/build-rpi-mesh-node">build-rpi-mesh-node</a>
7096 to create the Raspberry Pi boot image.  I'm using Debian Jessie (and
7097 not Raspbian), to get more control over the packages available.
7098 Unfortunately a huge binary blob need to be inserted into the boot
7099 image to get it booting, but I'll ignore that for now.  Also, as
7100 Debian lack support for the CPU features available in the Raspberry
7101 Pi, the system do not use the hardware floating point unit.  I hope
7102 the routing performance isn't affected by the lack of hardware FPU
7103 support.</p>
7104
7105 <p>To create an image, run the following with a sudo enabled user
7106 after inserting the target SD card into the build machine:</p>
7107
7108 <p><pre>
7109 % wget -O build-rpi-mesh-node \
7110     https://raw.github.com/petterreinholdtsen/meshfx-node/master/build-rpi-mesh-node
7111 % sudo bash -x ./build-rpi-mesh-node > build.log 2>&1
7112 % dd if=/root/rpi/rpi_basic_jessie_$(date +%Y%m%d).img of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M
7113 %
7114 </pre></p>
7115
7116 <p>Booting with the resulting SD card on a Raspberry PI with a USB
7117 wifi card inserted should give you a mesh node.  At least it does for
7118 me with a the wifi card I am using. The default mesh settings are the
7119 ones used by the Oslo mesh project at Hackeriet, as I mentioned in
7120 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Oslo_community_mesh_network___with_NUUG_and_Hackeriet_at_Hausmania.html">an
7121 earlier blog post about this mesh testing</a>.</p>
7122
7123 <p>The mesh node was not horribly expensive either.  I bought
7124 everything over the counter in shops nearby.  If I had ordered online
7125 from the lowest bidder, the price should be significantly lower:</p>
7126
7127 <p><table>
7128
7129 <tr><th>Supplier</th><th>Model</th><th>NOK</th></tr>
7130 <tr><td>Teknikkmagasinet</td><td>Raspberry Pi model B</td><td>349.90</td></tr>
7131 <tr><td>Teknikkmagasinet</td><td>Raspberry Pi type B case</td><td>99.90</td></tr>
7132 <tr><td>Lefdal</td><td>Jensen Air:Link 25150</td><td>295.-</td></tr>
7133 <tr><td>Clas Ohlson</td><td>Kingston 16 GB SD card</td><td>199.-</td></tr>
7134 <tr><td>Total cost</td><td></td><td>943.80</td></tr>
7135
7136 </table></p>
7137
7138 <p>Now my mesh network at home consist of one laptop in the basement
7139 connected to my production network, one Raspberry Pi node on the 1th
7140 floor that can be seen by my neighbor across the park, and one
7141 play-node I use to develop the image building script.  And some times
7142 I hook up my work horse laptop to the mesh to test it.  I look forward
7143 to figuring out what kind of latency the batman-adv setup will give,
7144 and how much packet loss we will experience around the park. :)</p>
7145
7146       </div>
7147       <div class="tags">
7148
7149
7150         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freedombox">freedombox</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/mesh network">mesh network</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
7151
7152
7153       </div>
7154     </div>
7155     <div class="padding"></div>
7156
7157     <div class="entry">
7158       <div class="title">
7159         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Perl_library_to_control_the_Spykee_robot_moved_to_github.html">Perl library to control the Spykee robot moved to github</a>
7160       </div>
7161       <div class="date">
7162         19th October 2013
7163       </div>
7164       <div class="body">
7165         <p>Back in 2010, I created a Perl library to talk to
7166 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spykee">the Spykee robot</a>
7167 (with two belts, wifi, USB and Linux) and made it available from my
7168 web page.  Today I concluded that it should move to a site that is
7169 easier to use to cooperate with others, and moved it to github.  If
7170 you got a Spykee robot, you might want to check out
7171 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/libspykee-perl">the
7172 libspykee-perl github repository</a>.</p>
7173
7174       </div>
7175       <div class="tags">
7176
7177
7178         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>.
7179
7180
7181       </div>
7182     </div>
7183     <div class="padding"></div>
7184
7185     <div class="entry">
7186       <div class="title">
7187         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Good_causes__Debian_Outreach_Program_for_Women__EFF_documenting_the_spying_and_Open_access_in_Norway.html">Good causes: Debian Outreach Program for Women, EFF documenting the spying and Open access in Norway</a>
7188       </div>
7189       <div class="date">
7190         15th October 2013
7191       </div>
7192       <div class="body">
7193         <p>The last few days I came across a few good causes that should get
7194 wider attention.  I recommend signing and donating to each one of
7195 these. :)</p>
7196
7197 <p>Via <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2013/18/">Debian
7198 Project News for 2013-10-14</a> I came across the Outreach Program for
7199 Women program which is a Google Summer of Code like initiative to get
7200 more women involved in free software.  One debian sponsor has offered
7201 to match <a href="http://debian.ch/opw2013">any donation done to Debian
7202 earmarked</a> for this initiative.  I donated a few minutes ago, and
7203 hope you will to. :)</p>
7204
7205 <p>And the Electronic Frontier Foundation just announced plans to
7206 create <a href="https://supporters.eff.org/donate/nsa-videos">video
7207 documentaries about the excessive spying</a> on every Internet user that
7208 take place these days, and their need to fund the work.  I've already
7209 donated.  Are you next?</p>
7210
7211 <p>For my Norwegian audience, the organisation Studentenes og
7212 Akademikernes Internasjonale Hjelpefond is collecting signatures for a
7213 statement under the heading
7214 <a href="http://saih.no/Bloggers_United/">Bloggers United for Open
7215 Access</a> for those of us asking for more focus on open access in the
7216 Norwegian government.  So far 499 signatures.  I hope you will sign it
7217 too.</p>
7218
7219       </div>
7220       <div class="tags">
7221
7222
7223         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
7224
7225
7226       </div>
7227     </div>
7228     <div class="padding"></div>
7229
7230     <div class="entry">
7231       <div class="title">
7232         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Oslo_community_mesh_network___with_NUUG_and_Hackeriet_at_Hausmania.html">Oslo community mesh network - with NUUG and Hackeriet at Hausmania</a>
7233       </div>
7234       <div class="date">
7235         11th October 2013
7236       </div>
7237       <div class="body">
7238         <p>Wireless mesh networks are self organising and self healing
7239 networks that can be used to connect computers across small and large
7240 areas, depending on the radio technology used.  Normal wifi equipment
7241 can be used to create home made radio networks, and there are several
7242 successful examples like
7243 <a href="http://www.freifunk.net/">Freifunk</a> and
7244 <a href="http://www.awmn.net/">Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network</a>
7245 (see
7246 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_community_networks_by_region#Greece">wikipedia
7247 for a large list</a>) around the globe.  To give you an idea how it
7248 work, check out the nice overview of the Kiel Freifunk community which
7249 can be seen from their
7250 <a href="http://freifunk.in-kiel.de/ffmap/nodes.html">dynamically
7251 updated node graph and map</a>, where one can see how the mesh nodes
7252 automatically handle routing and recover from nodes disappearing.
7253 There is also a small community mesh network group in Oslo, Norway,
7254 and that is the main topic of this blog post.</p>
7255
7256 <p>I've wanted to check out mesh networks for a while now, and hoped
7257 to do it as part of my involvement with the <a
7258 href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG member organisation</a> community, and
7259 my recent involvement in
7260 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">the Freedombox project</a>
7261 finally lead me to give mesh networks some priority, as I suspect a
7262 Freedombox should use mesh networks to connect neighbours and family
7263 when possible, given that most communication between people are
7264 between those nearby (as shown for example by research on Facebook
7265 communication patterns).  It also allow people to communicate without
7266 any central hub to tap into for those that want to listen in on the
7267 private communication of citizens, which have become more and more
7268 important over the years.</p>
7269
7270 <p>So far I have only been able to find one group of people in Oslo
7271 working on community mesh networks, over at the hack space
7272 <a href="http://hackeriet.no/">Hackeriet</a> at Husmania.  They seem to
7273 have started with some Freifunk based effort using OLSR, called
7274 <a href="http://oslo.freifunk.net/index.php?title=Main_Page">the Oslo
7275 Freifunk project</a>, but that effort is now dead and the people
7276 behind it have moved on to a batman-adv based system called
7277 <a href="http://meshfx.org/trac">meshfx</a>.  Unfortunately the wiki
7278 site for the Oslo Freifunk project is no longer possible to update to
7279 reflect this fact, so the old project page can't be updated to point to
7280 the new project.  A while back, the people at Hackeriet invited people
7281 from the Freifunk community to Oslo to talk about mesh networks.  I
7282 came across this video where Hans Jørgen Lysglimt interview the
7283 speakers about this talk (from
7284 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Kd7CLkhSY">youtube</a>):</p>
7285
7286 <p><iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N2Kd7CLkhSY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
7287
7288 <p>I mentioned OLSR and batman-adv, which are mesh routing protocols.
7289 There are heaps of different protocols, and I am still struggling to
7290 figure out which one would be "best" for some definitions of best, but
7291 given that the community mesh group in Oslo is so small, I believe it
7292 is best to hook up with the existing one instead of trying to create a
7293 completely different setup, and thus I have decided to focus on
7294 batman-adv for now.  It sure help me to  know that the very cool
7295 <a href="http://www.servalproject.org/">Serval project in Australia</a>
7296 is using batman-adv as their meshing technology when it create a self
7297 organizing and self healing telephony system for disaster areas and
7298 less industrialized communities.  Check out this cool video presenting
7299 that project (from
7300 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30qNfzJCQOA">youtube</a>):</p>
7301
7302 <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/30qNfzJCQOA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
7303
7304 <p>According to the wikipedia page on
7305 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_mesh_network">Wireless
7306 mesh network</a> there are around 70 competing schemes for routing
7307 packets across mesh networks, and OLSR, B.A.T.M.A.N. and
7308 B.A.T.M.A.N. advanced are protocols used by several free software
7309 based community mesh networks.</p>
7310
7311 <p>The batman-adv protocol is a bit special, as it provide layer 2
7312 (as in ethernet ) routing, allowing ipv4 and ipv6 to work on the same
7313 network.  One way to think about it is that it provide a mesh based
7314 vlan you can bridge to or handle like any other vlan connected to your
7315 computer.  The required drivers are already in the Linux kernel at
7316 least since Debian Wheezy, and it is fairly easy to set up.  A
7317 <a href="http://www.open-mesh.org/projects/batman-adv/wiki/Quick-start-guide">good
7318 introduction</a> is available from the Open Mesh project.  These are
7319 the key settings needed to join the Oslo meshfx network:</p>
7320
7321 <p><table>
7322 <tr><th>Setting</th><th>Value</th></tr>
7323 <tr><td>Protocol / kernel module</td><td>batman-adv</td></tr>
7324 <tr><td>ESSID</td><td>meshfx@hackeriet</td></tr>
7325 <td>Channel / Frequency</td><td>11 / 2462</td></tr>
7326 <td>Cell ID</td><td>02:BA:00:00:00:01</td>
7327 </table></p>
7328
7329 <p>The reason for setting ad-hoc wifi Cell ID is to work around bugs
7330 in firmware used in wifi card and wifi drivers.  (See a nice post from
7331 VillageTelco about
7332 "<a href="http://tiebing.blogspot.no/2009/12/ad-hoc-cell-splitting-re-post-original.html">Information
7333 about cell-id splitting, stuck beacons, and failed IBSS merges!</a>
7334 for details.)  When these settings are activated and you have some
7335 other mesh node nearby, your computer will be connected to the mesh
7336 network and can communicate with any mesh node that is connected to
7337 any of the nodes in your network of nodes. :)</p>
7338
7339 <p>My initial plan was to reuse my old Linksys WRT54GL as a mesh node,
7340 but that seem to be very hard, as I have not been able to locate a
7341 firmware supporting batman-adv.  If anyone know how to use that old
7342 wifi access point with batman-adv these days, please let me know.</p>
7343
7344 <p>If you find this project interesting and want to join, please join
7345 us on IRC, either channel
7346 <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/#oslohackerspace">#oslohackerspace</a>
7347 or <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/#nuug">#nuug</a> on
7348 irc.freenode.net.</p>
7349
7350 <p>While investigating mesh networks in Oslo, I came across an old
7351 research paper from the university of Stavanger and Telenor Research
7352 and Innovation called
7353 <a href="http://folk.uio.no/paalee/publications/netrel-egeland-iswcs-2008.pdf">The
7354 reliability of wireless backhaul mesh networks</a> and elsewhere
7355 learned that Telenor have been experimenting with mesh networks at
7356 Grünerløkka in Oslo.  So mesh networks are also interesting for
7357 commercial companies, even though Telenor discovered that it was hard
7358 to figure out a good business plan for mesh networking and as far as I
7359 know have closed down the experiment.  Perhaps Telenor or others would
7360 be interested in a cooperation?</p>
7361
7362 <p><strong>Update 2013-10-12</strong>: I was just
7363 <a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/freedombox-discuss/2013-October/005900.html">told
7364 by the Serval project developers</a> that they no longer use
7365 batman-adv (but are compatible with it), but their own crypto based
7366 mesh system.</p>
7367
7368       </div>
7369       <div class="tags">
7370
7371
7372         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freedombox">freedombox</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/mesh network">mesh network</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
7373
7374
7375       </div>
7376     </div>
7377     <div class="padding"></div>
7378
7379     <div class="entry">
7380       <div class="title">
7381         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux___Debian_Edu_7_1_install_and_overview_video_from_Marcelo_Salvador.html">Skolelinux / Debian Edu 7.1 install and overview video from Marcelo Salvador</a>
7382       </div>
7383       <div class="date">
7384          8th October 2013
7385       </div>
7386       <div class="body">
7387         <p>The other day I was pleased and surprised to discover that Marcelo
7388 Salvador had published a
7389 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-GgpdqgLFc">video on
7390 Youtube</a> showing how to install the standalone Debian Edu /
7391 Skolelinux profile.  This is the profile intended for use at home or
7392 on laptops that should not be integrated into the provided network
7393 services (no central home directory, no Kerberos / LDAP directory etc,
7394 in other word a single user machine).  The result is 11 minutes long,
7395 and show some user applications (seem to be rather randomly picked).
7396 Missed a few of my favorites like celestia, planets and chromium
7397 showing the <a href="http://www.zygotebody.com/">Zygote Body 3D model
7398 of the human body</a>, but I guess he did not know about those or find
7399 other programs more interesting. :) And the video do not show the
7400 advantages I believe is one of the most valuable featuers in Debian
7401 Edu, its central school server making it possible to run hundreds of
7402 computers without hard drives by installing one central
7403 <a href="http://www.ltsp.org/">LTSP server</a>.</p>
7404
7405 <p>Anyway, check out the video, embedded below and linked to above:</p>
7406
7407 <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w-GgpdqgLFc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
7408
7409 <p>Are there other nice videos demonstrating Skolelinux?  Please let
7410 me know. :)</p>
7411
7412       </div>
7413       <div class="tags">
7414
7415
7416         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
7417
7418
7419       </div>
7420     </div>
7421     <div class="padding"></div>
7422
7423     <div class="entry">
7424       <div class="title">
7425         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Finally__Debian_Edu_Wheezy_is_released_today_.html">Finally, Debian Edu Wheezy is released today!</a>
7426       </div>
7427       <div class="date">
7428         29th September 2013
7429       </div>
7430       <div class="body">
7431         <p>A few hours ago, the announcement for the first stable release of
7432 Debian Edu Wheezy went out from the Debian publicity team.  The
7433 complete announcement text can be found at
7434 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2013/20130928">the Debian News
7435 section</a>, translated to several languages.  Please check it out.</p>
7436
7437 <p>There is one minor known problem that we will fix very soon.  One
7438 can not install a amd64 Thin Client Server using PXE, as the /var/
7439 partition is too small.  A workaround is to extend the partition (use
7440 lvresize + resize2fs in tty 2 while installing).</p>
7441
7442       </div>
7443       <div class="tags">
7444
7445
7446         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
7447
7448
7449       </div>
7450     </div>
7451     <div class="padding"></div>
7452
7453     <div class="entry">
7454       <div class="title">
7455         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Videos_about_the_Freedombox_project___for_inspiration_and_learning.html">Videos about the Freedombox project - for inspiration and learning</a>
7456       </div>
7457       <div class="date">
7458         27th September 2013
7459       </div>
7460       <div class="body">
7461         <p>The <a href="http://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/">Freedombox
7462 project</a> have been going on for a while, and have presented the
7463 vision, ideas and solution several places.  Here is a little
7464 collection of videos of talks and presentation of the project.</p>
7465
7466 <ul>
7467
7468 <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukvUz5taxvA">FreedomBox -
7469 2,5 minute marketing film</a> (Youtube)</li>
7470
7471 <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzW25QTVWsE">Eben Moglen
7472 discusses the Freedombox on CBS news 2011</a> (Youtube)</li>
7473
7474 <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae8SZbxfE0g">Eben Moglen -
7475 Freedom in the Cloud - Software Freedom, Privacy and and Security for
7476 Web 2.0 and Cloud computing at ISOC-NY Public Meeting 2010</a>
7477 (Youtube)</li>
7478
7479 <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNaIji_3xBE">Fosdem 2011
7480 Keynote by Eben Moglen presenting the Freedombox</a> (Youtube)</li>
7481
7482 <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bDDUyJSQ9s">Presentation of
7483 the Freedombox by James Vasile at Elevate in Gratz 2011</a> (Youtube)</li>
7484
7485 <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQTmnk27g9s"> Freedombox -
7486 Discovery, Identity, and Trust by Nick Daly at Freedombox Hackfest New
7487 York City in 2012</a> (Youtube)</li>
7488
7489 <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkbSB4Ba7Ck">Introduction
7490 to the Freedombox at Freedombox Hackfest New York City in 2012</a>
7491 (Youtube)</li>
7492
7493 <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-P2Jaeg0aQ">Freedom, Out
7494 of the Box! by Bdale Garbee at linux.conf.au Ballarat, 2012</a> (Youtube) </li>
7495
7496 <li><a href="https://archive.fosdem.org/2013/schedule/event/freedombox/">Freedombox
7497 1.0 by Eben Moglen and Bdale Garbee at Fosdem 2013</a> (FOSDEM) </li>
7498
7499 <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1LpYX2zVYg">What is the
7500 FreedomBox today by Bdale Garbee at Debconf13 in Vaumarcus
7501 2013</a> (Youtube)</li>
7502
7503 </ul>
7504
7505 <p>A larger list is available from
7506 <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/TalksAndPresentations">the
7507 Freedombox Wiki</a>.</p>
7508
7509 <p>On other news, I am happy to report that Freedombox based on Debian
7510 Jessie is coming along quite well, and soon both Owncloud and using
7511 Tor should be available for testers of the Freedombox solution. :) In
7512 a few weeks I hope everything needed to test it is included in Debian.
7513 The withsqlite package is already in Debian, and the plinth package is
7514 pending in NEW.  The third and vital part of that puzzle is the
7515 metapackage/setup framework, which is still pending an upload.  Join
7516 us on <a href="irc://irc.debian.org:6667/%23freedombox">IRC
7517 (#freedombox on irc.debian.org)</a> and
7518 <a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss">the
7519 mailing list</a> if you want to help make this vision come true.</p>
7520
7521       </div>
7522       <div class="tags">
7523
7524
7525         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freedombox">freedombox</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
7526
7527
7528       </div>
7529     </div>
7530     <div class="padding"></div>
7531
7532     <div class="entry">
7533       <div class="title">
7534         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_and_probably_last_beta_release_of_Debian_Edu_Wheezy.html">Third and probably last beta release of Debian Edu Wheezy</a>
7535       </div>
7536       <div class="date">
7537         16th September 2013
7538       </div>
7539       <div class="body">
7540         <p>The third wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up
7541 today.  This is the release announcement from Holger Levsen:</p>
7542
7543 <blockquote>
7544 <p>Hi,</p>
7545
7546 <p>it is my pleasure to announce the third beta release (beta 2 for
7547 short) of <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
7548 Skolelinux</a> based on Debian Wheezy!</p>
7549
7550 <p>Please test these images extensivly, if no new problems are found
7551 we plan to do this final Debian Edu Wheezy release this coming
7552 weekend.  We are not aware of any major problems or blockers in beta2,
7553 if you find something, please notify us immediately!</p>
7554
7555 <p>(More about the remaining steps for the Edu Wheezy release in
7556 another mail to the edu list tonight or tomorrow...)</p>
7557
7558 <p>Noteworthy changes and software updates for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b2
7559 compared to beta1:</p>
7560
7561 <ul>
7562
7563 <li>The KDE proxy setup has been adjusted to use the provided wpad.dat. This
7564 also gets Chromium to use this proxy.</li>
7565 <li>Install kdepim-groupware with KDE desktops to make sure korganizer
7566 understand ical/dav sources.</li>
7567 <li>Increased default maximum size of /var/spool/squid and /skole/backup on the
7568 main server.</li>
7569 <li>A source DVD image containing all source packages is now available as well.</li>
7570 <li>Updates for chromium (29.0.1547.57-1~deb7u1), imagemagick
7571 (6.7.7.10-5+deb7u2), php5 (5.4.4-14+deb7u4), libmodplug
7572 (0.8.8.4-3+deb7u1+git20130828), tiff (4.0.2-6+deb7u2), linux-image
7573 (3.2.0-4-486_3.2.46-1+deb7u1).</li>
7574
7575 </ul>
7576
7577 <p>Where to get it:</p>
7578
7579 <p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p>
7580
7581 <ul>
7582 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso</a></li>
7583 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso</a></li>
7584 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso .</li>
7585 </ul>
7586
7587 <p>The SHA1SUM of this image is:  3a1c89f4666df80eebcd46c5bf5fedb866f9472f</p>
7588
7589 <p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use
7590 <ul>
7591 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso</a></li>
7592 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso</a></li>
7593 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso .</li>
7594 </ul>
7595
7596 <p>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 702d1718548f401c74bfa6df9f032cc3ee16597e</p>
7597
7598 <p>The Source DVD image has the filename
7599 debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-source-DVD.iso and the SHA1SUM
7600 089eed8b3f962db47aae1f6a9685e9bb2fa30ca5 and is available the same way
7601 as the other isos.</p>
7602
7603 <p>How to report bugs</p>
7604
7605 <p>For information how to report bugs please see
7606 <br><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a></p>
7607
7608
7609 <p>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</p>
7610
7611 <p>Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based
7612 on Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely
7613 configured school network. Immediately after installation a school
7614 server running all services needed for a school network is set up just
7615 waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable
7616 Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after
7617 initial installation of the main server from CD or USB stick all other
7618 machines can be installed via the network. The provided school server
7619 provides LDAP database and Kerberos authentication service,
7620 centralized home directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other
7621 services.  The desktop contains more than 60 educational software
7622 packages and more are available from the Debian archive, and schools
7623 can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE and Xfce desktop environment.</p>
7624
7625 <p>This is the seventh test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically
7626 this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the
7627 Squeeze release.</p>
7628
7629 <p>Notes for upgrades from Alpha Prereleases</p>
7630
7631 <p>Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the
7632 versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta
7633 release. Both alpha and beta0 based installations should reinstall or
7634 deal with gosa.conf manually; there are two options: (1) Keep
7635 gosa.conf and edit this file as outlined on the mailing list. (2)
7636 Accept the new version of gosa.conf and replace both contained admin
7637 password placeholders with the password hashes found in the old one
7638 (backup copy!). In both cases all users need to change their password
7639 to make sure a password is set for CIFS access to their home
7640 directory.</p>
7641
7642
7643 <p>cheers,
7644 <br>        Holger</p>
7645 </blockquote>
7646
7647       </div>
7648       <div class="tags">
7649
7650
7651         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
7652
7653
7654       </div>
7655     </div>
7656     <div class="padding"></div>
7657
7658     <div class="entry">
7659       <div class="title">
7660         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Recipe_to_test_the_Freedombox_project_on_amd64_or_Raspberry_Pi.html">Recipe to test the Freedombox project on amd64 or Raspberry Pi</a>
7661       </div>
7662       <div class="date">
7663         10th September 2013
7664       </div>
7665       <div class="body">
7666         <p>I was introduced to the
7667 <a href="http://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/">Freedombox project</a>
7668 in 2010, when Eben Moglen presented his vision about serving the need
7669 of non-technical people to keep their personal information private and
7670 within the legal protection of their own homes.  The idea is to give
7671 people back the power over their network and machines, and return
7672 Internet back to its intended peer-to-peer architecture.  Instead of
7673 depending on a central service, the Freedombox will give everyone
7674 control over their own basic infrastructure.</p>
7675
7676 <p>I've intended to join the effort since then, but other tasks have
7677 taken priority.  But this summers nasty news about the misuse of trust
7678 and privilege exercised by the "western" intelligence gathering
7679 communities increased my eagerness to contribute to a point where I
7680 actually started working on the project a while back.</p>
7681
7682 <p>The <a href="https://alioth.debian.org/projects/freedombox/">initial
7683 Debian initiative</a> based on the vision from Eben Moglen, is to
7684 create a simple and cheap Debian based appliance that anyone can hook
7685 up in their home and get access to secure and private services and
7686 communication.  The initial deployment platform have been the
7687 <a href="http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-dreamplugdetails.aspx">Dreamplug</a>,
7688 which is a piece of hardware I do not own.  So to be able to test what
7689 the current Freedombox setup look like, I had to come up with a way to install
7690 it on some hardware I do have access to.  I have rewritten the
7691 <a href="https://github.com/NickDaly/freedom-maker">freedom-maker</a>
7692 image build framework to use .deb packages instead of only copying
7693 setup into the boot images, and thanks to this rewrite I am able to
7694 set up any machine supported by Debian Wheezy as a Freedombox, using
7695 the previously mentioned deb (and a few support debs for packages
7696 missing in Debian).</p>
7697
7698 <p>The current Freedombox setup consist of a set of bootstrapping
7699 scripts
7700 (<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/freedombox-setup">freedombox-setup</a>),
7701 and a administrative web interface
7702 (<a href="https://github.com/NickDaly/Plinth">plinth</a> + exmachina +
7703 withsqlite), as well as a privacy enhancing proxy based on
7704 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/privoxy">privoxy</a>
7705 (freedombox-privoxy).  There is also a web/javascript based XMPP
7706 client (<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/jwchat">jwchat</a>)
7707 trying (unsuccessfully so far) to talk to the XMPP server
7708 (<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/ejabberd">ejabberd</a>).  The
7709 web interface is pluggable, and the goal is to use it to enable OpenID
7710 services, mesh network connectivity, use of TOR, etc, etc.  Not much of
7711 this is really working yet, see
7712 <a href="https://github.com/NickDaly/freedombox-todos/blob/master/TODO">the
7713 project TODO</a> for links to GIT repositories.  Most of the code is
7714 on github at the moment.  The HTTP proxy is operational out of the
7715 box, and the admin web interface can be used to add/remove plinth
7716 users.  I've not been able to do anything else with it so far, but
7717 know there are several branches spread around github and other places
7718 with lots of half baked features.</p>
7719
7720 <p>Anyway, if you want to have a look at the current state, the
7721 following recipes should work to give you a test machine to poke
7722 at.</p>
7723
7724 <p><strong>Debian Wheezy amd64</strong></p>
7725
7726 <ol>
7727
7728 <li>Fetch normal Debian Wheezy installation ISO.</li>
7729 <li>Boot from it, either as CD or USB stick.</li>
7730 <li><p>Press [tab] on the boot prompt and add this as a boot argument
7731 to the Debian installer:<p>
7732 <pre>url=<a href="http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-wheezy.dat">http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-wheezy.dat</a></pre></li>
7733
7734 <li>Answer the few language/region/password questions and pick disk to
7735 install on.</li>
7736
7737 <li>When the installation is finished and the machine have rebooted a
7738 few times, your Freedombox is ready for testing.</li>
7739
7740 </ol>
7741
7742 <p><strong>Raspberry Pi Raspbian</strong></p>
7743
7744 <ol>
7745
7746 <li>Fetch a Raspbian SD card image, create SD card.</li>
7747 <li>Boot from SD card, extend file system to fill the card completely.</li>
7748 <li><p>Log in and add this to /etc/sources.list:</p>
7749 <pre>
7750 deb <a href="http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/">http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox</a> wheezy main
7751 </pre></li>
7752 <li><p>Run this as root:</p>
7753 <pre>
7754 wget -O - http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/BE1A583D.asc | \
7755    apt-key add -
7756 apt-get update
7757 apt-get install freedombox-setup
7758 /usr/lib/freedombox/setup
7759 </pre></li>
7760 <li>Reboot into your freshly created Freedombox.</li>
7761
7762 </ol>
7763
7764 <p>You can test it on other architectures too, but because the
7765 freedombox-privoxy package is binary, it will only work as intended on
7766 the architectures where I have had time to build the binary and put it
7767 in my APT repository.  But do not let this stop you.  It is only a
7768 short "<tt>apt-get source -b freedombox-privoxy</tt>" away. :)</p>
7769
7770 <p>Note that by default Freedombox is a DHCP server on the
7771 192.168.1.0/24 subnet, so if this is your subnet be careful and turn
7772 off the DHCP server by running "<tt>update-rc.d isc-dhcp-server
7773 disable</tt>" as root.</p>
7774
7775 <p>Please let me know if this works for you, or if you have any
7776 problems.  We gather on the IRC channel
7777 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org:6667/%23freedombox">#freedombox</a> on
7778 irc.debian.org and the
7779 <a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss">project
7780 mailing list</a>.</p>
7781
7782 <p>Once you get your freedombox operational, you can visit
7783 <tt>http://your-host-name:8001/</tt> to see the state of the plint
7784 welcome screen (dead end - do not be surprised if you are unable to
7785 get past it), and next visit <tt>http://your-host-name:8001/help/</tt>
7786 to look at the rest of plinth.  The default user is 'admin' and the
7787 default password is 'secret'.</p>
7788
7789       </div>
7790       <div class="tags">
7791
7792
7793         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freedombox">freedombox</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
7794
7795
7796       </div>
7797     </div>
7798     <div class="padding"></div>
7799
7800     <div class="entry">
7801       <div class="title">
7802         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Second_beta_release__beta_1__of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html">Second beta release (beta 1) of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy</a>
7803       </div>
7804       <div class="date">
7805         22nd August 2013
7806       </div>
7807       <div class="body">
7808         <p>The second wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up
7809 today, slightly delayed because of some bugs in the initial Windows
7810 integration fixes .  This is the release announcement:</p>
7811
7812 <p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b1 released 2013-08-22</strong></p>
7813
7814 <p>These are the release notes for Debian Edu / Skolelinux
7815 7.1+edu0~b1, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p>
7816
7817 <p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p>
7818
7819 <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as
7820 Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an
7821 out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school
7822 network. Immediately after installation a school server running all
7823 services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users
7824 and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting
7825 environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of
7826 the main server from CD or USB stick all other machines can be
7827 installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP
7828 database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home
7829 directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The
7830 desktop contains
7831 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more
7832 than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from
7833 the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE
7834 and Xfce desktop environment.</p>
7835
7836 <p>This is the sixth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically this
7837 is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the Squeeze
7838 release.</p>
7839
7840 <p>ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the
7841 versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta
7842 release. Both alpha and beta0 based installations should reinstall or
7843 deal with gosa.conf manually; there are two options: (1) Keep
7844 gosa.conf and edit this file as outlined
7845 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/2013/08/msg00127.html">on
7846 the mailing list</a>. (2) Accept the new version of gosa.conf and
7847 replace both contained admin password placeholders with the password
7848 hashes found in the old one (backup copy!). In both cases every user
7849 need to change their their password to make sure a password is set for
7850 CIFS access to their home directory.</p>
7851
7852 <p><strong>Software updates</strong></p>
7853
7854 <ul>
7855
7856 <li>Added ssh askpass packages to default installation, to ensure ssh
7857     work also without a attached tty.</li>
7858 <li>Add the command-not-found package to the default installation to
7859     make it easier to figure out where to find missing command line
7860     tools. Please note, that the command 'update-command-not-found'
7861     has to be run as root to actually make it useful (internet access
7862     required).</li>
7863
7864 </ul>
7865
7866 <p><strong>Other changes</strong></p>
7867
7868 <ul>
7869
7870 <li>Adjusted the USB stick ISO image build to include every tool
7871 needed for desktop=xfce installations.</li>
7872 <li>Adjust thin-client-server task to work when installing from USB
7873 stick ISO image.</li>
7874 <li>Made new grub artwork (changed png from indexed to RGB format).</li>
7875 <li>Minor cleanup in the CUPS setup.</li>
7876 <li>Make sure that bootstrapping of the Samba domain really happens
7877     during installation of the main server and adjust SID handling to
7878     cope with this.</li>
7879 <li>Make Samba passwords changeable (again) via GOsa².</li>
7880 <li>Fix generation of LM and NT password hashes via GOsa² to avoid
7881     empty password hashes.</li>
7882 <li>Adapted Samba machine domain joining to latest change in the
7883     smbldap-tools Perl package, fixing bugs blocking Windows machines
7884     from joining the Samba domain.</li>
7885
7886 </ul>
7887
7888 <p><strong>Known issues</strong></p>
7889
7890 <ul>
7891
7892 <li>KDE fails to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to
7893     not use the http proxy as it should.</li>
7894 <li>Chromium also fails to use the proxy when using the KDE desktop
7895     (using the KDE configuration).</li>
7896
7897 </ul>
7898
7899 <p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p>
7900
7901 <p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p>
7902
7903 <ul>
7904
7905 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso</a></li>
7906
7907 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso</a></li>
7908
7909 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso .</li>
7910
7911 </ul>
7912
7913 <p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 1e357f80b55e703523f2254adde6d78b
7914 <br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 7157f9be5fd27c7694d713c6ecfed61c3edda3b2</p>
7915
7916 <p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use</p>
7917
7918 <ul>
7919
7920 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso</a></li>
7921 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso</a></li>
7922 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso .</li>
7923
7924 </ul>
7925
7926 <p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 7a8408ead59cf7e3cef25afb6e91590b
7927 <br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: f1817c031f02790d5edb3bfa0dcf8451088ad119</p>
7928
7929
7930 <p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p>
7931
7932 <p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a>
7933
7934       </div>
7935       <div class="tags">
7936
7937
7938         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
7939
7940
7941       </div>
7942     </div>
7943     <div class="padding"></div>
7944
7945     <div class="entry">
7946       <div class="title">
7947         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_180_SSD_disk_with_Lenovo_firmware_can_not_use_Intel_firmware.html">Intel 180 SSD disk with Lenovo firmware can not use Intel firmware</a>
7948       </div>
7949       <div class="date">
7950         18th August 2013
7951       </div>
7952       <div class="body">
7953         <p>Earlier, I reported about
7954 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_fix_a_Thinkpad_X230_with_a_broken_180_GB_SSD_disk.html">my
7955 problems using an Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB disk</a>.  Friday I was
7956 told by IBM that the original disk should be thrown away.  And as
7957 there no longer was a problem if I bricked the firmware, I decided
7958 today to try to install Intel firmware to replace the Lenovo firmware
7959 currently on the disk.</p>
7960
7961 <p>I searched the Intel site for firmware, and found
7962 <a href="https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3472&DwnldID=18363&ProductFamily=Solid-State+Drives+and+Caching&ProductLine=Intel%c2%ae+High+Performance+Solid-State+Drive&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+SSD+520+Series+(180GB%2c+2.5in+SATA+6Gb%2fs%2c+25nm%2c+MLC)&lang=eng">issdfut_2.0.4.iso</a>
7963 (aka Intel SATA Solid-State Drive Firmware Update Tool) which
7964 according to the site should contain the latest firmware for SSD
7965 disks.  I inserted the broken disk in one of my spare laptops and
7966 booted the ISO from a USB stick.  The disk was recognized, but the
7967 program claimed the newest firmware already were installed and refused
7968 to insert any Intel firmware.  So no change, and the disk is still
7969 unable to handle write load. :( I guess the only way to get them
7970 working would be if Lenovo releases new firmware.  No idea how likely
7971 that is.  Anyway, just blogging about this test for completeness.  I
7972 got a working Samsung disk, and see no point in spending more time on
7973 the broken disks.</p>
7974
7975       </div>
7976       <div class="tags">
7977
7978
7979         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
7980
7981
7982       </div>
7983     </div>
7984     <div class="padding"></div>
7985
7986     <div class="entry">
7987       <div class="title">
7988         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/90_percent_done_with_the_Norwegian_draft_translation_of_Free_Culture.html">90 percent done with the Norwegian draft translation of Free Culture</a>
7989       </div>
7990       <div class="date">
7991          2nd August 2013
7992       </div>
7993       <div class="body">
7994         <p>It has been a while since my last update.  Since last summer, I
7995 have worked on a Norwegian
7996 <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> version of the 2004 book
7997 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig,
7998 to get a Norwegian text explaining the problems with the copyright
7999 law.  Yesterday, I finally broken the 90% mark, when counting the
8000 number of strings to translate.  Due to real life constraints, I have
8001 not had time to work on it since March, but when the summer broke out,
8002 I found time to work on it again.  Still lots of work left, but the
8003 first draft is nearing completion.  I created a graph to show the
8004 progress of the translation:</p>
8005
8006 <p><img width="80%" align="center" src="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/progress.png"></p>
8007
8008 <p>When the first draft is done, the translated text need to be
8009 proof read, and the remaining formatting problems with images and SVG
8010 drawings need to be fixed.  There are probably also some index entries
8011 missing that need to be added.  This can be done by comparing the
8012 index entries listed in the SiSU version of the book, or comparing the
8013 English docbook version with the paper version.  Last, the colophon
8014 page with ISBN numbers etc need to be wrapped up before the release is
8015 done.  I should also figure out how to get correct Norwegian sorting
8016 of the index pages.  All docbook tools I have tried so far (xmlto,
8017 docbook-xsl, dblatex) get the order of symbols and the special
8018 Norwegian letters ÆØÅ wrong.</p>
8019
8020 <p>There is still need for translators and people with docbook
8021 knowledge, to be able to get a good looking book (I still struggle
8022 with dblatex, xmlto and docbook-xsl) as well as to do the draft
8023 translation and proof reading.  And I would like the figures to be
8024 redrawn as SVGs to make it easy to translate them.  Any SVG master
8025 around?  There are also some legal terms that are unfamiliar to me.
8026 If you want to help, please get in touch with me, and check out the
8027 project files currently available from
8028 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p>
8029
8030 <p>If you are curious what the translated book currently look like,
8031 the updated
8032 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a>
8033 and
8034 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a>
8035 are published on github.  The HTML version is published as well, but
8036 github hand it out with MIME type text/plain, confusing browsers, so I
8037 saw no point in linking to that version.</p>
8038
8039       </div>
8040       <div class="tags">
8041
8042
8043         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
8044
8045
8046       </div>
8047     </div>
8048     <div class="padding"></div>
8049
8050     <div class="entry">
8051       <div class="title">
8052         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_beta_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html">First beta release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy</a>
8053       </div>
8054       <div class="date">
8055         27th July 2013
8056       </div>
8057       <div class="body">
8058         <p>The first wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up
8059 today.  This is the release announcement:</p>
8060
8061 <p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b0 released
8062 2013-07-27</strong></p>
8063
8064 <p>These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux
8065 7.1+edu0~b0, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p>
8066
8067 <p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p>
8068
8069 <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as
8070 Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an
8071 out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school
8072 network. Immediately after installation a school server running all
8073 services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users
8074 and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting
8075 environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of
8076 the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be
8077 installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP
8078 database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home
8079 directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The
8080 desktop contains
8081 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more
8082 than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from
8083 the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE
8084 and Xfce desktop environment.</p>
8085
8086 <p>This is the fifth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically
8087 this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the
8088 Squeeze release.</p>
8089
8090 <p>ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the
8091 versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta
8092 release.</p>
8093
8094 <p><strong>Software updates</strong></p>
8095
8096 <ul>
8097
8098 <li>Switched roaming workstation profiles from wicd to network-manager
8099    for network configuration, as wicd didn't work any more.</li>
8100 <li>Changed version numbers of patched gosa and libpam-mklocaluser
8101    packages to make sure our locally patched versions will be replaced
8102    by the official packages when they are released from Debian. Those
8103    installing alpha version need to reinstall or manually downgrade gosa
8104    and libpam-mklocaluser.</li>
8105 <li>Added bluetooth tools to the default desktop (bluedevil, blueman).</li>
8106 <li>Added tools for sharing the desktop on KDE (krdc, krfb).</li>
8107 <li>Added valgrind to the default installation for easier debugging of
8108    crash bugs.</li>
8109
8110 </ul>
8111
8112 <p><strong>Other changes</strong></p>
8113
8114 <ul>
8115
8116 <li>Fixed artwork package to work with gnome, no longer break
8117    desktop=gnome installations.</li>
8118 <li>Adjusted installer to now work when forced to use a proxy with the
8119    netinst CD.</li>
8120 <li>Fixed code detecting and setting/loading hardware specific
8121    setup/firmware to work more robust out of the box.</li>
8122 <li>Adjusted Kerberos setup to detect realm and server settings at
8123    install time instead of dynamically at run time. This avoid a crash
8124    with krb5-auth-dialog on diskless workstations without a DNS name.</li>
8125 <li>Worked around misfeature in network-manager not calling the dhclient
8126    exit hooks, causing automatic proxy configuration and automatic host
8127    name setting at run time to work again.</li>
8128 <li>Fixed feature setting the default Iceweasel start page from URL
8129    fetched from LDAP, to allow schools to set the global default by
8130    updating the dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no LDAP object.</li>
8131 <li>Changed default host name on all networked machines to be unique
8132    (generated from MAC or reverse DNS) after boot.</li>
8133 <li>Adjusted partition sizes to make sure they are big enough.</li>
8134
8135 </ul>
8136
8137 <p><strong>Known issues</strong></p>
8138
8139 <ul>
8140
8141 <li>Grub is missing the new artwork.</li>
8142 <li>KDE fail to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to
8143     not use the http proxy as it should.</li>
8144 <li>Chromium also fail to use the proxy.</li>
8145
8146 </ul>
8147
8148 <p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p>
8149
8150 <p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p>
8151
8152 <ul>
8153
8154 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso</a></li>
8155
8156 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso</a></li>
8157
8158 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso .</li>
8159
8160 </ul>
8161
8162 <p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 55d5de9765b6dccd5d9ec33cf1a07109
8163 <br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 996a1d9517740e4d627d100de2d12b23dd545a3f</p>
8164
8165 <p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use</p>
8166
8167 <ul>
8168
8169 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso</a></li>
8170 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso</a></li>
8171 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso .</li>
8172
8173 </ul>
8174
8175 <p>The MD5SUM of this image is: d8f0818c51a78d357de794066f289f69
8176 <br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 49185ca354e8d0543240423746924f76a6cee733</p>
8177
8178
8179 <p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p>
8180
8181 <p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a>
8182
8183       </div>
8184       <div class="tags">
8185
8186
8187         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
8188
8189
8190       </div>
8191     </div>
8192     <div class="padding"></div>
8193
8194     <div class="entry">
8195       <div class="title">
8196         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_fix_a_Thinkpad_X230_with_a_broken_180_GB_SSD_disk.html">How to fix a Thinkpad X230 with a broken 180 GB SSD disk</a>
8197       </div>
8198       <div class="date">
8199         17th July 2013
8200       </div>
8201       <div class="body">
8202         <p>Today I switched to
8203 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html">my
8204 new laptop</a>.  I've previously written about the problems I had with
8205 my new Thinkpad X230, which was delivered with an
8206 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_SSD_520_Series_180_GB_with_Lenovo_firmware_still_lock_up_from_sustained_writes.html">180
8207 GB Intel SSD disk with Lenovo firmware</a> that did not handle
8208 sustained writes.  My hardware supplier have been very forthcoming in
8209 trying to find a solution, and after first trying with another
8210 identical 180 GB disks they decided to send me a 256 GB Samsung SSD
8211 disk instead to fix it once and for all.  The Samsung disk survived
8212 the installation of Debian with encrypted disks (filling the disk with
8213 random data during installation killed the first two), and I thus
8214 decided to trust it with my data.  I have installed it as a Debian Edu
8215 Wheezy roaming workstation hooked up with my Debian Edu Squeeze main
8216 server at home using Kerberos and LDAP, and will use it as my work
8217 station from now on.</p>
8218
8219 <p>As this is a solid state disk with no moving parts, I believe the
8220 Debian Wheezy default installation need to be tuned a bit to increase
8221 performance and increase life time of the disk.  The Linux kernel and
8222 user space applications do not yet adjust automatically to such
8223 environment.  To make it easier for my self, I created a draft Debian
8224 package <tt>ssd-setup</tt> to handle this tuning.  The
8225 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/ssd-setup.git">source
8226 for the ssd-setup package</a> is available from collab-maint, and it
8227 is set up to adjust the setup of the machine by just installing the
8228 package.  If there is any non-SSD disk in the machine, the package
8229 will refuse to install, as I did not try to write any logic to sort
8230 file systems in SSD and non-SSD file systems.</p>
8231
8232 <p>I consider the package a draft, as I am a bit unsure how to best
8233 set up Debian Wheezy with an SSD.  It is adjusted to my use case,
8234 where I set up the machine with one large encrypted partition (in
8235 addition to /boot), put LVM on top of this and set up partitions on
8236 top of this again.  See the README file in the package source for the
8237 references I used to pick the settings.  At the moment these
8238 parameters are tuned:</p>
8239
8240 <ul>
8241
8242 <li>Set up cryptsetup to pass TRIM commands to the physical disk
8243     (adding discard to /etc/crypttab)</li>
8244
8245 <li>Set up LVM to pass on TRIM commands to the underlying device (in
8246     this case a cryptsetup partition) by changing issue_discards from
8247     0 to 1 in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf.</li>
8248
8249 <li>Set relatime as a file system option for ext3 and ext4 file
8250     systems.</li>
8251
8252 <li>Tell swap to use TRIM commands by adding 'discard' to
8253     /etc/fstab.</li>
8254
8255 <li>Change I/O scheduler from cfq to deadline using a udev rule.</li>
8256
8257 <li>Run fstrim on every ext3 and ext4 file system every night (from
8258     cron.daily).</li>
8259
8260 <li>Adjust sysctl values vm.swappiness to 1 and vm.vfs_cache_pressure
8261     to 50 to reduce the kernel eagerness to swap out processes.</li>
8262
8263 </ul>
8264
8265 <p>During installation, I cancelled the part where the installer fill
8266 the disk with random data, as this would kill the SSD performance for
8267 little gain.  My goal with the encrypted file system is to ensure
8268 those stealing my laptop end up with a brick and not a working
8269 computer.  I have no hope in keeping the really resourceful people
8270 from getting the data on the disk (see
8271 <a href="http://xkcd.com/538/">XKCD #538</a> for an explanation why).
8272 Thus I concluded that adding the discard option to crypttab is the
8273 right thing to do.</p>
8274
8275 <p>I considered using the noop I/O scheduler, as several recommended
8276 it for SSD, but others recommended deadline and a benchmark I found
8277 indicated that deadline might be better for interactive use.</p>
8278
8279 <p>I also considered using the 'discard' file system option for ext3
8280 and ext4, but read that it would give a performance hit ever time a
8281 file is removed, and thought it best to that that slowdown once a day
8282 instead of during my work.</p>
8283
8284 <p>My package do not set up tmpfs on /var/run, /var/lock and /tmp, as
8285 this is already done by Debian Edu.</p>
8286
8287 <p>I have not yet started on the user space tuning.  I expect
8288 iceweasel need some tuning, and perhaps other applications too, but
8289 have not yet had time to investigate those parts.</p>
8290
8291 <p>The package should work on Ubuntu too, but I have not yet tested it
8292 there.</p>
8293
8294 <p>As for the answer to the question in the title of this blog post,
8295 as far as I know, the only solution I know about is to replace the
8296 disk.  It might be possible to flash it with Intel firmware instead of
8297 the Lenovo firmware.  But I have not tried and did not want to do so
8298 without approval from Lenovo as I wanted to keep the warranty on the
8299 disk until a solution was found and they wanted the broken disks
8300 back.</p>
8301
8302       </div>
8303       <div class="tags">
8304
8305
8306         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
8307
8308
8309       </div>
8310     </div>
8311     <div class="padding"></div>
8312
8313     <div class="entry">
8314       <div class="title">
8315         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_SSD_520_Series_180_GB_with_Lenovo_firmware_still_lock_up_from_sustained_writes.html">Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB with Lenovo firmware still lock up from sustained writes</a>
8316       </div>
8317       <div class="date">
8318         10th July 2013
8319       </div>
8320       <div class="body">
8321         <p>A few days ago, I wrote about
8322 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html">the
8323 problems I experienced with my new X230 and its SSD disk</a>, which
8324 was dying during installation because it is unable to cope with
8325 sustained write.  My supplier is in contact with
8326 <a href="http://www.lenovo.com/">Lenovo</a>, and they wanted to send a
8327 replacement disk to try to fix the problem.  They decided to send an
8328 identical model, so my hopes for a permanent fix was slim.</p>
8329
8330 <p>Anyway, today I got the replacement disk and tried to install
8331 Debian Edu Wheezy with encrypted disk on it.  The new disk have the
8332 same firmware version as the original.  This time my hope raised
8333 slightly as the installation progressed, as the original disk used to
8334 die after 4-7% of the disk was written to, while this time it kept
8335 going past 10%, 20%, 40% and even past 50%.  But around 60%, the disk
8336 died again and I was back on square one.  I still do not have a new
8337 laptop with a disk I can trust.  I can not live with a disk that might
8338 lock up when I download a new
8339 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> ISO or
8340 other large files.  I look forward to hearing from my supplier with
8341 the next proposal from Lenovo.</p>
8342
8343 <p>The original disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB,
8344 11S0C38722Z1ZNME35X1TR, ISN: CVCV321407HB180EGN, SA: G57560302, FW:
8345 LF1i, 29MAY2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722,
8346 Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40002756C4, Model:
8347 SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU
8348 P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.</p>
8349
8350 <p>The replacement disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB,
8351 11S0C38722Z1ZNDE34N0L0, ISN: CVCV315306RK180EGN, SA: G57560-302, FW:
8352 LF1i, 22APR2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722,
8353 Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40000AB69E, Model:
8354 SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU
8355 P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.</p>
8356
8357 <p>The only difference is in the first number (serial number?), ISN,
8358 SA, date and WNPP values.  Mentioning all the details here in case
8359 someone is able to use the information to find a way to identify the
8360 failing disk among working ones (if any such working disk actually
8361 exist).</p>
8362
8363       </div>
8364       <div class="tags">
8365
8366
8367         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
8368
8369
8370       </div>
8371     </div>
8372     <div class="padding"></div>
8373
8374     <div class="entry">
8375       <div class="title">
8376         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/July_13th__Debian_Ubuntu_BSP_and_Skolelinux_Debian_Edu_developer_gathering_in_Oslo.html">July 13th: Debian/Ubuntu BSP and Skolelinux/Debian Edu developer gathering in Oslo</a>
8377       </div>
8378       <div class="date">
8379          9th July 2013
8380       </div>
8381       <div class="body">
8382         <p>The upcoming Saturday, 2013-07-13, we are organising a combined
8383 Debian Edu developer gathering and Debian and Ubuntu bug squashing
8384 party in Oslo.  It is organised by <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">the
8385 member assosiation NUUG</a> and
8386 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">the Debian Edu / Skolelinux
8387 project</a> together with <a href="http://bitraf.no/">the hack space
8388 Bitraf</a>.</p>
8389
8390 <p>It starts 10:00 and continue until late evening.  Everyone is
8391 welcome, and there is no fee to participate.  There is on the other
8392 hand limited space, and only room for 30 people.  Please put your name
8393 on <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/BSP/2013/07/13/no/Oslo">the event
8394 wiki page</a> if you plan to join us.</p>
8395
8396       </div>
8397       <div class="tags">
8398
8399
8400         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
8401
8402
8403       </div>
8404     </div>
8405     <div class="padding"></div>
8406
8407     <div class="entry">
8408       <div class="title">
8409         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html">The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230?</a>
8410       </div>
8411       <div class="date">
8412          5th July 2013
8413       </div>
8414       <div class="body">
8415         <p>Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a
8416 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html">replacement
8417 for my trusty old Thinkpad X41</a>.  Unfortunately I did not have much
8418 time to spend on it, and it took a while to find a model I believe
8419 will do the job, but two days ago the replacement finally arrived.  I
8420 ended up picking a
8421 <a href="http://www.linlap.com/lenovo_thinkpad_x230">Thinkpad X230</a>
8422 with SSD disk (NZDAJMN).  I first test installed Debian Edu Wheezy as
8423 a roaming workstation, and it seemed to work flawlessly.  But my
8424 second installation with encrypted disk was not as successful.  More
8425 on that below.</p>
8426
8427 <p>I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most
8428 important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never
8429 listed in the feature list.  But I did get good help from the search
8430 feature at <a href="http://www.prisjakt.no/">Prisjakt</a>, which
8431 allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other
8432 requirements.  A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks according
8433 to that search interface, so I had to drop specifying the number of
8434 disks from my search parameters.  I also asked around among friends to
8435 get their impression on keyboards and robustness.</p>
8436
8437 <p>So the new laptop arrived, and it is quite a lot wider than the
8438 X41.  I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is
8439 significantly wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my
8440 hand a lot more to reach the edges.  But the key response is fairly
8441 good and the individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope
8442 I will get used to it.  My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really
8443 needed a new laptop now. :)</p>
8444
8445 <p>Turning off the touch pad was simple.  All it took was a quick
8446 visit to the BIOS during boot it disable it.</p>
8447
8448 <p>But there is a fatal problem with the laptop.  The 180 GB SSD disk
8449 lock up during load.  And this happen when installing Debian Wheezy
8450 with encrypted disk, while the disk is being filled with random data.
8451 I also tested to install Ubuntu Raring, and it happen there too if I
8452 reenable the code to fill the disk with random data (it is disabled by
8453 default in Ubuntu).  And the bug with is already known.  It was
8454 reported to Debian as <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/691427">BTS
8455 report #691427 2012-10-25</a> (journal commit I/O error on brand-new
8456 Thinkpad T430s ext4 on lvm on SSD).  It is also reported to the Linux
8457 kernel developers as
8458 <a href="https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=51861">Kernel bugzilla
8459 report #51861 2012-12-20</a> (Intel SSD 520 stops working under load
8460 (SSDSC2BW180A3L in Lenovo ThinkPad T430s)). It is also reported on the
8461 Lenovo forums, both for
8462 <a href="http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-and-newer-T-series/T430s-Intel-SSD-520-180GB-issue/m-p/1070549">T430
8463 2012-11-10</a> and for
8464 <a href="http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/x230-SATA-errors-with-180GB-Intel-520-SSD-under-heavy-write-load/m-p/1068147">X230
8465 03-20-2013</a>.  The problem do not only affect installation.  The
8466 reports state that the disk lock up during use if many writes are done
8467 on the disk, so it is much no use to work around the installation
8468 problem and end up with a computer that can lock up at any moment.
8469 There is even a
8470 <a href="https://git.efficios.com/?p=test-ssd.git">small C program
8471 available</a> that will lock up the hard drive after running a few
8472 minutes by writing to a file.</p>
8473
8474 <p>I've contacted my supplier and asked how to handle this, and after
8475 contacting PCHELP Norway (request 01D1FDP) which handle support
8476 requests for Lenovo, his first suggestion was to upgrade the disk
8477 firmware.  Unfortunately there is no newer firmware available from
8478 Lenovo, as my disk already have the most recent one (version LF1i).  I
8479 hope to hear more from him today and hope the problem can be
8480 fixed. :)</p>
8481
8482       </div>
8483       <div class="tags">
8484
8485
8486         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
8487
8488
8489       </div>
8490     </div>
8491     <div class="padding"></div>
8492
8493     <div class="entry">
8494       <div class="title">
8495         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230.html">The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230</a>
8496       </div>
8497       <div class="date">
8498          4th July 2013
8499       </div>
8500       <div class="body">
8501         <p>Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a replacement for my
8502 trusty old Thinkpad X41.  Unfortunately I did not have much time to
8503 spend on it, but today the replacement finally arrived.  I ended up
8504 picking a <a href="http://www.linlap.com/lenovo_thinkpad_x230">Thinkpad
8505 X230</a> with SSD disk (NZDAJMN).  I first test installed Debian Edu
8506 Wheezy as a roaming workstation, and it worked flawlessly.  As I write
8507 this, it is installing what I hope will be a more final installation,
8508 with a encrypted hard drive to ensure any dope head stealing it end up
8509 with an expencive door stop.</p>
8510
8511 <p>I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most
8512 important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never
8513 listed in the feature list.  But I did get good help from the search
8514 feature at <ahref="http://www.prisjakt.no/">Prisjakt</a>, which
8515 allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other
8516 requirements.  A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks, so I had
8517 to drop number of disks from my search parameters.</p>
8518
8519 <p>I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is significantly
8520 wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my hand a lot more
8521 to reach the edges.  But the key response is fairly good and the
8522 individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope I will get
8523 used to it.  My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really needed a
8524 new laptop now. :)</p>
8525
8526 <p>I look forward to figuring out how to turn off the touch pad.</p>
8527
8528       </div>
8529       <div class="tags">
8530
8531
8532         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
8533
8534
8535       </div>
8536     </div>
8537     <div class="padding"></div>
8538
8539     <div class="entry">
8540       <div class="title">
8541         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fourth_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html">Fourth alpha release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy</a>
8542       </div>
8543       <div class="date">
8544          3rd July 2013
8545       </div>
8546       <div class="body">
8547         <p>The fourth wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up
8548 today.  This is the release announcement:</p>
8549
8550 <p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~alpha3 released
8551 2013-07-03</strong></p>
8552
8553 <p>These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux
8554 7.1+edu0~alpha3, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p>
8555
8556 <p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p>
8557
8558 <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as
8559 Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an
8560 out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school
8561 network. Immediately after installation a school server running all
8562 services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users
8563 and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting
8564 environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of
8565 the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be
8566 installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP
8567 database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home
8568 directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The
8569 desktop contains
8570 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more
8571 than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from
8572 the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE
8573 and Xfce desktop environment.</p>
8574
8575 <p>This is the fourth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically
8576 this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the
8577 Squeeze release.</p>
8578
8579 <p><strong>Software updates</strong></p>
8580 <ul>
8581   <li>Dropped ispell dictionaries from our default installation.</li>
8582   <li>Dropped menu-xdg from the KDE desktop option, to drop the Debian
8583     submenu.  It was not included with Gnome, LXDE or Xfce, so this
8584     brings KDE in line with the others.</li>
8585   <li>Dropped xdrawchem, xjig and xsok from our default installation as
8586     they don't have a desktop menu entry and thus won't show up in the
8587     menu now that menu-xdg was removed.</li>
8588   <li>Removed the killer system to kill left behind processes on
8589     multi-user machines, as it was no longer able to understand when a
8590     X display was in use and killed the processes of the active users
8591     too.</li>
8592   <li>Dropped the golearn (from goplay) package as the debtags in wheezy
8593     are too few to make the package useful.</li>
8594 </ul>
8595 <p><strong>Other changes</strong></p>
8596 <ul>
8597   <li>Updated artwork matching http://wiki.debian.org/DebianArt/Themes/Joy
8598   <li>Multi-arch i386/amd64 USB stick ISO available.</li>
8599   <li>Got rid of ispell/wordlist related debconf questions that showed
8600     up for some language options.</li>
8601   <li>Switched to using http.debian.net as APT source by default.</li>
8602   <li>Fixed proxy configuration on Main Server installations.</li>
8603   <li>Changed LTSP setup to ask dpkg to use force-unsafe-io the same way
8604     d-i is doing it.</li>
8605   <li>Made sure root and user passwords were not left behind in the
8606     debconf database after installation on Main Server installations.</li>
8607   <li>Made Roaming Workstation dynamic setup more robust and added draft
8608     script setup-ad-client to hook a Roaming Workstation up to a
8609     Active Directory server instead of a Debian Edu Main Server.</li>
8610   <li>Update system to install needed firmware packages during
8611     installation, to work properly in Wheezy.</li>
8612   <li>Update system to handle hardware quirks (debian-edu-hwsetup).</li>
8613   <li>Corrected PXE installation setup to properly pass selected desktop
8614     and keymap settings to PXE installation clients.</li>
8615   <li>LTSP diskless workstations use sshfs by default, allowing them to
8616     work without adding them to DNS and NIS netgroups for NFS access.</li>
8617 </ul>
8618 <p><strong>Known issues</strong></p>
8619 <ul>
8620   <li>No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv)
8621     available yet (698840).</li>
8622   <li>Artwork not enabled for all desktops.</li>
8623 </ul>
8624 <p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p>
8625
8626 <p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p>
8627 <ul>
8628   <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso</a></li>
8629   <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso</a></li>
8630   <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso .</li>
8631 </ul>
8632
8633 <p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 2b161a99d2a848c376d8d04e3854e30c
8634 <br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 498922e9c508c0a7ee9dbe1dfe5bf830d779c3c8</p>
8635
8636 <p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use</p>
8637 <ul>
8638   <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso</a></li>
8639   <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso</a></li>
8640   <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso .</li>
8641 </ul>
8642
8643 <p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 25e808e403a4c15dbef1d13c37d572ac
8644 <br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 15ecfc93eb6b4f453b7eb0bc04b6a279262d9721</p>
8645
8646 <p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p>
8647
8648 <p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a></p>
8649
8650       </div>
8651       <div class="tags">
8652
8653
8654         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
8655
8656
8657       </div>
8658     </div>
8659     <div class="padding"></div>
8660
8661     <div class="entry">
8662       <div class="title">
8663         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_locate_and_install_required_firmware_packages_on_Debian__Isenkram_0_4_.html">Automatically locate and install required firmware packages on Debian (Isenkram 0.4)</a>
8664       </div>
8665       <div class="date">
8666         25th June 2013
8667       </div>
8668       <div class="body">
8669         <p>It annoys me when the computer fail to do automatically what it is
8670 perfectly capable of, and I have to do it manually to get things
8671 working.  One such task is to find out what firmware packages are
8672 needed to get the hardware on my computer working.  Most often this
8673 affect the wifi card, but some times it even affect the RAID
8674 controller or the ethernet card.  Today I pushed version 0.4 of the
8675 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">Isenkram package</a>
8676 including a new script isenkram-autoinstall-firmware handling the
8677 process of asking all the loaded kernel modules what firmware files
8678 they want, find debian packages providing these files and install the
8679 debian packages.  Here is a test run on my laptop:</p>
8680
8681 <p><pre>
8682 # isenkram-autoinstall-firmware
8683 info: kernel drivers requested extra firmware: ipw2200-bss.fw ipw2200-ibss.fw ipw2200-sniffer.fw
8684 info: fetching http://http.debian.net/debian/dists/squeeze/Contents-i386.gz
8685 info: locating packages with the requested firmware files
8686 info: Updating APT sources after adding non-free APT source
8687 info: trying to install firmware-ipw2x00
8688 firmware-ipw2x00
8689 firmware-ipw2x00
8690 Preconfiguring packages ...
8691 Selecting previously deselected package firmware-ipw2x00.
8692 (Reading database ... 259727 files and directories currently installed.)
8693 Unpacking firmware-ipw2x00 (from .../firmware-ipw2x00_0.28+squeeze1_all.deb) ...
8694 Setting up firmware-ipw2x00 (0.28+squeeze1) ...
8695 #
8696 </pre></p>
8697
8698 <p>When all the requested firmware is present, a simple message is
8699 printed instead:</p>
8700
8701 <p><pre>
8702 # isenkram-autoinstall-firmware
8703 info: did not find any firmware files requested by loaded kernel modules.  exiting
8704 #
8705 </pre></p>
8706
8707 <p>It could use some polish, but it is already working well and saving
8708 me some time when setting up new machines. :)</p>
8709
8710 <p>So, how does it work?  It look at the set of currently loaded
8711 kernel modules, and look up each one of them using modinfo, to find
8712 the firmware files listed in the module meta-information.  Next, it
8713 download the Contents file from a nearby APT mirror, and search for
8714 the firmware files in this file to locate the package with the
8715 requested firmware file.  If the package is in the non-free section, a
8716 non-free APT source is added and the package is installed using
8717 <tt>apt-get install</tt>.  The end result is a slightly better working
8718 machine.</p>
8719
8720 <p>I hope someone find time to implement a more polished version of
8721 this script as part of the hw-detect debian-installer module, to
8722 finally fix <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/655507">BTS report
8723 #655507</a>.  There really is no need to insert USB sticks with
8724 firmware during a PXE install when the packages already are available
8725 from the nearby Debian mirror.</p>
8726
8727       </div>
8728       <div class="tags">
8729
8730
8731         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
8732
8733
8734       </div>
8735     </div>
8736     <div class="padding"></div>
8737
8738     <div class="entry">
8739       <div class="title">
8740         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_value_of_a_good_distro_wide_test_suite___.html">The value of a good distro wide test suite...</a>
8741       </div>
8742       <div class="date">
8743         22nd June 2013
8744       </div>
8745       <div class="body">
8746         <p>In the <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
8747 Skolelinux</a> project, we include a post-installation test suite,
8748 which check that services are running, working, and return the
8749 expected results.  It runs automatically just after the first boot on
8750 test installations (using test ISOs), but not on production
8751 installations (using non-test ISOs).  It test that the LDAP service is
8752 operating, Kerberos is responding, DNS is replying, file systems are
8753 online resizable, etc, etc.  And it check that the PXE service is
8754 configured, which is the topic of this post.</p>
8755
8756 <p>The last week I've fixed the DVD and USB stick ISOs for our Debian
8757 Edu Wheezy release.  These ISOs are supposed to be able to install a
8758 complete system without any Internet connection, but for that to
8759 happen all the needed packages need to be on them.  Thanks to our test
8760 suite, I discovered that we had forgotten to adjust our PXE setup to
8761 cope with the new names and paths used by the netboot d-i packages.
8762 When Internet connectivity was available, the installer fall back to
8763 using wget to fetch d-i boot images, but when offline it require
8764 working packages to get it working.  And the packages changed name
8765 from debian-installer-6.0-netboot-$arch to
8766 debian-installer-7.0-netboot-$arch, we no longer pulled in the
8767 packages during installation.  Without our test suite, I suspect we
8768 would never have discovered this before release.  Now it is fixed
8769 right after we got the ISOs operational.</p>
8770
8771 <p>Another by-product of the test suite is that we can ask system
8772 administrators with problems getting Debian Edu to work, to run the
8773 test suite using <tt>/usr/sbin/debian-edu-test-install</tt> and see if
8774 any errors are detected.  This usually pinpoint the subsystem causing
8775 the problem.</p>
8776
8777 <p>If you want to help us help kids learn how to share and create,
8778 please join us on
8779 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu on
8780 irc.debian.org</a> and the
8781 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/">debian-edu@</a> mailing
8782 list.</p>
8783
8784       </div>
8785       <div class="tags">
8786
8787
8788         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
8789
8790
8791       </div>
8792     </div>
8793     <div class="padding"></div>
8794
8795     <div class="entry">
8796       <div class="title">
8797         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Victor_Ni_u.html">Debian Edu interview: Victor Nițu</a>
8798       </div>
8799       <div class="date">
8800         17th June 2013
8801       </div>
8802       <div class="body">
8803         <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and
8804 Skolelinux</a> distribution have users and contributors all around the
8805 globe.  And a while back, an enterprising young man showed up on
8806 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">our IRC channel
8807 #debian-edu</a> and started asking questions about how Debian Edu
8808 worked.  We answered as good as we could, and even convinced him to
8809 help us with translations.  And today I managed to get an interview
8810 with him, to learn more about him.</p>
8811
8812 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
8813
8814 <p>I'm a 25 year old free software enthusiast, living in Romania,
8815 which is also my country of origin. Back in 2009, at a New Year's Eve
8816 party, I had a very nice <strike>beer</strike> discussion with a
8817 friend, when we realized we have no organised Debian community in our
8818 country. A few days later, we put together the infrastructure for such
8819 community and even gathered a nice Debian-ish crowd. Since then, I
8820 began my quest as a free software hacker and activist and I am
8821 constantly trying to cover as much ground as possible on that
8822 field.</p>
8823
8824 <p>A few years ago I founded a small web development company, which
8825 provided me the flexible schedule I needed so much for my
8826 activities. For the last 13 months, I have been the Technical Director
8827 of <a href="http://ceata.org/">Fundația Ceata</a>, which is a free
8828 software activist organisation endorsed by the FSF and the FSFE, and
8829 the only one we have in our country.</p>
8830
8831 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
8832 project?</strong></p>
8833
8834 <p>The idea of participating in the Debian Edu project was a surprise
8835 even to me, since I never used it before I began getting involved in
8836 it. This year I had a great opportunity to deliver a talk on
8837 educational software, and I knew immediately where to look. It was a
8838 love at first sight, since I was previously involved with some of the
8839 technologies the project incorporates, and I rapidly found a lot of
8840 ways to contribute.</p>
8841
8842 <p>My first contributions consisted in translating the installer and
8843 configuration dialogs, then I found some bugs to squash (I still
8844 haven't fixed them yet though), and I even got my eyes on some other
8845 areas where I can prove myself helpful. Since the appetite for free
8846 software in my country is pretty low, I'll be happy to be the first
8847 one around here advocating for the project's adoption in educational
8848 environments, and maybe even get my hands dirty in creating a flavour
8849 for our own needs. I am not used to make very advanced plannings, so
8850 from now on, time will tell what I'll be doing next, but I think I
8851 have a pretty consistent starting point.</p>
8852
8853 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
8854 Edu?</strong></p>
8855
8856 <p>Not a long time ago, I was in the position of configuring and
8857 maintaining a LDAP server on some Debian derivative, and I must say it
8858 took me a while. A long time ago, I was maintaining a bigger
8859 Samba-powered infrastructure, and I must say I spent quite a lot of
8860 time on it. I have similar stories about many of the services included
8861 with Skolelinux, and the main advantage I see about it is the
8862 out-of-the box availability of them, making it quite competitive when
8863 it comes to managing a school's network, for example.</p>
8864
8865 <p>Of course, there is more to say about Skolelinux than the
8866 availability of the software included, its flexibility in various
8867 scenarios is something I can't wait to experiment "into the wild" (I
8868 only played with virtual machines so far). And I am sure there is a
8869 lot more I haven't discovered yet about it, being so new within the
8870 project.</p>
8871
8872 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
8873 Edu?</strong></p>
8874
8875 <p>As usual, when it comes to Debian Blends, I see as the biggest
8876 disadvantage the lack of a numerous team dedicated to the
8877 project. Every day I see the same names in the changelogs, and I have
8878 a constantly fear of the bus factor in this story.  I'd like to see
8879 Debian Edu advertised more as an entry point into the Debian
8880 ecosystem, especially amongst newcomers and students. IMHO there are a
8881 lot low-hanging fruits in terms of bug squashing, and enough
8882 opportunities to get the feeling of the Debian Project's dynamics. Not
8883 to mention it's a very fun blend to work on!</p>
8884
8885 <p>Derived from the previous statement, is the delay in catching up
8886 with the main Debian release and documentation. This is common though
8887 to all blends and derivatives, but it's an issue we can all work
8888 on.</p>
8889
8890 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
8891
8892 <p>I can hardly imagine myself spending a day without Vim, since my
8893 daily routine covers writing code and hacking configuration files. I
8894 am a fan of the Awesome window manager (but I also like the
8895 Enlightenment project a lot!),
8896 <a href="http://www.claws-mail.org/‎">Claws Mail</a> due to its ease of
8897 use and very configurable behaviour. Recently I fell in love with
8898 <a href="https://launchpad.net/redshift">Redshift</a>, which helps me
8899 get through the night without headaches. Of course, there is much more
8900 stuff in this bag, but I'll need a blog on my own for doing this!</p>
8901
8902 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
8903 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
8904
8905 <p>Well, on this field, I cannot do much more than experiment right
8906 now. So, being far from having a recipe for success, I can only assume
8907 that:</p>
8908
8909 <ul>
8910
8911 <li>schools would like to get rid of proprietary software</li>
8912
8913 <li>students will love the openness of the system, and will want to
8914     experiment with it - maybe we need to harvest the native curiosity
8915     of teenagers more?</li>
8916
8917 <li>there is no "right one" when it comes to strategies, but it would
8918     be useful to have some success stories published somewhere, so
8919     other can get some inspiration from them (I know I'd promote
8920     them!)</li>
8921
8922 <li>more active promotion - talks, conferences, even small school
8923     lectures can do magical things if they encounter at least one
8924     person interested. Who knows who that person might be? ;-)</li>
8925
8926 </ul>
8927
8928 <p>I also see some problems in getting Skolelinux into schools; for
8929 example, in our country we have a great deal of corruption issues, so
8930 it might be hard(er) to fight against proprietary solutions. Also,
8931 people who relied on commercial software for all their lives, would be
8932 very hard to convert against their will.</p>
8933
8934       </div>
8935       <div class="tags">
8936
8937
8938         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
8939
8940
8941       </div>
8942     </div>
8943     <div class="padding"></div>
8944
8945     <div class="entry">
8946       <div class="title">
8947         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Jonathan_Carter.html">Debian Edu interview: Jonathan Carter</a>
8948       </div>
8949       <div class="date">
8950         12th June 2013
8951       </div>
8952       <div class="body">
8953         <p>There is a certain cross-over between the
8954 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux
8955 project</a> and <a href="http://www.edubuntu.org/">the Edubuntu
8956 project</a>, and for example the LTSP packages in Debian are a joint
8957 effort between the projects.  One person with a foot in both camps is
8958 Jonathan Carter, which I am now happy to present to you.</p>
8959
8960 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
8961
8962 <p>I'm a South-African free software geek who lives in Cape Town. My
8963 days vary quite a bit since I'm involved in too many things. As I'm
8964 getting older I'm learning how to focus a bit more :)</p>
8965
8966 <p>I'm also an Edubuntu contributor and I love when there are
8967 opportunities for the Edubuntu and Debian Edu projects to benefit from
8968 each other.</p>
8969
8970 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
8971 project?</strong></p>
8972
8973 <p>I've been somewhat familiar with the project before, but I think my
8974 first direct exposure to the project was when I met Petter
8975 [Reinholdtsen] and Knut [Yrvin] at the Edubuntu summit in 2005 in
8976 London. They provided great feedback that helped the bootstrapping of
8977 Edubuntu. Back then Edubuntu (and even Ubuntu) was still very new and
8978 it was great getting input from people who have been around longer. I
8979 was also still very excitable and said yes to everything and to this
8980 day I have a big todo list backlog that I'm catching up with. I think
8981 over the years the relationship between Edubuntu and Debian-Edu has
8982 been gradually improving, although I think there's a lot that we could
8983 still improve on in terms of working together on packages. I'm sure
8984 we'll get there one day.</p>
8985
8986 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian
8987 Edu?</strong></p>
8988
8989 <p>Debian itself already has so many advantages. I could go on about
8990 it for pages, but in essence I love that it's a very honest project
8991 that puts its users first with no hidden agendas and also produces
8992 very high quality work.</p>
8993
8994 <p>I think the advantage of Debian Edu is that it makes many common
8995 set-up tasks simpler so that administrators can get up and running
8996 with a lot less effort and frustration. At the same time I think it
8997 helps to standardise installations in schools so that it's easier for
8998 community members and commercial suppliers to support.</p>
8999
9000 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
9001 Edu?</strong></p>
9002
9003 <p>I had to re-type this one a few times because I'm trying to
9004 separate "disadvantages" from "areas that need improvement" (which is
9005 what I originally rambled on about)</p>
9006
9007 <p>The biggest disadvantage I can think of is lack of manpower. The
9008 project could do so much more if there were more good contributors. I
9009 think some of the problems are external too. Free software and free
9010 content in education is a no-brainer but it takes some time to catch
9011 on. When you've been working with the same proprietary eco-system for
9012 years and have gotten used to it, it can be hard to adjust to some
9013 concepts in the free software world. It would be nice if there were
9014 more Debian Edu consultants across the world. I'd love to be one
9015 myself but I'm already so over-committed that it's just not possible
9016 currently.</p>
9017
9018 <p>I think the best short-term solution to that large-scale problem is
9019 for schools to be pro-active and share their experiences and grow
9020 their skills in-house. I'm often saddened to see how much money
9021 educational institutions spend on 3rd party solutions that they don't
9022 have access to after the service has ended and they could've gotten so
9023 much more value otherwise by being more self-sustainable and
9024 autonomous.</p>
9025
9026 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
9027
9028 <p>My main laptop dual-boots between Debian and Windows 7. I was
9029 Windows free for years but started dual-booting again last year for
9030 some games which help me focus and relax (Starcraft II in
9031 particular). Gaming support on Linux is improving in leaps and bounds
9032 so I suppose I'll soon be able to regain that disk space :)</p>
9033
9034 <p>Besides that I rely on Icedove, Chromium, Terminator, Byobu, irssi,
9035 git, Tomboy, KVM, VLC and LibreOffice. Recently I've been torn on
9036 which desktop environment I like and I'm taking some refuge in Xfce
9037 while I figure that out. I like tools that keep things simple. I enjoy
9038 Python and shell scripting. I went to an Arduino workshop recently and
9039 it was awesome seeing how easy and simple the IDE software was to get
9040 up and running in Debian compared to the users running Windows and OS
9041 X.</p>
9042
9043 <p>I also use mc which some people frown upon slightly. I got used to
9044 using Norton Commander in the early 90's and it stuck (I think the
9045 people who sneer at it is just jealous that they don't know how to use
9046 it :p)
9047
9048 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
9049 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
9050
9051 <p>I think trying to force it is unproductive. I also think that in
9052 many cases it's appropriate for schools to use non-free systems and I
9053 don't think that there's any particular moral or ethical problem with
9054 that.</p>
9055
9056 <p>I do think though that free software can already solve so so many
9057 problems in educational institutions and it's just a shame not taking
9058 advantage of that.</p>
9059
9060 <p>I also think that some curricula need serious review. For example,
9061 some areas of the world rely heavily on very specific versions of MS
9062 Office, teaching students to parrot menu items instead of learning the
9063 general concepts. I think that's very unproductive because firstly, MS
9064 Office's interface changes drastically every few years and on top of
9065 that it also locks in a generation to a product that might not be the
9066 best solution for them.</p>
9067
9068 <p>To answer your question, I believe that the right strategy is to
9069 educate and inform, giving someone the information they require to
9070 make a decision that would work for them.</p>
9071
9072       </div>
9073       <div class="tags">
9074
9075
9076         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
9077
9078
9079       </div>
9080     </div>
9081     <div class="padding"></div>
9082
9083     <div class="entry">
9084       <div class="title">
9085         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fixing_the_Linux_black_screen_of_death_on_machines_with_Intel_HD_video.html">Fixing the Linux black screen of death on machines with Intel HD video</a>
9086       </div>
9087       <div class="date">
9088         11th June 2013
9089       </div>
9090       <div class="body">
9091         <p>When installing RedHat, Fedora, Debian and Ubuntu on some machines,
9092 the screen just turn black when Linux boot, either during installation
9093 or on first boot from the hard disk.  I've seen it once in a while the
9094 last few years, but only recently understood the cause.  I've seen it
9095 on HP laptops, and on my latest acquaintance the Packard Bell laptop.
9096 The reason seem to be in the wiring of some laptops.  The system to
9097 control the screen background light is inverted, so when Linux try to
9098 turn the brightness fully on, it end up turning it off instead.  I do
9099 not know which Linux drivers are affected, but this post is about the
9100 i915 driver used by the
9101 <a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Packard Bell
9102 EasyNote LV</a>, Thinkpad X40 and many other laptops.</p>
9103
9104 <p>The problem can be worked around two ways.  Either by adding
9105 i915.invert_brightness=1 as a kernel option, or by adding a file in
9106 /etc/modprobe.d/ to tell modprobe to add the invert_brightness=1
9107 option when it load the i915 kernel module.  On Debian and Ubuntu, it
9108 can be done by running these commands as root:</p>
9109
9110 <pre>
9111 echo options i915 invert_brightness=1 | tee /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf
9112 update-initramfs -u -k all
9113 </pre>
9114
9115 <p>Since March 2012 there is
9116 <a href="http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=4dca20efb1a9c2efefc28ad2867e5d6c3f5e1955">a
9117 mechanism in the Linux kernel</a> to tell the i915 driver which
9118 hardware have this problem, and get the driver to invert the
9119 brightness setting automatically.  To use it, one need to add a row in
9120 <a href="http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c">the
9121 intel_quirks array</a> in the driver source
9122 <tt>drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c</tt> (look for "<tt>static
9123 struct intel_quirk intel_quirks</tt>"), specifying the PCI device
9124 number (vendor number 8086 is assumed) and subdevice vendor and device
9125 number.</p>
9126
9127 <p>My Packard Bell EasyNote LV got this output from <tt>lspci
9128 -vvnn</tt> for the video card in question:</p>
9129
9130 <p><pre>
9131 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation \
9132     3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0156] \
9133     (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
9134  Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0688]
9135  Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- \
9136     ParErr- Stepping- SE RR- FastB2B- DisINTx+
9137  Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- \
9138     <TAbort- <MAbort->SERR- <PERR- INTx-
9139  Latency: 0
9140  Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 42
9141  Region 0: Memory at c2000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
9142  Region 2: Memory at b0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
9143  Region 4: I/O ports at 4000 [size=64]
9144  Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
9145  Capabilities: <access denied>
9146  Kernel driver in use: i915
9147 </pre></p>
9148
9149 <p>The resulting intel_quirks entry would then look like this:</p>
9150
9151 <p><pre>
9152 struct intel_quirk intel_quirks[] = {
9153        ...
9154         /* Packard Bell EasyNote LV11HC needs invert brightness quirk */
9155         { 0x0156, 0x1025, 0x0688, quirk_invert_brightness },
9156        ...
9157 }
9158 </pre></p>
9159
9160 <p>According to the kernel module instructions (as seen using
9161 <tt>modinfo i915</tt>), information about hardware needing the
9162 invert_brightness flag should be sent to the
9163 <a href="http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/dri-devel">dri-devel
9164 (at) lists.freedesktop.org</a> mailing list to reach the kernel
9165 developers.  But my email about the laptop sent 2013-06-03 have not
9166 yet shown up in
9167 <a href="http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/dri-devel/2013-June/thread.html">the
9168 web archive for the mailing list</a>, so I suspect they do not accept
9169 emails from non-subscribers.  Because of this, I sent my patch also to
9170 the Debian bug tracking system instead as
9171 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/710938">BTS report #710938</a>, to make
9172 sure the patch is not lost.</p>
9173
9174 <p>Unfortunately, it is not enough to fix the kernel to get Laptops
9175 with this problem working properly with Linux.  If you use Gnome, your
9176 worries should be over at this point.  But if you use KDE, there is
9177 something in KDE ignoring the invert_brightness setting and turning on
9178 the screen during login.  I've reported it to Debian as
9179 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/711237">BTS report #711237</a>, and
9180 have no idea yet how to figure out exactly what subsystem is doing
9181 this.  Perhaps you can help?  Perhaps you know what the Gnome
9182 developers did to handle this, and this can give a clue to the KDE
9183 developers?  Or you know where in KDE the screen brightness is changed
9184 during login?  If so, please update the BTS report (or get in touch if
9185 you do not know how to update BTS).</p>
9186
9187 <p>Update 2013-07-19: The correct fix for this machine seem to be
9188 acpi_backlight=vendor, to disable ACPI backlight support completely,
9189 as the ACPI information on the machine is trash and it is better to
9190 leave it to the intel video driver to control the screen
9191 backlight.</p>
9192
9193       </div>
9194       <div class="tags">
9195
9196
9197         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
9198
9199
9200       </div>
9201     </div>
9202     <div class="padding"></div>
9203
9204     <div class="entry">
9205       <div class="title">
9206         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html">Third alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy</a>
9207       </div>
9208       <div class="date">
9209         10th June 2013
9210       </div>
9211       <div class="body">
9212         <p>The third wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up
9213 today.  This is the release announcement:</p>
9214
9215 <p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.0.0 alpha2 released
9216 2013-06-10</strong></p>
9217
9218 <p>This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu
9219 alpha2, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p>
9220
9221 <p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p>
9222
9223 <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as
9224 Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an
9225 out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school
9226 network. Immediately after installation a school server running all
9227 services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users
9228 and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting
9229 environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of
9230 the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be
9231 installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP
9232 database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home
9233 directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The
9234 desktop contains
9235 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more
9236 than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from
9237 the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE
9238 and Xfce desktop environment.</p>
9239
9240 <p>This is the third test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically
9241 this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the
9242 Squeeze release.</p>
9243
9244 <p><strong>Software updates</strong></p>
9245
9246 <ul>
9247
9248 <li>Iceweasel was updated from 10 to 17. (DSA 2699-1)
9249 <li>Updated libxv (DSA-2674), libxvmc (DSA-2675), libxfixes (DSA-2676), libxrender (DSA-2677), mesa (DSA-2678), xserver-xorg-video-openchrome (DSA-2679), libxt (DSA-2680), libxcursor (DSA-2681), libxext (DSA-2682), libxi (DSA-2683), libxrandr (DSA-2684), libxp (DSA-2685), libxcb (DSA-2686), libfs (DSA-2687), libxres (DSA-2688), libxtst (DSA-2689), libxxf86dga (DSA-2690), libxinerama (DSA-2691), libxxf86vm (DSA-2692), libx11 (DSA-2693), chromium-browser (DSA-2695), gnutls26 (DSA-2697), wireshark (DSA-2700), krb5 (DSA-2701), telepathy-gabble (DSA-2702) and subversion (DSA-2703).
9250 <li>Switched xrdp on thin client servers to use tightvncserver instead of xvnc4.
9251 <li>Now install software oscilloscope xoscope by default.
9252 <li>Now install music tools gtick, lingot and pianobooster by default.
9253
9254 </ul>
9255
9256 <p><strong>Other changes</strong></p>
9257
9258 <ul>
9259
9260 <li>The subnet-change script is now able to change all files needing a change on the main-server when changing the IP network used.
9261 <li>Updated translation of the installation.
9262 <li>New Romanian translation.
9263 <li>Fix security problem causing root and first user password to no longer show up in /var/cache/debconf/templates.dat.
9264 <li>Fix roaming workstation setup (Closed in libpam-mklocaluser/0.8, libpam-mklocaluser/0.8~deb7u1: #706753: libpam-mklocaluser: Fail to create local user during first login).
9265 <li>Made roaming workstation setup more robust in non-Debian Edu environments.
9266 <li>New script debian-edu-bless to transform a Debian installation to a Debian Edu profile.
9267 <li>Adjust Iceweasel setup to improve performance when $HOME is on NFS.
9268 <li>More testsuite tests.
9269 <li>Make automatic proxy configuration more robust.
9270 <li>Adjust GOsa² GUI configuration.
9271
9272 <li>Update thin client and diskless workstation setup to work with
9273 LTSP in Wheezy.</li>
9274
9275 <li>Diskless workstations now run out of the box -- no need to set
9276 them up with GOsa².</li>
9277
9278 <li>Update IMAP server setup. </li>
9279
9280 <li>Fix login into Skolelinux Backup Tool (Closed in
9281 slbackup-php/0.4.4-1: #700257: slbackup-php: Fails to submit correctly
9282 entered password). </li>
9283
9284 </ul>
9285
9286 <p><strong>Known issues</strong></p>
9287
9288 <ul>
9289
9290 <li>DVD binary and source images are not yet ready.</li>
9291
9292 <li>No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv)
9293 available yet (Open in gosa/2.7.4-4: #698840: gosa-plugin-ldapmanager:
9294 missing import feature).</li>
9295
9296 <li>Missing artwork for the KDE desktop (and probably a few others). </li>
9297
9298 <li>KDE Debian submenu lacks icons (Closed: #502192: menu-xdg: invents
9299 own icon names instead of using existing). This will remain
9300 unfixed.</li>
9301
9302 </ul>
9303
9304 <p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p>
9305
9306 <p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p>
9307
9308 <ul>
9309
9310 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso</a></li>
9311
9312 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso</a></li>
9313
9314 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso .</li>
9315
9316 </ul>
9317
9318 <p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 27bbcace407743382f3c42c08dbe8178
9319 <br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: e35f7d7908566cd3075375b3721fa10ee420d419</p>
9320
9321 <p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p>
9322
9323 <p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a>
9324
9325       </div>
9326       <div class="tags">
9327
9328
9329         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
9330
9331
9332       </div>
9333     </div>
9334     <div class="padding"></div>
9335
9336     <div class="entry">
9337       <div class="title">
9338         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Is_there_a_PHP_expert_in_the_building___Debian_Edu_need_help_.html">Is there a PHP expert in the building?  Debian Edu need help!</a>
9339       </div>
9340       <div class="date">
9341          5th June 2013
9342       </div>
9343       <div class="body">
9344         <p>Here is a call for help from the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project.
9345 We have two problems blocking the release of the Wheezy version we
9346 hope to get released soon.  The two problems require some with PHP
9347 skills, and we seem to lack anyone with both time and PHP skills in
9348 the project:
9349
9350 <ol>
9351
9352 <li>It is impossible to log into the slbackup web interface
9353   (slbackup-php) using the root user and password.  This is
9354   <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/700257">BTS report #700257</a>.
9355   This used to work, but stopped working some time since Squeeze.
9356   Perhaps some obsolete PHP feature was used?</li>
9357
9358 <li>It is not possible to "mass import" user lists in Gosa, neither
9359   using ldif nor using CSV files.  The feature was disabled after a
9360   major rewrite of Gosa, and need to be ported to the new system.
9361   This is <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/698840">BTS report
9362   #698840</a>.</li>
9363
9364 </ol>
9365
9366 <p>If you can help us, please join us on IRC
9367 (<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu on
9368 irc.debian.org</a>) and provide patches via the BTS.</p>
9369
9370       </div>
9371       <div class="tags">
9372
9373
9374         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
9375
9376
9377       </div>
9378     </div>
9379     <div class="padding"></div>
9380
9381     <div class="entry">
9382       <div class="title">
9383         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__C_dric_Boutillier.html">Debian Edu interview: Cédric Boutillier</a>
9384       </div>
9385       <div class="date">
9386          4th June 2013
9387       </div>
9388       <div class="body">
9389         <p>It has been a while since my last English
9390 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>
9391 interview last November.  But the developers and translators are still
9392 pulling along to get the Wheezy based release out the door, and this
9393 time I managed to get an interview from one of the French translators
9394 in the project, Cédric Boutillier.</p>
9395
9396 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
9397
9398 <p>I am 34 year old. I live near Paris, France. I am an assistant
9399 professor in probability theory. I spend my daytime teaching
9400 mathematics at the university and doing fundamental research in
9401 probability in connexion with combinatorics and statistical physics.</p>
9402
9403 <p>I have been involved in the Debian project for a couple of years
9404 and became Debian Developer a few months ago. I am working on Ruby
9405 packaging, publicity and translation.</p>
9406
9407 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
9408 project?</strong></p>
9409
9410 <p>I came to the Debian Edu project after a call for translation of
9411 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Manuals">the
9412 Debian Edu manual</a> for the release of Debian Edu Squeeze. Since
9413 then, I have been working on updating the French translation of the
9414 manual.
9415
9416 <p>I had the opportunity to make an installation of Debian Edu in a
9417 virtual machine when I was preparing localised version of some screen
9418 shots for the manual. I was amazed to see it worked out of the box and
9419 how comprehensive the list of software installed by default was.</p>
9420
9421 <p>What amazed me was the complete network infrastructure directly
9422 ready to use, which can and the nice administration interface provided
9423 by <a href="https://oss.gonicus.de/labs/gosa/">GOsa²</a>.  What pleased
9424 me also was the fact that among the software installed by default,
9425 there were many "traditional" educative software to learn languages,
9426 to count, to program... but also software to develop creativity and
9427 artistic skills with music (<a href="http://ardour.org/">Ardour</a>,
9428 <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</a>) and
9429 movies/animation (I was especially thinking of
9430 <a href="http://linuxstopmotion.sourceforge.net/">Stopmotion</a>).</p>
9431
9432 <p>I am following the development of Debian Edu and am hanging out on
9433 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu</a>.
9434 Unfortunately, I don't much time to get more involved in this
9435 beautiful project.</p>
9436
9437 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian
9438 Edu?</strong></p>
9439
9440 <p>For me, the main advantages of Skolelinux/Debian Edu are its
9441 community of experts and its precise documentation, as well as the
9442 fact that it provides a solution ready to use.</p>
9443
9444 <p>I would add also the fact that it is based on the rock solid Debian
9445 distribution, which ensures stability and provides a huge collection
9446 of educational free software.</p>
9447
9448 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
9449 Edu?</strong></p>
9450
9451 <p>Maybe the lack of manpower to do lobbying on the
9452 project. Sometimes, people who need to take decisions concerning IT do
9453 not have all the elements to evaluate properly free software
9454 solutions. The fact that support by a company may be difficult to find
9455 is probably a problem if the school does not have IT personnel.</p>
9456
9457 <p>One can find support from a company by looking at
9458 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Help/ProfessionalHelp">the
9459 wiki dokumentation</a>, where some countries already have a number of
9460 companies providing support for Debian Edu, like Germany or
9461 Norway. This list is easy to find readily from the manual. However,
9462 for other countries, like France, the list is empty. I guess that
9463 consultants proposing support for Debian would be able to provide some
9464 support for Debian Edu as well.</p>
9465
9466 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
9467
9468 <p>I am using the KDE Plasma Desktop. But the pieces of software I use
9469 most runs in a terminal: Mutt and OfflineIMAP for emails, latex for
9470 scientific documents, mpd for music. VIM is my editor of choice.  I am
9471 also using the mathematical software
9472 <a href="http://www.scilab.org/en/scilab/about‎">Scilab</a> and
9473 <a href="http://www.sagemath.org/index.html‎">Sage</a> (built from
9474 source as not completely packaged for Debian, yet).
9475
9476 <p><strong>Do you have any suggestions for teachers interested in
9477 using the free software in Debian to teach mathematics and
9478 statistics?</strong></p>
9479
9480 <p>I do not have any "nice" recommendations for statistics. At our
9481 university, we use both <a href="http://www.r-project.org/‎">R</a> and
9482 Scilab to teach statistics and probabilistic simulations. For
9483 geometry, there are nice programs:</p>
9484
9485 <ul>
9486
9487 <li><a href="http://www.drgeo.eu/">drgeo</a> and
9488 <a href="http://edu.kde.org/applications/all/kig‎">kig</a> to do
9489 constructions in planar geometry
9490
9491 <li><a href="http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/software/download/kali.html">kali</a>
9492 to discover symmetry groups (the so-called wallpapers and frieze
9493 groups), although the interface looks a bit old.</li>
9494
9495 </ul>
9496
9497 <p>I like also
9498 <a href="http://edu.kde.org/applications/all/cantor">cantor</a>, which
9499 provides a uniform interface to SciLab, Sage,
9500 <a href="http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Octave‎">Octave</a>, etc...</p>
9501
9502 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
9503 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
9504
9505 <p>My suggestions would be to</p>
9506
9507 <ul>
9508
9509 <li>advertise the reduction of costs when free software is used.</li>
9510
9511 <li>communicate about the quality of free software projects, using
9512     well known examples like Firefox, ThunderBird and
9513     OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice.</li>
9514
9515 <li>advertise the living and strong community around the project.</li>
9516
9517 <li>show that it is not more difficult to use than any other
9518     system.</li>
9519
9520 </ul>
9521
9522       </div>
9523       <div class="tags">
9524
9525
9526         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
9527
9528
9529       </div>
9530     </div>
9531     <div class="padding"></div>
9532
9533     <div class="entry">
9534       <div class="title">
9535         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">Educational applications included in Debian Edu / Skolelinux (the screenshot collection :-)</a>
9536       </div>
9537       <div class="date">
9538          1st June 2013
9539       </div>
9540       <div class="body">
9541         <p>Included in <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
9542 Skolelinux</a>, there are quite a lot of educational software.
9543 Created to help teachers teach, and pupils learn.  We have tried to
9544 tag them all using debtags use::learning and role::program, and using
9545 the debtags I was happy to be able to create a collage of the
9546 educational software packages installed by default, sorted by the
9547 debtag field.  Here it is.  Click on a image to learn more about the
9548 program.</p>
9549
9550 <!-- for f in $(debtags tagcat|grep field::|awk '{print $2}'); do   echo; echo "<p><strong>$f</strong></p>"; echo "<p>";   (     for p in $(debtags search --names "use::learning && interface::x11 && role::program && $f"); do img="<img src='http://screenshots.debian.net/thumbnail/$p' alt='$p'>"; if dpkg -s $p > /dev/null 2>&1; then           echo "<a href='http://packages.qa.debian.org/$p'>$img</a>"; fi;     done;   ) | LANG=C sort; echo "</p>"; done -->
9551
9552 <p><strong>field::arts</strong></p>
9553 <p>
9554 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=audacity'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/audacity.png' alt='audacity'></a>
9555 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=childsplay'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/childsplay.png' alt='childsplay'></a>
9556 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=denemo'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/denemo.png' alt='denemo'></a>
9557 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=freebirth'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/freebirth.png' alt='freebirth'></a>
9558 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a>
9559 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gimp'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gimp.png' alt='gimp'></a>
9560 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=hydrogen'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/hydrogen.png' alt='hydrogen'></a>
9561 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=lilypond'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/lilypond.png' alt='lilypond'></a>
9562 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=lmms'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/lmms.png' alt='lmms'></a>
9563 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=rosegarden'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/rosegarden.png' alt='rosegarden'></a>
9564 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=scribus'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/scribus.png' alt='scribus'></a>
9565 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=solfege'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/solfege.png' alt='solfege'></a>
9566 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=stopmotion'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/stopmotion.png' alt='stopmotion'></a>
9567 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=tuxpaint'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/tuxpaint.png' alt='tuxpaint'></a>
9568 </p>
9569
9570 <p><strong>field::astronomy</strong></p>
9571 <p>
9572 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=celestia-gnome'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/celestia-gnome.png' alt='celestia-gnome'></a>
9573 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gpredict'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gpredict.png' alt='gpredict'></a>
9574 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kstars'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kstars.png' alt='kstars'></a>
9575 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=planets'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/planets.png' alt='planets'></a>
9576 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=stellarium'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/stellarium.png' alt='stellarium'></a>
9577 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=xplanet'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/xplanet.png' alt='xplanet'></a>
9578 </p>
9579
9580 <p><strong>field::biology:structural</strong></p>
9581 <p>
9582 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=pymol'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/pymol.png' alt='pymol'></a>
9583 </p>
9584
9585 <p><strong>field::chemistry</strong></p>
9586 <p>
9587 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=atomix'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/atomix.png' alt='atomix'></a>
9588 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=chemtool'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/chemtool.png' alt='chemtool'></a>
9589 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=easychem'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/easychem.png' alt='easychem'></a>
9590 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gchempaint'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gchempaint.png' alt='gchempaint'></a>
9591 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gdis'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gdis.png' alt='gdis'></a>
9592 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=ghemical'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/ghemical.png' alt='ghemical'></a>
9593 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gperiodic'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gperiodic.png' alt='gperiodic'></a>
9594 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kalzium'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kalzium.png' alt='kalzium'></a>
9595 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=pymol'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/pymol.png' alt='pymol'></a>
9596 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=viewmol'>[viewmol]</a>
9597 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=xdrawchem'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/xdrawchem.png' alt='xdrawchem'></a>
9598 </p>
9599
9600 <p><strong>field::electronics</strong></p>
9601 <p>
9602 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a>
9603 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gpsim'>[gpsim]</a>
9604 </p>
9605
9606 <p><strong>field::geography</strong></p>
9607 <p>
9608 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kgeography'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kgeography.png' alt='kgeography'></a>
9609 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=marble'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/marble.png' alt='marble'></a>
9610 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=xplanet'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/xplanet.png' alt='xplanet'></a>
9611 </p>
9612
9613 <p><strong>field::linguistics</strong></p>
9614 <p>
9615 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a>
9616 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kanagram'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kanagram.png' alt='kanagram'></a>
9617 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=khangman'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/khangman.png' alt='khangman'></a>
9618 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=klettres'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/klettres.png' alt='klettres'></a>
9619 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=parley'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/parley.png' alt='parley'></a>
9620 </p>
9621
9622 <p><strong>field::mathematics</strong></p>
9623 <p>
9624 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=childsplay'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/childsplay.png' alt='childsplay'></a>
9625 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=drgeo'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/drgeo.png' alt='drgeo'></a>
9626 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a>
9627 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=geogebra'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/geogebra.png' alt='geogebra'></a>
9628 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=geomview'>[geomview]</a>
9629 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=grace'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/grace.png' alt='grace'></a>
9630 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=graphmonkey'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/graphmonkey.png' alt='graphmonkey'></a>
9631 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=graphthing'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/graphthing.png' alt='graphthing'></a>
9632 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kalgebra'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kalgebra.png' alt='kalgebra'></a>
9633 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kbruch'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kbruch.png' alt='kbruch'></a>
9634 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kig'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kig.png' alt='kig'></a>
9635 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kmplot'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kmplot.png' alt='kmplot'></a>
9636 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=mathwar'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/mathwar.png' alt='mathwar'></a>
9637 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=rocs'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/rocs.png' alt='rocs'></a>
9638 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=scratch'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/scratch.png' alt='scratch'></a>
9639 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=tuxmath'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/tuxmath.png' alt='tuxmath'></a>
9640 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=xabacus'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/xabacus.png' alt='xabacus'></a>
9641 </p>
9642
9643 <p><strong>field::physics</strong></p>
9644 <p>
9645 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a>
9646 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=step'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/step.png' alt='step'></a>
9647 </p>
9648
9649 <p><strong>field::TODO</strong></p>
9650 <p>
9651 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=blinken'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/blinken.png' alt='blinken'></a>
9652 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=cgoban'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/cgoban.png' alt='cgoban'></a>
9653 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=childsplay'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/childsplay.png' alt='childsplay'></a>
9654 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a>
9655 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gnuchess'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gnuchess.png' alt='gnuchess'></a>
9656 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gnugo'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gnugo.png' alt='gnugo'></a>
9657 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gtans'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gtans.png' alt='gtans'></a>
9658 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=ktouch'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/ktouch.png' alt='ktouch'></a>
9659 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=librecad'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/librecad.png' alt='librecad'></a>
9660 <a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=scratch'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/scratch.png' alt='scratch'></a>
9661 </p>
9662
9663 <p>In total, 61 applications.  3 of them lacked screen shots on
9664 <a href="http://screenshot.debian.net">screenshot.debian.net</a>.  If
9665 you know of some packages we should install by default, please let us
9666 know on <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">IRC, #debian-edu
9667 on irc.debian.org</a>, or our
9668 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/">mailing list
9669 debian-edu@</a>.</p>
9670
9671       </div>
9672       <div class="tags">
9673
9674
9675         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
9676
9677
9678       </div>
9679     </div>
9680     <div class="padding"></div>
9681
9682     <div class="entry">
9683       <div class="title">
9684         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8.html">How to install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8</a>
9685       </div>
9686       <div class="date">
9687         27th May 2013
9688       </div>
9689       <div class="body">
9690         <p>Two days ago, I asked
9691 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_can_I_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8_.html">how
9692 I could install Linux on a Packard Bell EasyNote LV computer
9693 preinstalled with Windows 8</a>.  I found a solution, but am horrified
9694 with the obstacles put in the way of Linux users on a laptop with UEFI
9695 and Windows 8.</p>
9696
9697 <p>I never found out if the cause of my problems were the use of UEFI
9698 secure booting or fast boot.  I suspect fast boot was the problem,
9699 causing the firmware to boot directly from HD without considering any
9700 key presses and alternative devices, but do not know UEFI settings
9701 enough to tell.</p>
9702
9703 <p>There is no way to install Linux on the machine in question without
9704 opening the box and disconnecting the hard drive!  This is as far as I
9705 can tell, the only way to get access to the firmware setup menu
9706 without accepting the Windows 8 license agreement.  I am told (and
9707 found description on how to) that it is possible to configure the
9708 firmware setup once booted into Windows 8.  But as I believe the terms
9709 of that agreement are completely unacceptable, accepting the license
9710 was never an alternative.  I do not enter agreements I do not intend
9711 to follow.</p>
9712
9713 <p>I feared I had to return the laptops and ask for a refund, and
9714 waste many hours on this, but luckily there was a way to get it to
9715 work.  But I would not recommend it to anyone planning to run Linux on
9716 it, and I have become sceptical to Windows 8 certified laptops.  Is
9717 this the way Linux will be forced out of the market place, by making
9718 it close to impossible for "normal" users to install Linux without
9719 accepting the Microsoft Windows license terms?  Or at least not
9720 without risking to loose the warranty?</p>
9721
9722 <p>I've updated the
9723 <a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Linux Laptop
9724 wiki page for Packard Bell EasyNote LV</a>, to ensure the next person
9725 do not have to struggle as much as I did to get Linux into the
9726 machine.</p>
9727
9728 <p>Thanks to Bob Rosbag, Florian Weimer, Philipp Kern, Ben Hutching,
9729 Michael Tokarev and others for feedback and ideas.</p>
9730
9731       </div>
9732       <div class="tags">
9733
9734
9735         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
9736
9737
9738       </div>
9739     </div>
9740     <div class="padding"></div>
9741
9742     <div class="entry">
9743       <div class="title">
9744         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_can_I_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8_.html">How can I install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8?</a>
9745       </div>
9746       <div class="date">
9747         25th May 2013
9748       </div>
9749       <div class="body">
9750         <p>I've run into quite a problem the last few days.  I bought three
9751 new laptops for my parents and a few others.  I bought Packard Bell
9752 Easynote LV to run Kubuntu on and use as their home computer.  But I
9753 am completely unable to figure out how to install Linux on it.  The
9754 computer is preinstalled with Windows 8, and I suspect it uses UEFI
9755 instead of a BIOS to boot.</p>
9756
9757 <p>The problem is that I am unable to get it to PXE boot, and unable
9758 to get it to boot the Linux installer from my USB stick.  I have yet
9759 to try the DVD install, and still hope it will work.  when I turn on
9760 the computer, there is no information on what buttons to press to get
9761 the normal boot menu.  I expect to get some boot menu to select PXE or
9762 USB stick booting.  When booting, it first ask for the language to
9763 use, then for some regional settings, and finally if I will accept the
9764 Windows 8 terms of use.  As these terms are completely unacceptable to
9765 me, I have no other choice but to turn off the computer and try again
9766 to get it to boot the Linux installer.</p>
9767
9768 <p>I have gathered my findings so far on a Linlap page about the
9769 <a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Packard Bell
9770 EasyNote LV</a> model.  If you have any idea how to get Linux
9771 installed on this machine, please get in touch or update that wiki
9772 page.  If I can't find a way to install Linux, I will have to return
9773 the laptop to the seller and find another machine for my parents.</p>
9774
9775 <p>I wonder, is this the way Linux will be forced out of the market
9776 using UEFI and "secure boot" by making it impossible to install Linux
9777 on new Laptops?</p>
9778
9779       </div>
9780       <div class="tags">
9781
9782
9783         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
9784
9785
9786       </div>
9787     </div>
9788     <div class="padding"></div>
9789
9790     <div class="entry">
9791       <div class="title">
9792         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_transform_a_Debian_based_system_to_a_Debian_Edu_installation.html">How to transform a Debian based system to a Debian Edu installation</a>
9793       </div>
9794       <div class="date">
9795         17th May 2013
9796       </div>
9797       <div class="body">
9798         <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> is
9799 an operating system based on Debian intended for use in schools.  It
9800 contain a turn-key solution for the computer network provided to
9801 pupils in the primary schools.  It provide both the central server,
9802 network boot servers and desktop environments with heaps of
9803 educational software.  The project was founded almost 12 years ago,
9804 2001-07-02.  If you want to support the project, which is in need for
9805 cash to fund developer gatherings and other project related activity,
9806 <a href="http://www.linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/donations.html">please
9807 donate some money</a>.
9808
9809 <p>A topic that come up again and again on the Debian Edu mailing
9810 lists and elsewhere, is the question on how to transform a Debian or
9811 Ubuntu installation into a Debian Edu installation.  It isn't very
9812 hard, and last week I wrote a script to replicate the steps done by
9813 the Debian Edu installer.</p>
9814
9815 <p>The script,
9816 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/branches/wheezy/debian-edu-config/share/debian-edu-config/tools/debian-edu-bless?view=markup">debian-edu-bless<a/>
9817 in the debian-edu-config package, will go through these six steps and
9818 transform an existing Debian Wheezy or Ubuntu (untested) installation
9819 into a Debian Edu Workstation:</p>
9820
9821 <ol>
9822
9823 <li>Add skolelinux related APT sources.</li>
9824 <li>Create /etc/debian-edu/config with the wanted configuration.</li>
9825 <li>Install debian-edu-install to load preseeding values and pull in
9826     our configuration.</li>
9827 <li>Preseed debconf database with profile setup in
9828     /etc/debian-edu/config, and run tasksel to install packages
9829     according to the profile specified in the config above,
9830     overriding some of the Debian automation machinery.</li>
9831 <li>Run debian-edu-cfengine-D installation to configure everything
9832     that could not be done using preseeding.</li>
9833 <li>Ask for a reboot to enable all the configuration changes.</li>
9834
9835 </ol>
9836
9837 <p>There are some steps in the Debian Edu installation that can not be
9838 replicated like this.  Disk partitioning and LVM setup, for example.
9839 So this script just assume there is enough disk space to install all
9840 the needed packages.</p>
9841
9842 <p>The script was created to help a Debian Edu student working on
9843 setting up <a href="http://www.raspberrypi.org">Raspberry Pi</a> as a
9844 Debian Edu client, and using it he can take the existing
9845 <a href="http://www.raspbian.org/FrontPage‎">Raspbian</a> installation and
9846 transform it into a fully functioning Debian Edu Workstation (or
9847 Roaming Workstation, or whatever :).</p>
9848
9849 <p>The default setting in the script is to create a KDE Workstation.
9850 If a LXDE based Roaming workstation is wanted instead, modify the
9851 PROFILE and DESKTOP values at the top to look like this instead:</p>
9852
9853 <p><pre>
9854 PROFILE="Roaming-Workstation"
9855 DESKTOP="lxde"
9856 </pre></p>
9857
9858 <p>The script could even become useful to set up Debian Edu servers in
9859 the cloud, by starting with a virtual Debian installation at some
9860 virtual hosting service and setting up all the services on first
9861 boot.</p>
9862
9863       </div>
9864       <div class="tags">
9865
9866
9867         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
9868
9869
9870       </div>
9871     </div>
9872     <div class="padding"></div>
9873
9874     <div class="entry">
9875       <div class="title">
9876         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Second_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html">Second alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy</a>
9877       </div>
9878       <div class="date">
9879         14th May 2013
9880       </div>
9881       <div class="body">
9882         <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux
9883 project</a> is making great progress and made its second Wheezy based
9884 release today.  This is the release announcement:</p>
9885
9886 <p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.0.0 alpha1 released
9887 2013-05-14</strong></p>
9888
9889 <p>This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu
9890 alpha1, based on <a href="http://www.debian.org">Debian</a> with
9891 codename "Wheezy".</p>
9892
9893 <p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p>
9894
9895 <p>Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based
9896 on Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely
9897 configured school network. Immediatly after installation a school
9898 server running all services needed for a school network is set up just
9899 waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable
9900 Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after
9901 initial installation of the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all
9902 other machines can be installed via the network.</p>
9903
9904 <p>This is the first test release based on Wheezy (which currently is
9905 not released yet). Basically this is an updated and slightly improved
9906 version compared to the Squeeze release.</p>
9907
9908 <p><strong>Software updates</strong></p>
9909 <ul>
9910   <li>Install freemind (0.9.0) by default, and stop installing vym by
9911     default.</li>
9912   <li>Install chromium (26.0.1410.43) by default.</li>
9913   <li>Install goplay (0.5-1.1) to make golearn available by default.</li>
9914   <li>Updated support for Japanese input methods, now based on
9915     ibus-anthy.</li>
9916 </ul>
9917
9918 <p><strong>Other changes</strong></p>
9919 <ul>
9920
9921   <li>Switched default file system from ext3 to ext4 for speed and
9922     reliability improvements.</li>
9923   <li>Got rid of unwanted winbind daemon and PAM setup activated because
9924     of <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/706434">706434</a>.</li>
9925   <li>Extended and improved the testsuite tests to detect more possible
9926     problems.</li>
9927   <li>Corrected proxy handling to not set http_proxy to a bogus
9928     direct:// URL.</li>
9929   <li>Corrected proxy setup for diskless workstations.</li>
9930   <li>Corrected PXE setup to use our updated udebs during installation.</li>
9931   <li>Made installation handling of low entropy level more robust.</li>
9932   <li>Create larger partitions for Roaming workstations and Thin client
9933     servers, to make room for all the software installed.</li>
9934   <li>Fix bug in Roaming workstation PAM setup, making it impossible to
9935     log in (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/706753">706753</a>).</li>
9936 </ul>
9937
9938 <p><strong>Known issues</strong></p>
9939 <ul>
9940
9941   <li>IP resolution for the local hostname give useless IPv6 address
9942     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/705900">705900</a>).  Only install
9943     libnss-myhostname on roaming workstations until it is fixed.</li>
9944   <li>DVD images are not yet ready.</li>
9945   <li>No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv)
9946     available yet (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/698840">698840</a>).</li>
9947   <li>Missing artwork for the KDE desktop (and probably a few others).</li>
9948   <li>KDE Debian submenu lacks icons.</li>
9949   <li>LXDE menu lacks entry for changing GOsa password
9950     (website). Installing gosa-desktop will be an option.</li>
9951   <li>Backup configuration via web interface is impossible due to
9952     password submission problem
9953     (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/700257">700257</a>).</li>
9954
9955 </ul>
9956
9957 <p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p>
9958
9959 <p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p>
9960 <ul>
9961
9962   <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu~7.0+edu0~a1-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu~7.0+edu0~a1-CD.iso</a></li>
9963   <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu~7.0+edu0~a1-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu~7.0+edu0~a1-CD.iso</a></li>
9964   <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu~7.0+edu0~a1-CD.iso debian-edu~7.0+edu0~a1-CD.iso</li>
9965
9966 </ul>
9967
9968 <p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 685ed76c1aa8e44b12d3fde21faf450b</p>
9969
9970 <p>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 6c874de157024da13e115bab29c068080a11ec4c</p>
9971
9972 <p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p>
9973
9974 <p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a></p>
9975
9976       </div>
9977       <div class="tags">
9978
9979
9980         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
9981
9982
9983       </div>
9984     </div>
9985     <div class="padding"></div>
9986
9987     <div class="entry">
9988       <div class="title">
9989         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian__the_Linux_distribution_of_choice_for_LEGO_designers_.html">Debian, the Linux distribution of choice for LEGO designers?</a>
9990       </div>
9991       <div class="date">
9992         11th May 2013
9993       </div>
9994       <div class="body">
9995         <P>In January,
9996 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_IRC_channel_for_LEGO_designers_using_Debian.html">I
9997 announced a</a> new <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-lego">IRC
9998 channel #debian-lego</a>, for those of us in the Debian and Linux
9999 community interested in <a href="http://www.lego.com/">LEGO</a>, the
10000 marvellous construction system from Denmark.  We also created
10001 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LegoDesigners">a wiki page</a> to have
10002 a place to take notes and write down our plans and hopes.  And several
10003 people showed up to help.  I was very happy to see the effect of my
10004 call.  Since the small start, we have a debtags tag
10005 <a href="http://debtags.debian.net/search/bytag?wl=hardware::hobby:lego">hardware::hobby:lego</a>
10006 tag for LEGO related packages, and now count 10 packages related to
10007 LEGO and <a href="http://mindstorms.lego.com/">Mindstorms</a>:</p>
10008
10009 <p><table>
10010 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/brickos">brickos</a></td><td>alternative OS for LEGO Mindstorms RCX. Supports development in C/C++</td></tr>
10011 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/leocad">leocad</a></td><td>virtual brick CAD software</td></tr>
10012 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/libnxt">libnxt</a></td><td>utility library for talking to the LEGO Mindstorms NX</td></tr>
10013 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/lnpd">lnpd</a></td><td>daemon for LNP communication with BrickOS</td></tr>
10014 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/nbc">nbc</a></td><td>compiler for LEGO Mindstorms NXT bricks</td></tr>
10015 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/nqc">nqc</a></td><td>Not Quite C compiler for LEGO Mindstorms RCX</td></tr>
10016 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/python-nxt">python-nxt</a></td><td>python driver/interface/wrapper for the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot</td></tr>
10017 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/python-nxt-filer">python-nxt-filer</a></td><td>simple GUI to manage files on a LEGO Mindstorms NXT</td></tr>
10018 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/scratch">scratch</a></td><td>easy to use programming environment for ages 8 and up</td></tr>
10019 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/t2n">t2n</a></td><td>simple command-line tool for Lego NXT</td></tr>
10020 </table></p>
10021
10022 <p>Some of these are available in Wheezy, and all but one are
10023 currently available in Jessie/testing.  leocad is so far only
10024 available in experimental.</p>
10025
10026 <p>If you care about LEGO in Debian, please join us on IRC and help
10027 adding the rest of the great free software tools available on Linux
10028 for LEGO designers.</p>
10029
10030       </div>
10031       <div class="tags">
10032
10033
10034         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>.
10035
10036
10037       </div>
10038     </div>
10039     <div class="padding"></div>
10040
10041     <div class="entry">
10042       <div class="title">
10043         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Wheezy_is_out___and_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_should_soon_follow___newinwheezy.html">Debian Wheezy is out - and Debian Edu / Skolelinux should soon follow! #newinwheezy</a>
10044       </div>
10045       <div class="date">
10046          5th May 2013
10047       </div>
10048       <div class="body">
10049         <p>When I woke up this morning, I was very happy to see that the
10050 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2013/20130504">release announcement
10051 for Debian Wheezy</a> was waiting in my mail box.  This is a great
10052 Debian release, and I expect to move my machines at home over to it fairly
10053 soon.</p>
10054
10055 <p>The new debian release contain heaps of new stuff, and one program
10056 in particular make me very happy to see included.  The
10057 <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/">Scratch</a> program, made famous by
10058 the <a href="http://www.code.org/">Teach kids code</a> movement, is
10059 included for the first time.  Alongside similar programs like
10060 <a href="http://edu.kde.org/kturtle/">kturtle</a> and
10061 <a href="http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/Turtle_Art">turtleart</a>,
10062 it allow for visual programming where syntax errors can not happen,
10063 and a friendly programming environment for learning to control the
10064 computer.  Scratch will also be included in the next release of Debian
10065 Edu.</a>
10066
10067 <p>And now that Wheezy is wrapped up, we can wrap up the next Debian
10068 Edu/Skolelinux release too.  The
10069 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/2013/04/msg00132.html">first
10070 alpha release</a> went out last week, and the next should soon
10071 follow.<p>
10072
10073       </div>
10074       <div class="tags">
10075
10076
10077         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
10078
10079
10080       </div>
10081     </div>
10082     <div class="padding"></div>
10083
10084     <div class="entry">
10085       <div class="title">
10086         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html">First alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy</a>
10087       </div>
10088       <div class="date">
10089         26th April 2013
10090       </div>
10091       <div class="body">
10092         <p>The Debian Edu / Skolelinux project is still going strong and made
10093 its first Wheezy based release today.  This is the release
10094 announcement:</p>
10095
10096 <p><strong>New features for Debian Edu ~7.0.0 alpha0 released
10097 2013-04-26</strong></p>
10098
10099 <p>This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux ~7.0.0
10100 edu alpha0, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p>
10101
10102 <p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p>
10103
10104 <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as
10105 Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an
10106 out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school
10107 network. Immediatly after installation a school server running all
10108 services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users
10109 and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting
10110 environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of
10111 the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be
10112 installed via the network.</p>
10113
10114 <p>This is the first test release based on Wheezy (which currently is
10115 not released yet). Basically this is an updated and slightly improved
10116 version compared to the Squeeze release.</p>
10117
10118 <p><strong>Software updates</strong></p>
10119
10120 <ul>
10121 <li>Everything which is new in Debian Wheezy, eg:
10122   <ul>
10123      <li>Linux kernel 3.2.x</li>
10124      <li>Desktop environments KDE "Plasma" 4.8.4, GNOME 3.4, and LXDE 4
10125          (KDE is installed by default; to choose GNOME or LXDE: see
10126          manual.)</li>
10127      <li>Web browser Iceweasel 10 ESR</li>
10128      <li>LibreOffice 3.5.4</li>
10129      <li>LTSP 5.4.2</li>
10130      <li>GOsa 2.7.4</li>
10131      <li>CUPS print system 1.5.3</li>
10132      <li>Educational toolbox GCompris 12.01</li>
10133      <li>Music creator Rosegarden 12.04</li>
10134      <li>Image editor Gimp 2.8.2</li>
10135      <li>Virtual universe Celestia 1.6.1</li>
10136      <li>Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.11.3</li>
10137      <li>Scratch visual programming environment 1.4.0.6</li>
10138      <li>New version of debian-installer from Debian Wheezy, see
10139          <a href="http://www.debian.org/releases/wheezy/installmanual">installation
10140          manual</a> for more details.</li>
10141      <li>Debian Wheezy includes about 37000 packages available for
10142          installation.</li>
10143      <li>More information about Debian Wheezy 7.0 is provided in the
10144          <a href="http://www.debian.org/releases/wheezy/releasenotes">release notes</a> and the <a href="http://www.debian.org/releases/wheezy/installmanual">installation manual</a>.</li>
10145   </ul></li>
10146 </ul>
10147
10148 <p><strong>Documentation</strong></p>
10149 <ul>
10150 <li>The (<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy">English</a>) Debian Edu Wheezy Manual is fully translated to
10151     German, French, Italian and Danish. Partly translated versions exist
10152     for Norwegian Bokmal and Spanish.</li>
10153 </ul>
10154
10155 <p><Strong>LDAP related changes</strong></p>
10156 <ul>
10157 <li>Slight changes to some objects and acls to have more types to
10158     choose from when adding systems in GOsa. Now systems can be of type
10159     server, workstation, printer, terminal or netdevice.</li>
10160 </ul>
10161
10162 <p><strong>Other changes</strong></p>
10163 <ul>
10164 <li>LTSP clients start as diskless workstation / thin client can be
10165     configured via command line argument -- or individually adding an
10166     entry in lts.conf or LDAP.<li>
10167 <li>GOsa gui: Now some options that seemed to be available, but are non
10168     functional, are greyed out (or are not clickable). Some tabs are
10169     completely hidden to the end user, others even to the GOsa admin.</li>
10170 </ul>
10171
10172 <p><strong>Regressions</strong></p>
10173 <ul>
10174 <li>No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) available
10175     yet.</li>
10176 </ul>
10177
10178 <p><strong>No updated artwork</strong></p>
10179
10180 <ul>
10181 <li>Updated artwork which is visible during installation, in the login
10182     screen and as desktop wallpaper is still missing or the same as we
10183     had for our Squeeze based release.</li>
10184 </ul>
10185
10186 <p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p>
10187
10188 To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use
10189 <ul>
10190 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/</a></li>
10191 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/</a></li>
10192 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/</li>
10193 </ul>
10194
10195 <p>The MD5SUM of this image is: c5e773ddafdaa4f48c409c682f598b6c</p>
10196
10197 <p>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 25934fabb9b7d20235499a0a51f08ce6c54215f2</p>
10198
10199 <p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p>
10200
10201 <p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a></p>
10202
10203       </div>
10204       <div class="tags">
10205
10206
10207         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
10208
10209
10210       </div>
10211     </div>
10212     <div class="padding"></div>
10213
10214     <div class="entry">
10215       <div class="title">
10216         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_developer_gathering_in_2013_take_place_in_Trondheim.html">First Debian Edu / Skolelinux developer gathering in 2013 take place in Trondheim</a>
10217       </div>
10218       <div class="date">
10219         16th April 2013
10220       </div>
10221       <div class="body">
10222         <p>This years first <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux /
10223 Debian Edu</a> developer gathering take place the coming weekend in Trondheim.
10224 Details about the gathering can be found
10225 <a href="http://www.friprogramvareiskolen.no/Gathering/2013-04-19-21-Trondheim">on
10226 the FRiSK wiki</a>.  The dates are 19-21th of April 2013, and online
10227 participation for those unable to make it in person is very welcome,
10228 and I plan to participate online myself as I could not leave Oslo this
10229 weekend.</p>
10230
10231 <p>The focus of the gathering is to work on the web pages and project
10232 infrastructure, and to continue the work on the Wheezy based Debian
10233 Edu release.</p>
10234
10235 <p>See you on <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">IRC, #debian-edu on irc.debian.org,</a> then?</p>
10236
10237       </div>
10238       <div class="tags">
10239
10240
10241         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
10242
10243
10244       </div>
10245     </div>
10246     <div class="padding"></div>
10247
10248     <div class="entry">
10249       <div class="title">
10250         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Isenkram_0_2_finally_in_the_Debian_archive.html">Isenkram 0.2 finally in the Debian archive</a>
10251       </div>
10252       <div class="date">
10253          3rd April 2013
10254       </div>
10255       <div class="body">
10256         <p>Today the <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">Isenkram
10257 package</a> finally made it into the archive, after lingering in NEW
10258 for many months.  I uploaded it to the Debian experimental suite
10259 2013-01-27, and today it was accepted into the archive.</p>
10260
10261 <p>Isenkram is a system for suggesting to users what packages to
10262 install to work with a pluggable hardware device.  The suggestion pop
10263 up when the device is plugged in.  For example if a Lego Mindstorm NXT
10264 is inserted, it will suggest to install the program needed to program
10265 the NXT controller.  Give it a go, and report bugs and suggestions to
10266 BTS. :)</p>
10267
10268       </div>
10269       <div class="tags">
10270
10271
10272         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
10273
10274
10275       </div>
10276     </div>
10277     <div class="padding"></div>
10278
10279     <div class="entry">
10280       <div class="title">
10281         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Change_the_font__save_the_world__and_save_some_money_in_the_process_.html">Change the font, save the world (and save some money in the process)</a>
10282       </div>
10283       <div class="date">
10284         26th March 2013
10285       </div>
10286       <div class="body">
10287         <p>Would you like to help the environment and save money at the same
10288 time, without much sacrifice?  A small step could be to change the
10289 font you use when printing.</p>
10290
10291 <p>Three years ago,
10292 <a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2010/04/last-year-printer-comparison-website/">Ars
10293 Technica</a> reported how the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
10294 changed their default front from
10295 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arial">Arial</a> to
10296 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_Gothic">Century
10297 Gothic</a> to save money.  The Century Gothic font uses 30% less toner
10298 than Arial to print the same text.  In other word, you could cut your
10299 toner costs by 30% (or actually, increase your toner supply life time
10300 by more than 30%), by simply changing the default font used in your
10301 prints.</p>
10302
10303 <p>But it is not quite obvious how much one will save by switching.
10304 The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay said it used $100,000 per year
10305 on ink and toner cartridges, according to
10306 <a href="http://www.twincities.com/ci_14833097">a report from
10307 TwinCities.com</a>, and expected to save between $5,000 and $10,000
10308 per year by asking staff and students to use a different font.  Not
10309 all PDFs and documents are created internally, and those from external
10310 sources will most likely still use a different font.  Also, the
10311 Century Gothic font is slightly wider than Arial, and thus might use
10312 more sheets of paper to print the same text, so the total saving
10313 depend on the documents printed.</p>
10314
10315 <p>But it is definitely something to consider, if you want to reduce
10316 the amount of trash, decrease the amount of toner used in the world,
10317 and save some money in the process.</p>
10318
10319 <p>Update 2013-04-10: If you want to know how much ink/toner could be
10320 saved when switching between fonts, Inkfarm got a
10321 <a href="http://www.inkfarm.com/What-the-Font">service to calculate the
10322 difference between font pairs</a>.  They also
10323 <a href="http://www.inkfarm.com/Recommended-Ink-Saving-Fonts---">recommend
10324 which fonts to use</a> to save ink.  Check it out. :) While updating
10325 this blog post, I also came across a blog post from InkCloners,
10326 <a href="http://inkcloners.com/blog/ink-cartridges/change-fonts-to-save-ink-costs/">listing
10327 the fonts they recommend</a>, with Centory Gothic at the top.</p>
10328
10329       </div>
10330       <div class="tags">
10331
10332
10333         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
10334
10335
10336       </div>
10337     </div>
10338     <div class="padding"></div>
10339
10340     <div class="entry">
10341       <div class="title">
10342         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Typesetting_a_short_story_using_docbook_for_PDF__HTML_and_EPUB.html">Typesetting a short story using docbook for PDF, HTML and EPUB</a>
10343       </div>
10344       <div class="date">
10345         24th March 2013
10346       </div>
10347       <div class="body">
10348         <p>A few days ago, during a discussion in
10349 <a href="http://www.efn.no/">EFN</a> about interesting books to read
10350 about copyright and the data retention directive, a suggestion to read
10351 the 1968 short story Kodémus by
10352 <a href="http://web2.gyldendal.no/toraage/">Tore Åge Bringsværd</a>
10353 came up.  The text was only available in old paper books, and thus not
10354 easily available for current and future generations.  Some of the
10355 people participating in the discussion contacted the author, and
10356 reported back 2013-03-19 that the author was OK with releasing the
10357 short story using a <a href="http://www.creativecommons.org/">Creative
10358 Commons</a> license.  The text was quickly scanned and OCR-ed, and we
10359 were ready to start on the editing and typesetting.</p>
10360
10361 <p>As I already had some experience formatting text in my project to
10362 provide a Norwegian version of the Free Culture book by Lawrence
10363 Lessig, I chipped in and set up a
10364 <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">DocBook</a> processing framework to
10365 generate PDF, HTML and EPUB version of the short story.  The tools to
10366 transform DocBook to different formats are already in my Linux
10367 distribution of choice, <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>, so
10368 all I had to do was to use the
10369 <a href="http://dblatex.sourceforge.net/">dblatex</a>,
10370 <a href="http://docbook.sourceforge.net/release/xsl/current/epub/README">dbtoepub</a>
10371 and <a href="https://fedorahosted.org/xmlto/">xmlto</a> tools to do the
10372 conversion.  After a few days, we decided to replace dblatex with
10373 xsltproc/fop (aka
10374 <a href="http://wiki.docbook.org/DocBookXslStylesheets">docbook-xsl</a>),
10375 to get the copyright information to show up in the PDF and to get a
10376 nicer &lt;variablelist&gt; typesetting, but that is just a minor
10377 technical detail.</p>
10378
10379 <p>There were a few challenges, of course.  We want to typeset the
10380 short story to look like the original, and that require fairly good
10381 control over the layout.  The original short story have three
10382 parts/scenes separated by a single horizontally centred star (*), and
10383 the paragraphs do not contain only flowing text, but dialogs and text
10384 that started on a new line in the middle of the paragraph.</p>
10385
10386 <p>I initially solved the first challenge by using a paragraph with a
10387 single star in it, ie &lt;para&gt;*&lt;/para&gt;, but it made sure a
10388 placeholder indicated where the scene shifted.  This did not look too
10389 good without the centring.  The next approach was to create a new
10390 preprocessor directive &lt;?newscene?&gt;, mapping to "&lt;hr/&gt;"
10391 for HTML and "&lt;fo:block text-align="center"&gt;&lt;fo:leader
10392 leader-pattern="rule" rule-thickness="0.5pt"/&gt;&lt;/fo:block&gt;"
10393 for FO/PDF output (did not try to implement this in dblatex, as we had
10394 switched at this time).  The HTML XSL file looked like this:</p>
10395
10396 <p><blockquote><pre>
10397 &lt;?xml version='1.0'?&gt;
10398 &lt;xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'&gt;
10399   &lt;xsl:template match="processing-instruction('newscene')"&gt;
10400     &lt;hr/&gt;
10401   &lt;/xsl:template&gt;
10402 &lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt;
10403 </pre></blockquote></p>
10404
10405 <p>And the FO/PDF XSL file looked like this:</p>
10406
10407 <p><blockquote><pre>
10408 &lt;?xml version='1.0'?&gt;
10409 &lt;xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'&gt;
10410   &lt;xsl:template match="processing-instruction('newscene')"&gt;
10411     &lt;fo:block text-align="center"&gt;
10412       &lt;fo:leader leader-pattern="rule" rule-thickness="0.5pt"/&gt;
10413     &lt;/fo:block&gt;
10414   &lt;/xsl:template&gt;
10415 &lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt;
10416 </pre></blockquote></p>
10417
10418 <p>Finally, I came across the &lt;bridgehead&gt; tag, which seem to be
10419 a good fit for the task at hand, and I replaced &lt;?newscene?&gt;
10420 with &lt;bridgehead&gt;*&lt;/bridgehead&gt;.  It isn't centred, but we
10421 can fix it with some XSL rule if the current visual layout isn't
10422 enough.</p>
10423
10424 <p>I did not find a good DocBook compliant way to solve the
10425 linebreak/paragraph challenge, so I ended up creating a new processor
10426 directive &lt;?linebreak?&gt;, mapping to &lt;br/&gt; in HTML, and
10427 &lt;fo:block/&gt; in FO/PDF.  I suspect there are better ways to do
10428 this, and welcome ideas and patches on github.  The HTML XSL file now
10429 look like this:</p>
10430
10431 <p><blockquote><pre>
10432 &lt;?xml version='1.0'?&gt;
10433 &lt;xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'&gt;
10434   &lt;xsl:template match="processing-instruction('linebreak)"&gt;
10435     &lt;br/&gt;
10436   &lt;/xsl:template&gt;
10437 &lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt;
10438 </pre></blockquote></p>
10439
10440 <p>And the FO/PDF XSL file looked like this:</p>
10441
10442 <p><blockquote><pre>
10443 &lt;?xml version='1.0'?&gt;
10444 &lt;xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'
10445   xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"&gt;
10446   &lt;xsl:template match="processing-instruction('linebreak)"&gt;
10447     &lt;fo:block/&gt;
10448   &lt;/xsl:template&gt;
10449 &lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt;
10450 </pre></blockquote></p>
10451
10452 <p>One unsolved challenge is our wish to expose different ISBN numbers
10453 per publication format, while keeping all of them in some conditional
10454 structure in the DocBook source.  No idea how to do this, so we ended
10455 up listing all the ISBN numbers next to their format in the colophon
10456 page.</p>
10457
10458 <p>If you want to check out the finished result, check out the
10459 <a href="https://github.com/sickel/kodemus">source repository at
10460 github</a>
10461 (<a href="https://github.com/EFN/kodemus">future/new/official
10462 repository</a>).  We expect it to be ready and announced in a few
10463 days.</p>
10464
10465       </div>
10466       <div class="tags">
10467
10468
10469         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>.
10470
10471
10472       </div>
10473     </div>
10474     <div class="padding"></div>
10475
10476     <div class="entry">
10477       <div class="title">
10478         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux_6_got_a_video_review_from_Pcwizz.html">Skolelinux 6 got a video review from Pcwizz</a>
10479       </div>
10480       <div class="date">
10481         17th March 2013
10482       </div>
10483       <div class="body">
10484         <p>Via
10485 <a href="https://twitter.com/pcwizz/status/313044373262716930">twitter</a>
10486 I just discovered that <a href="http://pcwizz.net/">Pcwizz</a> have
10487 done a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPzTZ61Pcuc">video
10488 review</a> on Youtube of <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux
10489 / Debian Edu</a> version 6.  He installed the standalone profile and
10490 the video show a walk-through of of the menu content, demonstration of
10491 a few programs and his view of our distribution.</p>
10492
10493 <p>There is also some really nice quotes (transcribed by me, might
10494 have heard wrong).  While looking thought the Graphics menu:</p>
10495
10496 <blockquote>
10497 "Basically everything you ever need in a school environment."
10498 </blockquote>
10499
10500 <p>And as a general evaluation of the entire distribution:</p>
10501
10502 <blockquote>
10503 "So, yeah, a bit bloated.  It kept all the Debian stuff in there, just
10504 to keep it nice and GNU.  So, I do not want to go on about it, but
10505 lets give it 7 out of 10.  I am not going to use it.  That is because
10506 I am not deploying a school network.  There may be some mythical
10507 feature to help you deploy Skolelinux on a school network."
10508 </blockquote>
10509
10510 <p>To bad he did not test the server profile, and discovered the PXE
10511 installation option.  It make it possible to install only the main
10512 server from CD, and the rest of the machines via the net, and might be
10513 considered the mythical feature he talk about. :)</p>
10514
10515 <p>While looking through the menus, there is also this funny comment
10516 about the part of the K menu generated from the Debian menu subsystem:
10517
10518 <blockquote>
10519 "[The K menu] have a special Debian section for software that no-one
10520 is going to look at, because it contain lots of junky stuff that you
10521 actually don't need in the education distribution, but have just been
10522 included because it isn't stripped out for some reason."
10523 </blockquote>
10524
10525 <p>I guess it is yet another argument for merging the Debian menu and
10526 Gnome/KDE desktop menu entries into
10527 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/Proposals/DebianMenuUsingDesktopEntries">one
10528 consistent menu system</a> instead of two incomplete and partly
10529 inconsistent menu systems.</p>
10530
10531 <p>The entire video is available below for those accepting iframe
10532 embedding:</p>
10533
10534 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wPzTZ61Pcuc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
10535
10536       </div>
10537       <div class="tags">
10538
10539
10540         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
10541
10542
10543       </div>
10544     </div>
10545     <div class="padding"></div>
10546
10547     <div class="entry">
10548       <div class="title">
10549         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Skolelinux___Debian_Edu_Squeeze_update_released.html">First Skolelinux / Debian Edu Squeeze update released</a>
10550       </div>
10551       <div class="date">
10552          8th March 2013
10553       </div>
10554       <div class="body">
10555         <p>Last Sunday, 2013-03-03,, Holger Levsen announced the first update
10556 of <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux / Debian Edu</a>
10557 based on Debian Squeeze.  This is the first update since
10558 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/03/msg00001.html">the
10559 initial release 2012-03-11</a>.  This is the
10560 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2013/03/msg00000.html">release
10561 announcement email from Holger</a>:</p>
10562
10563 <blockquote><p>Hi,</p>
10564
10565 <p>it's my pleasure to announce the immediate availability of Debian
10566 Edu 6.0.7+r1 ("Debian Edu Squeeze").</p>
10567
10568 <p>Debian Edu 6.0.7+r1 is an incremental update to Debian Edu
10569 6.0.4+r0, containing all the changes between Debian 6.0.4 and 6.0.7 as
10570 well Debian Edu specific bugfixes and enhancements. See below (in this
10571 mail) for the full list of (edu) changes.  Please see
10572 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311">http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311</a>
10573 for more information on "Debian Edu Squeeze".</p>
10574
10575 <p>Images are available for download at
10576 <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/</a></p>
10577
10578 <p>md5sums:
10579 <br>1fe79eb4f0f9ae1c58fc318e26cc1e2e  debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-CD.iso
10580 <br>a6ddd924a8bd9a1b5ca122e8fe1c34ec  debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-DVD.iso
10581 <br>ac6c72cd7925ccec51bfbf58e2a7c69c  debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-source-DVD.iso</p>
10582
10583 <p>sha1sums:
10584 <br>a4b58233b672a99c7df8dc24fb6de3327654a5c3  debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-CD.iso
10585 <br>9b524915e0ff2aa793f13d93123e5bd2bab2dbaa  debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-DVD.iso
10586 <br>43997614893fc5e9e59ad6ce066b05d07fd836fa  debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-source-DVD.iso</p>
10587
10588 <p>These images are suitable for amd64+i386.</p>
10589
10590 <p>Changes for Debian Edu 6.0.7+r1 Codename "Squeeze", released
10591 2013-03-03:</p>
10592
10593 <ul>
10594   <li>sitesummary was updated from 0.1.3 to 0.1.8
10595   <ul>
10596         <li>Make Nagios configuration more robust and efficient</li>
10597         <li>Comply with 3.X kernel</li>
10598   </ul></li>
10599   <li>debian-edu-doc from 1.4~20120310~6.0.4+r0 to 1.4~20130228~6.0.7+r1
10600   <ul>
10601         <li>Minor updates from the wiki</li>
10602         <li>Danish translation now complete</li>
10603   </ul></li>
10604   <li>debian-edu-config from 1.453 to 1.455
10605      <ul>
10606         <li>Fix /etc/hosts for LTSP diskless workstations. Closes: #699880</li>
10607         <li>Make ltsp_local_mount script work for multiple devices.</li>
10608         <li>Correct Kerberos user policy: don't expire password after 2 days.
10609                 Closes: #664596</li>
10610         <li>Handle '#' characters in the root or first users password.
10611                 Closes: #664976</li>
10612         <li>Fixes for gosa-sync:
10613            <ul>
10614                 <li>Don't fail if password contains "</li>
10615                 <li>Don't disclose new password string in syslog</li>
10616            </ul></li>
10617         <li>Fixes for gosa-create:
10618            <ul>
10619                 <li>Invalidate libnss cache before applying changes</li>
10620                 <li>Multiple failures during mass user import into GOsa²</li>
10621                 <li>gosa-netgroups plugin: don't erase entries of attribute type
10622                          "memberNisNetgroup". Closes: #687256</li>
10623                 <li>First user now uses the same Kerberos policy as all other users</li>
10624            </ul></li>
10625         <li>Add Danish web page</li>
10626     </ul>
10627   <li>debian-edu-install from 1.528 to 1.530
10628     <ul>
10629         <li>Improve preseeding support and documentation</li>
10630     </ul></li>
10631 </ul>
10632
10633 <p>End-user documentation in English is available at
10634 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze/">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze/</a>
10635 - translations to French, Italian, Danish and German are available in
10636 the debian-edu-doc package. (Other languages could use your help!)</p>
10637
10638 <p>If you want to contribute to Debian Edu, please join our
10639 mailinglist
10640 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/">debian-edu@lists.debian.org</a>!
10641 </p></blockquote>
10642
10643 <p>I am very happy to see the fruits of a year of hard work. :)</p>
10644
10645       </div>
10646       <div class="tags">
10647
10648
10649         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
10650
10651
10652       </div>
10653     </div>
10654     <div class="padding"></div>
10655
10656     <div class="entry">
10657       <div class="title">
10658         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikanalen___Complete_TV_station_organised_using_the_web.html">Frikanalen - Complete TV station organised using the web</a>
10659       </div>
10660       <div class="date">
10661          3rd March 2013
10662       </div>
10663       <div class="body">
10664         <p>Do you want to set up your own TV station, schedule videos and
10665 broadcast them on the air?  Using free software?  With video on demand
10666 support using
10667 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">free and
10668 open standards</a>?  Included a web based video stream as well?  And
10669 administrate it all in your web browser from anywhere in the world?  A
10670 few years now the Norwegian public access TV-channel
10671 <a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a> have been building a
10672 system to do just this.  The source code for the solution is licensed
10673 using the GNU LGPL, and
10674 <a href="http://github.com/Frikanalen">available from github</a>.</p>
10675
10676 <p>The idea is simple.  You upload a video file over the web, and
10677 attach meta information to the file.  You select a time slot in the
10678 program schedule, and when the time come it is played on the air and
10679 in the web stream.  It is also made available in a video on demand
10680 solution for anyone to see it also outside its scheduled time.  All
10681 you need to run a TV station - using your web browser.</p>
10682
10683 <p>There are several parts to this web based solution.  I'll mention
10684 the three most important ones.  The first part is the database of
10685 videos and the schedule.  This is written in Django and include a REST
10686 API.  The current database is SQLite, but the plan is to migrate it to
10687 PostgreSQL.  At the moment this system can be tested on
10688 <a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/">beta.frikanalen.tv</a>.  The
10689 second part is the video playout, taking the schedule information from
10690 the database and providing a video stream to broadcast.  This is done
10691 using <a href="http://www.casparcg.com/">CasparCG from SVT</a> and
10692 <a href="http://www.mltframework.org/">Media Lovin' Toolkit</a>.  Video
10693 signal distribution is handled using
10694 <a href="http://www.ob-encoder.com/">Open Broadcast Encoder</a>.  The
10695 third part is the converter, handling the transformation of uploaded
10696 video files to a format useful for broadcasting, streaming and video
10697 on demand.  It is still very much work in progress, so it is not yet
10698 decided what it will end up using.  Note that the source of the latter
10699 two parts are not yet pushed to github.  The lead author want to clean
10700 them up a bit more first.</p>
10701
10702 <p>The development is coordinated on the
10703 <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/%23frikanalen">#frikanalen IRC
10704 channel</a> (irc.freenode.net), and discussed on
10705 <a href="http://lists.nuug.no/mailman/listinfo/frikanalen">the
10706 frikanalen mailing list</a>. The lead developer is Benjamin Bruheim
10707 (phed on IRC).  Anyone is welcome to participate in the
10708 development.</p>
10709
10710       </div>
10711       <div class="tags">
10712
10713
10714         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
10715
10716
10717       </div>
10718     </div>
10719     <div class="padding"></div>
10720
10721     <div class="entry">
10722       <div class="title">
10723         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dr__Richard_Stallman__founder_of_Free_Software_Foundation__give_a_talk_in_Oslo_March_1st_2013.html">Dr. Richard Stallman, founder of Free Software Foundation, give a talk in Oslo March 1st 2013</a>
10724       </div>
10725       <div class="date">
10726         27th February 2013
10727       </div>
10728       <div class="body">
10729         <p>Dr. <a href="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard Stallman</a>,
10730 founder of <a href="http://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a>,
10731 is giving <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20130301-rms/">a
10732 talk in Oslo March 1st 2013 17:00 to 19:00</a>.  The event is public
10733 and organised by <a href="">Norwegian Unix Users Group (NUUG)</a>
10734 (where I am the chair of the board) and
10735 <a href="http://www.friprog.no/">The Norwegian Open Source Competence
10736 Center</a>.  The title of the talk is «The Free Software Movement and
10737 GNU», with this description:
10738
10739 <p><blockquote>
10740 The Free Software Movement campaigns for computer users' freedom to
10741 cooperate and control their own computing. The Free Software Movement
10742 developed the GNU operating system, typically used together with the
10743 kernel Linux, specifically to make these freedoms possible.
10744 </blockquote></p>
10745
10746 <p>The meeting is open for everyone.  Due to space limitations, the
10747 doors opens for NUUG members at 16:15, and everyone else at 16:45.  I
10748 am really curious how many will show up.  See
10749 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20130301-rms/">the event
10750 page</a> for the location details.</p>
10751
10752       </div>
10753       <div class="tags">
10754
10755
10756         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
10757
10758
10759       </div>
10760     </div>
10761     <div class="padding"></div>
10762
10763     <div class="entry">
10764       <div class="title">
10765         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikart___Free_Garmin_maps_for_European_countries_based_on_OpenStreetmap.html">Frikart - Free Garmin maps for European countries based on OpenStreetmap</a>
10766       </div>
10767       <div class="date">
10768         15th February 2013
10769       </div>
10770       <div class="body">
10771         <p>If you, like me, want an updated a map for your Garmin GPS, there is
10772 now a great source of free maps available from
10773 <a href="http://www.frikart.no/garmin/index.html">Frikart</a>.  To
10774 download a map, just click on the country you are interested in, and
10775 download the map type you want.  There are 8 different maps available,
10776 using different colours and data selection.  Pick one of Roadmap, Topo
10777 Summer, Topo Winter, Roadmap II, Topo Summer II, Topo Winter II,
10778 "Trails - overlay map" and "Cross country - overlay map" (see the web
10779 page for descriptions).</p>
10780
10781 <p>The maps are updated weekly, so if you find something wrong in the
10782 map you can just edit the
10783 <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetmap</a> map source
10784 (anyone can contribute) and fetch a fixed map a week later. :)</p>
10785
10786       </div>
10787       <div class="tags">
10788
10789
10790         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart</a>.
10791
10792
10793       </div>
10794     </div>
10795     <div class="padding"></div>
10796
10797     <div class="entry">
10798       <div class="title">
10799         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_Electronic__paper_invoices___using_vCard_in_a_QR_code.html">"Electronic" paper invoices - using vCard in a QR code</a>
10800       </div>
10801       <div class="date">
10802         12th February 2013
10803       </div>
10804       <div class="body">
10805         <p>Here in Norway, electronic invoices are spreading, and the
10806 <a href="http://www.anskaffelser.no/e-handel/faktura">solution promoted
10807 by the Norwegian government</a> require that invoices are sent through
10808 one of the approved facilitators, and it is not possible to send
10809 electronic invoices without an agreement with one of these
10810 facilitators.  This seem like a needless limitation to be able to
10811 transfer invoice information between buyers and sellers.  My preferred
10812 solution would be to just transfer the invoice information directly
10813 between seller and buyer, for example using SMTP, or some HTTP based
10814 protocol like REST or SOAP.  But this might also be overkill, as the
10815 "electronic" information can be transferred using paper invoices too,
10816 using a simple bar code.  My bar code encoding of choice would be QR
10817 codes, as this encoding can be read by any smart phone out there.  The
10818 content of the code could be anything, but I would go with
10819 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCard">the vCard format</a>, as
10820 it too is supported by a lot of computer equipment these days.</p>
10821
10822 <p>The vCard format support extentions, and the invoice specific
10823 information can be included using such extentions.  For example an
10824 invoice from SLX Debian Labs (picked because we
10825 <a href="http://www.linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/donations.html">ask
10826 for donations to the Debian Edu project</a> and thus have bank account
10827 information publicly available) for NOK 1000.00 could have these extra
10828 fields:</p>
10829
10830 <p><pre>
10831 X-INVOICE-NUMBER:1
10832 X-INVOICE-AMOUNT:NOK1000.00
10833 X-INVOICE-KID:123412341234
10834 X-INVOICE-MSG:Donation to Debian Edu
10835 X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER:16040884339
10836 X-BANK-IBAN-NUMBER:NO8516040884339
10837 X-BANK-SWIFT-NUMBER:DNBANOKKXXX
10838 </pre></p>
10839
10840 <p>The X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER field was proposed in a stackoverflow
10841 answer regarding
10842 <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10045664/storing-bank-account-in-vcard-file">how
10843 to put bank account information into a vCard</a>.  For payments in
10844 Norway, either X-INVOICE-KID (payment ID) or X-INVOICE-MSG could be
10845 used to pass on information to the seller when paying the invoice.</p>
10846
10847 <p>The complete vCard could look like this:</p>
10848
10849 <p><pre>
10850 BEGIN:VCARD
10851 VERSION:2.1
10852 ORG:SLX Debian Labs Foundation
10853 ADR;WORK:;;Gunnar Schjelderups vei 29D;OSLO;;0485;Norway
10854 URL;WORK:http://www.linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/
10855 EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:sdl-styret@rt.nuug.no
10856 REV:20130212T095000Z
10857 X-INVOICE-NUMBER:1
10858 X-INVOICE-AMOUNT:NOK1000.00
10859 X-INVOICE-MSG:Donation to Debian Edu
10860 X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER:16040884339
10861 X-BANK-IBAN-NUMBER:NO8516040884339
10862 X-BANK-SWIFT-NUMBER:DNBANOKKXXX
10863 END:VCARD
10864 </pre></p>
10865
10866 <p>The resulting QR code created using
10867 <a href="http://fukuchi.org/works/qrencode/">qrencode</a> would look
10868 like this, and should be readable (and thus checkable) by any smart
10869 phone, or for example the <a href="http://zbar.sourceforge.net/">zbar
10870 bar code reader</a> and feed right into the approval and accounting
10871 system.</p>
10872
10873 <p><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-02-12-qr-invoice.png"></p>
10874
10875 <p>The extension fields will most likely not show up in any normal
10876 vCard reader, so those parts would have to go directly into a system
10877 handling invoices.  I am a bit unsure how vCards without name parts
10878 are handled, but a simple test indicate that this work just fine.</p>
10879
10880 <p><strong>Update 2013-02-12 11:30</strong>: Added KID to the proposal
10881 based on feedback from Sturle Sunde.</p>
10882
10883       </div>
10884       <div class="tags">
10885
10886
10887         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
10888
10889
10890       </div>
10891     </div>
10892     <div class="padding"></div>
10893
10894     <div class="entry">
10895       <div class="title">
10896         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sleep_until_morning___home_automation_for_the_kids.html">Sleep until morning - home automation for the kids</a>
10897       </div>
10898       <div class="date">
10899         10th February 2013
10900       </div>
10901       <div class="body">
10902         <p><img align="left" style="margin-right:25px;" src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-02-10-morning-light.jpeg"></p>
10903
10904 <p>With kids in the house, one challenge is getting them to sleep
10905 during the night and wake up when it is morning.  I mean, when I
10906 believe it is morning, and not two hours earlier.  In our household we
10907 have decided that 07:00 is the turning point, but getting the kids to
10908 sleep until 07:00 is a small challenge every day.  They have adapted
10909 quite well, and rarely wake up at 05:00 any more, but some times wake
10910 up at times like 05:50, 06:15, 06:30 or 06:45, and it is hard to put
10911 the awake one to bed again without disturbing and waking the rest.
10912 And I understand perfectly well that they fail to sleep until 07:00
10913 some times, as there is no way for them to know if it is before or
10914 after the magic moment without coming and asking us parents.</p>
10915
10916 <p>But yesterday I came up with a method to solve this problem.  It
10917 involve home automation.  A few years ago I bought a
10918 <a href="http://www.telldus.se/products/tellstick">Tellstick</a> and RF
10919 switches at the local <a href="http://www.clasohlson.com/">Clas
10920 Ohlson</a> shop, allowing me to control lights and other electrical
10921 gadgets using my Linux server.  When I moved from the old flat to a
10922 small house, I put away all this equipment as most of the lighting in
10923 the house was not using wall sockets and thus not easy to connect to
10924 the gadgets I had.  But recently I bought a
10925 <a href="http://www.telldus.se/products/tellstick_net">Tellstick
10926 Net</a> to be able to read sensor input as well as control power
10927 sockets.  I want to control ovens in the basement to avoid the pipes
10928 to freeze, and monitor the humidity to detect flooding.  The default
10929 setup for Tellstick Net is to be controlled by the vendor web service,
10930 which to me is a security problem, but it is also possible to build
10931 ones own
10932 <a href="http://developer.telldus.com/blog/2012/03/02/help-us-develop-local-access-using-tellstick-net-build-your-own-firmware">firmware
10933 with local access</A> instead of being controlled by a Swedish
10934 company, thanks to the release of the GPL licensed firmware source
10935 code.  I plan to get that running before I let it control anything
10936 important.  But while working on this, one idea to make it easier for
10937 the kids came to me yesterday.  We can set up a night light controlled
10938 by the computer, and turn it automatically on at 07:00.  The kids can
10939 then check the light in the morning to know if they are supposed to
10940 get up or not.  They joined me in setting everything up, and I
10941 repeated the concept several times before bed times to make sure they
10942 remembered to check the light before getting up in the morning.</p>
10943
10944 <p>We tested it this morning, and all the kids stayed in bed until
10945 after 07:00, and every one of them commented on the fact that the
10946 "morning light" was turned on and signalled that the morning had
10947 arrived.  So this look like a success, and I am excited to see how
10948 this develops the next few days. :) I really hope this can allow us
10949 all to sleep a bit longer in the morning.</p>
10950
10951 <p>A nice advantage of this setup is that we can remote control when
10952 to tell the kids to get up.  We do not have to wait until 07:00, and
10953 can also delay it if we want to.</p>
10954
10955       </div>
10956       <div class="tags">
10957
10958
10959         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
10960
10961
10962       </div>
10963     </div>
10964     <div class="padding"></div>
10965
10966     <div class="entry">
10967       <div class="title">
10968         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Bitcoin_GUI_now_available_from_Debian_unstable__and_Ubuntu_raring_.html">Bitcoin GUI now available from Debian/unstable (and Ubuntu/raring)</a>
10969       </div>
10970       <div class="date">
10971          2nd February 2013
10972       </div>
10973       <div class="body">
10974         <p>My
10975 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_backport_bitcoin_qt_version_0_7_2_2_to_Debian_Squeeze.html">last
10976 bitcoin related blog post</a> mentioned that the new
10977 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/bitcoin">bitcoin package</a> for
10978 Debian was waiting in NEW.  It was accepted by the Debian ftp-masters
10979 2013-01-19, and have been available in unstable since then.  It was
10980 automatically copied to Ubuntu, and is available in their Raring
10981 version too.</p>
10982
10983 <p>But there is a strange problem with the build that block this new
10984 version from being available on the i386 and kfreebsd-i386
10985 architectures.  For some strange reason, the autobuilders in Debian
10986 for these architectures fail to run the test suite on these
10987 architectures (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/672524">BTS #672524</a>).
10988 We are so far unable to reproduce it when building it manually, and
10989 no-one have been able to propose a fix.  If you got an idea what is
10990 failing, please let us know via the BTS.</p>
10991
10992 <p>One feature that is annoying me with of the bitcoin client, because
10993 I often run low on disk space, is the fact that the client will exit
10994 if it run short on space (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/696715">BTS
10995 #696715</a>).  So make sure you have enough disk space when you run
10996 it. :)</p>
10997
10998 <p>As usual, if you use bitcoin and want to show your support of my
10999 activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
11000 <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
11001
11002       </div>
11003       <div class="tags">
11004
11005
11006         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
11007
11008
11009       </div>
11010     </div>
11011     <div class="padding"></div>
11012
11013     <div class="entry">
11014       <div class="title">
11015         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html">Welcome to the world, Isenkram!</a>
11016       </div>
11017       <div class="date">
11018         22nd January 2013
11019       </div>
11020       <div class="body">
11021         <p>Yesterday, I
11022 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">asked
11023 for testers</a> for my prototype for making Debian better at handling
11024 pluggable hardware devices, which I
11025 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">set
11026 out to create</a> earlier this month.  Several valuable testers showed
11027 up, and caused me to really want to to open up the development to more
11028 people.  But before I did this, I want to come up with a sensible name
11029 for this project.  Today I finally decided on a new name, and I have
11030 renamed the project from hw-support-handler to this new name.  In the
11031 process, I moved the source to git and made it available as a
11032 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/isenkram.git">collab-maint</a>
11033 repository in Debian.  The new name?  It is <strong>Isenkram</strong>.
11034 To fetch and build the latest version of the source, use</p>
11035
11036 <pre>
11037 git clone http://anonscm.debian.org/git/collab-maint/isenkram.git
11038 cd isenkram && git-buildpackage -us -uc
11039 </pre>
11040
11041 <p>I have not yet adjusted all files to use the new name yet.  If you
11042 want to hack on the source or improve the package, please go ahead.
11043 But please talk to me first on IRC or via email before you do major
11044 changes, to make sure we do not step on each others toes. :)</p>
11045
11046 <p>If you wonder what 'isenkram' is, it is a Norwegian word for iron
11047 stuff, typically meaning tools, nails, screws, etc.  Typical hardware
11048 stuff, in other words.  I've been told it is the Norwegian variant of
11049 the German word eisenkram, for those that are familiar with that
11050 word.</p>
11051
11052 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-26</strong>: Added -us -us to build
11053 instructions, to avoid confusing people with an error from the signing
11054 process.</p>
11055
11056 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-27</strong>: Switch to HTTP URL for the git
11057 clone argument to avoid the need for authentication.</p>
11058
11059       </div>
11060       <div class="tags">
11061
11062
11063         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
11064
11065
11066       </div>
11067     </div>
11068     <div class="padding"></div>
11069
11070     <div class="entry">
11071       <div class="title">
11072         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">First prototype ready making hardware easier to use in Debian</a>
11073       </div>
11074       <div class="date">
11075         21st January 2013
11076       </div>
11077       <div class="body">
11078         <p>Early this month I set out to try to
11079 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">improve
11080 the Debian support for pluggable hardware devices</a>.  Now my
11081 prototype is working, and it is ready for a larger audience.  To test
11082 it, fetch the
11083 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">source
11084 from the Debian Edu subversion repository</a>, build and install the
11085 package.  You might have to log out and in again activate the
11086 autostart script.</p>
11087
11088 <p>The design is simple:</p>
11089
11090 <ul>
11091
11092 <li>Add desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ causing a program
11093 hw-support-handlerd to start when the user log in.</li>
11094
11095 <li>This program listen for kernel events about new hardware (directly
11096 from the kernel like udev does), not using HAL dbus events as I
11097 initially did.</li>
11098
11099 <li>When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware modalias in
11100 the APT database, a database
11101 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/modaliases?view=markup">available
11102 via HTTP</a> and a database available as part of the package.</li>
11103
11104 <li>If a package is mapped to the hardware in question, the package
11105 isn't installed yet and this is the first time the hardware was
11106 plugged in, show a desktop notification suggesting to install the
11107 package or packages.</li>
11108
11109 <li>If the user click on the 'install package now' button, ask
11110 aptdaemon via the PackageKit API to install the requrired package.</li>
11111
11112 <li>aptdaemon ask for root password or sudo password, and install the
11113 package while showing progress information in a window.</li>
11114
11115 </ul>
11116
11117 <p>I still need to come up with a better name for the system.  Here
11118 are some screen shots showing the prototype in action.  First the
11119 notification, then the password request, and finally the request to
11120 approve all the dependencies.  Sorry for the Norwegian Bokmål GUI.</p>
11121
11122 <p><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-1-notification.png">
11123 <br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-2-password.png">
11124 <br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-3-dependencies.png">
11125 <br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-4-installing.png">
11126 <br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-5-installing-details.png" width="70%"></p>
11127
11128 <p>The prototype still need to be improved with longer timeouts, but
11129 is already useful.  The database of hardware to package mappings also
11130 need more work.  It is currently compatible with the Ubuntu way of
11131 storing such information in the package control file, but could be
11132 changed to use other formats instead or in addition to the current
11133 method.  I've dropped the use of discover for this mapping, as the
11134 modalias approach is more flexible and easier to use on Linux as long
11135 as the Linux kernel expose its modalias strings directly.</p>
11136
11137 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-21 16:50</strong>: Due to popular demand,
11138 here is the command required to check out and build the source: Use
11139 '<tt>svn checkout
11140 svn://svn.debian.org/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/; cd
11141 hw-support-handler; debuild</tt>'.  If you lack debuild, install the
11142 devscripts package.</p>
11143
11144 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-23 12:00</strong>: The project is now
11145 renamed to Isenkram and the source moved from the Debian Edu
11146 subversion repository to a Debian collab-maint git repository.  See
11147 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html">build
11148 instructions</a> for details.</p>
11149
11150       </div>
11151       <div class="tags">
11152
11153
11154         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
11155
11156
11157       </div>
11158     </div>
11159     <div class="padding"></div>
11160
11161     <div class="entry">
11162       <div class="title">
11163         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html">Thank you Thinkpad X41, for your long and trustworthy service</a>
11164       </div>
11165       <div class="date">
11166         19th January 2013
11167       </div>
11168       <div class="body">
11169         <p>This Christmas my trusty old laptop died.  It died quietly and
11170 suddenly in bed.  With a quiet whimper, it went completely quiet and
11171 black.  The power button was no longer able to turn it on.  It was a
11172 IBM Thinkpad X41, and the best laptop I ever had.  Better than both
11173 Thinkpads X30, X31, X40, X60, X61 and X61S.  Far better than the
11174 Compaq I had before that.  Now I need to find a replacement.  To keep
11175 going during Christmas, I moved the one year old SSD disk to my old
11176 X40 where it fitted (only one I had left that could use it), but it is
11177 not a durable solution.
11178
11179 <p>My laptop needs are fairly modest.  This is my wishlist from when I
11180 got a new one more than 10 years ago.  It still holds true.:)</p>
11181
11182 <ul>
11183
11184 <li>Lightweight (around 1 kg) and small volume (preferably smaller
11185   than A4).</li>
11186 <li>Robust, it will be in my backpack every day.</li>
11187 <li>Three button mouse and a mouse pin instead of touch pad.</li>
11188 <li>Long battery life time.  Preferable a week.</li>
11189 <li>Internal WIFI network card.</li>
11190 <li>Internal Twisted Pair network card.</li>
11191 <li>Some USB slots (2-3 is plenty)</li>
11192 <li>Good keyboard - similar to the Thinkpad.</li>
11193 <li>Video resolution at least 1024x768, with size around 12" (A4 paper
11194 size).</li>
11195 <li>Hardware supported by Debian Stable, ie the default kernel and
11196   X.org packages.</li>
11197 <li>Quiet, preferably fan free (or at least not using the fan most of
11198   the time).
11199
11200 </ul>
11201
11202 <p>You will notice that there are no RAM and CPU requirements in the
11203 list.  The reason is simply that the specifications on laptops the
11204 last 10-15 years have been sufficient for my needs, and I have to look
11205 at other features to choose my laptop.  But are there still made as
11206 robust laptops as my X41?  The Thinkpad X60/X61 proved to be less
11207 robust, and Thinkpads seem to be heading in the wrong direction since
11208 Lenovo took over.  But I've been told that X220 and X1 Carbon might
11209 still be useful.</p>
11210
11211 <p>Perhaps I should rethink my needs, and look for a pad with an
11212 external keyboard?  I'll have to check the
11213 <a href="http://www.linux-laptop.net/">Linux Laptops site</a> for
11214 well-supported laptops, or perhaps just buy one preinstalled from one
11215 of the vendors listed on the <a href="http://linuxpreloaded.com/">Linux
11216 Pre-loaded site</a>.</p>
11217
11218       </div>
11219       <div class="tags">
11220
11221
11222         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
11223
11224
11225       </div>
11226     </div>
11227     <div class="padding"></div>
11228
11229     <div class="entry">
11230       <div class="title">
11231         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_find_a_browser_plugin_supporting_a_given_MIME_type.html">How to find a browser plugin supporting a given MIME type</a>
11232       </div>
11233       <div class="date">
11234         18th January 2013
11235       </div>
11236       <div class="body">
11237         <p>Some times I try to figure out which Iceweasel browser plugin to
11238 install to get support for a given MIME type.  Thanks to
11239 <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MozillaTeam/Plugins">specifications
11240 done by Ubuntu</a> and Mozilla, it is possible to do this in Debian.
11241 Unfortunately, not very many packages provide the needed meta
11242 information, Anyway, here is a small script to look up all browser
11243 plugin packages announcing ther MIME support using this specification:</p>
11244
11245 <pre>
11246 #!/usr/bin/python
11247 import sys
11248 import apt
11249 def pkgs_handling_mimetype(mimetype):
11250     cache = apt.Cache()
11251     cache.open(None)
11252     thepkgs = []
11253     for pkg in cache:
11254         version = pkg.candidate
11255         if version is None:
11256             version = pkg.installed
11257         if version is None:
11258             continue
11259         record = version.record
11260         if not record.has_key('Npp-MimeType'):
11261             continue
11262         mime_types = record['Npp-MimeType'].split(',')
11263         for t in mime_types:
11264             t = t.rstrip().strip()
11265             if t == mimetype:
11266                 thepkgs.append(pkg.name)
11267     return thepkgs
11268 mimetype = "audio/ogg"
11269 if 1 < len(sys.argv):
11270     mimetype = sys.argv[1]
11271 print "Browser plugin packages supporting %s:" % mimetype
11272 for pkg in pkgs_handling_mimetype(mimetype):
11273     print "  %s" %pkg
11274 </pre>
11275
11276 <p>It can be used like this to look up a given MIME type:</p>
11277
11278 <pre>
11279 % ./apt-find-browserplug-for-mimetype
11280 Browser plugin packages supporting audio/ogg:
11281   gecko-mediaplayer
11282 % ./apt-find-browserplug-for-mimetype application/x-shockwave-flash
11283 Browser plugin packages supporting application/x-shockwave-flash:
11284   browser-plugin-gnash
11285 %
11286 </pre>
11287
11288 <p>In Ubuntu this mechanism is combined with support in the browser
11289 itself to query for plugins and propose to install the needed
11290 packages.  It would be great if Debian supported such feature too.  Is
11291 anyone working on adding it?</p>
11292
11293 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-18 14:20</strong>: The Debian BTS
11294 request for icweasel support for this feature is
11295 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/484010">#484010</a> from 2008 (and
11296 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/698426">#698426</a> from today).  Lack
11297 of manpower and wish for a different design is the reason thus feature
11298 is not yet in iceweasel from Debian.</p>
11299
11300       </div>
11301       <div class="tags">
11302
11303
11304         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
11305
11306
11307       </div>
11308     </div>
11309     <div class="padding"></div>
11310
11311     <div class="entry">
11312       <div class="title">
11313         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_.html">What is the most supported MIME type in Debian?</a>
11314       </div>
11315       <div class="date">
11316         16th January 2013
11317       </div>
11318       <div class="body">
11319         <p>The <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/AppStreamDebianProposal">DEP-11
11320 proposal to add AppStream information to the Debian archive</a>, is a
11321 proposal to make it possible for a Desktop application to propose to
11322 the user some package to install to gain support for a given MIME
11323 type, font, library etc. that is currently missing.  With such
11324 mechanism in place, it would be possible for the desktop to
11325 automatically propose and install leocad if some LDraw file is
11326 downloaded by the browser.</p>
11327
11328 <p>To get some idea about the current content of the archive, I decided
11329 to write a simple program to extract all .desktop files from the
11330 Debian archive and look up the claimed MIME support there.  The result
11331 can be found on the
11332 <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/pub/AppStreamTest">Skolelinux FTP
11333 site</a>.  Using the collected information, it become possible to
11334 answer the question in the title.  Here are the 20 most supported MIME
11335 types in Debian stable (Squeeze), testing (Wheezy) and unstable (Sid).
11336 The complete list is available from the link above.</p>
11337
11338 <p><strong>Debian Stable:</strong></p>
11339
11340 <pre>
11341   count MIME type
11342   ----- -----------------------
11343      32 text/plain
11344      30 audio/mpeg
11345      29 image/png
11346      28 image/jpeg
11347      27 application/ogg
11348      26 audio/x-mp3
11349      25 image/tiff
11350      25 image/gif
11351      22 image/bmp
11352      22 audio/x-wav
11353      20 audio/x-flac
11354      19 audio/x-mpegurl
11355      18 video/x-ms-asf
11356      18 audio/x-musepack
11357      18 audio/x-mpeg
11358      18 application/x-ogg
11359      17 video/mpeg
11360      17 audio/x-scpls
11361      17 audio/ogg
11362      16 video/x-ms-wmv
11363 </pre>
11364
11365 <p><strong>Debian Testing:</strong></p>
11366
11367 <pre>
11368   count MIME type
11369   ----- -----------------------
11370      33 text/plain
11371      32 image/png
11372      32 image/jpeg
11373      29 audio/mpeg
11374      27 image/gif
11375      26 image/tiff
11376      26 application/ogg
11377      25 audio/x-mp3
11378      22 image/bmp
11379      21 audio/x-wav
11380      19 audio/x-mpegurl
11381      19 audio/x-mpeg
11382      18 video/mpeg
11383      18 audio/x-scpls
11384      18 audio/x-flac
11385      18 application/x-ogg
11386      17 video/x-ms-asf
11387      17 text/html
11388      17 audio/x-musepack
11389      16 image/x-xbitmap
11390 </pre>
11391
11392 <p><strong>Debian Unstable:</strong></p>
11393
11394 <pre>
11395   count MIME type
11396   ----- -----------------------
11397      31 text/plain
11398      31 image/png
11399      31 image/jpeg
11400      29 audio/mpeg
11401      28 application/ogg
11402      27 image/gif
11403      26 image/tiff
11404      26 audio/x-mp3
11405      23 audio/x-wav
11406      22 image/bmp
11407      21 audio/x-flac
11408      20 audio/x-mpegurl
11409      19 audio/x-mpeg
11410      18 video/x-ms-asf
11411      18 video/mpeg
11412      18 audio/x-scpls
11413      18 application/x-ogg
11414      17 audio/x-musepack
11415      16 video/x-ms-wmv
11416      16 video/x-msvideo
11417 </pre>
11418
11419 <p>I am told that PackageKit can provide an API to access the kind of
11420 information mentioned in DEP-11.  I have not yet had time to look at
11421 it, but hope the PackageKit people in Debian are on top of these
11422 issues.</p>
11423
11424 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-16 13:35</strong>: Updated numbers after
11425 discovering a typo in my script.</p>
11426
11427       </div>
11428       <div class="tags">
11429
11430
11431         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
11432
11433
11434       </div>
11435     </div>
11436     <div class="padding"></div>
11437
11438     <div class="entry">
11439       <div class="title">
11440         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_modalias_info_to_find_packages_handling_my_hardware.html">Using modalias info to find packages handling my hardware</a>
11441       </div>
11442       <div class="date">
11443         15th January 2013
11444       </div>
11445       <div class="body">
11446         <p>Yesterday, I wrote about the
11447 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html">modalias
11448 values provided by the Linux kernel</a> following my hope for
11449 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">better
11450 dongle support in Debian</a>.  Using this knowledge, I have tested how
11451 modalias values attached to package names can be used to map packages
11452 to hardware.  This allow the system to look up and suggest relevant
11453 packages when I plug in some new hardware into my machine, and replace
11454 discover and discover-data as the database used to map hardware to
11455 packages.</p>
11456
11457 <p>I create a modaliases file with entries like the following,
11458 containing package name, kernel module name (if relevant, otherwise
11459 the package name) and globs matching the relevant hardware
11460 modalias.</p>
11461
11462 <p><blockquote>
11463 Package: package-name
11464 <br>Modaliases: module(modaliasglob, modaliasglob, modaliasglob)</p>
11465 </blockquote></p>
11466
11467 <p>It is fairly trivial to write code to find the relevant packages
11468 for a given modalias value using this file.</p>
11469
11470 <p>An entry like this would suggest the video and picture application
11471 cheese for many USB web cameras (interface bus class 0E01):</p>
11472
11473 <p><blockquote>
11474 Package: cheese
11475 <br>Modaliases: cheese(usb:v*p*d*dc*dsc*dp*ic0Eisc01ip*)</p>
11476 </blockquote></p>
11477
11478 <p>An entry like this would suggest the pcmciautils package when a
11479 CardBus bridge (bus class 0607) PCI device is present:</p>
11480
11481 <p><blockquote>
11482 Package: pcmciautils
11483 <br>Modaliases: pcmciautils(pci:v*d*sv*sd*bc06sc07i*)
11484 </blockquote></p>
11485
11486 <p>An entry like this would suggest the package colorhug-client when
11487 plugging in a ColorHug with USB IDs 04D8:F8DA:</p>
11488
11489 <p><blockquote>
11490 Package: colorhug-client
11491 <br>Modaliases: colorhug-client(usb:v04D8pF8DAd*)</p>
11492 </blockquote></p>
11493
11494 <p>I believe the format is compatible with the format of the Packages
11495 file in the Debian archive.  Ubuntu already uses their Packages file
11496 to store their mappings from packages to hardware.</p>
11497
11498 <p>By adding a XB-Modaliases: header in debian/control, any .deb can
11499 announce the hardware it support in a way my prototype understand.
11500 This allow those publishing packages in an APT source outside the
11501 Debian archive as well as those backporting packages to make sure the
11502 hardware mapping are included in the package meta information.  I've
11503 tested such header in the pymissile package, and its modalias mapping
11504 is working as it should with my prototype.  It even made it to Ubuntu
11505 Raring.</p>
11506
11507 <p>To test if it was possible to look up supported hardware using only
11508 the shell tools available in the Debian installer, I wrote a shell
11509 implementation of the lookup code.  The idea is to create files for
11510 each modalias and let the shell do the matching.  Please check out and
11511 try the
11512 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/hw-support-lookup?view=co">hw-support-lookup</a>
11513 shell script.  It run without any extra dependencies and fetch the
11514 hardware mappings from the Debian archive and the subversion
11515 repository where I currently work on my prototype.</p>
11516
11517 <p>When I use it on a machine with a yubikey inserted, it suggest to
11518 install yubikey-personalization:</p>
11519
11520 <p><blockquote>
11521 % ./hw-support-lookup
11522 <br>yubikey-personalization
11523 <br>%
11524 </blockquote></p>
11525
11526 <p>When I run it on my Thinkpad X40 with a PCMCIA/CardBus slot, it
11527 propose to install the pcmciautils package:</p>
11528
11529 <p><blockquote>
11530 % ./hw-support-lookup
11531 <br>pcmciautils
11532 <br>%
11533 </blockquote></p>
11534
11535 <p>If you know of any hardware-package mapping that should be added to
11536 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/modaliases?view=co">my
11537 database</a>, please tell me about it.</p>
11538
11539 <p>It could be possible to generate several of the mappings between
11540 packages and hardware.  One source would be to look at packages with
11541 kernel modules, ie packages with *.ko files in /lib/modules/, and
11542 extract their modalias information.  Another would be to look at
11543 packages with udev rules, ie packages with files in
11544 /lib/udev/rules.d/, and extract their vendor/model information to
11545 generate a modalias matching rule.  I have not tested any of these to
11546 see if it work.</p>
11547
11548 <p>If you want to help implementing a system to let us propose what
11549 packages to install when new hardware is plugged into a Debian
11550 machine, please send me an email or talk to me on
11551 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-devel">#debian-devel</a>.</p>
11552
11553       </div>
11554       <div class="tags">
11555
11556
11557         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
11558
11559
11560       </div>
11561     </div>
11562     <div class="padding"></div>
11563
11564     <div class="entry">
11565       <div class="title">
11566         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html">Modalias strings - a practical way to map "stuff" to hardware</a>
11567       </div>
11568       <div class="date">
11569         14th January 2013
11570       </div>
11571       <div class="body">
11572         <p>While looking into how to look up Debian packages based on hardware
11573 information, to find the packages that support a given piece of
11574 hardware, I refreshed my memory regarding modalias values, and decided
11575 to document the details.  Here are my findings so far, also available
11576 in
11577 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">the
11578 Debian Edu subversion repository</a>:
11579
11580 <p><strong>Modalias decoded</strong></p>
11581
11582 <p>This document try to explain what the different types of modalias
11583 values stands for.  It is in part based on information from
11584 &lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Modalias">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Modalias</a> &gt;,
11585 &lt;URL: <a href="http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/how-to-assign-usb-driver-to-device">http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/how-to-assign-usb-driver-to-device</a> &gt;,
11586 &lt;URL: <a href="http://code.metager.de/source/history/linux/stable/scripts/mod/file2alias.c">http://code.metager.de/source/history/linux/stable/scripts/mod/file2alias.c</a> &gt; and
11587 &lt;URL: <a href="http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/dmidecode/dmidecode.c?root=dmidecode&view=markup">http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/dmidecode/dmidecode.c?root=dmidecode&view=markup</a> &gt;.
11588
11589 <p>The modalias entries for a given Linux machine can be found using
11590 this shell script:</p>
11591
11592 <pre>
11593 find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u
11594 </pre>
11595
11596 <p>The supported modalias globs for a given kernel module can be found
11597 using modinfo:</p>
11598
11599 <pre>
11600 % /sbin/modinfo psmouse | grep alias:
11601 alias:          serio:ty05pr*id*ex*
11602 alias:          serio:ty01pr*id*ex*
11603 %
11604 </pre>
11605
11606 <p><strong>PCI subtype</strong></p>
11607
11608 <p>A typical PCI entry can look like this.  This is an Intel Host
11609 Bridge memory controller:</p>
11610
11611 <p><blockquote>
11612 pci:v00008086d00002770sv00001028sd000001ADbc06sc00i00
11613 </blockquote></p>
11614
11615 <p>This represent these values:</p>
11616
11617 <pre>
11618  v   00008086  (vendor)
11619  d   00002770  (device)
11620  sv  00001028  (subvendor)
11621  sd  000001AD  (subdevice)
11622  bc  06        (bus class)
11623  sc  00        (bus subclass)
11624  i   00        (interface)
11625 </pre>
11626
11627 <p>The vendor/device values are the same values outputted from 'lspci
11628 -n' as 8086:2770.  The bus class/subclass is also shown by lspci as
11629 0600.  The 0600 class is a host bridge.  Other useful bus values are
11630 0300 (VGA compatible card) and 0200 (Ethernet controller).</p>
11631
11632 <p>Not sure how to figure out the interface value, nor what it
11633 means.</p>
11634
11635 <p><strong>USB subtype</strong></p>
11636
11637 <p>Some typical USB entries can look like this.  This is an internal
11638 USB hub in a laptop:</p>
11639
11640 <p><blockquote>
11641 usb:v1D6Bp0001d0206dc09dsc00dp00ic09isc00ip00
11642 </blockquote></p>
11643
11644 <p>Here is the values included in this alias:</p>
11645
11646 <pre>
11647  v    1D6B  (device vendor)
11648  p    0001  (device product)
11649  d    0206  (bcddevice)
11650  dc     09  (device class)
11651  dsc    00  (device subclass)
11652  dp     00  (device protocol)
11653  ic     09  (interface class)
11654  isc    00  (interface subclass)
11655  ip     00  (interface protocol)
11656 </pre>
11657
11658 <p>The 0900 device class/subclass means hub.  Some times the relevant
11659 class is in the interface class section.  For a simple USB web camera,
11660 these alias entries show up:</p>
11661
11662 <p><blockquote>
11663 usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc01ip00
11664 <br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc02ip00
11665 <br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc01ip00
11666 <br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc02ip00
11667 </blockquote></p>
11668
11669 <p>Interface class 0E01 is video control, 0E02 is video streaming (aka
11670 camera), 0101 is audio control device and 0102 is audio streaming (aka
11671 microphone).  Thus this is a camera with microphone included.</p>
11672
11673 <p><strong>ACPI subtype</strong></p>
11674
11675 <p>The ACPI type is used for several non-PCI/USB stuff.  This is an IR
11676 receiver in a Thinkpad X40:</p>
11677
11678 <p><blockquote>
11679 acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511:
11680 </blockquote></p>
11681
11682 <p>The values between the colons are IDs.</p>
11683
11684 <p><strong>DMI subtype</strong></p>
11685
11686 <p>The DMI table contain lots of information about the computer case
11687 and model.  This is an entry for a IBM Thinkpad X40, fetched from
11688 /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/modalias:</p>
11689
11690 <p><blockquote>
11691 dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1UETB6WW(1.66):bd06/15/2005:svnIBM:pn2371H4G:pvrThinkPadX40:rvnIBM:rn2371H4G:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
11692 </blockquote></p>
11693
11694 <p>The values present are</p>
11695
11696 <pre>
11697  bvn  IBM            (BIOS vendor)
11698  bvr  1UETB6WW(1.66) (BIOS version)
11699  bd   06/15/2005     (BIOS date)
11700  svn  IBM            (system vendor)
11701  pn   2371H4G        (product name)
11702  pvr  ThinkPadX40    (product version)
11703  rvn  IBM            (board vendor)
11704  rn   2371H4G        (board name)
11705  rvr  NotAvailable   (board version)
11706  cvn  IBM            (chassis vendor)
11707  ct   10             (chassis type)
11708  cvr  NotAvailable   (chassis version)
11709 </pre>
11710
11711 <p>The chassis type 10 is Notebook.  Other interesting values can be
11712 found in the dmidecode source:</p>
11713
11714 <pre>
11715   3 Desktop
11716   4 Low Profile Desktop
11717   5 Pizza Box
11718   6 Mini Tower
11719   7 Tower
11720   8 Portable
11721   9 Laptop
11722  10 Notebook
11723  11 Hand Held
11724  12 Docking Station
11725  13 All In One
11726  14 Sub Notebook
11727  15 Space-saving
11728  16 Lunch Box
11729  17 Main Server Chassis
11730  18 Expansion Chassis
11731  19 Sub Chassis
11732  20 Bus Expansion Chassis
11733  21 Peripheral Chassis
11734  22 RAID Chassis
11735  23 Rack Mount Chassis
11736  24 Sealed-case PC
11737  25 Multi-system
11738  26 CompactPCI
11739  27 AdvancedTCA
11740  28 Blade
11741  29 Blade Enclosing
11742 </pre>
11743
11744 <p>The chassis type values are not always accurately set in the DMI
11745 table.  For example my home server is a tower, but the DMI modalias
11746 claim it is a desktop.</p>
11747
11748 <p><strong>SerIO subtype</strong></p>
11749
11750 <p>This type is used for PS/2 mouse plugs.  One example is from my
11751 test machine:</p>
11752
11753 <p><blockquote>
11754 serio:ty01pr00id00ex00
11755 </blockquote></p>
11756
11757 <p>The values present are</p>
11758
11759 <pre>
11760   ty  01  (type)
11761   pr  00  (prototype)
11762   id  00  (id)
11763   ex  00  (extra)
11764 </pre>
11765
11766 <p>This type is supported by the psmouse driver.  I am not sure what
11767 the valid values are.</p>
11768
11769 <p><strong>Other subtypes</strong></p>
11770
11771 <p>There are heaps of other modalias subtypes according to
11772 file2alias.c.  There is the rest of the list from that source: amba,
11773 ap, bcma, ccw, css, eisa, hid, i2c, ieee1394, input, ipack, isapnp,
11774 mdio, of, parisc, pcmcia, platform, scsi, sdio, spi, ssb, vio, virtio,
11775 vmbus, x86cpu and zorro.  I did not spend time documenting all of
11776 these, as they do not seem relevant for my intended use with mapping
11777 hardware to packages when new stuff is inserted during run time.</p>
11778
11779 <p><strong>Looking up kernel modules using modalias values</strong></p>
11780
11781 <p>To check which kernel modules provide support for a given modalias,
11782 one can use the following shell script:</p>
11783
11784 <pre>
11785   for id in $(find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u); do \
11786     echo "$id" ; \
11787     /sbin/modprobe --show-depends "$id"|sed 's/^/  /' ; \
11788   done
11789 </pre>
11790
11791 <p>The output can look like this (only the first few entries as the
11792 list is very long on my test machine):</p>
11793
11794 <pre>
11795   acpi:ACPI0003:
11796     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/acpi/ac.ko
11797   acpi:device:
11798   FATAL: Module acpi:device: not found.
11799   acpi:IBM0068:
11800     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/char/nvram.ko
11801     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/leds/led-class.ko
11802     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/net/rfkill/rfkill.ko
11803     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/thinkpad_acpi.ko
11804   acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511:
11805     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/lib/crc-ccitt.ko
11806     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/net/irda/irda.ko
11807     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/net/irda/nsc-ircc.ko
11808   [...]
11809 </pre>
11810
11811 <p>If you want to help implementing a system to let us propose what
11812 packages to install when new hardware is plugged into a Debian
11813 machine, please send me an email or talk to me on
11814 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-devel">#debian-devel</a>.</p>
11815
11816 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-15:</strong> Rewrite "cat $(find ...)" to
11817 "find ... -print0 | xargs -0 cat" to make sure it handle directories
11818 in /sys/ with space in them.</p>
11819
11820       </div>
11821       <div class="tags">
11822
11823
11824         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
11825
11826
11827       </div>
11828     </div>
11829     <div class="padding"></div>
11830
11831     <div class="entry">
11832       <div class="title">
11833         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Moved_the_pymissile_Debian_packaging_to_collab_maint.html">Moved the pymissile Debian packaging to collab-maint</a>
11834       </div>
11835       <div class="date">
11836         10th January 2013
11837       </div>
11838       <div class="body">
11839         <p>As part of my investigation on how to improve the support in Debian
11840 for hardware dongles, I dug up my old Mark and Spencer USB Rocket
11841 Launcher and updated the Debian package
11842 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/pymissile">pymissile</a> to make
11843 sure udev will fix the device permissions when it is plugged in.  I
11844 also added a "Modaliases" header to test it in the Debian archive and
11845 hopefully make the package be proposed by jockey in Ubuntu when a user
11846 plug in his rocket launcher.  In the process I moved the source to a
11847 git repository under collab-maint, to make it easier for any DD to
11848 contribute.  <a href="http://code.google.com/p/pymissile/">Upstream</a>
11849 is not very active, but the software still work for me even after five
11850 years of relative silence.  The new git repository is not listed in
11851 the uploaded package yet, because I want to test the other changes a
11852 bit more before I upload the new version.  If you want to check out
11853 the new version with a .desktop file included, visit the
11854 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/pymissile.git">gitweb
11855 view</a> or use "<tt>git clone
11856 git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/pymissile.git</tt>".</p>
11857
11858       </div>
11859       <div class="tags">
11860
11861
11862         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>.
11863
11864
11865       </div>
11866     </div>
11867     <div class="padding"></div>
11868
11869     <div class="entry">
11870       <div class="title">
11871         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">Lets make hardware dongles easier to use in Debian</a>
11872       </div>
11873       <div class="date">
11874          9th January 2013
11875       </div>
11876       <div class="body">
11877         <p>One thing that annoys me with Debian and Linux distributions in
11878 general, is that there is a great package management system with the
11879 ability to automatically install software packages by downloading them
11880 from the distribution mirrors, but no way to get it to automatically
11881 install the packages I need to use the hardware I plug into my
11882 machine.  Even if the package to use it is easily available from the
11883 Linux distribution.  When I plug in a LEGO Mindstorms NXT, it could
11884 suggest to automatically install the python-nxt, nbc and t2n packages
11885 I need to talk to it.  When I plug in a Yubikey, it could propose the
11886 yubikey-personalization package.  The information required to do this
11887 is available, but no-one have pulled all the pieces together.</p>
11888
11889 <p>Some years ago, I proposed to
11890 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg01206.html">use
11891 the discover subsystem to implement this</a>.  The idea is fairly
11892 simple:
11893
11894 <ul>
11895
11896 <li>Add a desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ pointing to a program
11897   starting when a user log in.</li>
11898
11899 <li>Set this program up to listen for kernel events emitted when new
11900   hardware is inserted into the computer.</li>
11901
11902 <li>When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware ID in a
11903   database mapping to packages, and take note of any non-installed
11904   packages.</li>
11905
11906 <li>Show a message to the user proposing to install the discovered
11907   package, and make it easy to install it.</li>
11908
11909 </ul>
11910
11911 <p>I am not sure what the best way to implement this is, but my
11912 initial idea was to use dbus events to discover new hardware, the
11913 discover database to find packages and
11914 <a href="http://www.packagekit.org/">PackageKit</a> to install
11915 packages.</p>
11916
11917 <p>Yesterday, I found time to try to implement this idea, and the
11918 draft package is now checked into
11919 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">the
11920 Debian Edu subversion repository</a>.  In the process, I updated the
11921 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/discover-data.html">discover-data</a>
11922 package to map the USB ids of LEGO Mindstorms and Yubikey devices to
11923 the relevant packages in Debian, and uploaded a new version
11924 2.2013.01.09 to unstable.  I also discovered that the current
11925 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/discover.html">discover</a>
11926 package in Debian no longer discovered any USB devices, because
11927 /proc/bus/usb/devices is no longer present.  I ported it to use
11928 libusb as a fall back option to get it working.  The fixed package
11929 version 2.1.2-6 is now in experimental (didn't upload it to unstable
11930 because of the freeze).</p>
11931
11932 <p>With this prototype in place, I can insert my Yubikey, and get this
11933 desktop notification to show up (only once, the first time it is
11934 inserted):</p>
11935
11936 <p align="center"><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-09-hw-autoinstall.png"></p>
11937
11938 <p>For this prototype to be really useful, some way to automatically
11939 install the proposed packages by pressing the "Please install
11940 program(s)" button should to be implemented.</p>
11941
11942 <p>If this idea seem useful to you, and you want to help make it
11943 happen, please help me update the discover-data database with mappings
11944 from hardware to Debian packages.  Check if 'discover-pkginstall -l'
11945 list the package you would like to have installed when a given
11946 hardware device is inserted into your computer, and report bugs using
11947 reportbug if it isn't.  Or, if you know of a better way to provide
11948 such mapping, please let me know.</p>
11949
11950 <p>This prototype need more work, and there are several questions that
11951 should be considered before it is ready for production use.  Is dbus
11952 the correct way to detect new hardware?  At the moment I look for HAL
11953 dbus events on the system bus, because that is the events I could see
11954 on my Debian Squeeze KDE desktop.  Are there better events to use?
11955 How should the user be notified?  Is the desktop notification
11956 mechanism the best option, or should the background daemon raise a
11957 popup instead?  How should packages be installed?  When should they
11958 not be installed?</p>
11959
11960 <p>If you want to help getting such feature implemented in Debian,
11961 please send me an email. :)</p>
11962
11963       </div>
11964       <div class="tags">
11965
11966
11967         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
11968
11969
11970       </div>
11971     </div>
11972     <div class="padding"></div>
11973
11974     <div class="entry">
11975       <div class="title">
11976         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_IRC_channel_for_LEGO_designers_using_Debian.html">New IRC channel for LEGO designers using Debian</a>
11977       </div>
11978       <div class="date">
11979          2nd January 2013
11980       </div>
11981       <div class="body">
11982         <p>During Christmas, I have worked a bit on the Debian support for
11983 <a href="http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx">LEGO Mindstorm
11984 NXT</a>.  My son and I have played a bit with my NXT set, and I
11985 discovered I had to build all the tools myself because none were
11986 already in Debian Squeeze.  If Debian support for LEGO is something
11987 you care about, please join me on the IRC channel
11988 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-lego">#debian-lego</a> (server
11989 irc.debian.org).  There is a lot that could be done to improve the
11990 Debian support for LEGO designers.  For example both CAD software
11991 and Mindstorm compilers are missing. :)</p>
11992
11993 <p>Update 2012-01-03: A
11994 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LegoDesigners">project page</a>
11995 including links to Lego related packages is now available.</p>
11996
11997       </div>
11998       <div class="tags">
11999
12000
12001         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>.
12002
12003
12004       </div>
12005     </div>
12006     <div class="padding"></div>
12007
12008     <div class="entry">
12009       <div class="title">
12010         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_Christmas_present_for_Skolelinux___Debian_Edu.html">A Christmas present for Skolelinux / Debian Edu</a>
12011       </div>
12012       <div class="date">
12013         28th December 2012
12014       </div>
12015       <div class="body">
12016         <p>I was happy to discover a few days ago that the
12017 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux / Debian Edu</a>
12018 project also this year received a Christmas present from Another
12019 Agency in Trondheim.  NOK 1000,- showed up on our donation account
12020 December 24th.  I want to express our thanks for this very welcome
12021 present.  As the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project is very short on
12022 funding these days, and thus lack the money to do regular developer
12023 gatherings, this donation was most welcome.  One developer gathering
12024 cost around NOK 15&nbsp;000,-, so we need quite a lot more to keep the
12025 development pace we want.  Thus, I hope their example this year is
12026 followed by many others. :)</p>
12027
12028 <p>The public list of donors can be found on
12029 <a href="http://www.linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/donations.html">the
12030 donation page</a> for the project, which also contain instructions if
12031 you want to donate to the project.</p>
12032
12033       </div>
12034       <div class="tags">
12035
12036
12037         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
12038
12039
12040       </div>
12041     </div>
12042     <div class="padding"></div>
12043
12044     <div class="entry">
12045       <div class="title">
12046         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_backport_bitcoin_qt_version_0_7_2_2_to_Debian_Squeeze.html">How to backport bitcoin-qt version 0.7.2-2 to Debian Squeeze</a>
12047       </div>
12048       <div class="date">
12049         25th December 2012
12050       </div>
12051       <div class="body">
12052         <p>Let me start by wishing you all marry Christmas and a happy new
12053 year!  I hope next year will prove to be a good year.</p>
12054
12055 <p><a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">Bitcoin</a>, the digital
12056 decentralised "currency" that allow people to transfer bitcoins
12057 between each other with minimal overhead, is a very interesting
12058 experiment.  And as I wrote a few days ago, the bitcoin situation in
12059 <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> is about to improve a bit.
12060 The <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/bitcoin">new debian source
12061 package</a> (version 0.7.2-2) was uploaded yesterday, and is waiting
12062 in <a href="http://ftp-master.debian.org/new.html">the NEW queue</A>
12063 for one of the ftpmasters to approve the new bitcoin-qt package
12064 name.</p>
12065
12066 <p>And thanks to the great work of Jonas and the rest of the bitcoin
12067 team in Debian, you can easily test the package in Debian Squeeze
12068 using the following steps to get a set of working packages:</p>
12069
12070 <blockquote><pre>
12071 git clone git://git.debian.org/git/collab-maint/bitcoin
12072 cd bitcoin
12073 DEB_MAINTAINER_MODE=1 DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=noupnp fakeroot debian/rules clean
12074 DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=noupnp git-buildpackage --git-ignore-new
12075 </pre></blockquote>
12076
12077 <p>You might have to install some build dependencies as well.  The
12078 list of commands should give you two packages, bitcoind and
12079 bitcoin-qt, ready for use in a Squeeze environment.  Note that the
12080 client will download the complete set of bitcoin "blocks", which need
12081 around 5.6 GiB of data on my machine at the moment.  Make sure your
12082 ~/.bitcoin/ directory have lots of spare room if you want to download
12083 all the blocks.  The client will warn if the disk is getting full, so
12084 there is not really a problem if you got too little room, but you will
12085 not be able to get all the features out of the client.</p>
12086
12087 <p>As usual, if you use bitcoin and want to show your support of my
12088 activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
12089 <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
12090
12091       </div>
12092       <div class="tags">
12093
12094
12095         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
12096
12097
12098       </div>
12099     </div>
12100     <div class="padding"></div>
12101
12102     <div class="entry">
12103       <div class="title">
12104         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_word_on_bitcoin_support_in_Debian.html">A word on bitcoin support in Debian</a>
12105       </div>
12106       <div class="date">
12107         21st December 2012
12108       </div>
12109       <div class="body">
12110         <p>It has been a while since I wrote about
12111 <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">bitcoin</a>, the decentralised
12112 peer-to-peer based crypto-currency, and the reason is simply that I
12113 have been busy elsewhere.  But two days ago, I started looking at the
12114 state of <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/bitcoin">bitcoin in
12115 Debian</a> again to try to recover my old bitcoin wallet.  The package
12116 is now maintained by a
12117 <a href="https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pkg-bitcoin/">team of
12118 people</a>, and the grunt work had already been done by this team.  We
12119 owe a huge thank you to all these team members. :)
12120 But I was sad to discover that the bitcoin client is missing in
12121 Wheezy.  It is only available in Sid (and an outdated client from
12122 backports).  The client had several RC bugs registered in BTS blocking
12123 it from entering testing.  To try to help the team and improve the
12124 situation, I spent some time providing patches and triaging the bug
12125 reports.  I also had a look at the bitcoin package available from Matt
12126 Corallo in a
12127 <a href="https://launchpad.net/~bitcoin/+archive/bitcoin">PPA for
12128 Ubuntu</a>, and moved the useful pieces from that version into the
12129 Debian package.</p>
12130
12131 <p>After checking with the main package maintainer Jonas Smedegaard on
12132 IRC, I pushed several patches into the collab-maint git repository to
12133 improve the package.  It now contains fixes for the RC issues (not from
12134 me, but fixed by Scott Howard), build rules for a Qt GUI client
12135 package, konqueror support for the bitcoin: URI and bash completion
12136 setup.  As I work on Debian Squeeze, I also created
12137 <a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-bitcoin-devel/Week-of-Mon-20121217/000041.html">a
12138 patch to backport</a> the latest version.  Jonas is going to look at
12139 it and try to integrate it into the git repository before uploading a
12140 new version to unstable.
12141
12142 <p>I would very much like bitcoin to succeed, to get rid of the
12143 centralized control currently exercised in the monetary system.  I
12144 find it completely unacceptable that the USA government is collecting
12145 transaction data for almost all international money transfers (most are done in USD and transaction logs shipped to the spooks), and
12146 that the major credit card companies can block legal money
12147 transactions to Wikileaks.  But for bitcoin to succeed, more people
12148 need to use bitcoins, and more people need to accept bitcoins when
12149 they sell products and services.  Improving the bitcoin support in
12150 Debian is a small step in the right direction, but not enough.
12151 Unfortunately the user experience when browsing the web and wanting to
12152 pay with bitcoin is still not very good.  The bitcoin: URI is a step
12153 in the right direction, but need to work in most or every browser in
12154 use.  Also the bitcoin-qt client is too heavy to fire up to do a
12155 quick transaction.  I believe there are other clients available, but
12156 have not tested them.</p>
12157
12158 <p>My
12159 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Now_accepting_bitcoins___anonymous_and_distributed_p2p_crypto_money.html">experiment
12160 with bitcoins</a> showed that at least some of my readers use bitcoin.
12161 I received 20.15 BTC so far on the address I provided in my blog two
12162 years ago, as can be
12163 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">seen
12164 on the blockexplorer service</a>.  Thank you everyone for your
12165 donation.  The blockexplorer service demonstrates quite well that
12166 bitcoin is not quite anonymous and untracked. :) I wonder if the
12167 number of users have gone up since then.  If you use bitcoin and want
12168 to show your support of my activity, please send Bitcoin donations to
12169 the same address as last time,
12170 <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
12171
12172       </div>
12173       <div class="tags">
12174
12175
12176         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
12177
12178
12179       </div>
12180     </div>
12181     <div class="padding"></div>
12182
12183     <div class="entry">
12184       <div class="title">
12185         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Ledger___double_entry_accounting_using_text_based_storage_format.html">Ledger - double-entry accounting using text based storage format</a>
12186       </div>
12187       <div class="date">
12188         18th December 2012
12189       </div>
12190       <div class="body">
12191         <p>A few days ago I came across
12192 <a href="http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/hledger/">a blog post from Joey
12193 Hess</a> describing <a href="http://ledger-cli.org/">ledger</a> and
12194 hledger, a text based system for double-entry accounting.  I found it
12195 interesting, as I am involved with several organizations where
12196 accounting is an issue, and I have not really become too friendly with
12197 the different web based systems we use.  I find it hard to find what I
12198 look for in the menus and even harder try to get sensible data out of
12199 the systems.  Ledger seem different.  The accounting data is kept in
12200 text files that can be stored in a version control system, and there
12201
12202 are at least <a href="https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki/Ports">five
12203 different implementations</a> able to read the format.  An example
12204 entry look like this, and is simple enough that it will be trivial to
12205 generate entries based on CVS files fetched from the bank:</p>
12206
12207 <blockquote><pre>
12208 2004-05-27 Book Store
12209       Expenses:Books                 $20.00
12210       Liabilities:Visa
12211 </pre></blockquote>
12212
12213 <p>The concept seemed interesting enough for me to check it out and
12214 look for others using it.  I found blog posts from
12215 <a href="http://blog.spang.cc/posts/hledger_rocks_my_world/">Christine
12216 Spang</a>,
12217 <a href="http://bugsplat.info/2010-05-23-keeping-finances-with-ledger.html">Pete
12218 Keen</a>,
12219 <a href="http://blog.andrewcantino.com/blog/2010/11/06/command-line-accounting-with-ledger-and-reckon/">Andrew
12220 Cantino</a> and
12221 <a href="http://blog.iphoting.com/blog/2012/11/29/command-line-double-entry-accounting/">Ronald
12222 Ip</a> describing how they use it, as well as a post from
12223 <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/ledger-cli/r0oWjwbQ9Bo">Bradley
12224 M. Kuhn</a> at the Software Freedom Conservancy.  All seemed like good
12225 recommendations fitting my need.</p>
12226
12227 <p>The <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/l/ledger.html">ledger</a>
12228 package is available in Debian Squeeze, while the
12229 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/h/haskell-hledger.html">hledger</a>
12230 package only is available in Debian Sid.  As I use Squeeze, ledger
12231 seemed the best choice to get started.</p>
12232
12233 <p>To get some real data to test on, I wrote a
12234 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/tools/lodo2ledger">web scraper</a> for
12235 <a href="http://www.lodo.no/">LODO</a>, the accounting system used by
12236 the <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a> association, and started to
12237 play with the data set.  I'm not really deeply into accounting, but I
12238 am able to get a simple balance and accounting status for example
12239 using the "<tt>ledger balance</tt>" command.  But I will have to
12240 gather more experience before I know if the ledger way is a good fit
12241 for the organisations I am involved in.</p>
12242
12243       </div>
12244       <div class="tags">
12245
12246
12247         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
12248
12249
12250       </div>
12251     </div>
12252     <div class="padding"></div>
12253
12254     <div class="entry">
12255       <div class="title">
12256         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Scripting_the_Cerebrum_bofhd_user_administration_system_using_XML_RPC.html">Scripting the Cerebrum/bofhd user administration system using XML-RPC</a>
12257       </div>
12258       <div class="date">
12259          6th December 2012
12260       </div>
12261       <div class="body">
12262         <p>Where I work at the <a href="http://www.uio.no/">University of
12263 Oslo</a>, we use the
12264 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/cerebrum/">Cerebrum user
12265 administration system</a> to maintain users, groups, DNS, DHCP, etc.
12266 I've known since the system was written that the server is providing
12267 an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML-RPC">XML-RPC</a> API, but
12268 I have never spent time to try to figure out how to use it, as we
12269 always use the bofh command line client at work.  Until today.  I want
12270 to script the updating of DNS and DHCP to make it easier to set up
12271 virtual machines.  Here are a few notes on how to use it with
12272 Python.</p>
12273
12274 <p>I started by looking at the source of the Java
12275 <a href="http://cerebrum.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/cerebrum/trunk/cerebrum/clients/jbofh/">bofh
12276 client</a>, to figure out how it connected to the API server.  I also
12277 googled for python examples on how to use XML-RPC, and found
12278 <a href="http://tldp.org/HOWTO/XML-RPC-HOWTO/xmlrpc-howto-python.html">a
12279 simple example in</a> the XML-RPC howto.</p>
12280
12281 <p>This simple example code show how to connect, get the list of
12282 commands (as a JSON dump), and how to get the information about the
12283 user currently logged in:</p>
12284
12285 <blockquote><pre>
12286 #!/usr/bin/env python
12287 import getpass
12288 import xmlrpclib
12289 server_url = 'https://cerebrum-uio.uio.no:8000';
12290 username = getpass.getuser()
12291 password = getpass.getpass()
12292 server = xmlrpclib.Server(server_url);
12293 #print server.get_commands(sessionid)
12294 sessionid = server.login(username, password)
12295 print server.run_command(sessionid, "user_info", username)
12296 result = server.logout(sessionid)
12297 print result
12298 </pre></blockquote>
12299
12300 <p>Armed with this knowledge I can now move forward and script the DNS
12301 and DHCP updates I wanted to do.</p>
12302
12303       </div>
12304       <div class="tags">
12305
12306
12307         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sysadmin">sysadmin</a>.
12308
12309
12310       </div>
12311     </div>
12312     <div class="padding"></div>
12313
12314     <div class="entry">
12315       <div class="title">
12316         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_isn_t_the_value_of_copyright_taxed_.html">Why isn't the value of copyright taxed?</a>
12317       </div>
12318       <div class="date">
12319         17th November 2012
12320       </div>
12321       <div class="body">
12322         <p>While working on a
12323 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">Norwegian
12324 translation of the Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig</a> (76% done),
12325 which cover the problems with todays copyright law and how it stifles
12326 creativity, one idea occurred to me.  The idea is to get the tax
12327 office to help make more works enter the public domain and also help
12328 make it easier to clear rights for using copyrighted works.</p>
12329
12330 <p>I mentioned this idea briefly during Yesterdays
12331 <a href="http://www.farmann.no/2012/11/14/john-perry-barlow-in-oslo-friday-nov-16
12332 -15-30-19-00/">presentation
12333 by John Perry Barlow</a>, and concluded that it was best to put it
12334 in writing for a wider audience.  The idea is not really based on the
12335 argument that copyrighted works are "intellectual property", as the
12336 core requirement is that copyrighted work have value for the copyright
12337 holder and the tax office like to collect their share from any value
12338 controlled by the citizens in a country.  I'm sharing the idea here to
12339 let others consider it and perhaps shoot it down with a fresh set of
12340 arguments.</p>
12341
12342 <p>Most valuables are taxed by the government.  At least here in
12343 Norway, the amount of money you have, the value of our land property,
12344 the value of your house, the value of your car, the value of our
12345 stocks and other valuables are all added together.  If the tax value
12346 of these values exceed your debt, you have to pay the tax office some
12347 taxes for these values.  And copyrighted work have value.  It have
12348 value for the rights holder, who can earn money selling access to the
12349 work.  But it is not included in the tax calculations?  Why not?</p>
12350
12351 <p>If the government want to tax copyrighted works, it would want to
12352 maintain a database of all the copyrighted works and who are the
12353 rights holders for a given works, to be able to associate the works
12354 value to the right citizen or company for tax purposes.  If such
12355 database exist, it will become a lot easier to find out who to talk to
12356 for clearing permissions to use a copyrighted work, which is a very
12357 hard operation with todays copyright law.  To ensure that copyright
12358 holders keep the database up-to-date, it would have to become a
12359 requirement to be able to collect money for granting access to
12360 copyrighted works that the work is listed in the database with the
12361 correct right holder.</p>
12362
12363 <p>If copyright causes copyright holders to have to pay more taxes,
12364 they will have a small incentive to "disown" their copyright, and let
12365 the work enter the public domain. For works with several right holders
12366 one of the right holders could state (and get it registered in the
12367 database) that she do not need to be consulted when clearing rights to
12368 use the work in question and thus will not get any income from that
12369 work.  Stating this would have to be impossible to revert and stop the
12370 tax office from adding the value of that work to the given citizens
12371 tax calculation.  I assume the copyright law would stay the same,
12372 allowing creators to pick a license of their choosing, and also
12373 allowing them to put their work directly in the public domain.  The
12374 existence of such database will make it even easier to clear rights,
12375 and if the right holders listed in the database is taxed, this system
12376 would increase the amount of works that enter the public domain.</p>
12377
12378 <p>The effect would be that the tax office help to make it easier to
12379 get rights to use the works that have not yet entered the public
12380 domain and help to get more work into the public domain and .</p>
12381
12382 <p>Why have such taxing not happened yet?  I am sure the tax office
12383 would like to tax copyrighted work values if they could.</p>
12384
12385       </div>
12386       <div class="tags">
12387
12388
12389         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>.
12390
12391
12392       </div>
12393     </div>
12394     <div class="padding"></div>
12395
12396     <div class="entry">
12397       <div class="title">
12398         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Angela_Fu_.html">Debian Edu interview: Angela Fuß</a>
12399       </div>
12400       <div class="date">
12401         14th November 2012
12402       </div>
12403       <div class="body">
12404         <p>Here is another interview with one of the people in the <a
12405 href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>
12406 community.  I am running short on people willing to be interviewed, so
12407 if you know about someone I should interview, Please send me an email.
12408 After asking for many months, I finally managed to lure another one of
12409 the people behind the German
12410 "<a href="http://wiki.it-zukunft-schule.de/">IT-Zukunft Schule</a>"
12411 project out from maternity leave to conduct an interview.  Give a warm
12412 welcome to Angela Fuß. :)</p>
12413
12414 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
12415
12416 <p>I am a 39-year-old woman living in the very north of Germany near
12417 Denmark. I live in a patchwork family with "my man" Mike Gabriel, my
12418 two daughters, Mikes daughter and Mikes and my rather newborn son.
12419
12420 <p>At the moment - because of our little baby - I am spending most of
12421 the day by being a caring and organising mom for all the kids.
12422 Besides that I am really involved into and occupied with several inner
12423 growth processes: New born souls always bring the whole familiar
12424 system into movement and that needs time and focus ;-).  We are also
12425 in the middle of buying a house and moving to it.</p>
12426
12427 <p>In 2013 I will work again in my job in a German foundation for
12428 nature conservation. I am doing public relation work there.  Besides
12429 that - and that is the connection to Skolelinux / Debian Edu - I am
12430 working in our own school project "IT-Zukunft Schule" in North
12431 Germany. I am responsible for the quality assurance, the customer
12432 relationship management and the communication processes in the
12433 project.</p>
12434
12435 <p>Since 2001 I constantly have been training myself in communication
12436 and leadership. Besides that I am a forester, a landscaping gardener
12437 and a yoga teacher.</p>
12438
12439 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
12440 project?</strong></p>
12441
12442 <p>I fell in love with Mike ;-).</p>
12443
12444 <p>Very soon after getting to know him I was completely enrolled into
12445 Free Software.  At this time Mike did IT-services for one newly
12446 founded school in Kiel. Other schools in Kiel needed concepts for
12447 their IT environment.  Often when Mike came home from working at the
12448 newly founded school I found myself listening to his complaints about
12449 several points where the communication with the schools head or the
12450 teachers did not work.  So we were clear that he would not work for
12451 one more school if we did not set up a structure for communication
12452 between him, the schools head, the teachers, the students and the
12453 parents.</p>
12454
12455 <p>Together with our friend and hardware supplier Andreas Buchholz we
12456 started to get an overview of free software solutions suitable for
12457 schools. One day before Christmas 2010 Mike and I had a date with Kurt
12458 Gramlich in Gütersloh. As Kurt and I are really interested in building
12459 networks of people and in being in communication we dived into
12460 Skolelinux and brought it to the first grammar schools in Northern
12461 Germany.</p>
12462
12463 <p>For information about our school project you can read
12464 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Mike_Gabriel.html">the
12465 interview with Mike Gabriel</a>.</p>
12466
12467 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian
12468 Edu?</strong></p>
12469
12470 <p>First I have to say: I cannot answer this question technically. My
12471 answer comes rather from a social point of view.</p>
12472
12473 <p>The biggest advantage of Skolelinux / Debian Edu I see is the large
12474 and strong international community of Debian Developers in the
12475 background which is very alive and connected over mailinglists, blogs
12476 and meetings. My constant feeling for the Debian Community is: If
12477 something does not work they will somehow fix it. All is well
12478 ;-). This is of course a user experience.  What I also get as a big
12479 advantage of Skolelinux / Debian Edu is that everybody who uses it and
12480 works with it can also contribute to it - that includes students,
12481 teachers, parents...</p>
12482
12483 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
12484 Edu?</strong></p>
12485
12486 <p>I will answer this question relating to the internal structure of
12487 Skolelinux / Debian Edu.</p>
12488
12489 <p>What I see as a major disadvantage is that there is a gap between
12490 the group of developers for Debian Edu and the people who make the
12491 marketing, that means the people that bring Skolelinux to the
12492 schools. There is a lack of communication between these two groups and
12493 I think that does not really work for Skolelinux / Debian Edu.</p>
12494
12495 <p>Further I appreciate that Skolelinux / Debian Edu is known as a
12496 do-ocracy. Nevertheless I keep asking myself if at some points a
12497 democracy or some kind of hierarchical project structure would be good
12498 and helpful.  I am also missing some kind of contact between the
12499 Skolelinux / Debian Edu communities in Europe or on an international
12500 level. I think it would be good if there was more sharing between the
12501 different countries using Skolelinux / Debian Edu.</p>
12502
12503 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
12504
12505 <p>On my laptop I am still using an Ubuntu 10.04 with a Gnome Desktop
12506 on.  As applications I use Openoffice.org, Gedit, Firefox, Pidgin,
12507 LaTeX and GnuCash. For mails I am using Horde. And I am really fond of
12508 my N900 running with Maemo.</p>
12509
12510 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
12511 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
12512
12513 <p>I am really convinced that in our school project "IT-Zukunft
12514 Schule" we have developed (and keep developing) a great way to get
12515 schools to use Free Software. We have written a detailed concept for
12516 that so I cannot explain the whole thing here. But in a nutshell the
12517 strategy has three crucial pillars:</p>
12518
12519 <ul>
12520
12521 <li>We really take time to get what sort of stories, questions and
12522 concerns the schools head and the teachers have about using different
12523 kinds of IT and we take time to enrol them into Free Software.</li>
12524
12525 <li>Our solution for schools is never just technical. In the centre
12526 are always the people who are going to use the software. From the very
12527 beginning of the planning for a school, we tell the schools head that
12528 they are paying us not only for a technical solution for their school,
12529 they also pay us for leading all the communication processes
12530 needed. If they do not want that, we are not working with them because
12531 we cannot give a guarantee for the quality of our work then.</li>
12532
12533 <li>Another focus lies in the training of teachers and students in
12534 co-administrating the IT-System at their school. They start getting in
12535 contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu community and they get the
12536 offer to become more and more independent from us.</li>
12537
12538 </ul>
12539
12540       </div>
12541       <div class="tags">
12542
12543
12544         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
12545
12546
12547       </div>
12548     </div>
12549     <div class="padding"></div>
12550
12551     <div class="entry">
12552       <div class="title">
12553         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_European_Central_Bank__ECB__take_a_look_at_bitcoin.html">The European Central Bank (ECB) take a look at bitcoin</a>
12554       </div>
12555       <div class="date">
12556          4th November 2012
12557       </div>
12558       <div class="body">
12559         <p>Slashdot just ran a story about the European Central Bank (ECB)
12560 <a href="http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/virtualcurrencyschemes201210en.pdf">releasing
12561 a report (PDF)</a> about virtual currencies and
12562 <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">bitcoin</a>.  It is interesting to
12563 see how a member of the bitcoin community
12564 <a href="http://blog.bitinstant.com/blog/2012/10/30/the-ecb-report-on-bitcoin-and-virtual-currencies.html">receive
12565 the report</a>.  As for the future, I suspect the central banks and
12566 the governments will outlaw bitcoin if it gain any popularity, to avoid
12567 competition.  My thoughts go to the
12568 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wörgl">Wörgl experiment</a> with
12569 negative inflation on cash which was such a success that it was
12570 terminated by the Austrian National Bank in 1933.  A successful
12571 alternative would be a threat to the current money system and gain
12572 powerful forces to work against it.</p>
12573
12574 <p>While checking out the current status of bitcoin, I also discovered
12575 that the community already seem to have
12576 <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/27/3271637/bitcoin-savings-trust-pyramid-scheme-shuts-down">experienced
12577 its first pyramid game / Ponzi scheme</a>.  Not very surprising, given
12578 how members of "small" communities tend to trust each other.  I guess
12579 enterprising crocks will try again and again, as they do anywhere
12580 wealth is available.</p>
12581
12582       </div>
12583       <div class="tags">
12584
12585
12586         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
12587
12588
12589       </div>
12590     </div>
12591     <div class="padding"></div>
12592
12593     <div class="entry">
12594       <div class="title">
12595         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/12_years_of_outages___summarised_by_Stuart_Kendrick.html">12 years of outages - summarised by Stuart Kendrick</a>
12596       </div>
12597       <div class="date">
12598         26th October 2012
12599       </div>
12600       <div class="body">
12601         <p>I work at the <a href="http://www.uio.no/">University of Oslo</a>
12602 looking after the computers, mostly on the unix side, but in general
12603 all over the place.  I am also a member (and currently leader) of
12604 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">the NUUG association</a>, which in turn
12605 make me a member of <a href="http://www.usenix.org/">USENIX</a>.  NUUG
12606 is an member organisation for us in Norway interested in free
12607 software, open standards and unix like operating systems, and USENIX
12608 is a US based member organisation with similar targets.  And thanks to
12609 these memberships, I get all issues of the great USENIX magazine
12610 <a href="https://www.usenix.org/publications/login">;login:</a> in the
12611 mail several times a year.  The magazine is great, and I read most of
12612 it every time.</p>
12613
12614 <p>In the last issue of the USENIX magazine ;login:, there is an
12615 article by <a href="http://www.skendric.com/">Stuart Kendrick</a> from
12616 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center titled
12617 "<a href="https://www.usenix.org/publications/login/october-2012-volume-37-number-5/what-takes-us-down">What
12618 Takes Us Down</a>" (longer version also
12619 <a href="http://www.skendric.com/problem/incident-analysis/2012-06-30/What-Takes-Us-Down.pdf">available
12620 from his own site</a>), where he report what he found when he
12621 processed the outage reports (both planned and unplanned) from the
12622 last twelve years and classified them according to cause, time of day,
12623 etc etc.  The article is a good read to get some empirical data on
12624 what kind of problems affect a data centre, but what really inspired
12625 me was the kind of reporting they had put in place since 2000.<p>
12626
12627 <p>The centre set up a mailing list, and started to send fairly
12628 standardised messages to this list when a outage was planned or when
12629 it already occurred, to announce the plan and get feedback on the
12630 assumtions on scope and user impact.  Here is the two example from the
12631 article: First the unplanned outage:
12632
12633 <blockquote><pre>
12634 Subject:     Exchange 2003 Cluster Issues
12635 Severity:    Critical (Unplanned)
12636 Start:       Monday, May 7, 2012, 11:58
12637 End:         Monday, May 7, 2012, 12:38
12638 Duration:    40 minutes
12639 Scope:       Exchange 2003
12640 Description: The HTTPS service on the Exchange cluster crashed, triggering
12641              a cluster failover.
12642
12643 User Impact: During this period, all Exchange users were unable to
12644              access e-mail. Zimbra users were unaffected.
12645 Technician:  [xxx]
12646 </pre></blockquote>
12647
12648 Next the planned outage:
12649
12650 <blockquote><pre>
12651 Subject:     H Building Switch Upgrades
12652 Severity:    Major (Planned)
12653 Start:       Saturday, June 16, 2012, 06:00
12654 End:         Saturday, June 16, 2012, 16:00
12655 Duration:    10 hours
12656 Scope:       H2 Transport
12657 Description: Currently, Catalyst 4006s provide 10/100 Ethernet to end-
12658              stations. We will replace these with newer Catalyst
12659              4510s.
12660 User Impact: All users on H2 will be isolated from the network during
12661              this work. Afterward, they will have gigabit
12662              connectivity.
12663 Technician:  [xxx]
12664 </pre></blockquote>
12665
12666 <p>He notes in his article that the date formats and other fields have
12667 been a bit too free form to make it easy to automatically process them
12668 into a database for further analysis, and I would have used ISO 8601
12669 dates myself to make it easier to process (in other words I would ask
12670 people to write '2012-06-16 06:00 +0000' instead of the start time
12671 format listed above).  There are also other issues with the format
12672 that could be improved, read the article for the details.</p>
12673
12674 <p>I find the idea of standardising outage messages seem to be such a
12675 good idea that I would like to get it implemented here at the
12676 university too.  We do register
12677 <a href="http://www.uio.no/tjenester/it/aktuelt/planlagte-tjenesteavbrudd/">planned
12678 changes and outages in a calendar</a>, and report the to a mailing
12679 list, but we do not do so in a structured format and there is not a
12680 report to the same location for unplanned outages.  Perhaps something
12681 for other sites to consider too?</p>
12682
12683       </div>
12684       <div class="tags">
12685
12686
12687         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/usenix">usenix</a>.
12688
12689
12690       </div>
12691     </div>
12692     <div class="padding"></div>
12693
12694     <div class="entry">
12695       <div class="title">
12696         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Amazon_steal_books_from_customer_and_throw_out_her_out_without_any_explanation.html">Amazon steal books from customer and throw out her out without any explanation</a>
12697       </div>
12698       <div class="date">
12699         22nd October 2012
12700       </div>
12701       <div class="body">
12702         <p>A blog post from Martin Bekkelund today tell the story of
12703 <a href="http://www.bekkelund.net/2012/10/22/outlawed-by-amazon-drm/">how
12704 Amazon erased the books from a customer's kindle, locked the account
12705 and refuse to tell the customer why</a>.  If a real book store did
12706 this to a customer, it would be called breaking into private property
12707 and theft.  The story has spread around the net today.  A bit more
12708 background information is available in Norwegian from
12709 <a href="http://www.digi.no/904658/hun-ble-kastet-ut-av-amazon">digi.no</a>.
12710 It is no surprise that digital restriction mechanisms (DRM) are used
12711 this way, as it has been warned about such abuse since DRM was
12712 introduced many years back.  And Amazon proved in 2009 that it was
12713 willing to
12714 <a href="http://boingboing.net/2009/07/20/amazons-orwellian-de.html">
12715 break into customers equipment and remove the books</a> people had
12716 bought, when it removed the book 1984 by George Orwell from all the
12717 customers who had bought it.  From the official comments, it even
12718 sounded like
12719 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html">Amazon
12720 would never do that again</a>.  And here we are, three years
12721 later.</p>
12722
12723 <p>And thought this action is
12724 <a href="http://www.itavisen.no/904648/forbrukerraadet-helt-haarreisende">against
12725 Norwegian regulations and law</a>, it is according to the terms of use
12726 as written by Amazon, and it is hard to hold Amazon accountable to
12727 Norwegian laws.  It is just yet another example of unacceptable terms
12728 of use on the web, and how they are used to remove customer
12729 rights.</p>
12730
12731 <p>Luckily for electronic books, there are alternatives without
12732 unacceptable terms.  For example
12733 <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">Project Gutenberg</a> (about 40,000
12734 books), <a href="http://runeberg.org/">Project Runenberg</a> (1,652
12735 books) and <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/texts">The Internet
12736 Archive</a> (3,641,797 books) have heaps of books without DRM, which
12737 can read by anyone and shared with anyone.</p>
12738
12739 <p>Update 2012-10-23: This story broke in the morning on Monday. In
12740 the evening after the story had spread all across the Internet, Amazon
12741 restored the account of the user, as reported by
12742 <a href="http://www.digi.no/904675/helomvending-fra-amazon">digi.no</a>
12743 and <a href="http://nrk.no/kultur-og-underholdning/1.8368487">NRK</a>.
12744 Apparently public pressure work.  The story from Martin have seen
12745 several twitter messages per minute the last 24 hours, which is quite
12746 a lot, and is still drawing a lot of attention.  But even when the
12747 account is restored, the fundamental problem still exist.  I recommend
12748 reading two opinions from
12749 <a href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/simon-says/2012/10/rights-you-have-no-right-to-your-ebooks/index.htm">Simon
12750 Phipps</a> and
12751 <a href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2012/10/is-amazon-playing-fair/index.htm">Glen
12752 Moody</a> if you want to learn more about the fundamentals and more
12753 details about the original story.</p>
12754
12755       </div>
12756       <div class="tags">
12757
12758
12759         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>.
12760
12761
12762       </div>
12763     </div>
12764     <div class="padding"></div>
12765
12766     <div class="entry">
12767       <div class="title">
12768         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_fight_for_freedom_and_privacy.html">The fight for freedom and privacy</a>
12769       </div>
12770       <div class="date">
12771         18th October 2012
12772       </div>
12773       <div class="body">
12774         <p>Civil liberties and privacy in the western world are going down the
12775 drain, and it is hard to fight against it.  I try to do my best, but
12776 time is limited.  I hope you do your best too.  A few years ago I came
12777 across a marvellous drawing by
12778 <a href="http://www.claybennett.com/about.html">Clay Bennett</a>
12779 visualising some of what is going on.
12780
12781 <p><a href="http://www.claybennett.com/pages/security_fence.html">
12782 <img src="http://www.claybennett.com/images/archivetoons/security_fence.jpg"></a></p>
12783
12784 <blockquote>
12785 «They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
12786 safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.» - Benjamin Franklin
12787 </blockquote>
12788
12789 <p>Do you feel safe at the airport?  I do not.  Do you feel safe when
12790 you see a surveillance camera?  I do not.  Do you feel safe when you
12791 leave electronic traces of your behaviour and opinions?  I do not.  I
12792 just remember <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon">the
12793 Panopticon</a>, and can not help to think that we are slowly
12794 transforming our society to a huge Panopticon on our own.</p>
12795
12796       </div>
12797       <div class="tags">
12798
12799
12800         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
12801
12802
12803       </div>
12804     </div>
12805     <div class="padding"></div>
12806
12807     <div class="entry">
12808       <div class="title">
12809         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ColonHelp_produser_sue_WordPress_to_silence_critic.html">ColonHelp produser sue WordPress to silence critic</a>
12810       </div>
12811       <div class="date">
12812         12th October 2012
12813       </div>
12814       <div class="body">
12815         <p>Thanks to a blog post by
12816 <a href="http://ramblingfoo.blogspot.no/2012/10/a-shitstorm-is-comming.html">Eddy
12817 Petrișor</a>, I became aware of yet another "alternative medicine"
12818 company using legal intimidation tactics to scare off critics.
12819 According to the originating blog post about the detox "cure"
12820 <a href="http://insulaindoielii.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/colon-help-sues-wordpress/">ColonHelp
12821 and its producers Zenyth Pharmaceuticals actions</a>, the producer
12822 sues Wordpress to get rid of the critical information.  To check if
12823 the story was for real, I contacted Automattic, the company behind
12824 wordpress.com, and they reply was "We can confirm that Zenyth is
12825 seeking a court order against WordPress / Automattic.  However, we
12826 don't believe the Terms of Service have been violated in this
12827 matter".</p>
12828
12829 <p>The story seem to be simply that a blogger checked the scientific
12830 foundation for a popular health product in Rumania, ColonHelp, and
12831 reported that there was no reason at all to believe it improved the
12832 health of its users.  This caused the company behind the product,
12833 Zenyth Pharmaceuticals, to use legal intimidation to try to silence
12834 the critic, instead of presenting its views and scientific foundation
12835 to argue its side.</p>
12836
12837 <p>This is the usual story, and the Zenyth Pharmaceuticals company
12838 deserve everyone to know how it failed to act properly.  Lets hope the
12839 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect">Streisand
12840 effect</a> can make it rethink its strategy.</p>
12841
12842 <p>What is the harm, you might think.  I suggest you take a look at
12843 <a href="http://www.whatstheharm.net/detoxification.html">a list of
12844 victims of detoxification</a>.</p>
12845
12846       </div>
12847       <div class="tags">
12848
12849
12850         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/skepsis">skepsis</a>.
12851
12852
12853       </div>
12854     </div>
12855     <div class="padding"></div>
12856
12857     <div class="entry">
12858       <div class="title">
12859         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_is_your_local_library_collecting_the__wrong__computer_books_.html">Why is your local library collecting the "wrong" computer books?</a>
12860       </div>
12861       <div class="date">
12862          3rd October 2012
12863       </div>
12864       <div class="body">
12865         <p>I just read the blog post from Tim Retout
12866 <a href="http://retout.co.uk/blog/2012/10/02/the-library-challenge">about
12867 the computer science book collection available in his local
12868 library</a>, and just wanted to share my comment on his theory about
12869 computer books becoming obsolete so soon.  That is part of the reason
12870 why the selection is so sad in almost any local library (it is in mine
12871 too), but I believe the major contributing factor is that the people
12872 buying books to the library have no way to know a good and future
12873 computer classic from trash.  And they need to know which one will
12874 become a classic in the future, as they would normally buy one of the
12875 recently published books.</p>
12876
12877 <p>During my university years, I worked for a while at the university
12878 library, and even there the person in charge of buying computer
12879 related books (and in fact any natural science related book), did not
12880 know enough about computers to make a good educated guess.  Once, just
12881 before Christmas, they had some leftover money on the book budget and
12882 I was asked if I could pick out a lot of computer books in the
12883 university book store, for the library to buy for their collection.  I
12884 had a great time picking all the books I dreamt of buying and reading,
12885 and the books I knew were classics (like most of the
12886 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Richard_Stevens">Stevens
12887 collection</a>).  I picked several of the generic O'Reilly books (ie
12888 documenting protocols, formats and systems, not specific versions of
12889 products) and stayed away from the 'teach yourself X in N days' class.
12890 I had a great time, and probably picked out more than a hundred books
12891 for the library that evening.</p>
12892
12893 <p>The sad fact is that there is no way a overworked librarian is
12894 going to know that for example
12895 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Practice_of_Programming">The
12896 Practice of Programming</a> is a must-have in any computer library,
12897 and they will most of the time end up picking the wrong books to buy.
12898 Perhaps you can help your local library make better choices by giving
12899 the suggestions for books to get?  I know they would love to hear from
12900 you, even if their budget might block them from getting your favourite
12901 book right away.</p>
12902
12903       </div>
12904       <div class="tags">
12905
12906
12907         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
12908
12909
12910       </div>
12911     </div>
12912     <div class="padding"></div>
12913
12914     <div class="entry">
12915       <div class="title">
12916         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Seventy_percent_done_with_Norwegian_docbook_version_of_Free_Culture.html">Seventy percent done with Norwegian docbook version of Free Culture</a>
12917       </div>
12918       <div class="date">
12919         23rd September 2012
12920       </div>
12921       <div class="body">
12922         <p>Since this summer, I have worked in my spare time on a Norwegian <a
12923 href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> version of the 2004 book <a
12924 href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig.
12925 The reason is that this book is a great primer on what problems exist
12926 in the current copyright laws, and I want it to be available also for
12927 those that are reluctant do read an English book.
12928
12929 When I started, I
12930 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnad_for___sende_norsk_versjon_av_Free_Culture_til_stortingets_representanter_.html">called
12931 for volunteers</a> to help me, but too few have volunteered so far,
12932 and progress is a bit slow.  Anyway, today I broken the 70 percent
12933 mark for the first rough translation.  At the moment, less than 700
12934 strings (paragraphs, index terms, titles) are left to translate.  With
12935 my current progress of 10-20 strings per day, it will take a while to
12936 complete the translation.  This graph show the updated progress:</p>
12937
12938 <img width="80%" align="center" src="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/progress.png">
12939
12940 <p>Progress have slowed down lately due to family and work
12941 commitments.  If you want to help, please get in touch, and check out
12942 the project files currently available from
12943 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p>
12944
12945 <p>If you are curious what the translated book currently look like,
12946 the updated
12947 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a>
12948 and
12949 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a>
12950 are published on github.  The HTML version is published as well, but
12951 github hand it out with MIME type text/plain, confusing browsers, so I
12952 saw no point in linking to that version.</p>
12953
12954       </div>
12955       <div class="tags">
12956
12957
12958         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
12959
12960
12961       </div>
12962     </div>
12963     <div class="padding"></div>
12964
12965     <div class="entry">
12966       <div class="title">
12967         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Giorgio_Pioda.html">Debian Edu interview: Giorgio Pioda</a>
12968       </div>
12969       <div class="date">
12970         17th September 2012
12971       </div>
12972       <div class="body">
12973         <p>After a long break in my row of interviews with people in the
12974 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>
12975 community, I finally found time to wrap up another.  This time it is
12976 Giorgio Pioda, which showed up on the mailing list at the start of
12977 this year, asking questions and inspiring us to improve the first time
12978 administrators experience with Skolelinux. :) The interview was
12979 conduced in May, but I only found time to publish it now.</p>
12980
12981 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
12982
12983 <p>I have a PhD in chemistry but since several years I work as teacher
12984 in secondary (15-18 year old students) and tertiary (a kind of "light"
12985 university) schools. Five years ago I started to manage a Learning
12986 Management Service server and slowly I got more and more involved with
12987 IT. 3 years ago the graduating schools moved completely to Linux and I
12988 got the head of the IT for this. The experience collected in chemistry
12989 labs computers (for example NMR analysis of protein folding) and in
12990 the IT-courses during university where sufficient to start. Self
12991 training is anyway very important</p>
12992
12993 <p>I live in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, and the
12994 <a href="http://www.spse.ch/">SPSE school</a> (secondary) is a very
12995 special sport school for young people who try to became sport pro (for
12996 all sports, we have dozens of disciplines represented) and we are
12997 recognised by the Olympic Swiss Organisation.
12998
12999 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
13000 project?</strong></p>
13001
13002 <p>Looking for Linux / Primary Domain Controller (PDC) I found it
13003 already several years ago. But since the system was still not
13004 Kerberized and since our schools relies strongly on laptops I didn't
13005 use it. I plan to introduce it in the next future, probably for the
13006 next school year, since the squeeze release solved this security
13007 hole.</p>
13008
13009 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
13010 Edu?</strong></p>
13011
13012 <p>Many. First of all there is a strong and living community that is
13013 very generous for help and hints.  Chat help is crucial, together with
13014 the mailing list.  Second. With Skolelinux you get an already well
13015 engineered platform and you don't have to start to build up your PDC
13016 and your clients from GNU/scratch; I've already done this once and I
13017 can tell it, it is hard. Third, since Skolelinux is a standard
13018 platform, it is way easier to educate other IT people and even if the
13019 head IT is sick another one could pick up the task without too much
13020 hassle.</p>
13021
13022 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
13023 Edu?</strong></p>
13024
13025 <p>The only real problem I see is that it is a little too less
13026 flexible at client level. Debian stable is rocky and desirable, but
13027 there are many reasons that force for another choice. For example the
13028 need of new drivers for new PC, or the need for a specific OS for some
13029 devices that have specific software packages for another specific
13030 distribution (I have such a case for whiteboards that have only
13031 Ubuntu packages). Thus, I prepared compatibility packages educlient
13032 and eduroaming, hoping not to use them ;-)</p>
13033
13034 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
13035
13036 <p>I have a Debian Stable PDC at school (Kerberos, NIS, NFS) with
13037 mixed Debian and Ubuntu clients. If you think that this triad
13038 combination is exotic... well I discovered right yesterday that
13039 <a href="http://moo.nac.uci.edu/~hjm/Perceus-Report.html">Perceus</a>
13040 has the same...</p>
13041
13042 <p>For myself I run Debian wheezy/sid, but this combination is good
13043 only I you have enough competence to fix stuff for yourself, if
13044 something breaks.  Daily I use texmacs, gnumeric, a little bit of R
13045 statistics, kmplot, and less frequently OpenOffice.org.</p>
13046
13047 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
13048 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
13049
13050 <P>I think that the only real argument that school managers "hear" is
13051 cost reduction. They don't give too much weight on quality, stability,
13052 just because they are normally not open to change.</p>
13053
13054 <p>Students adapts very quickly to GNU/Linux (and for them being able
13055 to switch between different OS is a plus value); teachers and managers
13056 don't.</p>
13057
13058 <p>We decided to move to Linux because students at our school have own
13059 laptop and we have the responsibility to keep the laptop ready to use;
13060 we were really unsatisfied with Microsoft since every Monday we had 20
13061 machine to fix for viral infections... With Linux this has been
13062 reduced to zero, since people installs almost only from official
13063 repositories. I think that our special needs brought us to Linux.
13064 Those who don't have such needs will hardly move to Linux.</p>
13065
13066       </div>
13067       <div class="tags">
13068
13069
13070         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
13071
13072
13073       </div>
13074     </div>
13075     <div class="padding"></div>
13076
13077     <div class="entry">
13078       <div class="title">
13079         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/IETF_activity_to_standardise_video_codec.html">IETF activity to standardise video codec</a>
13080       </div>
13081       <div class="date">
13082         15th September 2012
13083       </div>
13084       <div class="body">
13085         <p>After the
13086 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/IETF_standardize_its_first_multimedia_codec__Opus.html">Opus
13087 codec made</a> it into <a href="http://www.ietf.org/">IETF</a> as
13088 <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6716">RFC 6716</a>, I had a look
13089 to see if there is any activity in IETF to standardise a video codec
13090 too, and I was happy to discover that there is some activity in this
13091 area.  A non-"working group" mailing list
13092 <a href="https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/video-codec">video-codec</a>
13093 was
13094 <a href="http://ietf.10.n7.nabble.com/New-Non-WG-Mailing-List-video-codec-Video-codec-BoF-discussion-list-td119548.html">created 2012-08-20</a>.  It is intended to discuss the topic and if a
13095 formal working group should be formed.</p>
13096
13097 <p>I look forward to see how this plays out.  There is already
13098 <a href="http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/video-codec/current/msg00003.html">an
13099 email from someone</a> in the MPEG group at ISO asking people to
13100 participate in the ISO group.  Given how ISO failed with OOXML and given
13101 that it so far (as far as I can remember) only have produced
13102 multimedia formats requiring royalty payments, I suspect
13103 joining the ISO group would be a complete waste of time, but I am not
13104 involved in any codec work and my opinion will not matter much.</p>
13105
13106 <p>If one of my readers is involved with codec work, I hope she will
13107 join this work to standardise a royalty free video codec within
13108 IETF.</p>
13109
13110       </div>
13111       <div class="tags">
13112
13113
13114         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
13115
13116
13117       </div>
13118     </div>
13119     <div class="padding"></div>
13120
13121     <div class="entry">
13122       <div class="title">
13123         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/IETF_standardize_its_first_multimedia_codec__Opus.html">IETF standardize its first multimedia codec: Opus</a>
13124       </div>
13125       <div class="date">
13126         12th September 2012
13127       </div>
13128       <div class="body">
13129         <p>Yesterday, <a href="http://www.ietf.org/">IETF</a> announced the
13130 publication of of
13131 <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6716">RFC 6716, the Definition
13132 of the Opus Audio Codec</a>, a low latency, variable bandwidth, codec
13133 intended for both VoIP, film and music.  This is the first time, as
13134 far as I know, that IETF have standardized a multimedia codec.  In
13135 <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3533">RFC 3533</a>, IETF
13136 standardized the OGG container format, and it has proven to be a great
13137 royalty free container for audio, video and movies.  I hope IETF will
13138 continue to standardize more royalty free codeces, after ISO and MPEG
13139 have proven incapable of securing everyone equal rights to publish
13140 multimedia content on the Internet.</p>
13141
13142 <p>IETF require two interoperating independent implementations to
13143 ratify a standard, and have so far ensured to only standardize royalty
13144 free specifications.  Both are key factors to allow everyone (rich and
13145 poor), to compete on equal terms on the Internet.</p>
13146
13147 <p>Visit the <a href="http://opus-codec.org/">Opus project page</a> if
13148 you want to learn more about the solution.</p>
13149
13150       </div>
13151       <div class="tags">
13152
13153
13154         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
13155
13156
13157       </div>
13158     </div>
13159     <div class="padding"></div>
13160
13161     <div class="entry">
13162       <div class="title">
13163         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Git_repository_for_song_book_for_Computer_Scientists.html">Git repository for song book for Computer Scientists</a>
13164       </div>
13165       <div class="date">
13166          7th September 2012
13167       </div>
13168       <div class="body">
13169         <p>As I
13170 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Song_book_for_Computer_Scientists.html">mentioned
13171 this summer</a>, I have created a Computer Science song book a few
13172 years ago, and today I finally found time to create a public
13173 <a href="https://gitorious.org/pere-cs-songbook/pere-cs-songbook">Gitorious
13174 repository for the project</a>.</p>
13175
13176 <p>If you want to help out, please clone the source and submit patches
13177 to the HTML version.  To generate the PDF and PostScript version,
13178 please use prince XML, or let me know about a useful free software
13179 processor capable of creating a good looking PDF from the HTML.</p>
13180
13181 <p>Want to sing?  You can still find the song book in HTML, PDF and
13182 PostScript formats at
13183 <a href="http://www.hungry.com/~pere/cs-songbook/">Petter's Computer
13184 Science Songbook</a>.</p>
13185
13186       </div>
13187       <div class="tags">
13188
13189
13190         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>.
13191
13192
13193       </div>
13194     </div>
13195     <div class="padding"></div>
13196
13197     <div class="entry">
13198       <div class="title">
13199         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_software_forced_Microsoft_to_open_Office__and_don_t_forget_Officeshots_.html">Free software forced Microsoft to open Office (and don't forget Officeshots)</a>
13200       </div>
13201       <div class="date">
13202         23rd August 2012
13203       </div>
13204       <div class="body">
13205         <p>I came across a great comment from Simon Phipps today, about how
13206 <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source-software/how-microsoft-was-forced-open-office-200233">Microsoft
13207 have been forced to open Office</a>, and it made me remember and
13208 revisit the great site
13209 <a href="http://www.officeshots.org/">officeshots</a> which allow you
13210 to check out how different programs present the ODF file format.  I
13211 recommend both to those of my readers interested in ODF. :)</p>
13212
13213       </div>
13214       <div class="tags">
13215
13216
13217         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
13218
13219
13220       </div>
13221     </div>
13222     <div class="padding"></div>
13223
13224     <div class="entry">
13225       <div class="title">
13226         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Half_way_there_with_translated_docbook_version_of_Free_Culture.html">Half way there with translated docbook version of Free Culture</a>
13227       </div>
13228       <div class="date">
13229         17th August 2012
13230       </div>
13231       <div class="body">
13232         <p>In my spare time, I currently work on a Norwegian
13233 <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> version of the 2004 book
13234 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig,
13235 to get a Norwegian text explaining the problems with the copyright law
13236 I can give to my parents and others that are reluctant to read an
13237 English book.  It is a marvellous set of examples on how the ever
13238 expanding copyright regulations hurt culture and society.  When the
13239 translation is done, I hope to find funding to print and ship a copy
13240 to all the members of the Norwegian parliament, before they sit down
13241 to debate the latest revisions to the Norwegian copyright law.  This
13242 summer I
13243 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnad_for___sende_norsk_versjon_av_Free_Culture_til_stortingets_representanter_.html">called
13244 for volunteers</a> to help me, and I have been able to secure the
13245 valuable contribution from at least one other Norwegian.</p>
13246
13247 <p>Two days ago, we finally broke the 50% mark.  Then more than 50% of
13248 the number of strings to translate (normally paragraphs, but also
13249 titles and index entries are also counted).  All parts from the
13250 beginning up to and including chapter four is translated.  So is
13251 chapters six, seven and the conclusion.  I created a graph to show the
13252 progress:</p>
13253
13254 <img width="80%" align="center" src="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/progress.png">
13255
13256 <p>The number of strings to translate increase as I insert the index
13257 entries into the docbook.  They were missing with the docbook version
13258 I initially started with.  There are still quite a few index entries
13259 missing, but everyone starting with A, B, O, Z and Y are done.  I
13260 currently focus on completing the index entries, to get a complete
13261 english version of the docbook source.</p>
13262
13263 <p>There is still need for translators and people with docbook
13264 knowledge, to be able to get a good looking book (I still struggle
13265 with dblatex, xmlto and docbook-xsl) as well as to do the draft
13266 translation and proof reading.  And I would like the figures to be
13267 redrawn as SVGs to make it easy to translate them.  Any SVG master
13268 around?  I am sure there are some legal terms that are unfamiliar to
13269 me.  If you want to help, please get in touch, and check out the
13270 project files currently available from <a
13271 href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p>
13272
13273 <p>If you are curious what the translated book currently look like,
13274 the updated
13275 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a>
13276 and
13277 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a>
13278 are published on github.  The HTML version is published as well, but
13279 github hand it out with MIME type text/plain, confusing browsers, so I
13280 saw no point in linking to that version.</p>
13281
13282       </div>
13283       <div class="tags">
13284
13285
13286         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
13287
13288
13289       </div>
13290     </div>
13291     <div class="padding"></div>
13292
13293     <div class="entry">
13294       <div class="title">
13295         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Notes_on_language_codes_for_Norwegian_docbook_processing___.html">Notes on language codes for Norwegian docbook processing...</a>
13296       </div>
13297       <div class="date">
13298         10th August 2012
13299       </div>
13300       <div class="body">
13301         <p>In <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> one can specify
13302 the language used at the top, and the processing pipeline will use
13303 this information to pick the correct translations for 'chapter', 'see
13304 also', 'index' etc.  And for most languages used with docbook, I guess
13305 this work just fine.  For example a German user can start the document
13306 with &lt;book lang="de"&gt;, and the document will show up with the
13307 correct content with any of the docbook processors.  This is not the
13308 case for the language
13309 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_Culture_in_Norwegian___5_chapters_done__74_percent_left_to_do.html">I
13310 am working with at the moment</a>, Norwegian Bokmål.</p>
13311
13312 <p>For a while, I was confused about which language code to use,
13313 because I was unable to find any language code that would work across
13314 all tools.  I am currently testing dblatex, xmlto, docbook-xsl, and
13315 dbtoepub, and they do not handle Norwegian Bokmål the same way.  Some
13316 of them do not handle it at all.</p>
13317
13318 <p>A bit of background information is probably needed to understand
13319 this mess.  Norwegian is not one, but two written variants.  The
13320 variants are Norwegian Nynorsk and Norwegian Bokmål.  There are three
13321 two letter language codes associated with these languages, Norwegian
13322 is 'no', Norwegian Nynorsk is 'nn' and Norwegian Bokmål is 'nb'.
13323 Historically the 'no' language code was used for Norwegian Bokmål, but
13324 many years ago this was found to be å bad idea, and the recommendation
13325 is to use the most specific language code instead, to avoid confusion.
13326 In the transition period it is a good idea to make sure 'no' was an
13327 alias for 'nb'.</p>
13328
13329 <p>Back to docbook processing tools in Debian.  The dblatex tool only
13330 understand 'nn'.  There are translations for 'no', but not 'nb' (BTS
13331 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/684391">#684391</a>), but due to a bug
13332 (BTS <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/682936">#682936</a>) the 'no'
13333 language code is not recognised.  The docbook-xsl tool chain only
13334 recognise 'nn' and 'nb', but not 'no'.  The xmlto tool only recognise
13335 'nn' and 'nb', but not 'no'.  The end result that there is no language
13336 code I can use to get the docbook file working with all of these tools
13337 at the same time. :(</p>
13338
13339 <p>The correct solution is to use &lt;book lang="nb"&gt;, but it will
13340 take time before that will work with all the free software docbook
13341 processors. :(</p>
13342
13343 <p>Oh, the joy of well integrated tools. :/</p>
13344
13345       </div>
13346       <div class="tags">
13347
13348
13349         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
13350
13351
13352       </div>
13353     </div>
13354     <div class="padding"></div>
13355
13356     <div class="entry">
13357       <div class="title">
13358         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Best_way_to_create_a_docbook_book_.html">Best way to create a docbook book?</a>
13359       </div>
13360       <div class="date">
13361         31st July 2012
13362       </div>
13363       <div class="body">
13364         <p>I tried to send this text to the
13365 <a href="https://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/docbook-apps/">docbook-apps
13366 mailing list at lists.oasis-open.org</a>, but it only accept messages
13367 from subscribers and rejected my post, and I completely lack the
13368 bandwidth required to subscribe to another mailing list, so instead I
13369 try to post my message here and hope my blog readers can help me
13370 out.</p>
13371
13372 <p>I am quite new to docbook processing, and am climbing a steep
13373 learning curve at the moment.</p>
13374
13375 <p>To give you some background, I am working on a Norwegian
13376 translation of the book Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig, and I use
13377 docbook to handle the process.  The files to build the book are
13378 available from
13379 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.
13380 The book got around 400 pages with parts, images, footnotes, tables,
13381 index entries etc, which has proven to be a challenge for the free
13382 software docbook processors.  My build platform is Debian GNU/Linux
13383 Squeeze.</p>
13384
13385 <p>I want to build PDF, EPUB and HTML version of the book, and have
13386 tried different tool chains to do the conversion from docbook to these
13387 formats.  I am currently focusing on the PDF version, and have a few
13388 problems.</p>
13389
13390 <ul>
13391
13392 <li>Using dblatex, the &lt;part&gt; handling is not the way I want to,
13393    as &lt;/part&gt; do not really end the &lt;part&gt;. (See
13394    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/683166">BTS report #683166</a>), the
13395    xetex backend (needed to process UTF-8) give incorrect hyphens in
13396    index references spanning several pages (See
13397    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/682901">BTS report #682901</a>), and
13398    I am unable to get the norwegian template texts (See
13399    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/682936">BTS report #682936</a>).</li>
13400
13401 <li>Using straight xmlto fail with some latex error (See
13402    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/683163">BTS report
13403    #683163</a>).</li>
13404
13405 <li>Using xmlto with the fop backend fail to handle images (do not
13406    show up in the PDF), fail to handle a long footnote (overlap
13407    footnote and text body, see
13408    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/683197">BTS report #683197</a>), and
13409    fail to create a correct index (some lack page ref, and the page
13410    refs listed are not right).</li>
13411
13412 <li>Using xmlto with the dblatex backend behave like dblatex.</li>
13413
13414 <li>Using docbook-xls with xsltproc + fop have the same footnote and
13415    index problems the xmlto + fop processing.</li>
13416
13417 </ul>
13418
13419 <p>So I wonder, what would be the best way to create the PDF version
13420 of this book?  Are some of the bugs found above solved in new or
13421 experimental versions of some docbook tool chain?</p>
13422
13423 <p>What about HTML and EPUB versions?</p>
13424
13425       </div>
13426       <div class="tags">
13427
13428
13429         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>.
13430
13431
13432       </div>
13433     </div>
13434     <div class="padding"></div>
13435
13436     <div class="entry">
13437       <div class="title">
13438         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_Culture_in_Norwegian___5_chapters_done__74_percent_left_to_do.html">Free Culture in Norwegian - 5 chapters done, 74 percent left to do</a>
13439       </div>
13440       <div class="date">
13441         21st July 2012
13442       </div>
13443       <div class="body">
13444         <p>I reported earlier that I am working on
13445 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnad_for___sende_norsk_versjon_av_Free_Culture_til_stortingets_representanter_.html">a
13446 norwegian version</a> of the book
13447 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig.
13448 Progress is good, and yesterday I got a major contribution from Anders
13449 Hagen Jarmund completing chapter six.  The source files as well as a
13450 PDF and EPUB version of this book are available from
13451 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p>
13452
13453 <p>I am happy to report that the draft for the first two chapters
13454 (preface, introduction) is complete, and three other chapters are also
13455 completely translated.  This completes 26 percent of the number of
13456 strings (equivalent to paragraphs) in the book, and there is thus 74
13457 percent left to translate.  A graph of the progress is present at the
13458 bottom of the github project page.  There is still room for more
13459 contributors.  Get in touch or send github pull requests with fixes if
13460 you got time and are willing to help make this book make it to
13461 print. :)</p>
13462
13463 <p>The book translation framework could also be a good basis for other
13464 translations, if you want the book to be available in your
13465 language.</p>
13466
13467       </div>
13468       <div class="tags">
13469
13470
13471         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>.
13472
13473
13474       </div>
13475     </div>
13476     <div class="padding"></div>
13477
13478     <div class="entry">
13479       <div class="title">
13480         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Call_for_help_from_docbook_expert_to_tag_Free_Culture_by_Lawrence_Lessig.html">Call for help from docbook expert to tag Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig</a>
13481       </div>
13482       <div class="date">
13483         16th July 2012
13484       </div>
13485       <div class="body">
13486         <p>I am currently working on a
13487 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnad_for___sende_norsk_versjon_av_Free_Culture_til_stortingets_representanter_.html">project
13488 to translate</a> the book
13489 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig
13490 to Norwegian.  And the source we base our translation on is the
13491 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook">docbook</a> version, to
13492 allow us to use po4a and .po files to handle the translation, and for
13493 this to work well the docbook source document need to be properly
13494 tagged.  The source files of this project is available from
13495 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p>
13496
13497 <p>The problem is that the docbook source have flaws, and we have
13498 no-one involved in the project that is a docbook expert.  Is there a
13499 docbook expert somewhere that is interested in helping us create a
13500 well tagged docbook version of the book, and adjust our build process
13501 for the PDF, EPUB and HTML version of the book?  This will provide a
13502 well tagged English version (our source document), and make it a lot
13503 easier for us to create a good Norwegian version.  If you can and want
13504 to help, please get in touch with me or fork the github project and
13505 send pull requests with fixes. :)</p>
13506
13507       </div>
13508       <div class="tags">
13509
13510
13511         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>.
13512
13513
13514       </div>
13515     </div>
13516     <div class="padding"></div>
13517
13518     <div class="entry">
13519       <div class="title">
13520         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__George_Bredberg.html">Debian Edu interview: George Bredberg</a>
13521       </div>
13522       <div class="date">
13523          9th July 2012
13524       </div>
13525       <div class="body">
13526         <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
13527 Skolelinux</a> project have users all over the globe, but until
13528 recently we have not known about any users in Norway's neighbour
13529 country Sweden.  This changed when George Bredberg showed up in March
13530 this year on the mailing list, asking interesting questions about how
13531 to adjust and scale the just released
13532 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu
13533 Wheezy</a> setup to his liking.  He granted me an interview, and I am
13534 happy to share his answers with you here.</p>
13535
13536 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
13537
13538 <p>I'm a 44 year old country guy that have been working 12 years at
13539 the same school as 50% IT-manager and 50% Teacher. My educational
13540 background is fil.kand in history and religious beliefs, an exam as a
13541 "folkhighschool" teacher, that is, for teaching grownups.  In
13542 Norwegian I believe it's called "Vuxenupplaring". I also have a master
13543 in "Technology and social change". So I'm not really a tech guy, I
13544 just like to study how humans and technology interact and that is my
13545 perspective when working with IT.</p>
13546
13547 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
13548 project?</strong></p>
13549
13550 I have followed the Skolelinux project for quite some time by
13551 now. Earlier I tested out the K12-LTSP project, which we used for some
13552 time, but I really like the idea of having a distribution aimed to be
13553 a complete solution for schools with necessary tools integrated. When
13554 K12-LTSP abandoned that idea some years ago, I started to look more
13555 seriously into Skolelinux instead.
13556
13557 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
13558 Edu?</strong></p>
13559
13560 The big point of Skolelinux to me is that it is a complete
13561 distribution, ready to install. It has LDAP-support, MS Windows
13562 integration tools and so forth already configured, saving an
13563 administrator a lot of time and headache. We were using another Linux
13564 based thin-client system called Thinlinc, that has served us very
13565 well. But that Skolelinux is based on VNC and LTSP, to me, is better
13566 when it comes to the kind of multimedia used in schools. That is
13567 showing videos from Youtube or educational TV. It is also easier to
13568 mix thin clients with workstations, since the user settings will be the
13569 same. In our VNC-based solution you had to "beat around the bush" by
13570 setting up a second, hidden, home-directory for user settings for the
13571 workstations, because they will be different from the ones used on the
13572 thin clients. Skolelinux support for diskless workstations are very
13573 convenient since a school today often need to use a class room
13574 projector showing videos in full screen. That is easily done with a
13575 small integrated media computer running as a diskless workstation. You
13576 have only two installs to update and configure. One for the thin
13577 clients and one for the workstations. Also saving a lot of time.  Our
13578 old system was also based on Redhat and CentOS. They are both very
13579 nice distributions, but they are sometimes painfully slow when it
13580 comes to updating multimedia support and multimedia programs (even
13581 such as Gimp), leaving us with a bit "oldish" applications. Debian is
13582 quicker to update.
13583
13584 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
13585 Edu?</strong></p>
13586
13587 <p>Debian is a bit too quick when it comes to updating. As an example
13588 we use old HP terminals as thinclients, and two times already this
13589 year (2012) the updates you get from the repositories has stopped
13590 sound from working with them.  It's a kernel/ALSA issue. So you have
13591 to be more careful properly testing the updates before you run them in
13592 a production environment. This has never happened with CentOS.</p>
13593
13594 <p>I also would like to be able to set my own domain-settings at
13595 install time.  In Skolelinux they are kind of hard coded into the
13596 distribution, when it comes to LDAP and at least samba integration.
13597 That is more a cosmetic/translation issue, and not a real problem.
13598 Running MS Windows applications within the Skolelinux environment needs
13599 to be better supported. That is, running them seamlessly via RDP, and
13600 support for single-sign on.  That will make the transition to free
13601 software easier, because you can keep the applications you really
13602 need.  No support will make it impossible if you work in a school where
13603 some applications can't be open source. As for us we really need to
13604 run Adobe InDesign in our journalist classes.  We run a journalist
13605 education, and is one of the very few non university ones that is ok:d
13606 by Svenska journalistförbundet (Swedish journalist association).  Our
13607 education gives the pupils the right of membership there, once they
13608 are done.  This is important if you want to get a job.</p>
13609
13610 <p>Adobe InDesign is the program most commonly used in newspapers and
13611 magazines.  We used Quark Express before, but they seem to loose there
13612 market to Adobe. The only "equivalent" to InDesign in the opensource
13613 world is Scribus, and its not advanced enough. At least not according
13614 to the teacher. I think it would be possible to use it, because they
13615 are not supposed to learn a program, they are supposed to learn how to
13616 edit and compile a newspaper.  But politically at our school we are not
13617 there yet.  And Scribus lacks a lot of things you find i InDesign.</p>
13618
13619 <p>We used even a windows program for sound editing when it comes to
13620 the radio-journalist part. The year to come we are going to try
13621 Audacity. That software has the same kind of limitations compared to
13622 Adobe Audition, but that teacher is a bit more open minded. We have
13623 tried Ardour also, but that instead is more like a music studio
13624 program, not intended for the kind of editing taking place in a radio
13625 studio. Its way to complex and the GUI is to scattered when you only
13626 want to cut, make pass-overs, add extra channels and normalise.  Those
13627 things you can do in Audacity, but its not as easy as in Audition. You
13628 have to do more things manually with envelopes, and that is a bit old
13629 fashion and timewasting. Its also harder to cut and move sound from
13630 one channel to another, which is a thing that you do frequently
13631 because you often find yourself needing to rearrange parts of the
13632 sound file.</p>
13633
13634 <p>So, I am not sure we will succeed in replacing even Audition, but we
13635 will try.  The problem is the students have certain expectations when
13636 they start an education towards a profession.  So the programs has to
13637 look and feel professional.  Good thing with radio, there are many
13638 programs out there, that radio studios use, so its not as standardised
13639 as Newspaper editing. That means, it does not really matter what
13640 program they learn, because once they start working they still have to
13641 learn the program the studio uses, so instead focus has to be to learn
13642 the editing part without to much focus on a specific software.</p>
13643
13644 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
13645
13646 <p>Myself I'm running Linux Mint, or Ubuntu these days.  I use almost
13647 only open source software, and preferably Linux based. When it comes
13648 to most used applications its OpenOffice, and Firefox (of course ;)
13649 )</p>
13650
13651 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
13652 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
13653
13654 <p>To get schools to use free software there has to be good open
13655 source software that are windows based, to ease the transition. But
13656 it's also very important that the multimedia support is working
13657 flawlessly.  The problems with Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and whatever
13658 will create problems when it comes to both teachers and
13659 students. Economy are also important for schools, so using thin
13660 clients, as long as they have good multimedia support, is a very good
13661 idea. It's also important that the open source software works even for
13662 the administration.  It's hard to convince the teachers to stick with
13663 open source, if the principal has to run Windows.  It also creates a
13664 problem if some classes has to use Windows for there tasks, since that
13665 will create a difference in "status" between classes, so a good
13666 support for running windows applications via the thin client (Linux)
13667 desktop is essential.  At least at our school, where we have mixed
13668 level of educations, from high-school to journalist-school.</p>
13669
13670 <p>Update 2012-07-09 08:30: Paul Wise tipped me on IRC about three
13671 useful sources related to Free Software for radio stations: the LWN
13672 article <a href="https://lwn.net/Articles/481607/">Radio station
13673 management with Airtime</a>,
13674 <a href="http://www.sourcefabric.org/en/airtime/">Airtime</a> which
13675 claim to be a Free open source radio automation software and
13676 <a href="http://www.rivendellaudio.org/">Rivendell</a> which claim to
13677 be complete radio broadcast automation solution.  All of them seem
13678 useful to the aspiring radio producer.</p>
13679
13680       </div>
13681       <div class="tags">
13682
13683
13684         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
13685
13686
13687       </div>
13688     </div>
13689     <div class="padding"></div>
13690
13691     <div class="entry">
13692       <div class="title">
13693         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_do_schools_waste_money_on_IT_.html">Why do schools waste money on IT?</a>
13694       </div>
13695       <div class="date">
13696          8th July 2012
13697       </div>
13698       <div class="body">
13699         <p>In the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project, we have realised that one
13700 of the major blockers for the project success is the purchasing skills
13701 in schools and municipalities.  We provide what the happy users of
13702 Debian Edu / Skolelinux say they need and to a lower cost than the
13703 alternatives, and yet so few schools decide to use our solution.  I
13704 was pleased to discover the same observation done by mySociety and Tom
13705 Steinberg in his blog post
13706 "<a href="http://www.mysociety.org/2012/06/19/can-you-recognize-the-million-pound-chair/">Can
13707 you recognize the million pound chair?</a>".  Read it and weep for the
13708 spending of your tax money.</p>
13709
13710 <p>Of course there are other factors involved as well, like our
13711 projects bad marketing skills and the Linux community fragmentation
13712 causing worry with the people on the outside, so we as a project need
13713 to keep working hard to gain users, but it is a up-hill battle when
13714 public decision makers are unable to understand computer system
13715 purchases.</p>
13716
13717       </div>
13718       <div class="tags">
13719
13720
13721         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
13722
13723
13724       </div>
13725     </div>
13726     <div class="padding"></div>
13727
13728     <div class="entry">
13729       <div class="title">
13730         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_Timetabling_Software___nice_free_software.html">Free Timetabling Software - nice free software</a>
13731       </div>
13732       <div class="date">
13733          7th July 2012
13734       </div>
13735       <div class="body">
13736         <p>Included in <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
13737 Skolelinux</a> is a large collection of end user and school specific
13738 software.  It is one of the packages not installed by default but
13739 provided in the Debian archive for schools to install if they want to,
13740 is a system to automatically plan the school time table using
13741 information about available teachers, classes and rooms, combined with
13742 the list of required courses and how many hours each topic should
13743 receive.  The software is
13744
13745 <a href="http://lalescu.ro/liviu/fet/">named FET</a>, and it provide a
13746 graphical user interface to input the required information, save the
13747 result in a fairly simple XML format, and generate time tables for
13748 both teachers and students.  It is available both for
13749 <a href="http://lalescu.ro/liviu/fet/download.html">Linux, MacOSX and
13750 Windows</a>.</p>
13751
13752 <p>This is <a href="http://lalescu.ro/liviu/fet/features.html">the
13753 feature list</a>, liftet from the project web site:</p>
13754
13755 <p><ul>
13756
13757   <li>FET is free software, licensed under the GNU GPL v2 or later.
13758     You can freely use, copy, modify and redistribute it </li>
13759
13760   <li>Localized to en_US (US English, default), ar (Arabic), ca
13761     (Catalan), da (Danish), de (German), el (Greek), es (Spanish), fa
13762     (Persian), fr (French), gl (Galician), he (Hebrew), hu
13763     (Hungarian), id (Indonesian), it (Italian), lt (Lithuanian), mk
13764     (Macedonian), ms (Malay), nl (Dutch), pl (Polish), pt_BR
13765     (Brazilian Portuguese), ro (Romanian), ru (Russian), si (Sinhala),
13766     sk (Slovak), sr (Serbian), tr (Turkish), uk (Ukrainian), uz
13767     (Uzbek) and vi (Vietnamese) (incompletely for some languages)
13768     </li>
13769
13770   <li>Fully automatic generation algorithm, allowing also
13771     semi-automatic or manual allocation</li>
13772
13773   <li>Platform independent implementation, allowing running on
13774     GNU/Linux, Windows, Mac and any system that Qt supports </li>
13775
13776   <li>Flexible modular XML format for the input file, allowing editing
13777     with an XML editor or by hand (besides FET interface)</li>
13778
13779   <li>Import/export from CSV format</li>
13780
13781   <li>The resulted timetables are exported into HTML, XML and CSV
13782     formats </li>
13783
13784   <li>Flexible students structure, organized into sets: years, groups
13785     and subgroups. FET allows overlapping years and groups and
13786     non-overlapping subgroups. You can even define individual students
13787     (as separate sets)</li>
13788
13789   <li>Each constraint has a weight percentage, from 0.0% to 100.0%
13790     (but some special constraints are allowed to have only 100% weight
13791     percentage)</li>
13792
13793   <li>Limits for the algorithm (all these limits can be increased on
13794     demand, as a custom version, because this would require a bit more
13795     memory):
13796     <ul>
13797       <li>Maximum total number of hours (periods) per day: 60</li>
13798       <li>Maximum number of working days per week: 35</li>
13799       <li>Maximum total number of teachers: 6000</li>
13800       <li>Maximum total number of sets of students: 30000</li>
13801       <li>Maximum total number of subjects: 6000</li>
13802       <li>Virtually unlimited number of activity tags</li>
13803       <li>Maximum number of activities: 30000</li>
13804       <li>Maximum number of rooms: 6000</li>
13805       <li>Maximum number of buildings: 6000</li>
13806       <li>Possibility of adding multiple teachers and
13807           students sets for each activity.  (it is possible
13808           also to have no teachers or no students sets for an
13809           activity)</li>
13810       <li>Virtually unlimited number of time constraints</li>
13811       <li>Virtually unlimited number of space constraints</li>
13812     </ul></li>
13813
13814   <li>A large and flexible palette of time constraints:
13815     <ul>
13816       <li>Break periods</li>
13817       <li>For teacher(s):
13818         <ul>
13819           <li>Not available periods</li>
13820           <li>Max/min days per week</li>
13821           <li>Max gaps per day/week</li>
13822           <li>Max hours daily/continuously</li>
13823           <li>Min hours daily</li>
13824           <li>Max hours daily/continuously with an activity tag</li>
13825
13826           <li>Respect working in an hourly interval a max number of
13827             days per week</li>
13828         </ul></li>
13829       <li>For students (sets):
13830         <ul>
13831           <li>Not available periods</li>
13832           <li>Begins early (specify max allowed beginnings at second hour)</li>
13833           <li>Max gaps per day/week</li>
13834           <li>Max hours daily/continuously</li>
13835           <li>Min hours daily</li>
13836           <li>Max hours daily/continuously with an activity tag</li>
13837
13838           <li>Respect working in an hourly interval a max number of
13839             days per week</li>
13840         </ul></li>
13841       <li>For an activity or a set of activities/subactivities:
13842         <ul>
13843           <li>A single preferred starting time</li>
13844           <li>A set of preferred starting times</li>
13845           <li>A set of preferred time slots</li>
13846           <li>Min/max days between them</li>
13847           <li>End(s) students day</li>
13848           <li>Same starting time/day/hour</li>
13849           <li>Occupy max time slots from selection (a complex and
13850             flexible constraint, useful in many situations)</li>
13851           <li>Consecutive, ordered, grouped (for 2 or 3 (sub)activities)</li>
13852           <li>Not overlapping</li>
13853           <li>Max simultaneous in selected time slots</li>
13854           <li>Min gaps between a set of (sub)activities</li>
13855         </ul></li>
13856     </ul></li>
13857
13858   <li>A large and flexible palette of space constraints:
13859     <ul>
13860       <li>Room not available periods</li>
13861       <li>For teacher(s):
13862         <ul>
13863           <li>Home room(s)</li>
13864           <li>Max building changes per day/week</li>
13865           <li>Min gaps between building changes</li>
13866         </ul>
13867       </li>
13868
13869       <li>For students (sets):
13870         <ul>
13871           <li>Home room(s)</li>
13872           <li>Max building changes per day/week</li>
13873           <li>Min gaps between building changes</li>
13874         </ul>
13875       </li>
13876       <li>Preferred room(s):
13877         <ul>
13878           <li>For a subject</li>
13879           <li>For an activity tag</li>
13880           <li>For a subject and an activity tag</li>
13881           <li>Individually for a (sub)activity</li>
13882         </ul>
13883       </li>
13884
13885       <li>For a set of activities:
13886         <ul>
13887           <li>Occupy a maximum number of different rooms</li>
13888         </ul>
13889       </li>
13890     </ul>
13891   </li>
13892 </ul></p>
13893
13894 <p>I have not used it myself, as I am not involved in time table
13895 planning at a school, but it seem to work fine when I test it.  If you
13896 need to set up your schools time table, and is tired of doing it
13897 manually, check it out.
13898
13899 A quick summary on how to use it can be found in
13900 <a href="http://marvelsoft.co.in/wp/2012/03/generate-timetable-for-state-cbse-icse-igcse-schools-free/">a
13901 blog post from MarvelSoft</a>.  If you find FET useful, please provide
13902 a recipe for the Debian Edu project in the
13903 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu#Howtos">Debian Edu HowTo
13904 section</a>.</p>
13905
13906       </div>
13907       <div class="tags">
13908
13909
13910         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nice free software">nice free software</a>.
13911
13912
13913       </div>
13914     </div>
13915     <div class="padding"></div>
13916
13917     <div class="entry">
13918       <div class="title">
13919         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Can_Zimbra_be_told_to_send_autoreplies_to_the_From__address_.html">Can Zimbra be told to send autoreplies to the From: address?</a>
13920       </div>
13921       <div class="date">
13922          3rd July 2012
13923       </div>
13924       <div class="body">
13925         <p>In the NUUG <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</a>
13926 project (Norwegian version of
13927 <a href="http://www.fixmystreet.com/">FixMyStreet</a> from
13928 <a href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a>), we have discovered
13929 a problem with the municipalities using
13930 <a href="http://www.zimbra.com/">Zimbra</a>.  When FiksGataMi send a
13931 problem report to the government, the email From: address is set to
13932 the address of the person reporting the problem, while envelope sender
13933 is set to the FiksGataMi contact address.  The intention is to make
13934 sure the municipality send any replies to the person reporting the
13935 problem, while any email delivery problems are sent to us in NUUG.
13936 This work well in most cases, but not for Karmøy municipality using
13937 Zimbra.  Karmøy is using the vacation message function in Zimbra to
13938 send an automatic reply to report that the message has been received,
13939 and this message is sent to the envelope sender and not the address in
13940 the From: header.</p>
13941
13942 <p>This causes the automatic message from Karmøy to go to NUUGs
13943 request-tracker instance instead of to the person reporting the
13944 problem.  We can not really change the envelope sender address, as
13945 this would make it impossible for us to discover when there are
13946 problems with the MTAs receiving problem reports.  We have been in
13947 contact with the people at Karmøy municipality, and they are willing
13948 to adjust Zimbra if something can be changed there to get a better
13949 behaviour.</p>
13950
13951 <p>The default behaviour of Zimbra is as far as I can tell according
13952 to the specification in RFC 3834, which recommend that vacation
13953 messages are sent to the envelope sender and not to the From: address.
13954 But I wonder if it is possible to adjust or configure Zimbra to behave
13955 differently.  Anyone know?  Please let us know at
13956 <a href="http://lists.nuug.no/mailman/listinfo/fiksgatami">fiksgatami
13957 (at) nuug.no</a>.</p>
13958
13959       </div>
13960       <div class="tags">
13961
13962
13963         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
13964
13965
13966       </div>
13967     </div>
13968     <div class="padding"></div>
13969
13970     <div class="entry">
13971       <div class="title">
13972         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Jos__Luis_Redrejo_Rodr_guez.html">Debian Edu interview: José Luis Redrejo Rodríguez</a>
13973       </div>
13974       <div class="date">
13975         26th June 2012
13976       </div>
13977       <div class="body">
13978         <p>I've been too busy at home, but finally I found time to wrap up
13979 another interview with the people behind
13980 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>.
13981 This time we get to know José Luis Redrejo Rodríguez, one of our great
13982 helpers from Spain.  His effort was the reason we added support for
13983 several desktop types (KDE, Gnome and most recently LXDE) in Debian
13984 Edu, and have all of these available in the recently published
13985 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu
13986 Squeeze</a> version.</p>
13987
13988 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
13989
13990 <p>I'm a father, teacher and engineer who is working for the Education
13991 ministry of the Region of Extremadura (Spain) in the implementation of
13992 ICT in schools</p>
13993
13994 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
13995 project?</strong></p>
13996
13997 <p>At 2006, I verified that both, we in Extremadura and Skolelinux
13998 project, had been working in parallel for some years, doing very
13999 similar things, using very similar tools and with similar targets, so
14000 I decided it was time to join forces as much as possible.</p>
14001
14002 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
14003 Edu?</strong></p>
14004
14005 <p>A community of highly skilled experts working together, with a
14006 really open schema of collaboration and work. I really love the
14007 concepts of Do-ocracy and Merit-ocracy and the way these concepts are
14008 been used everyday inside Debian Edu.</p>
14009
14010 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
14011 Edu?</strong></p>
14012
14013 <p>Sometimes the differences in the implementations, laws or
14014 economical and technical resources in the different countries don't
14015 allow us to agree in the same solution for all of us, and several
14016 approaches are needed, what is a waste of effort. Also, there is a
14017 lack of more man power to be able to follow the fast evolution of the
14018 technologies in school.</p>
14019
14020 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
14021
14022 <p>Debian, of course, and due to my kind of job I am most of my time
14023 between Iceweasel, <a href="http://www.geany.org/">Geany</a> and
14024 <a href="http://www.ohloh.net/p/gnome-terminator">Terminator</a>.</p>
14025
14026 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
14027 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
14028
14029 <p>I think there is not a single strategy because there are very
14030 different scenarios: schools with mixed proprietary and free
14031 environments, schools using only workstations, other schools using
14032 laptops, netbooks, tablets, interactive white-boards, etc.</p>
14033
14034 <p>Also the range of ages of the students is very broad and you can
14035 not use the same solutions for primary schools and secondary or even
14036 universities. So different strategies are needed.</p>
14037
14038 <p>But, looking at these differences, and looking back to the things
14039 we've done and implemented, and the places were we have spent most of
14040 our forces, I think we should focus as much as possible in free
14041 multi-platform environments, using only standards tools, and moving
14042 more and more to Internet or network solutions that could be deployed
14043 using wireless. I think we'll see more and more personal devices in
14044 the schools, devices the students and teachers will take home with
14045 them, so the solutions must be able to be taken at home and continue
14046 working there.</p>
14047
14048       </div>
14049       <div class="tags">
14050
14051
14052         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
14053
14054
14055       </div>
14056     </div>
14057     <div class="padding"></div>
14058
14059     <div class="entry">
14060       <div class="title">
14061         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Song_book_for_Computer_Scientists.html">Song book for Computer Scientists</a>
14062       </div>
14063       <div class="date">
14064         24th June 2012
14065       </div>
14066       <div class="body">
14067         <p>Many years ago, while studying Computer Science at the
14068 <a href="http://www.uit.no/">University of Tromsø</a>, I started
14069 collecting computer related songs for use at parties.  The original
14070 version was written in LaTeX, but a few years ago I got help from
14071 Håkon W. Lie, one of the inventors of W3C CSS, to convert it to HTML
14072 while keeping the ability to create a nice book in PDF format.  I have
14073 not had time to maintain the book for a while now, and guess I should
14074 put it up on some public version control repository where others can
14075 help me extend and update the book.  If anyone is volunteering to help
14076 me with this, send me an email.  Also let me know if there are songs
14077 missing in my book.</p>
14078
14079 <p>I have not mentioned the book on my blog so far, and it occured to
14080 me today that I really should let all my readers share the joys of
14081 singing out load about programming, computers and computer networks.
14082 Especially now that <a href="http://debconf12.debconf.org/">Debconf
14083 12</a> is about to start (and I am not going).  Want to sing?  Check
14084 out <a href="http://www.hungry.com/~pere/cs-songbook/">Petter's
14085 Computer Science Songbook</a>.
14086
14087       </div>
14088       <div class="tags">
14089
14090
14091         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>.
14092
14093
14094       </div>
14095     </div>
14096     <div class="padding"></div>
14097
14098     <div class="entry">
14099       <div class="title">
14100         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu___some_ideas_for_the_future_versions.html">Debian Edu - some ideas for the future versions</a>
14101       </div>
14102       <div class="date">
14103         11th June 2012
14104       </div>
14105       <div class="body">
14106         <p>During my work on
14107 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.nb.html">Debian Edu
14108 based on Squeeze</a>, I came across some issues that should be
14109 addressed in the Wheezy release.  I finally found time to wrap up my
14110 notes and provide quick summary of what I found, with a bit
14111 explanation.</p>
14112
14113 <p><ul>
14114
14115 <li>We need to rewrite our package installation framework, as tasksel
14116 changed from using tasksel tasks to using meta packages (aka packages
14117 with dependencies like our education-* packages), and our installation
14118 system depend on tasksel tasks in
14119 /usr/share/tasksel/debian-edu-tasks.desc for package
14120 installation.</li>
14121
14122 <li>Enable Kerberos login for more services.  Now with the Kerberos
14123 foundation in place, we should use it to get single sign on with more
14124 services, and avoiding unneeded password / login questions.  We should
14125 at least try to enable it for these services:
14126 <ul>
14127
14128   <li>CUPS for admins to add/configure printers and users when using
14129     quotas.</li>
14130   <li>Nagios for admins checking the system status.</li>
14131   <li>GOsa for admins updating LDAP and users changing their passwords.</li>
14132   <li>LDAP for admins updating LDAP.</li>
14133   <li>Squid for users when exam mode / filtering is active.</li>
14134   <li>ssh for admins and users to save a password prompt.</li>
14135
14136 </ul></li>
14137
14138 <li>When we move GOsa to use Kerberos instead of LDAP bind to
14139 authenticate users, we should try to block or at least limit access to
14140 use LDAP bind for authentication, to ensure Kerberos is used when it
14141 is intended, and nothing fall back to using the less safe LDAP bind</li>
14142
14143 <li>Merge debian-edu-config and debian-edu-install.  The split made
14144 sense when d-e-install did a lot more, but these days it is just an
14145 inconvenience when we update the debconf preseeding values.</li>
14146
14147 <li>Fix partman-auto to allow us to abort the installation before
14148 touching the disk if the disk is too small.  This is
14149 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/653305">BTS report #653305</a> and the
14150 d-i developers are fine with the patch and someone just need to apply
14151 it and upload.  After this is done we need to adjust
14152 debian-edu-install to use this new hook.</li>
14153
14154 <li>Adjust to new LTSP framework (boot time config instead of install
14155 time config).  LTSP changed its design, and our hooks to install
14156 packages and update the configuration is most likely not going to work
14157 in Wheezy.
14158
14159 <li>Consider switching to NBD instead of NFS for LTSP root, to allow
14160 the Kernel to cache files in its normal file cache, possibly speeding
14161 up KDE login on slow networks.</li>
14162
14163 <li>Make it possible to create expired user passwords that need to
14164 change on first login.  This is useful when handing out password on
14165 paper, to make sure only the user know the password.  This require
14166 fixes to the PAM handling of kdm and gdm.</li>
14167
14168 <li>Make GUI for adding new machines automatically from sitesummary.
14169 The current command line script is not very friendly to people most
14170 familiar with GUIs.  This should probably be integrated into GOsa to
14171 have it available where the admin will be looking for it..</li>
14172
14173 <li>We should find way for Nagios to check that the DHCP service
14174 actually is working (as in handling out IP addresses).  None of the
14175 Nagios checks I have found so far have been working for me.</li>
14176
14177 <li>We should switch from libpam-nss-ldapd to sssd for all profiles
14178 using LDAP, and not only on for roaming workstations, to have less
14179 packages to configure and consistent setup across all profiles.</li>
14180
14181 <li>We should configure Kerberos to update LDAP and Samba password
14182 when changing password using the Kerberos protocol.  The hook was
14183 requested in <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/588968">BTS report
14184 #588968</a> and is now available in Wheezy.  We might need to write a
14185 MIT Kerberos plugin in C to get this.</li>
14186
14187 <li>We should clean up the set of applications installed by default.
14188 <ul>
14189
14190 <li>reduce the number of chemistry visualisers</li>
14191 <li>consider dropping xpaint</li>
14192 <li>and probably more?</li>
14193 </ul></li>
14194
14195 <li>Some hardware need external firmware to work properly.  This is
14196 mostly the case for WiFi network cards, but there are some other
14197 examples too.  For popular laptops to work out of the box, such
14198 firmware need to be installed from non-free, and we should provide
14199 some GUI to do this.  Ubuntu already have this implemented, and we
14200 could consider using their packages.  At the moment we have some
14201 command line script to do this (one for the running system, another
14202 for the LTSP chroot).</li>
14203
14204
14205 <li>In Squeeze, we provide KDE, Gnome and LXDE as desktop options.  We
14206 should extend the list to Xfce and Sugar, and preferably find a way to
14207 install several and allow the admin or the user to select which one to
14208 use.</li>
14209
14210 <li>The golearn tool from the goplay package make it easy to check out
14211 interesting educational packages.  We should work on the package
14212 tagging in Debian to ensure it represent all the useful educational
14213 packages, and extend the tool to allow it to use packagekit to install
14214 new applications with a simple mouse click.</li>
14215
14216 <li>The Squeeze version got half a exam solution already in place,
14217 with the introduction of iptable based network blocking, but for it to
14218 be a complete exam solution the Squid proxy need to enable
14219 filtering/blocking as well when the exam mode is enabled.  We should
14220 implement a way to easily enable this for the schools that want it,
14221 instead of the "it is documented" method of today.</li>
14222
14223 <li>A feature used in several schools is the ability for a teacher to
14224 "take over" the desktop of individual or all computers in the room.
14225 There are at least three implementations,
14226 <a href="italc.sourceforge.net/">italc</a>,
14227 <a href="http://www.itais.net/help/en/">controlaula</a> og
14228 <a href="http://www.epoptes.org/">epoptes</a> and we should pick one of
14229 them and make it trivial to set it up in a school.  The challenges is
14230 how to distribute crypto keys and how to group computers in one room
14231 and how to set up which machine/user can control the machines in a
14232 given room.</li>
14233
14234 <li>Tablets and surf boards are getting more and more popular, and we
14235 should look into providing a good solution for integrating these into
14236 the Debian Edu network.  Not quite sure how.  Perhaps we should
14237 provide a installation profile with better touch screen support for
14238 them, or add some sync services to allow them to exchange
14239 configuration and data with the central server.  This should be
14240 investigated.</li>
14241
14242 </ul></p>
14243
14244 <p>I guess we will discover more as we continue to work on the Wheezy
14245 version.</p>
14246
14247       </div>
14248       <div class="tags">
14249
14250
14251         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
14252
14253
14254       </div>
14255     </div>
14256     <div class="padding"></div>
14257
14258     <div class="entry">
14259       <div class="title">
14260         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/TV_with_face_recognition__for_improved_viewer_experience.html">TV with face recognition, for improved viewer experience</a>
14261       </div>
14262       <div class="date">
14263          9th June 2012
14264       </div>
14265       <div class="body">
14266         <p>Slashdot got a story about Intel planning a
14267 <a href="http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/06/09/0012247/intel-to-launch-tv-service-with-facial-recognition-by-end-of-the-year">TV
14268 with face recognition</a> to recognise the viewer, and it occurred to
14269 me that it would be more interesting to turn it around, and do face
14270 recognition on the TV image itself.  It could let the viewer know who
14271 is present on the screen, and perhaps look up their credibility,
14272 company affiliation, previous appearances etc for the viewer to better
14273 evaluate what is being said and done.  That would be a feature I would
14274 be willing to pay for.</p>
14275
14276 <p>I would not be willing to pay for a TV that point a camera on my
14277 household, like the big brother feature apparently proposed by Intel.
14278 It is the telescreen idea fetched straight out of the book
14279 <a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt">1984 by George
14280 Orwell</a>.</p>
14281
14282       </div>
14283       <div class="tags">
14284
14285
14286         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance</a>.
14287
14288
14289       </div>
14290     </div>
14291     <div class="padding"></div>
14292
14293     <div class="entry">
14294       <div class="title">
14295         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Web_service_to_look_up_HP_and_Dell_computer_hardware_support_status.html">Web service to look up HP and Dell computer hardware support status</a>
14296       </div>
14297       <div class="date">
14298          6th June 2012
14299       </div>
14300       <div class="body">
14301         <p>A few days ago
14302 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/SOAP_based_webservice_from_Dell_to_check_server_support_status.html">I
14303 reported how to get</a> the support status out of Dell using an
14304 unofficial and undocumented SOAP API, which I since have found out was
14305 <a href="http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/linux-poweredge/2012-February/045959.html">discovered
14306 by Daniel De Marco in february</a>.  Combined with my web scraping
14307 code for HP, Dell and IBM
14308 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Checking_server_hardware_support_status_for_Dell__HP_and_IBM_servers.html">from
14309 2009</a>, I got inspired and wrote
14310 <a href="https://views.scraperwiki.com/run/computer-hardware-support-status/">a
14311 web service</a> based on Scraperwiki to make it easy to look up the
14312 support status and get a machine readable result back.</p>
14313
14314 <p>This is what it look like at the moment when asking for the JSON
14315 output:
14316
14317 <blockquote><pre>
14318 % GET <a href="https://views.scraperwiki.com/run/computer-hardware-support-status/?format=json&vendor=Dell&servicetag=2v1xwn1">https://views.scraperwiki.com/run/computer-hardware-support-status/?format=json&vendor=Dell&servicetag=2v1xwn1</a>
14319 supportstatus({"servicetag": "2v1xwn1", "warrantyend": "2013-11-24", "shipped": "2010-11-24", "scrapestamputc": "2012-06-06T20:26:56.965847", "scrapedurl": "http://143.166.84.118/services/assetservice.asmx?WSDL", "vendor": "Dell", "productid": ""})
14320 %
14321 </pre></blockquote>
14322
14323 <p>It currently support Dell and HP, and I am hoping for help to add
14324 support for other vendors.  The python source is available on
14325 Scraperwiki and I welcome help with adding more features.</p>
14326
14327       </div>
14328       <div class="tags">
14329
14330
14331         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
14332
14333
14334       </div>
14335     </div>
14336     <div class="padding"></div>
14337
14338     <div class="entry">
14339       <div class="title">
14340         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Mike_Gabriel.html">Debian Edu interview: Mike Gabriel</a>
14341       </div>
14342       <div class="date">
14343          2nd June 2012
14344       </div>
14345       <div class="body">
14346         <p>Back in 2010, Mike Gabriel showed up on the
14347 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>
14348 mailing list.  He quickly proved to be a valuable developer, and
14349 thanks to his tireless effort we now have Kerberos integrated into the
14350 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu
14351 Squeeze</a> version.</p>
14352
14353 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
14354
14355 <p>My name is Mike Gabriel, I am 38 years old and live near Kiel,
14356 Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. I live together with a wonderful partner
14357 (Angela Fuß) and two own children and two bonus children (contributed
14358 by Angela).</p>
14359
14360 <p>During the day I am part-time employed as a system administrator
14361 and part-time working as an IT consultant. The consultancy work
14362 touches free software topics wherever and whenever possible. During
14363 the nights I am a free software developer. In the gaps I also train in
14364 becoming an osteopath.</p>
14365
14366 <p>Starting in 2010 we (Andreas Buchholz, Angela Fuß, Mike Gabriel)
14367 have set up a free software project in the area of Kiel that aims at
14368 introducing free software into schools. The project's name is
14369 "IT-Zukunft Schule" (IT future for schools). The project links IT
14370 skills with communication skills.</p>
14371
14372 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
14373 project?</strong></p>
14374
14375 <p>While preparing our own customised Linux distribution for
14376 "IT-Zukunft Schule" we were repeatedly asked if we really wanted to
14377 reinvent the wheel. What schools really need is already available,
14378 people said.  From this impulse we started evaluating other Linux
14379 distributions that target being used for school networks.</p>
14380
14381 <p>At the end we short-listed two approaches and compared them: a
14382 commercial Linux distribution developed by a company in Bremen,
14383 Germany, and Skolelinux / Debian Edu. Between 12/2010 and 03/2011 we
14384 went to several events and met people being responsible for marketing
14385 and development of either of the distributions. Skolelinux / Debian
14386 Edu was by far much more convincing compared to the other product that
14387 got short-listed beforehand--across the full spectrum. What was most
14388 attractive for me personally: the perspective of collaboration within
14389 the developmental branch of the Debian Edu project itself.</p>
14390
14391 <p>In parallel with this, we talked to many local and not-so-local
14392 people.  People teaching at schools, headmasters, politicians, data
14393 protection experts, other IT professionals.</p>
14394
14395 <p>We came to two conclusions:</p>
14396
14397 <p>First, a technical conclusion: What schools need is available in
14398 bits and pieces here and there, and none of the solutions really fit
14399 by 100%. Any school we have seen has a very individual IT setup
14400 whereas most of each school's requirements could mapped by a standard
14401 IT solution.  The requirement to this IT solution is flexibility and
14402 customisability, so that individual adaptations here and there are
14403 possible.  In terms of re-distributing and rolling out such a
14404 standardised IT system for schools (a system that is still to some
14405 degree customisable) there is still a lot of work to do here
14406 locally. Debian Edu / Skolelinux has been our choice as the starting
14407 point.</p>
14408
14409 <p>Second, a holistic conclusion: What schools need does not exist at
14410 all (or we missed it so far). There are several technical solutions
14411 for handling IT at schools that tend to make a good impression. What
14412 has been missing completely here in Germany, though, is the enrolment
14413 of people into using IT and teaching with IT. "IT-Zukunft Schule"
14414 tries to provide an approach for this.</p>
14415
14416 <p>Only some schools have some sort of a media concept which explains,
14417 defines and gives guidance on how to use IT in class. Most schools in
14418 Northern Germany do not have an IT service provider, the school's IT
14419 equipment is managed by one or (if the school is lucky) two (admin)
14420 teachers, most of the workload these admin teachers get done in there
14421 spare time.</p>
14422
14423 <p>We were surprised that only a very few admin teachers were
14424 networked with colleagues from other schools. Basically, every school
14425 here around has its individual approach of providing IT equipment to
14426 teachers and students and the exchange of ideas has been quasi
14427 non-existent until 2010/2011.</p>
14428
14429 <p>Quite some (non-admin) teachers try to avoid using IT technology in
14430 class as a learning medium completely. Several reasons for this
14431 avoidance do exist.</p>
14432
14433 <p>We discovered that no-one has ever taken a closer look at this
14434 social part of IT management in schools, so far. On our quest journey
14435 for a technical IT solution for schools, we discussed this issue with
14436 several teachers, headmasters, politicians, other IT professionals and
14437 they all confirmed: a holistic approach of considering IT management
14438 at schools, an approach that includes the people in place, will be new
14439 and probably a gain for all.</p>
14440
14441 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
14442 Edu?</strong></p>
14443
14444 <p>There is a list of advantages: international context, openness to
14445 any kind of contributions, do-ocracy policy, the closeness to Debian,
14446 the different installation scenarios possible (from stand-alone
14447 workstation to complex multi-server sites), the transparency within
14448 project communication, honest communication within the group of
14449 developers, etc.</p>
14450
14451 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
14452 Edu?</strong></p>
14453
14454 <p>Every coin has two sides:</p>
14455
14456 <p>Technically: <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/311188">BTS issue
14457 #311188</a>, tricky upgradability of a Debian Edu main server, network
14458 client installations on top of a plain vanilla Debian installation
14459 should become possible sometime in the near future, one could think
14460 about splitting the very complex package debian-edu-config into
14461 several portions (to make it easier for new developers to
14462 contribute).</p>
14463
14464 <p>Another issue I see is that we (as Debian Edu developers) should
14465 find out more about the network of people who do the marketing for
14466 Debian Edu / Skolelinux. There is a very active group in Germany
14467 promoting Skolelinux on the bigger Linux Days within Germany. Are
14468 there other groups like that in other countries? How can we bring
14469 these marketing people together (marketing group A with group B and
14470 all of them with the group of Debian Edu developers)? During the last
14471 meeting of the German Skolelinux group, I got the impression of people
14472 there being rather disconnected from the development department of
14473 Debian Edu / Skolelinux.</p>
14474
14475 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
14476
14477 <p>For my daily business, I do not use commercial software at all.</p>
14478
14479 <p>For normal stuff I use Iceweasel/Firefox, Libreoffice.org. For
14480 serious text writing I prefer LaTeX. I use gimp, inkscape, scribus for
14481 more artistic tasks. I run virtual machines in KVM and Virtualbox.</p>
14482
14483 <p>I am one of the upstream developers of X2Go. In 2010 I started the
14484 development of a Python based X2Go Client, called PyHoca-GUI.
14485 PyHoca-GUI has brought forth a Python X2Go Client API that currently
14486 is being integrated in Ubuntu's software center.</p>
14487
14488 <p>For communications I have my own Kolab server running using Horde
14489 as web-based groupware client. For IRC I love to use irssi, for Jabber
14490 I have several clients that I use, mostly pidgin, though. I am also
14491 the Debian maintainer of Coccinella, a Jabber-based interactive
14492 whiteboard.</p>
14493
14494 <p>My favourite terminal emulator is KDE's Yakuake.</p>
14495
14496 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
14497 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
14498
14499 <p>Communicate, communicate, communicate. Enrol people, enrol people,
14500 enrol people.</p>
14501
14502       </div>
14503       <div class="tags">
14504
14505
14506         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
14507
14508
14509       </div>
14510     </div>
14511     <div class="padding"></div>
14512
14513     <div class="entry">
14514       <div class="title">
14515         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/SOAP_based_webservice_from_Dell_to_check_server_support_status.html">SOAP based webservice from Dell to check server support status</a>
14516       </div>
14517       <div class="date">
14518          1st June 2012
14519       </div>
14520       <div class="body">
14521         <p>A few years ago I wrote
14522 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Checking_server_hardware_support_status_for_Dell__HP_and_IBM_servers.html">how
14523 to extract support status</a> for your Dell and HP servers.  Recently
14524 I have learned from colleges here at the
14525 <a href="http://www.uio.no/">University of Oslo</a> that Dell have
14526 made this even easier, by providing a SOAP based web service.  Given
14527 the service tag, one can now query the Dell servers and get machine
14528 readable information about the support status.  This perl code
14529 demonstrate how to do it:</p>
14530
14531 <p><pre>
14532 use strict;
14533 use warnings;
14534 use SOAP::Lite;
14535 use Data::Dumper;
14536 my $GUID = '11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111';
14537 my $App = 'test';
14538 my $servicetag = $ARGV[0] or die "Please supply a servicetag. $!\n";
14539 my ($deal, $latest, @dates);
14540 my $s = SOAP::Lite
14541     -> uri('http://support.dell.com/WebServices/')
14542     -> on_action( sub { join '', @_ } )
14543     -> proxy('http://xserv.dell.com/services/assetservice.asmx')
14544     ;
14545 my $a = $s->GetAssetInformation(
14546     SOAP::Data->name('guid')->value($GUID)->type(''),
14547     SOAP::Data->name('applicationName')->value($App)->type(''),
14548     SOAP::Data->name('serviceTags')->value($servicetag)->type(''),
14549 );
14550 print Dumper($a -> result) ;
14551 </pre></p>
14552
14553 <p>The output can look like this:</p>
14554
14555 <p><pre>
14556 $VAR1 = {
14557           'Asset' => {
14558                      'Entitlements' => {
14559                                        'EntitlementData' => [
14560                                                             {
14561                                                               'EntitlementType' => 'Expired',
14562                                                               'EndDate' => '2009-07-29T00:00:00',
14563                                                               'Provider' => '',
14564                                                               'StartDate' => '2006-07-29T00:00:00',
14565                                                               'DaysLeft' => '0'
14566                                                             },
14567                                                             {
14568                                                               'EntitlementType' => 'Expired',
14569                                                               'EndDate' => '2009-07-29T00:00:00',
14570                                                               'Provider' => '',
14571                                                               'StartDate' => '2006-07-29T00:00:00',
14572                                                               'DaysLeft' => '0'
14573                                                             },
14574                                                             {
14575                                                               'EntitlementType' => 'Expired',
14576                                                               'EndDate' => '2007-07-29T00:00:00',
14577                                                               'Provider' => '',
14578                                                               'StartDate' => '2006-07-29T00:00:00',
14579                                                               'DaysLeft' => '0'
14580                                                             }
14581                                                           ]
14582                                      },
14583                      'AssetHeaderData' => {
14584                                           'SystemModel' => 'GX620',
14585                                           'ServiceTag' => '8DSGD2J',
14586                                           'SystemShipDate' => '2006-07-29T19:00:00-05:00',
14587                                           'Buid' => '2323',
14588                                           'Region' => 'Europe',
14589                                           'SystemID' => 'PLX_GX620',
14590                                           'SystemType' => 'OptiPlex'
14591                                         }
14592                    }
14593         };
14594 </pre></p>
14595
14596 <p>I have not been able to find any documentation from Dell about this
14597 service outside the
14598 <a href="http://xserv.dell.com/services/assetservice.asmx?op=GetAssetInformation">inline
14599 documentation</a>, and according to
14600 <a href="http://iboyd.net/index.php/2012/02/14/updated-dell-warranty-information-script/">one
14601 comment</a> it can have stability issues, but it is a lot better than
14602 scraping HTML pages. :)</p>
14603
14604 <p>Wonder if HP and other server vendors have a similar service.  If
14605 you know of one, drop me an email. :)</p>
14606
14607       </div>
14608       <div class="tags">
14609
14610
14611         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
14612
14613
14614       </div>
14615     </div>
14616     <div class="padding"></div>
14617
14618     <div class="entry">
14619       <div class="title">
14620         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_monitor_calibration_using_ColorHug.html">First monitor calibration using ColorHug</a>
14621       </div>
14622       <div class="date">
14623         31st May 2012
14624       </div>
14625       <div class="body">
14626         <p>A few days ago my color calibration gadget
14627 <a href="http://www.hughski.com/index.html">ColorHug</a> arrived in the
14628 mail, and I've had a few days to test it.  As all my machines are
14629 running Debian Squeeze, where
14630 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/c/colorhug-client.html">the
14631 calibration software</a> is missing (it is present in Wheezy and Sid),
14632 I ran the calibration using the Fedora based live CD.  This worked
14633 just fine.  So far I have only done the quick calibration.  It was
14634 slow enough for me, so I will leave the more extensive calibration for
14635 another day.</p>
14636
14637 <p>After calibration, I get a
14638 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICC_profile">ICC color
14639 profile</a> file that can be passed to programs understanding such
14640 tools.  KDE do not seem to understand it out of the box, so I searched
14641 for command line tools to use to load the color profile into X.
14642 xcalib was the first one I found, and it seem to work fine for single
14643 monitor setups.  But for my video player, a laptop with a flat screen
14644 attached, it was unable to load the color profile for the correct
14645 monitor.  After searching a bit, I
14646 <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1347896">discovered</a>
14647 that the dispwin tool from the argyll package would do what I wanted,
14648 and a simple</p>
14649
14650 <p><pre>
14651 dispwin -d 1 profile.icc
14652 </pre></p>
14653
14654 <p>later I had the color profile loaded for the correct monitor.  The
14655 result was a bit more pink than I expected.  I guess I picked the
14656 wrong monitor type for the "led" monitor I got, but the result is good
14657 enough for now.</p>
14658
14659       </div>
14660       <div class="tags">
14661
14662
14663         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
14664
14665
14666       </div>
14667     </div>
14668     <div class="padding"></div>
14669
14670     <div class="entry">
14671       <div class="title">
14672         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Ralf_Gesellensetter.html">Debian Edu interview: Ralf Gesellensetter</a>
14673       </div>
14674       <div class="date">
14675         27th May 2012
14676       </div>
14677       <div class="body">
14678         <p>In 2003, a German teacher showed up on the
14679 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>
14680 mailing list with interesting problems and reports proving he setting
14681 up Linux for a (for us at the time) lot of pupils.  His name was Ralf
14682 Gesellensetter, and he has been an important tester and contributor
14683 since then, helping to make sure the
14684 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu
14685 Squeeze</a> release became as good as it is..</p>
14686
14687 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
14688
14689 <p>I am a teacher from Germany, and my subjects are Geography,
14690 Mathematics, and Computer Science ("Informatik"). During the past 12
14691 years (since 2000), I have been working for a comprehensive (and soon,
14692 also inclusive) school leading to all kind of general levels, such as
14693 O- or A-level ("Abitur").  For quite as long, I've been taking care of
14694 our computer network.</p>
14695
14696 <p>Now, in my early 40s, I enjoy the privilege of spending a lot of my
14697 spare time together with my wife, our son (3 years) and our daughter
14698 (4 months).</p>
14699
14700 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
14701 project?</strong></p>
14702
14703 <p>We had tried different Linux based school servers, when members of
14704 my local Linux User Group (LUG OWL) detected Skolelinux. I remember
14705 very well, being part of a party celebrating the Linux New Media Award
14706 ("Best Newcomer Distribution", also nominated: Ubuntu) that was given
14707 to Skolelinux at Linux World Exposition in Frankfurt, 2005 (IIRC). Few
14708 months later, I had the chance to join a developer meeting in Ulsrud
14709 (Oslo) and to hand out the award to Knut Yrvin and others.  For more
14710 than 7 years, Skolelinux is part of our schools infrastructure, namely
14711 our main server (tjener), one LTSP (today without thin clients), and
14712 approximately 50 work stations. Most of these have the option to boot a
14713 locally installed Skolelinux image.  As a consequence, I joined quite
14714 a few events dealing with free software or Linux, and met many Debian
14715 (Edu) developers. All of them seemed quite nice and competent to me,
14716 one more reason to stick to Skolelinux.</p>
14717
14718 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
14719 Edu?</strong></p>
14720
14721 <p>Debian driven, you are given all the advantages of a community
14722 project including well maintained updates. Once, you are familiar with
14723 the network layout, you can easily roll out an entire educational
14724 computer infrastructure, from just one installation media. As only
14725 free software (FOSS) is used, that supports even elderly hardware,
14726 up-sizing your IT equipment is only limited by space (i.e. available
14727 labs).  Especially if you run a LTSP thin client server, your
14728 administration costs tend towards zero.</p>
14729
14730 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
14731 Edu?</strong></p>
14732
14733 <p>While Debian's stability has loads of advantages for servers, this
14734 might be different in some cases for clients: Schools with unlimited
14735 budget might buy new hardware with components that are not yet
14736 supported by Debian stable, or wish to use more recent versions of
14737 office packages or desktop environments.  These schools have the
14738 option to run Debian testing or other distributions - if they have the
14739 capacity to do so.  Another issue is that Debian release cycles
14740 include a wide range of changes; therefor a high percentage of human
14741 power seems to be absorbed by just keeping the features of Skolelinux
14742 within the new setting of the version to come. During this process,
14743 the cogs of Debian Edu are getting more and more professional,
14744 i.e. harder to understand for novices.</p>
14745
14746 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
14747
14748 <p>LibreOffice, Wikipedia, Openstreetmap, Iceweasel (Mozilla Firefox),
14749 KMail, Gimp, Inkscape - and of course the Linux Kernel (not only on
14750 PC, Laptop, Mobile, but also our SAT receiver)</p>
14751
14752 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
14753 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
14754
14755 <p><ol>
14756
14757 <li>Support computer science as regular subject in schools to make
14758 people really "own" their hardware, to make them understand the
14759 difference between proprietary software products, and free software
14760 developing.</li>
14761
14762 <li>Make budget baskets corresponding: In Germany's public schools
14763 there are more or less fixed budgets for IT equipment (including
14764 licenses), so schools won't benefit from any savings here. This
14765 privilege is left to private schools which have consequently a large
14766 share among German Skolelinux schools.</li>
14767
14768 <li>Get free software in the seminars where would-be teachers are
14769 trained. In many cases, teachers' software customs are respected by
14770 decision makers rather than the expertise of any IT experts.</li>
14771
14772 <li>Don't limit ourself to free software run natively. Everybody uses
14773 free software or free licenses (for instance Wikipedia), and this
14774 general concept should get expanded to free educational content to be
14775 shared world wide (school books e.g.).</li>
14776
14777 <li>Make clear where ever you can that the market share of free (libre)
14778 office suites is much above 20 p.c. today, and that you pupils don't
14779 need to know the "ribbon menu" in order to get employed.</li>
14780
14781 <li>Talk about the difference between freeware and free software.</li>
14782
14783 <li>Spread free software, or even collections of portable free apps
14784 for USB pen drives. Endorse students to get a legal copy of
14785 Libreoffice rather than accepting them to use illegal serials.  And
14786 keep sending documents in ODF formats.</li>
14787
14788 </ol></p>
14789
14790       </div>
14791       <div class="tags">
14792
14793
14794         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
14795
14796
14797       </div>
14798     </div>
14799     <div class="padding"></div>
14800
14801     <div class="entry">
14802       <div class="title">
14803         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_cost_of_ODF_and_OOXML.html">The cost of ODF and OOXML</a>
14804       </div>
14805       <div class="date">
14806         26th May 2012
14807       </div>
14808       <div class="body">
14809         <p>I just come across a blog post from Glyn Moody reporting the
14810 claimed cost from Microsoft on requiring ODF to be used by the UK
14811 government.  I just sent him an email to let him know that his
14812 assumption are most likely wrong.  Sharing it here in case some of my
14813 blog readers have seem the same numbers float around in the UK.</p>
14814
14815 <p><blockquote> <p>Hi.  I just noted your
14816 <a href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2012/04/does-microsoft-office-lock-in-cost-the-uk-government-500-million/index.htm">http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2012/04/does-microsoft-office-lock-in-cost-the-uk-government-500-million/index.htm</a>
14817 comment:</p>
14818
14819 <p><blockquote>"They're all in Danish, not unreasonably, but even
14820 with the help of Google Translate I can't find any figures about the
14821 savings of "moving to a flexible two standard" as claimed by the
14822 Microsoft email. But I assume it is backed up somewhere, so let's take
14823 it, and the £500 million figure for the UK, on trust."
14824 </blockquote></p>
14825
14826 <p>I can tell you that the Danish reports are inflated.  I believe it is
14827 the same reports that were used in the Norwegian debate around 2007,
14828 and Gisle Hannemyr (a well known IT commentator in Norway) had a look
14829 at the content.  In short, the reason it is claimed that using ODF
14830 will be so costly, is based on the assumption that this mean every
14831 existing document need to be converted from one of the MS Office
14832 formats to ODF, transferred to the receiver, and converted back from
14833 ODF to one of the MS Office formats, and that the conversion will cost
14834 10 minutes of work time for both the sender and the receiver.  In
14835 reality the sender would have a tool capable of saving to ODF, and the
14836 receiver would have a tool capable of reading it, and the time spent
14837 would at most be a few seconds for saving and loading, not 20 minutes
14838 of wasted effort.</p>
14839
14840 <p>Microsoft claimed all these costs were saved by allowing people to
14841 transfer the original files from MS Office instead of spending 10
14842 minutes converting to ODF. :)</p>
14843
14844 <p>See
14845 <a href="http://hannemyr.com/no/ms12_vl02.php">http://hannemyr.com/no/ms12_vl02.php</a>
14846 and
14847 <a href="http://hannemyr.com/no/ms12.php">http://hannemyr.com/no/ms12.php</a>
14848 for background information.  Norwegian only, sorry. :)</p>
14849 </blockquote></p>
14850
14851       </div>
14852       <div class="tags">
14853
14854
14855         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
14856
14857
14858       </div>
14859     </div>
14860     <div class="padding"></div>
14861
14862     <div class="entry">
14863       <div class="title">
14864         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ColorHug___USB_and_free_software_based_screen_color_calibration.html">ColorHug - USB and free software based screen color calibration</a>
14865       </div>
14866       <div class="date">
14867         18th May 2012
14868       </div>
14869       <div class="body">
14870         <p>In january, I
14871 <a href="http://blog.cihar.com/archives/2012/01/17/colorhug-has-arrived/">discovered
14872 the ColorHug</a>, a USB dongle from
14873 <a href="http://www.hughski.com/index.html">Hughski</a> to calibrate
14874 the color on a computer screen.  The software required is
14875 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/c/colorhug-client.html">included
14876 in Debian</a>, and I decided back then to preorder from the next
14877 batch.  Yesterday I finally heard back from them, and got the
14878 opportunity to order.  Today I ordered mine, and eagerly await the
14879 delivery.  I hope it arrive next week, as I got a confirmation that it
14880 should go in the mail on monday. :)</p>
14881
14882 <p>If you want to ensure the colors on the screen match the intended
14883 colors, I suggest you check out this cheap tool with free software
14884 drivers. :)</p>
14885
14886       </div>
14887       <div class="tags">
14888
14889
14890         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
14891
14892
14893       </div>
14894     </div>
14895     <div class="padding"></div>
14896
14897     <div class="entry">
14898       <div class="title">
14899         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__J_rgen_Leibner.html">Debian Edu interview: Jürgen Leibner</a>
14900       </div>
14901       <div class="date">
14902         13th May 2012
14903       </div>
14904       <div class="body">
14905         <p>It has been a few busy weeks for me, but I am finally back to
14906 publish another interview with the people behind
14907 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>.
14908 This time it is one of our German developers, who have helped out over the
14909 years to make sure both a lot of major but also a lot of the minor
14910 details get right before release.
14911
14912 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
14913
14914 <p>My name is Jürgen Leibner, I'm 49 years old and living in
14915 Bielefeld, a town in northern Germany.  I worked nearly 20 years as
14916 certified engineer in the department for plant design and layout of an
14917 international company for machinery and equipment.  Since 2011 I'm a
14918 certified technical writer (tekom e.V.) and doing technical
14919 documentations for a steam turbine manufacturer.  From April this year
14920 I will manage the department of technical documentation at a
14921 manufacturer of automation and assembly line engineering.</p>
14922
14923 <p>My first contact with linux was around 1993. Since that time I used
14924 it at work and at home repeatedly but not exclusively as I do now at
14925 home since 2006.</p>
14926
14927 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
14928 project?</strong></p>
14929
14930 <p>Once a day in the early year of 2001 when I wanted to fetch my
14931 daughter from primary school, there was a teacher sitting in the
14932 middle of 20 old computers trying to boot them and he failed. I helped
14933 him to get them booting. That was seen by the school director and she
14934 asked me if I would like to manage that the school gets all that old
14935 computers in use. I answered: "Yes".</p>
14936
14937 <p>Some weeks later every of the 10 classrooms had one computer
14938 running Windows98. I began to collect old computers and equipment as
14939 gifts and installed the first computer room with a peer-to-peer
14940 network. I did my work at school without being payed in my spare time
14941 and with a lot of fun.  About one year later the school was connected
14942 to Internet and a local area network was installed in the school
14943 building.  That was the time to have a server and I knew it must be a
14944 Linux server to be able to fulfil all the wishes of the teachers and
14945 being able to do this in a transparent and economic way, without extra
14946 costs for things like licence and software.  So I searched for a
14947 school server system running under Linux and I found a couple of
14948 people nearby who founded 'skolelinux.de'. It was the Skolelinux
14949 prerelease 32 I first tried out for being used at the school.  I
14950 managed the IT of that school until the municipal authority took over
14951 the IT management and centralised the services for all schools in
14952 Bielefeld in December of 2006.</p>
14953
14954 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
14955 Edu?</strong></p>
14956
14957 <p>When I'm looking back to the beginning, there were other advantages
14958 for me as today.</p>
14959
14960 <p>In the past there were advantages like:</p>
14961
14962 <p><ul>
14963
14964 <li>I don't need to buy it so it generates no costs to the school as
14965 they had little money to spent for computers and software.</li>
14966
14967 <li>It has a licence which grands all rights to use it without
14968 cost.</li>
14969
14970 <li>It was more able to fit all requirements of a server system for
14971 schools than a Microsoft server system, even if there are only Windows
14972 clients because of it's preconfigured overall concept of being a
14973 infrastructure solution and community for schools, not only a
14974 server</li>
14975
14976 <li>I was able to configure the server to the needs of the
14977 school.</li>
14978
14979 </ul></p>
14980
14981 <p>Today some of the advantages has been lost, changed or new ones
14982 came up in this way:</p>
14983
14984 <p><ul>
14985
14986 <li>Most schools here do have money to buy hardware and software
14987 now.</li>
14988
14989 <li>They are today mostly managed from central IT departments which
14990 have own concepts which often do not fit to Debian Edu concepts
14991 because they are to close to Microsoft ideology.</li>
14992
14993 <li>With the Squeeze version of Debian Edu which now uses GOsa² for
14994 management I feel more able to manage the daily tasks than with the
14995 interfaces used in the past.</li>
14996
14997 <li>It is more modular than in the past and fits even better to the
14998 different needs.</li>
14999
15000 <li>The documentation is usable and gets better every day.</li>
15001
15002 <li>More people than ever before are using Debian Edu all over the
15003 world and so the community, which is an very important part I think,
15004 is sharing knowledge and minds.</li>
15005
15006 <li>Most, maybe all, of the technical requirements for schools are
15007 solved today by Debian Edu. </li>
15008
15009 </ul></p>
15010
15011 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15012 Edu?</strong></p>
15013
15014 <p><ul>
15015
15016 <li>There are too few IT companies able to integrate Debian Edu into
15017 their product portfolio for serving schools with concepts or even
15018 whole municipality areas.</li>
15019
15020 <li>Debian Edu has beside other free and open software projects not
15021 enough lobbyists which promote free and open software to
15022 politicians.</li>
15023
15024 <li>Technically there are no disadvantages I'm aware of.</li>
15025
15026 </ul></p>
15027
15028 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
15029
15030 <p>I use Debian stable on my home server and on my little desktop
15031 computer. On my laptop I use Debian testing/sid. The applications I
15032 use on my laptop and my desktop are Open/Libre-office, Iceweasel,
15033 KMail, DigiKam, Amarok, Dolphin, okular and all the other programs I
15034 need from the KDE environment.  On console I use newsbeuter, mutt,
15035 screen, irssi and all the other famous and useful tools.</p>
15036
15037 <p>My home server provides mail services with exim, dovecot, roundcube
15038 and mutt over ssh on the console, file services with samba, NFS,
15039 rsync, web services with apache, moinmoin-wiki, multimedia services
15040 with gallery2 and mediatomb and database services with MySQL for me
15041 and the whole family.  I probably forgot something.</p>
15042
15043 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
15044 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
15045
15046 <p>I believe, we should provide concepts for IT companies to integrate
15047 Debian Edu into their product portfolio with use cases for different
15048 countries and areas all over the world.</p>
15049
15050       </div>
15051       <div class="tags">
15052
15053
15054         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
15055
15056
15057       </div>
15058     </div>
15059     <div class="padding"></div>
15060
15061     <div class="entry">
15062       <div class="title">
15063         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Cutting_it_short___and_picking_the_right_tool_for_the_job.html">Cutting it short - and picking the right tool for the job</a>
15064       </div>
15065       <div class="date">
15066         30th April 2012
15067       </div>
15068       <div class="body">
15069         <p><!-- IMG_5869.JPG -->
15070 <img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/panasonic-er-1611.jpeg"></p>
15071
15072 <p>I normally cut my hair short, and my tool of choice has been a
15073 common hair/beard cutter, bought in a electrical shop here in Norway.
15074 But the last ones have not really been up to the task.  My last
15075 cutter, some model from Braun, could only cut a few of my hairs at the
15076 time, and cutting my head took forever.  And the one before that did
15077 not work very well either.  We have looked for something better for a
15078 while, but it was not until I ended up visiting a hairdresser that we
15079 discovered that there are indeed better tools available.  But these
15080 are not marketed and sold to "regular consumers".  The hair saloons
15081 can get them through their suppliers, but their suppliers only sell
15082 companies.  The models they sell, are very different from the ones
15083 available from Elkjøp and Lefdal.  The main difference is their
15084 efficiency.  It would cut my hair in 5 minutes, instead of the 30-40
15085 minutes required by my impotent Braun.  The hairdresser I visited had
15086 a Panasonic ER160, which unfortunately is no longer available from the
15087 producer.  But I found it had a successor, the Panasonic ER1611.</p>
15088
15089 <p>The next step was to find somewhere to buy it.  This was not
15090 straight forward.  The list of suppliers I got from the hairdresser
15091 did not want to sell anything to me.  But searching for the model on
15092 the web we found a supplier in Norway willing to sell it to us for
15093 around NOK 4000,-.  This was a bit much.  We kept searching and
15094 finally found a Danish supplier
15095 <a href="http://nicehair.dk/panasonic-er-1611-professionel-hartrimmer.html">selling
15096 it for around NOK 1800,-</a>.  We ordered one, and it arrived a few
15097 days ago.</p>
15098
15099 <p>The instructions said it had to charge for 8 hours when we started
15100 to use it, so we left it charging over night.  Normally it will only
15101 need one hour to charge.  The following evening we successfully tested
15102 it, and I can warmly recommend it to anyone looking for a real hair
15103 cutter.  The ones we have used until now have been hair cutter
15104 toys.</p>
15105
15106       </div>
15107       <div class="tags">
15108
15109
15110         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
15111
15112
15113       </div>
15114     </div>
15115     <div class="padding"></div>
15116
15117     <div class="entry">
15118       <div class="title">
15119         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/HTC_One_X___Your_video___What_do_you_mean_.html">HTC One X - Your video?  What do you mean?</a>
15120       </div>
15121       <div class="date">
15122         26th April 2012
15123       </div>
15124       <div class="body">
15125         <p>In <a href="http://www.idg.no/computerworld/article243690.ece">an
15126 article today</a> published by Computerworld Norway, the photographer
15127 <a href="http://www.urke.com/eirik/">Eirik Helland Urke</a> reports
15128 that the video editor application included with
15129 <a href="http://www.htc.com/www/smartphones/htc-one-x/#specs">HTC One
15130 X</a> have some quite surprising terms of use.  The article is mostly
15131 based on the twitter message from mister Urke, stating:
15132
15133 <p><blockquote>
15134 "<a href="http://twitter.com/urke/status/194062269724897280">Drøy
15135 brukeravtale: HTC kan bruke MINE redigerte videoer kommersielt. Selv
15136 kan jeg KUN bruke dem privat.</a>"
15137 </blockquote></p>
15138
15139 <p>I quickly translated it to this English message:</p>
15140
15141 <p><blockquote>
15142 "Arrogant user agreement: HTC can use MY edited videos
15143 commercially.  Although I can ONLY use them privately."
15144 </blockquote></p>
15145
15146 <p>I've been unable to find the text of the license term myself, but
15147 suspect it is a variation of the MPEG-LA terms I
15148 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Terms_of_use_for_video_produced_by_a_Canon_IXUS_130_digital_camera.html">discovered
15149 with my Canon IXUS 130</a>.  The HTC One X specification specifies that
15150 the recording format of the phone is .amr for audio and .mp3 for
15151 video.  AMR is
15152 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_Multi-Rate_audio_codec#Licensing_and_patent_issues">Adaptive
15153 Multi-Rate audio codec</a> with patents which according to the
15154 Wikipedia article require an license agreement with
15155 <a href="http://www.voiceage.com/">VoiceAge</a>.  MP4 is
15156 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Patent_licensing">MPEG4 with
15157 H.264</a>, which according to Wikipedia require a licence agreement
15158 with <a href="http://www.mpegla.com/">MPEG-LA</a>.</p>
15159
15160 <p>I know why I prefer
15161 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">free and open
15162 standards</a> also for video.</p>
15163
15164       </div>
15165       <div class="tags">
15166
15167
15168         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
15169
15170
15171       </div>
15172     </div>
15173     <div class="padding"></div>
15174
15175     <div class="entry">
15176       <div class="title">
15177         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/RAND_terms___non_reasonable_and_discriminatory.html">RAND terms - non-reasonable and discriminatory</a>
15178       </div>
15179       <div class="date">
15180         19th April 2012
15181       </div>
15182       <div class="body">
15183         <p>Here in Norway, the
15184 <a href="http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/fad.html?id=339"> Ministry of
15185 Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs</a> is behind
15186 a <a href="http://standard.difi.no/forvaltningsstandarder">directory of
15187 standards</a> that are recommended or mandatory for use by the
15188 government.  When the directory was created, the people behind it made
15189 an effort to ensure that everyone would be able to implement the
15190 standards and compete on equal terms to supply software and solutions
15191 to the government.  Free software and non-free software could compete
15192 on the same level.</p>
15193
15194 <p>But recently, some standards with RAND
15195 (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_and_non-discriminatory_licensing">Reasonable
15196 And Non-Discriminatory</a>) terms have made their way into the
15197 directory.  And while this might not sound too bad, the fact is that
15198 standard specifications with RAND terms often block free software from
15199 implementing them.  The reasonable part of RAND mean that the cost per
15200 user/unit is low,and the non-discriminatory part mean that everyone
15201 willing to pay will get a license.  Both sound great in theory.  In
15202 practice, to get such license one need to be able to count users, and
15203 be able to pay a small amount of money per unit or user.  By
15204 definition, users of free software do not need to register their use.
15205 So counting users or units is not possible for free software projects.
15206 And given that people will use the software without handing any money
15207 to the author, it is not really economically possible for a free
15208 software author to pay a small amount of money to license the rights
15209 to implement a standard when the income available is zero.  The result
15210 in these situations is that free software are locked out from
15211 implementing standards with RAND terms.</p>
15212
15213 <p>Because of this, when I see someone claiming the terms of a
15214 standard is reasonable and non-discriminatory, all I can think of is
15215 how this really is non-reasonable and discriminatory.  Because free
15216 software developers are working in a global market, it does not really
15217 help to know that software patents are not supposed to be enforceable
15218 in Norway.  The patent regimes in other countries affect us even here.
15219 I really hope the people behind the standard directory will pay more
15220 attention to these issues in the future.</p>
15221
15222 <p>You can find more on the issues with RAND, FRAND and RAND-Z terms
15223 from Simon Phipps
15224 (<a href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/simon-says/2010/11/rand-not-so-reasonable/">RAND:
15225 Not So Reasonable?</a>).</p>
15226
15227 <p>Update 2012-04-21: Just came across a
15228 <a href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2012/04/of-microsoft-netscape-patents-and-open-standards/index.htm">blog
15229 post from Glyn Moody</a> over at Computer World UK warning about the
15230 same issue, and urging people to speak out to the UK government.  I
15231 can only urge Norwegian users to do the same for
15232 <a href="http://www.standard.difi.no/hoyring/hoyring-om-nye-anbefalte-it-standarder">the
15233 hearing taking place at the moment</a> (respond before 2012-04-27).
15234 It proposes to require video conferencing standards including
15235 specifications with RAND terms.</p>
15236
15237       </div>
15238       <div class="tags">
15239
15240
15241         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
15242
15243
15244       </div>
15245     </div>
15246     <div class="padding"></div>
15247
15248     <div class="entry">
15249       <div class="title">
15250         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Andreas_Mundt.html">Debian Edu interview: Andreas Mundt</a>
15251       </div>
15252       <div class="date">
15253         15th April 2012
15254       </div>
15255       <div class="body">
15256         <p>Behind <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and
15257 Skolelinux</a> there are a lot of people doing the hard work of
15258 setting together all the pieces.  This time I present to you Andreas
15259 Mundt, who have been part of the technical development team several
15260 years.  He was also a key contributor in getting GOsa and Kerberos set
15261 up in the recently released
15262 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze">Debian
15263 Edu Squeeze</a> version.</p>
15264
15265 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
15266
15267 <p>My name is Andreas Mundt, I grew up in south Germany.  After
15268 studying Physics I spent several years at university doing research in
15269 Quantum Optics.  After that I worked some years in an optics company.
15270 Finally I decided to turn over a new leaf in my life and started
15271 teaching 10 to 19 years old kids at school.  I teach math, physics,
15272 information technology and science/technology.</p>
15273
15274 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
15275 project?</strong></p>
15276
15277 <p>Already before I switched to teaching, I followed the Debian Edu
15278 project because of my interest in education and Debian.  Within the
15279 qualification/training period for the teaching, I started
15280 contributing.</p>
15281
15282 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15283 Edu?</strong></p>
15284
15285 <p>The advantages of Debian Edu are the well known name, the
15286 out-of-the-box philosophy and of course the great free software of the
15287 Debian Project!</p>
15288
15289 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15290 Edu?</strong></p>
15291
15292 <p>As every coin has two sides, the out-of-the-box philosophy has its
15293 downside, too.  In my opinion, it is hard to modify and tweak the
15294 setup, if you need or want that.  Further more, it is not easily
15295 possible to upgrade the system to a new release.  It takes much too
15296 long after a Debian release to prepare the -Edu release, perhaps
15297 because the number of developers working on the core of the code is
15298 rather small and often busy elsewhere.</p>
15299
15300 <p>The <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianLAN">Debian LAN</a>
15301 project might fill the use case of a more flexible system.</p>
15302
15303 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
15304
15305 <p>I am only using non-free software if I am forced to and run Debian
15306 on all my machines.  For documents I prefer LaTeX and PGF/TikZ, then
15307 mutt and iceweasel for email respectively web browsing.  At school I
15308 have Arduino and Fritzing in use for a micro controller project.</p>
15309
15310 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
15311 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
15312
15313 <p>One of the major problems is the vendor lock-in from top to bottom:
15314 Especially in combination with ignorant government employees and
15315 politicians, this works out great for the "market-leader".  The school
15316 administration here in Baden-Wuerttemberg is occupied by that vendor.
15317 Documents have to be prepared in non-free, proprietary formats.  Even
15318 free browsers do not work for the school administration.  Publishers
15319 of school books provide software only for proprietary platforms.</p>
15320
15321 <p>To change this, political work is very important.  Parts of the
15322 political spectrum have become aware of the problem in the last years.
15323 However it takes quite some time and courageous politicians to 'free'
15324 the system.  There is currently some discussion about "Open Data" and
15325 "Free/Open Standards".  I am not sure if all the involved parties have
15326 a clue about the potential of these ideas, and probably only a
15327 fraction takes them seriously.  However it might slowly make free
15328 software and the philosophy behind it more known and popular.</p>
15329
15330       </div>
15331       <div class="tags">
15332
15333
15334         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
15335
15336
15337       </div>
15338     </div>
15339     <div class="padding"></div>
15340
15341     <div class="entry">
15342       <div class="title">
15343         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Justin_B__Rye.html">Debian Edu interview: Justin B. Rye</a>
15344       </div>
15345       <div class="date">
15346          8th April 2012
15347       </div>
15348       <div class="body">
15349         <p>It take all kind of contributions to create a Linux distribution
15350 like <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>,
15351 and this time I lend the ear to Justin B. Rye, who is listed as a big
15352 contributor to the
15353 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze">Debian
15354 Edu Squeeze release manual</a>.
15355
15356 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
15357
15358 <p>I'm a 44-year-old linguistics graduate living in Edinburgh who has
15359 occasionally been employed as a sysadmin.</p>
15360
15361 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
15362 project?</strong></p>
15363
15364 <p>I'm neither a developer nor a Skolelinux/Debian Edu user!  The only
15365 reason my name's in the credits for the documentation is that I hang
15366 around on debian-l10n-english waiting for people to mention things
15367 they'd like a native English speaker to proofread...  So I did a sweep
15368 through the wiki for typos and Norglish and inconsistent spellings of
15369 "localisation".</p>
15370
15371 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15372 Edu?</strong></p>
15373
15374 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15375 Edu?</strong></p>
15376
15377 <p>These questions are too hard for me - I don't use it!  In fact I
15378 had hardly any contact with I.T. until long after I'd got out of the
15379 education system.</p>
15380
15381 <p>I can tell you the advantages of Debian for me though: it soaks up
15382 as much of my free time as I want and no more, and lets me do
15383 everything I want a computer for without ever forcing me to spend
15384 money on the latest hardware.</p>
15385
15386 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
15387
15388 <p>I've been using Debian since Rex; popularity-contest says the
15389 software that I use most is xinit, xterm, and xulrunner (in other
15390 words, I use a distinctly retro sort of desktop).</p>
15391
15392 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
15393 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
15394
15395 <p>Well, I don't know.  I suppose I'd be inclined to try reasoning
15396 with the people who make the decisions, but obviously if that worked
15397 you would hardly need a strategy.</p>
15398
15399       </div>
15400       <div class="tags">
15401
15402
15403         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
15404
15405
15406       </div>
15407     </div>
15408     <div class="padding"></div>
15409
15410     <div class="entry">
15411       <div class="title">
15412         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_the_KDE_menu_is_slow_when__usr__is_NFS_mounted___and_a_workaround.html">Why the KDE menu is slow when /usr/ is NFS mounted - and a workaround</a>
15413       </div>
15414       <div class="date">
15415          6th April 2012
15416       </div>
15417       <div class="body">
15418         <p>Recently I have spent time with
15419 <a href="http://www.slxdrift.no/">Skolelinux Drift AS</a> on speeding
15420 up a <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>
15421 Lenny installation using LTSP diskless workstations, and in the
15422 process I discovered something very surprising.  The reason the KDE
15423 menu was responding slow when using it for the first time, was mostly
15424 due to the way KDE find application icons.  I discovered that showing
15425 the Multimedia menu would cause more than 20 000 IP packages to be
15426 passed between the LTSP client and the NFS server.  Most of these were
15427
15428 NFS LOOKUP calls, resulting in a NFS3ERR_NOENT response.  Because the
15429 ping times between the client and the server were in the range 2-20
15430 ms, the menus would be very slow.  Looking at the strace of kicker in
15431 Lenny (or plasma-desktop i Squeeze - same problem there), I see that
15432 the source of these NFS calls are access(2) system calls for
15433 non-existing files.  KDE can do hundreds of access(2) calls to find
15434 one icon file.  In my example, just finding the mplayer icon required
15435 around 230 access(2) calls.</p>
15436
15437 <p>The KDE code seem to search for icons using a list of icon
15438 directories, and the list of possible directories is large.  In
15439 (almost) each directory, it look for files ending in .png, .svgz, .svg
15440 and .xpm.  The result is a very slow KDE menu when /usr/ is NFS
15441 mounted.  Showing a single sub menu may result in thousands of NFS
15442 requests.  I am not the first one to discover this.  I found a
15443 <a href="https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=211416">KDE bug report
15444 from 2009</a> about this problem, and it is still unsolved.</p>
15445
15446 <p>My solution to speed up the KDE menu was to create a package
15447 kde-icon-cache that upon installation will look at all .desktop files
15448 used to generate the KDE menu, find their icons, search the icon paths
15449 for the file that KDE will end up finding at run time, and copying the
15450 icon file to /var/lib/kde-icon-cache/.  Finally, I add symlinks to
15451 these icon files in one of the first directories where KDE will look
15452 for them.  This cut down the number of file accesses required to find
15453 one icon from several hundred to less than 5, and make the KDE menu
15454 almost instantaneous.  I'm not quite sure where to make the package
15455 publicly available, so for now it is only available on request.</p>
15456
15457 <p>The bug report mention that this do not only affect the KDE menu
15458 and icon handling, but also the login process.  Not quite sure how to
15459 speed up that part without replacing NFS with for example NBD, and
15460 that is not really an option at the moment.</p>
15461
15462 <p>If you got feedback on this issue, please let us know on debian-edu
15463 (at) lists.debian.org.</p>
15464
15465 <p>Update 2015-08-04: The
15466 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/debian-edu/upstream/kde-icon-cache.git/">source
15467 of the scripts and associated Debian package</a> is available from the
15468 Debian Edu github repository.</p>
15469
15470       </div>
15471       <div class="tags">
15472
15473
15474         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
15475
15476
15477       </div>
15478     </div>
15479     <div class="padding"></div>
15480
15481     <div class="entry">
15482       <div class="title">
15483         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_in_the_Linux_Weekly_News.html">Debian Edu in the Linux Weekly News</a>
15484       </div>
15485       <div class="date">
15486          5th April 2012
15487       </div>
15488       <div class="body">
15489         <p>About two weeks ago, I was interviewed via email about
15490 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a> by
15491 Bruce Byfield in Linux Weekly News.  The result was made public for
15492 non-subscribers today.  I am pleased to see liked our Linux solution
15493 for schools.  Check out his article
15494 <a href="https://lwn.net/Articles/488805/">Debian Edu/Skolelinux: A
15495 distribution for education</a> if you want to learn more.</p>
15496
15497       </div>
15498       <div class="tags">
15499
15500
15501         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
15502
15503
15504       </div>
15505     </div>
15506     <div class="padding"></div>
15507
15508     <div class="entry">
15509       <div class="title">
15510         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Wolfgang_Schweer.html">Debian Edu interview: Wolfgang Schweer</a>
15511       </div>
15512       <div class="date">
15513          1st April 2012
15514       </div>
15515       <div class="body">
15516         <p>Germany is a core area for the
15517 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>
15518 user community, and this time I managed to get hold of Wolfgang
15519 Schweer, a valuable contributor to the project from Germany.
15520
15521 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
15522
15523 <p>I've studied Mathematics at the university 'Ruhr-Universität' in
15524 Bochum, Germany. Since 1981 I'm working as a teacher at the school
15525 "<a href="http://www.westfalenkolleg-dortmund.de/">Westfalen-Kolleg
15526 Dortmund</a>", a second chance school.  Here, young adults is given
15527 the opportunity to get further education in order to do the school
15528 examination 'Abitur', which will allow to study at a university. This
15529 second chance is of value for those who want a better job perspective
15530 or failed to get a higher school examination being teens.</p>
15531
15532 <p>Besides teaching I was involved in developing online courses for a
15533 blended learning project called 'abitur-online.nrw' and in some other
15534 information technology related projects. For about ten years I've been
15535 teacher and coordinator for the 'abitur-online' project at my
15536 school. Being now in my early sixties, I've decided to leave school at
15537 the end of April this year.</p>
15538
15539 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
15540 project?</strong></p>
15541
15542 <p>The first information about Skolelinux must have come to my
15543 attention years ago and somehow related to LTSP (Linux Terminal Server
15544 Project).  At school, we had set up a network at the beginning of 1997
15545 using Suse Linux on the desktop, replacing a Novell network. Since
15546 2002, we used old machines from the city council of Dortmund as thin
15547 clients (LTSP, later Ubuntu/Lessdisks) cause new hardware was out of
15548 reach. At home I'm using Debian since years and - subscribed to the
15549 Debian news letter - heard from time to time about Skolelinux. About
15550 two years ago I proposed to replace the (somehow undocumented and only
15551 known to me) system at school by a well known Debian based system:
15552 Skolelinux.</p>
15553
15554 <p>Students and teachers appreciated the new system because of a
15555 better look and feel and an enhanced access to local media on thin
15556 clients.  The possibility to alter and/or reset passwords using a GUI
15557 was welcomed, too. Being able to do administrative tasks using a GUI
15558 and to easily set up workstations using PXE was of very high value for
15559 the admin teachers.</p>
15560
15561 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15562 Edu?</strong></p>
15563
15564 <p>It's open source, easy to set up, stable and flexible due to it's
15565 Debian base. It integrates LTSP out-of-the-box. And it is documented!
15566 So it was a perfect choice.</p>
15567
15568 <p>Being open source, there are no license problems and so it's
15569 possible to point teachers and students to programs like
15570 OpenOffice.org, ViewYourMind (mind mapping) and The Gimp.  It's of
15571 high value to be able to adapt parts of the system to special needs of
15572 a school and to choose where to get support for this.</p>
15573
15574 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15575 Edu?</strong></p>
15576
15577 <p>Nothing yet.</p>
15578
15579 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
15580
15581 <p>At home (Debian Sid with Gnome Desktop): Iceweasel, LibreOffice,
15582 Mutt, Gedit, Document Viewer, Midnight Commander, flpsed (PDF
15583 Annotator).  At school (Skolelinux Lenny): Iceweasel, Gedit,
15584 LibreOffice.</p>
15585
15586 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
15587 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
15588
15589 <p>Some time ago I thought it was enough to tell people about it. But
15590 that doesn't seem to work quite well. Now I concentrate on those more
15591 interested and hope to get multiplicators that way.</p>
15592
15593       </div>
15594       <div class="tags">
15595
15596
15597         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
15598
15599
15600       </div>
15601     </div>
15602     <div class="padding"></div>
15603
15604     <div class="entry">
15605       <div class="title">
15606         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_screencast__Checking_email_with_kmail_using_Kerberos_authentication.html">Debian Edu screencast: Checking email with kmail using Kerberos authentication</a>
15607       </div>
15608       <div class="date">
15609         25th March 2012
15610       </div>
15611       <div class="body">
15612         <!-- Video HTML based on http://www.diveintohtml5.net/video.html -->
15613
15614 <p>The same Debian Edu developer that did the last screen cast I
15615 published, Wolfgang Schweer, has created a new screen cast showing how
15616 to set up Kmail in Debian Edu Squeze to authenticate using Kerberos,
15617 allowing users to check their local email account without providing
15618 any password. The video is embedded here in quarter size,
15619 and also available from <a href="https://vimeo.com/38601767">vimeo</a>
15620 and download as a
15621 <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-03-14-Debian-Edu_Configure_Kmail_for_internal_usage.ogv">Ogg
15622 Theora</a> file.  Check it out below.</p>
15623
15624 <p><video id="kmail-kerberos-movie" width="256" height="184" preload controls>
15625   <source src="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-03-14-Debian-Edu_Configure_Kmail_for_internal_usage.ogv" type='video/ogg; codecs="theora, vorbis"' />
15626     <p>Download video as
15627       <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-03-14-Debian-Edu_Configure_Kmail_for_internal_usage.ogv">Ogg</a>.</p>
15628 </video></p>
15629
15630       </div>
15631       <div class="tags">
15632
15633
15634         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
15635
15636
15637       </div>
15638     </div>
15639     <div class="padding"></div>
15640
15641     <div class="entry">
15642       <div class="title">
15643         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__John_Ingleby.html">Debian Edu interview: John Ingleby</a>
15644       </div>
15645       <div class="date">
15646         19th March 2012
15647       </div>
15648       <div class="body">
15649         <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>
15650 users are spread all across the globe.  The second inteview after
15651 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/03/msg00001.html">the
15652 Squeeze release</a> was publised is with John Ingleby, a teacher and
15653 long time Linux user in United Kingdom.</p>
15654
15655 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
15656
15657 <p>I teach ICT part time at the Rudolf Steiner School in Kings
15658 Langley, near London, UK. Previously I worked as a technical
15659 author/trainer while my children attended the school, and I also
15660 contributed to the Schoolforge UK community with the aim of
15661 encouraging UK schools to adopt free/open source software. Five or six
15662 years ago we had about 50 schools interested in some way, but we
15663 weren't able to convert many of them into sustainable
15664 installations.</p>
15665
15666 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
15667 project?</strong></p>
15668
15669 <p>Skolelinux had two representatives at an early Edubuntu meeting in
15670 London which I attended. However at that time our school network had
15671 just been installed using CentOS, LTSP 4 and GNOME. When LTSP 5 came
15672 along we switched to Edubuntu thin client servers so now we have a
15673 mixed environment which includes Windows PCs and student laptops, as
15674 well as their MacBooks and iPads. However, the proprietary systems
15675 have always been rather problematic, and we never built a GUI for the
15676 LDAP server, so when I discovered Skolelinux is configured for all
15677 these things we decided to try it.</p>
15678
15679 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15680 Edu?</strong></p>
15681
15682 <p>By far the biggest advantage is the Debian Edu community. Apart
15683 from that I have always believed in the same "sustainable computing"
15684 goals that Skolelinux is built on: installing Linux on computers which
15685 would otherwise be thrown away, to provide a reliable, secure and
15686 low-cost IT environment for schools. From my own experience I know
15687 that a part-time person can teach and manage a network of about 25
15688 Linux computers, but it would take much more of my time if we had
15689 proprietary software everywhere.</p>
15690
15691 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15692 Edu?</strong></p>
15693
15694 <p>As a newcomer I'm just finding out who's who in the community and
15695 how you're organised, and what your procedures are for dealing with
15696 various things such as editing manual pages and so-on. The only
15697 English language mailing list seems to be for developers as well as
15698 users, so my inbox needs heavy pruning each day!</p>
15699
15700 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
15701
15702 <p>Besides the software already mentioned at school we use Samba,
15703 OpenLDAP, CUPS, Nagios and Dansguardian for the network, and on the
15704 desktops we have LibreOffice, Firefox, GIMP and Inkscape. At home I
15705 use Ubuntu and an Android 4 eePad Transformer (but I'm not sure if
15706 that counts...)</p>
15707
15708 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
15709 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
15710
15711 <p>That's a tough question! For very many years UK schools installed
15712 and taught only proprietary software, so that at the highest levels
15713 the notion of "computer" means simply "proprietary office
15714 applications".  However, schools today are experiencing budget
15715 constraints, and many are having to think hard about upgrading Windows
15716 XP.  At the same time, we have students showing teachers how to use
15717 iPads, MacBooks and Android, so the choice of operating system is no
15718 longer quite so automatic. What is more, our government at last
15719 realised that we need people with programming skills, so they're
15720 putting coding back in the curriculum! And it's encouraging that the
15721 first 10,000 Raspberry Pi units sold out in 2 hours.</p>
15722
15723 <p>I don't really know what strategy is going to get UK schools to use
15724 free software, but building an active community of Skolelinux/Debian
15725 Edu users in this country has to be part of it.</p>
15726
15727       </div>
15728       <div class="tags">
15729
15730
15731         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
15732
15733
15734       </div>
15735     </div>
15736     <div class="padding"></div>
15737
15738     <div class="entry">
15739       <div class="title">
15740         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Writing_and_translating_documentation_in_Debian_Edu.html">Writing and translating documentation in Debian Edu</a>
15741       </div>
15742       <div class="date">
15743         16th March 2012
15744       </div>
15745       <div class="body">
15746         <p>Documentation in Debian Edu is provided in several languages, and
15747 it is important to make it both easy to contribute and to keep the
15748 translated versions in sync.  To do this we have come up with what we
15749 believe is a very efficient work flow.</p>
15750
15751 <ol>
15752
15753 <li>The documentation is written in a
15754 <a href="http://moinmo.in">moinmoin wiki</a> (see for example
15755 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze">the
15756 Squeeze release manual</a>) with support for exporting the content as
15757 docbook XML.</li>
15758
15759 <li>This docbook document is given to po4a to extract a gettext style
15760 .pot file with the content, which in turn is used to create .po files
15761 with the translated text.</li>
15762
15763 <li>The .po files are given to translators, and they can always tell
15764 which part of the original wiki document is new or changed.  They can
15765 use their normal translation tools like lokalize or poedit to write
15766 the translation.  There is even a system in place to handle translated
15767 images.</li>
15768
15769 <li>The translated .po files are combined with the original docbook
15770 XML document using po4a to create a translated docbook document.</li>
15771
15772 <li>The final step is to use all the generated docbook files and
15773 create PDF and HTML version of the original and translated documents.</li>
15774
15775 </ol>
15776
15777 <p>This setup work very well, but have a few issues.  The biggest
15778 issue is that <a href="http://moinmo.in/DocBook">the docbook support
15779 we use in moinmoin</a> is not actively maintained.  The docbook
15780 support is also buggy, and our build system contain workarounds to
15781 make sure the generated docbook is usable despite these bugs.</p>
15782
15783 <p>If you want to have a look at our setup, it is all there in the
15784 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/debian-edu-doc">debian-edu-doc
15785 package</a>.</p>
15786
15787       </div>
15788       <div class="tags">
15789
15790
15791         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
15792
15793
15794       </div>
15795     </div>
15796     <div class="padding"></div>
15797
15798     <div class="entry">
15799       <div class="title">
15800         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux___Debian_Edu_Squeeze_is_out_.html">Skolelinux / Debian Edu Squeeze is out!</a>
15801       </div>
15802       <div class="date">
15803         11th March 2012
15804       </div>
15805       <div class="body">
15806         <p>This weekend we finally published the first stable release of
15807 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux / Debian Edu</a> based
15808 on Debian/Squeeze.  The full announcement is
15809 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/03/msg00001.html">available</a>
15810 from the project announcement list.  Now is a good time to test if it
15811 you have not done so already.</p>
15812
15813 <p>I plan to present the new version at
15814 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20120313-skolelinux/">a NUUG
15815 meeting</a> on tuesday.  I look forward to seeing you there if you are
15816 in Oslo, Norway.</p>
15817
15818       </div>
15819       <div class="tags">
15820
15821
15822         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
15823
15824
15825       </div>
15826     </div>
15827     <div class="padding"></div>
15828
15829     <div class="entry">
15830       <div class="title">
15831         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Nigel_Barker.html">Debian Edu interview: Nigel Barker</a>
15832       </div>
15833       <div class="date">
15834          9th March 2012
15835       </div>
15836       <div class="body">
15837         <p>Inspired by <a href="http://raphaelhertzog.com/tag/interview/">the
15838 interview series</a> conducted by Raphael, I started a Norwegian
15839 interview series with people involved in the Debian Edu / Skolelinux
15840 community.  This was so popular that I believe it is time to move to a
15841 more international audience.</p>
15842
15843 <p>While <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and
15844 Skolelinux</a> originated in France and Norway, and have most users in
15845 Europe, there are users all around the globe.  One of those far away
15846 from me is Nigel Barker, a long time Debian Edu system administrator
15847 and contributor.  It is thanks to him that Debian Edu is adjusted to
15848 work out of the box in Japan.  I got him to answer a few questions,
15849 and am happy to share the response with you. :)
15850
15851
15852 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
15853
15854 <p>My name is Nigel Barker, and I am British. I am married to Yumiko,
15855 and we have three lovely children, aged 15, 14 and 4(!) I am the IT
15856 Coordinator at Hiroshima International School, Japan. I am also a
15857 teacher, and in fact I spend most of my day teaching Mathematics,
15858 Science, IT, and Chemistry. I was originally a Chemistry teacher, but
15859 I have always had an interest in computers. Another teacher teaches
15860 primary school IT, but apart from that I am the only computer person,
15861 so that means I am the network manager, technician and webmaster,
15862 also, and I help people with their computer problems. I teach python
15863 to beginners in an after-school club. I am way too busy, so I really
15864 appreciate the simplicity of Skolelinux.</p>
15865
15866 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
15867 project?</strong></p>
15868
15869 <p>In around 2004 or 5 I discovered the ltsp project, and set up a
15870 server in the IT lab. I wanted some way to connect it to our central
15871 samba server, which I was also quite poor at configuring. I discovered
15872 Edubuntu when it came out, but it didn't really improve my setup. I
15873 did various desperate searches for things like "school Linux server"
15874 and ended up in a document called "Drift" something or other. Reading
15875 there it became clear that Skolelinux was going to solve all my
15876 problems in one go. I was very excited, but apprehensive, because my
15877 previous attempts to install Debian had ended in failure (I used
15878 Mandrake for everything - ltsp, samba, apache, mail, ns...). I
15879 downloaded a beta version, had some problems, so subscribed to the
15880 Debian Edu list for help. I have remained subscribed ever since, and
15881 my school has run a Skolelinux network since Sarge.</p>
15882
15883 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15884 Edu?</strong></p>
15885
15886 <p>For me the integrated setup. This is not just the server, or the
15887 workstation, or the ltsp. Its all of them, and its all configured
15888 ready to go. I read somewhere in the early documentation that it is
15889 designed to be setup and managed by the Maths or Science teacher, who
15890 doesn't necessarily know much about computers, in a small Norwegian
15891 school. That describes me perfectly if you replace Norway with
15892 Japan.</p>
15893
15894 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
15895 Edu?</strong></p>
15896
15897 <p>The desktop is fairly plain. If you compare it with Edubuntu, who
15898 have fun themes for children, or with distributions such as Mint, who
15899 make the desktop beautiful. They create a good impression on people
15900 who don't need to understand how to use any of it, but who might be
15901 important to the school. School administrators or directors, for
15902 instance, or parents. Even kids. Debian itself usually has ugly
15903 default theme settings. It was my dream a few years back that some
15904 kind of integration would allow Edubuntu to do the desktop stuff and
15905 Debian Edu the servers, but now I realise how impossible that is.  A
15906 second disadvantage is that if something goes wrong, or you need to
15907 customise something, then suddenly the level of expertise required
15908 multiplies. For example, backup wasn't working properly in Lenny. It
15909 took me ages to learn how to set up my own server to do rsync backups.
15910 I am afraid of anything to do with ldap, but perhaps Gosa will
15911 help.</p>
15912
15913 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
15914
15915 <p>Nowadays I only use Debian on my personal computers. I have one for
15916 studio work (I play guitar and write songs), running AV Linux
15917 (customised Debian) a netbook running Squeeze, and a bigger laptop
15918 still running Skolelinux Lenny workstation. I have a Tjener in my
15919 house, that's very useful for the family photos and music.  At school
15920 the students only use Skolelinux. (Some teachers and the office still
15921 have windows). So that means we only use free software all day every
15922 day. Open office, The GIMP, Firefox/Iceweasel, VLC and Audacity are
15923 installed on every computer in school, irrespective of OS.  We also
15924 have Koha on Debian for the library, and Apache, Moodle, b2evolution
15925 and Etomite on Debian for the www. The firewall is Untangle.</p>
15926
15927 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
15928 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
15929
15930 <p>Current trends are in our favour. Open source is big in industry,
15931 and ordinary people have heard of it. The spread of Android and the
15932 popularity of Apple have helped to weaken the impression that you have
15933 to have Microsoft on everything. People complain to me much less about
15934 file formats and Word than they did 5 years ago.  The Edu aspect is
15935 also a selling point. This is all customised for schools. Where is the
15936 Windows-edu, or the Mac-edu?  But of course the main attraction is
15937 budget.The trick is to convince people that the quality is not
15938 compromised when you stop paying and use free software instead. That
15939 is one reason why I say the desktop experience is a weakness. People
15940 are not impressed when their USB drive doesn't work, or their browser
15941 doesn't play flash, for example.</p>
15942
15943       </div>
15944       <div class="tags">
15945
15946
15947         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju</a>.
15948
15949
15950       </div>
15951     </div>
15952     <div class="padding"></div>
15953
15954     <div class="entry">
15955       <div class="title">
15956         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_screencast__Mass_creation_of_user_accounts_in_Squeeze.html">Debian Edu screencast: Mass creation of user accounts in Squeeze</a>
15957       </div>
15958       <div class="date">
15959          7th March 2012
15960       </div>
15961       <div class="body">
15962         <!-- Video HTML based on http://www.diveintohtml5.net/video.html -->
15963
15964 <p>One of the Debian Edu developers, Wolfgang Schweer, just created a
15965 screen cast documenting how to create a lot of new users in LDAP on
15966 Debian Edu Squeeze.  The video is embedded here in quarter size, and
15967 also available from <a href="http://vimeo.com/37675399">vimeo</a> and
15968 download as a
15969 <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-02-29-debian_edu_mass_create_user_accounts.ogv">Ogg
15970 Theora</a> file.  Check it out below.</p>
15971
15972 <p><video id="gosa-mass-user-create-movie" width="256" height="184" preload controls>
15973   <source src="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-02-29-debian_edu_mass_create_user_accounts.ogv" type='video/ogg; codecs="theora, vorbis"' />
15974     <p>Download video as
15975       <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-02-29-debian_edu_mass_create_user_accounts.ogv">Ogg</a>.</p>
15976 </video></p>
15977
15978       </div>
15979       <div class="tags">
15980
15981
15982         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
15983
15984
15985       </div>
15986     </div>
15987     <div class="padding"></div>
15988
15989     <div class="entry">
15990       <div class="title">
15991         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_release_candidate_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Squeeze.html">Third release candidate of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Squeeze</a>
15992       </div>
15993       <div class="date">
15994          4th March 2012
15995       </div>
15996       <div class="body">
15997         <p>This weekend we wrapped up and published the third release
15998 candidate for <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
15999 Skolelinux</a> based on Squeeze.  The full announcement is
16000 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/03/msg00000.html">available</a>
16001 from the project announcement list.  Check it out if you
16002 need a software solution for your school.</p>
16003
16004       </div>
16005       <div class="tags">
16006
16007
16008         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16009
16010
16011       </div>
16012     </div>
16013     <div class="padding"></div>
16014
16015     <div class="entry">
16016       <div class="title">
16017         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Stopmotion_for_making_stop_motion_animations_on_Linux___reloaded.html">Stopmotion for making stop motion animations on Linux - reloaded</a>
16018       </div>
16019       <div class="date">
16020          3rd March 2012
16021       </div>
16022       <div class="body">
16023         <p>Many years ago, the <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux
16024 / Debian Edu project</a> initiated a student project to create a tool
16025 for making stop motion movies.  The proposal came from a teacher
16026 needing such tool on Skolelinux.  The project, called "stopmotion",
16027 was manned by two extraordinary students and won a school award and a
16028 national aware with this great project.  The project was initiated and
16029 mentored by Herman Robak, and manned by the students Bjørn Erik Nilsen
16030 and Fredrik Berg Kjølstad.  They got in touch with people at Aardman
16031 Animation studio and received feedback on how professionals would like
16032 such stopmotion tool to work, and the end result was and is used by
16033 animators around the globe.  But as is usual after studying, both got
16034 jobs and went elsewhere, and did not have time to properly tend to the
16035 project, and it has been lingering for a few years now.  Until last
16036 year...</p>
16037
16038 <p>Last year some of the users got together with Herman, and moved the
16039 project to Sourceforge and in effect restarted the project under a new
16040 name,
16041 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxstopmotion/">linuxstopmotion</a>.
16042 The name change was done to make it possible to find the project using
16043 Internet search engines (try to search for 'stopmotion' to see what I
16044 mean). I've been following
16045 <a href="https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/linuxstopmotion-community">the
16046 mailing list</a> and the improvement already in place and planned for
16047 the future is encouraging.  If you want to make stop motion movies.
16048 Check it out. :)</p>
16049
16050       </div>
16051       <div class="tags">
16052
16053
16054         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
16055
16056
16057       </div>
16058     </div>
16059     <div class="padding"></div>
16060
16061     <div class="entry">
16062       <div class="title">
16063         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Second_release_candidate_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Squeeze.html">Second release candidate of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Squeeze</a>
16064       </div>
16065       <div class="date">
16066         27th February 2012
16067       </div>
16068       <div class="body">
16069         <p>This weekend we wrapped up and published the second release
16070 candidate for <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
16071 Skolelinux</a> based on Squeeze.  The full announcement did for some
16072 reason not make it the project announcement list, but is
16073 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2012/02/msg00015.html">available</a>
16074 from the Debian development announcement list.  Check it out if you
16075 need a software solution for your school.</p>
16076
16077       </div>
16078       <div class="tags">
16079
16080
16081         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16082
16083
16084       </div>
16085     </div>
16086     <div class="padding"></div>
16087
16088     <div class="entry">
16089       <div class="title">
16090         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_release_candidate_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Squeeze.html">First release candidate of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Squeeze</a>
16091       </div>
16092       <div class="date">
16093         19th February 2012
16094       </div>
16095       <div class="body">
16096         <p>One week delayed due to DVD build problems, we managed today to
16097 wrap up and publish the first release candidate for
16098 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> based
16099 on Squeeze.  The full announcement is
16100 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/02/msg00001.html">available</a>
16101 on the project announcement list.  Check it out if you need a software
16102 solution for your school.</p>
16103
16104       </div>
16105       <div class="tags">
16106
16107
16108         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16109
16110
16111       </div>
16112     </div>
16113     <div class="padding"></div>
16114
16115     <div class="entry">
16116       <div class="title">
16117         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_figure_out_which_RAID_disk_to_replace_when_it_fail.html">How to figure out which RAID disk to replace when it fail</a>
16118       </div>
16119       <div class="date">
16120         14th February 2012
16121       </div>
16122       <div class="body">
16123         <p>Once in a while my home server have disk problems.  Thanks to Linux
16124 Software RAID, I have not lost data yet (but
16125 <a href="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.linux.raid/34532">I was
16126 close</a> this summer :).  But once a disk is starting to behave
16127 funny, a practical problem present itself.  How to get from the Linux
16128 device name (like /dev/sdd) to something that can be used to identify
16129 the disk when the computer is turned off?  In my case I have SATA
16130 disks with a unique ID printed on the label.  All I need is a way to
16131 figure out how to query the disk to get the ID out.</p>
16132
16133 <p>After fumbling a bit, I
16134 <a href="http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-getting-scsi-ide-harddisk-information/">found
16135 that hdparm -I</a> will report the disk serial number, which is
16136 printed on the disk label.  The following (almost) one-liner can be
16137 used to look up the ID of all the failed disks:</p>
16138
16139 <blockquote><pre>
16140 for d in $(cat /proc/mdstat |grep '(F)'|tr ' ' "\n"|grep '(F)'|cut -d\[ -f1|sort -u);
16141 do
16142     printf "Failed disk $d: "
16143     hdparm -I /dev/$d |grep 'Serial Num'
16144 done
16145 </blockquote></pre>
16146
16147 <p>Putting it here to make sure I do not have to search for it the
16148 next time, and in case other find it useful.</p>
16149
16150 <p>At the moment I have two failing disk. :(</p>
16151
16152 <blockquote><pre>
16153 Failed disk sdd1:       Serial Number:      WD-WCASJ1860823
16154 Failed disk sdd2:       Serial Number:      WD-WCASJ1860823
16155 Failed disk sde2:       Serial Number:      WD-WCASJ1840589
16156 </blockquote></pre>
16157
16158 <p>The last time I had failing disks, I added the serial number on
16159 labels I printed and stuck on the short sides of each disk, to be able
16160 to figure out which disk to take out of the box without having to
16161 remove each disk to look at the physical vendor label.  The vendor
16162 label is at the top of the disk, which is hidden when the disks are
16163 mounted inside my box.</p>
16164
16165 <p>I really wish the check_linux_raid Nagios plugin for checking Linux
16166 Software RAID in the
16167 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/n/nagios-plugins.html">nagios-plugins-standard</a>
16168 debian package would look up this value automatically, as it would
16169 make the plugin a lot more useful when my disks fail.  At the moment
16170 it only report a failure when there are no more spares left (it really
16171 should warn as soon as a disk is failing), and it do not tell me which
16172 disk(s) is failing when the RAID is running short on disks.</p>
16173
16174       </div>
16175       <div class="tags">
16176
16177
16178         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/raid">raid</a>.
16179
16180
16181       </div>
16182     </div>
16183     <div class="padding"></div>
16184
16185     <div class="entry">
16186       <div class="title">
16187         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_proxy_configuration_with_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux.html">Automatic proxy configuration with Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>
16188       </div>
16189       <div class="date">
16190         13th February 2012
16191       </div>
16192       <div class="body">
16193         <p>New in the Squeeze version of
16194 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> is the
16195 ability for clients to automatically configure their proxy settings
16196 based on their environment.  We want all systems on the client to use
16197 the WPAD based proxy definition fetched from <tt>http://wpad/wpad.dat</tt>, to
16198 allow sites to control the proxy setting from a central place and make
16199 sure clients do not have hard coded proxy settings.  The schools can
16200 change the global proxy setting by editing
16201 <tt>tjener:/etc/debian-edu/www/wpad.dat</tt> and the change propagate
16202 to all Debian Edu clients in the network.</p>
16203
16204 <p>The problem is that some systems do not understand the WPAD system.
16205 In other words, how do one get from a WPAD file like this (this is a
16206 simple one, they can run arbitrary code):</p>
16207
16208 <blockquote><pre>
16209 function FindProxyForURL(url, host)
16210 {
16211    if (!isResolvable(host) ||
16212        isPlainHostName(host) ||
16213        dnsDomainIs(host, ".intern"))
16214       return "DIRECT";
16215    else
16216       return "PROXY webcache:3128; DIRECT";
16217 }
16218 </pre></blockquote>
16219
16220 <p>to a proxy setting in the process environment looking like this:</p>
16221
16222 <blockquote><pre>
16223 http_proxy=http://webcache:3128/
16224 ftp_proxy=http://webcache:3128/
16225 </pre></blockquote>
16226
16227 <p>To do this conversion I developed a perl script that will execute
16228 the javascript fragment in the WPAD file and return the proxy that
16229 would be used for
16230 <tt><a href="http://www.debian.org/">http://www.debian.org/</a></tt>,
16231 and insert this extracted proxy URL in <tt>/etc/environment</tt> and
16232 <tt>/etc/apt/apt.conf</tt>.  The perl script wpad-extract work just
16233 fine in Squeeze, but in Wheezy the library it need to run the
16234 javascript code is <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/631045">no longer
16235 able to build</a> because the C library it depended on is now a C++
16236 library.  I hope someone find a solution to that problem before Wheezy
16237 is frozen.  An alternative would be for us to rewrite wpad-extract to
16238 use some other javascript library currently working in Wheezy, but no
16239 known alternative is known at the moment.</p>
16240
16241 <p>This automatic proxy system allow the roaming workstation (aka
16242 laptop) setup in Debian Edu/Squeeze to use the proxy when the laptop
16243 is connected to the backbone network in a Debian Edu setup, and to
16244 automatically use any proxy present and announced using the WPAD
16245 feature when it is connected to other networks.  And if no proxy is
16246 announced, direct connections will be used instead.</p>
16247
16248 <p>Silently using a proxy announced on the network might be a privacy
16249 or security problem.  But those controlling DHCP and DNS on a network
16250 could just as easily set up a transparent proxy, and force all HTTP
16251 and FTP connections to use a proxy anyway, so I consider that
16252 distinction to be academic.  If you are afraid of using the wrong
16253 proxy, you should avoid connecting to the network in question in the
16254 first place.  In Debian Edu, the proxy setup is updated using dhcp and
16255 ifupdown hooks, to make sure the configuration is updated every time
16256 the network setup changes.</p>
16257
16258 <p>The WPAD system is documented in a
16259 <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-wrec-wpad-01">IETF
16260 draft</a> and a
16261 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Proxy_Autodiscovery_Protocol">Wikipedia
16262 page</a> for those that want to learn more.</p>
16263
16264       </div>
16265       <div class="tags">
16266
16267
16268         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16269
16270
16271       </div>
16272     </div>
16273     <div class="padding"></div>
16274
16275     <div class="entry">
16276       <div class="title">
16277         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Saving_power_with_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_using_shutdown_at_night.html">Saving power with Debian Edu / Skolelinux using shutdown-at-night</a>
16278       </div>
16279       <div class="date">
16280          5th February 2012
16281       </div>
16282       <div class="body">
16283         <p>Since the Lenny version of
16284 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>, a
16285 feature to save power have been included.  It is as simple as it is
16286 practical: Shut down unused clients at night, and turn them on again
16287 in the morning.  This is done using the
16288 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/shutdown-at-night.html">shutdown-at-night</a> Debian package.</p>
16289
16290 <p>To enable this feature on a client, the machine need to be added to
16291 the netgroup shutdown-at-night-hosts.  For Debian Edu, this is done in
16292 LDAP, and once this is in place, the machine in question will check
16293 every hour from 16:00 until 06:00 to see if the machine is unused, and
16294 shut it down if it is.  If the hardware in question is supported by
16295 the
16296 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/n/nvram-wakeup.html">nvram-wakeup</a>
16297 package, the BIOS is told to turn the machine back on around 07:00 +-
16298 10 minutes.  If this isn't working, one can configure wake-on-lan to
16299 try to turn on the client.  The wake-on-lan option is only documented
16300 and not enabled by default in Debian Edu.</p>
16301
16302 <p>It is important to not turn all machines on at once, as this can
16303 blow a fuse if several computers are connected to the same fuse like
16304 the common setup for a classroom.  The nvram-wakeup method only work
16305 for machines with a functioning hardware/BIOS clock.  I've seen old
16306 machines where the BIOS battery were dead and the hardware clock were
16307 starting from 0 (or was it 1990?) every boot.  If you have one of
16308 those, you have to turn on the computer manually.</p>
16309
16310 <p>The shutdown-at-night package is completely self contained, and can
16311 also be used outside the Debian Edu environment.  For those without a
16312 central LDAP server with netgroups, one can instead touch the file
16313 <tt>/etc/shutdown-at-night/shutdown-at-night</tt> to enable it.
16314 Perhaps you too can use it to save some power?</p>
16315
16316       </div>
16317       <div class="tags">
16318
16319
16320         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16321
16322
16323       </div>
16324     </div>
16325     <div class="padding"></div>
16326
16327     <div class="entry">
16328       <div class="title">
16329         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_beta_version_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Squeeze.html">Third beta version of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Squeeze</a>
16330       </div>
16331       <div class="date">
16332          4th February 2012
16333       </div>
16334       <div class="body">
16335         <p>I am happy to announce that finally we managed today to wrap up and
16336 publish the third beta version of
16337 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> based
16338 on Squeeze.  If you want to test a LDAP backed Kerberos server with
16339 out of the box PXE configuration for running diskless machines and
16340 installing new machines, check it out.  If you need a software
16341 solution for your school, check it out too.  The full announcement is
16342 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/02/msg00000.html">available</a>
16343 on the project announcement list.</p>
16344
16345 <p>I am very happy to report these changes and improvements since
16346 beta2 (there are more, see announcement for full list):</p>
16347
16348 <ul>
16349
16350 <li>It is now possible to change the pre-configured IP subnet from
16351   10.0.0.0/8 to something else by using the subnet-change tool after
16352   the installation.</li>
16353
16354 <li>Too full partitions are now automatically extended on the Main
16355   Server, based on the rules specified in /etc/fsautoresizetab.</li>
16356
16357 <li>The CUPS queues are now automatically flushed every night, and all
16358   disabled queues are restarted every hour.  This should cut down on
16359   the amount of manual administration needed for printers.</li>
16360
16361 <li>The set of initial users have been changed.  Now a personal user
16362   for the local system administrator is created during installation
16363   instead of the previously created localadmin and super-admin users,
16364   and this user is granted administrative privileges using group
16365   membership.  This reduces the number of passwords one need to keep
16366   up to date on the system.</li>
16367
16368 </ul>
16369
16370 <p>The new main server seem to work so well that I am testing it as my
16371 private DNS/LDAP/Kerberos/PXE/LTSP server at home.  I will use it look
16372 for issues we could fix to polish Debian Edu even further before the
16373 final Squeeze release is published.</p>
16374
16375 <p>Next weekend the project organise a
16376 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/01/msg00001.html">developer
16377 gathering</a> in Oslo.  We will continue the work on the Squeeze
16378 version, and start initial planning for the Wheezy version.  Perhaps I
16379 will see you there?</p>
16380
16381       </div>
16382       <div class="tags">
16383
16384
16385         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16386
16387
16388       </div>
16389     </div>
16390     <div class="padding"></div>
16391
16392     <div class="entry">
16393       <div class="title">
16394         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Handling_non_free_firmware_in_Debian_Edu_Squeeze.html">Handling non-free firmware in Debian Edu/Squeeze</a>
16395       </div>
16396       <div class="date">
16397         27th January 2012
16398       </div>
16399       <div class="body">
16400         <p>With some computer hardware, one need non-free firmware blobs.
16401 This is the sad fact of todays computers.  In the next version of
16402 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> based
16403 on Squeeze, we provide several scripts and modifications to make
16404 firmware blobs easier to handle.  The common use case I run into is a
16405 laptop with a wireless network card requiring non-free firmware to
16406 work, but there are other use cases as well.</p>
16407
16408 <p>First and foremost, Debian Edu provide ISO images for DVD and CD
16409 with all firmware packages in the Debian sections main and non-free
16410 included, to ensure debian-installer find and can install all of them
16411 during installation.  This take care firmware for network devices used
16412 by the installer when installing from from local media.  But for
16413 example multimedia devices are not activated in the installer and are
16414 not taken care of by this.</p>
16415
16416 <p>For non-network devices, we provide the script
16417 <tt>/usr/share/debian-edu-config/tools/auto-addfirmware</tt> which
16418 search through the <tt>dmesg</tt> output for drivers requesting extra
16419 firmware.  The firmware file name is looked up in the Contents-ARCH.gz
16420 file available in the package repository, and the packages providing
16421 the requested firmware file(s) is installed.  I have proposed to do
16422 something similar in debian-installer (BTS report
16423 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/655507">#655507</a>), to allow PXE
16424 installs of Debian to handle firmware installation better.  Run the
16425 script as root from the command line to fetch and install the needed
16426 firmware packages.</p>
16427
16428 <p>Debian Edu provide PXE installation of Debian out of the box, and
16429 because some machines need firmware to get their network cards
16430 working, the installation initrd some times need extra firmware
16431 included to be able to install at all.  To fill the PXE installation
16432 initrd with extra firmware, the
16433 <tt>/usr/share/debian-edu-config/tools/pxe-addfirmware</tt> script is
16434 provided.  Again, just run it as root on the command line to fill the
16435 PXE initrd with firmware packages.</p>
16436
16437 <p>Last, some LTSP clients might also need firmware to get their
16438 network cards working.  For this,
16439 <tt>/usr/share/debian-edu-config/tools/ltsp-addfirmware</tt> is
16440 provided to update the LTSP initrd with firmware blobs.  It is used
16441 the same way as the other firmware related tools.</p>
16442
16443 <p>At the moment, we do not run any of these during installation.  We
16444 do not know if this is acceptable for the local administrator to use
16445 non-free software, and it is their choice.</p>
16446
16447 <p>We plan to release beta3 this weekend.  You might want to give it a
16448 try.</p>
16449
16450       </div>
16451       <div class="tags">
16452
16453
16454         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16455
16456
16457       </div>
16458     </div>
16459     <div class="padding"></div>
16460
16461     <div class="entry">
16462       <div class="title">
16463         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Setting_up_a_new_school_with_Debian_Edu_Squeeze.html">Setting up a new school with Debian Edu/Squeeze</a>
16464       </div>
16465       <div class="date">
16466         25th January 2012
16467       </div>
16468       <div class="body">
16469         <p>The next version of <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu
16470 / Skolelinux</a> will include a new tool
16471 <tt>sitesummary2ldapdhcp</tt>, which can be used to quickly set up all
16472 the computers in a school without much manual labour.  Here is a short
16473 summary on how to use it to set up a new school.</p>
16474
16475 <p>First, install a combined Main Server and Thin Client Server as the
16476 central server in the network.  Next, PXE boot all the client machines
16477 as thin clients and wait 5 minutes after the last client booted to
16478 allow the clients to report their existence to the central server.  When
16479 this is done, log on to the central server and run
16480 <tt>sitesummary2ldapdhcp -a</tt> in the <tt>konsole</tt> to use the
16481 collected information to generate system objects in LDAP.  The output
16482 will look similar to this:</p>
16483
16484 <p><blockquote><pre>
16485 % sitesummary2ldapdhcp -a
16486 info: Updating machine tjener.intern [10.0.2.2] id ether-00:01:02:03:04:05.
16487 info: Create GOsa machine for auto-mac-00-01-02-03-04-06 [10.0.16.20] id ether-00:01:02:03:04:06.
16488
16489 Enter password if you want to activate these changes, and ^c to abort.
16490
16491 Connecting to LDAP as cn=admin,ou=ldap-access,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
16492 enter password: *******
16493 %
16494 </pre></blockquote></p>
16495
16496 <p>After providing the LDAP administrative password (the same as the
16497 root password set during installation), the LDAP database will be
16498 populated with system objects for each PXE booted machine with
16499 automatically generated names.  The final step to set up the school is
16500 then to log into <a href="https://oss.gonicus.de/labs/gosa/">GOsa</a>,
16501 the web based user, group and system administration system to change
16502 system names, add systems to the correct host groups and finally
16503 enable DHCP and DNS for the systems.  All clients that should be used
16504 as diskless workstations should be added to the workstation-hosts
16505 group.  After this is done, all computers can be booted again via PXE
16506 and get their assigned names and group based configuration
16507 automatically.</p>
16508
16509 <p>We plan to release beta3 with the updated version of this feature
16510 enabled this weekend.  You might want to give it a try.</p>
16511
16512 <p>Update 2012-01-28: When calling sitesummary2ldapdhcp to add new
16513 hosts, one need to add the option -a.  I forgot to mention this in my
16514 original text, and have added it to the text now.</p>
16515
16516       </div>
16517       <div class="tags">
16518
16519
16520         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary</a>.
16521
16522
16523       </div>
16524     </div>
16525     <div class="padding"></div>
16526
16527     <div class="entry">
16528       <div class="title">
16529         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Changing_the_default_Iceweasel_start_page_in_Debian_Edu_Squeeze.html">Changing the default Iceweasel start page in Debian Edu/Squeeze</a>
16530       </div>
16531       <div class="date">
16532         10th January 2012
16533       </div>
16534       <div class="body">
16535         <p>In the Squeeze version of
16536 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> soon
16537 to be released, users of the system will get their default browser
16538 start page set from LDAP, allowing the system administrator to point
16539 all users to the school web page by updating one setting in LDAP.  In
16540 addition to setting the default start page when a machine boots, users
16541 are shown the same page as a welcome page when they log in for the
16542 first time.</p>
16543
16544 <p>The LDAP object dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no have an attribute
16545 labeledURI with "http://www/ LDAP for Debian Edu/Skolelinux" as the
16546 default content.  By changing this value to another URL, all users get
16547 to see the page behind this new URL.</p>
16548
16549 <p>An easy way to update it is by using the ldapvi tool.  It can be
16550 called as "<tt>ldapvi -ZD '(cn=admin)'</tt>' to update LDAP with the
16551 new setting.</p>
16552
16553 <p>We have written the code to adjust the default start page and show
16554 the welcome page, and I wonder if there is an easier way to do this
16555 from within Iceweasel instead.</p>
16556
16557       </div>
16558       <div class="tags">
16559
16560
16561         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
16562
16563
16564       </div>
16565     </div>
16566     <div class="padding"></div>
16567
16568     <div class="entry">
16569       <div class="title">
16570         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Second_beta_version_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Squeeze.html">Second beta version of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Squeeze</a>
16571       </div>
16572       <div class="date">
16573          7th January 2012
16574       </div>
16575       <div class="body">
16576         <p>I am happy to announce that today we managed to wrap up and publish
16577 the second beta version of
16578 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>.  If
16579 you want to test a LDAP backed Kerberos server with out of the box PXE
16580 configuration for running diskless machines and installing new
16581 machines, check it out.  If you need a software solution for your
16582 school, check it out too.  The full announcement is
16583 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/01/msg00000.html">available</a>
16584 on the project announcement list.</p>
16585
16586       </div>
16587       <div class="tags">
16588
16589
16590         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16591
16592
16593       </div>
16594     </div>
16595     <div class="padding"></div>
16596
16597     <div class="entry">
16598       <div class="title">
16599         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fixing_an_hanging_debian_installer_for_Debian_Edu.html">Fixing an hanging debian installer for Debian Edu</a>
16600       </div>
16601       <div class="date">
16602          3rd January 2012
16603       </div>
16604       <div class="body">
16605         <p>During christmas, I have been working getting the next version of
16606 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> ready
16607 for release.  The initial problem I looked at was particularly
16608 interesting.</p>
16609
16610 <P>The installer would hang at the end when it was doing it
16611 post-installation configuration, and whatevery I did to try to find
16612 the cause and fix it always worked while I tested it, but never when I
16613 integrated it into the installer and ran the installation from
16614 scratch.  I would try to restart processes, close file descriptors,
16615 remove or create files, and the installer would always unblock and
16616 wrap up its tasks.</p>
16617
16618 <p>Eventually the cause was found.  The kernel was simply running out
16619 of entropy, causing the Kerberos setup to hang waiting for more.
16620 Pressing keys was adding entropy to the kernel, and thus all my tries
16621 to fix the problem worked not because what I was typing to fix it, but
16622 because I was typing.</P>
16623
16624 <p>The fix I implemented was to add a background process looking at
16625 the level of entropy in the kernel (by checking
16626 /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail), and if it was too small, the
16627 installer will flush the kernel file buffers and do 'find /' to
16628 generate some disk IO.  Disk IO generate entropy in the kernel, and is
16629 one of the few things that can be initated from within the system to
16630 generate entropy.</p>
16631
16632 <p>The fix is in
16633 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze/Installation">beta1
16634 of the Debian Edu/Squeeze</a> version, and we
16635 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu">welcome more testers and
16636 developers</a>.  We plan to release beta2 this weekend.</p>
16637
16638       </div>
16639       <div class="tags">
16640
16641
16642         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16643
16644
16645       </div>
16646     </div>
16647     <div class="padding"></div>
16648
16649     <div class="entry">
16650       <div class="title">
16651         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_upgrading_server_firmware_on_Dell_PowerEdge.html">Automatically upgrading server firmware on Dell PowerEdge</a>
16652       </div>
16653       <div class="date">
16654         21st November 2011
16655       </div>
16656       <div class="body">
16657         <p>At work we have heaps of servers.  I believe the total count is
16658 around 1000 at the moment.  To be able to get help from the vendors
16659 when something go wrong, we want to keep the firmware on the servers
16660 up to date.  If the firmware isn't the latest and greatest, the
16661 vendors typically refuse to start debugging any problems until the
16662 firmware is upgraded.  So before every reboot, we want to upgrade the
16663 firmware, and we would really like everyone handling servers at the
16664 university to do this themselves when they plan to reboot a machine.
16665 For that to happen we at the unix server admin group need to provide
16666 the tools to do so.</p>
16667
16668 <p>To make firmware upgrading easier, I am working on a script to
16669 fetch and install the latest firmware for the servers we got.  Most of
16670 our hardware are from Dell and HP, so I have focused on these servers
16671 so far.  This blog post is about the Dell part.</P>
16672
16673 <p>On the Dell FTP site I was lucky enough to find
16674 <a href="ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/catalog/Catalog.xml.gz">an XML file</a>
16675 with firmware information for all 11th generation servers, listing
16676 which firmware should be used on a given model and where on the FTP
16677 site I can find it.  Using a simple perl XML parser I can then
16678 download the shell scripts Dell provides to do firmware upgrades from
16679 within Linux and reboot when all the firmware is primed and ready to
16680 be activated on the first reboot.</p>
16681
16682 <p>This is the Dell related fragment of the perl code I am working on.
16683 Are there anyone working on similar tools for firmware upgrading all
16684 servers at a site?  Please get in touch and lets share resources.</p>
16685
16686 <p><pre>
16687 #!/usr/bin/perl
16688 use strict;
16689 use warnings;
16690 use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
16691 BEGIN {
16692     # Install needed RHEL packages if missing
16693     my %rhelmodules = (
16694         'XML::Simple' => 'perl-XML-Simple',
16695         );
16696     for my $module (keys %rhelmodules) {
16697         eval "use $module;";
16698         if ($@) {
16699             my $pkg = $rhelmodules{$module};
16700             system("yum install -y $pkg");
16701             eval "use $module;";
16702         }
16703     }
16704 }
16705 my $errorsto = 'pere@hungry.com';
16706
16707 upgrade_dell();
16708
16709 exit 0;
16710
16711 sub run_firmware_script {
16712     my ($opts, $script) = @_;
16713     unless ($script) {
16714         print STDERR "fail: missing script name\n";
16715         exit 1
16716     }
16717     print STDERR "Running $script\n\n";
16718
16719     if (0 == system("sh $script $opts")) { # FIXME correct exit code handling
16720         print STDERR "success: firmware script ran succcessfully\n";
16721     } else {
16722         print STDERR "fail: firmware script returned error\n";
16723     }
16724 }
16725
16726 sub run_firmware_scripts {
16727     my ($opts, @dirs) = @_;
16728     # Run firmware packages
16729     for my $dir (@dirs) {
16730         print STDERR "info: Running scripts in $dir\n";
16731         opendir(my $dh, $dir) or die "Unable to open directory $dir: $!";
16732         while (my $s = readdir $dh) {
16733             next if $s =~ m/^\.\.?/;
16734             run_firmware_script($opts, "$dir/$s");
16735         }
16736         closedir $dh;
16737     }
16738 }
16739
16740 sub download {
16741     my $url = shift;
16742     print STDERR "info: Downloading $url\n";
16743     system("wget --quiet \"$url\"");
16744 }
16745
16746 sub upgrade_dell {
16747     my @dirs;
16748     my $product = `dmidecode -s system-product-name`;
16749     chomp $product;
16750
16751     if ($product =~ m/PowerEdge/) {
16752
16753         # on RHEL, these pacakges are needed by the firwmare upgrade scripts
16754         system('yum install -y compat-libstdc++-33.i686 libstdc++.i686 libxml2.i686 procmail');
16755
16756         my $tmpdir = tempdir(
16757             CLEANUP => 1
16758             );
16759         chdir($tmpdir);
16760         fetch_dell_fw('catalog/Catalog.xml.gz');
16761         system('gunzip Catalog.xml.gz');
16762         my @paths = fetch_dell_fw_list('Catalog.xml');
16763         # -q is quiet, disabling interactivity and reducing console output
16764         my $fwopts = "-q";
16765         if (@paths) {
16766             for my $url (@paths) {
16767                 fetch_dell_fw($url);
16768             }
16769             run_firmware_scripts($fwopts, $tmpdir);
16770         } else {
16771             print STDERR "error: Unsupported Dell model '$product'.\n";
16772             print STDERR "error: Please report to $errorsto.\n";
16773         }
16774         chdir('/');
16775     } else {
16776         print STDERR "error: Unsupported Dell model '$product'.\n";
16777         print STDERR "error: Please report to $errorsto.\n";
16778     }
16779 }
16780
16781 sub fetch_dell_fw {
16782     my $path = shift;
16783     my $url = "ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/$path";
16784     download($url);
16785 }
16786
16787 # Using ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/catalog/Catalog.xml.gz, figure out which
16788 # firmware packages to download from Dell.  Only work for Linux
16789 # machines and 11th generation Dell servers.
16790 sub fetch_dell_fw_list {
16791     my $filename = shift;
16792
16793     my $product = `dmidecode -s system-product-name`;
16794     chomp $product;
16795     my ($mybrand, $mymodel) = split(/\s+/, $product);
16796
16797     print STDERR "Finding firmware bundles for $mybrand $mymodel\n";
16798
16799     my $xml = XMLin($filename);
16800     my @paths;
16801     for my $bundle (@{$xml->{SoftwareBundle}}) {
16802         my $brand = $bundle->{TargetSystems}->{Brand}->{Display}->{content};
16803         my $model = $bundle->{TargetSystems}->{Brand}->{Model}->{Display}->{content};
16804         my $oscode;
16805         if ("ARRAY" eq ref $bundle->{TargetOSes}->{OperatingSystem}) {
16806             $oscode = $bundle->{TargetOSes}->{OperatingSystem}[0]->{osCode};
16807         } else {
16808             $oscode = $bundle->{TargetOSes}->{OperatingSystem}->{osCode};
16809         }
16810         if ($mybrand eq $brand && $mymodel eq $model && "LIN" eq $oscode)
16811         {
16812             @paths = map { $_->{path} } @{$bundle->{Contents}->{Package}};
16813         }
16814     }
16815     for my $component (@{$xml->{SoftwareComponent}}) {
16816         my $componenttype = $component->{ComponentType}->{value};
16817
16818         # Drop application packages, only firmware and BIOS
16819         next if 'APAC' eq $componenttype;
16820
16821         my $cpath = $component->{path};
16822         for my $path (@paths) {
16823             if ($cpath =~ m%/$path$%) {
16824                 push(@paths, $cpath);
16825             }
16826         }
16827     }
16828     return @paths;
16829 }
16830 </pre>
16831
16832 <p>The code is only tested on RedHat Enterprise Linux, but I suspect
16833 it could work on other platforms with some tweaking.  Anyone know a
16834 index like Catalog.xml is available from HP for HP servers?  At the
16835 moment I maintain a similar list manually and it is quickly getting
16836 outdated.</p>
16837
16838       </div>
16839       <div class="tags">
16840
16841
16842         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
16843
16844
16845       </div>
16846     </div>
16847     <div class="padding"></div>
16848
16849     <div class="entry">
16850       <div class="title">
16851         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_e_book_kiosk_for_the_public_libraries_.html">Free e-book kiosk for the public libraries?</a>
16852       </div>
16853       <div class="date">
16854          7th October 2011
16855       </div>
16856       <div class="body">
16857         <p>Here in Norway the public libraries are debating with the
16858 publishing houses how to handle electronic books.  Surprisingly, the
16859 libraries seem to be willing to accept digital restriction mechanisms
16860 (DRM) on books and renting e-books with artificial scarcity from the
16861 publishing houses.  Time limited renting (2-3 years) is one proposed
16862 model, and only allowing X borrowers for each book is another.
16863 Personally I find it amazing that libraries are even considering such
16864 models.</p>
16865
16866 <p>Anyway, while reading <a href="http://boklaben.no/?p=220">part of
16867 this debate</a>, it occurred to me that someone should present a more
16868 sensible approach to the libraries, to allow its borrowers to get used
16869 to a better model.  The idea is simple:</p>
16870
16871 <p>Create a computer system for the libraries, either in the form of a
16872 Live DVD or a installable distribution, that provide a simple kiosk
16873 solution to hand out free e-books.  As a start, the books distributed
16874 by <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">Project Gutenberg</a> (about
16875 36,000 books), <a href="http://runeberg.org/">Project Runenberg</a>
16876 (1149 books) and <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/texts">The
16877 Internet Archive</a> (3,033,748 books) could be included, but any book
16878 where the copyright has expired or with a free licence could be
16879 distributed.</p>
16880
16881 <p>The computer system would make it easy to:</p>
16882
16883 <ul>
16884
16885 <li>Copy e-books into a USB stick, reading tablets, cell phones and
16886   other relevant equipment.</li>
16887
16888 <li>Show the books for reading on the the screen in the library.</li>
16889
16890 </ul>
16891
16892 <p>In addition to such kiosk solution, there should probably be a web
16893 site as well to allow people easy access to these books without
16894 visiting the library.  The site would be the distribution point for
16895 the kiosk systems, which would connect regularly to fetch any new
16896 books available.</p>
16897
16898 <p>Are there anyone working on a system like this?  I guess it would
16899 fit any library in the world, and not just the Norwegian public
16900 libraries. :)</p>
16901
16902       </div>
16903       <div class="tags">
16904
16905
16906         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>.
16907
16908
16909       </div>
16910     </div>
16911     <div class="padding"></div>
16912
16913     <div class="entry">
16914       <div class="title">
16915         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Ripping_problematic_DVDs_using_dvdbackup_and_genisoimage.html">Ripping problematic DVDs using dvdbackup and genisoimage</a>
16916       </div>
16917       <div class="date">
16918         17th September 2011
16919       </div>
16920       <div class="body">
16921         <p>For convenience, I want to store copies of all my DVDs on my file
16922 server.  It allow me to save shelf space flat while still having my
16923 movie collection easily available.  It also make it possible to let
16924 the kids see their favourite DVDs without wearing the physical copies
16925 down.  I prefer to store the DVDs as ISOs to keep the DVD menu and
16926 subtitle options intact.  It also ensure that the entire film is one
16927 file on the disk.  As this is for personal use, the ripping is
16928 perfectly legal here in Norway.</p>
16929
16930 <p>Normally I rip the DVDs using dd like this:</p>
16931
16932 <blockquote><pre>
16933 #!/bin/sh
16934 # apt-get install lsdvd
16935 title=$(lsdvd 2>/dev/null|awk '/Disc Title: / {print $3}')
16936 dd if=/dev/dvd of=/storage/dvds/$title.iso bs=1M
16937 </pre></blockquote>
16938
16939 <p>But some DVDs give a input/output error when I read it, and I have
16940 been looking for a better alternative.  I have no idea why this I/O
16941 error occur, but suspect my DVD drive, the Linux kernel driver or
16942 something fishy with the DVDs in question.  Or perhaps all three.</p>
16943
16944 <p>Anyway, I believe I found a solution today using dvdbackup and
16945 genisoimage.  This script gave me a working ISO for a problematic
16946 movie by first extracting the DVD file system and then re-packing it
16947 back as an ISO.
16948
16949 <blockquote><pre>
16950 #!/bin/sh
16951 # apt-get install lsdvd dvdbackup genisoimage
16952 set -e
16953 tmpdir=/storage/dvds/
16954 title=$(lsdvd 2>/dev/null|awk '/Disc Title: / {print $3}')
16955 dvdbackup -i /dev/dvd -M -o $tmpdir -n$title
16956 genisoimage -dvd-video -o $tmpdir/$title.iso $tmpdir/$title
16957 rm -rf $tmpdir/$title
16958 </pre></blockquote>
16959
16960 <p>Anyone know of a better way available in Debian/Squeeze?</p>
16961
16962 <p>Update 2011-09-18: I got a tip from Konstantin Khomoutov about the
16963 readom program from the wodim package.  It is specially written to
16964 read optical media, and is called like this: <tt>readom dev=/dev/dvd
16965 f=image.iso</tt>.  It got 6 GB along with the problematic Cars DVD
16966 before it failed, and failed right away with a Timmy Time DVD.</p>
16967
16968 <p>Next, I got a tip from Bastian Blank about
16969 <a href="http://bblank.thinkmo.de/blog/new-software-python-dvdvideo">his
16970 program python-dvdvideo</a>, which seem to be just what I am looking
16971 for.  Tested it with my problematic Timmy Time DVD, and it succeeded
16972 creating a ISO image.  The git source built and installed just fine in
16973 Squeeze, so I guess this will be my tool of choice in the future.</p>
16974
16975       </div>
16976       <div class="tags">
16977
16978
16979         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
16980
16981
16982       </div>
16983     </div>
16984     <div class="padding"></div>
16985
16986     <div class="entry">
16987       <div class="title">
16988         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_is_booting_into_runlevel_1_different_from_single_user_boots_.html">How is booting into runlevel 1 different from single user boots?</a>
16989       </div>
16990       <div class="date">
16991          4th August 2011
16992       </div>
16993       <div class="body">
16994         <p>Wouter Verhelst have some
16995 <a href="http://grep.be/blog/en/retorts/pere_kubuntu_boot">interesting
16996 comments and opinions</a> on my blog post on
16997 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_should_start_from__etc_rcS_d__in_Debian____almost_nothing.html">the
16998 need to clean up /etc/rcS.d/ in Debian</a> and my blog post about
16999 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_missing_in_the_Debian_desktop__or_why_my_parents_use_Kubuntu.html">the
17000 default KDE desktop in Debian</a>.  I only have time to address one
17001 small piece of his comment now, and though it best to address the
17002 misunderstanding he bring forward:</p>
17003
17004 <p><blockquote>
17005 Currently, a system admin has four options: [...] boot to a
17006 single-user system (by adding 'single' to the kernel command line;
17007 this runs rcS and rc1 scripts)
17008 </blockquote></p>
17009
17010 <p>This make me believe Wouter believe booting into single user mode
17011 and booting into runlevel 1 is the same.  I am not surprised he
17012 believe this, because it would make sense and is a quite sensible
17013 thing to believe.  But because the boot in Debian is slightly broken,
17014 runlevel 1 do not work properly and it isn't the same as single user
17015 mode.  I'll try to explain what is actually happing, but it is a bit
17016 hard to explain.</p>
17017
17018 <p>Single user mode is defined like this in /etc/inittab:
17019 "<tt>~~:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin</tt>".  This means the only thing that is
17020 executed in single user mode is sulogin.  Single user mode is a boot
17021 state "between" the runlevels, and when booting into single user mode,
17022 only the scripts in /etc/rcS.d/ are executed before the init process
17023 enters the single user state.  When switching to runlevel 1, the state
17024 is in fact not ending in runlevel 1, but it passes through runlevel 1
17025 and end up in the single user mode (see /etc/rc1.d/S03single, which
17026 runs "init -t1 S" to switch to single user mode at the end of runlevel
17027 1.  It is confusing that the 'S' (single user) init mode is not the
17028 mode enabled by /etc/rcS.d/ (which is more like the initial boot
17029 mode).</p>
17030
17031 <p>This summary might make it clearer.  When booting for the first
17032 time into single user mode, the following commands are executed:
17033 "<tt>/etc/init.d/rc S; /sbin/sulogin</tt>".  When booting into
17034 runlevel 1, the following commands are executed: "<tt>/etc/init.d/rc
17035 S; /etc/init.d/rc 1; /sbin/sulogin</tt>".  A problem show up when
17036 trying to continue after visiting single user mode.  Not all services
17037 are started again as they should, causing the machine to end up in an
17038 unpredicatble state.  This is why Debian admins recommend rebooting
17039 after visiting single user mode.</p>
17040
17041 <p>A similar problem with runlevel 1 is caused by the amount of
17042 scripts executed from /etc/rcS.d/.  When switching from say runlevel 2
17043 to runlevel 1, the services started from /etc/rcS.d/ are not properly
17044 stopped when passing through the scripts in /etc/rc1.d/, and not
17045 started again when switching away from runlevel 1 to the runlevels
17046 2-5.  I believe the problem is best fixed by moving all the scripts
17047 out of /etc/rcS.d/ that are not <strong>required</strong> to get a
17048 functioning single user mode during boot.</p>
17049
17050 <p>I have spent several years investigating the Debian boot system,
17051 and discovered this problem a few years ago.  I suspect it originates
17052 from when sysvinit was introduced into Debian, a long time ago.</p>
17053
17054       </div>
17055       <div class="tags">
17056
17057
17058         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
17059
17060
17061       </div>
17062     </div>
17063     <div class="padding"></div>
17064
17065     <div class="entry">
17066       <div class="title">
17067         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_should_start_from__etc_rcS_d__in_Debian____almost_nothing.html">What should start from /etc/rcS.d/ in Debian? - almost nothing</a>
17068       </div>
17069       <div class="date">
17070         30th July 2011
17071       </div>
17072       <div class="body">
17073         <p>In the Debian boot system, several packages include scripts that
17074 are started from /etc/rcS.d/.  In fact, there is a bite more of them
17075 than make sense, and this causes a few problems.  What kind of
17076 problems, you might ask.  There are at least two problems.  The first
17077 is that it is not possible to recover a machine after switching to
17078 runlevel 1.  One need to actually reboot to get the machine back to
17079 the expected state.  The other is that single user boot will sometimes
17080 run into problems because some of the subsystems are activated before
17081 the root login is presented, causing problems when trying to recover a
17082 machine from a problem in that subsystem.  A minor additional point is
17083 that moving more scripts out of rcS.d/ and into the other rc#.d/
17084 directories will increase the amount of scripts that can run in
17085 parallel during boot, and thus decrease the boot time.</p>
17086
17087 <p>So, which scripts should start from rcS.d/.  In short, only the
17088 scripts that _have_ to execute before the root login prompt is
17089 presented during a single user boot should go there.  Everything else
17090 should go into the numeric runlevels.  This means things like
17091 lm-sensors, fuse and x11-common should not run from rcS.d, but from
17092 the numeric runlevels.  Today in Debian, there are around 115 init.d
17093 scripts that are started from rcS.d/, and most of them should be moved
17094 out.  Do your package have one of them?  Please help us make single
17095 user and runlevel 1 better by moving it.</p>
17096
17097 <p>Scripts setting up the screen, keyboard, system partitions
17098 etc. should still be started from rcS.d/, but there is for example no
17099 need to have the network enabled before the single user login prompt
17100 is presented.</p>
17101
17102 <p>As always, things are not so easy to fix as they sound.  To keep
17103 Debian systems working while scripts migrate and during upgrades, the
17104 scripts need to be moved from rcS.d/ to rc2.d/ in reverse dependency
17105 order, ie the scripts that nothing in rcS.d/ depend on can be moved,
17106 and the next ones can only be moved when their dependencies have been
17107 moved first.  This migration must be done sequentially while we ensure
17108 that the package system upgrade packages in the right order to keep
17109 the system state correct.  This will require some coordination when it
17110 comes to network related packages, but most of the packages with
17111 scripts that should migrate do not have anything in rcS.d/ depending
17112 on them.  Some packages have already been updated, like the sudo
17113 package, while others are still left to do.  I wish I had time to work
17114 on this myself, but real live constrains make it unlikely that I will
17115 find time to push this forward.</p>
17116
17117       </div>
17118       <div class="tags">
17119
17120
17121         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
17122
17123
17124       </div>
17125     </div>
17126     <div class="padding"></div>
17127
17128     <div class="entry">
17129       <div class="title">
17130         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_missing_in_the_Debian_desktop__or_why_my_parents_use_Kubuntu.html">What is missing in the Debian desktop, or why my parents use Kubuntu</a>
17131       </div>
17132       <div class="date">
17133         29th July 2011
17134       </div>
17135       <div class="body">
17136         <p>While at Debconf11, I have several times during discussions
17137 mentioned the issues I believe should be improved in Debian for its
17138 desktop to be useful for more people.  The use case for this is my
17139 parents, which are currently running Kubuntu which solve the
17140 issues.</p>
17141
17142 <p>I suspect these four missing features are not very hard to
17143 implement.  After all, they are present in Ubuntu, so if we wanted to
17144 do this in Debian we would have a source.</p>
17145
17146 <ol>
17147
17148 <li><strong>Simple GUI based upgrade of packages.</strong> When there
17149 are new packages available for upgrades, a icon in the KDE status bar
17150 indicate this, and clicking on it will activate the simple upgrade
17151 tool to handle it.  I have no problem guiding both of my parents
17152 through the process over the phone.  If a kernel reboot is required,
17153 this too is indicated by the status bars and the upgrade tool.  Last
17154 time I checked, nothing with the same features was working in KDE in
17155 Debian.</li>
17156
17157 <li><strong>Simple handling of missing Firefox browser
17158 plugins.</strong> When the browser encounter a MIME type it do not
17159 currently have a handler for, it will ask the user if the system
17160 should search for a package that would add support for this MIME type,
17161 and if the user say yes, the APT sources will be searched for packages
17162 advertising the MIME type in their control file (visible in the
17163 Packages file in the APT archive).  If one or more packages are found,
17164 it is a simple click of the mouse to add support for the missing mime
17165 type.  If the package require the user to accept some non-free
17166 license, this is explained to the user.  The entire process make it
17167 more clear to the user why something do not work in the browser, and
17168 make the chances higher for the user to blame the web page authors and
17169 not the browser for any missing features.</li>
17170
17171 <li><strong>Simple handling of missing multimedia codec/format
17172 handlers.</strong> When the media players encounter a format or codec
17173 it is not supporting, a dialog pop up asking the user if the system
17174 should search for a package that would add support for it.  This
17175 happen with things like MP3, Windows Media or H.264.  The selection
17176 and installation procedure is very similar to the Firefox browser
17177 plugin handling.  This is as far as I know implemented using a
17178 gstreamer hook.  The end result is that the user easily get access to
17179 the codecs that are present from the APT archives available, while
17180 explaining more on why a given format is unsupported by Ubuntu.</li>
17181
17182 <li><strong>Better browser handling of some MIME types.</strong> When
17183 displaying a text/plain file in my Debian browser, it will propose to
17184 start emacs to show it.  If I remember correctly, when doing the same
17185 in Kunbutu it show the file as a text file in the browser.  At least I
17186 know Opera will show text files within the browser.  I much prefer the
17187 latter behaviour.</li>
17188
17189 </ol>
17190
17191 <p>There are other nice features as well, like the simplified suite
17192 upgrader, but given that I am the one mostly doing the dist-upgrade,
17193 it do not matter much.</p>
17194
17195 <p>I really hope we could get these features in place for the next
17196 Debian release.  It would require the coordinated effort of several
17197 maintainers, but would make the end user experience a lot better.</p>
17198
17199       </div>
17200       <div class="tags">
17201
17202
17203         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
17204
17205
17206       </div>
17207     </div>
17208     <div class="padding"></div>
17209
17210     <div class="entry">
17211       <div class="title">
17212         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Perl_modules_used_by_FixMyStreet_which_are_missing_in_Debian_Squeeze.html">Perl modules used by FixMyStreet which are missing in Debian/Squeeze</a>
17213       </div>
17214       <div class="date">
17215         26th July 2011
17216       </div>
17217       <div class="body">
17218         <p>The Norwegian <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</A>
17219 site is build on Debian/Squeeze, and this platform was chosen because
17220 I am most familiar with Debian (being a Debian Developer for around 10
17221 years) because it is the latest stable Debian release which should get
17222 security support for a few years.</p>
17223
17224 <p>The web service is written in Perl, and depend on some perl modules
17225 that are missing in Debian at the moment.  It would be great if these
17226 modules were added to the Debian archive, allowing anyone to set up
17227 their own <a href="http://www.fixmystreet.com">FixMyStreet</a> clone
17228 in their own country using only Debian packages.  The list of modules
17229 missing in Debian/Squeeze isn't very long, and I hope the perl group
17230 will find time to package the 12 modules Catalyst::Plugin::SmartURI,
17231 Catalyst::Plugin::Unicode::Encoding, Catalyst::View::TT, Devel::Hide,
17232 Sort::Key, Statistics::Distributions, Template::Plugin::Comma,
17233 Template::Plugin::DateTime::Format, Term::Size::Any, Term::Size::Perl,
17234 URI::SmartURI and Web::Scraper to make the maintenance of FixMyStreet
17235 easier in the future.</p>
17236
17237 <p>Thanks to the great tools in Debian, getting the missing modules
17238 installed on my server was a simple call to 'cpan2deb Module::Name'
17239 and 'dpkg -i' to install the resulting package.  But this leave me
17240 with the responsibility of tracking security problems, which I really
17241 do not have time for.</p>
17242
17243       </div>
17244       <div class="tags">
17245
17246
17247         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami</a>.
17248
17249
17250       </div>
17251     </div>
17252     <div class="padding"></div>
17253
17254     <div class="entry">
17255       <div class="title">
17256         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_Software_vs__proprietary_softare___.html">Free Software vs. proprietary softare...</a>
17257       </div>
17258       <div class="date">
17259         20th June 2011
17260       </div>
17261       <div class="body">
17262         <p>Reading
17263 <a href="http://blog.thingiverse.com/2011/06/20/open-source-vs-closed-source-eulas/">the
17264 thingiverse blog</a>, I came across two highlights of interesting
17265 parts of the
17266 <a href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Autodesk_EULA">Autodesk</a>
17267 and
17268 <a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/06/things-you-cant-do-with-the-microsoft-kinect-sdk.html">Microsoft
17269 Kinect</a> End User License Agreements (EULAs), which illustrates
17270 quite well why I stay away from software with EULAs.  Whenever I take
17271 the time to read their content, the terms are simply unacceptable.</p>
17272
17273       </div>
17274       <div class="tags">
17275
17276
17277         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>.
17278
17279
17280       </div>
17281     </div>
17282     <div class="padding"></div>
17283
17284     <div class="entry">
17285       <div class="title">
17286         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Experimental_Open311_API_for_the_mySociety_fixmystreet_system.html">Experimental Open311 API for the mySociety fixmystreet system</a>
17287       </div>
17288       <div class="date">
17289         30th April 2011
17290       </div>
17291       <div class="body">
17292         <p>Today, the first draft implementation of an
17293 <a href="http://www.open311.org/">Open311 API</a> for the Norwegian
17294 service <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</a> started to
17295 work.  It is only available on the developer server for now, and I
17296 have not tested it using any existing Open311 client (I lack the
17297 platforms needed to run the clients I have found so far), but it is
17298 able to query the database and extract a list of open and closed
17299 requests within a given category and reported to a given municipality.
17300 I believe that is a good start to create a useful service for those
17301 that want to do data mining on the requests submitted so far.</p>
17302
17303 <p>Where is it?  Visit
17304 <a href="http://fiksgatami-dev.nuug.no/open311.cgi/v2/">http://fiksgatami-dev.nuug.no/open311.cgi/v2/</a>
17305 to have a look.  Please send feedback to the
17306 <a href="http://lists.nuug.no/mailman/listinfo/fiksgatami">fiksgatami
17307 (at) nuug.no</a> mailing list.</p>
17308
17309       </div>
17310       <div class="tags">
17311
17312
17313         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/open311">open311</a>.
17314
17315
17316       </div>
17317     </div>
17318     <div class="padding"></div>
17319
17320     <div class="entry">
17321       <div class="title">
17322         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Initial_notes_on_adding_Open311_server_API_on_FixMyStreet.html">Initial notes on adding Open311 server API on FixMyStreet</a>
17323       </div>
17324       <div class="date">
17325         29th April 2011
17326       </div>
17327       <div class="body">
17328         <p>The last few days I have spent some time trying to add support for
17329 the <a href="http://www.open311.org/">Open311 API</a> in the
17330 <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">Norwegian FixMyStreet service</a>.
17331 Earlier I believed Open311 would be a useful API to use to submit
17332 reports to the municipalities, but when I noticed that the
17333 <a href="http://fixmystreet.org.nz/">New Zealand version</a> of
17334 FixMyStreet had implemented Open311 on the server side, it occurred to
17335 me that this was a nice way to allow the public, press and
17336 municipalities to do data mining directly in the FixMyStreet service.
17337 Thus I went to work implementing the Open311 specification for
17338 FixMyStreet.  The implementation is not yet ready, but I am starting
17339 to get a draft limping along.  In the process, I have discovered a few
17340 issues with the Open311 specification.</p>
17341
17342 <p>One obvious missing feature is the lack of natural language
17343 handling in the specification.  The specification seem to assume all
17344 reports will be written in English, and do not provide a way for the
17345 receiving end to specify which languages are understood there.  To be
17346 able to use the same client and submit to several Open311 receivers,
17347 it would be useful to know which language to use when writing reports.
17348 I believe the specification should be extended to allow the receivers
17349 of problem reports to specify which language they accept, and the
17350 submitter to specify which language the report is written in.
17351 Language of a text can also be automatically guessed using statistical
17352 methods, but for multi-lingual persons like myself, it is useful to
17353 know which language to use when writing a problem report.  I suspect
17354 some lang=nb,nn kind of attribute would solve it.</p>
17355
17356 <p>A key part of the Open311 API is the list of services provided,
17357 which is similar to the categories used by FixMyStreet.  One issue I
17358 run into is the need to specify both name and unique identifier for
17359 each category.  The specification do not state that the identifier
17360 should be numeric, but all example implementations have used numbers
17361 here.  In FixMyStreet, there is no number associated with each
17362 category.  As the specification do not forbid it, I will use the name
17363 as the unique identifier for now and see how open311 clients handle
17364 it.</p>
17365
17366 <p>The report format in open311 and the report format in FixMyStreet
17367 differ in a key part.  FixMyStreet have a title and a description,
17368 while Open311 only have a description and lack the title.  I'm not
17369 quite sure how to best handle this yet.  When asking for a FixMyStreet
17370 report in Open311 format, I just merge title an description into the
17371 open311 description, but this is not going to work if the open311 API
17372 should be used for submitting new reports to FixMyStreet.</p>
17373
17374 <p>The search feature in Open311 is missing a way to ask for problems
17375 near a geographic location.  I believe this is important if one is to
17376 use Open311 as the query language for mobile units.  The specification
17377 should be extended to handle this, probably using some new lat=, lon=
17378 and range= options.</p>
17379
17380 <p>The final challenge I see is that the FixMyStreet code handle
17381 several administrations in one interface, while the Open311 API seem
17382 to assume only one administration.  For FixMyStreet, this mean a
17383 report can be sent to several administrations, and the categories
17384 available depend on the location of the problem.  Not quite sure how
17385 to best handle this.  I've noticed
17386 <a href="http://seeclickfix.com/open311/">SeeClickFix</a> added
17387 latitude and longitude options to the services request, but it do not
17388 solve the problem of what to return when no location is specified.
17389 Will have to investigate this a bit more.</p>
17390
17391 <p>My distaste for web forums have kept me from bringing these issues
17392 up with the open311 developer group.  I really wish they had a email
17393 list available via <a href="http://www.gmane.org/">Gmane</a> to use for
17394 discussions instead of only
17395 <a href="http://lists.open311.org/groups/discuss">a forum<a/>.  Oh,
17396 well.  That will probably resolve itself, one way or another.  I've
17397 also tried visiting the IRC channel #open311 on FreeNode, but no-one
17398 seem to reply to my questions there.  This make me wonder if I just
17399 fail to understand how the open311 community work.  It sure do not
17400 work like the free software project communities I am used to.</p>
17401
17402       </div>
17403       <div class="tags">
17404
17405
17406         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/open311">open311</a>.
17407
17408
17409       </div>
17410     </div>
17411     <div class="padding"></div>
17412
17413     <div class="entry">
17414       <div class="title">
17415         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Gnash_enteres_Google_Summer_of_Code_2011.html">Gnash enteres Google Summer of Code 2011</a>
17416       </div>
17417       <div class="date">
17418          6th April 2011
17419       </div>
17420       <div class="body">
17421         <p><a href="http://www.getgnash.org/">The Gnash project</a> is still
17422 the most promising solution for a Free Software Flash implementation.
17423 A few days ago the project
17424 <a href="http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnash-dev/2011-04/msg00011.html">announced</a>
17425 that it will participate in Google Summer of Code.  I hope many
17426 students apply, and that some of them succeed in getting AVM2 support
17427 into Gnash.</p>
17428
17429       </div>
17430       <div class="tags">
17431
17432
17433         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
17434
17435
17436       </div>
17437     </div>
17438     <div class="padding"></div>
17439
17440     <div class="entry">
17441       <div class="title">
17442         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_Norwegian_FixMyStreet_have_kept_me_busy_the_last_few_weeks.html">A Norwegian FixMyStreet have kept me busy the last few weeks</a>
17443       </div>
17444       <div class="date">
17445          3rd April 2011
17446       </div>
17447       <div class="body">
17448         <p>Here is a small update for my English readers.  Most of my blog
17449 posts have been in Norwegian the last few weeks, so here is a short
17450 update in English.</p>
17451
17452 <p>The kids still keep me too busy to get much free software work
17453 done, but I did manage to organise a project to get a Norwegian port
17454 of the British service
17455 <a href="http://www.fixmystreet.com/">FixMyStreet</a> up and running,
17456 and it has been running for a month now.  The entire project has been
17457 organised by me and two others.  Around Christmas we gathered sponsors
17458 to fund the development work.  In January I drafted a contract with
17459 <a href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a> on what to develop,
17460 and in February the development took place.  Most of it involved
17461 converting the source to use GPS coordinates instead of British
17462 easting/northing, and the resulting code should be a lot easier to get
17463 running in any country by now.  The Norwegian
17464 <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</a> is using
17465 <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetmap</a> as the map
17466 source and the source for administrative borders in Norway, and
17467 support for this had to be added/fixed.</p>
17468
17469 <p>The Norwegian version went live March 3th, and we spent the weekend
17470 polishing the system before we announced it March 7th.  The system is
17471 running on a KVM instance of Debian/Squeeze, and has seen almost 3000
17472 problem reports in a few weeks.  Soon we hope to announce the Android
17473 and iPhone versions making it even easier to report problems with the
17474 public infrastructure.</p>
17475
17476 <p>Perhaps something to consider for those of you in countries without
17477 such service?</p>
17478
17479       </div>
17480       <div class="tags">
17481
17482
17483         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart</a>.
17484
17485
17486       </div>
17487     </div>
17488     <div class="padding"></div>
17489
17490     <div class="entry">
17491       <div class="title">
17492         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_NVD_and_CPE_to_track_CVEs_in_locally_maintained_software.html">Using NVD and CPE to track CVEs in locally maintained software</a>
17493       </div>
17494       <div class="date">
17495         28th January 2011
17496       </div>
17497       <div class="body">
17498         <p>The last few days I have looked at ways to track open security
17499 issues here at my work with the University of Oslo.  My idea is that
17500 it should be possible to use the information about security issues
17501 available on the Internet, and check our locally
17502 maintained/distributed software against this information.  It should
17503 allow us to verify that no known security issues are forgotten.  The
17504 CVE database listing vulnerabilities seem like a great central point,
17505 and by using the package lists from Debian mapped to CVEs provided by
17506 the testing security team, I believed it should be possible to figure
17507 out which security holes were present in our free software
17508 collection.</p>
17509
17510 <p>After reading up on the topic, it became obvious that the first
17511 building block is to be able to name software packages in a unique and
17512 consistent way across data sources.  I considered several ways to do
17513 this, for example coming up with my own naming scheme like using URLs
17514 to project home pages or URLs to the Freshmeat entries, or using some
17515 existing naming scheme.  And it seem like I am not the first one to
17516 come across this problem, as MITRE already proposed and implemented a
17517 solution.  Enter the <a href="http://cpe.mitre.org/index.html">Common
17518 Platform Enumeration</a> dictionary, a vocabulary for referring to
17519 software, hardware and other platform components.  The CPE ids are
17520 mapped to CVEs in the <a href="http://web.nvd.nist.gov/">National
17521 Vulnerability Database</a>, allowing me to look up know security
17522 issues for any CPE name.  With this in place, all I need to do is to
17523 locate the CPE id for the software packages we use at the university.
17524 This is fairly trivial (I google for 'cve cpe $package' and check the
17525 NVD entry if a CVE for the package exist).</p>
17526
17527 <p>To give you an example.  The GNU gzip source package have the CPE
17528 name cpe:/a:gnu:gzip.  If the old version 1.3.3 was the package to
17529 check out, one could look up
17530 <a href="http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/search?cpe=cpe%3A%2Fa%3Agnu%3Agzip:1.3.3">cpe:/a:gnu:gzip:1.3.3
17531 in NVD</a> and get a list of 6 security holes with public CVE entries.
17532 The most recent one is
17533 <a href="http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2010-0001">CVE-2010-0001</a>,
17534 and at the bottom of the NVD page for this vulnerability the complete
17535 list of affected versions is provided.</p>
17536
17537 <p>The NVD database of CVEs is also available as a XML dump, allowing
17538 for offline processing of issues.  Using this dump, I've written a
17539 small script taking a list of CPEs as input and list all CVEs
17540 affecting the packages represented by these CPEs.  One give it CPEs
17541 with version numbers as specified above and get a list of open
17542 security issues out.</p>
17543
17544 <p>Of course for this approach to be useful, the quality of the NVD
17545 information need to be high.  For that to happen, I believe as many as
17546 possible need to use and contribute to the NVD database.  I notice
17547 RHEL is providing
17548 <a href="https://www.redhat.com/security/data/metrics/rhsamapcpe.txt">a
17549 map from CVE to CPE</a>, indicating that they are using the CPE
17550 information.  I'm not aware of Debian and Ubuntu doing the same.</p>
17551
17552 <p>To get an idea about the quality for free software, I spent some
17553 time making it possible to compare the CVE database from Debian with
17554 the CVE database in NVD.  The result look fairly good, but there are
17555 some inconsistencies in NVD (same software package having several
17556 CPEs), and some inaccuracies (NVD not mentioning buggy packages that
17557 Debian believe are affected by a CVE).  Hope to find time to improve
17558 the quality of NVD, but that require being able to get in touch with
17559 someone maintaining it.  So far my three emails with questions and
17560 corrections have not seen any reply, but I hope contact can be
17561 established soon.</p>
17562
17563 <p>An interesting application for CPEs is cross platform package
17564 mapping.  It would be useful to know which packages in for example
17565 RHEL, OpenSuSe and Mandriva are missing from Debian and Ubuntu, and
17566 this would be trivial if all linux distributions provided CPE entries
17567 for their packages.</p>
17568
17569       </div>
17570       <div class="tags">
17571
17572
17573         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
17574
17575
17576       </div>
17577     </div>
17578     <div class="padding"></div>
17579
17580     <div class="entry">
17581       <div class="title">
17582         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Which_module_is_loaded_for_a_given_PCI_and_USB_device_.html">Which module is loaded for a given PCI and USB device?</a>
17583       </div>
17584       <div class="date">
17585         23rd January 2011
17586       </div>
17587       <div class="body">
17588         <p>In the
17589 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/discover-data">discover-data</a>
17590 package in Debian, there is a script to report useful information
17591 about the running hardware for use when people report missing
17592 information.  One part of this script that I find very useful when
17593 debugging hardware problems, is the part mapping loaded kernel module
17594 to the PCI device it claims.  It allow me to quickly see if the kernel
17595 module I expect is driving the hardware I am struggling with.  To see
17596 the output, make sure discover-data is installed and run
17597 <tt>/usr/share/bug/discover-data 3>&1</tt>.  The relevant output on
17598 one of my machines like this:</p>
17599
17600 <pre>
17601 loaded modules:
17602 10de:03eb i2c_nforce2
17603 10de:03f1 ohci_hcd
17604 10de:03f2 ehci_hcd
17605 10de:03f0 snd_hda_intel
17606 10de:03ec pata_amd
17607 10de:03f6 sata_nv
17608 1022:1103 k8temp
17609 109e:036e bttv
17610 109e:0878 snd_bt87x
17611 11ab:4364 sky2
17612 </pre>
17613
17614 <p>The code in question look like this, slightly modified for
17615 readability and to drop the output to file descriptor 3:</p>
17616
17617 <pre>
17618 if [ -d /sys/bus/pci/devices/ ] ; then
17619     echo loaded pci modules:
17620     (
17621         cd /sys/bus/pci/devices/
17622         for address in * ; do
17623             if [ -d "$address/driver/module" ] ; then
17624                 module=`cd $address/driver/module ; pwd -P | xargs basename`
17625                 if grep -q "^$module " /proc/modules ; then
17626                     address=$(echo $address |sed s/0000://)
17627                     id=`lspci -n -s $address | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $3}'`
17628                     echo "$id $module"
17629                 fi
17630             fi
17631         done
17632     )
17633     echo
17634 fi
17635 </pre>
17636
17637 <p>Similar code could be used to extract USB device module
17638 mappings:</p>
17639
17640 <pre>
17641 if [ -d /sys/bus/usb/devices/ ] ; then
17642     echo loaded usb modules:
17643     (
17644         cd /sys/bus/usb/devices/
17645         for address in * ; do
17646             if [ -d "$address/driver/module" ] ; then
17647                 module=`cd $address/driver/module ; pwd -P | xargs basename`
17648                 if grep -q "^$module " /proc/modules ; then
17649                     address=$(echo $address |sed s/0000://)
17650                     id=$(lsusb -s $address | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $6}')
17651                     if [ "$id" ] ; then
17652                         echo "$id $module"
17653                     fi
17654                 fi
17655             fi
17656         done
17657     )
17658     echo
17659 fi
17660 </pre>
17661
17662 <p>This might perhaps be something to include in other tools as
17663 well.</p>
17664
17665       </div>
17666       <div class="tags">
17667
17668
17669         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
17670
17671
17672       </div>
17673     </div>
17674     <div class="padding"></div>
17675
17676     <div class="entry">
17677       <div class="title">
17678         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_video_format_most_supported_in_web_browsers_.html">The video format most supported in web browsers?</a>
17679       </div>
17680       <div class="date">
17681         16th January 2011
17682       </div>
17683       <div class="body">
17684         <p>The video format struggle on the web continues, and the three
17685 contenders seem to be Ogg Theora, H.264 and WebM.  Most video sites
17686 seem to use H.264, while others use Ogg Theora.  Interestingly enough,
17687 the comments I see give me the feeling that a lot of people believe
17688 H.264 is the most supported video format in browsers, but according to
17689 the Wikipedia article on
17690 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5_video">HTML5 video</a>,
17691 this is not true.  Check out the nice table of supprted formats in
17692 different browsers there.  The format supported by most browsers is
17693 Ogg Theora, supported by released versions of Mozilla Firefox, Google
17694 Chrome, Chromium, Opera, Konqueror, Epiphany, Origyn Web Browser and
17695 BOLT browser, while not supported by Internet Explorer nor Safari.
17696 The runner up is WebM supported by released versions of Google Chrome
17697 Chromium Opera and Origyn Web Browser, and test versions of Mozilla
17698 Firefox.  H.264 is supported by released versions of Safari, Origyn
17699 Web Browser and BOLT browser, and the test version of Internet
17700 Explorer.  Those wanting Ogg Theora support in Internet Explorer and
17701 Safari can install plugins to get it.</p>
17702
17703 <p>To me, the simple conclusion from this is that to reach most users
17704 without any extra software installed, one uses Ogg Theora with the
17705 HTML5 video tag.   Of course to reach all those without a browser
17706 handling HTML5, one need fallback mechanisms.  In
17707 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a>, we provide first fallback to a
17708 plugin capable of playing MPEG1 video, and those without such support
17709 we have a second fallback to the Cortado java applet playing Ogg
17710 Theora.  This seem to work quite well, as can be seen in an <a
17711 href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20110111-semantic-web/">example
17712 from last week</a>.</p>
17713
17714 <p>The reason Ogg Theora is the most supported format, and H.264 is
17715 the least supported is simple.  Implementing and using H.264
17716 require royalty payment to MPEG-LA, and the terms of use from MPEG-LA
17717 are incompatible with free software licensing.  If you believed H.264
17718 was without royalties and license terms, check out
17719 "<a href="http://webmink.com/essays/h-264/">H.264 – Not The Kind Of
17720 Free That Matters</a>" by Simon Phipps.</p>
17721
17722 <p>A incomplete list of sites providing video in Ogg Theora is
17723 available from
17724 <a href="http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/List_of_Theora_videos">the
17725 Xiph.org wiki</a>, if you want to have a look.  I'm not aware of a
17726 similar list for WebM nor H.264.</p>
17727
17728 <p>Update 2011-01-16 09:40: A question from Tollef on IRC made me
17729 realise that I failed to make it clear enough this text is about the
17730 &lt;video&gt; tag support in browsers and not the video support
17731 provided by external plugins like the Flash plugins.</p>
17732
17733       </div>
17734       <div class="tags">
17735
17736
17737         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
17738
17739
17740       </div>
17741     </div>
17742     <div class="padding"></div>
17743
17744     <div class="entry">
17745       <div class="title">
17746         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Chrome_plan_to_drop_H_264_support_for_HTML5__lt_video_gt_.html">Chrome plan to drop H.264 support for HTML5 &lt;video&gt;</a>
17747       </div>
17748       <div class="date">
17749         12th January 2011
17750       </div>
17751       <div class="body">
17752         <p>Today I discovered
17753 <a href="http://www.digi.no/860070/google-dropper-h264-stotten-i-chrome">via
17754 digi.no</a> that the Chrome developers, in a surprising announcement,
17755 <a href="http://blog.chromium.org/2011/01/html-video-codec-support-in-chrome.html">yesterday
17756 announced</a> plans to drop H.264 support for HTML5 &lt;video&gt; in
17757 the browser.  The argument used is that H.264 is not a "completely
17758 open" codec technology.  If you believe H.264 was free for everyone
17759 to use, I recommend having a look at the essay
17760 "<a href="http://webmink.com/essays/h-264/">H.264 – Not The Kind Of
17761 Free That Matters</a>".  It is not free of cost for creators of video
17762 tools, nor those of us that want to publish on the Internet, and the
17763 terms provided by MPEG-LA excludes free software projects from
17764 licensing the patents needed for H.264.  Some background information
17765 on the Google announcement is available from
17766 <a href="http://www.osnews.com/story/24243/Google_To_Drop_H264_Support_from_Chrome">OSnews</a>.
17767 A good read. :)</p>
17768
17769 <p>Personally, I believe it is great that Google is taking a stand to
17770 promote equal terms for everyone when it comes to video publishing on
17771 the Internet.  This can only be done by publishing using free and open
17772 standards, which is only possible if the web browsers provide support
17773 for these free and open standards.  At the moment there seem to be two
17774 camps in the web browser world when it come to video support.  Some
17775 browsers support H.264, and others support
17776 <a href="http://www.theora.org/">Ogg Theora</a> and
17777 <a href="http://www.webmproject.org/">WebM</a>
17778 (<a href="http://www.diracvideo.org/">Dirac</a> is not really an option
17779 yet), forcing those of us that want to publish video on the Internet
17780 and which can not accept the terms of use presented by MPEG-LA for
17781 H.264 to not reach all potential viewers.
17782 Wikipedia keep <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5_video">an
17783 updated summary</a> of the current browser support.</p>
17784
17785 <p>Not surprising, several people would prefer Google to keep
17786 promoting H.264, and John Gruber
17787 <a href="http://daringfireball.net/2011/01/simple_questions">presents
17788 the mind set</a> of these people quite well.  His rhetorical questions
17789 provoked a reply from Thom Holwerda with another set of questions
17790 <a href="http://www.osnews.com/story/24245/10_Questions_for_John_Gruber_Regarding_H_264_WebM">presenting
17791 the issues with H.264</a>. Both are worth a read.</p>
17792
17793 <p>Some argue that if Google is dropping H.264 because it isn't free,
17794 they should also drop support for the Adobe Flash plugin.  This
17795 argument was covered by Simon Phipps in
17796 <a href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/simon-says/2011/01/google-and-h264---far-from-hypocritical/index.htm">todays
17797 blog post</a>, which I find to put the issue in context.  To me it
17798 make perfect sense to drop native H.264 support for HTML5 in the
17799 browser while still allowing plugins.</p>
17800
17801 <p>I suspect the reason this announcement make so many people protest,
17802 is that all the users and promoters of H.264 suddenly get an uneasy
17803 feeling that they might be backing the wrong horse.  A lot of TV
17804 broadcasters have been moving to H.264 the last few years, and a lot
17805 of money has been invested in hardware based on the belief that they
17806 could use the same video format for both broadcasting and web
17807 publishing.  Suddenly this belief is shaken.</p>
17808
17809 <p>An interesting question is why Google is doing this.  While the
17810 presented argument might be true enough, I believe Google would only
17811 present the argument if the change make sense from a business
17812 perspective.  One reason might be that they are currently negotiating
17813 with MPEG-LA over royalties or usage terms, and giving MPEG-LA the
17814 feeling that dropping H.264 completely from Chroome, Youtube and
17815 Google Video would improve the negotiation position of Google.
17816 Another reason might be that Google want to save money by not having
17817 to pay the video tax to MPEG-LA at all, and thus want to move to a
17818 video format not requiring royalties at all.  A third reason might be
17819 that the Chrome development team simply want to avoid the
17820 Chrome/Chromium split to get more help with the development of Chrome.
17821 I guess time will tell.</p>
17822
17823 <p>Update 2011-01-15: The Google Chrome team provided
17824 <a href="http://blog.chromium.org/2011/01/more-about-chrome-html-video-codec.html">more
17825 background and information on the move</a> it a blog post yesterday.</p>
17826
17827       </div>
17828       <div class="tags">
17829
17830
17831         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
17832
17833
17834       </div>
17835     </div>
17836     <div class="padding"></div>
17837
17838     <div class="entry">
17839       <div class="title">
17840         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_standards_are_Free_and_Open_as_defined_by_Digistan_.html">What standards are Free and Open as defined by Digistan?</a>
17841       </div>
17842       <div class="date">
17843         30th December 2010
17844       </div>
17845       <div class="body">
17846         <p>After trying to
17847 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Is_Ogg_Theora_a_free_and_open_standard_.html">compare
17848 Ogg Theora</a> to
17849 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">the Digistan
17850 definition</a> of a free and open standard, I concluded that this need
17851 to be done for more standards and started on a framework for doing
17852 this.  As a start, I want to get the status for all the standards in
17853 the Norwegian reference directory, which include UTF-8, HTML, PDF, ODF,
17854 JPEG, PNG, SVG and others.  But to be able to complete this in a
17855 reasonable time frame, I will need help.</p>
17856
17857 <p>If you want to help out with this work, please visit
17858 <a href="http://wiki.nuug.no/grupper/standard/digistan-analyse">the
17859 wiki pages I have set up for this</a>, and let me know that you want
17860 to help out.  The IRC channel #nuug on irc.freenode.net is a good
17861 place to coordinate this for now, as it is the IRC channel for the
17862 NUUG association where I have created the framework (I am the leader
17863 of the Norwegian Unix User Group).</p>
17864
17865 <p>The framework is still forming, and a lot is left to do.  Do not be
17866 scared by the sketchy form of the current pages. :)</p>
17867
17868       </div>
17869       <div class="tags">
17870
17871
17872         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
17873
17874
17875       </div>
17876     </div>
17877     <div class="padding"></div>
17878
17879     <div class="entry">
17880       <div class="title">
17881         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_many_definitions_of_a_open_standard.html">The many definitions of a open standard</a>
17882       </div>
17883       <div class="date">
17884         27th December 2010
17885       </div>
17886       <div class="body">
17887         <p>One of the reasons I like the Digistan definition of
17888 "<a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">Free and
17889 Open Standard</a>" is that this is a new term, and thus the meaning of
17890 the term has been decided by Digistan.  The term "Open Standard" has
17891 become so misunderstood that it is no longer very useful when talking
17892 about standards.  One end up discussing which definition is the best
17893 one and with such frame the only one gaining are the proponents of
17894 de-facto standards and proprietary solutions.</p>
17895
17896 <p>But to give us an idea about the diversity of definitions of open
17897 standards, here are a few that I know about.  This list is not
17898 complete, but can be a starting point for those that want to do a
17899 complete survey.  More definitions are available on the
17900 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_standard">wikipedia
17901 page</a>.</p>
17902
17903 <p>First off is my favourite, the definition from the European
17904 Interoperability Framework version 1.0.  Really sad to notice that BSA
17905 and others has succeeded in getting it removed from version 2.0 of the
17906 framework by stacking the committee drafting the new version with
17907 their own people.  Anyway, the definition is still available and it
17908 include the key properties needed to make sure everyone can use a
17909 specification on equal terms.</p>
17910
17911 <blockquote>
17912
17913 <p>The following are the minimal characteristics that a specification
17914 and its attendant documents must have in order to be considered an
17915 open standard:</p>
17916
17917 <ul>
17918
17919 <li>The standard is adopted and will be maintained by a not-for-profit
17920 organisation, and its ongoing development occurs on the basis of an
17921 open decision-making procedure available to all interested parties
17922 (consensus or majority decision etc.).</li>
17923
17924 <li>The standard has been published and the standard specification
17925 document is available either freely or at a nominal charge. It must be
17926 permissible to all to copy, distribute and use it for no fee or at a
17927 nominal fee.</li>
17928
17929 <li>The intellectual property - i.e. patents possibly present - of
17930 (parts of) the standard is made irrevocably available on a royalty-
17931 free basis.</li>
17932
17933 <li>There are no constraints on the re-use of the standard.</li>
17934
17935 </ul>
17936 </blockquote>
17937
17938 <p>Another one originates from my friends over at
17939 <a href="http://www.dkuug.dk/">DKUUG</a>, who coined and gathered
17940 support for <a href="http://www.aaben-standard.dk/">this
17941 definition</a> in 2004.  It even made it into the Danish parlament as
17942 <a href="http://www.ft.dk/dokumenter/tingdok.aspx?/samling/20051/beslutningsforslag/B103/som_fremsat.htm">their
17943 definition of a open standard</a>.  Another from a different part of
17944 the Danish government is available from the wikipedia page.</p>
17945
17946 <blockquote>
17947
17948 <p>En åben standard opfylder følgende krav:</p>
17949
17950 <ol>
17951
17952 <li>Veldokumenteret med den fuldstændige specifikation offentligt
17953 tilgængelig.</li>
17954
17955 <li>Frit implementerbar uden økonomiske, politiske eller juridiske
17956 begrænsninger på implementation og anvendelse.</li>
17957
17958 <li>Standardiseret og vedligeholdt i et åbent forum (en såkaldt
17959 "standardiseringsorganisation") via en åben proces.</li>
17960
17961 </ol>
17962
17963 </blockquote>
17964
17965 <p>Then there is <a href="http://www.fsfe.org/projects/os/def.html">the
17966 definition</a> from Free Software Foundation Europe.</p>
17967
17968 <blockquote>
17969
17970 <p>An Open Standard refers to a format or protocol that is</p>
17971
17972 <ol>
17973
17974 <li>subject to full public assessment and use without constraints in a
17975 manner equally available to all parties;</li>
17976
17977 <li>without any components or extensions that have dependencies on
17978 formats or protocols that do not meet the definition of an Open
17979 Standard themselves;</li>
17980
17981 <li>free from legal or technical clauses that limit its utilisation by
17982 any party or in any business model;</li>
17983
17984 <li>managed and further developed independently of any single vendor
17985 in a process open to the equal participation of competitors and third
17986 parties;</li>
17987
17988 <li>available in multiple complete implementations by competing
17989 vendors, or as a complete implementation equally available to all
17990 parties.</li>
17991
17992 </ol>
17993
17994 </blockquote>
17995
17996 <p>A long time ago, SUN Microsystems, now bought by Oracle, created
17997 its
17998 <a href="http://blogs.sun.com/dennisding/resource/Open%20Standard%20Definition.pdf">Open
17999 Standards Checklist</a> with a fairly detailed description.</p>
18000
18001 <blockquote>
18002 <p>Creation and Management of an Open Standard
18003
18004 <ul>
18005
18006 <li>Its development and management process must be collaborative and
18007   democratic:
18008
18009          <ul>
18010
18011          <li>Participation must be accessible to all those who wish to
18012             participate and can meet fair and reasonable criteria
18013             imposed by the organization under which it is developed
18014             and managed.</li>
18015
18016          <li>The processes must be documented and, through a known
18017             method, can be changed through input from all
18018             participants.</li>
18019
18020          <li>The process must be based on formal and binding commitments for
18021             the disclosure and licensing of intellectual property rights.</li>
18022
18023          <li>Development and management should strive for consensus,
18024             and an appeals process must be clearly outlined.</li>
18025
18026          <li>The standard specification must be open to extensive
18027             public review at least once in its life-cycle, with
18028             comments duly discussed and acted upon, if required.</li>
18029
18030          </ul>
18031
18032 </li>
18033
18034 </ul>
18035
18036 <p>Use and Licensing of an Open Standard</p>
18037 <ul>
18038
18039 <li>The standard must describe an interface, not an implementation,
18040   and the industry must be capable of creating multiple, competing
18041   implementations to the interface described in the standard without
18042   undue or restrictive constraints.  Interfaces include APIs,
18043   protocols, schemas, data formats and their encoding.</li>
18044
18045 <li> The standard must not contain any proprietary "hooks" that create
18046   a technical or economic barriers</li>
18047
18048 <li>Faithful implementations of the standard must
18049   interoperate. Interoperability means the ability of a computer
18050   program to communicate and exchange information with other computer
18051   programs and mutually to use the information which has been
18052   exchanged. This includes the ability to use, convert, or exchange
18053   file formats, protocols, schemas, interface information or
18054   conventions, so as to permit the computer program to work with other
18055   computer programs and users in all the ways in which they are
18056   intended to function.</li>
18057
18058 <li>It must be permissible for anyone to copy, distribute and read the
18059   standard for a nominal fee, or even no fee. If there is a fee, it
18060   must be low enough to not preclude widespread use.</li>
18061
18062 <li>It must be possible for anyone to obtain free (no royalties or
18063   fees; also known as "royalty free"), worldwide, non-exclusive and
18064   perpetual licenses to all essential patent claims to make, use and
18065   sell products based on the standard.  The only exceptions are
18066   terminations per the reciprocity and defensive suspension terms
18067   outlined below. Essential patent claims include pending, unpublished
18068   patents, published patents, and patent applications. The license is
18069   only for the exact scope of the standard in question.
18070
18071       <ul>
18072
18073       <li> May be conditioned only on reciprocal licenses to any of
18074         licensees' patent claims essential to practice that standard
18075         (also known as a reciprocity clause)</li>
18076
18077       <li> May be terminated as to any licensee who sues the licensor
18078         or any other licensee for infringement of patent claims
18079         essential to practice that standard (also known as a
18080         "defensive suspension" clause)</li>
18081
18082       <li> The same licensing terms are available to every potential
18083         licensor</li>
18084
18085       </ul>
18086 </li>
18087
18088 <li>The licensing terms of an open standards must not preclude
18089   implementations of that standard under open source licensing terms
18090   or restricted licensing terms</li>
18091
18092 </ul>
18093
18094 </blockquote>
18095
18096 <p>It is said that one of the nice things about standards is that
18097 there are so many of them.  As you can see, the same holds true for
18098 open standard definitions.  Most of the definitions have a lot in
18099 common, and it is not really controversial what properties a open
18100 standard should have, but the diversity of definitions have made it
18101 possible for those that want to avoid a level marked field and real
18102 competition to downplay the significance of open standards.  I hope we
18103 can turn this tide by focusing on the advantages of Free and Open
18104 Standards.</p>
18105
18106       </div>
18107       <div class="tags">
18108
18109
18110         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
18111
18112
18113       </div>
18114     </div>
18115     <div class="padding"></div>
18116
18117     <div class="entry">
18118       <div class="title">
18119         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Is_Ogg_Theora_a_free_and_open_standard_.html">Is Ogg Theora a free and open standard?</a>
18120       </div>
18121       <div class="date">
18122         25th December 2010
18123       </div>
18124       <div class="body">
18125         <p><a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">The
18126 Digistan definition</a> of a free and open standard reads like this:</p>
18127
18128 <blockquote>
18129
18130 <p>The Digital Standards Organization defines free and open standard
18131 as follows:</p>
18132
18133 <ol>
18134
18135 <li>A free and open standard is immune to vendor capture at all stages
18136 in its life-cycle. Immunity from vendor capture makes it possible to
18137 freely use, improve upon, trust, and extend a standard over time.</li>
18138
18139 <li>The standard is adopted and will be maintained by a not-for-profit
18140 organisation, and its ongoing development occurs on the basis of an
18141 open decision-making procedure available to all interested
18142 parties.</li>
18143
18144 <li>The standard has been published and the standard specification
18145 document is available freely. It must be permissible to all to copy,
18146 distribute, and use it freely.</li>
18147
18148 <li>The patents possibly present on (parts of) the standard are made
18149 irrevocably available on a royalty-free basis.</li>
18150
18151 <li>There are no constraints on the re-use of the standard.</li>
18152
18153 </ol>
18154
18155 <p>The economic outcome of a free and open standard, which can be
18156 measured, is that it enables perfect competition between suppliers of
18157 products based on the standard.</p>
18158 </blockquote>
18159
18160 <p>For a while now I have tried to figure out of Ogg Theora is a free
18161 and open standard according to this definition.  Here is a short
18162 writeup of what I have been able to gather so far.  I brought up the
18163 topic on the Xiph advocacy mailing list
18164 <a href="http://lists.xiph.org/pipermail/advocacy/2009-July/001632.html">in
18165 July 2009</a>, for those that want to see some background information.
18166 According to Ivo Emanuel Gonçalves and Monty Montgomery on that list
18167 the Ogg Theora specification fulfils the Digistan definition.</p>
18168
18169 <p><strong>Free from vendor capture?</strong></p>
18170
18171 <p>As far as I can see, there is no single vendor that can control the
18172 Ogg Theora specification.  It can be argued that the
18173 <a href="http://www.xiph.org/">Xiph foundation</A> is such vendor, but
18174 given that it is a non-profit foundation with the expressed goal
18175 making free and open protocols and standards available, it is not
18176 obvious that this is a real risk.  One issue with the Xiph
18177 foundation is that its inner working (as in board member list, or who
18178 control the foundation) are not easily available on the web.  I've
18179 been unable to find out who is in the foundation board, and have not
18180 seen any accounting information documenting how money is handled nor
18181 where is is spent in the foundation.  It is thus not obvious for an
18182 external observer who control The Xiph foundation, and for all I know
18183 it is possible for a single vendor to take control over the
18184 specification.  But it seem unlikely.</p>
18185
18186 <p><strong>Maintained by open not-for-profit organisation?</strong></p>
18187
18188 <p>Assuming that the Xiph foundation is the organisation its web pages
18189 claim it to be, this point is fulfilled.  If Xiph foundation is
18190 controlled by a single vendor, it isn't, but I have not found any
18191 documentation indicating this.</p>
18192
18193 <p>According to
18194 <a href="http://media.hiof.no/diverse/fad/rapport_4.pdf">a report</a>
18195 prepared by Audun Vaaler og Børre Ludvigsen for the Norwegian
18196 government, the Xiph foundation is a non-commercial organisation and
18197 the development process is open, transparent and non-Discrimatory.
18198 Until proven otherwise, I believe it make most sense to believe the
18199 report is correct.</p>
18200
18201 <p><strong>Specification freely available?</strong></p>
18202
18203 <p>The specification for the <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/doc/">Ogg
18204 container format</a> and both the
18205 <a href="http://www.xiph.org/vorbis/doc/">Vorbis</a> and
18206 <a href="http://theora.org/doc/">Theora</a> codeces are available on
18207 the web.  This are the terms in the Vorbis and Theora specification:
18208
18209 <blockquote>
18210
18211 Anyone may freely use and distribute the Ogg and [Vorbis/Theora]
18212 specifications, whether in private, public, or corporate
18213 capacity. However, the Xiph.Org Foundation and the Ogg project reserve
18214 the right to set the Ogg [Vorbis/Theora] specification and certify
18215 specification compliance.
18216
18217 </blockquote>
18218
18219 <p>The Ogg container format is specified in IETF
18220 <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/doc/rfc3533.txt">RFC 3533</a>, and
18221 this is the term:<p>
18222
18223 <blockquote>
18224
18225 <p>This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
18226 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
18227 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and
18228 distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind,
18229 provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
18230 included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
18231 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
18232 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
18233 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing
18234 Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined
18235 in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to
18236 translate it into languages other than English.</p>
18237
18238 <p>The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
18239 revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.</p>
18240 </blockquote>
18241
18242 <p>All these terms seem to allow unlimited distribution and use, an
18243 this term seem to be fulfilled.  There might be a problem with the
18244 missing permission to distribute modified versions of the text, and
18245 thus reuse it in other specifications.  Not quite sure if that is a
18246 requirement for the Digistan definition.</p>
18247
18248 <p><strong>Royalty-free?</strong></p>
18249
18250 <p>There are no known patent claims requiring royalties for the Ogg
18251 Theora format.
18252 <a href="http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=65782">MPEG-LA</a>
18253 and
18254 <a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/04/30/237238/Steve-Jobs-Hints-At-Theora-Lawsuit">Steve
18255 Jobs</a> in Apple claim to know about some patent claims (submarine
18256 patents) against the Theora format, but no-one else seem to believe
18257 them.  Both Opera Software and the Mozilla Foundation have looked into
18258 this and decided to implement Ogg Theora support in their browsers
18259 without paying any royalties.  For now the claims from MPEG-LA and
18260 Steve Jobs seem more like FUD to scare people to use the H.264 codec
18261 than any real problem with Ogg Theora.</p>
18262
18263 <p><strong>No constraints on re-use?</strong></p>
18264
18265 <p>I am not aware of any constraints on re-use.</p>
18266
18267 <p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
18268
18269 <p>3 of 5 requirements seem obviously fulfilled, and the remaining 2
18270 depend on the governing structure of the Xiph foundation.  Given the
18271 background report used by the Norwegian government, I believe it is
18272 safe to assume the last two requirements are fulfilled too, but it
18273 would be nice if the Xiph foundation web site made it easier to verify
18274 this.</p>
18275
18276 <p>It would be nice to see other analysis of other specifications to
18277 see if they are free and open standards.</p>
18278
18279       </div>
18280       <div class="tags">
18281
18282
18283         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
18284
18285
18286       </div>
18287     </div>
18288     <div class="padding"></div>
18289
18290     <div class="entry">
18291       <div class="title">
18292         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_reply_from_Edgar_Villanueva_to_Microsoft_in_Peru.html">The reply from Edgar Villanueva to Microsoft in Peru</a>
18293       </div>
18294       <div class="date">
18295         25th December 2010
18296       </div>
18297       <div class="body">
18298         <p>A few days ago
18299 <a href="http://www.idg.no/computerworld/article189879.ece">an
18300 article</a> in the Norwegian Computerworld magazine about how version
18301 2.0 of
18302 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Interoperability_Framework">European
18303 Interoperability Framework</a> has been successfully lobbied by the
18304 proprietary software industry to remove the focus on free software.
18305 Nothing very surprising there, given
18306 <a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/03/29/2115235/Open-Source-Open-Standards-Under-Attack-In-Europe">earlier
18307 reports</a> on how Microsoft and others have stacked the committees in
18308 this work.  But I find this very sad.   The definition of
18309 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/dokumenter/standard-presse-def-200506.txt">an
18310 open standard from version 1</a> was very good, and something I
18311 believe should be used also in the future, alongside
18312 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">the
18313 definition from Digistan</A>.  Version 2 have removed the open
18314 standard definition from its content.</p>
18315
18316 <p>Anyway, the news reminded me of the great reply sent by Dr. Edgar
18317 Villanueva, congressman in Peru at the time, to Microsoft as a reply
18318 to Microsofts attack on his proposal regarding the use of free software
18319 in the public sector in Peru.  As the text was not available from a
18320 few of the URLs where it used to be available, I copy it here from
18321 <a href="http://gnuwin.epfl.ch/articles/en/reponseperou/villanueva_to_ms.html">my
18322 source</a> to ensure it is available also in the future.  Some
18323 background information about that story is available in
18324 <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6099">an article</a> from
18325 Linux Journal in 2002.</p>
18326
18327 <blockquote>
18328 <p>Lima, 8th of April, 2002<br>
18329 To: Señor JUAN ALBERTO GONZÁLEZ<br>
18330 General Manager of Microsoft Perú</p>
18331
18332 <p>Dear Sir:</p>
18333
18334 <p>First of all, I thank you for your letter of March 25, 2002 in which you state the official position of Microsoft relative to Bill Number 1609, Free Software in Public Administration, which is indubitably inspired by the desire for Peru to find a suitable place in the global technological context. In the same spirit, and convinced that we will find the best solutions through an exchange of clear and open ideas, I will take this opportunity to reply to the commentaries included in your letter.</p>
18335
18336 <p>While acknowledging that opinions such as yours constitute a significant contribution, it would have been even more worthwhile for me if, rather than formulating objections of a general nature (which we will analyze in detail later) you had gathered solid arguments for the advantages that proprietary software could bring to the Peruvian State, and to its citizens in general, since this would have allowed a more enlightening exchange in respect of each of our positions.</p>
18337
18338 <p>With the aim of creating an orderly debate, we will assume that what you call "open source software" is what the Bill defines as "free software", since there exists software for which the source code is distributed together with the program, but which does not fall within the definition established by the Bill; and that what you call "commercial software" is what the Bill defines as "proprietary" or "unfree", given that there exists free software which is sold in the market for a price like any other good or service.</p>
18339
18340 <p>It is also necessary to make it clear that the aim of the Bill we are discussing is not directly related to the amount of direct savings that can by made by using free software in state institutions. That is in any case a marginal aggregate value, but in no way is it the chief focus of the Bill. The basic principles which inspire the Bill are linked to the basic guarantees of a state of law, such as:</p>
18341
18342 <p>
18343 <ul>
18344 <li>Free access to public information by the citizen. </li>
18345 <li>Permanence of public data. </li>
18346 <li>Security of the State and citizens.</li>
18347 </ul>
18348 </p>
18349
18350 <p>To guarantee the free access of citizens to public information, it is indispensable that the encoding of data is not tied to a single provider. The use of standard and open formats gives a guarantee of this free access, if necessary through the creation of compatible free software.</p>
18351
18352 <p>To guarantee the permanence of public data, it is necessary that the usability and maintenance of the software does not depend on the goodwill of the suppliers, or on the monopoly conditions imposed by them. For this reason the State needs systems the development of which can be guaranteed due to the availability of the source code.</p>
18353
18354 <p>To guarantee national security or the security of the State, it is indispensable to be able to rely on systems without elements which allow control from a distance or the undesired transmission of information to third parties. Systems with source code freely accessible to the public are required to allow their inspection by the State itself, by the citizens, and by a large number of independent experts throughout the world. Our proposal brings further security, since the knowledge of the source code will eliminate the growing number of programs with *spy code*. </p>
18355
18356 <p>In the same way, our proposal strengthens the security of the citizens, both in their role as legitimate owners of information managed by the state, and in their role as consumers. In this second case, by allowing the growth of a widespread availability of free software not containing *spy code* able to put at risk privacy and individual freedoms.</p>
18357
18358 <p>In this sense, the Bill is limited to establishing the conditions under which the state bodies will obtain software in the future, that is, in a way compatible with these basic principles.</p>
18359
18360
18361 <p>From reading the Bill it will be clear that once passed:<br>
18362 <li>the law does not forbid the production of proprietary software</li>
18363 <li>the law does not forbid the sale of proprietary software</li>
18364 <li>the law does not specify which concrete software to use</li>
18365 <li>the law does not dictate the supplier from whom software will be bought</li>
18366 <li>the law does not limit the terms under which a software product can be licensed.</li>
18367
18368 </p>
18369
18370 <p>What the Bill does express clearly, is that, for software to be acceptable for the state it is not enough that it is technically capable of fulfilling a task, but that further the contractual conditions must satisfy a series of requirements regarding the license, without which the State cannot guarantee the citizen adequate processing of his data, watching over its integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility throughout time, as these are very critical aspects for its normal functioning.</p>
18371
18372 <p>We agree, Mr. Gonzalez, that information and communication technology have a significant impact on the quality of life of the citizens (whether it be positive or negative). We surely also agree that the basic values I have pointed out above are fundamental in a democratic state like Peru. So we are very interested to know of any other way of guaranteeing these principles, other than through the use of free software in the terms defined by the Bill.</p>
18373
18374 <p>As for the observations you have made, we will now go on to analyze them in detail:</p>
18375
18376 <p>Firstly, you point out that: "1. The bill makes it compulsory for all public bodies to use only free software, that is to say open source software, which breaches the principles of equality before the law, that of non-discrimination and the right of free private enterprise, freedom of industry and of contract, protected by the constitution."</p>
18377
18378 <p>This understanding is in error. The Bill in no way affects the rights you list; it limits itself entirely to establishing conditions for the use of software on the part of state institutions, without in any way meddling in private sector transactions. It is a well established principle that the State does not enjoy the wide spectrum of contractual freedom of the private sector, as it is limited in its actions precisely by the requirement for transparency of public acts; and in this sense, the preservation of the greater common interest must prevail when legislating on the matter.</p>
18379
18380 <p>The Bill protects equality under the law, since no natural or legal person is excluded from the right of offering these goods to the State under the conditions defined in the Bill and without more limitations than those established by the Law of State Contracts and Purchasing (T.U.O. by Supreme Decree No. 012-2001-PCM).</p>
18381
18382 <p>The Bill does not introduce any discrimination whatever, since it only establishes *how* the goods have to be provided (which is a state power) and not *who* has to provide them (which would effectively be discriminatory, if restrictions based on national origin, race religion, ideology, sexual preference etc. were imposed). On the contrary, the Bill is decidedly antidiscriminatory. This is so because by defining with no room for doubt the conditions for the provision of software, it prevents state bodies from using software which has a license including discriminatory conditions.</p>
18383
18384 <p>It should be obvious from the preceding two paragraphs that the Bill does not harm free private enterprise, since the latter can always choose under what conditions it will produce software; some of these will be acceptable to the State, and others will not be since they contradict the guarantee of the basic principles listed above. This free initiative is of course compatible with the freedom of industry and freedom of contract (in the limited form in which the State can exercise the latter). Any private subject can produce software under the conditions which the State requires, or can refrain from doing so. Nobody is forced to adopt a model of production, but if they wish to provide software to the State, they must provide the mechanisms which guarantee the basic principles, and which are those described in the Bill.</p>
18385
18386 <p>By way of an example: nothing in the text of the Bill would prevent your company offering the State bodies an office "suite", under the conditions defined in the Bill and setting the price that you consider satisfactory. If you did not, it would not be due to restrictions imposed by the law, but to business decisions relative to the method of commercializing your products, decisions with which the State is not involved.</p>
18387
18388 <p>To continue; you note that:" 2. The bill, by making the use of open source software compulsory, would establish discriminatory and non competitive practices in the contracting and purchasing by public bodies..."</p>
18389
18390 <p>This statement is just a reiteration of the previous one, and so the response can be found above. However, let us concern ourselves for a moment with your comment regarding "non-competitive ... practices."</p>
18391
18392 <p>Of course, in defining any kind of purchase, the buyer sets conditions which relate to the proposed use of the good or service. From the start, this excludes certain manufacturers from the possibility of competing, but does not exclude them "a priori", but rather based on a series of principles determined by the autonomous will of the purchaser, and so the process takes place in conformance with the law. And in the Bill it is established that *no one* is excluded from competing as far as he guarantees the fulfillment of the basic principles.</p>
18393
18394 <p>Furthermore, the Bill *stimulates* competition, since it tends to generate a supply of software with better conditions of usability, and to better existing work, in a model of continuous improvement.</p>
18395
18396 <p>On the other hand, the central aspect of competivity is the chance to provide better choices to the consumer. Now, it is impossible to ignore the fact that marketing does not play a neutral role when the product is offered on the market (since accepting the opposite would lead one to suppose that firms' expenses in marketing lack any sense), and that therefore a significant expense under this heading can influence the decisions of the purchaser. This influence of marketing is in large measure reduced by the bill that we are backing, since the choice within the framework proposed is based on the *technical merits* of the product and not on the effort put into commercialization by the producer; in this sense, competitiveness is increased, since the smallest software producer can compete on equal terms with the most powerful corporations.</p>
18397
18398 <p>It is necessary to stress that there is no position more anti-competitive than that of the big software producers, which frequently abuse their dominant position, since in innumerable cases they propose as a solution to problems raised by users: "update your software to the new version" (at the user's expense, naturally); furthermore, it is common to find arbitrary cessation of technical help for products, which, in the provider's judgment alone, are "old"; and so, to receive any kind of technical assistance, the user finds himself forced to migrate to new versions (with non-trivial costs, especially as changes in hardware platform are often involved). And as the whole infrastructure is based on proprietary data formats, the user stays "trapped" in the need to continue using products from the same supplier, or to make the huge effort to change to another environment (probably also proprietary).</p>
18399
18400 <p>You add: "3. So, by compelling the State to favor a business model based entirely on open source, the bill would only discourage the local and international manufacturing companies, which are the ones which really undertake important expenditures, create a significant number of direct and indirect jobs, as well as contributing to the GNP, as opposed to a model of open source software which tends to have an ever weaker economic impact, since it mainly creates jobs in the service sector."</p>
18401
18402 <p>I do not agree with your statement. Partly because of what you yourself point out in paragraph 6 of your letter, regarding the relative weight of services in the context of software use. This contradiction alone would invalidate your position. The service model, adopted by a large number of companies in the software industry, is much larger in economic terms, and with a tendency to increase, than the licensing of programs.</p>
18403
18404 <p>On the other hand, the private sector of the economy has the widest possible freedom to choose the economic model which best suits its interests, even if this freedom of choice is often obscured subliminally by the disproportionate expenditure on marketing by the producers of proprietary software.</p>
18405
18406 <p>In addition, a reading of your opinion would lead to the conclusion that the State market is crucial and essential for the proprietary software industry, to such a point that the choice made by the State in this bill would completely eliminate the market for these firms. If that is true, we can deduce that the State must be subsidizing the proprietary software industry. In the unlikely event that this were true, the State would have the right to apply the subsidies in the area it considered of greatest social value; it is undeniable, in this improbable hypothesis, that if the State decided to subsidize software, it would have to do so choosing the free over the proprietary, considering its social effect and the rational use of taxpayers money.</p>
18407
18408 <p>In respect of the jobs generated by proprietary software in countries like ours, these mainly concern technical tasks of little aggregate value; at the local level, the technicians who provide support for proprietary software produced by transnational companies do not have the possibility of fixing bugs, not necessarily for lack of technical capability or of talent, but because they do not have access to the source code to fix it. With free software one creates more technically qualified employment and a framework of free competence where success is only tied to the ability to offer good technical support and quality of service, one stimulates the market, and one increases the shared fund of knowledge, opening up alternatives to generate services of greater total value and a higher quality level, to the benefit of all involved: producers, service organizations, and consumers.</p>
18409
18410 <p>It is a common phenomenon in developing countries that local software industries obtain the majority of their takings in the service sector, or in the creation of "ad hoc" software. Therefore, any negative impact that the application of the Bill might have in this sector will be more than compensated by a growth in demand for services (as long as these are carried out to high quality standards). If the transnational software companies decide not to compete under these new rules of the game, it is likely that they will undergo some decrease in takings in terms of payment for licenses; however, considering that these firms continue to allege that much of the software used by the State has been illegally copied, one can see that the impact will not be very serious. Certainly, in any case their fortune will be determined by market laws, changes in which cannot be avoided; many firms traditionally associated with proprietary software have already set out on the road (supported by copious expense) of providing services associated with free software, which shows that the models are not mutually exclusive.</p>
18411
18412 <p>With this bill the State is deciding that it needs to preserve certain fundamental values. And it is deciding this based on its sovereign power, without affecting any of the constitutional guarantees. If these values could be guaranteed without having to choose a particular economic model, the effects of the law would be even more beneficial. In any case, it should be clear that the State does not choose an economic model; if it happens that there only exists one economic model capable of providing software which provides the basic guarantee of these principles, this is because of historical circumstances, not because of an arbitrary choice of a given model.</p>
18413
18414 <p>Your letter continues: "4. The bill imposes the use of open source software without considering the dangers that this can bring from the point of view of security, guarantee, and possible violation of the intellectual property rights of third parties."</p>
18415
18416 <p>Alluding in an abstract way to "the dangers this can bring", without specifically mentioning a single one of these supposed dangers, shows at the least some lack of knowledge of the topic. So, allow me to enlighten you on these points.</p>
18417
18418 <p>On security:</p>
18419
18420 <p>National security has already been mentioned in general terms in the initial discussion of the basic principles of the bill. In more specific terms, relative to the security of the software itself, it is well known that all software (whether proprietary or free) contains errors or "bugs" (in programmers' slang). But it is also well known that the bugs in free software are fewer, and are fixed much more quickly, than in proprietary software. It is not in vain that numerous public bodies responsible for the IT security of state systems in developed countries require the use of free software for the same conditions of security and efficiency.</p>
18421
18422 <p>What is impossible to prove is that proprietary software is more secure than free, without the public and open inspection of the scientific community and users in general. This demonstration is impossible because the model of proprietary software itself prevents this analysis, so that any guarantee of security is based only on promises of good intentions (biased, by any reckoning) made by the producer itself, or its contractors.</p>
18423
18424 <p>It should be remembered that in many cases, the licensing conditions include Non-Disclosure clauses which prevent the user from publicly revealing security flaws found in the licensed proprietary product.</p>
18425
18426 <p>In respect of the guarantee:</p>
18427
18428 <p>As you know perfectly well, or could find out by reading the "End User License Agreement" of the products you license, in the great majority of cases the guarantees are limited to replacement of the storage medium in case of defects, but in no case is compensation given for direct or indirect damages, loss of profits, etc... If as a result of a security bug in one of your products, not fixed in time by yourselves, an attacker managed to compromise crucial State systems, what guarantees, reparations and compensation would your company make in accordance with your licensing conditions? The guarantees of proprietary software, inasmuch as programs are delivered ``AS IS'', that is, in the state in which they are, with no additional responsibility of the provider in respect of function, in no way differ from those normal with free software.</p>
18429
18430 <p>On Intellectual Property:</p>
18431
18432 <p>Questions of intellectual property fall outside the scope of this bill, since they are covered by specific other laws. The model of free software in no way implies ignorance of these laws, and in fact the great majority of free software is covered by copyright. In reality, the inclusion of this question in your observations shows your confusion in respect of the legal framework in which free software is developed. The inclusion of the intellectual property of others in works claimed as one's own is not a practice that has been noted in the free software community; whereas, unfortunately, it has been in the area of proprietary software. As an example, the condemnation by the Commercial Court of Nanterre, France, on 27th September 2001 of Microsoft Corp. to a penalty of 3 million francs in damages and interest, for violation of intellectual property (piracy, to use the unfortunate term that your firm commonly uses in its publicity).</p>
18433
18434 <p>You go on to say that: "The bill uses the concept of open source software incorrectly, since it does not necessarily imply that the software is free or of zero cost, and so arrives at mistaken conclusions regarding State savings, with no cost-benefit analysis to validate its position."</p>
18435
18436 <p>This observation is wrong; in principle, freedom and lack of cost are orthogonal concepts: there is software which is proprietary and charged for (for example, MS Office), software which is proprietary and free of charge (MS Internet Explorer), software which is free and charged for (Red Hat, SuSE etc GNU/Linux distributions), software which is free and not charged for (Apache, Open Office, Mozilla), and even software which can be licensed in a range of combinations (MySQL).</p>
18437
18438 <p>Certainly free software is not necessarily free of charge. And the text of the bill does not state that it has to be so, as you will have noted after reading it. The definitions included in the Bill state clearly *what* should be considered free software, at no point referring to freedom from charges. Although the possibility of savings in payments for proprietary software licenses are mentioned, the foundations of the bill clearly refer to the fundamental guarantees to be preserved and to the stimulus to local technological development. Given that a democratic State must support these principles, it has no other choice than to use software with publicly available source code, and to exchange information only in standard formats.</p>
18439
18440 <p>If the State does not use software with these characteristics, it will be weakening basic republican principles. Luckily, free software also implies lower total costs; however, even given the hypothesis (easily disproved) that it was more expensive than proprietary software, the simple existence of an effective free software tool for a particular IT function would oblige the State to use it; not by command of this Bill, but because of the basic principles we enumerated at the start, and which arise from the very essence of the lawful democratic State.</p>
18441
18442 <p>You continue: "6. It is wrong to think that Open Source Software is free of charge. Research by the Gartner Group (an important investigator of the technological market recognized at world level) has shown that the cost of purchase of software (operating system and applications) is only 8% of the total cost which firms and institutions take on for a rational and truly beneficial use of the technology. The other 92% consists of: installation costs, enabling, support, maintenance, administration, and down-time."</p>
18443
18444 <p>This argument repeats that already given in paragraph 5 and partly contradicts paragraph 3. For the sake of brevity we refer to the comments on those paragraphs. However, allow me to point out that your conclusion is logically false: even if according to Gartner Group the cost of software is on average only 8% of the total cost of use, this does not in any way deny the existence of software which is free of charge, that is, with a licensing cost of zero.</p>
18445
18446 <p>In addition, in this paragraph you correctly point out that the service components and losses due to down-time make up the largest part of the total cost of software use, which, as you will note, contradicts your statement regarding the small value of services suggested in paragraph 3. Now the use of free software contributes significantly to reduce the remaining life-cycle costs. This reduction in the costs of installation, support etc. can be noted in several areas: in the first place, the competitive service model of free software, support and maintenance for which can be freely contracted out to a range of suppliers competing on the grounds of quality and low cost. This is true for installation, enabling, and support, and in large part for maintenance. In the second place, due to the reproductive characteristics of the model, maintenance carried out for an application is easily replicable, without incurring large costs (that is, without paying more than once for the same thing) since modifications, if one wishes, can be incorporated in the common fund of knowledge. Thirdly, the huge costs caused by non-functioning software ("blue screens of death", malicious code such as virus, worms, and trojans, exceptions, general protection faults and other well-known problems) are reduced considerably by using more stable software; and it is well known that one of the most notable virtues of free software is its stability.</p>
18447
18448 <p>You further state that: "7. One of the arguments behind the bill is the supposed freedom from costs of open-source software, compared with the costs of commercial software, without taking into account the fact that there exist types of volume licensing which can be highly advantageous for the State, as has happened in other countries."</p>
18449
18450 <p>I have already pointed out that what is in question is not the cost of the software but the principles of freedom of information, accessibility, and security. These arguments have been covered extensively in the preceding paragraphs to which I would refer you.</p>
18451
18452 <p>On the other hand, there certainly exist types of volume licensing (although unfortunately proprietary software does not satisfy the basic principles). But as you correctly pointed out in the immediately preceding paragraph of your letter, they only manage to reduce the impact of a component which makes up no more than 8% of the total.</p>
18453
18454 <p>You continue: "8. In addition, the alternative adopted by the bill (I) is clearly more expensive, due to the high costs of software migration, and (II) puts at risk compatibility and interoperability of the IT platforms within the State, and between the State and the private sector, given the hundreds of versions of open source software on the market."</p>
18455
18456 <p>Let us analyze your statement in two parts. Your first argument, that migration implies high costs, is in reality an argument in favor of the Bill. Because the more time goes by, the more difficult migration to another technology will become; and at the same time, the security risks associated with proprietary software will continue to increase. In this way, the use of proprietary systems and formats will make the State ever more dependent on specific suppliers. Once a policy of using free software has been established (which certainly, does imply some cost) then on the contrary migration from one system to another becomes very simple, since all data is stored in open formats. On the other hand, migration to an open software context implies no more costs than migration between two different proprietary software contexts, which invalidates your argument completely.</p>
18457
18458 <p>The second argument refers to "problems in interoperability of the IT platforms within the State, and between the State and the private sector" This statement implies a certain lack of knowledge of the way in which free software is built, which does not maximize the dependence of the user on a particular platform, as normally happens in the realm of proprietary software. Even when there are multiple free software distributions, and numerous programs which can be used for the same function, interoperability is guaranteed as much by the use of standard formats, as required by the bill, as by the possibility of creating interoperable software given the availability of the source code.</p>
18459
18460 <p>You then say that: "9. The majority of open source code does not offer adequate levels of service nor the guarantee from recognized manufacturers of high productivity on the part of the users, which has led various public organizations to retract their decision to go with an open source software solution and to use commercial software in its place."</p>
18461
18462 <p>This observation is without foundation. In respect of the guarantee, your argument was rebutted in the response to paragraph 4. In respect of support services, it is possible to use free software without them (just as also happens with proprietary software), but anyone who does need them can obtain support separately, whether from local firms or from international corporations, again just as in the case of proprietary software.</p>
18463
18464 <p>On the other hand, it would contribute greatly to our analysis if you could inform us about free software projects *established* in public bodies which have already been abandoned in favor of proprietary software. We know of a good number of cases where the opposite has taken place, but not know of any where what you describe has taken place.</p>
18465
18466 <p>You continue by observing that: "10. The bill discourages the creativity of the Peruvian software industry, which invoices 40 million US$/year, exports 4 million US$ (10th in ranking among non-traditional exports, more than handicrafts) and is a source of highly qualified employment. With a law that encourages the use of open source, software programmers lose their intellectual property rights and their main source of payment."</p>
18467
18468 <p>It is clear enough that nobody is forced to commercialize their code as free software. The only thing to take into account is that if it is not free software, it cannot be sold to the public sector. This is not in any case the main market for the national software industry. We covered some questions referring to the influence of the Bill on the generation of employment which would be both highly technically qualified and in better conditions for competition above, so it seems unnecessary to insist on this point.</p>
18469
18470 <p>What follows in your statement is incorrect. On the one hand, no author of free software loses his intellectual property rights, unless he expressly wishes to place his work in the public domain. The free software movement has always been very respectful of intellectual property, and has generated widespread public recognition of its authors. Names like those of Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Guido van Rossum, Larry Wall, Miguel de Icaza, Andrew Tridgell, Theo de Raadt, Andrea Arcangeli, Bruce Perens, Darren Reed, Alan Cox, Eric Raymond, and many others, are recognized world-wide for their contributions to the development of software that is used today by millions of people throughout the world. On the other hand, to say that the rewards for authors rights make up the main source of payment of Peruvian programmers is in any case a guess, in particular since there is no proof to this effect, nor a demonstration of how the use of free software by the State would influence these payments.</p>
18471
18472 <p>You go on to say that: "11. Open source software, since it can be distributed without charge, does not allow the generation of income for its developers through exports. In this way, the multiplier effect of the sale of software to other countries is weakened, and so in turn is the growth of the industry, while Government rules ought on the contrary to stimulate local industry."</p>
18473
18474 <p>This statement shows once again complete ignorance of the mechanisms of and market for free software. It tries to claim that the market of sale of non- exclusive rights for use (sale of licenses) is the only possible one for the software industry, when you yourself pointed out several paragraphs above that it is not even the most important one. The incentives that the bill offers for the growth of a supply of better qualified professionals, together with the increase in experience that working on a large scale with free software within the State will bring for Peruvian technicians, will place them in a highly competitive position to offer their services abroad.</p>
18475
18476 <p>You then state that: "12. In the Forum, the use of open source software in education was discussed, without mentioning the complete collapse of this initiative in a country like Mexico, where precisely the State employees who founded the project now state that open source software did not make it possible to offer a learning experience to pupils in the schools, did not take into account the capability at a national level to give adequate support to the platform, and that the software did not and does not allow for the levels of platform integration that now exist in schools."</p>
18477
18478 <p>In fact Mexico has gone into reverse with the Red Escolar (Schools Network) project. This is due precisely to the fact that the driving forces behind the Mexican project used license costs as their main argument, instead of the other reasons specified in our project, which are far more essential. Because of this conceptual mistake, and as a result of the lack of effective support from the SEP (Secretary of State for Public Education), the assumption was made that to implant free software in schools it would be enough to drop their software budget and send them a CD ROM with Gnu/Linux instead. Of course this failed, and it couldn't have been otherwise, just as school laboratories fail when they use proprietary software and have no budget for implementation and maintenance. That's exactly why our bill is not limited to making the use of free software mandatory, but recognizes the need to create a viable migration plan, in which the State undertakes the technical transition in an orderly way in order to then enjoy the advantages of free software.</p>
18479
18480 <p>You end with a rhetorical question: "13. If open source software satisfies all the requirements of State bodies, why do you need a law to adopt it? Shouldn't it be the market which decides freely which products give most benefits or value?"</p>
18481
18482 <p>We agree that in the private sector of the economy, it must be the market that decides which products to use, and no state interference is permissible there. However, in the case of the public sector, the reasoning is not the same: as we have already established, the state archives, handles, and transmits information which does not belong to it, but which is entrusted to it by citizens, who have no alternative under the rule of law. As a counterpart to this legal requirement, the State must take extreme measures to safeguard the integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility of this information. The use of proprietary software raises serious doubts as to whether these requirements can be fulfilled, lacks conclusive evidence in this respect, and so is not suitable for use in the public sector.</p>
18483
18484 <p>The need for a law is based, firstly, on the realization of the fundamental principles listed above in the specific area of software; secondly, on the fact that the State is not an ideal homogeneous entity, but made up of multiple bodies with varying degrees of autonomy in decision making. Given that it is inappropriate to use proprietary software, the fact of establishing these rules in law will prevent the personal discretion of any state employee from putting at risk the information which belongs to citizens. And above all, because it constitutes an up-to-date reaffirmation in relation to the means of management and communication of information used today, it is based on the republican principle of openness to the public.</p>
18485
18486 <p>In conformance with this universally accepted principle, the citizen has the right to know all information held by the State and not covered by well- founded declarations of secrecy based on law. Now, software deals with information and is itself information. Information in a special form, capable of being interpreted by a machine in order to execute actions, but crucial information all the same because the citizen has a legitimate right to know, for example, how his vote is computed or his taxes calculated. And for that he must have free access to the source code and be able to prove to his satisfaction the programs used for electoral computations or calculation of his taxes.</p>
18487
18488 <p>I wish you the greatest respect, and would like to repeat that my office will always be open for you to expound your point of view to whatever level of detail you consider suitable.</p>
18489
18490 <p>Cordially,<br>
18491 DR. EDGAR DAVID VILLANUEVA NUÑEZ<br>
18492 Congressman of the Republic of Perú.</p>
18493 </blockquote>
18494
18495       </div>
18496       <div class="tags">
18497
18498
18499         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
18500
18501
18502       </div>
18503     </div>
18504     <div class="padding"></div>
18505
18506     <div class="entry">
18507       <div class="title">
18508         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_still_going_strong.html">Officeshots still going strong</a>
18509       </div>
18510       <div class="date">
18511         25th December 2010
18512       </div>
18513       <div class="body">
18514         <p>Half a year ago I
18515 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_taking_shape.html">wrote
18516 a bit</a> about <a href="http://www.officeshots.org/">OfficeShots</a>,
18517 a web service to allow anyone to test how ODF documents are handled by
18518 the different programs reading and writing the ODF format.</p>
18519
18520 <p>I just had a look at the service, and it seem to be going strong.
18521 Very interesting to see the results reported in the gallery, how
18522 different Office implementations handle different ODF features.  Sad
18523 to see that KOffice was not doing it very well, and happy to see that
18524 LibreOffice has been tested already (but sadly not listed as a option
18525 for OfficeShots users yet).  I am glad to see that the ODF community
18526 got such a great test tool available.</p>
18527
18528       </div>
18529       <div class="tags">
18530
18531
18532         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
18533
18534
18535       </div>
18536     </div>
18537     <div class="padding"></div>
18538
18539     <div class="entry">
18540       <div class="title">
18541         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_test_if_a_laptop_is_working_with_Linux.html">How to test if a laptop is working with Linux</a>
18542       </div>
18543       <div class="date">
18544         22nd December 2010
18545       </div>
18546       <div class="body">
18547         <p>The last few days I have spent at work here at the <a
18548 href="http://www.uio.no/">University of Oslo</a> testing if the new
18549 batch of computers will work with Linux.  Every year for the last few
18550 years the university have organised shared bid of a few thousand
18551 computers, and this year HP won the bid.  Two different desktops and
18552 five different laptops are on the list this year.  We in the UNIX
18553 group want to know which one of these computers work well with RHEL
18554 and Ubuntu, the two Linux distributions we currently handle at the
18555 university.</p>
18556
18557 <p>My test method is simple, and I share it here to get feedback and
18558 perhaps inspire others to test hardware as well.  To test, I PXE
18559 install the OS version of choice, and log in as my normal user and run
18560 a few applications and plug in selected pieces of hardware.  When
18561 something fail, I make a note about this in the test matrix and move
18562 on.  If I have some spare time I try to report the bug to the OS
18563 vendor, but as I only have the machines for a short time, I rarely
18564 have the time to do this for all the problems I find.</p>
18565
18566 <p>Anyway, to get to the point of this post.  Here is the simple tests
18567 I perform on a new model.</p>
18568
18569 <ul>
18570
18571 <li>Is PXE installation working?  I'm testing with RHEL6, Ubuntu Lucid
18572 and Ubuntu Maverik at the moment.  If I feel like it, I also test with
18573 RHEL5 and Debian Edu/Squeeze.</li>
18574
18575 <li>Is X.org working?  If the graphical login screen show up after
18576 installation, X.org is working.</li>
18577
18578 <li>Is hardware accelerated OpenGL working?  Running glxgears (in
18579 package mesa-utils on Ubuntu) and writing down the frames per second
18580 reported by the program.</li>
18581
18582 <li>Is sound working?  With Gnome and KDE, a sound is played when
18583 logging in, and if I can hear this the test is successful.  If there
18584 are several audio exits on the machine, I try them all and check if
18585 the Gnome/KDE audio mixer can control where to send the sound.  I
18586 normally test this by playing
18587 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20101012-chef/ ">a HTML5
18588 video</a> in Firefox/Iceweasel.</li>
18589
18590 <li>Is the USB subsystem working?  I test this by plugging in a USB
18591 memory stick and see if Gnome/KDE notices this.</li>
18592
18593 <li>Is the CD/DVD player working?  I test this by inserting any CD/DVD
18594 I have lying around, and see if Gnome/KDE notices this.</li>
18595
18596 <li>Is any built in camera working?  Test using cheese, and see if a
18597 picture from the v4l device show up.</li>
18598
18599 <li>Is bluetooth working?  Use the Gnome/KDE browsing tool to see if
18600 any bluetooth devices are discovered.  In my office, I normally see a
18601 few.</li>
18602
18603 <li>For laptops, is the SD or Compaq Flash reader working.  I have
18604 memory modules lying around, and stick them in and see if Gnome/KDE
18605 notice this.</li>
18606
18607 <li>For laptops, is suspend/hibernate working?  I'm testing if the
18608 special button work, and if the laptop continue to work after
18609 resume.</li>
18610
18611 <li>For laptops, is the extra buttons working, like audio level,
18612 adjusting background light, switching on/off external video output,
18613 switching on/off wifi, bluetooth, etc?  The set of buttons differ from
18614 laptop to laptop, so I just write down which are working and which are
18615 not.</li>
18616
18617 <li>Some laptops have smart card readers, finger print readers,
18618 acceleration sensors etc.  I rarely test these, as I do not know how
18619 to quickly test if they are working or not, so I only document their
18620 existence.</li>
18621
18622 </ul>
18623
18624 <p>By now I suspect you are really curious what the test results are
18625 for the HP machines I am testing.  I'm not done yet, so I will report
18626 the test results later.  For now I can report that HP 8100 Elite work
18627 fine, and hibernation fail with HP EliteBook 8440p on Ubuntu Lucid,
18628 and audio fail on RHEL6.  Ubuntu Maverik worked with 8440p.  As you
18629 can see, I have most machines left to test.  One interesting
18630 observation is that Ubuntu Lucid has almost twice the frame rate than
18631 RHEL6 with glxgears.  No idea why.</p>
18632
18633       </div>
18634       <div class="tags">
18635
18636
18637         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
18638
18639
18640       </div>
18641     </div>
18642     <div class="padding"></div>
18643
18644     <div class="entry">
18645       <div class="title">
18646         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Some_thoughts_on_BitCoins.html">Some thoughts on BitCoins</a>
18647       </div>
18648       <div class="date">
18649         11th December 2010
18650       </div>
18651       <div class="body">
18652         <p>As I continue to explore
18653 <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">BitCoin</a>, I've starting to wonder
18654 what properties the system have, and how it will be affected by laws
18655 and regulations here in Norway.  Here are some random notes.</p>
18656
18657 <p>One interesting thing to note is that since the transactions are
18658 verified using a peer to peer network, all details about a transaction
18659 is known to everyone.  This means that if a BitCoin address has been
18660 published like I did with mine in my initial post about BitCoin, it is
18661 possible for everyone to see how many BitCoins have been transfered to
18662 that address.  There is even a web service to look at the details for
18663 all transactions.  There I can see that my address
18664 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a>
18665 have received 16.06 Bitcoin, the
18666 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/1LfdGnGuWkpSJgbQySxxCWhv8MHqvwst3">1LfdGnGuWkpSJgbQySxxCWhv8MHqvwst3</a>
18667 address of Simon Phipps have received 181.97 BitCoin and the address
18668 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/1MCwBbhNGp5hRm5rC1Aims2YFRe2SXPYKt">1MCwBbhNGp5hRm5rC1Aims2YFRe2SXPYKt</A>
18669 of EFF have received 2447.38 BitCoins so far.  Thank you to each and
18670 every one of you that donated bitcoins to support my activity. The
18671 fact that anyone can see how much money was transfered to a given
18672 address make it more obvious why the BitCoin community recommend to
18673 generate and hand out a new address for each transaction.  I'm told
18674 there is no way to track which addresses belong to a given person or
18675 organisation without the person or organisation revealing it
18676 themselves, as Simon, EFF and I have done.</p>
18677
18678 <p>In Norway, and in most other countries, there are laws and
18679 regulations limiting how much money one can transfer across the border
18680 without declaring it.  There are money laundering, tax and accounting
18681 laws and regulations I would expect to apply to the use of BitCoin.
18682 If the Skolelinux foundation
18683 (<a href="http://linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/donations.html">SLX
18684 Debian Labs</a>) were to accept donations in BitCoin in addition to
18685 normal bank transfers like EFF is doing, how should this be accounted?
18686 Given that it is impossible to know if money can cross the border or
18687 not, should everything or nothing be declared?  What exchange rate
18688 should be used when calculating taxes?  Would receivers have to pay
18689 income tax if the foundation were to pay Skolelinux contributors in
18690 BitCoin?  I have no idea, but it would be interesting to know.</p>
18691
18692 <p>For a currency to be useful and successful, it must be trusted and
18693 accepted by a lot of users.  It must be possible to get easy access to
18694 the currency (as a wage or using currency exchanges), and it must be
18695 easy to spend it.  At the moment BitCoin seem fairly easy to get
18696 access to, but there are very few places to spend it.  I am not really
18697 a regular user of any of the vendor types currently accepting BitCoin,
18698 so I wonder when my kind of shop would start accepting BitCoins.  I
18699 would like to buy electronics, travels and subway tickets, not herbs
18700 and books. :) The currency is young, and this will improve over time
18701 if it become popular, but I suspect regular banks will start to lobby
18702 to get BitCoin declared illegal if it become popular.  I'm sure they
18703 will claim it is helping fund terrorism and money laundering (which
18704 probably would be true, as is any currency in existence), but I
18705 believe the problems should be solved elsewhere and not by blaming
18706 currencies.</p>
18707
18708 <p>The process of creating new BitCoins is called mining, and it is
18709 CPU intensive process that depend on a bit of luck as well (as one is
18710 competing against all the other miners currently spending CPU cycles
18711 to see which one get the next lump of cash).  The "winner" get 50
18712 BitCoin when this happen.  Yesterday I came across the obvious way to
18713 join forces to increase ones changes of getting at least some coins,
18714 by coordinating the work on mining BitCoins across several machines
18715 and people, and sharing the result if one is lucky and get the 50
18716 BitCoins.  Check out
18717 <a href="http://www.bluishcoder.co.nz/bitcoin-pool/">BitCoin Pool</a>
18718 if this sounds interesting.  I have not had time to try to set up a
18719 machine to participate there yet, but have seen that running on ones
18720 own for a few days have not yield any BitCoins througth mining
18721 yet.</p>
18722
18723 <p>Update 2010-12-15: Found an <a
18724 href="http://inertia.posterous.com/reply-to-the-underground-economist-why-bitcoi">interesting
18725 criticism</a> of bitcoin.  Not quite sure how valid it is, but thought
18726 it was interesting to read.  The arguments presented seem to be
18727 equally valid for gold, which was used as a currency for many years.</p>
18728
18729       </div>
18730       <div class="tags">
18731
18732
18733         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
18734
18735
18736       </div>
18737     </div>
18738     <div class="padding"></div>
18739
18740     <div class="entry">
18741       <div class="title">
18742         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Now_accepting_bitcoins___anonymous_and_distributed_p2p_crypto_money.html">Now accepting bitcoins - anonymous and distributed p2p crypto-money</a>
18743       </div>
18744       <div class="date">
18745         10th December 2010
18746       </div>
18747       <div class="body">
18748         <p>With this weeks lawless
18749 <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/06/wikileaks/index.html">governmental
18750 attacks</a> on Wikileak and
18751 <a href="http://www.salon.com/technology/dan_gillmor/2010/12/06/war_on_speech">free
18752 speech</a>, it has become obvious that PayPal, visa and mastercard can
18753 not be trusted to handle money transactions.
18754 A blog post from
18755 <a href="http://webmink.com/2010/12/06/now-accepting-bitcoin/">Simon
18756 Phipps on bitcoin</a> reminded me about a project that a friend of
18757 mine mentioned earlier.  I decided to follow Simon's example, and get
18758 involved with <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">BitCoin</a>.  I got
18759 some help from my friend to get it all running, and he even handed me
18760 some bitcoins to get started.  I even donated a few bitcoins to Simon
18761 for helping me remember BitCoin.</p>
18762
18763 <p>So, what is bitcoins, you probably wonder?  It is a digital
18764 crypto-currency, decentralised and handled using peer-to-peer
18765 networks.  It allows anonymous transactions and prohibits central
18766 control over the transactions, making it impossible for governments
18767 and companies alike to block donations and other transactions.  The
18768 source is free software, and while the key dependency wxWidgets 2.9
18769 for the graphical user interface is missing in Debian, the command
18770 line client builds just fine.  Hopefully Jonas
18771 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/578157">will get the package into
18772 Debian</a> soon.</p>
18773
18774 <p>Bitcoins can be converted to other currencies, like USD and EUR.
18775 There are <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/trade">companies accepting
18776 bitcoins</a> when selling services and goods, and there are even
18777 currency "stock" markets where the exchange rate is decided.  There
18778 are not many users so far, but the concept seems promising.  If you
18779 want to get started and lack a friend with any bitcoins to spare,
18780 you can even get
18781 <a href="https://freebitcoins.appspot.com/">some for free</a> (0.05
18782 bitcoin at the time of writing).  Use
18783 <a href="http://www.bitcoinwatch.com/">BitcoinWatch</a> to keep an eye
18784 on the current exchange rates.</p>
18785
18786 <p>As an experiment, I have decided to set up bitcoind on one of my
18787 machines.  If you want to support my activity, please send Bitcoin
18788 donations to the address
18789 <b>15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</b>.  Thank you!</p>
18790
18791       </div>
18792       <div class="tags">
18793
18794
18795         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
18796
18797
18798       </div>
18799     </div>
18800     <div class="padding"></div>
18801
18802     <div class="entry">
18803       <div class="title">
18804         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Student_group_continue_the_work_on_my_Reprap_3D_printer.html">Student group continue the work on my Reprap 3D printer</a>
18805       </div>
18806       <div class="date">
18807          9th December 2010
18808       </div>
18809       <div class="body">
18810         <p>A few days ago, I was introduces to some students in the robot
18811 student assosiation <a href="http://www.robotica.no/">Robotica
18812 Osloensis</a> at the University of Oslo where I work, who planned to
18813 get their own 3D printer.  They wanted to learn from me based on my
18814 work in the area.  After having a short lunch meeting with them, I
18815 offered them to borrow my reprap kit, as I never had time to complete
18816 the build and this seem unlike to change any time soon.  I look
18817 forward to see how this goes.  This monday their volunteer driver
18818 picked up my kit and drove it to their lab, and tomorrow I am told the
18819 last exam is over so they can start work on getting the 3D printer
18820 operational.</p>
18821
18822 <p>The robotic group have already build several robots on their own,
18823 and seem capable of getting the reprap operational.  I really look
18824 forward to being able to print all the cool 3D designs published on
18825 <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/">Thingiverse</a>.  I even got
18826 some 3D scans I got made during Dagen@IFI when one of the groups at
18827 the computer science department at the university demonstrated their
18828 very cool 3D scanner.</p>
18829
18830       </div>
18831       <div class="tags">
18832
18833
18834         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reprap">reprap</a>.
18835
18836
18837       </div>
18838     </div>
18839     <div class="padding"></div>
18840
18841     <div class="entry">
18842       <div class="title">
18843         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_development_gathering_and_General_Assembly_for_FRiSK.html">Debian Edu development gathering and General Assembly for FRiSK</a>
18844       </div>
18845       <div class="date">
18846         29th November 2010
18847       </div>
18848       <div class="body">
18849         <p>On friday, the first Debian Edu / Skolelinux
18850 <a href="http://www.friprogramvareiskolen.no/Gathering/2010-12-03-05-Oslo">development
18851 gathering</a> in a long time take place here in Oslo, Norway.  I
18852 really look forward to seeing all the good people working on the
18853 Squeeze release.  The gathering is open for everyone interested in
18854 learning more about Debian Edu / Skolelinux.</p>
18855
18856 <p>On Saturday, the Norwegian member organization taking care of
18857 organizing these development gatherings, Fri Programvare i Skolen,
18858 will hold its
18859 <a href="http://friprogramvareiskolen.no/Genfors/2010">General Assembly
18860 for 2010</a>.  Membership is open for all, and currently there are 388
18861 people registered as members.  Last year 32 members cast their vote in
18862 the memberdb based election system.  I hope more people find time to
18863 vote this year.</p>
18864
18865       </div>
18866       <div class="tags">
18867
18868
18869         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
18870
18871
18872       </div>
18873     </div>
18874     <div class="padding"></div>
18875
18876     <div class="entry">
18877       <div class="title">
18878         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_isn_t_Debian_Edu_using_VLC_.html">Why isn't Debian Edu using VLC?</a>
18879       </div>
18880       <div class="date">
18881         27th November 2010
18882       </div>
18883       <div class="body">
18884         <p>In the latest issue of Linux Journal, the readers choices were
18885 presented, and the winner among the multimedia player were VLC.
18886 Personally, I like VLC, and it is my player of choice when I first try
18887 to play a video file or stream.  Only if VLC fail will I drag out
18888 gmplayer to see if it can do better.  The reason is mostly the failure
18889 model and trust.  When VLC fail, it normally pop up a error message
18890 reporting the problem.  When mplayer fail, it normally segfault or
18891 just hangs.  The latter failure mode drain my trust in the program.<p>
18892
18893 <p>But even if VLC is my player of choice, we have choosen to use
18894 mplayer in <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian
18895 Edu/Skolelinux</a>.  The reason is simple.  We need a good browser
18896 plugin to play web videos seamlessly, and the VLC browser plugin is
18897 not very good.  For example, it lack in-line control buttons, so there
18898 is no way for the user to pause the video.  Also, when I
18899 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/BrowserMultimedia">last
18900 tested the browser plugins</a> available in Debian, the VLC plugin
18901 failed on several video pages where mplayer based plugins worked.  If
18902 the browser plugin for VLC was as good as the gecko-mediaplayer
18903 package (which uses mplayer), we would switch.</P>
18904
18905 <p>While VLC is a good player, its user interface is slightly
18906 annoying.  The most annoying feature is its inconsistent use of
18907 keyboard shortcuts.  When the player is in full screen mode, its
18908 shortcuts are different from when it is playing the video in a window.
18909 For example, space only work as pause when in full screen mode.  I
18910 wish it had consisten shortcuts and that space also would work when in
18911 window mode.  Another nice shortcut in gmplayer is [enter] to restart
18912 the current video.  It is very nice when playing short videos from the
18913 web and want to restart it when new people arrive to have a look at
18914 what is going on.</p>
18915
18916       </div>
18917       <div class="tags">
18918
18919
18920         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
18921
18922
18923       </div>
18924     </div>
18925     <div class="padding"></div>
18926
18927     <div class="entry">
18928       <div class="title">
18929         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades_of_the_Gnome_and_KDE_desktop__now_with_apt_get_autoremove.html">Lenny->Squeeze upgrades of the Gnome and KDE desktop, now with apt-get autoremove</a>
18930       </div>
18931       <div class="date">
18932         22nd November 2010
18933       </div>
18934       <div class="body">
18935         <p>Michael Biebl suggested to me on IRC, that I changed my automated
18936 upgrade testing of the
18937 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">Lenny
18938 Gnome and KDE Desktop</a> to do <tt>apt-get autoremove</tt> when using apt-get.
18939 This seem like a very good idea, so I adjusted by test scripts and
18940 can now present the updated result from today:</p>
18941
18942 <p>This is for Gnome:</p>
18943
18944 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
18945
18946 <blockquote><p>
18947   apache2.2-bin
18948   aptdaemon
18949   baobab
18950   binfmt-support
18951   browser-plugin-gnash
18952   cheese-common
18953   cli-common
18954   cups-pk-helper
18955   dmz-cursor-theme
18956   empathy
18957   empathy-common
18958   freedesktop-sound-theme
18959   freeglut3
18960   gconf-defaults-service
18961   gdm-themes
18962   gedit-plugins
18963   geoclue
18964   geoclue-hostip
18965   geoclue-localnet
18966   geoclue-manual
18967   geoclue-yahoo
18968   gnash
18969   gnash-common
18970   gnome
18971   gnome-backgrounds
18972   gnome-cards-data
18973   gnome-codec-install
18974   gnome-core
18975   gnome-desktop-environment
18976   gnome-disk-utility
18977   gnome-screenshot
18978   gnome-search-tool
18979   gnome-session-canberra
18980   gnome-system-log
18981   gnome-themes-extras
18982   gnome-themes-more
18983   gnome-user-share
18984   gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3
18985   gstreamer0.10-tools
18986   gtk2-engines
18987   gtk2-engines-pixbuf
18988   gtk2-engines-smooth
18989   hamster-applet
18990   libapache2-mod-dnssd
18991   libapr1
18992   libaprutil1
18993   libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3
18994   libaprutil1-ldap
18995   libart2.0-cil
18996   libboost-date-time1.42.0
18997   libboost-python1.42.0
18998   libboost-thread1.42.0
18999   libchamplain-0.4-0
19000   libchamplain-gtk-0.4-0
19001   libcheese-gtk18
19002   libclutter-gtk-0.10-0
19003   libcryptui0
19004   libdiscid0
19005   libelf1
19006   libepc-1.0-2
19007   libepc-common
19008   libepc-ui-1.0-2
19009   libfreerdp-plugins-standard
19010   libfreerdp0
19011   libgconf2.0-cil
19012   libgdata-common
19013   libgdata7
19014   libgdu-gtk0
19015   libgee2
19016   libgeoclue0
19017   libgexiv2-0
19018   libgif4
19019   libglade2.0-cil
19020   libglib2.0-cil
19021   libgmime2.4-cil
19022   libgnome-vfs2.0-cil
19023   libgnome2.24-cil
19024   libgnomepanel2.24-cil
19025   libgpod-common
19026   libgpod4
19027   libgtk2.0-cil
19028   libgtkglext1
19029   libgtksourceview2.0-common
19030   libmono-addins-gui0.2-cil
19031   libmono-addins0.2-cil
19032   libmono-cairo2.0-cil
19033   libmono-corlib2.0-cil
19034   libmono-i18n-west2.0-cil
19035   libmono-posix2.0-cil
19036   libmono-security2.0-cil
19037   libmono-sharpzip2.84-cil
19038   libmono-system2.0-cil
19039   libmtp8
19040   libmusicbrainz3-6
19041   libndesk-dbus-glib1.0-cil
19042   libndesk-dbus1.0-cil
19043   libopal3.6.8
19044   libpolkit-gtk-1-0
19045   libpt2.6.7
19046   libpython2.6
19047   librpm1
19048   librpmio1
19049   libsdl1.2debian
19050   libsrtp0
19051   libssh-4
19052   libtelepathy-farsight0
19053   libtelepathy-glib0
19054   libtidy-0.99-0
19055   media-player-info
19056   mesa-utils
19057   mono-2.0-gac
19058   mono-gac
19059   mono-runtime
19060   nautilus-sendto
19061   nautilus-sendto-empathy
19062   p7zip-full
19063   pkg-config
19064   python-aptdaemon
19065   python-aptdaemon-gtk
19066   python-axiom
19067   python-beautifulsoup
19068   python-bugbuddy
19069   python-clientform
19070   python-coherence
19071   python-configobj
19072   python-crypto
19073   python-cupshelpers
19074   python-elementtree
19075   python-epsilon
19076   python-evolution
19077   python-feedparser
19078   python-gdata
19079   python-gdbm
19080   python-gst0.10
19081   python-gtkglext1
19082   python-gtksourceview2
19083   python-httplib2
19084   python-louie
19085   python-mako
19086   python-markupsafe
19087   python-mechanize
19088   python-nevow
19089   python-notify
19090   python-opengl
19091   python-openssl
19092   python-pam
19093   python-pkg-resources
19094   python-pyasn1
19095   python-pysqlite2
19096   python-rdflib
19097   python-serial
19098   python-tagpy
19099   python-twisted-bin
19100   python-twisted-conch
19101   python-twisted-core
19102   python-twisted-web
19103   python-utidylib
19104   python-webkit
19105   python-xdg
19106   python-zope.interface
19107   remmina
19108   remmina-plugin-data
19109   remmina-plugin-rdp
19110   remmina-plugin-vnc
19111   rhythmbox-plugin-cdrecorder
19112   rhythmbox-plugins
19113   rpm-common
19114   rpm2cpio
19115   seahorse-plugins
19116   shotwell
19117   software-center
19118   system-config-printer-udev
19119   telepathy-gabble
19120   telepathy-mission-control-5
19121   telepathy-salut
19122   tomboy
19123   totem
19124   totem-coherence
19125   totem-mozilla
19126   totem-plugins
19127   transmission-common
19128   xdg-user-dirs
19129   xdg-user-dirs-gtk
19130   xserver-xephyr
19131 </p></blockquote>
19132
19133 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
19134
19135 <blockquote><p>
19136   cheese
19137   ekiga
19138   eog
19139   epiphany-extensions
19140   evolution-exchange
19141   fast-user-switch-applet
19142   file-roller
19143   gcalctool
19144   gconf-editor
19145   gdm
19146   gedit
19147   gedit-common
19148   gnome-games
19149   gnome-games-data
19150   gnome-nettool
19151   gnome-system-tools
19152   gnome-themes
19153   gnuchess
19154   gucharmap
19155   guile-1.8-libs
19156   libavahi-ui0
19157   libdmx1
19158   libgalago3
19159   libgtk-vnc-1.0-0
19160   libgtksourceview2.0-0
19161   liblircclient0
19162   libsdl1.2debian-alsa
19163   libspeexdsp1
19164   libsvga1
19165   rhythmbox
19166   seahorse
19167   sound-juicer
19168   system-config-printer
19169   totem-common
19170   transmission-gtk
19171   vinagre
19172   vino
19173 </p></blockquote>
19174
19175 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
19176
19177 <blockquote><p>
19178   gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
19179 </p></blockquote>
19180
19181 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
19182
19183 <blockquote><p>
19184 [nothing]
19185 </p></blockquote>
19186
19187 <p>This is for KDE:</p>
19188
19189 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
19190
19191 <blockquote><p>
19192   ksmserver
19193 </p></blockquote>
19194
19195 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
19196
19197 <blockquote><p>
19198   kwin
19199   network-manager-kde
19200 </p></blockquote>
19201
19202 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
19203
19204 <blockquote><p>
19205   arts
19206   dolphin
19207   freespacenotifier
19208   google-gadgets-gst
19209   google-gadgets-xul
19210   kappfinder
19211   kcalc
19212   kcharselect
19213   kde-core
19214   kde-plasma-desktop
19215   kde-standard
19216   kde-window-manager
19217   kdeartwork
19218   kdeartwork-emoticons
19219   kdeartwork-style
19220   kdeartwork-theme-icon
19221   kdebase
19222   kdebase-apps
19223   kdebase-workspace
19224   kdebase-workspace-bin
19225   kdebase-workspace-data
19226   kdeeject
19227   kdelibs
19228   kdeplasma-addons
19229   kdeutils
19230   kdewallpapers
19231   kdf
19232   kfloppy
19233   kgpg
19234   khelpcenter4
19235   kinfocenter
19236   konq-plugins-l10n
19237   konqueror-nsplugins
19238   kscreensaver
19239   kscreensaver-xsavers
19240   ktimer
19241   kwrite
19242   libgle3
19243   libkde4-ruby1.8
19244   libkonq5
19245   libkonq5-templates
19246   libnetpbm10
19247   libplasma-ruby
19248   libplasma-ruby1.8
19249   libqt4-ruby1.8
19250   marble-data
19251   marble-plugins
19252   netpbm
19253   nuvola-icon-theme
19254   plasma-dataengines-workspace
19255   plasma-desktop
19256   plasma-desktopthemes-artwork
19257   plasma-runners-addons
19258   plasma-scriptengine-googlegadgets
19259   plasma-scriptengine-python
19260   plasma-scriptengine-qedje
19261   plasma-scriptengine-ruby
19262   plasma-scriptengine-webkit
19263   plasma-scriptengines
19264   plasma-wallpapers-addons
19265   plasma-widget-folderview
19266   plasma-widget-networkmanagement
19267   ruby
19268   sweeper
19269   update-notifier-kde
19270   xscreensaver-data-extra
19271   xscreensaver-gl
19272   xscreensaver-gl-extra
19273   xscreensaver-screensaver-bsod
19274 </p></blockquote>
19275
19276 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
19277
19278 <blockquote><p>
19279   ark
19280   google-gadgets-common
19281   google-gadgets-qt
19282   htdig
19283   kate
19284   kdebase-bin
19285   kdebase-data
19286   kdepasswd
19287   kfind
19288   klipper
19289   konq-plugins
19290   konqueror
19291   ksysguard
19292   ksysguardd
19293   libarchive1
19294   libcln6
19295   libeet1
19296   libeina-svn-06
19297   libggadget-1.0-0b
19298   libggadget-qt-1.0-0b
19299   libgps19
19300   libkdecorations4
19301   libkephal4
19302   libkonq4
19303   libkonqsidebarplugin4a
19304   libkscreensaver5
19305   libksgrd4
19306   libksignalplotter4
19307   libkunitconversion4
19308   libkwineffects1a
19309   libmarblewidget4
19310   libntrack-qt4-1
19311   libntrack0
19312   libplasma-geolocation-interface4
19313   libplasmaclock4a
19314   libplasmagenericshell4
19315   libprocesscore4a
19316   libprocessui4a
19317   libqalculate5
19318   libqedje0a
19319   libqtruby4shared2
19320   libqzion0a
19321   libruby1.8
19322   libscim8c2a
19323   libsmokekdecore4-3
19324   libsmokekdeui4-3
19325   libsmokekfile3
19326   libsmokekhtml3
19327   libsmokekio3
19328   libsmokeknewstuff2-3
19329   libsmokeknewstuff3-3
19330   libsmokekparts3
19331   libsmokektexteditor3
19332   libsmokekutils3
19333   libsmokenepomuk3
19334   libsmokephonon3
19335   libsmokeplasma3
19336   libsmokeqtcore4-3
19337   libsmokeqtdbus4-3
19338   libsmokeqtgui4-3
19339   libsmokeqtnetwork4-3
19340   libsmokeqtopengl4-3
19341   libsmokeqtscript4-3
19342   libsmokeqtsql4-3
19343   libsmokeqtsvg4-3
19344   libsmokeqttest4-3
19345   libsmokeqtuitools4-3
19346   libsmokeqtwebkit4-3
19347   libsmokeqtxml4-3
19348   libsmokesolid3
19349   libsmokesoprano3
19350   libtaskmanager4a
19351   libtidy-0.99-0
19352   libweather-ion4a
19353   libxklavier16
19354   libxxf86misc1
19355   okteta
19356   oxygencursors
19357   plasma-dataengines-addons
19358   plasma-scriptengine-superkaramba
19359   plasma-widget-lancelot
19360   plasma-widgets-addons
19361   plasma-widgets-workspace
19362   polkit-kde-1
19363   ruby1.8
19364   systemsettings
19365   update-notifier-common
19366 </p></blockquote>
19367
19368 <p>Running apt-get autoremove made the results using apt-get and
19369 aptitude a bit more similar, but there are still quite a lott of
19370 differences.  I have no idea what packages should be installed after
19371 the upgrade, but hope those that do can have a look.</p>
19372
19373       </div>
19374       <div class="tags">
19375
19376
19377         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
19378
19379
19380       </div>
19381     </div>
19382     <div class="padding"></div>
19383
19384     <div class="entry">
19385       <div class="title">
19386         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Migrating_Xen_virtual_machines_using_LVM_to_KVM_using_disk_images.html">Migrating Xen virtual machines using LVM to KVM using disk images</a>
19387       </div>
19388       <div class="date">
19389         22nd November 2010
19390       </div>
19391       <div class="body">
19392         <p>Most of the computers in use by the
19393 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu/Skolelinux project</a>
19394 are virtual machines.  And they have been Xen machines running on a
19395 fairly old IBM eserver xseries 345 machine, and we wanted to migrate
19396 them to KVM on a newer Dell PowerEdge 2950 host machine.  This was a
19397 bit harder that it could have been, because we set up the Xen virtual
19398 machines to get the virtual partitions from LVM, which as far as I
19399 know is not supported by KVM.  So to migrate, we had to convert
19400 several LVM logical volumes to partitions on a virtual disk file.</p>
19401
19402 <p>I found
19403 <a href="http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com.au/articles/35011-Six-steps-for-migrating-Xen-virtual-machines-to-KVM">a
19404 nice recipe</a> to do this, and wrote the following script to do the
19405 migration.  It uses qemu-img from the qemu package to make the disk
19406 image, parted to partition it, losetup and kpartx to present the disk
19407 image partions as devices, and dd to copy the data.  I NFS mounted the
19408 new servers storage area on the old server to do the migration.</p>
19409
19410 <pre>
19411 #!/bin/sh
19412
19413 # Based on
19414 # http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com.au/articles/35011-Six-steps-for-migrating-Xen-virtual-machines-to-KVM
19415
19416 set -e
19417 set -x
19418
19419 if [ -z "$1" ] ; then
19420     echo "Usage: $0 &lt;hostname&gt;"
19421     exit 1
19422 else
19423     host="$1"
19424 fi
19425
19426 if [ ! -e /dev/vg_data/$host-disk ] ; then
19427     echo "error: unable to find LVM volume for $host"
19428     exit 1
19429 fi
19430
19431 # Partitions need to be a bit bigger than the LVM LVs.  not sure why.
19432 disksize=$( lvs --units m | grep $host-disk | awk '{sum = sum + $4} END { print int(sum * 1.05) }')
19433 swapsize=$( lvs --units m | grep $host-swap | awk '{sum = sum + $4} END { print int(sum * 1.05) }')
19434 totalsize=$(( ( $disksize + $swapsize ) ))
19435
19436 img=$host.img
19437 #dd if=/dev/zero of=$img bs=1M count=$(( $disksize + $swapsize ))
19438 qemu-img create $img ${totalsize}MMaking room on the Debian Edu/Sqeeze DVD
19439
19440 parted $img mklabel msdos
19441 parted $img mkpart primary linux-swap 0 $disksize
19442 parted $img mkpart primary ext2 $disksize $totalsize
19443 parted $img set 1 boot on
19444
19445 modprobe dm-mod
19446 losetup /dev/loop0 $img
19447 kpartx -a /dev/loop0
19448
19449 dd if=/dev/vg_data/$host-disk of=/dev/mapper/loop0p1 bs=1M
19450 fsck.ext3 -f /dev/mapper/loop0p1 || true
19451 mkswap /dev/mapper/loop0p2
19452
19453 kpartx -d /dev/loop0
19454 losetup -d /dev/loop0
19455 </pre>
19456
19457 <p>The script is perhaps so simple that it is not copyrightable, but
19458 if it is, it is licenced using GPL v2 or later at your discretion.</p>
19459
19460 <p>After doing this, I booted a Debian CD in rescue mode in KVM with
19461 the new disk image attached, installed grub-pc and linux-image-686 and
19462 set up grub to boot from the disk image.  After this, the KVM machines
19463 seem to work just fine.</p>
19464
19465       </div>
19466       <div class="tags">
19467
19468
19469         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
19470
19471
19472       </div>
19473     </div>
19474     <div class="padding"></div>
19475
19476     <div class="entry">
19477       <div class="title">
19478         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__apt_vs_aptitude_with_the_Gnome_and_KDE_desktop.html">Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, apt vs aptitude with the Gnome and KDE desktop</a>
19479       </div>
19480       <div class="date">
19481         20th November 2010
19482       </div>
19483       <div class="body">
19484         <p>I'm still running upgrade testing of the
19485 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">Lenny
19486 Gnome and KDE Desktop</a>, but have not had time to spend on reporting the
19487 status.  Here is a short update based on a test I ran 20101118.</p>
19488
19489 <p>I still do not know what a correct migration should look like, so I
19490 report any differences between apt and aptitude and hope someone else
19491 can see if anything should be changed.</p>
19492
19493 <p>This is for Gnome:</p>
19494
19495 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
19496
19497 <blockquote><p>
19498   apache2.2-bin aptdaemon at-spi baobab binfmt-support
19499   browser-plugin-gnash cheese-common cli-common cpp-4.3 cups-pk-helper
19500   dmz-cursor-theme empathy empathy-common finger
19501   freedesktop-sound-theme freeglut3 gconf-defaults-service gdm-themes
19502   gedit-plugins geoclue geoclue-hostip geoclue-localnet geoclue-manual
19503   geoclue-yahoo gnash gnash-common gnome gnome-backgrounds
19504   gnome-cards-data gnome-codec-install gnome-core
19505   gnome-desktop-environment gnome-disk-utility gnome-screenshot
19506   gnome-search-tool gnome-session-canberra gnome-spell
19507   gnome-system-log gnome-themes-extras gnome-themes-more
19508   gnome-user-share gs-common gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3
19509   gstreamer0.10-tools gtk2-engines gtk2-engines-pixbuf
19510   gtk2-engines-smooth hal-info hamster-applet libapache2-mod-dnssd
19511   libapr1 libaprutil1 libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3 libaprutil1-ldap
19512   libart2.0-cil libatspi1.0-0 libboost-date-time1.42.0
19513   libboost-python1.42.0 libboost-thread1.42.0 libchamplain-0.4-0
19514   libchamplain-gtk-0.4-0 libcheese-gtk18 libclutter-gtk-0.10-0
19515   libcryptui0 libcupsys2 libdiscid0 libeel2-data libelf1 libepc-1.0-2
19516   libepc-common libepc-ui-1.0-2 libfreerdp-plugins-standard
19517   libfreerdp0 libgail-common libgconf2.0-cil libgdata-common libgdata7
19518   libgdl-1-common libgdu-gtk0 libgee2 libgeoclue0 libgexiv2-0 libgif4
19519   libglade2.0-cil libglib2.0-cil libgmime2.4-cil libgnome-vfs2.0-cil
19520   libgnome2.24-cil libgnomepanel2.24-cil libgnomeprint2.2-data
19521   libgnomeprintui2.2-common libgnomevfs2-bin libgpod-common libgpod4
19522   libgtk2.0-cil libgtkglext1 libgtksourceview-common
19523   libgtksourceview2.0-common libmono-addins-gui0.2-cil
19524   libmono-addins0.2-cil libmono-cairo2.0-cil libmono-corlib2.0-cil
19525   libmono-i18n-west2.0-cil libmono-posix2.0-cil
19526   libmono-security2.0-cil libmono-sharpzip2.84-cil
19527   libmono-system2.0-cil libmtp8 libmusicbrainz3-6
19528   libndesk-dbus-glib1.0-cil libndesk-dbus1.0-cil libopal3.6.8
19529   libpolkit-gtk-1-0 libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa
19530   libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libpt2.6.7 libpython2.6 librpm1 librpmio1
19531   libsdl1.2debian libservlet2.4-java libsrtp0 libssh-4
19532   libtelepathy-farsight0 libtelepathy-glib0 libtidy-0.99-0
19533   libxalan2-java libxerces2-java media-player-info mesa-utils
19534   mono-2.0-gac mono-gac mono-runtime nautilus-sendto
19535   nautilus-sendto-empathy openoffice.org-writer2latex
19536   openssl-blacklist p7zip p7zip-full pkg-config python-4suite-xml
19537   python-aptdaemon python-aptdaemon-gtk python-axiom
19538   python-beautifulsoup python-bugbuddy python-clientform
19539   python-coherence python-configobj python-crypto python-cupshelpers
19540   python-cupsutils python-eggtrayicon python-elementtree
19541   python-epsilon python-evolution python-feedparser python-gdata
19542   python-gdbm python-gst0.10 python-gtkglext1 python-gtkmozembed
19543   python-gtksourceview2 python-httplib2 python-louie python-mako
19544   python-markupsafe python-mechanize python-nevow python-notify
19545   python-opengl python-openssl python-pam python-pkg-resources
19546   python-pyasn1 python-pysqlite2 python-rdflib python-serial
19547   python-tagpy python-twisted-bin python-twisted-conch
19548   python-twisted-core python-twisted-web python-utidylib python-webkit
19549   python-xdg python-zope.interface remmina remmina-plugin-data
19550   remmina-plugin-rdp remmina-plugin-vnc rhythmbox-plugin-cdrecorder
19551   rhythmbox-plugins rpm-common rpm2cpio seahorse-plugins shotwell
19552   software-center svgalibg1 system-config-printer-udev
19553   telepathy-gabble telepathy-mission-control-5 telepathy-salut tomboy
19554   totem totem-coherence totem-mozilla totem-plugins
19555   transmission-common xdg-user-dirs xdg-user-dirs-gtk xserver-xephyr
19556   zip
19557 </p></blockquote>
19558
19559 Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude
19560
19561 <blockquote><p>
19562   arj bluez-utils cheese dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop ekiga eog
19563   epiphany-extensions epiphany-gecko evolution-exchange
19564   fast-user-switch-applet file-roller gcalctool gconf-editor gdm gedit
19565   gedit-common gnome-app-install gnome-games gnome-games-data
19566   gnome-nettool gnome-system-tools gnome-themes gnome-utils
19567   gnome-vfs-obexftp gnome-volume-manager gnuchess gucharmap
19568   guile-1.8-libs hal libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5
19569   libavahi-ui0 libbind9-50 libbluetooth2 libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7
19570   libcucul0 libcurl3 libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdmx1 libdvdread3
19571   libedata-cal1.2-6 libedataserver1.2-9 libeel2-2.20 libepc-1.0-1
19572   libepc-ui-1.0-1 libexchange-storage1.2-3 libfaad0 libgadu3
19573   libgalago3 libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libggz2 libggzcore9
19574   libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 libgnome-desktop-2
19575   libgnome-pilot2 libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomeprint2.2-0
19576   libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtk-vnc-1.0-0
19577   libgtkhtml2-0 libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgtksourceview2.0-0
19578   libgucharmap6 libhesiod0 libicu38 libisccc50 libisccfg50 libiw29
19579   libjaxp1.3-java-gcj libkpathsea4 liblircclient0 libltdl3 liblwres50
19580   libmagick++10 libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmozjs1d libmpfr1ldbl libmtp7
19581   libmysqlclient15off libnautilus-burn4 libneon27 libnm-glib0
19582   libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 libosp5 libparted1.8-10 libpisock9
19583   libpisync1 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 libpt-1.10.10 libraw1394-8
19584   libsdl1.2debian-alsa libsensors3 libsexy2 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8
19585   libspeexdsp1 libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libsvga1
19586   libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 libtotem-plparser10 libtrackerclient0
19587   libvoikko1 libxalan2-java-gcj libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12
19588   libxtrap6 libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 mysql-common rhythmbox seahorse
19589   sound-juicer swfdec-gnome system-config-printer totem-common
19590   totem-gstreamer transmission-gtk vinagre vino w3c-dtd-xhtml wodim
19591 </p></blockquote>
19592
19593 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
19594
19595 <blockquote><p>
19596   gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
19597 </p></blockquote>
19598
19599 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
19600
19601 <blockquote><p>
19602 [nothing]
19603 </p></blockquote>
19604
19605 <p>This is for KDE:</p>
19606
19607 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
19608
19609 <blockquote><p>
19610   autopoint bomber bovo cantor cantor-backend-kalgebra cpp-4.3 dcoprss
19611   edict espeak espeak-data eyesapplet fifteenapplet finger gettext
19612   ghostscript-x git gnome-audio gnugo granatier gs-common
19613   gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio indi kaddressbook-plugins kalgebra
19614   kalzium-data kanjidic kapman kate-plugins kblocks kbreakout kbstate
19615   kde-icons-mono kdeaccessibility kdeaddons-kfile-plugins
19616   kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdeartwork-misc kdeartwork-theme-window
19617   kdeedu kdeedu-data kdeedu-kvtml-data kdegames kdegames-card-data
19618   kdegames-mahjongg-data kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelirc
19619   kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdenetwork-kfile-plugins
19620   kdepim-kfile-plugins kdepim-kio-plugins kdessh kdetoys kdewebdev
19621   kdiamond kdnssd kfilereplace kfourinline kgeography-data kigo
19622   killbots kiriki klettres-data kmoon kmrml knewsticker-scripts
19623   kollision kpf krosspython ksirk ksmserver ksquares kstars-data
19624   ksudoku kubrick kweather libasound2-plugins libboost-python1.42.0
19625   libcfitsio3 libconvert-binhex-perl libcrypt-ssleay-perl libdb4.6++
19626   libdjvulibre-text libdotconf1.0 liberror-perl libespeak1
19627   libfinance-quote-perl libgail-common libgsl0ldbl libhtml-parser-perl
19628   libhtml-tableextract-perl libhtml-tagset-perl libhtml-tree-perl
19629   libio-stringy-perl libkdeedu4 libkdegames5 libkiten4 libkpathsea5
19630   libkrossui4 libmailtools-perl libmime-tools-perl
19631   libnews-nntpclient-perl libopenbabel3 libportaudio2 libpulse-browse0
19632   libservlet2.4-java libspeechd2 libtiff-tools libtimedate-perl
19633   libunistring0 liburi-perl libwww-perl libxalan2-java libxerces2-java
19634   lirc luatex marble networkstatus noatun-plugins
19635   openoffice.org-writer2latex palapeli palapeli-data parley
19636   parley-data poster psutils pulseaudio pulseaudio-esound-compat
19637   pulseaudio-module-x11 pulseaudio-utils quanta-data rocs rsync
19638   speech-dispatcher step svgalibg1 texlive-binaries texlive-luatex
19639   ttf-sazanami-gothic
19640 </p></blockquote>
19641
19642 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
19643
19644 <blockquote><p>
19645   amor artsbuilder atlantik atlantikdesigner blinken bluez-utils cvs
19646   dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop imlib-base imlib11 kalzium kanagram kandy
19647   kasteroids katomic kbackgammon kbattleship kblackbox kbounce kbruch
19648   kcron kdat kdemultimedia-kappfinder-data kdeprint kdict kdvi kedit
19649   keduca kenolaba kfax kfaxview kfouleggs kgeography kghostview
19650   kgoldrunner khangman khexedit kiconedit kig kimagemapeditor
19651   kitchensync kiten kjumpingcube klatin klettres klickety klines
19652   klinkstatus kmag kmahjongg kmailcvt kmenuedit kmid kmilo kmines
19653   kmousetool kmouth kmplot knetwalk kodo kolf kommander konquest kooka
19654   kpager kpat kpdf kpercentage kpilot kpoker kpovmodeler krec
19655   kregexpeditor kreversi ksame ksayit kshisen ksig ksim ksirc ksirtet
19656   ksmiletris ksnake ksokoban kspaceduel kstars ksvg ksysv kteatime
19657   ktip ktnef ktouch ktron kttsd ktuberling kturtle ktux kuickshow
19658   kverbos kview kviewshell kvoctrain kwifimanager kwin kwin4 kwordquiz
19659   kworldclock kxsldbg libakode2 libarts1-akode libarts1-audiofile
19660   libarts1-mpeglib libarts1-xine libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
19661   libavahi-core5 libavc1394-0 libbind9-50 libbluetooth2
19662   libboost-python1.34.1 libcucul0 libcurl3 libcvsservice0
19663   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdjvulibre21 libdvdread3 libfaad0 libfreebob0
19664   libgd2-noxpm libgraphviz4 libgsmme1c2a libgtkhtml2-0 libicu38
19665   libiec61883-0 libindex0 libisccc50 libisccfg50 libiw29
19666   libjaxp1.3-java-gcj libk3b3 libkcal2b libkcddb1 libkdeedu3
19667   libkdegames1 libkdepim1a libkgantt0 libkleopatra1 libkmime2
19668   libkpathsea4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1
19669   libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 libltdl3 liblwres50 libmagick10
19670   libmimelib1c2a libmodplug0c2 libmozjs1d libmpcdec3 libmpfr1ldbl
19671   libneon27 libnm-util0 libopensync0 libpisock9 libpoppler-glib3
19672   libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler3 libraw1394-8 librss1 libsensors3
19673   libsmbios2 libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90
19674   libtalloc1 libxalan2-java-gcj libxerces2-java-gcj libxtrap6 lskat
19675   mpeglib network-manager-kde noatun pmount tex-common texlive-base
19676   texlive-common texlive-doc-base texlive-fonts-recommended tidy
19677   ttf-dustin ttf-kochi-gothic ttf-sjfonts
19678 </p></blockquote>
19679
19680 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
19681
19682 <blockquote><p>
19683   dolphin kde-core kde-plasma-desktop kde-standard kde-window-manager
19684   kdeartwork kdebase kdebase-apps kdebase-workspace
19685   kdebase-workspace-bin kdebase-workspace-data kdeutils kscreensaver
19686   kscreensaver-xsavers libgle3 libkonq5 libkonq5-templates libnetpbm10
19687   netpbm plasma-widget-folderview plasma-widget-networkmanagement
19688   xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-gl xscreensaver-gl-extra
19689   xscreensaver-screensaver-bsod
19690 </p></blockquote>
19691
19692 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
19693
19694 <blockquote><p>
19695   kdebase-bin konq-plugins konqueror
19696 </p></blockquote>
19697
19698       </div>
19699       <div class="tags">
19700
19701
19702         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
19703
19704
19705       </div>
19706     </div>
19707     <div class="padding"></div>
19708
19709     <div class="entry">
19710       <div class="title">
19711         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Gnash_buildbot_slave_and_Debian_kfreebsd.html">Gnash buildbot slave and Debian kfreebsd</a>
19712       </div>
19713       <div class="date">
19714         20th November 2010
19715       </div>
19716       <div class="body">
19717         <p>Answering
19718 <a href="http://www.listware.net/201011/gnash-dev/67431-gnash-dev-buildbot-looking-for-slaves.html">the
19719 call from the Gnash project</a> for
19720 <a href="http://www.gnashdev.org:8010">buildbot</a> slaves to test the
19721 current source, I have set up a virtual KVM machine on the Debian
19722 Edu/Skolelinux virtualization host to test the git source on
19723 Debian/Squeeze.  I hope this can help the developers in getting new
19724 releases out more often.</p>
19725
19726 <p>As the developers want less main-stream build platforms tested to,
19727 I have considered setting up a <a
19728 href="http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu/">Debian/kfreebsd</a>
19729 machine as well.  I have also considered using the kfreebsd
19730 architecture in Debian as a file server in NUUG to get access to the 5
19731 TB zfs volume we currently use to store DV video.  Because of this, I
19732 finally got around to do a test installation of Debian/Squeeze with
19733 kfreebsd.  Installation went fairly smooth, thought I noticed some
19734 visual glitches in the cdebconf dialogs (black cursor left on the
19735 screen at random locations).  Have not gotten very far with the
19736 testing.  Noticed cfdisk did not work, but fdisk did so it was not a
19737 fatal problem.  Have to spend some more time on it to see if it is
19738 useful as a file server for NUUG.  Will try to find time to set up a
19739 gnash buildbot slave on the Debian Edu/Skolelinux this weekend.</p>
19740
19741       </div>
19742       <div class="tags">
19743
19744
19745         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
19746
19747
19748       </div>
19749     </div>
19750     <div class="padding"></div>
19751
19752     <div class="entry">
19753       <div class="title">
19754         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_in_3D.html">Debian in 3D</a>
19755       </div>
19756       <div class="date">
19757          9th November 2010
19758       </div>
19759       <div class="body">
19760         <p><img src="http://thingiverse-production.s3.amazonaws.com/renders/23/e0/c4/f9/2b/debswagtdose_preview_medium.jpg"></p>
19761
19762 <p>3D printing is just great.  I just came across this Debian logo in
19763 3D linked in from
19764 <a href="http://blog.thingiverse.com/2010/11/09/participatory-branding/">the
19765 thingiverse blog</a>.</p>
19766
19767       </div>
19768       <div class="tags">
19769
19770
19771         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
19772
19773
19774       </div>
19775     </div>
19776     <div class="padding"></div>
19777
19778     <div class="entry">
19779       <div class="title">
19780         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Making_room_on_the_Debian_Edu_Sqeeze_DVD.html">Making room on the Debian Edu/Sqeeze DVD</a>
19781       </div>
19782       <div class="date">
19783          7th November 2010
19784       </div>
19785       <div class="body">
19786         <p>Prioritising packages for the Debian Edu /
19787 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a> DVD, which is
19788 supposed provide a school with all the services and user applications
19789 needed on the pupils computer network has always been hard.  Even
19790 schools without Internet connections should be able to get Debian Edu
19791 working using this DVD.</p>
19792
19793 <p>The job became a lot harder when apt and aptitude started
19794 installing recommended packages by default.  We want the same set of
19795 packages to be installed when using the DVD and the netinst CD, and
19796 that means all recommended packages need to be on the DVD.  I created
19797 a patch for debian-cd in <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/601203">BTS
19798 report #601203</a> to do this, and since this change was applied to
19799 the Debian Edu DVD build, we have been seriously short on space.</p>
19800
19801 <p>A few days ago we decided to drop blender, wxmaxima and kicad from
19802 the default installation to save space on the DVD, believing that
19803 those needing these applications are few and can get them from the
19804 Debian archive.</p>
19805
19806 <p>Yesterday, I had a look what source packages to see which packages
19807 were using most space.  A few large packages are well know;
19808 openoffice.org, openclipart and fluid-soundfont.  But I also
19809 discovered that lilypond used 106 MiB and fglrx-driver used 53 MiB.
19810 The lilypond package is pulled in as a dependency for rosegarden, and
19811 when looking a bit closer I discovered that 99 MiB of the 106 MiB were
19812 the documentation package, which is recommended by the binary package.
19813 I decided to drop this documentation package from our DVD, as most of
19814 our users will use the GUI front-ends and do not need the lilypond
19815 documentation.  Similarly, I dropped the non-free fglrx-driver package
19816 which might be installed by d-i when its hardware is detected, as the
19817 free X driver should work.</p>
19818
19819 <p>With this change, we finally got space for the LXDE and Gnome
19820 desktop packages as well as the language specific packages making the
19821 DVD more useful again.</p>
19822
19823       </div>
19824       <div class="tags">
19825
19826
19827         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
19828
19829
19830       </div>
19831     </div>
19832     <div class="padding"></div>
19833
19834     <div class="entry">
19835       <div class="title">
19836         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Software_updates_2010_10_24.html">Software updates 2010-10-24</a>
19837       </div>
19838       <div class="date">
19839         24th October 2010
19840       </div>
19841       <div class="body">
19842         <p>Some updates.</p>
19843
19844 <p>My <a href="http://pledgebank.com/gnash-avm2">gnash pledge</a> to
19845 raise money for the project is going well.  The lower limit of 10
19846 signers was reached in 24 hours, and so far 13 people have signed it.
19847 More signers and more funding is most welcome, and I am really curious
19848 how far we can get before the time limit of December 24 is reached.
19849 :)</p>
19850
19851 <p>On the #gnash IRC channel on irc.freenode.net, I was just tipped
19852 about what appear to be a great code coverage tool capable of
19853 generating code coverage stats without any changes to the source code.
19854 It is called
19855 <a href="http://simonkagstrom.github.com/kcov/index.html">kcov</a>,
19856 and can be used using <tt>kcov &lt;directory&gt; &lt;binary&gt;</tt>.
19857 It is missing in Debian, but the git source built just fine in Squeeze
19858 after I installed libelf-dev, libdwarf-dev, pkg-config and
19859 libglib2.0-dev.  Failed to build in Lenny, but suspect that is
19860 solvable.  I hope kcov make it into Debian soon.</p>
19861
19862 <p>Finally found time to wrap up the release notes for <a
19863 href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2010/10/msg00002.html">a
19864 new alpha release of Debian Edu</a>, and just published the second
19865 alpha test release of the Squeeze based Debian Edu /
19866 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a>
19867 release.  Give it a try if you need a complete linux solution for your
19868 school, including central infrastructure server, workstations, thin
19869 client servers and diskless workstations.  A nice touch added
19870 yesterday is RDP support on the thin client servers, for windows
19871 clients to get a Linux desktop on request.</p>
19872
19873       </div>
19874       <div class="tags">
19875
19876
19877         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>.
19878
19879
19880       </div>
19881     </div>
19882     <div class="padding"></div>
19883
19884     <div class="entry">
19885       <div class="title">
19886         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Pledge_for_funding_to_the_Gnash_project_to_get_AVM2_support.html">Pledge for funding to the Gnash project to get AVM2 support</a>
19887       </div>
19888       <div class="date">
19889         19th October 2010
19890       </div>
19891       <div class="body">
19892         <p><a href="http://www.getgnash.org/">The Gnash project</a> is the
19893 most promising solution for a Free Software Flash implementation. It
19894 has done great so far, but there is still far to go, and recently its
19895 funding has dried up.  I believe AVM2 support in Gnash is vital to the
19896 continued progress of the project, as more and more sites show up with
19897 AVM2 flash files.</p>
19898
19899 <p>To try to get funding for developing such support, I have started
19900 <a href="http://www.pledgebank.com/gnash-avm2">a pledge</a> with the
19901 following text:</P>
19902
19903 <p><blockquote>
19904
19905   <p>"I will pay 100$ to the Gnash project to develop AVM2 support but
19906   only if 10 other people will do the same."</p>
19907
19908   <p>- Petter Reinholdtsen, free software developer</p>
19909
19910   <p>Deadline to sign up by: 24th December 2010</p>
19911
19912   <p>The Gnash project need to get support for the new Flash file
19913   format AVM2 to work with a lot of sites using Flash on the
19914   web. Gnash already work with a lot of Flash sites using the old AVM1
19915   format, but more and more sites are using the AVM2 format these
19916   days. The project web page is available from
19917   http://www.getgnash.org/ . Gnash is a free software implementation
19918   of Adobe Flash, allowing those of us that do not accept the terms of
19919   the Adobe Flash license to get access to Flash sites.</p>
19920
19921   <p>The project need funding to get developers to put aside enough
19922   time to develop the AVM2 support, and this pledge is my way to try
19923   to get this to happen.</p>
19924
19925   <p>The project accept donations via the OpenMediaNow foundation,
19926   <a href="http://www.openmedianow.org/?q=node/32">http://www.openmedianow.org/?q=node/32</a> .</p>
19927
19928 </blockquote></p>
19929
19930 <p>I hope you will support this effort too.  I hope more than 10
19931 people will participate to make this happen.  The more money the
19932 project gets, the more features it can develop using these funds.
19933 :)</p>
19934
19935       </div>
19936       <div class="tags">
19937
19938
19939         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
19940
19941
19942       </div>
19943     </div>
19944     <div class="padding"></div>
19945
19946     <div class="entry">
19947       <div class="title">
19948         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_version_of_a_Perl_library_to_control_the_Spykee_robot.html">First version of a Perl library to control the Spykee robot</a>
19949       </div>
19950       <div class="date">
19951          9th October 2010
19952       </div>
19953       <div class="body">
19954         <p>This summer I got the chance to buy cheap Spykee robots, and since
19955 then I have worked on getting Linux software in place to control them.
19956 The firmware for the robot is available from the producer, and using
19957 that source it was trivial to figure out the protocol specification.
19958 I've started on a perl library to control it, and made some demo
19959 programs using this perl library to allow one to control the
19960 robots.</p>
19961
19962 <p>The library is quite functional already, and capable of controlling
19963 the driving, fetching video, uploading MP3s and play them.  There are
19964 a few less important features too.</p>
19965
19966 <p>Since a few weeks ago, I ran out of time to spend on this project,
19967 but I never got around to releasing the current source.  I decided
19968 today that it was time to do something about it, and uploaded the
19969 source to my Debian package store at people.skolelinux.org.</p>
19970
19971 <p>Because it was simpler for me, I made a Debian package and
19972 published the source and deb.  If you got a spykee robot, grab the
19973 source or binary package:</p>
19974
19975 <p><ul>
19976 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian/packages/lenny/libspykee-perl_0.0.20101009-1.tar.gz">libspykee-perl_0.0.20101009-1.tar.gz</a></li>
19977 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian/packages/lenny/libspykee-perl_0.0.20101009-1.dsc">libspykee-perl_0.0.20101009-1.dsc</a></li>
19978 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian/packages/lenny/libspykee-perl_0.0.20101009-1_all.deb">libspykee-perl_0.0.20101009-1_all.deb</a></li>
19979 </ul></p>
19980
19981 <p>If you are interested in helping out with developing this library,
19982 please let me know.</p>
19983
19984       </div>
19985       <div class="tags">
19986
19987
19988         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>.
19989
19990
19991       </div>
19992     </div>
19993     <div class="padding"></div>
19994
19995     <div class="entry">
19996       <div class="title">
19997         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Links_for_2010_10_03.html">Links for 2010-10-03</a>
19998       </div>
19999       <div class="date">
20000          3rd October 2010
20001       </div>
20002       <div class="body">
20003         <p><ul>
20004
20005 <li><a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/09/there-is-no-plan-b-why-the-ipv4-to-ipv6-transition-will-be-ugly.ars">There
20006 is no Plan B: why the IPv4-to-IPv6 transition will be ugly</a></li>
20007
20008 <li>Scanner looking under clothes
20009 <a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/10/03/nyheter/utenriks/reise/overvakingskamera/flyplasser/13667192/">has
20010 already been misused at Heathrow</a>.</li>
20011
20012 <li><a href="http://wiki.softwarelivre.org/Landell">Landell
20013 Webcasting</a> - interesting alternative for
20014 <ahref="http://dvswitch.alioth.debian.org/wiki/">DVSwitch</a> with
20015 simple setup.
20016
20017 </ul></p>
20018
20019       </div>
20020       <div class="tags">
20021
20022
20023         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lenker">lenker</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
20024
20025
20026       </div>
20027     </div>
20028     <div class="padding"></div>
20029
20030     <div class="entry">
20031       <div class="title">
20032         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Terms_of_use_for_video_produced_by_a_Canon_IXUS_130_digital_camera.html">Terms of use for video produced by a Canon IXUS 130 digital camera</a>
20033       </div>
20034       <div class="date">
20035          9th September 2010
20036       </div>
20037       <div class="body">
20038         <p>A few days ago I had the mixed pleasure of bying a new digital
20039 camera, a Canon IXUS 130.  It was instructive and very disturbing to
20040 be able to verify that also this camera producer have the nerve to
20041 specify how I can or can not use the videos produced with the camera.
20042 Even thought I was aware of the issue, the options with new cameras
20043 are limited and I ended up bying the camera anyway.  What is the
20044 problem, you might ask?  It is software patents, MPEG-4, H.264 and the
20045 MPEG-LA that is the problem, and our right to record our experiences
20046 without asking for permissions that is at risk.
20047
20048 <p>On page 27 of the Danish instruction manual, this section is
20049 written:</p>
20050
20051 <blockquote>
20052 <p>This product is licensed under AT&T patents for the MPEG-4 standard
20053 and may be used for encoding MPEG-4 compliant video and/or decoding
20054 MPEG-4 compliant video that was encoded only (1) for a personal and
20055 non-commercial purpose or (2) by a video provider licensed under the
20056 AT&T patents to provide MPEG-4 compliant video.</p>
20057
20058 <p>No license is granted or implied for any other use for MPEG-4
20059 standard.</p>
20060 </blockquote>
20061
20062 <p>In short, the camera producer have chosen to use technology
20063 (MPEG-4/H.264) that is only provided if I used it for personal and
20064 non-commercial purposes, or ask for permission from the organisations
20065 holding the knowledge monopoly (patent) for technology used.</p>
20066
20067 <p>This issue has been brewing for a while, and I recommend you to
20068 read
20069 "<a href="http://www.osnews.com/story/23236/Why_Our_Civilization_s_Video_Art_and_Culture_is_Threatened_by_the_MPEG-LA">Why
20070 Our Civilization's Video Art and Culture is Threatened by the
20071 MPEG-LA</a>" by Eugenia Loli-Queru and
20072 "<a href="http://webmink.com/2010/09/03/h-264-and-foss/">H.264 Is Not
20073 The Sort Of Free That Matters</a>" by Simon Phipps to learn more about
20074 the issue.  The solution is to support the
20075 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">free and
20076 open standards</a> for video, like <a href="http://www.theora.org/">Ogg
20077 Theora</a>, and avoid MPEG-4 and H.264 if you can.</p>
20078
20079       </div>
20080       <div class="tags">
20081
20082
20083         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
20084
20085
20086       </div>
20087     </div>
20088     <div class="padding"></div>
20089
20090     <div class="entry">
20091       <div class="title">
20092         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Some_notes_on_Flash_in_Debian_and_Debian_Edu.html">Some notes on Flash in Debian and Debian Edu</a>
20093       </div>
20094       <div class="date">
20095          4th September 2010
20096       </div>
20097       <div class="body">
20098         <p>In the <a href="http://popcon.debian.org/unknown/by_vote">Debian
20099 popularity-contest numbers</a>, the adobe-flashplugin package the
20100 second most popular used package that is missing in Debian.  The sixth
20101 most popular is flashplayer-mozilla.  This is a clear indication that
20102 working flash is important for Debian users.  Around 10 percent of the
20103 users submitting data to popcon.debian.org have this package
20104 installed.</p>
20105
20106 <p>In the report written by Lars Risan in August 2008
20107 («<a href="http://wiki.skolelinux.no/Dokumentasjon/Rapporter?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=Skolelinux_i_bruk_rapport_1.0.pdf">Skolelinux
20108 i bruk – Rapport for Hurum kommune, Universitetet i Agder og
20109 stiftelsen SLX Debian Labs</a>»), one of the most important problems
20110 schools experienced with <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian
20111 Edu/Skolelinux</a> was the lack of working Flash.  A lot of educational
20112 web sites require Flash to work, and lacking working Flash support in
20113 the web browser and the problems with installing it was perceived as a
20114 good reason to stay with Windows.</p>
20115
20116 <p>I once saw a funny and sad comment in a web forum, where Linux was
20117 said to be the retarded cousin that did not really understand
20118 everything you told him but could work fairly well.  This was a
20119 comment regarding the problems Linux have with proprietary formats and
20120 non-standard web pages, and is sad because it exposes a fairly common
20121 understanding of whose fault it is if web pages that only work in for
20122 example Internet Explorer 6 fail to work on Firefox, and funny because
20123 it explain very well how annoying it is for users when Linux
20124 distributions do not work with the documents they receive or the web
20125 pages they want to visit.</p>
20126
20127 <p>This is part of the reason why I believe it is important for Debian
20128 and Debian Edu to have a well working Flash implementation in the
20129 distribution, to get at least popular sites as Youtube and Google
20130 Video to working out of the box.  For Squeeze, Debian have the chance
20131 to include the latest version of Gnash that will make this happen, as
20132 the new release 0.8.8 was published a few weeks ago and is resting in
20133 unstable.  The new version work with more sites that version 0.8.7.
20134 The Gnash maintainers have asked for a freeze exception, but the
20135 release team have not had time to reply to it yet.  I hope they agree
20136 with me that Flash is important for the Debian desktop users, and thus
20137 accept the new package into Squeeze.</p>
20138
20139       </div>
20140       <div class="tags">
20141
20142
20143         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
20144
20145
20146       </div>
20147     </div>
20148     <div class="padding"></div>
20149
20150     <div class="entry">
20151       <div class="title">
20152         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/My_first_perl_GUI_application___controlling_a_Spykee_robot.html">My first perl GUI application - controlling a Spykee robot</a>
20153       </div>
20154       <div class="date">
20155          1st September 2010
20156       </div>
20157       <div class="body">
20158         <p>This evening I made my first Perl GUI application.  The last few
20159 days I have worked on a Perl module for controlling my recently
20160 aquired Spykee robots, and the module is now getting complete enought
20161 that it is possible to use it to control the robot driving at least.
20162 It was now time to figure out how to use it to create some GUI to
20163 allow me to drive the robot around.  I picked PerlQt as I have had
20164 positive experiences with the Qt API before, and spent a few minutes
20165 browsing the web for examples.  Using Qt Designer seemed like a short
20166 cut, so I ended up writing the perl GUI using Qt Designer and
20167 compiling it into a perl program using the puic program from
20168 libqt-perl.  Nothing fancy yet, but it got buttons to connect and
20169 drive around.</p>
20170
20171 <p>The perl module I have written provide a object oriented API for
20172 controlling the robot.  Here is an small example on how to use it:</p>
20173
20174 <p><pre>
20175 use Spykee;
20176 Spykee::discover(sub {$robot{$_[0]} = $_[1]});
20177 my $host = (keys %robot)[0];
20178 my $spykee = Spykee->new();
20179 $spykee->contact($host, "admin", "admin");
20180 $spykee->left();
20181 sleep 2;
20182 $spykee->right();
20183 sleep 2;
20184 $spykee->forward();
20185 sleep 2;
20186 $spykee->back();
20187 sleep 2;
20188 $spykee->stop();
20189 </pre></p>
20190
20191 <p>Thanks to the release of the source of the robot firmware, I could
20192 peek into the implementation at the other end to figure out how to
20193 implement the protocol used by the robot.  I've implemented several of
20194 the commands the robot understand, but is still missing the camera
20195 support to make it possible to control the robot from remote.  First I
20196 want to implement support for uploading new firmware and configuring
20197 the wireless network, to make it possible to bootstrap a Spykee robot
20198 without the producers Windows and MacOSX software (I only have Linux,
20199 so I had to ask a friend to come over to get the robot testing
20200 going. :).</p>
20201
20202 <p>Will release the source to the public soon, but need to figure out
20203 where to make it available first.  I will add a link to
20204 <a href="http://wiki.nuug.no/grupper/robot/">the NUUG wiki</a> for
20205 those that want to check back later to find it.</p>
20206
20207       </div>
20208       <div class="tags">
20209
20210
20211         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>.
20212
20213
20214       </div>
20215     </div>
20216     <div class="padding"></div>
20217
20218     <div class="entry">
20219       <div class="title">
20220         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Broken_hard_link_handling_with_sshfs.html">Broken hard link handling with sshfs</a>
20221       </div>
20222       <div class="date">
20223         30th August 2010
20224       </div>
20225       <div class="body">
20226         <p>Just got an email from Tobias Gruetzmacher as a followup on my
20227 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Broken_umask_handling_with_sshfs.html">previous
20228 post about sshfs</a>.  He reported another problem with sshfs.  It
20229 fail to handle hard links properly.  A simple way to spot this is to
20230 look at the . and .. entries in the directory tree.  These should have
20231 a link count >1, but on sshfs the count is 1.  I just tested to see
20232 what happen when trying to hardlink, and this fail as well:</p>
20233
20234 <pre>
20235 % ln foo bar
20236 ln: creating hard link `bar' => `foo': Function not implemented
20237 %
20238 </pre>
20239
20240 <p>I have not yet found time to implement a test for this in my file
20241 system test code, but believe having working hard links is useful to
20242 avoid surprised unix programs.  Not as useful as working file locking
20243 and symlinks, which are required to get a working desktop, but useful
20244 nevertheless. :)</p>
20245
20246 <p>The latest version of the file system test code is available via
20247 git from
20248 <a href="http://github.com/gebi/fs-test">http://github.com/gebi/fs-test</a></p>
20249
20250       </div>
20251       <div class="tags">
20252
20253
20254         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
20255
20256
20257       </div>
20258     </div>
20259     <div class="padding"></div>
20260
20261     <div class="entry">
20262       <div class="title">
20263         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Broken_umask_handling_with_sshfs.html">Broken umask handling with sshfs</a>
20264       </div>
20265       <div class="date">
20266         26th August 2010
20267       </div>
20268       <div class="body">
20269         <p>My file system sematics program
20270 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Testing_if_a_file_system_can_be_used_for_home_directories___.html">presented
20271 a few days ago</a> is very useful to verify that a file system can
20272 work as a unix home directory,and today I had to extend it a bit.  I'm
20273 looking into alternatives for home directory access here at the
20274 University of Oslo, and one of the options is sshfs.  My friend
20275 Finn-Arne mentioned a while back that they had used sshfs with Debian
20276 Edu, but stopped because of problems.  I asked today what the problems
20277 where, and he mentioned that sshfs failed to handle umask properly.
20278 Trying to detect the problem I wrote this addition to my fs testing
20279 script:</p>
20280
20281 <pre>
20282 mode_t touch_get_mode(const char *name, mode_t mode) {
20283   mode_t retval = 0;
20284   int fd = open(name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_LARGEFILE, mode);
20285   if (-1 != fd) {
20286     unlink(name);
20287     struct stat statbuf;
20288     if (-1 != fstat(fd, &statbuf)) {
20289       retval = statbuf.st_mode & 0x1ff;
20290     }
20291     close(fd);
20292   }
20293   return retval;
20294 }
20295
20296 /* Try to detect problem discovered using sshfs */
20297 int test_umask(void) {
20298   printf("info: testing umask effect on file creation\n");
20299
20300   mode_t orig_umask = umask(000);
20301   mode_t newmode;
20302   if (0666 != (newmode = touch_get_mode("foobar", 0666))) {
20303     printf("  error: Wrong file mode %o when creating using mode 666 and umask 000\n",
20304            newmode);
20305   }
20306   umask(007);
20307   if (0660 != (newmode = touch_get_mode("foobar", 0666))) {
20308     printf("  error: Wrong file mode %o when creating using mode 666 and umask 007\n",
20309            newmode);
20310   }
20311
20312   umask (orig_umask);
20313   return 0;
20314 }
20315
20316 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
20317   [...]
20318   test_umask();
20319   return 0;
20320 }
20321 </pre>
20322
20323 <p>Sure enough.  On NFS to a netapp, I get this result:</p>
20324
20325 <pre>
20326 Testing POSIX/Unix sematics on file system
20327 info: testing symlink creation
20328 info: testing subdirectory creation
20329 info: testing fcntl locking
20330   Read-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
20331   Read-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
20332   Unlocking 1 byte from 1073741824
20333   Write-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
20334   Write-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
20335   Unlocking 2 byte from 1073741824
20336 info: testing umask effect on file creation
20337 </pre>
20338
20339 <p>When mounting the same directory using sshfs, I get this
20340 result:</p>
20341
20342 <pre>
20343 Testing POSIX/Unix sematics on file system
20344 info: testing symlink creation
20345 info: testing subdirectory creation
20346 info: testing fcntl locking
20347   Read-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
20348   Read-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
20349   Unlocking 1 byte from 1073741824
20350   Write-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
20351   Write-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
20352   Unlocking 2 byte from 1073741824
20353 info: testing umask effect on file creation
20354   error: Wrong file mode 644 when creating using mode 666 and umask 000
20355   error: Wrong file mode 640 when creating using mode 666 and umask 007
20356 </pre>
20357
20358 <p>So, I can conclude that sshfs is better than smb to a Netapp or a
20359 Windows server, but not good enough to be used as a home
20360 directory.</p>
20361
20362 <p>Update 2010-08-26: Reported the issue in
20363 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/594498">BTS report #594498</a></p>
20364
20365 <p>Update 2010-08-27: Michael Gebetsroither report that he found the
20366 script so useful that he created a GIT repository and stored it in
20367 <a href="http://github.com/gebi/fs-test">http://github.com/gebi/fs-test</a>.</p>
20368
20369       </div>
20370       <div class="tags">
20371
20372
20373         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
20374
20375
20376       </div>
20377     </div>
20378     <div class="padding"></div>
20379
20380     <div class="entry">
20381       <div class="title">
20382         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Rob_Weir__How_to_Crush_Dissent.html">Rob Weir: How to Crush Dissent</a>
20383       </div>
20384       <div class="date">
20385         15th August 2010
20386       </div>
20387       <div class="body">
20388         <p>I found the notes from Rob Weir on
20389 <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/robweir/antic-atom/~3/VGb23-kta8c/how-to-crush-dissent.html">how
20390 to crush dissent</a> matching my own thoughts on the matter quite
20391 well.  Highly recommended for those wondering which road our society
20392 should go down.  In my view we have been heading the wrong way for a
20393 long time.</p>
20394
20395       </div>
20396       <div class="tags">
20397
20398
20399         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lenker">lenker</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
20400
20401
20402       </div>
20403     </div>
20404     <div class="padding"></div>
20405
20406     <div class="entry">
20407       <div class="title">
20408         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/No_hardcoded_config_on_Debian_Edu_clients.html">No hardcoded config on Debian Edu clients</a>
20409       </div>
20410       <div class="date">
20411          9th August 2010
20412       </div>
20413       <div class="body">
20414         <p>As reported earlier, the last few days I have looked at how Debian
20415 Edu clients are configured, and tried to get rid of all hardcoded
20416 configuration settings on the clients.  I believe the work to be
20417 mostly done, and the clients seem to work just fine with dynamically
20418 generated configuration.</p>
20419
20420 <p>What is the point, you might ask?  The point is to allow a Debian
20421 Edu desktop to integrate into an existing network infrastructure
20422 without any manual configuration.</p>
20423
20424 <p>This is what happens when installing a Debian Edu client here at
20425 the University of Oslo using PXE.  With the PXE installation, I am
20426 asked for language (Norwegian Bokmål), locality (Norway) and keyboard
20427 layout (no-latin1), Debian Edu profile (Roaming Workstation), if I
20428 accept to reformat the hard drive (yes), if I want to submit info to
20429 popcon.debian.org (no) and root password (secret).  After answering
20430 these questions, the installer goes ahead and does its thing, and
20431 after around 50 minutes it is done.  I press enter to finish the
20432 installation, and the machine reboots into KDE.  When the machine is
20433 ready and kdm asks for login information, I enter my university
20434 username and password, am told by kdm that a local home directory has
20435 been created and that I must log in again, and finally log in with the
20436 same username and password to the KDE 4.4 desktop.  At no point during
20437 this process did it ask for university specific settings, and all the
20438 required configuration was dynamically detected using information
20439 fetched via DHCP and DNS.  The roaming workstation is now ready for
20440 use.</p>
20441
20442 <p>How was this done, you might wonder?  First of all, here is the
20443 list of things that need to be configured on the client to get it
20444 working properly out of the box:</p>
20445
20446 <ul>
20447 <li>IP address/netmask and DNS server.</li>
20448 <li>Web proxy URL.</li>
20449 <li>LDAP server for NSS directory information (user, group, etc).</li>
20450 <li>Kerberos server for PAM password checking.</li>
20451 <li>SMB mount point to access the network home directory. (*)</li>
20452 <li>Central syslog server to send syslog messages to. (*)</li>
20453 <li>Sitesummary collector URL to submit info to central server. (*)</li>
20454 </ul>
20455
20456 <p>(Hm, did I forget anything?  Let me knew if I did.)</p>
20457
20458 <p>The points marked (*) are not required to be able to use the
20459 machine, but needed to provide central storage and allowing system
20460 administrators to track their machines.  Since yesterday, everything
20461 but the sitesummary collector URL is dynamically discovered at boot
20462 and installation time in the svn version of Debian Edu.</p>
20463
20464 <p>The IP and DNS setup is fetched during boot using DHCP as usual.
20465 When a DHCP update arrives, the proxy setup is updated by looking for
20466 http://wpat/wpad.dat and using the content of this WPAD file to
20467 configure the http and ftp proxy in /etc/environment and
20468 /etc/apt/apt.conf.  I decided to update the proxy setup using a DHCP
20469 hook to ensure that the client stops using the Debian Edu proxy when
20470 it is moved outside the Debian Edu network, and instead uses any local
20471 proxy present on the new network when it moves around.</p>
20472
20473 <p>The DNS names of the LDAP, Kerberos and syslog server and related
20474 configuration are generated using DNS information at boot.  First the
20475 installer looks for a host named ldap in the current DNS domain.  If
20476 not found, it looks for _ldap._tcp SRV records in DNS instead.  If an
20477 LDAP server is found, its root DSE entry is requested and the
20478 attributes namingContexts and defaultNamingContext are used to
20479 determine which LDAP base to use for NSS.  If there are several
20480 namingContexts attibutes and the defaultNamingContext is present, that
20481 LDAP subtree is used as the base.  If defaultNamingContext is missing,
20482 the subtrees listed as namingContexts are searched in sequence for any
20483 object with class posixAccount or posixGroup, and the first one with
20484 such an object is used as the LDAP base.  For Kerberos, a similar
20485 search is done by first looking for a host named kerberos, and then
20486 for the _kerberos._tcp SRV record.  I've been unable to find a way to
20487 look up the Kerberos realm, so for this the upper case string of the
20488 current DNS domain is used.</p>
20489
20490 <p>For the syslog server, the hosts syslog and loghost are searched
20491 for, and the _syslog._udp SRV record is consulted if no such host is
20492 found.  This algorithm works for both Debian Edu and the University of
20493 Oslo.  A similar strategy would work for locating the sitesummary
20494 server, but have not been implemented yet.  I decided to fetch and
20495 save these settings during installation, to make sure moving to a
20496 different network does not change the set of users being allowed to
20497 log in nor the passwords required to log in.  Usernames and passwords
20498 will be cached by sssd when the user logs in on the Debian Edu
20499 network, and will not change as the laptop move around.  For a
20500 non-roaming machine, there is no caching, but given that it is
20501 supposed to stay in place it should not matter much.  Perhaps we
20502 should switch those to use sssd too?</p>
20503
20504 <p>The user's SMB mount point for the network home directory is
20505 located when the user logs in for the first time.  The LDAP server is
20506 consulted to look for the user's LDAP object and the sambaHomePath
20507 attribute is used if found.  If it isn't found, the home directory
20508 path fetched from NSS is used instead.  Assuming the path is of the
20509 form /site/server/directory/username, the second part is looked up in
20510 DNS and used to generate a SMB URL of the form
20511 smb://server.domain/username.  This algorithm works for both Debian
20512 edu and the University of Oslo.  Perhaps there are better attributes
20513 to use or a better algorithm that works for more sites, but this will
20514 do for now. :)</p>
20515
20516 <p>This work should make it easier to integrate the Debian Edu clients
20517 into any LDAP/Kerberos infrastructure, and make the current setup even
20518 more flexible than before.  I suspect it will also work for thin
20519 client servers, allowing one to easily set up LTSP and hook it into a
20520 existing network infrastructure, but I have not had time to test this
20521 yet.</p>
20522
20523 <p>If you want to help out with implementing these things for Debian
20524 Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
20525
20526 <p>Update 2010-08-09: Simon Farnsworth gave me a heads-up on how to
20527 detect Kerberos realm from DNS, by looking for _kerberos TXT entries
20528 before falling back to the upper case DNS domain name.  Will have to
20529 implement it for Debian Edu. :)</p>
20530
20531       </div>
20532       <div class="tags">
20533
20534
20535         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
20536
20537
20538       </div>
20539     </div>
20540     <div class="padding"></div>
20541
20542     <div class="entry">
20543       <div class="title">
20544         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Testing_if_a_file_system_can_be_used_for_home_directories___.html">Testing if a file system can be used for home directories...</a>
20545       </div>
20546       <div class="date">
20547          8th August 2010
20548       </div>
20549       <div class="body">
20550         <p>A few years ago, I was involved in a project planning to use
20551 Windows file servers as home directory servers for Debian
20552 Edu/Skolelinux machines.  This was thought to be no problem, as the
20553 access would be through the SMB network file system protocol, and we
20554 knew other sites used SMB with unix and samba as the file server to
20555 mount home directories without any problems.  But, after months of
20556 struggling, we had to conclude that our goal was impossible.</p>
20557
20558 <p>The reason is simply that while SMB can be used for home
20559 directories when the file server is Samba running on Unix, this only
20560 work because of Samba have some extensions and the fact that the
20561 underlying file system is a unix file system.  When using a Windows
20562 file server, the underlying file system do not have POSIX semantics,
20563 and several programs will fail if the users home directory where they
20564 want to store their configuration lack POSIX semantics.</p>
20565
20566 <p>As part of this work, I wrote a small C program I want to share
20567 with you all, to replicate a few of the problematic applications (like
20568 OpenOffice.org and GCompris) and see if the file system was working as
20569 it should.  If you find yourself in spooky file system land, it might
20570 help you find your way out again.  This is the fs-test.c source:</p>
20571
20572 <pre>
20573 /*
20574  * Some tests to check the file system sematics.  Used to verify that
20575  * CIFS from a windows server do not work properly as a linux home
20576  * directory.
20577  * License: GPL v2 or later
20578  *
20579  * needs libsqlite3-dev and build-essential installed
20580  * compile with: gcc -Wall -lsqlite3 -DTEST_SQLITE fs-test.c -o fs-test
20581 */
20582
20583 #define _FILE_OFFSET_BITS 64
20584 #define _LARGEFILE_SOURCE 1
20585 #define _LARGEFILE64_SOURCE 1
20586
20587 #define _GNU_SOURCE /* for asprintf() */
20588
20589 #include &lt;errno.h>
20590 #include &lt;fcntl.h>
20591 #include &lt;stdio.h>
20592 #include &lt;string.h>
20593 #include &lt;stdlib.h>
20594 #include &lt;sys/file.h>
20595 #include &lt;sys/stat.h>
20596 #include &lt;sys/types.h>
20597 #include &lt;unistd.h>
20598
20599 #ifdef TEST_SQLITE
20600 /*
20601  * Test sqlite open, as done by gcompris require the libsqlite3-dev
20602  * package and linking with -lsqlite3.  A more low level test is
20603  * below.
20604  * See also &lt;URL: http://www.sqlite.org./faq.html#q5 >.
20605  */
20606 #include &lt;sqlite3.h>
20607 #define CREATE_TABLE_USERS                                              \
20608   "CREATE TABLE users (user_id INT UNIQUE, login TEXT, lastname TEXT, firstname TEXT, birthdate TEXT, class_id INT ); "
20609 int test_sqlite_open(void) {
20610   char *zErrMsg;
20611   char *name = "testsqlite.db";
20612   sqlite3 *db=NULL;
20613   unlink(name);
20614   int rc = sqlite3_open(name, &db);
20615   if( rc ){
20616     printf("error: sqlite open of %s failed: %s\n", name, sqlite3_errmsg(db));
20617     sqlite3_close(db);
20618     return -1;
20619   }
20620
20621   /* create tables */
20622   rc = sqlite3_exec(db,CREATE_TABLE_USERS, NULL,  0, &zErrMsg);
20623   if( rc != SQLITE_OK ){
20624     printf("error: sqlite table create failed: %s\n", zErrMsg);
20625     sqlite3_close(db);
20626     return -1;
20627   }
20628   printf("info: sqlite worked\n");
20629   sqlite3_close(db);
20630   return 0;
20631 }
20632 #endif /* TEST_SQLITE */
20633
20634 /*
20635  * Demonstrate locking issue found in gcompris using sqlite3.  This
20636  * work with ext3, but not with cifs server on Windows 2003.  This is
20637  * done in the sqlite3 library.
20638  * See also
20639  * &lt;URL:http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2001-08/msg00854.html> and the
20640  * POSIX specification
20641  * &lt;URL:http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/functions/fcntl.html>.
20642  */
20643 int test_gcompris_locking(void) {
20644   struct flock fl;
20645   char *name = "testsqlite.db";
20646   unlink(name);
20647   int fd = open(name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_LARGEFILE, 0644);
20648   printf("info: testing fcntl locking\n");
20649
20650   fl.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
20651   fl.l_pid    = getpid();
20652   printf("  Read-locking 1 byte from 1073741824");
20653   fl.l_start  = 1073741824;
20654   fl.l_len    = 1;
20655   fl.l_type   = F_RDLCK;
20656   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
20657
20658   printf("  Read-locking 510 byte from 1073741826");
20659   fl.l_start  = 1073741826;
20660   fl.l_len    = 510;
20661   fl.l_type   = F_RDLCK;
20662   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
20663
20664   printf("  Unlocking 1 byte from 1073741824");
20665   fl.l_start  = 1073741824;
20666   fl.l_len    = 1;
20667   fl.l_type   = F_UNLCK;
20668   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
20669
20670   printf("  Write-locking 1 byte from 1073741824");
20671   fl.l_start  = 1073741824;
20672   fl.l_len    = 1;
20673   fl.l_type   = F_WRLCK;
20674   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
20675
20676   printf("  Write-locking 510 byte from 1073741826");
20677   fl.l_start  = 1073741826;
20678   fl.l_len    = 510;
20679   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
20680
20681   printf("  Unlocking 2 byte from 1073741824");
20682   fl.l_start  = 1073741824;
20683   fl.l_len    = 2;
20684   fl.l_type   = F_UNLCK;
20685   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
20686
20687   close(fd);
20688   return 0;
20689 }
20690
20691 /*
20692  * Test if permissions of freshly created directories allow entries
20693  * below them.  This was a problem with OpenOffice.org and gcompris.
20694  * Mounting with option 'sync' seem to solve this problem while
20695  * slowing down file operations.
20696  */
20697 int test_subdirectory_creation(void) {
20698 #define LEVELS 5
20699   char *path = strdup("test");
20700   char *dirs[LEVELS];
20701   int level;
20702   printf("info: testing subdirectory creation\n");
20703   for (level = 0; level &lt; LEVELS; level++) {
20704     char *newpath = NULL;
20705     if (-1 == mkdir(path, 0777)) {
20706       printf("  error: Unable to create directory '%s': %s\n",
20707              path, strerror(errno));
20708       break;
20709     }
20710     asprintf(&newpath, "%s/%s", path, "test");
20711     free(path);
20712     path = newpath;
20713   }
20714   return 0;
20715 }
20716
20717 /*
20718  * Test if symlinks can be created.  This was a problem detected with
20719  * KDE.
20720  */
20721 int test_symlinks(void) {
20722   printf("info: testing symlink creation\n");
20723   unlink("symlink");
20724   if (-1 == symlink("file", "symlink"))
20725     printf("  error: Unable to create symlink\n");
20726   return 0;
20727 }
20728
20729 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
20730   printf("Testing POSIX/Unix sematics on file system\n");
20731   test_symlinks();
20732   test_subdirectory_creation();
20733 #ifdef TEST_SQLITE
20734   test_sqlite_open();
20735 #endif /* TEST_SQLITE */
20736   test_gcompris_locking();
20737   return 0;
20738 }
20739 </pre>
20740
20741 <p>When everything is working, it should print something like
20742 this:</p>
20743
20744 <pre>
20745 Testing POSIX/Unix sematics on file system
20746 info: testing symlink creation
20747 info: testing subdirectory creation
20748 info: sqlite worked
20749 info: testing fcntl locking
20750   Read-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
20751   Read-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
20752   Unlocking 1 byte from 1073741824
20753   Write-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
20754   Write-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
20755   Unlocking 2 byte from 1073741824
20756 </pre>
20757
20758 <p>I do not remember the exact details of the problems we saw, but one
20759 of them was with locking, where if I remember correctly, POSIX allow a
20760 read-only lock to be upgraded to a read-write lock without unlocking
20761 the read-only lock (while Windows do not).  Another was a bug in the
20762 CIFS/SMB client implementation in the Linux kernel where directory
20763 meta information would be wrong for a fraction of a second, making
20764 OpenOffice.org fail to create its deep directory tree because it was
20765 not allowed to create files in its freshly created directory.</p>
20766
20767 <p>Anyway, here is a nice tool for your tool box, might you never need
20768 it. :)</p>
20769
20770 <p>Update 2010-08-27: Michael Gebetsroither report that he found the
20771 script so useful that he created a GIT repository and stored it in
20772 <a href="http://github.com/gebi/fs-test">http://github.com/gebi/fs-test</a>.</p>
20773
20774       </div>
20775       <div class="tags">
20776
20777
20778         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
20779
20780
20781       </div>
20782     </div>
20783     <div class="padding"></div>
20784
20785     <div class="entry">
20786       <div class="title">
20787         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Autodetecting_Client_setup_for_roaming_workstations_in_Debian_Edu.html">Autodetecting Client setup for roaming workstations in Debian Edu</a>
20788       </div>
20789       <div class="date">
20790          7th August 2010
20791       </div>
20792       <div class="body">
20793         <p>A few days ago, I
20794 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_roaming_workstation___at_the_university_of_Oslo.html">tried
20795 to install</a> a Roaming workation profile from Debian Edu/Squeeze
20796 while on the university network here at the University of Oslo, and
20797 noticed how much had to change to get it operational using the
20798 university infrastructure.  It was fairly easy, but it occured to me
20799 that Debian Edu would improve a lot if I could get the client to
20800 connect without any changes at all, and thus let the client configure
20801 itself during installation and first boot to use the infrastructure
20802 around it.  Now I am a huge step further along that road.</p>
20803
20804 <p>With our current squeeze-test packages, I can select the roaming
20805 workstation profile and get a working laptop connecting to the
20806 university LDAP server for user and group and our active directory
20807 servers for Kerberos authentication.  All this without any
20808 configuration at all during installation.  My users home directory got
20809 a bookmark in the KDE menu to mount it via SMB, with the correct URL.
20810 In short, openldap and sssd is correctly configured.  In addition to
20811 this, the client look for http://wpad/wpad.dat to configure a web
20812 proxy, and when it fail to find it no proxy settings are stored in
20813 /etc/environment and /etc/apt/apt.conf.  Iceweasel and KDE is
20814 configured to look for the same wpad configuration and also do not use
20815 a proxy when at the university network.  If the machine is moved to a
20816 network with such wpad setup, it would automatically use it when DHCP
20817 gave it a IP address.</p>
20818
20819 <p>The LDAP server is located using DNS, by first looking for the DNS
20820 entry ldap.$domain.  If this do not exist, it look for the
20821 _ldap._tcp.$domain SRV records and use the first one as the LDAP
20822 server.  Next, it connects to the LDAP server and search all
20823 namingContexts entries for posixAccount or posixGroup objects, and
20824 pick the first one as the LDAP base.  For Kerberos, a similar
20825 algorithm is used to locate the LDAP server, and the realm is the
20826 uppercase version of $domain.</p>
20827
20828 <p>So, what is not working, you might ask.  SMB mounting my home
20829 directory do not work.  No idea why, but suspected the incorrect
20830 Kerberos settings in /etc/krb5.conf and /etc/samba/smb.conf might be
20831 the cause.  These are not properly configured during installation, and
20832 had to be hand-edited to get the correct Kerberos realm and server,
20833 but SMB mounting still do not work. :(</p>
20834
20835 <p>With this automatic configuration in place, I expect a Debian Edu
20836 roaming profile installation would be able to automatically detect and
20837 connect to any site using LDAP and Kerberos for NSS directory and PAM
20838 authentication.  It should also work out of the box in a Active
20839 Directory environment providing posixAccount and posixGroup objects
20840 with UID and GID values.</p>
20841
20842 <p>If you want to help out with implementing these things for Debian
20843 Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
20844
20845       </div>
20846       <div class="tags">
20847
20848
20849         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
20850
20851
20852       </div>
20853     </div>
20854     <div class="padding"></div>
20855
20856     <div class="entry">
20857       <div class="title">
20858         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_roaming_workstation___at_the_university_of_Oslo.html">Debian Edu roaming workstation - at the university of Oslo</a>
20859       </div>
20860       <div class="date">
20861          3rd August 2010
20862       </div>
20863       <div class="body">
20864         <p>The new roaming workstation profile in Debian Edu/Squeeze is fairly
20865 similar to the laptop setup am I working on using Ubuntu for the
20866 University of Oslo, and just for the heck of it, I tested today how
20867 hard it would be to integrate that profile into the university
20868 infrastructure.  In this case, it is the university LDAP server,
20869 Active Directory Kerberos server and SMB mounting from the Netapp file
20870 servers.</p>
20871
20872 <p>I was pleasantly surprised that the only three files needed to be
20873 changed (/etc/sssd/sssd.conf, /etc/ldap.conf and
20874 /etc/mklocaluser.d/20-debian-edu-config) and one file had to be added
20875 (/usr/share/perl5/Debian/Edu_Local.pm), to get the client working.
20876 Most of the changes were to get the client to use the university LDAP
20877 for NSS and Kerberos server for PAM, but one was to change a hard
20878 coded DNS domain name in the mklocaluser hook from .intern to
20879 .uio.no.</p>
20880
20881 <p>This testing was so encouraging, that I went ahead and adjusted the
20882 Debian Edu scripts and setup in subversion to centralise the roaming
20883 workstation setup a bit more and avoid the hardcoded DNS domain name,
20884 so that when I test this tomorrow, I expect to get away with modifying
20885 only /etc/sssd/sssd.conf and /etc/ldap.conf to get it to use the
20886 university servers.</p>
20887
20888 <p>My goal is to get the clients to have no hardcoded settings and
20889 fetch all their initial setup during installation and first boot, to
20890 allow them to be inserted also into environments where the default
20891 setup in Debian Edu has been changed or as with the university, where
20892 the environment is different but provides the protocols Debian Edu
20893 uses.</p>
20894
20895       </div>
20896       <div class="tags">
20897
20898
20899         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
20900
20901
20902       </div>
20903     </div>
20904     <div class="padding"></div>
20905
20906     <div class="entry">
20907       <div class="title">
20908         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Circular_package_dependencies_harms_apt_recovery.html">Circular package dependencies harms apt recovery</a>
20909       </div>
20910       <div class="date">
20911         27th July 2010
20912       </div>
20913       <div class="body">
20914         <p>I discovered this while doing
20915 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">automated
20916 testing of upgrades from Debian Lenny to Squeeze</a>.  A few packages
20917 in Debian still got circular dependencies, and it is often claimed
20918 that apt and aptitude should be able to handle this just fine, but
20919 some times these dependency loops causes apt to fail.</p>
20920
20921 <p>An example is from todays
20922 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing//test-20100727-lenny-squeeze-kde-aptitude.txt">upgrade
20923 of KDE using aptitude</a>.  In it, a bug in kdebase-workspace-data
20924 causes perl-modules to fail to upgrade.  The cause is simple.  If a
20925 package fail to unpack, then only part of packages with the circular
20926 dependency might end up being unpacked when unpacking aborts, and the
20927 ones already unpacked will fail to configure in the recovery phase
20928 because its dependencies are unavailable.</p>
20929
20930 <p>In this log, the problem manifest itself with this error:</p>
20931
20932 <blockquote><pre>
20933 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of perl-modules:
20934  perl-modules depends on perl (>= 5.10.1-1); however:
20935   Version of perl on system is 5.10.0-19lenny2.
20936 dpkg: error processing perl-modules (--configure):
20937  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
20938 </pre></blockquote>
20939
20940 <p>The perl/perl-modules circular dependency is already
20941 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/527917">reported as a bug</a>, and will
20942 hopefully be solved as soon as possible, but it is not the only one,
20943 and each one of these loops in the dependency tree can cause similar
20944 failures.  Of course, they only occur when there are bugs in other
20945 packages causing the unpacking to fail, but it is rather nasty when
20946 the failure of one package causes the problem to become worse because
20947 of dependency loops.</p>
20948
20949 <p>Thanks to
20950 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/06/msg00116.html">the
20951 tireless effort by Bill Allombert</a>, the number of circular
20952 dependencies
20953 <a href="http://debian.semistable.com/debgraph.out.html">left in Debian
20954 is dropping</a>, and perhaps it will reach zero one day. :)</p>
20955
20956 <p>Todays testing also exposed a bug in
20957 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/590605">update-notifier</a> and
20958 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/590604">different behaviour</a> between
20959 apt-get and aptitude, the latter possibly caused by some circular
20960 dependency.  Reported both to BTS to try to get someone to look at
20961 it.</p>
20962
20963       </div>
20964       <div class="tags">
20965
20966
20967         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
20968
20969
20970       </div>
20971     </div>
20972     <div class="padding"></div>
20973
20974     <div class="entry">
20975       <div class="title">
20976         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Debian_Edu_test_release__alpha0__based_on_Squeeze_is_released.html">First Debian Edu test release (alpha0) based on Squeeze is released</a>
20977       </div>
20978       <div class="date">
20979         27th July 2010
20980       </div>
20981       <div class="body">
20982         <p>I just posted this announcement culminating several months of work
20983 with the next Debian Edu release.  Not nearly done, but one major step
20984 completed.</p>
20985
20986 <blockquote>
20987 <p>This is the first test release based on Squeeze. The focus of this
20988 release is to test the user application selection. To have a look,
20989 install the standalone profile and let the developers know if the set
20990 of installed packages i.e. applications should be modified. If some
20991 user application is missing, or if there are some applications that no
20992 longer make sense to be included in Debian Edu, please let us know.
20993 Also, if a useful application is missing the translation for your
20994 language of choice, please let us know too.</p>
20995
20996 <p>In addition, feedback and help to polish the desktop (menus,
20997 artwork, starters, etc.) is appreciated. We would like to ship a nice
20998 and handy KDE4 desktop targeted for schools out of the box.</p>
20999
21000 <p>The other profiles should be installable, but there is a lot more
21001 work left to be done before they are ready, so do not expect to
21002 much.</p>
21003
21004 <p>Changes compared to the lenny based version</p>
21005
21006 <ul>
21007 <li>Everything from Debian Squeeze
21008 <ul>
21009   <li>Desktop environment KDE 4.4 => the new KDE desktop in
21010          combination with some new artwork
21011   <li>Web browser Iceweasel 3.5
21012   <li>OpenOffice.org 3.2
21013   <li>Educational toolbox GCompris 9.3
21014   <li>Music creator Rosegarden 10.04.2
21015   <li>Image editor Gimp 2.6.10
21016   <li>Virtual universe Celestia 1.6.0
21017   <li>Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.10.4
21018   <li>3D modeler Blender 2.49.2 (new application)
21019   <li>Video editor Kdenlive 0.7.7 (new application)
21020 </ul></li>
21021 <li>Now using Kerberos for password checking (migration not finished).
21022     Enabled for:
21023 <ul>
21024   <li>PAM
21025   <li>LDAP
21026   <li>IMAP
21027   <li>SMTP (sender verification)
21028 </ul>
21029 </li>
21030 <li>New experimental roaming workstation profile for laptops.</li>
21031 <li>Show welcome page to users when they first log in. The URL is
21032     fetched from LDAP.</li>
21033 <li>New LXDE desktop option, in addition to KDE (default) and Gnome.</li>
21034 <li>General cleanup (not finished)</li>
21035 </ul>
21036 <p>The following features are not working as they should</p>
21037
21038 <ul>
21039 <li>No web based administration tool for creating users and groups. The
21040     scripts ldap-createuser-krb and ldap-add-user-to-group can be used
21041     for testing.</li>
21042 <li>DVD installs are missing debian-installer images for the PXE boot,
21043     and do not set up the PXE menu on eth0 because of this. LTSP
21044     clients should still boot from eth1 on thin client servers.</li>
21045 <li>The restructured KDE menu is not implemented.</li>
21046 <li>The LDAP server setup need to be reviewed for security.</li>
21047 <li>The LDAP directory structure need to be reworked.</li>
21048 <li>Different sets of packages are installed when using the DVD and the
21049     netinst CD. More packages are installed using the netinst CD.</li>
21050 <li>The jackd package fail to install. This is believed to be caused by
21051     some ongoing transition, and hopefully should be solved soon. The
21052     jackd1 package can be installed manually for those that need it.</li>
21053 <li>Some packages lack translations. See
21054     http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Squeeze for updated status,
21055     and help out with translations.</li>
21056 </ul>
21057
21058 <p>To download this multiarch netinstall release you can use</p>
21059
21060 <ul>
21061 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso</a></li>
21062 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso</a></li>
21063 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso</li>
21064 </ul>
21065 <p>To download this multiarch dvd release you can use</p>
21066
21067 <ul>
21068 <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso</a></li>
21069 <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso</a></li>
21070 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso</li>
21071 </ul>
21072
21073 <p>There is no source DVD available yet. It will be prepared when we
21074 get closer to the final release.</p>
21075
21076 <p>The MD5SUM of these images are</p>
21077
21078 <ul>
21079 <li>3dbf45d59f42a53518b6e3c9ec3b5eb6 debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso</li>
21080 <li>22f2cbfce281d1c6e478be452638675d debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso</li>
21081 </ul>
21082
21083 <p>The SHA1SUM of these images are</p>
21084 <ul>
21085 <li>c53d1b69b40cf37cd27aefaf33f6f6a3821bedf0 debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso</li>
21086 <li>2ec29d7db676d59d32197b05c277ffe16348376c debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso</li>
21087 </ul>
21088 <p>How to report bugs:
21089 http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugsInBugzilla</p>
21090
21091 <p>Please direct replies to debian-edu@lists.debian.org</p>
21092 </blockquote>
21093
21094       </div>
21095       <div class="tags">
21096
21097
21098         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
21099
21100
21101       </div>
21102     </div>
21103     <div class="padding"></div>
21104
21105     <div class="entry">
21106       <div class="title">
21107         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/One_step_closer_to_single_signon_in_Debian_Edu.html">One step closer to single signon in Debian Edu</a>
21108       </div>
21109       <div class="date">
21110         25th July 2010
21111       </div>
21112       <div class="body">
21113         <p>The last few months me and the other Debian Edu developers have
21114 been working hard to get the Debian/Squeeze based version of Debian
21115 Edu/Skolelinux into shape.  This future version will use Kerberos for
21116 authentication, and services are slowly migrated to single signon,
21117 getting rid of password questions one at the time.</p>
21118
21119 <p>It will also feature a roaming workstation profile with local home
21120 directory, for laptops that are only some times on the Skolelinux
21121 network, and for this profile a shortcut is created in Gnome and KDE
21122 to gain access to the users home directory on the file server.  This
21123 shortcut uses SMB at the moment, and yesterday I had time to test if
21124 SMB mounting had started working in KDE after we added the cifs-utils
21125 package.  I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked.</p>
21126
21127 <p>Thanks to the recent changes to our samba configuration to get it
21128 to use Kerberos for authentication, there were no question about user
21129 password when mounting the SMB volume.  A simple click on the shortcut
21130 in the KDE menu, and a window with the home directory popped
21131 up. :)</p>
21132
21133 <p>One step closer to a single signon solution out of the box in
21134 Debian Edu.  We already had PAM, LDAP, IMAP and SMTP in place, and now
21135 also Samba.  Next step is Cups and hopefully also NFS.</p>
21136
21137 <p>We had planned a alpha0 release of Debian Edu for today, but thanks
21138 to the autobuilder administrators for some architectures being slow to
21139 sign packages, we are still missing the fixed LTSP package we need for
21140 the release.  It was uploaded three days ago with urgency=high, and if
21141 it had entered testing yesterday we would have been able to test it in
21142 time for a alpha0 release today.  As the binaries for ia64 and powerpc
21143 still not uploaded to the Debian archive, we need to delay the alpha
21144 release another day.</p>
21145
21146 <p>If you want to help out with implementing Kerberos for Debian Edu,
21147 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
21148
21149       </div>
21150       <div class="tags">
21151
21152
21153         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
21154
21155
21156       </div>
21157     </div>
21158     <div class="padding"></div>
21159
21160     <div class="entry">
21161       <div class="title">
21162         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/OpenStreetmap_one_step_closer_to_having_routing_on_its_front_page.html">OpenStreetmap one step closer to having routing on its front page</a>
21163       </div>
21164       <div class="date">
21165         18th July 2010
21166       </div>
21167       <div class="body">
21168         <p>Thanks to
21169 <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opengeodata/~3/wUTCzDZk3lc/project-of-the-week-which-way-home">todays
21170 opengeodata blog entry</a>, I just discovered that the
21171 OpenStreetmap.org site have gotten
21172 <a href="http://nroets.dev.openstreetmap.org/demo/index.html?layers=B000FTFTT">support
21173 for calculating routes</a>.  The support is still experimental and
21174 only available from the development server, until more experience is
21175 gathered on the user interface and any scalability issues.</p>
21176
21177 <p>Earlier, the routing I knew about using the OpenStreetmap.org data
21178 was provided by <a href="http://maps.cloudmade.com/">Cloudmade</a>,
21179 but having it on the main page is required to make everyone aware of
21180 the issue.  I've had people reject Openstreetmap.org as a viable
21181 alternative for them because the front page lacked routing support,
21182 and I hope their needs will be catered for when routing show up on the
21183 www.openstreetmap.org front page.</p>
21184
21185       </div>
21186       <div class="tags">
21187
21188
21189         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
21190
21191
21192       </div>
21193     </div>
21194     <div class="padding"></div>
21195
21196     <div class="entry">
21197       <div class="title">
21198         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_are_they_searching_for___PowerDNS_and_ISC_DHCP_in_LDAP.html">What are they searching for - PowerDNS and ISC DHCP in LDAP</a>
21199       </div>
21200       <div class="date">
21201         17th July 2010
21202       </div>
21203       <div class="body">
21204         <p>This is a
21205 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">followup</a>
21206 on my
21207 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_a_change_to_LDAP_schemas_allowing_DNS_and_DHCP_info_to_be_combined_into_one_object.html">previous
21208 work</a> on
21209 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Combining_PowerDNS_and_ISC_DHCP_LDAP_objects.html">merging
21210 all</a> the computer related LDAP objects in Debian Edu.</p>
21211
21212 <p>As a step to try to see if it possible to merge the DNS and DHCP
21213 LDAP objects, I have had a look at how the packages pdns-backend-ldap
21214 and dhcp3-server-ldap in Debian use the LDAP server.  The two
21215 implementations are quite different in how they use LDAP.</p>
21216
21217 To get this information, I started slapd with debugging enabled and
21218 dumped the debug output to a file to get the LDAP searches performed
21219 on a Debian Edu main-server.  Here is a summary.
21220
21221 <p><strong>powerdns</strong></p>
21222
21223 <a href="http://www.linuxnetworks.de/doc/index.php/PowerDNS_LDAP_Backend">Clues
21224 on how to</a> set up PowerDNS to use a LDAP backend is available on
21225 the web.
21226
21227 <p>PowerDNS have two modes of operation using LDAP as its backend.
21228 One "strict" mode where the forward and reverse DNS lookups are done
21229 using the same LDAP objects, and a "tree" mode where the forward and
21230 reverse entries are in two different subtrees in LDAP with a structure
21231 based on the DNS names, as in tjener.intern and
21232 2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa.</p>
21233
21234 <p>In tree mode, the server is set up to use a LDAP subtree as its
21235 base, and uses a "base" scoped search for the DNS name by adding
21236 "dc=tjener,dc=intern," to the base with a filter for
21237 "(associateddomain=tjener.intern)" for the forward entry and
21238 "dc=2,dc=2,dc=0,dc=10,dc=in-addr,dc=arpa," with a filter for
21239 "(associateddomain=2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa)" for the reverse entry.  For
21240 forward entries, it is looking for attributes named dnsttl, arecord,
21241 nsrecord, cnamerecord, soarecord, ptrrecord, hinforecord, mxrecord,
21242 txtrecord, rprecord, afsdbrecord, keyrecord, aaaarecord, locrecord,
21243 srvrecord, naptrrecord, kxrecord, certrecord, dsrecord, sshfprecord,
21244 ipseckeyrecord, rrsigrecord, nsecrecord, dnskeyrecord, dhcidrecord,
21245 spfrecord and modifytimestamp.  For reverse entries it is looking for
21246 the attributes dnsttl, arecord, nsrecord, cnamerecord, soarecord,
21247 ptrrecord, hinforecord, mxrecord, txtrecord, rprecord, aaaarecord,
21248 locrecord, srvrecord, naptrrecord and modifytimestamp.  The equivalent
21249 ldapsearch commands could look like this:</p>
21250
21251 <blockquote><pre>
21252 ldapsearch -h ldap \
21253   -b dc=tjener,dc=intern,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no \
21254   -s base -x '(associateddomain=tjener.intern)' dNSTTL aRecord nSRecord \
21255   cNAMERecord sOARecord pTRRecord hInfoRecord mXRecord tXTRecord \
21256   rPRecord aFSDBRecord KeyRecord aAAARecord lOCRecord sRVRecord \
21257   nAPTRRecord kXRecord certRecord dSRecord sSHFPRecord iPSecKeyRecord \
21258   rRSIGRecord nSECRecord dNSKeyRecord dHCIDRecord sPFRecord modifyTimestamp
21259
21260 ldapsearch -h ldap \
21261   -b dc=2,dc=2,dc=0,dc=10,dc=in-addr,dc=arpa,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no \
21262   -s base -x '(associateddomain=2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa)'
21263   dnsttl, arecord, nsrecord, cnamerecord soarecord ptrrecord \
21264   hinforecord mxrecord txtrecord rprecord aaaarecord locrecord \
21265   srvrecord naptrrecord modifytimestamp
21266 </pre></blockquote>
21267
21268 <p>In Debian Edu/Lenny, the PowerDNS tree mode is used with
21269 ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no as the base, and these are two
21270 example LDAP objects used there.  In addition to these objects, the
21271 parent objects all th way up to ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21272 also exist.</p>
21273
21274 <blockquote><pre>
21275 dn: dc=tjener,dc=intern,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21276 objectclass: top
21277 objectclass: dnsdomain
21278 objectclass: domainrelatedobject
21279 dc: tjener
21280 arecord: 10.0.2.2
21281 associateddomain: tjener.intern
21282
21283 dn: dc=2,dc=2,dc=0,dc=10,dc=in-addr,dc=arpa,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21284 objectclass: top
21285 objectclass: dnsdomain2
21286 objectclass: domainrelatedobject
21287 dc: 2
21288 ptrrecord: tjener.intern
21289 associateddomain: 2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa
21290 </pre></blockquote>
21291
21292 <p>In strict mode, the server behaves differently.  When looking for
21293 forward DNS entries, it is doing a "subtree" scoped search with the
21294 same base as in the tree mode for a object with filter
21295 "(associateddomain=tjener.intern)" and requests the attributes dnsttl,
21296 arecord, nsrecord, cnamerecord, soarecord, ptrrecord, hinforecord,
21297 mxrecord, txtrecord, rprecord, aaaarecord, locrecord, srvrecord,
21298 naptrrecord and modifytimestamp.  For reverse entires it also do a
21299 subtree scoped search but this time the filter is "(arecord=10.0.2.2)"
21300 and the requested attributes are associateddomain, dnsttl and
21301 modifytimestamp.  In short, in strict mode the objects with ptrrecord
21302 go away, and the arecord attribute in the forward object is used
21303 instead.</p>
21304
21305 <p>The forward and reverse searches can be simulated using ldapsearch
21306 like this:</p>
21307
21308 <blockquote><pre>
21309 ldapsearch -h ldap -b ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no -s sub -x \
21310   '(associateddomain=tjener.intern)' dNSTTL aRecord nSRecord \
21311   cNAMERecord sOARecord pTRRecord hInfoRecord mXRecord tXTRecord \
21312   rPRecord aFSDBRecord KeyRecord aAAARecord lOCRecord sRVRecord \
21313   nAPTRRecord kXRecord certRecord dSRecord sSHFPRecord iPSecKeyRecord \
21314   rRSIGRecord nSECRecord dNSKeyRecord dHCIDRecord sPFRecord modifyTimestamp
21315
21316 ldapsearch -h ldap -b ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no -s sub -x \
21317   '(arecord=10.0.2.2)' associateddomain dnsttl modifytimestamp
21318 </pre></blockquote>
21319
21320 <p>In addition to the forward and reverse searches , there is also a
21321 search for SOA records, which behave similar to the forward and
21322 reverse lookups.</p>
21323
21324 <p>A thing to note with the PowerDNS behaviour is that it do not
21325 specify any objectclass names, and instead look for the attributes it
21326 need to generate a DNS reply.  This make it able to work with any
21327 objectclass that provide the needed attributes.</p>
21328
21329 <p>The attributes are normally provided in the cosine (RFC 1274) and
21330 dnsdomain2 schemas.  The latter is used for reverse entries like
21331 ptrrecord and recent DNS additions like aaaarecord and srvrecord.</p>
21332
21333 <p>In Debian Edu, we have created DNS objects using the object classes
21334 dcobject (for dc), dnsdomain or dnsdomain2 (structural, for the DNS
21335 attributes) and domainrelatedobject (for associatedDomain).  The use
21336 of structural object classes make it impossible to combine these
21337 classes with the object classes used by DHCP.</p>
21338
21339 <p>There are other schemas that could be used too, for example the
21340 dnszone structural object class used by Gosa and bind-sdb for the DNS
21341 attributes combined with the domainrelatedobject object class, but in
21342 this case some unused attributes would have to be included as well
21343 (zonename and relativedomainname).</p>
21344
21345 <p>My proposal for Debian Edu would be to switch PowerDNS to strict
21346 mode and not use any of the existing objectclasses (dnsdomain,
21347 dnsdomain2 and dnszone) when one want to combine the DNS information
21348 with DHCP information, and instead create a auxiliary object class
21349 defined something like this (using the attributes defined for
21350 dnsdomain and dnsdomain2 or dnszone):</p>
21351
21352 <blockquote><pre>
21353 objectclass ( some-oid NAME 'dnsDomainAux'
21354     SUP top
21355     AUXILIARY
21356     MAY ( ARecord $ MDRecord $ MXRecord $ NSRecord $ SOARecord $ CNAMERecord $
21357           DNSTTL $ DNSClass $ PTRRecord $ HINFORecord $ MINFORecord $
21358           TXTRecord $ SIGRecord $ KEYRecord $ AAAARecord $ LOCRecord $
21359           NXTRecord $ SRVRecord $ NAPTRRecord $ KXRecord $ CERTRecord $
21360           A6Record $ DNAMERecord
21361     ))
21362 </pre></blockquote>
21363
21364 <p>This will allow any object to become a DNS entry when combined with
21365 the domainrelatedobject object class, and allow any entity to include
21366 all the attributes PowerDNS wants.  I've sent an email to the PowerDNS
21367 developers asking for their view on this schema and if they are
21368 interested in providing such schema with PowerDNS, and I hope my
21369 message will be accepted into their mailing list soon.</p>
21370
21371 <p><strong>ISC dhcp</strong></p>
21372
21373 <p>The DHCP server searches for specific objectclass and requests all
21374 the object attributes, and then uses the attributes it want.  This
21375 make it harder to figure out exactly what attributes are used, but
21376 thanks to the working example in Debian Edu I can at least get an idea
21377 what is needed without having to read the source code.</p>
21378
21379 <p>In the DHCP server configuration, the LDAP base to use and the
21380 search filter to use to locate the correct dhcpServer entity is
21381 stored.  These are the relevant entries from
21382 /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf:</p>
21383
21384 <blockquote><pre>
21385 ldap-base-dn "dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no";
21386 ldap-dhcp-server-cn "dhcp";
21387 </pre></blockquote>
21388
21389 <p>The DHCP server uses this information to nest all the DHCP
21390 configuration it need.  The cn "dhcp" is located using the given LDAP
21391 base and the filter "(&(objectClass=dhcpServer)(cn=dhcp))".  The
21392 search result is this entry:</p>
21393
21394 <blockquote><pre>
21395 dn: cn=dhcp,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21396 cn: dhcp
21397 objectClass: top
21398 objectClass: dhcpServer
21399 dhcpServiceDN: cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21400 </pre></blockquote>
21401
21402 <p>The content of the dhcpServiceDN attribute is next used to locate the
21403 subtree with DHCP configuration.  The DHCP configuration subtree base
21404 is located using a base scope search with base "cn=DHCP
21405 Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no" and filter
21406 "(&(objectClass=dhcpService)(|(dhcpPrimaryDN=cn=dhcp,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no)(dhcpSecondaryDN=cn=dhcp,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no)))".
21407 The search result is this entry:</p>
21408
21409 <blockquote><pre>
21410 dn: cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21411 cn: DHCP Config
21412 objectClass: top
21413 objectClass: dhcpService
21414 objectClass: dhcpOptions
21415 dhcpPrimaryDN: cn=dhcp, dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21416 dhcpStatements: ddns-update-style none
21417 dhcpStatements: authoritative
21418 dhcpOption: smtp-server code 69 = array of ip-address
21419 dhcpOption: www-server code 72 = array of ip-address
21420 dhcpOption: wpad-url code 252 = text
21421 </pre></blockquote>
21422
21423 <p>Next, the entire subtree is processed, one level at the time.  When
21424 all the DHCP configuration is loaded, it is ready to receive requests.
21425 The subtree in Debian Edu contain objects with object classes
21426 top/dhcpService/dhcpOptions, top/dhcpSharedNetwork/dhcpOptions,
21427 top/dhcpSubnet, top/dhcpGroup and top/dhcpHost.  These provide options
21428 and information about netmasks, dynamic range etc.  Leaving out the
21429 details here because it is not relevant for the focus of my
21430 investigation, which is to see if it is possible to merge dns and dhcp
21431 related computer objects.</p>
21432
21433 <p>When a DHCP request come in, LDAP is searched for the MAC address
21434 of the client (00:00:00:00:00:00 in this example), using a subtree
21435 scoped search with "cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no" as
21436 the base and "(&(objectClass=dhcpHost)(dhcpHWAddress=ethernet
21437 00:00:00:00:00:00))" as the filter.  This is what a host object look
21438 like:</p>
21439
21440 <blockquote><pre>
21441 dn: cn=hostname,cn=group1,cn=THINCLIENTS,cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21442 cn: hostname
21443 objectClass: top
21444 objectClass: dhcpHost
21445 dhcpHWAddress: ethernet 00:00:00:00:00:00
21446 dhcpStatements: fixed-address hostname
21447 </pre></blockquote>
21448
21449 <p>There is less flexiblity in the way LDAP searches are done here.
21450 The object classes need to have fixed names, and the configuration
21451 need to be stored in a fairly specific LDAP structure.  On the
21452 positive side, the invidiual dhcpHost entires can be anywhere without
21453 the DN pointed to by the dhcpServer entries.  The latter should make
21454 it possible to group all host entries in a subtree next to the
21455 configuration entries, and this subtree can also be shared with the
21456 DNS server if the schema proposed above is combined with the dhcpHost
21457 structural object class.
21458
21459 <p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
21460
21461 <p>The PowerDNS implementation seem to be very flexible when it come
21462 to which LDAP schemas to use.  While its "tree" mode is rigid when it
21463 come to the the LDAP structure, the "strict" mode is very flexible,
21464 allowing DNS objects to be stored anywhere under the base cn specified
21465 in the configuration.</p>
21466
21467 <p>The DHCP implementation on the other hand is very inflexible, both
21468 regarding which LDAP schemas to use and which LDAP structure to use.
21469 I guess one could implement ones own schema, as long as the
21470 objectclasses and attributes have the names used, but this do not
21471 really help when the DHCP subtree need to have a fairly fixed
21472 structure.</p>
21473
21474 <p>Based on the observed behaviour, I suspect a LDAP structure like
21475 this might work for Debian Edu:</p>
21476
21477 <blockquote><pre>
21478 ou=services
21479   cn=machine-info (dhcpService) - dhcpServiceDN points here
21480     cn=dhcp (dhcpServer)
21481     cn=dhcp-internal (dhcpSharedNetwork/dhcpOptions)
21482       cn=10.0.2.0 (dhcpSubnet)
21483         cn=group1 (dhcpGroup/dhcpOptions)
21484     cn=dhcp-thinclients (dhcpSharedNetwork/dhcpOptions)
21485       cn=192.168.0.0 (dhcpSubnet)
21486         cn=group1 (dhcpGroup/dhcpOptions)
21487     ou=machines - PowerDNS base points here
21488       cn=hostname (dhcpHost/domainrelatedobject/dnsDomainAux)
21489 </pre></blockquote>
21490
21491 <P>This is not tested yet.  If the DHCP server require the dhcpHost
21492 entries to be in the dhcpGroup subtrees, the entries can be stored
21493 there instead of a common machines subtree, and the PowerDNS base
21494 would have to be moved one level up to the machine-info subtree.</p>
21495
21496 <p>The combined object under the machines subtree would look something
21497 like this:</p>
21498
21499 <blockquote><pre>
21500 dn: dc=hostname,ou=machines,cn=machine-info,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21501 dc: hostname
21502 objectClass: top
21503 objectClass: dhcpHost
21504 objectclass: domainrelatedobject
21505 objectclass: dnsDomainAux
21506 associateddomain: hostname.intern
21507 arecord: 10.11.12.13
21508 dhcpHWAddress: ethernet 00:00:00:00:00:00
21509 dhcpStatements: fixed-address hostname.intern
21510 </pre></blockquote>
21511
21512 </p>One could even add the LTSP configuration associated with a given
21513 machine, as long as the required attributes are available in a
21514 auxiliary object class.</p>
21515
21516       </div>
21517       <div class="tags">
21518
21519
21520         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
21521
21522
21523       </div>
21524     </div>
21525     <div class="padding"></div>
21526
21527     <div class="entry">
21528       <div class="title">
21529         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Combining_PowerDNS_and_ISC_DHCP_LDAP_objects.html">Combining PowerDNS and ISC DHCP LDAP objects</a>
21530       </div>
21531       <div class="date">
21532         14th July 2010
21533       </div>
21534       <div class="body">
21535         <p>For a while now, I have wanted to find a way to change the DNS and
21536 DHCP services in Debian Edu to use the same LDAP objects for a given
21537 computer, to avoid the possibility of having a inconsistent state for
21538 a computer in LDAP (as in DHCP but no DNS entry or the other way
21539 around) and make it easier to add computers to LDAP.</p>
21540
21541 <p>I've looked at how powerdns and dhcpd is using LDAP, and using this
21542 information finally found a solution that seem to work.</p>
21543
21544 <p>The old setup required three LDAP objects for a given computer.
21545 One forward DNS entry, one reverse DNS entry and one DHCP entry.  If
21546 we switch powerdns to use its strict LDAP method (ldap-method=strict
21547 in pdns-debian-edu.conf), the forward and reverse DNS entries are
21548 merged into one while making it impossible to transfer the reverse map
21549 to a slave DNS server.</p>
21550
21551 <p>If we also replace the object class used to get the DNS related
21552 attributes to one allowing these attributes to be combined with the
21553 dhcphost object class, we can merge the DNS and DHCP entries into one.
21554 I've written such object class in the dnsdomainaux.schema file (need
21555 proper OIDs, but that is a minor issue), and tested the setup.  It
21556 seem to work.</p>
21557
21558 <p>With this test setup in place, we can get away with one LDAP object
21559 for both DNS and DHCP, and even the LTSP configuration I suggested in
21560 an earlier email.  The combined LDAP object will look something like
21561 this:</p>
21562
21563 <blockquote><pre>
21564   dn: cn=hostname,cn=group1,cn=THINCLIENTS,cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
21565   cn: hostname
21566   objectClass: dhcphost
21567   objectclass: domainrelatedobject
21568   objectclass: dnsdomainaux
21569   associateddomain: hostname.intern
21570   arecord: 10.11.12.13
21571   dhcphwaddress: ethernet 00:00:00:00:00:00
21572   dhcpstatements: fixed-address hostname
21573   ldapconfigsound: Y
21574 </pre></blockquote>
21575
21576 <p>The DNS server uses the associateddomain and arecord entries, while
21577 the DHCP server uses the dhcphwaddress and dhcpstatements entries
21578 before asking DNS to resolve the fixed-adddress.  LTSP will use
21579 dhcphwaddress or associateddomain and the ldapconfig* attributes.</p>
21580
21581 <p>I am not yet sure if I can get the DHCP server to look for its
21582 dhcphost in a different location, to allow us to put the objects
21583 outside the "DHCP Config" subtree, but hope to figure out a way to do
21584 that.  If I can't figure out a way to do that, we can still get rid of
21585 the hosts subtree and move all its content into the DHCP Config tree
21586 (which probably should be renamed to be more related to the new
21587 content.  I suspect cn=dnsdhcp,ou=services or something like that
21588 might be a good place to put it.</p>
21589
21590 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
21591 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
21592
21593       </div>
21594       <div class="tags">
21595
21596
21597         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
21598
21599
21600       </div>
21601     </div>
21602     <div class="padding"></div>
21603
21604     <div class="entry">
21605       <div class="title">
21606         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_storing_LTSP_configuration_in_LDAP.html">Idea for storing LTSP configuration in LDAP</a>
21607       </div>
21608       <div class="date">
21609         11th July 2010
21610       </div>
21611       <div class="body">
21612         <p>Vagrant mentioned on IRC today that ltsp_config now support
21613 sourcing files from /usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ on the thin
21614 clients, and that this can be used to fetch configuration from LDAP if
21615 Debian Edu choose to store configuration there.</p>
21616
21617 <p>Armed with this information, I got inspired and wrote a test module
21618 to get configuration from LDAP.  The idea is to look up the MAC
21619 address of the client in LDAP, and look for attributes on the form
21620 ltspconfigsetting=value, and use this to export SETTING=value to the
21621 LTSP clients.</p>
21622
21623 <p>The goal is to be able to store the LTSP configuration attributes
21624 in a "computer" LDAP object used by both DNS and DHCP, and thus
21625 allowing us to store all information about a computer in one place.</p>
21626
21627 <p>This is a untested draft implementation, and I welcome feedback on
21628 this approach.  A real LDAP schema for the ltspClientAux objectclass
21629 need to be written.  Comments, suggestions, etc?</p>
21630
21631 <blockquote><pre>
21632 # Store in /opt/ltsp/$arch/usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ldap-config
21633 #
21634 # Fetch LTSP client settings from LDAP based on MAC address
21635 #
21636 # Uses ethernet address as stored in the dhcpHost objectclass using
21637 # the dhcpHWAddress attribute or ethernet address stored in the
21638 # ieee802Device objectclass with the macAddress attribute.
21639 #
21640 # This module is written to be schema agnostic, and only depend on the
21641 # existence of attribute names.
21642 #
21643 # The LTSP configuration variables are saved directly using a
21644 # ltspConfig prefix and uppercasing the rest of the attribute name.
21645 # To set the SERVER variable, set the ltspConfigServer attribute.
21646 #
21647 # Some LDAP schema should be created with all the relevant
21648 # configuration settings.  Something like this should work:
21649 #
21650 # objectclass ( 1.1.2.2 NAME 'ltspClientAux'
21651 #     SUP top
21652 #     AUXILIARY
21653 #     MAY ( ltspConfigServer $ ltsConfigSound $ ... )
21654
21655 LDAPSERVER=$(debian-edu-ldapserver)
21656 if [ "$LDAPSERVER" ] ; then
21657     LDAPBASE=$(debian-edu-ldapserver -b)
21658     for MAC in $(LANG=C ifconfig |grep -i hwaddr| awk '{print $5}'|sort -u) ; do
21659         filter="(|(dhcpHWAddress=ethernet $MAC)(macAddress=$MAC))"
21660         ldapsearch -h "$LDAPSERVER" -b "$LDAPBASE" -v -x "$filter" | \
21661             grep '^ltspConfig' | while read attr value ; do
21662             # Remove prefix and convert to upper case
21663             attr=$(echo $attr | sed 's/^ltspConfig//i' | tr a-z A-Z)
21664             # bass value on to clients
21665             eval "$attr=$value; export $attr"
21666         done
21667     done
21668 fi
21669 </pre></blockquote>
21670
21671 <p>I'm not sure this shell construction will work, because I suspect
21672 the while block might end up in a subshell causing the variables set
21673 there to not show up in ltsp-config, but if that is the case I am sure
21674 the code can be restructured to make sure the variables are passed on.
21675 I expect that can be solved with some testing. :)</p>
21676
21677 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
21678 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
21679
21680 <p>Update 2010-07-17: I am aware of another effort to store LTSP
21681 configuration in LDAP that was created around year 2000 by
21682 <a href="http://www.pcxperience.com/thinclient/documentation/ldap.html">PC
21683 Xperience, Inc., 2000</a>.  I found its
21684 <a href="http://people.redhat.com/alikins/ltsp/ldap/">files</a> on a
21685 personal home page over at redhat.com.</p>
21686
21687       </div>
21688       <div class="tags">
21689
21690
21691         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
21692
21693
21694       </div>
21695     </div>
21696     <div class="padding"></div>
21697
21698     <div class="entry">
21699       <div class="title">
21700         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/jXplorer__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">jXplorer, a very nice LDAP GUI</a>
21701       </div>
21702       <div class="date">
21703          9th July 2010
21704       </div>
21705       <div class="body">
21706         <p>Since
21707 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">my
21708 last post</a> about available LDAP tools in Debian, I was told about a
21709 LDAP GUI that is even better than luma.  The java application
21710 <a href="http://jxplorer.org/">jXplorer</a> is claimed to be capable of
21711 moving LDAP objects and subtrees using drag-and-drop, and can
21712 authenticate using Kerberos.  I have only tested the Kerberos
21713 authentication, but do not have a LDAP setup allowing me to rewrite
21714 LDAP with my test user yet.  It is
21715 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/j/jxplorer.html">available in
21716 Debian</a> testing and unstable at the moment.  The only problem I
21717 have with it is how it handle errors.  If something go wrong, its
21718 non-intuitive behaviour require me to go through some query work list
21719 and remove the failing query.  Nothing big, but very annoying.</p>
21720
21721       </div>
21722       <div class="tags">
21723
21724
21725         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
21726
21727
21728       </div>
21729     </div>
21730     <div class="padding"></div>
21731
21732     <div class="entry">
21733       <div class="title">
21734         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__apt_vs_aptitude_with_the_Gnome_desktop.html">Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, apt vs aptitude with the Gnome desktop</a>
21735       </div>
21736       <div class="date">
21737          3rd July 2010
21738       </div>
21739       <div class="body">
21740         <p>Here is a short update on my <a
21741 href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">my
21742 Debian Lenny->Squeeze upgrade testing</a>.  Here is a summary of the
21743 difference for Gnome when it is upgraded by apt-get and aptitude.  I'm
21744 not reporting the status for KDE, because the upgrade crashes when
21745 aptitude try because of missing conflicts
21746 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584861">#584861</a> and
21747 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/585716">#585716</a>).</p>
21748
21749 <p>At the end of the upgrade test script, dpkg -l is executed to get a
21750 complete list of the installed packages.  Based on this I see these
21751 differences when I did a test run today.  As usual, I do not really
21752 know what the correct set of packages would be, but thought it best to
21753 publish the difference.</p>
21754
21755 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
21756
21757 <blockquote><p>
21758   at-spi cpp-4.3 finger gnome-spell gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
21759   libatspi1.0-0 libcupsys2 libeel2-data libgail-common libgdl-1-common
21760   libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-common libgnomevfs2-bin
21761   libgtksourceview-common libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa
21762   libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libservlet2.4-java libxalan2-java
21763   libxerces2-java openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip
21764   python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gtkhtml2
21765   python-gtkmozembed svgalibg1 xserver-xephyr zip
21766 </p></blockquote>
21767
21768 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
21769
21770 <blockquote><p>
21771   bluez-utils dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop epiphany-gecko
21772   gnome-app-install gnome-mount gnome-vfs-obexftp gnome-volume-manager
21773   libao2 libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libbind9-50
21774   libbluetooth2 libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcurl3
21775   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedata-cal1.2-6 libedataserver1.2-9
21776   libeel2-2.20 libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libexchange-storage1.2-3
21777   libfaad0 libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libggz2 libggzcore9
21778   libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 libgnome-desktop-2
21779   libgnome-pilot2 libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomeprint2.2-0
21780   libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0
21781   libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6 libhesiod0 libicu38 libisccc50
21782   libisccfg50 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 liblwres50 libmagick++10
21783   libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off libnautilus-burn4
21784   libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 libosp5
21785   libparted1.8-10 libpisock9 libpisync1 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3
21786   libpt-1.10.10 libraw1394-8 libsensors3 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8
21787   libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1
21788   libtotem-plparser10 libtrackerclient0 libvoikko1 libxalan2-java-gcj
21789   libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6 libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3
21790   mysql-common swfdec-gnome totem-gstreamer wodim
21791 </p></blockquote>
21792
21793 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
21794
21795 <blockquote><p>
21796   gnome gnome-desktop-environment hamster-applet python-gnomeapplet
21797   python-gnomekeyring python-wnck rhythmbox-plugins xorg
21798   xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
21799   xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
21800   xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-video-all
21801   xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark xserver-xorg-video-ati
21802   xserver-xorg-video-chips xserver-xorg-video-cirrus
21803   xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
21804   xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
21805   xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-mach64
21806   xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
21807   xserver-xorg-video-nouveau xserver-xorg-video-nv
21808   xserver-xorg-video-r128 xserver-xorg-video-radeon
21809   xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd xserver-xorg-video-rendition
21810   xserver-xorg-video-s3 xserver-xorg-video-s3virge
21811   xserver-xorg-video-savage xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion
21812   xserver-xorg-video-sis xserver-xorg-video-sisusb
21813   xserver-xorg-video-tdfx xserver-xorg-video-tga
21814   xserver-xorg-video-trident xserver-xorg-video-tseng
21815   xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vmware
21816   xserver-xorg-video-voodoo
21817 </p></blockquote>
21818
21819 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
21820
21821 <blockquote><p>
21822   deskbar-applet xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core
21823   xserver-xorg-input-wacom xserver-xorg-video-intel
21824   xserver-xorg-video-openchrome
21825 </p></blockquote>
21826
21827 <p>I was told on IRC that the xorg-xserver package was
21828 <a href="http://git.debian.org/?p=pkg-xorg/xserver/xorg-server.git;a=commit;h=9c8080d06c457932d3bfec021c69ac000aa60120">changed
21829 in git</a> today to try to get apt-get to not remove xorg completely.
21830 No idea when it hits Squeeze, but when it does I hope it will reduce
21831 the difference somewhat.
21832
21833       </div>
21834       <div class="tags">
21835
21836
21837         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
21838
21839
21840       </div>
21841     </div>
21842     <div class="padding"></div>
21843
21844     <div class="entry">
21845       <div class="title">
21846         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Caching_password__user_and_group_on_a_roaming_Debian_laptop.html">Caching password, user and group on a roaming Debian laptop</a>
21847       </div>
21848       <div class="date">
21849          1st July 2010
21850       </div>
21851       <div class="body">
21852         <p>For a laptop, centralized user directories and password checking is
21853 a bit troubling.  Laptops are typically used also when not connected
21854 to the network, and it is vital for a user to be able to log in or
21855 unlock the screen saver also when a central server is unavailable.
21856 This is possible by caching passwords and directory information (user
21857 and group attributes) locally, and the packages to do so are available
21858 in Debian.  Here follow two recipes to set this up in Debian/Squeeze.
21859 It is also possible to set up in Debian/Lenny, but require more manual
21860 setup there because pam-auth-update is missing in Lenny.</p>
21861
21862 <h2>LDAP/Kerberos + nscd + libpam-ccreds + libpam-mklocaluser/pam_mkhomedir</h2>
21863
21864 This is the traditional method with a twist.  The password caching is
21865 provided by libpam-ccreds (version 10-4 or later is needed on
21866 Squeeze), and the directory caching is done by nscd.  The directory
21867 lookup and password checking is done using LDAP.  If one want to use
21868 Kerberos for password checking the libpam-ldapd package can be
21869 replaced with libpam-krb5 or libpam-heimdal.  If one is happy having a
21870 local home directory with the path listed in LDAP, one can use the
21871 pam_mkhomedir module from pam-modules to make this happen instead of
21872 using libpam-mklocaluser.  A setup for pam-auth-update to enable
21873 pam_mkhomedir will have to be written until a fix for
21874 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/568577">bug #568577</a> is in the
21875 archive.  Because I believe it is a bad idea to have local home
21876 directories using misleading paths like /site/server/partition/, I
21877 prefer to create a local user with the home directory in /home/.  This
21878 is done using the libpam-mklocaluser package.</p>
21879
21880 <p>These packages need to be installed and configured</p>
21881
21882 <blockquote><pre>
21883 libnss-ldapd libpam-ldapd nscd libpam-ccreds libpam-mklocaluser
21884 </pre></blockquote>
21885
21886 <p>The ldapd packages will ask for LDAP connection information, and
21887 one have to fill in the values that fits ones own site.  Make sure the
21888 PAM part uses encrypted connections, to make sure the password is not
21889 sent in clear text to the LDAP server.  I've been unable to get TLS
21890 certificate checking for a self signed certificate working, which make
21891 LDAP authentication unsafe for Debian Edu (nslcd is not checking if it
21892 is talking to the correct LDAP server), and very much welcome feedback
21893 on how to get this working.</p>
21894
21895 <p>Because nscd do not have a default configuration fit for offline
21896 caching until <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/485282">bug #485282</a>
21897 is fixed, this configuration should be used instead of the one
21898 currently in /etc/nscd.conf.  The changes are in the fields
21899 reload-count and positive-time-to-live, and is based on the
21900 instructions I found in the
21901 <a href="http://www.flyn.org/laptopldap/">LDAP for Mobile Laptops</a>
21902 instructions by Flyn Computing.</p>
21903
21904 <blockquote><pre>
21905         debug-level             0
21906         reload-count            unlimited
21907         paranoia                no
21908
21909         enable-cache            passwd          yes
21910         positive-time-to-live   passwd          2592000
21911         negative-time-to-live   passwd          20
21912         suggested-size          passwd          211
21913         check-files             passwd          yes
21914         persistent              passwd          yes
21915         shared                  passwd          yes
21916         max-db-size             passwd          33554432
21917         auto-propagate          passwd          yes
21918
21919         enable-cache            group           yes
21920         positive-time-to-live   group           2592000
21921         negative-time-to-live   group           20
21922         suggested-size          group           211
21923         check-files             group           yes
21924         persistent              group           yes
21925         shared                  group           yes
21926         max-db-size             group           33554432
21927         auto-propagate          group           yes
21928
21929         enable-cache            hosts           no
21930         positive-time-to-live   hosts           2592000
21931         negative-time-to-live   hosts           20
21932         suggested-size          hosts           211
21933         check-files             hosts           yes
21934         persistent              hosts           yes
21935         shared                  hosts           yes
21936         max-db-size             hosts           33554432
21937
21938         enable-cache            services        yes
21939         positive-time-to-live   services        2592000
21940         negative-time-to-live   services        20
21941         suggested-size          services        211
21942         check-files             services        yes
21943         persistent              services        yes
21944         shared                  services        yes
21945         max-db-size             services        33554432
21946 </pre></blockquote>
21947
21948 <p>While we wait for a mechanism to update /etc/nsswitch.conf
21949 automatically like the one provided in
21950 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/496915">bug #496915</a>, the file
21951 content need to be manually replaced to ensure LDAP is used as the
21952 directory service on the machine.  /etc/nsswitch.conf should normally
21953 look like this:</p>
21954
21955 <blockquote><pre>
21956 passwd:         files ldap
21957 group:          files ldap
21958 shadow:         files ldap
21959 hosts:          files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4
21960 networks:       files
21961 protocols:      files
21962 services:       files
21963 ethers:         files
21964 rpc:            files
21965 netgroup:       files ldap
21966 </pre></blockquote>
21967
21968 <p>The important parts are that ldap is listed last for passwd, group,
21969 shadow and netgroup.</p>
21970
21971 <p>With these changes in place, any user in LDAP will be able to log
21972 in locally on the machine using for example kdm, get a local home
21973 directory created and have the password as well as user and group
21974 attributes cached.
21975
21976 <h2>LDAP/Kerberos + nss-updatedb + libpam-ccreds +
21977   libpam-mklocaluser/pam_mkhomedir</h2>
21978
21979 <p>Because nscd have had its share of problems, and seem to have
21980 problems doing proper caching, I've seen suggestions and recipes to
21981 use nss-updatedb to copy parts of the LDAP database locally when the
21982 LDAP database is available.  I have not tested such setup, because I
21983 discovered sssd.</p>
21984
21985 <h2>LDAP/Kerberos + sssd + libpam-mklocaluser</h2>
21986
21987 <p>A more flexible and robust setup than the nscd combination
21988 mentioned earlier that has shown up recently, is the
21989 <a href="https://fedorahosted.org/sssd/">sssd</a> package from Redhat.
21990 It is part of the <a href="http://www.freeipa.org/">FreeIPA</A> project
21991 to provide a Active Directory like directory service for Linux
21992 machines.  The sssd system combines the caching of passwords and user
21993 information into one package, and remove the need for nscd and
21994 libpam-ccreds.  It support LDAP and Kerberos, but not NIS.  Version
21995 1.2 do not support netgroups, but it is said that it will support this
21996 in version 1.5 expected to show up later in 2010.  Because the
21997 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/sssd.html">sssd package</a>
21998 was missing in Debian, I ended up co-maintaining it with Werner, and
21999 version 1.2 is now in testing.
22000
22001 <p>These packages need to be installed and configured to get the
22002 roaming setup I want</p>
22003
22004 <blockquote><pre>
22005 libpam-sss libnss-sss libpam-mklocaluser
22006 </pre></blockquote>
22007
22008 The complete setup of sssd is done by editing/creating
22009 <tt>/etc/sssd/sssd.conf</tt>.
22010
22011 <blockquote><pre>
22012 [sssd]
22013 config_file_version = 2
22014 reconnection_retries = 3
22015 sbus_timeout = 30
22016 services = nss, pam
22017 domains = INTERN
22018
22019 [nss]
22020 filter_groups = root
22021 filter_users = root
22022 reconnection_retries = 3
22023
22024 [pam]
22025 reconnection_retries = 3
22026
22027 [domain/INTERN]
22028 enumerate = false
22029 cache_credentials = true
22030
22031 id_provider = ldap
22032 auth_provider = ldap
22033 chpass_provider = ldap
22034
22035 ldap_uri = ldap://ldap
22036 ldap_search_base = dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
22037 ldap_tls_reqcert = never
22038 ldap_tls_cacert = /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
22039 </pre></blockquote>
22040
22041 <p>I got the same problem here with certificate checking.  Had to set
22042 "ldap_tls_reqcert = never" to get it working.</p>
22043
22044 <p>With the libnss-sss package in testing at the moment, the
22045 nsswitch.conf file is update automatically, so there is no need to
22046 modify it manually.</p>
22047
22048 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
22049 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
22050
22051       </div>
22052       <div class="tags">
22053
22054
22055         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
22056
22057
22058       </div>
22059     </div>
22060     <div class="padding"></div>
22061
22062     <div class="entry">
22063       <div class="title">
22064         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">LUMA, a very nice LDAP GUI</a>
22065       </div>
22066       <div class="date">
22067         28th June 2010
22068       </div>
22069       <div class="body">
22070         <p>The last few days I have been looking into the status of the LDAP
22071 directory in Debian Edu, and in the process I started to miss a GUI
22072 tool to browse the LDAP tree.  The only one I was able to find in
22073 Debian/Squeeze and Lenny is
22074 <a href="http://luma.sourceforge.net/">LUMA</a>, which has proved to
22075 be a great tool to get a overview of the current LDAP directory
22076 populated by default in Skolelinux.  Thanks to it, I have been able to
22077 find empty and obsolete subtrees, misplaced objects and duplicate
22078 objects.  It will be installed by default in Debian/Squeeze.  If you
22079 are working with LDAP, give it a go. :)</p>
22080
22081 <p>I did notice one problem with it I have not had time to report to
22082 the BTS yet.  There is no .desktop file in the package, so the tool do
22083 not show up in the Gnome and KDE menus, but only deep down in in the
22084 Debian submenu in KDE.  I hope that can be fixed before Squeeze is
22085 released.</p>
22086
22087 <p>I have not yet been able to get it to modify the tree yet.  I would
22088 like to move objects and remove subtrees directly in the GUI, but have
22089 not found a way to do that with LUMA yet.  So in the mean time, I use
22090 <a href="http://www.lichteblau.com/ldapvi/">ldapvi</a> for that.</p>
22091
22092 <p>If you have tips on other GUI tools for LDAP that might be useful
22093 in Debian Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
22094
22095 <p>Update 2010-06-29: Ross Reedstrom tipped us about the
22096 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/g/gq.html">gq</a> package as a
22097 useful GUI alternative.  It seem like a good tool, but is unmaintained
22098 in Debian and got a RC bug keeping it out of Squeeze.  Unless that
22099 changes, it will not be an option for Debian Edu based on Squeeze.</p>
22100
22101       </div>
22102       <div class="tags">
22103
22104
22105         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
22106
22107
22108       </div>
22109     </div>
22110     <div class="padding"></div>
22111
22112     <div class="entry">
22113       <div class="title">
22114         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_a_change_to_LDAP_schemas_allowing_DNS_and_DHCP_info_to_be_combined_into_one_object.html">Idea for a change to LDAP schemas allowing DNS and DHCP info to be combined into one object</a>
22115       </div>
22116       <div class="date">
22117         24th June 2010
22118       </div>
22119       <div class="body">
22120         <p>A while back, I
22121 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">complained
22122 about the fact</a> that it is not possible with the provided schemas
22123 for storing DNS and DHCP information in LDAP to combine the two sets
22124 of information into one LDAP object representing a computer.</p>
22125
22126 <p>In the mean time, I discovered that a simple fix would be to make
22127 the dhcpHost object class auxiliary, to allow it to be combined with
22128 the dNSDomain object class, and thus forming one object for one
22129 computer when storing both DHCP and DNS information in LDAP.</p>
22130
22131 <p>If I understand this correctly, it is not safe to do this change
22132 without also changing the assigned number for the object class, and I
22133 do not know enough about LDAP schema design to do that properly for
22134 Debian Edu.</p>
22135
22136 <p>Anyway, for future reference, this is how I believe we could change
22137 the
22138 <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dhc-ldap-schema-00">DHCP
22139 schema</a> to solve at least part of the problem with the LDAP schemas
22140 available today from IETF.</p>
22141
22142 <pre>
22143 --- dhcp.schema    (revision 65192)
22144 +++ dhcp.schema    (working copy)
22145 @@ -376,7 +376,7 @@
22146  objectclass ( 2.16.840.1.113719.1.203.6.6
22147         NAME 'dhcpHost'
22148         DESC 'This represents information about a particular client'
22149 -       SUP top
22150 +       SUP top AUXILIARY
22151         MUST cn
22152         MAY  (dhcpLeaseDN $ dhcpHWAddress $ dhcpOptionsDN $ dhcpStatements $ dhcpComments $ dhcpOption)
22153         X-NDS_CONTAINMENT ('dhcpService' 'dhcpSubnet' 'dhcpGroup') )
22154 </pre>
22155
22156 <p>I very much welcome clues on how to do this properly for Debian
22157 Edu/Squeeze.  We provide the DHCP schema in our debian-edu-config
22158 package, and should thus be free to rewrite it as we see fit.</p>
22159
22160 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
22161 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
22162
22163       </div>
22164       <div class="tags">
22165
22166
22167         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
22168
22169
22170       </div>
22171     </div>
22172     <div class="padding"></div>
22173
22174     <div class="entry">
22175       <div class="title">
22176         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Calling_tasksel_like_the_installer__while_still_getting_useful_output.html">Calling tasksel like the installer, while still getting useful output</a>
22177       </div>
22178       <div class="date">
22179         16th June 2010
22180       </div>
22181       <div class="body">
22182         <p>A few times I have had the need to simulate the way tasksel
22183 installs packages during the normal debian-installer run.  Until now,
22184 I have ended up letting tasksel do the work, with the annoying problem
22185 of not getting any feedback at all when something fails (like a
22186 conffile question from dpkg or a download that fails), using code like
22187 this:
22188
22189 <blockquote><pre>
22190 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
22191 tasksel --new-install
22192 </pre></blockquote>
22193
22194 This would invoke tasksel, let its automatic task selection pick the
22195 tasks to install, and continue to install the requested tasks without
22196 any output what so ever.
22197
22198 Recently I revisited this problem while working on the automatic
22199 package upgrade testing, because tasksel would some times hang without
22200 any useful feedback, and I want to see what is going on when it
22201 happen.  Then it occured to me, I can parse the output from tasksel
22202 when asked to run in test mode, and use that aptitude command line
22203 printed by tasksel then to simulate the tasksel run.  I ended up using
22204 code like this:
22205
22206 <blockquote><pre>
22207 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
22208 cmd="$(in_target tasksel -t --new-install | sed 's/debconf-apt-progress -- //')"
22209 $cmd
22210 </pre></blockquote>
22211
22212 <p>The content of $cmd is typically something like "<tt>aptitude -q
22213 --without-recommends -o APT::Install-Recommends=no -y install
22214 ~t^desktop$ ~t^gnome-desktop$ ~t^laptop$ ~pstandard ~prequired
22215 ~pimportant</tt>", which will install the gnome desktop task, the
22216 laptop task and all packages with priority standard , required and
22217 important, just like tasksel would have done it during
22218 installation.</p>
22219
22220 <p>A better approach is probably to extend tasksel to be able to
22221 install packages without using debconf-apt-progress, for use cases
22222 like this.</p>
22223
22224       </div>
22225       <div class="tags">
22226
22227
22228         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
22229
22230
22231       </div>
22232     </div>
22233     <div class="padding"></div>
22234
22235     <div class="entry">
22236       <div class="title">
22237         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_taking_shape.html">Officeshots taking shape</a>
22238       </div>
22239       <div class="date">
22240         13th June 2010
22241       </div>
22242       <div class="body">
22243         <p>For those of us caring about document exchange and
22244 interoperability, <a href="http://www.officeshots.org/">OfficeShots</a>
22245 is a great service.  It is to ODF documents what
22246 <a href="http://browsershots.org/">BrowserShots</a> is for web
22247 pages.</p>
22248
22249 <p>A while back, I was contacted by Knut Yrvin at the part of Nokia
22250 that used to be Trolltech, who wanted to help the OfficeShots project
22251 and wondered if the University of Oslo where I work would be
22252 interested in supporting the project.  I helped him to navigate his
22253 request to the right people at work, and his request was answered with
22254 a spot in the machine room with power and network connected, and Knut
22255 arranged funding for a machine to fill the spot.  The machine is
22256 administrated by the OfficeShots people, so I do not have daily
22257 contact with its progress, and thus from time to time check back to
22258 see how the project is doing.</p>
22259
22260 <p>Today I had a look, and was happy to see that the Dell box in our
22261 machine room now is the host for several virtual machines running as
22262 OfficeShots factories, and the project is able to render ODF documents
22263 in 17 different document processing implementation on Linux and
22264 Windows.  This is great.</p>
22265
22266       </div>
22267       <div class="tags">
22268
22269
22270         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
22271
22272
22273       </div>
22274     </div>
22275     <div class="padding"></div>
22276
22277     <div class="entry">
22278       <div class="title">
22279         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__removals_by_apt_and_aptitude.html">Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, removals by apt and aptitude</a>
22280       </div>
22281       <div class="date">
22282         13th June 2010
22283       </div>
22284       <div class="body">
22285         <p>My
22286 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">testing
22287 of Debian upgrades</a> from Lenny to Squeeze continues, and I've
22288 finally made the upgrade logs available from
22289 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/</a>.
22290 I am now testing dist-upgrade of Gnome and KDE in a chroot using both
22291 apt and aptitude, and found their differences interesting.  This time
22292 I will only focus on their removal plans.</p>
22293
22294 <p>After installing a Gnome desktop and the laptop task, apt-get wants
22295 to remove 72 packages when dist-upgrading from Lenny to Squeeze.  The
22296 surprising part is that it want to remove xorg and all
22297 xserver-xorg-video* drivers.  Clearly not a good choice, but I am not
22298 sure why.  When asking aptitude to do the same, it want to remove 129
22299 packages, but most of them are library packages I suspect are no
22300 longer needed.  Both of them want to remove bluetooth packages, which
22301 I do not know.  Perhaps these bluetooth packages are obsolete?</p>
22302
22303 <p>For KDE, apt-get want to remove 82 packages, among them kdebase
22304 which seem like a bad idea and xorg the same way as with Gnome. Asking
22305 aptitude for the same, it wants to remove 192 packages, none which are
22306 too surprising.</p>
22307
22308 <p>I guess the removal of xorg during upgrades should be investigated
22309 and avoided, and perhaps others as well.  Here are the complete list
22310 of planned removals.  The complete logs is available from the URL
22311 above.  Note if you want to repeat these tests, that the upgrade test
22312 for kde+apt-get hung in the tasksel setup because of dpkg asking
22313 conffile questions.  No idea why.  I worked around it by using
22314 '<tt>echo >> /proc/<em>pidofdpkg</em>/fd/0</tt>' to tell dpkg to
22315 continue.</p>
22316
22317 <p><b>apt-get gnome 72</b>
22318 <br>bluez-gnome cupsddk-drivers deskbar-applet gnome
22319   gnome-desktop-environment gnome-network-admin gtkhtml3.14
22320   iceweasel-gnome-support libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libgdl-1-0
22321   libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libmetacity0 libslab0 libxcb-xlib0
22322   nautilus-cd-burner python-gnome2-desktop python-gnome2-extras
22323   serpentine swfdec-mozilla update-manager xorg xserver-xorg
22324   xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
22325   xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
22326   xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom
22327   xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark
22328   xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips
22329   xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix
22330   xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
22331   xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
22332   xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt
22333   xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64
22334   xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
22335   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv
22336   xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128
22337   xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd
22338   xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3
22339   xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage
22340   xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis
22341   xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
22342   xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident
22343   xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l
22344   xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga
22345   xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9
22346   xulrunner-1.9-gnome-support</p>
22347
22348 <p><b>aptitude gnome 129</b>
22349
22350 <br>bluez-gnome bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers dhcdbd
22351   djvulibre-desktop finger gnome-app-install gnome-mount
22352   gnome-network-admin gnome-spell gnome-vfs-obexftp
22353   gnome-volume-manager gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs gtkhtml3.14 libao2
22354   libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2
22355   libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcupsys2 libcurl3 libdatrie0
22356   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedataserver1.2-9 libeel2-2.20
22357   libeel2-data libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libfaad0 libgail-common
22358   libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libgdl-1-0 libgdl-1-common
22359   libggz2 libggzcore9 libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0
22360   libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libgnomeprint2.2-0
22361   libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgnomeprintui2.2-common
22362   libgnomevfs2-bin libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0
22363   libgtksourceview-common libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6
22364   libhesiod0 libicu38 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 libmagick++10
22365   libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmetacity0 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off
22366   libnautilus-burn4 libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2
22367   libosp5 libparted1.8-10 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 libpt-1.10.10
22368   libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libraw1394-8
22369   libsensors3 libslab0 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8 libssh2-1
22370   libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 libtotem-plparser10
22371   libtrackerclient0 libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0
22372   libxerces2-java libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6
22373   libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 mysql-common nautilus-cd-burner
22374   openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip
22375   python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gnome2-desktop
22376   python-gnome2-extras python-gtkhtml2 python-gtkmozembed
22377   python-numeric python-sexy serpentine svgalibg1 swfdec-gnome
22378   swfdec-mozilla totem-gstreamer update-manager wodim
22379   xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt
22380   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga
22381   zip</p>
22382
22383 <p><b>apt-get kde 82</b>
22384
22385 <br>cupsddk-drivers karm kaudiocreator kcoloredit kcontrol kde kde-core
22386   kdeaddons kdeartwork kdebase kdebase-bin kdebase-bin-kde3
22387   kdebase-kio-plugins kdesktop kdeutils khelpcenter kicker
22388   kicker-applets knewsticker kolourpaint konq-plugins konqueror korn
22389   kpersonalizer kscreensaver ksplash libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libkiten1
22390   libxcb-xlib0 quanta superkaramba texlive-base-bin xorg xserver-xorg
22391   xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
22392   xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
22393   xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom
22394   xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark
22395   xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips
22396   xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix
22397   xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
22398   xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
22399   xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt
22400   xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64
22401   xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
22402   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv
22403   xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128
22404   xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd
22405   xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3
22406   xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage
22407   xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis
22408   xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
22409   xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident
22410   xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l
22411   xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga
22412   xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9</p>
22413
22414 <p><b>aptitude kde 192</b>
22415 <br>bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers cvs dcoprss dhcdbd
22416   djvulibre-desktop dosfstools eyesapplet fifteenapplet finger gettext
22417   ghostscript-x imlib-base imlib11 indi kandy karm kasteroids
22418   kaudiocreator kbackgammon kbstate kcoloredit kcontrol kcron kdat
22419   kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdeartwork-misc kdeartwork-theme-window
22420   kdebase-bin-kde3 kdebase-kio-plugins kdeedu-data
22421   kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelirc kdemultimedia-kappfinder-data
22422   kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdenetwork-kfile-plugins
22423   kdepim-kfile-plugins kdepim-kio-plugins kdeprint kdesktop kdessh
22424   kdict kdnssd kdvi kedit keduca kenolaba kfax kfaxview kfouleggs
22425   kghostview khelpcenter khexedit kiconedit kitchensync klatin
22426   klickety kmailcvt kmenuedit kmid kmilo kmoon kmrml kodo kolourpaint
22427   kooka korn kpager kpdf kpercentage kpf kpilot kpoker kpovmodeler
22428   krec kregexpeditor ksayit ksim ksirc ksirtet ksmiletris ksmserver
22429   ksnake ksokoban ksplash ksvg ksysv ktip ktnef kuickshow kverbos
22430   kview kviewshell kvoctrain kwifimanager kwin kwin4 kworldclock
22431   kxsldbg libakode2 libao2 libarts1-akode libarts1-audiofile
22432   libarts1-mpeglib libarts1-xine libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
22433   libavahi-core5 libavc1394-0 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2
22434   libboost-python1.34.1 libcucul0 libcurl3 libcvsservice0 libdatrie0
22435   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdjvulibre21 libdvdread3 libfaad0 libfreebob0
22436   libgail-common libgd2-noxpm libgraphviz4 libgsmme1c2a libgtkhtml2-0
22437   libicu38 libiec61883-0 libindex0 libiw29 libk3b3 libkcal2b libkcddb1
22438   libkdeedu3 libkdepim1a libkgantt0 libkiten1 libkleopatra1 libkmime2
22439   libkpathsea4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1
22440   libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 libltdl3 libmagick10 libmimelib1c2a
22441   libmozjs1d libmpcdec3 libneon27 libnm-util0 libopensync0 libpisock9
22442   libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler3 libraw1394-8 libsmbios2
22443   libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libtalloc1 libtiff-tools
22444   libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0 libxerces2-java
22445   libxerces2-java-gcj libxtrap6 mpeglib networkstatus
22446   openoffice.org-writer2latex pmount poster psutils quanta quanta-data
22447   superkaramba svgalibg1 tex-common texlive-base texlive-base-bin
22448   texlive-common texlive-doc-base texlive-fonts-recommended
22449   xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt
22450   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga
22451   xulrunner-1.9</p>
22452
22453
22454       </div>
22455       <div class="tags">
22456
22457
22458         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
22459
22460
22461       </div>
22462     </div>
22463     <div class="padding"></div>
22464
22465     <div class="entry">
22466       <div class="title">
22467         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">Automatic upgrade testing from Lenny to Squeeze</a>
22468       </div>
22469       <div class="date">
22470         11th June 2010
22471       </div>
22472       <div class="body">
22473         <p>The last few days I have done some upgrade testing in Debian, to
22474 see if the upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze will go smoothly.  A few bugs
22475 have been discovered and reported in the process
22476 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/585410">#585410</a> in nagios3-cgi,
22477 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584879">#584879</a> already fixed in
22478 enscript and <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584861">#584861</a> in
22479 kdebase-workspace-data), and to get a more regular testing going on, I
22480 am working on a script to automate the test.</p>
22481
22482 <p>The idea is to create a Lenny chroot and use tasksel to install a
22483 Gnome or KDE desktop installation inside the chroot before upgrading
22484 it.  To ensure no services are started in the chroot, a policy-rc.d
22485 script is inserted.  To make sure tasksel believe it is to install a
22486 desktop on a laptop, the tasksel tests are replaced in the chroot
22487 (only acceptable because this is a throw-away chroot).</p>
22488
22489 <p>A naive upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze using aptitude dist-upgrade
22490 currently always fail because udev refuses to upgrade with the kernel
22491 in Lenny, so to avoid that problem the file /etc/udev/kernel-upgrade
22492 is created.  The bug report
22493 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/566000">#566000</a> make me suspect
22494 this problem do not trigger in a chroot, but I touch the file anyway
22495 to make sure the upgrade go well.  Testing on virtual and real
22496 hardware have failed me because of udev so far, and creating this file
22497 do the trick in such settings anyway.  This is a
22498 <a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/debian-26/failed-dist-upgrade-due-to-udev-config_sysfs_deprecated-nonsense-804130/">known
22499 issue</a> and the current udev behaviour is intended by the udev
22500 maintainer because he lack the resources to rewrite udev to keep
22501 working with old kernels or something like that.  I really wish the
22502 udev upstream would keep udev backwards compatible, to avoid such
22503 upgrade problem, but given that they fail to do so, I guess
22504 documenting the way out of this mess is the best option we got for
22505 Debian Squeeze.</p>
22506
22507 <p>Anyway, back to the task at hand, testing upgrades.  This test
22508 script, which I call <tt>upgrade-test</tt> for now, is doing the
22509 trick:</p>
22510
22511 <blockquote><pre>
22512 #!/bin/sh
22513 set -ex
22514
22515 if [ "$1" ] ; then
22516     desktop=$1
22517 else
22518     desktop=gnome
22519 fi
22520
22521 from=lenny
22522 to=squeeze
22523
22524 exec &lt; /dev/null
22525 unset LANG
22526 mirror=http://ftp.skolelinux.org/debian
22527 tmpdir=chroot-$from-upgrade-$to-$desktop
22528 fuser -mv .
22529 debootstrap $from $tmpdir $mirror
22530 chroot $tmpdir aptitude update
22531 cat > $tmpdir/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d &lt;&lt;EOF
22532 #!/bin/sh
22533 exit 101
22534 EOF
22535 chmod a+rx $tmpdir/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
22536 exit_cleanup() {
22537     umount $tmpdir/proc
22538 }
22539 mount -t proc proc $tmpdir/proc
22540 # Make sure proc is unmounted also on failure
22541 trap exit_cleanup EXIT INT
22542
22543 chroot $tmpdir aptitude -y install debconf-utils
22544
22545 # Make sure tasksel autoselection trigger.  It need the test scripts
22546 # to return the correct answers.
22547 echo tasksel tasksel/desktop multiselect $desktop | \
22548     chroot $tmpdir debconf-set-selections
22549
22550 # Include the desktop and laptop task
22551 for test in desktop laptop ; do
22552     echo > $tmpdir/usr/lib/tasksel/tests/$test &lt;&lt;EOF
22553 #!/bin/sh
22554 exit 2
22555 EOF
22556     chmod a+rx $tmpdir/usr/lib/tasksel/tests/$test
22557 done
22558
22559 DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
22560 DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical
22561 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND DEBIAN_PRIORITY
22562 chroot $tmpdir tasksel --new-install
22563
22564 echo deb $mirror $to main > $tmpdir/etc/apt/sources.list
22565 chroot $tmpdir aptitude update
22566 touch $tmpdir/etc/udev/kernel-upgrade
22567 chroot $tmpdir aptitude -y dist-upgrade
22568 fuser -mv
22569 </pre></blockquote>
22570
22571 <p>I suspect it would be useful to test upgrades with both apt-get and
22572 with aptitude, but I have not had time to look at how they behave
22573 differently so far.  I hope to get a cron job running to do the test
22574 regularly and post the result on the web.  The Gnome upgrade currently
22575 work, while the KDE upgrade fail because of the bug in
22576 kdebase-workspace-data</p>
22577
22578 <p>I am not quite sure what kind of extract from the huge upgrade logs
22579 (KDE 167 KiB, Gnome 516 KiB) it make sense to include in this blog
22580 post, so I will refrain from trying.  I can report that for Gnome,
22581 aptitude report 760 packages upgraded, 448 newly installed, 129 to
22582 remove and 1 not upgraded and 1024MB need to be downloaded while for
22583 KDE the same numbers are 702 packages upgraded, 507 newly installed,
22584 193 to remove and 0 not upgraded and 1117MB need to be downloaded</p>
22585
22586 <p>I am very happy to notice that the Gnome desktop + laptop upgrade
22587 is able to migrate to dependency based boot sequencing and parallel
22588 booting without a hitch.  Was unsure if there were still bugs with
22589 packages failing to clean up their obsolete init.d script during
22590 upgrades, and no such problem seem to affect the Gnome desktop+laptop
22591 packages.</p>
22592
22593       </div>
22594       <div class="tags">
22595
22596
22597         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
22598
22599
22600       </div>
22601     </div>
22602     <div class="padding"></div>
22603
22604     <div class="entry">
22605       <div class="title">
22606         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Upstart_or_sysvinit___as_init_d_scripts_see_it.html">Upstart or sysvinit - as init.d scripts see it</a>
22607       </div>
22608       <div class="date">
22609          6th June 2010
22610       </div>
22611       <div class="body">
22612         <p>If Debian is to migrate to upstart on Linux, I expect some init.d
22613 scripts to migrate (some of) their operations to upstart job while
22614 keeping the init.d for hurd and kfreebsd.  The packages with such
22615 needs will need a way to get their init.d scripts to behave
22616 differently when used with sysvinit and with upstart.  Because of
22617 this, I had a look at the environment variables set when a init.d
22618 script is running under upstart, and when it is not.</p>
22619
22620 <p>With upstart, I notice these environment variables are set when a
22621 script is started from rcS.d/ (ignoring some irrelevant ones like
22622 COLUMNS):</p>
22623
22624 <blockquote><pre>
22625 DEFAULT_RUNLEVEL=2
22626 previous=N
22627 PREVLEVEL=
22628 RUNLEVEL=
22629 runlevel=S
22630 UPSTART_EVENTS=startup
22631 UPSTART_INSTANCE=
22632 UPSTART_JOB=rc-sysinit
22633 </pre></blockquote>
22634
22635 <p>With sysvinit, these environment variables are set for the same
22636 script.</p>
22637
22638 <blockquote><pre>
22639 INIT_VERSION=sysvinit-2.88
22640 previous=N
22641 PREVLEVEL=N
22642 RUNLEVEL=S
22643 runlevel=S
22644 </pre></blockquote>
22645
22646 <p>The RUNLEVEL and PREVLEVEL environment variables passed on from
22647 sysvinit are not set by upstart.  Not sure if it is intentional or not
22648 to not be compatible with sysvinit in this regard.</p>
22649
22650 <p>For scripts needing to behave differently when upstart is used,
22651 looking for the UPSTART_JOB environment variable seem to be a good
22652 choice.</p>
22653
22654       </div>
22655       <div class="tags">
22656
22657
22658         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
22659
22660
22661       </div>
22662     </div>
22663     <div class="padding"></div>
22664
22665     <div class="entry">
22666       <div class="title">
22667         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_manual_for_standards_wars___.html">A manual for standards wars...</a>
22668       </div>
22669       <div class="date">
22670          6th June 2010
22671       </div>
22672       <div class="body">
22673         <p>Via the
22674 <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/robweir/antic-atom/~3/QzU4RgoAGMg/weekly-links-10.html">blog
22675 of Rob Weir</a> I came across the very interesting essay named
22676 <a href="http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/shapiro/wars.pdf">The Art of
22677 Standards Wars</a> (PDF 25 pages).  I recommend it for everyone
22678 following the standards wars of today.</p>
22679
22680       </div>
22681       <div class="tags">
22682
22683
22684         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
22685
22686
22687       </div>
22688     </div>
22689     <div class="padding"></div>
22690
22691     <div class="entry">
22692       <div class="title">
22693         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sitesummary_tip__Listing_computer_hardware_models_used_at_site.html">Sitesummary tip: Listing computer hardware models used at site</a>
22694       </div>
22695       <div class="date">
22696          3rd June 2010
22697       </div>
22698       <div class="body">
22699         <p>When using sitesummary at a site to track machines, it is possible
22700 to get a list of the machine types in use thanks to the DMI
22701 information extracted from each machine.  The script to do so is
22702 included in the sitesummary package, and here is example output from
22703 the Skolelinux build servers:</p>
22704
22705 <blockquote><pre>
22706 maintainer:~# /usr/lib/sitesummary/hardware-model-summary
22707   vendor                    count
22708   Dell Computer Corporation     1
22709     PowerEdge 1750              1
22710   IBM                           1
22711     eserver xSeries 345 -[8670M1X]-     1
22712   Intel                         2
22713   [no-dmi-info]                 3
22714 maintainer:~#
22715 </pre></blockquote>
22716
22717 <p>The quality of the report depend on the quality of the DMI tables
22718 provided in each machine.  Here there are Intel machines without model
22719 information listed with Intel as vendor and no model, and virtual Xen
22720 machines listed as [no-dmi-info].  One can add -l as a command line
22721 option to list the individual machines.</p>
22722
22723 <p>A larger list is
22724 <a href="http://narvikskolen.no/sitesummary/">available from the the
22725 city of Narvik</a>, which uses Skolelinux on all their shools and also
22726 provide the basic sitesummary report publicly.  In their report there
22727 are ~1400 machines. I know they use both Ubuntu and Skolelinux on
22728 their machines, and as sitesummary is available in both distributions,
22729 it is trivial to get all of them to report to the same central
22730 collector.</p>
22731
22732       </div>
22733       <div class="tags">
22734
22735
22736         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary</a>.
22737
22738
22739       </div>
22740     </div>
22741     <div class="padding"></div>
22742
22743     <div class="entry">
22744       <div class="title">
22745         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/KDM_fail_at_boot_with_NVidia_cards___and_no_one_try_to_fix_it_.html">KDM fail at boot with NVidia cards - and no one try to fix it?</a>
22746       </div>
22747       <div class="date">
22748          1st June 2010
22749       </div>
22750       <div class="body">
22751         <p>It is strange to watch how a bug in Debian causing KDM to fail to
22752 start at boot when an NVidia video card is used is handled.  The
22753 problem seem to be that the nvidia X.org driver uses a long time to
22754 initialize, and this duration is longer than kdm is configured to
22755 wait.</p>
22756
22757 <p>I came across two bugs related to this issue,
22758 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/583312">#583312</a> initially filed
22759 against initscripts and passed on to nvidia-glx when it became obvious
22760 that the nvidia drivers were involved, and
22761 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/524751">#524751</a> initially filed against
22762 kdm and passed on to src:nvidia-graphics-drivers for unknown reasons.</p>
22763
22764 <p>To me, it seem that no-one is interested in actually solving the
22765 problem nvidia video card owners experience and make sure the Debian
22766 distribution work out of the box for these users.  The nvidia driver
22767 maintainers expect kdm to be set up to wait longer, while kdm expect
22768 the nvidia driver maintainers to fix the driver to start faster, and
22769 while they wait for each other I guess the users end up switching to a
22770 distribution that work for them.  I have no idea what the solution is,
22771 but I am pretty sure that waiting for each other is not it.</p>
22772
22773 <p>I wonder why we end up handling bugs this way.</p>
22774
22775       </div>
22776       <div class="tags">
22777
22778
22779         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
22780
22781
22782       </div>
22783     </div>
22784     <div class="padding"></div>
22785
22786     <div class="entry">
22787       <div class="title">
22788         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Parallellized_boot_seem_to_hold_up_well_in_Debian_testing.html">Parallellized boot seem to hold up well in Debian/testing</a>
22789       </div>
22790       <div class="date">
22791         27th May 2010
22792       </div>
22793       <div class="body">
22794         <p>A few days ago, parallel booting was enabled in Debian/testing.
22795 The feature seem to hold up pretty well, but three fairly serious
22796 issues are known and should be solved:
22797
22798 <p><ul>
22799
22800 <li>The wicd package seen to
22801 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/508289">break NFS mounting</a> and
22802 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/581586">network setup</a> when
22803 parallel booting is enabled.  No idea why, but the wicd maintainer
22804 seem to be on the case.</li>
22805
22806 <li>The nvidia X driver seem to
22807 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/583312">have a race condition</a>
22808 triggered more easily when parallel booting is in effect.  The
22809 maintainer is on the case.</li>
22810
22811 <li>The sysv-rc package fail to properly enable dependency based boot
22812 sequencing (the shutdown is broken) when old file-rc users
22813 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/575080">try to switch back</a> to
22814 sysv-rc.  One way to solve it would be for file-rc to create
22815 /etc/init.d/.legacy-bootordering, and another is to try to make
22816 sysv-rc more robust.  Will investigate some more and probably upload a
22817 workaround in sysv-rc to help those trying to move from file-rc to
22818 sysv-rc get a working shutdown.</li>
22819
22820 </ul></p>
22821
22822 <p>All in all not many surprising issues, and all of them seem
22823 solvable before Squeeze is released.  In addition to these there are
22824 some packages with bugs in their dependencies and run level settings,
22825 which I expect will be fixed in a reasonable time span.</p>
22826
22827 <p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to
22828 the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at
22829 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the
22830 list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p>
22831
22832 <p>Update: Correct bug number to file-rc issue.</p>
22833
22834       </div>
22835       <div class="tags">
22836
22837
22838         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
22839
22840
22841       </div>
22842     </div>
22843     <div class="padding"></div>
22844
22845     <div class="entry">
22846       <div class="title">
22847         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/More_flexible_firmware_handling_in_debian_installer.html">More flexible firmware handling in debian-installer</a>
22848       </div>
22849       <div class="date">
22850         22nd May 2010
22851       </div>
22852       <div class="body">
22853         <p>After a long break from debian-installer development, I finally
22854 found time today to return to the project.  Having to spend less time
22855 working dependency based boot in debian, as it is almost complete now,
22856 definitely helped freeing some time.</p>
22857
22858 <p>A while back, I ran into a problem while working on Debian Edu.  We
22859 include some firmware packages on the Debian Edu CDs, those needed to
22860 get disk and network controllers working.  Without having these
22861 firmware packages available during installation, it is impossible to
22862 install Debian Edu on the given machine, and because our target group
22863 are non-technical people, asking them to provide firmware packages on
22864 an external medium is a support pain.  Initially, I expected it to be
22865 enough to include the firmware packages on the CD to get
22866 debian-installer to find and use them.  This proved to be wrong.
22867 Next, I hoped it was enough to symlink the relevant firmware packages
22868 to some useful location on the CD (tried /cdrom/ and
22869 /cdrom/firmware/).  This also proved to not work, and at this point I
22870 found time to look at the debian-installer code to figure out what was
22871 going to work.</p>
22872
22873 <p>The firmware loading code is in the hw-detect package, and a closer
22874 look revealed that it would only look for firmware packages outside
22875 the installation media, so the CD was never checked for firmware
22876 packages.  It would only check USB sticks, floppies and other
22877 "external" media devices.  Today I changed it to also look in the
22878 /cdrom/firmware/ directory on the mounted CD or DVD, which should
22879 solve the problem I ran into with Debian edu.  I also changed it to
22880 look in /firmware/, to make sure the installer also find firmware
22881 provided in the initrd when booting the installer via PXE, to allow us
22882 to provide the same feature in the PXE setup included in Debian
22883 Edu.</p>
22884
22885 <p>To make sure firmware deb packages with a license questions are not
22886 activated without asking if the license is accepted, I extended
22887 hw-detect to look for preinst scripts in the firmware packages, and
22888 run these before activating the firmware during installation.  The
22889 license question is asked using debconf in the preinst, so this should
22890 solve the issue for the firmware packages I have looked at so far.</p>
22891
22892 <p>If you want to discuss the details of these features, please
22893 contact us on debian-boot@lists.debian.org.</p>
22894
22895       </div>
22896       <div class="tags">
22897
22898
22899         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
22900
22901
22902       </div>
22903     </div>
22904     <div class="padding"></div>
22905
22906     <div class="entry">
22907       <div class="title">
22908         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Pieces_of_the_roaming_laptop_puzzle_in_Debian.html">Pieces of the roaming laptop puzzle in Debian</a>
22909       </div>
22910       <div class="date">
22911         19th May 2010
22912       </div>
22913       <div class="body">
22914         <p>Today, the last piece of the puzzle for roaming laptops in Debian
22915 Edu finally entered the Debian archive.  Today, the new
22916 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/libp/libpam-mklocaluser.html">libpam-mklocaluser</a>
22917 package was accepted.  Two days ago, two other pieces was accepted
22918 into unstable.  The
22919 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/p/pam-python.html">pam-python</a>
22920 package needed by libpam-mklocaluser, and the
22921 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/sssd.html">sssd</a> package
22922 passed NEW on Monday.  In addition, the
22923 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/libp/libpam-ccreds.html">libpam-ccreds</a>
22924 package we need is in experimental (version 10-4) since Saturday, and
22925 hopefully will be moved to unstable soon.</p>
22926
22927 <p>This collection of packages allow for two different setups for
22928 roaming laptops.  The traditional setup would be using libpam-ccreds,
22929 nscd and libpam-mklocaluser with LDAP or Kerberos authentication,
22930 which should work out of the box if the configuration changes proposed
22931 for nscd in <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/485282">BTS report
22932 #485282</a> is implemented.  The alternative setup is to use sssd with
22933 libpam-mklocaluser to connect to LDAP or Kerberos and let sssd take
22934 care of the caching of passwords and group information.</p>
22935
22936 <p>I have so far been unable to get sssd to work with the LDAP server
22937 at the University, but suspect the issue is some SSL/GnuTLS related
22938 problem with the server certificate.  I plan to update the Debian
22939 package to version 1.2, which is scheduled for next week, and hope to
22940 find time to make sure the next release will include both the
22941 Debian/Ubuntu specific patches.  Upstream is friendly and responsive,
22942 and I am sure we will find a good solution.</p>
22943
22944 <p>The idea is to set up the roaming laptops to authenticate using
22945 LDAP or Kerberos and create a local user with home directory in /home/
22946 when a usre in LDAP logs in via KDM or GDM for the first time, and
22947 cache the password for offline checking, as well as caching group
22948 memberhips and other relevant LDAP information.  The
22949 libpam-mklocaluser package was created to make sure the local home
22950 directory is in /home/, instead of /site/server/directory/ which would
22951 be the home directory if pam_mkhomedir was used.  To avoid confusion
22952 with support requests and configuration, we do not want local laptops
22953 to have users in a path that is used for the same users home directory
22954 on the home directory servers.</p>
22955
22956 <p>One annoying problem with gdm is that it do not show the PAM
22957 message passed to the user from libpam-mklocaluser when the local user
22958 is created.  Instead gdm simply reject the login with some generic
22959 message.  The message is shown in kdm, ssh and login, so I guess it is
22960 a bug in gdm.  Have not investigated if there is some other message
22961 type that can be used instead to get gdm to also show the message.</p>
22962
22963 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
22964 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
22965
22966       </div>
22967       <div class="tags">
22968
22969
22970         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
22971
22972
22973       </div>
22974     </div>
22975     <div class="padding"></div>
22976
22977     <div class="entry">
22978       <div class="title">
22979         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Parallellized_boot_is_now_the_default_in_Debian_unstable.html">Parallellized boot is now the default in Debian/unstable</a>
22980       </div>
22981       <div class="date">
22982         14th May 2010
22983       </div>
22984       <div class="body">
22985         <p>Since this evening, parallel booting is the default in
22986 Debian/unstable for machines using dependency based boot sequencing.
22987 Apparently the testing of concurrent booting has been wider than
22988 expected, if I am to believe the
22989 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg00122.html">input
22990 on debian-devel@</a>, and I concluded a few days ago to move forward
22991 with the feature this weekend, to give us some time to detect any
22992 remaining problems before Squeeze is frozen.  If serious problems are
22993 detected, it is simple to change the default back to sequential boot.
22994 The upload of the new sysvinit package also activate a new upstream
22995 version.</p>
22996
22997 More information about
22998 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts/DependencyBasedBoot">dependency
22999 based boot sequencing</a> is available from the Debian wiki.  It is
23000 currently possible to disable parallel booting when one run into
23001 problems caused by it, by adding this line to /etc/default/rcS:</p>
23002
23003 <blockquote><pre>
23004 CONCURRENCY=none
23005 </pre></blockquote>
23006
23007 <p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to
23008 the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at
23009 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the
23010 list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p>
23011
23012       </div>
23013       <div class="tags">
23014
23015
23016         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
23017
23018
23019       </div>
23020     </div>
23021     <div class="padding"></div>
23022
23023     <div class="entry">
23024       <div class="title">
23025         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sitesummary_tip__Listing_MAC_address_of_all_clients.html">Sitesummary tip: Listing MAC address of all clients</a>
23026       </div>
23027       <div class="date">
23028         14th May 2010
23029       </div>
23030       <div class="body">
23031         <p>In the recent Debian Edu versions, the
23032 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/SiteSummary">sitesummary
23033 system</a> is used to keep track of the machines in the school
23034 network.  Each machine will automatically report its status to the
23035 central server after boot and once per night.  The network setup is
23036 also reported, and using this information it is possible to get the
23037 MAC address of all network interfaces in the machines.  This is useful
23038 to update the DHCP configuration.</p>
23039
23040 <p>To give some idea how to use sitesummary, here is a one-liner to
23041 ist all MAC addresses of all machines reporting to sitesummary.  Run
23042 this on the collector host:</p>
23043
23044 <blockquote><pre>
23045 perl -MSiteSummary -e 'for_all_hosts(sub { print join(" ", get_macaddresses(shift)), "\n"; });'
23046 </pre></blockquote>
23047
23048 <p>This will list all MAC addresses assosiated with all machine, one
23049 line per machine and with space between the MAC addresses.</p>
23050
23051 <p>To allow system administrators easier job at adding static DHCP
23052 addresses for hosts, it would be possible to extend this to fetch
23053 machine information from sitesummary and update the DHCP and DNS
23054 tables in LDAP using this information.  Such tool is unfortunately not
23055 written yet.</p>
23056
23057       </div>
23058       <div class="tags">
23059
23060
23061         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary</a>.
23062
23063
23064       </div>
23065     </div>
23066     <div class="padding"></div>
23067
23068     <div class="entry">
23069       <div class="title">
23070         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/systemd__an_interesting_alternative_to_upstart.html">systemd, an interesting alternative to upstart</a>
23071       </div>
23072       <div class="date">
23073         13th May 2010
23074       </div>
23075       <div class="body">
23076         <p>The last few days a new boot system called
23077 <a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd">systemd</a>
23078 has been
23079 <a href="http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/systemd.html">introduced</a>
23080
23081 to the free software world.  I have not yet had time to play around
23082 with it, but it seem to be a very interesting alternative to
23083 <a href="http://upstart.ubuntu.com/">upstart</a>, and might prove to be
23084 a good alternative for Debian when we are able to switch to an event
23085 based boot system.  Tollef is
23086 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/580814">in the process</a> of getting
23087 systemd into Debian, and I look forward to seeing how well it work.  I
23088 like the fact that systemd handles init.d scripts with dependency
23089 information natively, allowing them to run in parallel where upstart
23090 at the moment do not.</p>
23091
23092 <p>Unfortunately do systemd have the same problem as upstart regarding
23093 platform support.  It only work on recent Linux kernels, and also need
23094 some new kernel features enabled to function properly.  This means
23095 kFreeBSD and Hurd ports of Debian will need a port or a different boot
23096 system.  Not sure how that will be handled if systemd proves to be the
23097 way forward.</p>
23098
23099 <p>In the mean time, based on the
23100 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg00122.html">input
23101 on debian-devel@</a> regarding parallel booting in Debian, I have
23102 decided to enable full parallel booting as the default in Debian as
23103 soon as possible (probably this weekend or early next week), to see if
23104 there are any remaining serious bugs in the init.d dependencies.  A
23105 new version of the sysvinit package implementing this change is
23106 already in experimental.  If all go well, Squeeze will be released
23107 with parallel booting enabled by default.</p>
23108
23109       </div>
23110       <div class="tags">
23111
23112
23113         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
23114
23115
23116       </div>
23117     </div>
23118     <div class="padding"></div>
23119
23120     <div class="entry">
23121       <div class="title">
23122         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Parallellizing_the_boot_in_Debian_Squeeze___ready_for_wider_testing.html">Parallellizing the boot in Debian Squeeze - ready for wider testing</a>
23123       </div>
23124       <div class="date">
23125          6th May 2010
23126       </div>
23127       <div class="body">
23128         <p>These days, the init.d script dependencies in Squeeze are quite
23129 complete, so complete that it is actually possible to run all the
23130 init.d scripts in parallell based on these dependencies.  If you want
23131 to test your Squeeze system, make sure
23132 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts/DependencyBasedBoot">dependency
23133 based boot sequencing</a> is enabled, and add this line to
23134 /etc/default/rcS:</p>
23135
23136 <blockquote><pre>
23137 CONCURRENCY=makefile
23138 </pre></blockquote>
23139
23140 <p>That is it.  It will cause sysv-rc to use the startpar tool to run
23141 scripts in parallel using the dependency information stored in
23142 /etc/init.d/.depend.boot, /etc/init.d/.depend.start and
23143 /etc/init.d/.depend.stop to order the scripts.  Startpar is configured
23144 to try to start the kdm and gdm scripts as early as possible, and will
23145 start the facilities required by kdm or gdm as early as possible to
23146 make this happen.</p>
23147
23148 <p>Give it a try, and see if you like the result.  If some services
23149 fail to start properly, it is most likely because they have incomplete
23150 init.d script dependencies in their startup script (or some of their
23151 dependent scripts have incomplete dependencies).  Report bugs and get
23152 the package maintainers to fix it. :)</p>
23153
23154 <p>Running scripts in parallel could be the default in Debian when we
23155 manage to get the init.d script dependencies complete and correct.  I
23156 expect we will get there in Squeeze+1, if we get manage to test and
23157 fix the remaining issues.</p>
23158
23159 <p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to
23160 the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at
23161 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the
23162 list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p>
23163
23164       </div>
23165       <div class="tags">
23166
23167
23168         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
23169
23170
23171       </div>
23172     </div>
23173     <div class="padding"></div>
23174
23175     <div class="entry">
23176       <div class="title">
23177         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Forcing_new_users_to_change_their_password_on_first_login.html">Forcing new users to change their password on first login</a>
23178       </div>
23179       <div class="date">
23180          2nd May 2010
23181       </div>
23182       <div class="body">
23183         <p>One interesting feature in Active Directory, is the ability to
23184 create a new user with an expired password, and thus force the user to
23185 change the password on the first login attempt.</p>
23186
23187 <p>I'm not quite sure how to do that with the LDAP setup in Debian
23188 Edu, but did some initial testing with a local account.  The account
23189 and password aging information is available in /etc/shadow, but
23190 unfortunately, it is not possible to specify an expiration time for
23191 passwords, only a maximum age for passwords.</p>
23192
23193 <p>A freshly created account (using adduser test) will have these
23194 settings in /etc/shadow:</p>
23195
23196 <blockquote><pre>
23197 root@tjener:~# chage -l test
23198 Last password change                                    : May 02, 2010
23199 Password expires                                        : never
23200 Password inactive                                       : never
23201 Account expires                                         : never
23202 Minimum number of days between password change          : 0
23203 Maximum number of days between password change          : 99999
23204 Number of days of warning before password expires       : 7
23205 root@tjener:~#
23206 </pre></blockquote>
23207
23208 <p>The only way I could come up with to create a user with an expired
23209 account, is to change the date of the last password change to the
23210 lowest value possible (January 1th 1970), and the maximum password age
23211 to the difference in days between that date and today.  To make it
23212 simple, I went for 30 years (30 * 365 = 10950) and January 2th (to
23213 avoid testing if 0 is a valid value).</p>
23214
23215 <p>After using these commands to set it up, it seem to work as
23216 intended:</p>
23217
23218 <blockquote><pre>
23219 root@tjener:~# chage -d 1 test; chage -M 10950 test
23220 root@tjener:~# chage -l test
23221 Last password change                                    : Jan 02, 1970
23222 Password expires                                        : never
23223 Password inactive                                       : never
23224 Account expires                                         : never
23225 Minimum number of days between password change          : 0
23226 Maximum number of days between password change          : 10950
23227 Number of days of warning before password expires       : 7
23228 root@tjener:~#
23229 </pre></blockquote>
23230
23231 <p>So far I have tested this with ssh and console, and kdm (in
23232 Squeeze) login, and all ask for a new password before login in the
23233 user (with ssh, I was thrown out and had to log in again).</p>
23234
23235 <p>Perhaps we should set up something similar for Debian Edu, to make
23236 sure only the user itself have the account password?</p>
23237
23238 <p>If you want to comment on or help out with implementing this for
23239 Debian Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
23240
23241 <p>Update 2010-05-02 17:20: Paul Tötterman tells me on IRC that the
23242 shadow(8) page in Debian/testing now state that setting the date of
23243 last password change to zero (0) will force the password to be changed
23244 on the first login.  This was not mentioned in the manual in Lenny, so
23245 I did not notice this in my initial testing.  I have tested it on
23246 Squeeze, and '<tt>chage -d 0 username</tt>' do work there.  I have not
23247 tested it on Lenny yet.</p>
23248
23249 <p>Update 2010-05-02-19:05: Jim Paris tells me via email that an
23250 equivalent command to expire a password is '<tt>passwd -e
23251 username</tt>', which insert zero into the date of the last password
23252 change.</p>
23253
23254       </div>
23255       <div class="tags">
23256
23257
23258         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
23259
23260
23261       </div>
23262     </div>
23263     <div class="padding"></div>
23264
23265     <div class="entry">
23266       <div class="title">
23267         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thoughts_on_roaming_laptop_setup_for_Debian_Edu.html">Thoughts on roaming laptop setup for Debian Edu</a>
23268       </div>
23269       <div class="date">
23270         28th April 2010
23271       </div>
23272       <div class="body">
23273         <p>For some years now, I have wondered how we should handle laptops in
23274 Debian Edu.  The Debian Edu infrastructure is mostly designed to
23275 handle stationary computers, and less suited for computers that come
23276 and go.</p>
23277
23278 <p>Now I finally believe I have an sensible idea on how to adjust
23279 Debian Edu for laptops, by introducing a new profile for them, for
23280 example called Roaming Workstations.  Here are my thought on this.
23281 The setup would consist of the following:</p>
23282
23283 <ul>
23284
23285  <li>During installation, the user name of the owner / primary user of
23286    the laptop is requested and a local home directory is set up for
23287    the user, with uid and gid information fetched from the LDAP
23288    server.  This allow the user to work also when offline.  The
23289    central home directory can be available in a subdirectory on
23290    request, for example mounted via CIFS.  It could be mounted
23291    automatically when a user log in while on the Debian Edu network,
23292    and unmounted when the machine is taken away (network down,
23293    hibernate, etc), it can be set up to do automatic mounting on
23294    request (using autofs), or perhaps some GUI button on the desktop
23295    can be used to access it when needed.  Perhaps it is enough to use
23296    the fish protocol in KDE?</li>
23297
23298  <li>Password checking is set up to use LDAP or Kerberos
23299    authentication when the machine is on the Debian Edu network, and
23300    to cache the password for offline checking when the machine unable
23301    to reach the LDAP or Kerberos server.  This can be done using
23302    <a href="http://www.padl.com/OSS/pam_ccreds.html">libpam-ccreds</a>
23303    or the Fedora developed
23304    <a href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/SSSD">System
23305    Security Services Daemon</a> packages.</li>
23306
23307  <li>File synchronisation with the central home directory is set up
23308    using a shared directory in both the local and the central home
23309    directory, using unison.</li>
23310
23311  <li>Printing should be set up to print to all printers broadcasting
23312    their existence on the local network, and should then work out of
23313    the box with CUPS.  For sites needing accurate printer quotas, some
23314    system with Kerberos authentication or printing via ssh could be
23315    implemented.</li>
23316
23317  <li>For users that should have local root access to their laptop,
23318    sudo should be used to allow this to the local user.</li>
23319
23320  <li>It would be nice if user and group information from LDAP is
23321    cached on the client, but given that there are entries for the
23322    local user and primary group in /etc/, it should not be needed.</li>
23323
23324 </ul>
23325
23326 <p>I believe all the pieces to implement this are in Debian/testing at
23327 the moment.  If we work quickly, we should be able to get this ready
23328 in time for the Squeeze release to freeze.  Some of the pieces need
23329 tweaking, like libpam-ccreds should get support for pam-auth-update
23330 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/566718">#566718</a>) and nslcd (or
23331 perhaps debian-edu-config) should get some integration code to stop
23332 its daemon when the LDAP server is unavailable to avoid long timeouts
23333 when disconnected from the net.  If we get Kerberos enabled, we need
23334 to make sure we avoid long timeouts there too.</p>
23335
23336 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
23337 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
23338
23339       </div>
23340       <div class="tags">
23341
23342
23343         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
23344
23345
23346       </div>
23347     </div>
23348     <div class="padding"></div>
23349
23350     <div class="entry">
23351       <div class="title">
23352         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Great_book___Content__Selected_Essays_on_Technology__Creativity__Copyright__and_the_Future_of_the_Future_.html">Great book: "Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future"</a>
23353       </div>
23354       <div class="date">
23355         19th April 2010
23356       </div>
23357       <div class="body">
23358         <p>The last few weeks i have had the pleasure of reading a
23359 thought-provoking collection of essays by Cory Doctorow, on topics
23360 touching copyright, virtual worlds, the future of man when the
23361 conscience mind can be duplicated into a computer and many more. The
23362 book titled "Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity,
23363 Copyright, and the Future of the Future" is available with few
23364 restrictions on the web, for example from
23365 <a href="http://craphound.com/content/">his own site</a>. I read the
23366 epub-version from
23367 <a href="http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2883">feedbooks</a> using
23368 <a href="http://www.fbreader.org/">fbreader</a> and my N810. I
23369 strongly recommend this book.</p>
23370
23371       </div>
23372       <div class="tags">
23373
23374
23375         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
23376
23377
23378       </div>
23379     </div>
23380     <div class="padding"></div>
23381
23382     <div class="entry">
23383       <div class="title">
23384         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Kerberos_for_Debian_Edu_Squeeze_.html">Kerberos for Debian Edu/Squeeze?</a>
23385       </div>
23386       <div class="date">
23387         14th April 2010
23388       </div>
23389       <div class="body">
23390         <p><a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20100413-kerberos/">Yesterdays
23391 NUUG presentation</a> about Kerberos was inspiring, and reminded me
23392 about the need to start using Kerberos in Skolelinux.  Setting up a
23393 Kerberos server seem to be straight forward, and if we get this in
23394 place a long time before the Squeeze version of Debian freezes, we
23395 have a chance to migrate Skolelinux away from NFSv3 for the home
23396 directories, and over to an architecture where the infrastructure do
23397 not have to trust IP addresses and machines, and instead can trust
23398 users and cryptographic keys instead.</p>
23399
23400 <p>A challenge will be integration and administration.  Is there a
23401 Kerberos implementation for Debian where one can control the
23402 administration access in Kerberos using LDAP groups?  With it, the
23403 school administration will have to maintain access control using flat
23404 files on the main server, which give a huge potential for errors.</p>
23405
23406 <p>A related question I would like to know is how well Kerberos and
23407 pam-ccreds (offline password check) work together.  Anyone know?</p>
23408
23409 <p>Next step will be to use Kerberos for access control in Lwat and
23410 Nagios.  I have no idea how much work that will be to implement.  We
23411 would also need to document how to integrate with Windows AD, as such
23412 shared network will require two Kerberos realms that need to cooperate
23413 to work properly.</p>
23414
23415 <p>I believe a good start would be to start using Kerberos on the
23416 skolelinux.no machines, and this way get ourselves experience with
23417 configuration and integration.  A natural starting point would be
23418 setting up ldap.skolelinux.no as the Kerberos server, and migrate the
23419 rest of the machines from PAM via LDAP to PAM via Kerberos one at the
23420 time.</p>
23421
23422 <p>If you would like to contribute to get this working in Skolelinux,
23423 I recommend you to see the video recording from yesterdays NUUG
23424 presentation, and start using Kerberos at home.  The video show show
23425 up in a few days.</p>
23426
23427       </div>
23428       <div class="tags">
23429
23430
23431         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
23432
23433
23434       </div>
23435     </div>
23436     <div class="padding"></div>
23437
23438     <div class="entry">
23439       <div class="title">
23440         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/After_6_years_of_waiting__the_Xreset_d_feature_is_implemented.html">After 6 years of waiting, the Xreset.d feature is implemented</a>
23441       </div>
23442       <div class="date">
23443          6th March 2010
23444       </div>
23445       <div class="body">
23446         <p>6 years ago, as part of the Debian Edu development I am involved
23447 in, I asked for a hook in the kdm and gdm setup to run scripts as root
23448 when the user log out.  A bug was submitted against the xfree86-common
23449 package in 2004 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/230422">#230422</a>),
23450 and revisited every time Debian Edu was working on a new release.
23451 Today, this finally paid off.</p>
23452
23453 <p>The framework for this feature was today commited to the git
23454 repositry for the xorg package, and the git repository for xdm has
23455 been updated to use this framework.  Next on my agenda is to make sure
23456 kdm and gdm also add code to use this framework.</p>
23457
23458 <p>In Debian Edu, we want to ability to run commands as root when the
23459 user log out, to get rid of runaway processes and do general cleanup
23460 after a user.  With this framework in place, we finally can do that in
23461 a generic way that work with all display managers using this
23462 framework.  My goal is to get all display managers in Debian use it,
23463 similar to how they use the Xsession.d framework today.<p>
23464
23465       </div>
23466       <div class="tags">
23467
23468
23469         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
23470
23471
23472       </div>
23473     </div>
23474     <div class="padding"></div>
23475
23476     <div class="entry">
23477       <div class="title">
23478         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Lenny_released__work_continues.html">Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Lenny released, work continues</a>
23479       </div>
23480       <div class="date">
23481         11th February 2010
23482       </div>
23483       <div class="body">
23484         <p>On Tuesday, the Debian/Lenny based version of
23485 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a> was finally
23486 shipped.  This was a major leap forward for the project, and I am very
23487 pleased that we finally got the release wrapped up.  Work on the first
23488 point release starts imediately, as we plan to get that one out a
23489 month after the major release, to include all fixes for bugs we found
23490 and fixed too late in the release process to include last Tuesday.</p>
23491
23492 <p>Perhaps it even is time for some partying?</p>
23493
23494 <p>After this first point release, my plan is to focus again on the
23495 next major release, based on Squeeze.  We will try to get as many of
23496 the fixes we need into the official Debian packages before the freeze,
23497 and have just a few weeks or months to make it happen.</p>
23498
23499       </div>
23500       <div class="tags">
23501
23502
23503         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
23504
23505
23506       </div>
23507     </div>
23508     <div class="padding"></div>
23509
23510     <div class="entry">
23511       <div class="title">
23512         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_Munin_and_Nagios_configuration.html">Automatic Munin and Nagios configuration</a>
23513       </div>
23514       <div class="date">
23515         27th January 2010
23516       </div>
23517       <div class="body">
23518         <p>One of the new features in the next Debian/Lenny based release of
23519 Debian Edu/Skolelinux, which is scheduled for release in the next few
23520 days, is automatic configuration of the service monitoring system
23521 Nagios.  The previous release had automatic configuration of trend
23522 analysis using Munin, and this Lenny based release take that a step
23523 further.</p>
23524
23525 <p>When installing a Debian Edu Main-server, it is automatically
23526 configured as a Munin and Nagios server.  In addition, it is
23527 configured to be a server for the
23528 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/SiteSummary">SiteSummary
23529 system</a> I have written for use in Debian Edu.  The SiteSummary
23530 system is inspired by a system used by the University of Oslo where I
23531 work.  In short, the system provide a centralised collector of
23532 information about the computers on the network, and a client on each
23533 computer submitting information to this collector.  This allow for
23534 automatic information on which packages are installed on each machine,
23535 which kernel the machines are using, what kind of configuration the
23536 packages got etc.  This also allow us to automatically generate Munin
23537 and Nagios configuration.</p>
23538
23539 <p>All computers reporting to the sitesummary collector with the
23540 munin-node package installed is automatically enabled as a Munin
23541 client and graphs from the statistics collected from that machine show
23542 up automatically on http://www/munin/ on the Main-server.</p>
23543
23544 <p>All non-laptop computers reporting to the sitesummary collector are
23545 automatically monitored for network presence (ping and any network
23546 services detected).  In addition, all computers (also laptops) with
23547 the nagios-nrpe-server package installed and configured the way
23548 sitesummary would configure it, are monitored for full disks, software
23549 raid status, swap free and other checks that need to run locally on
23550 the machine.</p>
23551
23552 <p>The result is that the administrator on a school using Debian Edu
23553 based on Lenny will be able to check the health of his installation
23554 with one look at the Nagios settings, without having to spend any time
23555 keeping the Nagios configuration up-to-date.</p>
23556
23557 <p>The only configuration one need to do to get Nagios up and running
23558 is to set the password used to get access via HTTP.  The system
23559 administrator need to run "<tt>htpasswd /etc/nagios3/htpasswd.users
23560 nagiosadmin</tt>" to create a nagiosadmin user and set a password for
23561 it to be able to log into the Nagios web pages.  After that,
23562 everything is taken care of.</p>
23563
23564       </div>
23565       <div class="tags">
23566
23567
23568         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary</a>.
23569
23570
23571       </div>
23572     </div>
23573     <div class="padding"></div>
23574
23575     <div class="entry">
23576       <div class="title">
23577         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Relative_popularity_of_document_formats__MS_Office_vs__ODF_.html">Relative popularity of document formats (MS Office vs. ODF)</a>
23578       </div>
23579       <div class="date">
23580         12th August 2009
23581       </div>
23582       <div class="body">
23583         <p>Just for fun, I did a search right now on Google for a few file ODF
23584 and MS Office based formats (not to be mistaken for ISO or ECMA
23585 OOXML), to get an idea of their relative usage.  I searched using
23586 'filetype:odt' and equvalent terms, and got these results:</P>
23587
23588 <table>
23589 <tr><th>Type</th><th>ODF</th><th>MS Office</th></tr>
23590 <tr><td>Tekst</td> <td>odt:282000</td> <td>docx:308000</td></tr>
23591 <tr><td>Presentasjon</td> <td>odp:75600</td> <td>pptx:183000</td></tr>
23592 <tr><td>Regneark</td> <td>ods:26500     </td> <td>xlsx:145000</td></tr>
23593 </table>
23594
23595 <p>Next, I added a 'site:no' limit to get the numbers for Norway, and
23596 got these numbers:</p>
23597
23598 <table>
23599 <tr><th>Type</th><th>ODF</th><th>MS Office</th></tr>
23600 <tr><td>Tekst</td> <td>odt:2480 </td> <td>docx:4460</td></tr>
23601 <tr><td>Presentasjon</td> <td>odp:299   </td> <td>pptx:741</td></tr>
23602 <tr><td>Regneark</td> <td>ods:187       </td> <td>xlsx:372</td></tr>
23603 </table>
23604
23605 <p>I wonder how these numbers change over time.</p>
23606
23607 <p>I am aware of Google returning different results and numbers based
23608 on where the search is done, so I guess these numbers will differ if
23609 they are conduced in another country.  Because of this, I did the same
23610 search from a machine in California, USA, a few minutes after the
23611 search done from a machine here in Norway.</p>
23612
23613
23614 <table>
23615 <tr><th>Type</th><th>ODF</th><th>MS Office</th></tr>
23616 <tr><td>Tekst</td> <td>odt:129000</td> <td>docx:308000</td></tr>
23617 <tr><td>Presentasjon</td> <td>odp:44200</td> <td>pptx:93900</td></tr>
23618 <tr><td>Regneark</td> <td>ods:26500     </td> <td>xlsx:82400</td></tr>
23619 </table>
23620
23621 <p>And with 'site:no':
23622
23623 <table>
23624 <tr><th>Type</th><th>ODF</th><th>MS Office</th></tr>
23625 <tr><td>Tekst</td> <td>odt:2480</td> <td>docx:3410</td></tr>
23626 <tr><td>Presentasjon</td> <td>odp:175</td> <td>pptx:604</td></tr>
23627 <tr><td>Regneark</td> <td>ods:186       </td> <td>xlsx:296</td></tr>
23628 </table>
23629
23630 <p>Interesting difference, not sure what to conclude from these
23631 numbers.</p>
23632
23633       </div>
23634       <div class="tags">
23635
23636
23637         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
23638
23639
23640       </div>
23641     </div>
23642     <div class="padding"></div>
23643
23644     <div class="entry">
23645       <div class="title">
23646         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ISO_still_hope_to_fix_OOXML.html">ISO still hope to fix OOXML</a>
23647       </div>
23648       <div class="date">
23649          8th August 2009
23650       </div>
23651       <div class="body">
23652         <p>According to <a
23653 href="http://twerner.blogspot.com/2009/08/defects-of-office-open-xml.html">a
23654 blog post from Torsten Werner</a>, the current defect report for ISO
23655 29500 (ISO OOXML) is 809 pages.  His interesting point is that the
23656 defect report is 71 pages more than the full ODF 1.1 specification.
23657 Personally I find it more interesting that ISO still believe ISO OOXML
23658 can be fixed in ISO.  Personally, I believe it is broken beyon repair,
23659 and I completely lack any trust in ISO for being able to get anywhere
23660 close to solving the problems.  I was part of the Norwegian committee
23661 involved in the OOXML fast track process, and was not impressed with
23662 Standard Norway and ISO in how they handled it.</p>
23663
23664 <p>These days I focus on ODF instead, which seem like a specification
23665 with the future ahead of it.  We are working in NUUG to organise a ODF
23666 seminar this autumn.</p>
23667
23668       </div>
23669       <div class="tags">
23670
23671
23672         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
23673
23674
23675       </div>
23676     </div>
23677     <div class="padding"></div>
23678
23679     <div class="entry">
23680       <div class="title">
23681         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_has_switched_to_dependency_based_boot_sequencing.html">Debian has switched to dependency based boot sequencing</a>
23682       </div>
23683       <div class="date">
23684         27th July 2009
23685       </div>
23686       <div class="body">
23687         <p>Since this evening, with the upload of sysvinit version 2.87dsf-2,
23688 and the upload of insserv version 1.12.0-10 yesterday, Debian unstable
23689 have been migrated to using dependency based boot sequencing.  This
23690 conclude work me and others have been doing for the last three days.
23691 It feels great to see this finally part of the default Debian
23692 installation.  Now we just need to weed out the last few problems that
23693 are bound to show up, to get everything ready for Squeeze.</p>
23694
23695 <p>The next step is migrating /sbin/init from sysvinit to upstart, and
23696 fixing the more fundamental problem of handing the event based
23697 non-predictable kernel in the early boot.</p>
23698
23699       </div>
23700       <div class="tags">
23701
23702
23703         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
23704
23705
23706       </div>
23707     </div>
23708     <div class="padding"></div>
23709
23710     <div class="entry">
23711       <div class="title">
23712         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Taking_over_sysvinit_development.html">Taking over sysvinit development</a>
23713       </div>
23714       <div class="date">
23715         22nd July 2009
23716       </div>
23717       <div class="body">
23718         <p>After several years of frustration with the lack of activity from
23719 the existing sysvinit upstream developer, I decided a few weeks ago to
23720 take over the package and become the new upstream.  The number of
23721 patches to track for the Debian package was becoming a burden, and the
23722 lack of synchronization between the distribution made it hard to keep
23723 the package up to date.</p>
23724
23725 <p>On the new sysvinit team is the SuSe maintainer Dr. Werner Fink,
23726 and my Debian co-maintainer Kel Modderman.  About 10 days ago, I made
23727 a new upstream tarball with version number 2.87dsf (for Debian, SuSe
23728 and Fedora), based on the patches currently in use in these
23729 distributions.  We Debian maintainers plan to move to this tarball as
23730 the new upstream as soon as we find time to do the merge.  Since the
23731 new tarball was created, we agreed with Werner at SuSe to make a new
23732 upstream project at <a href="http://savannah.nongnu.org/">Savannah</a>, and continue
23733 development there.  The project is registered and currently waiting
23734 for approval by the Savannah administrators, and as soon as it is
23735 approved, we will import the old versions from svn and continue
23736 working on the future release.</p>
23737
23738 <p>It is a bit ironic that this is done now, when some of the involved
23739 distributions are moving to upstart as a syvinit replacement.</p>
23740
23741       </div>
23742       <div class="tags">
23743
23744
23745         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
23746
23747
23748       </div>
23749     </div>
23750     <div class="padding"></div>
23751
23752     <div class="entry">
23753       <div class="title">
23754         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_boots_quicker_and_quicker.html">Debian boots quicker and quicker</a>
23755       </div>
23756       <div class="date">
23757         24th June 2009
23758       </div>
23759       <div class="body">
23760         <p>I spent Monday and tuesday this week in London with a lot of the
23761 people involved in the boot system on Debian and Ubuntu, to see if we
23762 could find more ways to speed up the boot system.  This was an Ubuntu
23763 funded
23764 <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FoundationsTeam/BootPerformance/DebianUbuntuSprint">developer
23765 gathering</a>. It was quite productive.  We also discussed the future
23766 of boot systems, and ways to handle the increasing number of boot
23767 issues introduced by the Linux kernel becoming more and more
23768 asynchronous and event base.  The Ubuntu approach using udev and
23769 upstart might be a good way forward.  Time will show.</p>
23770
23771 <p>Anyway, there are a few ways at the moment to speed up the boot
23772 process in Debian.  All of these should be applied to get a quick
23773 boot:</p>
23774
23775 <ul>
23776
23777 <li>Use dash as /bin/sh.</li>
23778
23779 <li>Disable the init.d/hwclock*.sh scripts and make sure the hardware
23780    clock is in UTC.</li>
23781
23782 <li>Install and activate the insserv package to enable
23783    <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts/DependencyBasedBoot">dependency
23784    based boot sequencing</a>, and enable concurrent booting.</li>
23785
23786 </ul>
23787
23788 These points are based on the Google summer of code work done by
23789 <a href="http://initscripts-ng.alioth.debian.org/soc2006-bootsystem/">Carlos
23790 Villegas</a>.
23791
23792 <p>Support for makefile-style concurrency during boot was uploaded to
23793 unstable yesterday.  When we tested it, we were able to cut 6 seconds
23794 from the boot sequence.  It depend on very correct dependency
23795 declaration in all init.d scripts, so I expect us to find edge cases
23796 where the dependences in some scripts are slightly wrong when we start
23797 using this.</p>
23798
23799 <p>On our IRC channel for this effort, #pkg-sysvinit, a new idea was
23800 introduced by Raphael Geissert today, one that could affect the
23801 startup speed as well.  Instead of starting some scripts concurrently
23802 from rcS.d/ and another set of scripts from rc2.d/, it would be
23803 possible to run a of them in the same process.  A quick way to test
23804 this would be to enable insserv and run 'mv /etc/rc2.d/S* /etc/rcS.d/;
23805 insserv'.  Will need to test if that work. :)</p>
23806
23807       </div>
23808       <div class="tags">
23809
23810
23811         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
23812
23813
23814       </div>
23815     </div>
23816     <div class="padding"></div>
23817
23818     <div class="entry">
23819       <div class="title">
23820         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Two_projects_that_have_improved_the_quality_of_free_software_a_lot.html">Two projects that have improved the quality of free software a lot</a>
23821       </div>
23822       <div class="date">
23823          2nd May 2009
23824       </div>
23825       <div class="body">
23826         <p>There are two software projects that have had huge influence on the
23827 quality of free software, and I wanted to mention both in case someone
23828 do not yet know them.</p>
23829
23830 <p>The first one is <a href="http://valgrind.org/">valgrind</a>, a
23831 tool to detect and expose errors in the memory handling of programs.
23832 It is easy to use, all one need to do is to run 'valgrind program',
23833 and it will report any problems on stdout.  It is even better if the
23834 program include debug information.  With debug information, it is able
23835 to report the source file name and line number where the problem
23836 occurs.  It can report things like 'reading past memory block in file
23837 X line N, the memory block was allocated in file Y, line M', and
23838 'using uninitialised value in control logic'.  This tool has made it
23839 trivial to investigate reproducible crash bugs in programs, and have
23840 reduced the number of this kind of bugs in free software a lot.
23841
23842 <p>The second one is
23843 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverity">Coverity</a> which is
23844 a source code checker.  It is able to process the source of a program
23845 and find problems in the logic without running the program.  It
23846 started out as the Stanford Checker and became well known when it was
23847 used to find bugs in the Linux kernel.  It is now a commercial tool
23848 and the company behind it is running
23849 <a href="http://www.scan.coverity.com/">a community service</a> for the
23850 free software community, where a lot of free software projects get
23851 their source checked for free.  Several thousand defects have been
23852 found and fixed so far.  It can find errors like 'lock L taken in file
23853 X line N is never released if exiting in line M', or 'the code in file
23854 Y lines O to P can never be executed'.  The projects included in the
23855 community service project have managed to get rid of a lot of
23856 reliability problems thanks to Coverity.</p>
23857
23858 <p>I believe tools like this, that are able to automatically find
23859 errors in the source, are vital to improve the quality of software and
23860 make sure we can get rid of the crashing and failing software we are
23861 surrounded by today.</p>
23862
23863       </div>
23864       <div class="tags">
23865
23866
23867         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
23868
23869
23870       </div>
23871     </div>
23872     <div class="padding"></div>
23873
23874     <div class="entry">
23875       <div class="title">
23876         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/No_patch_is_not_better_than_a_useless_patch.html">No patch is not better than a useless patch</a>
23877       </div>
23878       <div class="date">
23879         28th April 2009
23880       </div>
23881       <div class="body">
23882         <p>Julien Blache
23883 <a href="http://blog.technologeek.org/2009/04/12/214">claim that no
23884 patch is better than a useless patch</a>.  I completely disagree, as a
23885 patch allow one to discuss a concrete and proposed solution, and also
23886 prove that the issue at hand is important enough for someone to spent
23887 time on fixing it.  No patch do not provide any of these positive
23888 properties.</p>
23889
23890       </div>
23891       <div class="tags">
23892
23893
23894         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
23895
23896
23897       </div>
23898     </div>
23899     <div class="padding"></div>
23900
23901     <div class="entry">
23902       <div class="title">
23903         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Recording_video_from_cron_using_VLC.html">Recording video from cron using VLC</a>
23904       </div>
23905       <div class="date">
23906          5th April 2009
23907       </div>
23908       <div class="body">
23909         <p>One think I have wanted to figure out for a along time is how to
23910 run vlc from cron to do recording of video streams on the net.  The
23911 task is trivial with mplayer, but I do not really trust the security
23912 of mplayer (it crashes too often on strange input), and thus prefer
23913 vlc.  I finally found a way to do it today.  I spent an hour or so
23914 searching the web for recipes and reading the documentation.  The
23915 hardest part was to get rid of the GUI window, but after finding the
23916 dummy interface, the command line finally presented itself:</p>
23917
23918 <blockquote><pre>URL=http://www.ping.uio.no/video/rms-oslo_2009.ogg
23919 SAVEFILE=rms.ogg
23920 DISPLAY= vlc -q $URL \
23921   --sout="#duplicate{dst=std{access=file,url='$SAVEFILE'},dst=nodisplay}" \
23922   --intf=dummy</pre></blockquote>
23923
23924 <p>The command stream the URL and store it in the SAVEFILE by
23925 duplicating the output stream to "nodisplay" and the file, using the
23926 dummy interface.  The dummy interface and the nodisplay output make
23927 sure no X interface is needed.</p>
23928
23929 <p>The cron job then need to start this job with the appropriate URL
23930 and file name to save, sleep for the duration wanted, and then kill
23931 the vlc process with SIGTERM.  Here is a complete script
23932 <tt>vlc-record</tt> to use from <tt>at</tt> or <tt>cron</tt>:</p>
23933
23934 <blockquote><pre>#!/bin/sh
23935 set -e
23936 URL="$1"
23937 SAVEFILE="$2"
23938 DURATION="$3"
23939 DISPLAY= vlc -q "$URL" \
23940   --sout="#duplicate{dst=std{access=file,url='$SAVEFILE'},dst=nodisplay}" \
23941   --intf=dummy < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 &
23942 pid=$!
23943 sleep $DURATION
23944 kill $pid
23945 wait $pid</pre></blockquote>
23946
23947       </div>
23948       <div class="tags">
23949
23950
23951         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
23952
23953
23954       </div>
23955     </div>
23956     <div class="padding"></div>
23957
23958     <div class="entry">
23959       <div class="title">
23960         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Standardize_on_protocols_and_formats__not_vendors_and_applications.html">Standardize on protocols and formats, not vendors and applications</a>
23961       </div>
23962       <div class="date">
23963         30th March 2009
23964       </div>
23965       <div class="body">
23966         <p>Where I work at the University of Oslo, one decision stand out as a
23967 very good one to form a long lived computer infrastructure.  It is the
23968 simple one, lost by many in todays computer industry: Standardize on
23969 open network protocols and open exchange/storage formats, not applications.
23970 Applications come and go, while protocols and files tend to stay, and
23971 thus one want to make it easy to change application and vendor, while
23972 avoiding conversion costs and locking users to a specific platform or
23973 application.</p>
23974
23975 <p>This approach make it possible to replace the client applications
23976 independently of the server applications.  One can even allow users to
23977 use several different applications as long as they handle the selected
23978 protocol and format.  In the normal case, only one client application
23979 is recommended and users only get help if they choose to use this
23980 application, but those that want to deviate from the easy path are not
23981 blocked from doing so.</p>
23982
23983 <p>It also allow us to replace the server side without forcing the
23984 users to replace their applications, and thus allow us to select the
23985 best server implementation at any moment, when scale and resouce
23986 requirements change.</p>
23987
23988 <p>I strongly recommend standardizing - on open network protocols and
23989 open formats, but I would never recommend standardizing on a single
23990 application that do not use open network protocol or open formats.</p>
23991
23992       </div>
23993       <div class="tags">
23994
23995
23996         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
23997
23998
23999       </div>
24000     </div>
24001     <div class="padding"></div>
24002
24003     <div class="entry">
24004       <div class="title">
24005         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Returning_from_Skolelinux_developer_gathering.html">Returning from Skolelinux developer gathering</a>
24006       </div>
24007       <div class="date">
24008         29th March 2009
24009       </div>
24010       <div class="body">
24011         <p>I'm sitting on the train going home from this weekends Debian
24012 Edu/Skolelinux development gathering.  I got a bit done tuning the
24013 desktop, and looked into the dynamic service location protocol
24014 implementation avahi.  It look like it could be useful for us.  Almost
24015 30 people participated, and I believe it was a great environment to
24016 get to know the Skolelinux system.  Walter Bender, involved in the
24017 development of the Sugar educational platform, presented his stuff and
24018 also helped me improve my OLPC installation.  He also showed me that
24019 his Turtle Art application can be used in standalone mode, and we
24020 agreed that I would help getting it packaged for Debian.  As a
24021 standalone application it would be great for Debian Edu.  We also
24022 tried to get the video conferencing working with two OLPCs, but that
24023 proved to be too hard for us.  The application seem to need more work
24024 before it is ready for me.  I look forward to getting home and relax
24025 now. :)</p>
24026
24027       </div>
24028       <div class="tags">
24029
24030
24031         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
24032
24033
24034       </div>
24035     </div>
24036     <div class="padding"></div>
24037
24038     <div class="entry">
24039       <div class="title">
24040         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">Time for new  LDAP schemas replacing RFC 2307?</a>
24041       </div>
24042       <div class="date">
24043         29th March 2009
24044       </div>
24045       <div class="body">
24046         <p>The state of standardized LDAP schemas on Linux is far from
24047 optimal.  There is RFC 2307 documenting one way to store NIS maps in
24048 LDAP, and a modified version of this normally called RFC 2307bis, with
24049 some modifications to be compatible with Active Directory.  The RFC
24050 specification handle the content of a lot of system databases, but do
24051 not handle DNS zones and DHCP configuration.</p>
24052
24053 <p>In <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu/Skolelinux</a>,
24054 we would like to store information about users, SMB clients/hosts,
24055 filegroups, netgroups (users and hosts), DHCP and DNS configuration,
24056 and LTSP configuration in LDAP.  These objects have a lot in common,
24057 but with the current LDAP schemas it is not possible to have one
24058 object per entity.  For example, one need to have at least three LDAP
24059 objects for a given computer, one with the SMB related stuff, one with
24060 DNS information and another with DHCP information.  The schemas
24061 provided for DNS and DHCP are impossible to combine into one LDAP
24062 object.  In addition, it is impossible to implement quick queries for
24063 netgroup membership, because of the way NIS triples are implemented.
24064 It just do not scale.  I believe it is time for a few RFC
24065 specifications to cleam up this mess.</p>
24066
24067 <p>I would like to have one LDAP object representing each computer in
24068 the network, and this object can then keep the SMB (ie host key), DHCP
24069 (mac address/name) and DNS (name/IP address) settings in one place.
24070 It need to be efficently stored to make sure it scale well.</p>
24071
24072 <p>I would also like to have a quick way to map from a user or
24073 computer and to the net group this user or computer is a member.</p>
24074
24075 <p>Active Directory have done a better job than unix heads like myself
24076 in this regard, and the unix side need to catch up.  Time to start a
24077 new IETF work group?</p>
24078
24079       </div>
24080       <div class="tags">
24081
24082
24083         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
24084
24085
24086       </div>
24087     </div>
24088     <div class="padding"></div>
24089
24090     <div class="entry">
24091       <div class="title">
24092         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Checking_server_hardware_support_status_for_Dell__HP_and_IBM_servers.html">Checking server hardware support status for Dell, HP and IBM servers</a>
24093       </div>
24094       <div class="date">
24095         28th February 2009
24096       </div>
24097       <div class="body">
24098         <p>At work, we have a few hundred Linux servers, and with that amount
24099 of hardware it is important to keep track of when the hardware support
24100 contract expire for each server.  We have a machine (and service)
24101 register, which until recently did not contain much useful besides the
24102 machine room location and contact information for the system owner for
24103 each machine.  To make it easier for us to track support contract
24104 status, I've recently spent time on extending the machine register to
24105 include information about when the support contract expire, and to tag
24106 machines with expired contracts to make it easy to get a list of such
24107 machines.  I extended a perl script already being used to import
24108 information about machines into the register, to also do some screen
24109 scraping off the sites of Dell, HP and IBM (our majority of machines
24110 are from these vendors), and automatically check the support status
24111 for the relevant machines.  This make the support status information
24112 easily available and I hope it will make it easier for the computer
24113 owner to know when to get new hardware or renew the support contract.
24114 The result of this work documented that 27% of the machines in the
24115 registry is without a support contract, and made it very easy to find
24116 them.  27% might seem like a lot, but I see it more as the case of us
24117 using machines a bit longer than the 3 years a normal support contract
24118 last, to have test machines and a platform for less important
24119 services.  After all, the machines without a contract are working fine
24120 at the moment and the lack of contract is only a problem if any of
24121 them break down.  When that happen, we can either fix it using spare
24122 parts from other machines or move the service to another old
24123 machine.</p>
24124
24125 <p>I believe the code for screen scraping the Dell site was originally
24126 written by Trond Hasle Amundsen, and later adjusted by me and Morten
24127 Werner Forsbring.  The HP scraping was written by me after reading a
24128 nice article in ;login: about how to use WWW::Mechanize, and the IBM
24129 scraping was written by me based on the Dell code.  I know the HTML
24130 parsing could be done using nice libraries, but did not want to
24131 introduce more dependencies.  This is the current incarnation:</p>
24132
24133 <pre>
24134 use LWP::Simple;
24135 use POSIX;
24136 use WWW::Mechanize;
24137 use Date::Parse;
24138 [...]
24139 sub get_support_info {
24140     my ($machine, $model, $serial, $productnumber) = @_;
24141     my $str;
24142
24143     if ( $model =~ m/^Dell / ) {
24144         # fetch website from Dell support
24145         my $url = "http://support.euro.dell.com/support/topics/topic.aspx/emea/shared/support/my_systems_info/no/details?c=no&amp;cs=nodhs1&amp;l=no&amp;s=dhs&amp;ServiceTag=$serial";
24146         my $webpage = get($url);
24147         return undef unless ($webpage);
24148
24149         my $daysleft = -1;
24150         my @lines = split(/\n/, $webpage);
24151         foreach my $line (@lines) {
24152             next unless ($line =~ m/Beskrivelse/);
24153             $line =~ s/&lt;[^>]+?>/;/gm;
24154             $line =~ s/^.+?;(Beskrivelse;)/$1/;
24155
24156             my @f = split(/\;/, $line);
24157             @f = @f[13 .. $#f];
24158             my $lastend = "";
24159             while ($f[3] eq "DELL") {
24160                 my ($type, $startstr, $endstr, $days) = @f[0, 5, 7, 10];
24161
24162                 my $start = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d",
24163                                             localtime(str2time($startstr)));
24164                 my $end = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d",
24165                                           localtime(str2time($endstr)));
24166                 $str .= "$type $start -> $end ";
24167                 @f = @f[14 .. $#f];
24168                 $lastend = $end if ($end gt $lastend);
24169             }
24170             my $today = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d", localtime(time));
24171             tag_machine_unsupported($machine)
24172                 if ($lastend lt $today);
24173         }
24174     } elsif ( $model =~ m/^HP / ) {
24175         my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new();
24176         my $url =
24177             'http://www1.itrc.hp.com/service/ewarranty/warrantyInput.do';
24178         $mech->get($url);
24179         my $fields = {
24180             'BODServiceID' => 'NA',
24181             'RegisteredPurchaseDate' => '',
24182             'country' => 'NO',
24183             'productNumber' => $productnumber,
24184             'serialNumber1' => $serial,
24185         };
24186         $mech->submit_form( form_number => 2,
24187                             fields      => $fields );
24188         # Next step is screen scraping
24189         my $content = $mech->content();
24190
24191         $content =~ s/&lt;[^>]+?>/;/gm;
24192         $content =~ s/\s+/ /gm;
24193         $content =~ s/;\s*;/;;/gm;
24194         $content =~ s/;[\s;]+/;/gm;
24195
24196         my $today = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d", localtime(time));
24197
24198         while ($content =~ m/;Warranty Type;/) {
24199             my ($type, $status, $startstr, $stopstr) = $content =~
24200                 m/;Warranty Type;([^;]+);.+?;Status;(\w+);Start Date;([^;]+);End Date;([^;]+);/;
24201             $content =~ s/^.+?;Warranty Type;//;
24202             my $start = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d",
24203                                         localtime(str2time($startstr)));
24204             my $end = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d",
24205                                       localtime(str2time($stopstr)));
24206
24207             $str .= "$type ($status) $start -> $end ";
24208
24209             tag_machine_unsupported($machine)
24210                 if ($end lt $today);
24211         }
24212     } elsif ( $model =~ m/^IBM / ) {
24213         # This code ignore extended support contracts.
24214         my ($producttype) = $model =~ m/.*-\[(.{4}).+\]-/;
24215         if ($producttype &amp;&amp; $serial) {
24216             my $content =
24217                 get("http://www-947.ibm.com/systems/support/supportsite.wss/warranty?action=warranty&amp;brandind=5000008&amp;Submit=Submit&amp;type=$producttype&amp;serial=$serial");
24218             if ($content) {
24219                 $content =~ s/&lt;[^>]+?>/;/gm;
24220                 $content =~ s/\s+/ /gm;
24221                 $content =~ s/;\s*;/;;/gm;
24222                 $content =~ s/;[\s;]+/;/gm;
24223
24224                 $content =~ s/^.+?;Warranty status;//;
24225                 my ($status, $end) = $content =~ m/;Warranty status;([^;]+)\s*;Expiration date;(\S+) ;/;
24226
24227                 $str .= "($status) -> $end ";
24228
24229                 my $today = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d", localtime(time));
24230                 tag_machine_unsupported($machine)
24231                     if ($end lt $today);
24232             }
24233         }
24234     }
24235     return $str;
24236 }
24237 </pre>
24238
24239 <p>Here are some examples on how to use the function, using fake
24240 serial numbers.  The information passed in as arguments are fetched
24241 from dmidecode.</p>
24242
24243 <pre>
24244 print get_support_info("hp.host", "HP ProLiant BL460c G1", "1234567890"
24245                        "447707-B21");
24246 print get_support_info("dell.host", "Dell Inc. PowerEdge 2950", "1234567");
24247 print get_support_info("ibm.host", "IBM eserver xSeries 345 -[867061X]-",
24248                        "1234567");
24249 </pre>
24250
24251 <p>I would recommend this approach for tracking support contracts for
24252 everyone with more than a few computers to administer. :)</p>
24253
24254 <p>Update 2009-03-06: The IBM page do not include extended support
24255 contracts, so it is useless in that case.  The original Dell code do
24256 not handle extended support contracts either, but has been updated to
24257 do so.</p>
24258
24259       </div>
24260       <div class="tags">
24261
24262
24263         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
24264
24265
24266       </div>
24267     </div>
24268     <div class="padding"></div>
24269
24270     <div class="entry">
24271       <div class="title">
24272         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_bar_codes_at_a_computing_center.html">Using bar codes at a computing center</a>
24273       </div>
24274       <div class="date">
24275         20th February 2009
24276       </div>
24277       <div class="body">
24278         <p>At work with the University of Oslo, we have several hundred computers
24279 in our computing center.  This give us a challenge in tracking the
24280 location and cabling of the computers, when they are added, moved and
24281 removed.  Some times the location register is not updated when a
24282 computer is inserted or moved and we then have to search the room for
24283 the "missing" computer.</p>
24284
24285 <p>In the last issue of Linux Journal, I came across a project
24286 <a href="http://www.libdmtx.org/">libdmtx</a> to write and read bar
24287 code blocks as defined in the
24288 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Matrix">The Data Matrix
24289 Standard</a>.  This is bar codes that can be read with a normal
24290 digital camera, for example that on a cell phone, and several such bar
24291 codes can be read by libdmtx from one picture.  The bar code standard
24292 allow up to 2 KiB to be written in the tag.  There is another project
24293 with <a href="http://www.terryburton.co.uk/barcodewriter/">a bar code
24294 writer written in postscript</a> capable of creating such bar codes,
24295 but this was the first time I found a tool to read these bar
24296 codes.</p>
24297
24298 <p>It occurred to me that this could be used to tag and track the
24299 machines in our computing center.  If both racks and computers are
24300 tagged this way, we can use a picture of the rack and all its
24301 computers to detect the rack location of any computer in that rack.
24302 If we do this regularly for the entire room, we will find all
24303 locations, and can detect movements and removals.</p>
24304
24305 <p>I decided to test if this would work in practice, and picked a
24306 random rack and tagged all the machines with their names.  Next, I
24307 took pictures with my digital camera, and gave the dmtxread program
24308 these JPEG pictures to see how many tags it could read.  This worked
24309 fairly well.  If the pictures was well focused and not taken from the
24310 side, all tags in the image could be read.  Because of limited space
24311 between the racks, I was unable to get a good picture of the entire
24312 rack, but could without problem read all tags from a picture covering
24313 about half the rack.  I had to limit the search time used by dmtxread
24314 to 60000 ms to make sure it terminated in a reasonable time frame.</p>
24315
24316 <p>My conclusion is that this could work, and we should probably look
24317 at adjusting our computer tagging procedures to use bar codes for
24318 easier automatic tracking of computers.</p>
24319
24320       </div>
24321       <div class="tags">
24322
24323
24324         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
24325
24326
24327       </div>
24328     </div>
24329     <div class="padding"></div>
24330
24331     <div class="entry">
24332       <div class="title">
24333         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/When_web_browser_developers_make_a_video_player___.html">When web browser developers make a video player...</a>
24334       </div>
24335       <div class="date">
24336         17th January 2009
24337       </div>
24338       <div class="body">
24339         <p>As part of the work we do in <a href="http://www.nuug.no">NUUG</a>
24340 to publish video recordings of our monthly presentations, we provide a
24341 page with embedded video for easy access to the recording.  Putting a
24342 good set of HTML tags together to get working embedded video in all
24343 browsers and across all operating systems is not easy.  I hope this
24344 will become easier when the &lt;video&gt; tag is implemented in all
24345 browsers, but I am not sure.  We provide the recordings in several
24346 formats, MPEG1, Ogg Theora, H.264 and Quicktime, and want the
24347 browser/media plugin to pick one it support and use it to play the
24348 recording, using whatever embed mechanism the browser understand.
24349 There is at least four different tags to use for this, the new HTML5
24350 &lt;video&gt; tag, the &lt;object&gt; tag, the &lt;embed&gt; tag and
24351 the &lt;applet&gt; tag.  All of these take a lot of options, and
24352 finding the best options is a major challenge.</p>
24353
24354 <p>I just tested the experimental Opera browser available from <a
24355 href="http://labs.opera.com">labs.opera.com</a>, to see how it handled
24356 a &lt;video&gt; tag with a few video sources and no extra attributes.
24357 I was not very impressed.  The browser start by fetching a picture
24358 from the video stream.  Not sure if it is the first frame, but it is
24359 definitely very early in the recording.  So far, so good. Next,
24360 instead of streaming the 76 MiB video file, it start to download all
24361 of it, but do not start to play the video.  This mean I have to wait
24362 for several minutes for the downloading to finish.  When the download
24363 is done, the playing of the video do not start!  Waiting for the
24364 download, but I do not get to see the video?  Some testing later, I
24365 discover that I have to add the controls="true" attribute to be able
24366 to get a play button to pres to start the video.  Adding
24367 autoplay="true" did not help.  I sure hope this is a misfeature of the
24368 test version of Opera, and that future implementations of the
24369 &lt;video&gt; tag will stream recordings by default, or at least start
24370 playing when the download is done.</p>
24371
24372 <p>The test page I used (since changed to add more attributes) is
24373 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20090113-foredrag-om-foredrag/">available
24374 from the nuug site</a>.  Will have to test it with the new Firefox
24375 too.</p>
24376
24377 <p>In the test process, I discovered a missing feature.  I was unable
24378 to find a way to get the URL of the playing video out of Opera, so I
24379 am not quite sure it picked the Ogg Theora version of the video.  I
24380 sure hope it was using the announced Ogg Theora support. :)</p>
24381
24382       </div>
24383       <div class="tags">
24384
24385
24386         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
24387
24388
24389       </div>
24390     </div>
24391     <div class="padding"></div>
24392
24393     <div class="entry">
24394       <div class="title">
24395         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Software_video_mixer_on_a_USB_stick.html">Software video mixer on a USB stick</a>
24396       </div>
24397       <div class="date">
24398         28th December 2008
24399       </div>
24400       <div class="body">
24401         <p>The <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group</a> is
24402 recording our montly presentation on video, and recently we have
24403 worked on improving the quality of the recordings by mixing the slides
24404 directly with the video stream.  For this, we use the
24405 <a href="http://dvswitch.alioth.debian.org/">dvswitch</a> package from
24406 the Debian video team.  As this require quite one computer per video
24407 source, and NUUG do not have enough laptops available, we need to
24408 borrow laptops.  And to avoid having to install extra software on
24409 these borrwed laptops, I have wrapped up all the programs needed on a
24410 bootable USB stick.  The software required is dvswitch with assosiated
24411 source, sink and mixer applications and
24412 <a href="http://www.kinodv.org/">dvgrab</a>.  To allow this setup to
24413 work without any configuration, I've patched dvswitch to use
24414 <a href="http://www.avahi.org/">avahi</a> to connect the various parts
24415 together.  And to allow us to use laptops without firewire plugs, I
24416 upgraded dvgrab to the one from Debian/unstable to get one that work
24417 with USB sources.  We have not yet tested this setup in a production
24418 setup, but I hope it will work properly, and allow us to set up a
24419 video mixer in a very short time frame.  We will need it for
24420 <a href="http://www.goopen.no/">Go Open 2009</a>.</p>
24421
24422 <p><a href="http://www.nuug.no/pub/video/bin/usbstick-dvswitch.img.gz">The
24423 USB image</a> is for a 1 GB memory stick, but can be used on any
24424 larger stick as well.</p>
24425
24426       </div>
24427       <div class="tags">
24428
24429
24430         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
24431
24432
24433       </div>
24434     </div>
24435     <div class="padding"></div>
24436
24437     <div class="entry">
24438       <div class="title">
24439         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Devcamp_brought_us_closer_to_the_Lenny_based_Debian_Edu_release.html">Devcamp brought us closer to the Lenny based Debian Edu release</a>
24440       </div>
24441       <div class="date">
24442          7th December 2008
24443       </div>
24444       <div class="body">
24445         <p>This weekend we had a small developer gathering for Debian Edu in
24446 Oslo.  Most of Saturday was used for the general assemly for the
24447 member organization, but the rest of the weekend I used to tune the
24448 LTSP installation.  LTSP now work out of the box on the 10-network.
24449 Acer Aspire One proved to be a very nice thin client, with both
24450 screen, mouse and keybard in a small box.  Was working on getting the
24451 diskless workstation setup configured out of the box, but did not
24452 finish it before the weekend was up.</p>
24453
24454 <p>Did not find time to look at the 4 VGA cards in one box we got from
24455 the Brazilian group, so that will have to wait for the next
24456 development gathering.  Would love to have the Debian Edu installer
24457 automatically detect and configure a multiseat setup when it find one
24458 of these cards.</p>
24459
24460       </div>
24461       <div class="tags">
24462
24463
24464         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ltsp">ltsp</a>.
24465
24466
24467       </div>
24468     </div>
24469     <div class="padding"></div>
24470
24471     <div class="entry">
24472       <div class="title">
24473         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_sorry_state_of_multimedia_browser_plugins_in_Debian.html">The sorry state of multimedia browser plugins in Debian</a>
24474       </div>
24475       <div class="date">
24476         25th November 2008
24477       </div>
24478       <div class="body">
24479         <p>Recently I have spent some time evaluating the multimedia browser
24480 plugins available in Debian Lenny, to see which one we should use by
24481 default in Debian Edu.  We need an embedded video playing plugin with
24482 control buttons to pause or stop the video, and capable of streaming
24483 all the multimedia content available on the web.  The test results and
24484 notes are available on
24485 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/BrowserMultimedia">the
24486 Debian wiki</a>.  I was surprised how few of the plugins are able to
24487 fill this need.  My personal video player favorite, VLC, has a really
24488 bad plugin which fail on a lot of the test pages.  A lot of the MIME
24489 types I would expect to work with any free software player (like
24490 video/ogg), just do not work.  And simple formats like the
24491 audio/x-mplegurl format (m3u playlists), just isn't supported by the
24492 totem and vlc plugins.  I hope the situation will improve soon.  No
24493 wonder sites use the proprietary Adobe flash to play video.</p>
24494
24495 <p>For Lenny, we seem to end up with the mplayer plugin.  It seem to
24496 be the only one fitting our needs. :/</p>
24497
24498       </div>
24499       <div class="tags">
24500
24501
24502         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
24503
24504
24505       </div>
24506     </div>
24507     <div class="padding"></div>
24508
24509     <p style="text-align: right;"><a href="english.rss"><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/xml.gif" alt="RSS Feed" width="36" height="14" /></a></p>
24510     <div id="sidebar">
24511
24512
24513
24514 <h2>Archive</h2>
24515 <ul>
24516
24517 <li>2016
24518 <ul>
24519
24520 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2016/01/">January (3)</a></li>
24521
24522 </ul></li>
24523
24524 <li>2015
24525 <ul>
24526
24527 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/01/">January (7)</a></li>
24528
24529 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/02/">February (6)</a></li>
24530
24531 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/03/">March (1)</a></li>
24532
24533 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/04/">April (4)</a></li>
24534
24535 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/05/">May (3)</a></li>
24536
24537 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/06/">June (4)</a></li>
24538
24539 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/07/">July (6)</a></li>
24540
24541 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/08/">August (2)</a></li>
24542
24543 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/09/">September (2)</a></li>
24544
24545 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/10/">October (9)</a></li>
24546
24547 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/11/">November (6)</a></li>
24548
24549 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2015/12/">December (3)</a></li>
24550
24551 </ul></li>
24552
24553 <li>2014
24554 <ul>
24555
24556 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/01/">January (2)</a></li>
24557
24558 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/02/">February (3)</a></li>
24559
24560 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/03/">March (8)</a></li>
24561
24562 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/04/">April (7)</a></li>
24563
24564 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/05/">May (1)</a></li>
24565
24566 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/06/">June (2)</a></li>
24567
24568 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/07/">July (2)</a></li>
24569
24570 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/08/">August (2)</a></li>
24571
24572 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/09/">September (5)</a></li>
24573
24574 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/10/">October (6)</a></li>
24575
24576 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/11/">November (3)</a></li>
24577
24578 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2014/12/">December (5)</a></li>
24579
24580 </ul></li>
24581
24582 <li>2013
24583 <ul>
24584
24585 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/01/">January (11)</a></li>
24586
24587 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/02/">February (9)</a></li>
24588
24589 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/03/">March (9)</a></li>
24590
24591 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/04/">April (6)</a></li>
24592
24593 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/05/">May (9)</a></li>
24594
24595 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/06/">June (10)</a></li>
24596
24597 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/07/">July (7)</a></li>
24598
24599 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/08/">August (3)</a></li>
24600
24601 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/09/">September (5)</a></li>
24602
24603 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/10/">October (7)</a></li>
24604
24605 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/11/">November (9)</a></li>
24606
24607 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/12/">December (3)</a></li>
24608
24609 </ul></li>
24610
24611 <li>2012
24612 <ul>
24613
24614 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/01/">January (7)</a></li>
24615
24616 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/02/">February (10)</a></li>
24617
24618 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/03/">March (17)</a></li>
24619
24620 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/04/">April (12)</a></li>
24621
24622 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/05/">May (12)</a></li>
24623
24624 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/06/">June (20)</a></li>
24625
24626 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/07/">July (17)</a></li>
24627
24628 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/08/">August (6)</a></li>
24629
24630 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/09/">September (9)</a></li>
24631
24632 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/10/">October (17)</a></li>
24633
24634 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/11/">November (10)</a></li>
24635
24636 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/12/">December (7)</a></li>
24637
24638 </ul></li>
24639
24640 <li>2011
24641 <ul>
24642
24643 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/01/">January (16)</a></li>
24644
24645 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/02/">February (6)</a></li>
24646
24647 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/03/">March (6)</a></li>
24648
24649 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/04/">April (7)</a></li>
24650
24651 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/05/">May (3)</a></li>
24652
24653 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/06/">June (2)</a></li>
24654
24655 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/07/">July (7)</a></li>
24656
24657 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/08/">August (6)</a></li>
24658
24659 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/09/">September (4)</a></li>
24660
24661 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/10/">October (2)</a></li>
24662
24663 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/11/">November (3)</a></li>
24664
24665 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/12/">December (1)</a></li>
24666
24667 </ul></li>
24668
24669 <li>2010
24670 <ul>
24671
24672 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/01/">January (2)</a></li>
24673
24674 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/02/">February (1)</a></li>
24675
24676 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/03/">March (3)</a></li>
24677
24678 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/04/">April (3)</a></li>
24679
24680 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/05/">May (9)</a></li>
24681
24682 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/06/">June (14)</a></li>
24683
24684 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/07/">July (12)</a></li>
24685
24686 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/08/">August (13)</a></li>
24687
24688 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/09/">September (7)</a></li>
24689
24690 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/10/">October (9)</a></li>
24691
24692 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/11/">November (13)</a></li>
24693
24694 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/12/">December (12)</a></li>
24695
24696 </ul></li>
24697
24698 <li>2009
24699 <ul>
24700
24701 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/01/">January (8)</a></li>
24702
24703 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/02/">February (8)</a></li>
24704
24705 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/03/">March (12)</a></li>
24706
24707 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/04/">April (10)</a></li>
24708
24709 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/05/">May (9)</a></li>
24710
24711 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/06/">June (3)</a></li>
24712
24713 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/07/">July (4)</a></li>
24714
24715 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/08/">August (3)</a></li>
24716
24717 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/09/">September (1)</a></li>
24718
24719 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/10/">October (2)</a></li>
24720
24721 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/11/">November (3)</a></li>
24722
24723 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/12/">December (3)</a></li>
24724
24725 </ul></li>
24726
24727 <li>2008
24728 <ul>
24729
24730 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/11/">November (5)</a></li>
24731
24732 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/12/">December (7)</a></li>
24733
24734 </ul></li>
24735
24736 </ul>
24737
24738
24739
24740 <h2>Tags</h2>
24741 <ul>
24742
24743  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer (13)</a></li>
24744
24745  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/amiga">amiga (1)</a></li>
24746
24747  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/aros">aros (1)</a></li>
24748
24749  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bankid">bankid (4)</a></li>
24750
24751  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin (9)</a></li>
24752
24753  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem (15)</a></li>
24754
24755  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bsa">bsa (2)</a></li>
24756
24757  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/chrpath">chrpath (2)</a></li>
24758
24759  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian (118)</a></li>
24760
24761  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu (154)</a></li>
24762
24763  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan (10)</a></li>
24764
24765  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/dld">dld (15)</a></li>
24766
24767  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook (20)</a></li>
24768
24769  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/drivstoffpriser">drivstoffpriser (4)</a></li>
24770
24771  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english (300)</a></li>
24772
24773  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami (23)</a></li>
24774
24775  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling (12)</a></li>
24776
24777  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture (25)</a></li>
24778
24779  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freedombox">freedombox (9)</a></li>
24780
24781  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen (16)</a></li>
24782
24783  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/h264">h264 (20)</a></li>
24784
24785  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju (42)</a></li>
24786
24787  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram (11)</a></li>
24788
24789  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart (19)</a></li>
24790
24791  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap (9)</a></li>
24792
24793  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lenker">lenker (8)</a></li>
24794
24795  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lsdvd">lsdvd (2)</a></li>
24796
24797  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ltsp">ltsp (1)</a></li>
24798
24799  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/mesh network">mesh network (8)</a></li>
24800
24801  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia (37)</a></li>
24802
24803  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nice free software">nice free software (7)</a></li>
24804
24805  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk (273)</a></li>
24806
24807  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug (177)</a></li>
24808
24809  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn (22)</a></li>
24810
24811  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/open311">open311 (2)</a></li>
24812
24813  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett (58)</a></li>
24814
24815  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern (92)</a></li>
24816
24817  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/raid">raid (1)</a></li>
24818
24819  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reactos">reactos (1)</a></li>
24820
24821  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reprap">reprap (11)</a></li>
24822
24823  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rfid">rfid (3)</a></li>
24824
24825  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot (9)</a></li>
24826
24827  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rss">rss (1)</a></li>
24828
24829  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ruter">ruter (4)</a></li>
24830
24831  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/scraperwiki">scraperwiki (2)</a></li>
24832
24833  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet (45)</a></li>
24834
24835  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary (4)</a></li>
24836
24837  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/skepsis">skepsis (4)</a></li>
24838
24839  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard (48)</a></li>
24840
24841  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stavekontroll">stavekontroll (3)</a></li>
24842
24843  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stortinget">stortinget (10)</a></li>
24844
24845  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance (36)</a></li>
24846
24847  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sysadmin">sysadmin (2)</a></li>
24848
24849  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/usenix">usenix (2)</a></li>
24850
24851  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/valg">valg (8)</a></li>
24852
24853  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video (55)</a></li>
24854
24855  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/vitenskap">vitenskap (4)</a></li>
24856
24857  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web (38)</a></li>
24858
24859 </ul>
24860
24861
24862     </div>
24863     <p style="text-align: right">
24864  Created by <a href="http://steve.org.uk/Software/chronicle">Chronicle v4.6</a>
24865 </p>
24866
24867   </body>
24868 </html>