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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/Git_repository_for_song_book_for_Computer_Scientists.html">Git repository for song book for Computer Scientists</a>
  26       </div>
  27       <div class="date">
  28          7th September 2012
  29       </div>
  30       <div class="body">
  31         <p>As I
  32 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Song_book_for_Computer_Scientists.html">mentioned
  33 this summer</a>, I have created a Computer Science song book a few
  34 years ago, and today I finally found time to create a public
  35 <a href="https://gitorious.org/pere-cs-songbook/pere-cs-songbook">Gitorious
  36 repository for the project</a>.</p>
  37
  38 <p>If you want to help out, please clone the source and submit patches
  39 to the HTML version.  To generate the PDF and PostScript version,
  40 please use prince XML, or let me know about a useful free software
  41 processor capable of creating a good looking PDF from the HTML.</p>
  42
  43 <p>Want to sing?  You can still find the song book in HTML, PDF and
  44 PostScript formats at
  45 <a href="http://www.hungry.com/~pere/cs-songbook/">Petter's Computer
  46 Science Songbook</a>.</p>
  47
  48       </div>
  49       <div class="tags">
  50
  51
  52         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>.
  53
  54
  55       </div>
  56     </div>
  57     <div class="padding"></div>
  58
  59     <div class="entry">
  60       <div class="title">
  61         <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>
  62       </div>
  63       <div class="date">
  64         23rd August 2012
  65       </div>
  66       <div class="body">
  67         <p>I came across a great comment from Simon Phipps today, about how
  68 <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source-software/how-microsoft-was-forced-open-office-200233">Microsoft
  69 have been forced to open Office</a>, and it made me remember and
  70 revisit the great site
  71 <a href="http://www.officeshots.org/">officeshots</a> which allow you
  72 to check out how different programs present the ODF file format.  I
  73 recommend both to those of my readers interested in ODF. :)</p>
  74
  75       </div>
  76       <div class="tags">
  77
  78
  79         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>.
  80
  81
  82       </div>
  83     </div>
  84     <div class="padding"></div>
  85
  86     <div class="entry">
  87       <div class="title">
  88         <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>
  89       </div>
  90       <div class="date">
  91         17th August 2012
  92       </div>
  93       <div class="body">
  94         <p>In my spare time, I currently work on a Norwegian
  95 <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> version of the 2004 book
  96 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig,
  97 to get a Norwegian text explaining the problems with the copyright law
  98 I can give to my parents and others that are reluctant to read an
  99 English book.  It is a marvellous set of examples on how the ever
 100 expanding copyright regulations hurt culture and society.  When the
 101 translation is done, I hope to find funding to print and ship a copy
 102 to all the members of the Norwegian parliament, before they sit down
 103 to debate the latest revisions to the Norwegian copyright law.  This
 104 summer I
 105 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnad_for___sende_norsk_versjon_av_Free_Culture_til_stortingets_representanter_.html">called
 106 for volunteers</a> to help me, and I have been able to secure the
 107 valuable contribution from at least one other Norwegian.</p>
 108
 109 <p>Two days ago, we finally broke the 50% mark.  Then more than 50% of
 110 the number of strings to translate (normally paragraphs, but also
 111 titles and index entries are also counted).  All parts from the
 112 beginning up to and including chapter four is translated.  So is
 113 chapters six, seven and the conclusion.  I created a graph to show the
 114 progress:</p>
 115
 116 <img width="80%" align="center" src="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/progress.png">
 117
 118 <p>The number of strings to translate increase as I insert the index
 119 entries into the docbook.  They were missing with the docbook version
 120 I initially started with.  There are still quite a few index entries
 121 missing, but everyone starting with A, B, O, Z and Y are done.  I
 122 currently focus on completing the index entries, to get a complete
 123 english version of the docbook source.</p>
 124
 125 <p>There is still need for translators and people with docbook
 126 knowledge, to be able to get a good looking book (I still struggle
 127 with dblatex, xmlto and docbook-xsl) as well as to do the draft
 128 translation and proof reading.  And I would like the figures to be
 129 redrawn as SVGs to make it easy to translate them.  Any SVG master
 130 around?  I am sure there are some legal terms that are unfamiliar to
 131 me.  If you want to help, please get in touch, and check out the
 132 project files currently available from <a
 133 href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p>
 134
 135 <p>If you are curious what the translated book currently look like,
 136 the updated
 137 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a>
 138 and
 139 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a>
 140 are published on github.  The HTML version is published as well, but
 141 github hand it out with MIME type text/plain, confusing browsers, so I
 142 saw no point in linking to that version.</p>
 143
 144       </div>
 145       <div class="tags">
 146
 147
 148         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>.
 149
 150
 151       </div>
 152     </div>
 153     <div class="padding"></div>
 154
 155     <div class="entry">
 156       <div class="title">
 157         <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>
 158       </div>
 159       <div class="date">
 160         10th August 2012
 161       </div>
 162       <div class="body">
 163         <p>In <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> one can specify
 164 the language used at the top, and the processing pipeline will use
 165 this information to pick the correct translations for 'chapter', 'see
 166 also', 'index' etc.  And for most languages used with docbook, I guess
 167 this work just fine.  For example a German user can start the document
 168 with &lt;book lang="de"&gt;, and the document will show up with the
 169 correct content with any of the docbook processors.  This is not the
 170 case for the language
 171 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_Culture_in_Norwegian___5_chapters_done__74_percent_left_to_do.html">I
 172 am working with at the moment</a>, Norwegian Bokmål.</p>
 173
 174 <p>For a while, I was confused about which language code to use,
 175 because I was unable to find any language code that would work across
 176 all tools.  I am currently testing dblatex, xmlto, docbook-xsl, and
 177 dbtoepub, and they do not handle Norwegian Bokmål the same way.  Some
 178 of them do not handle it at all.</p>
 179
 180 <p>A bit of background information is probably needed to understand
 181 this mess.  Norwegian is not one, but two written variants.  The
 182 variants are Norwegian Nynorsk and Norwegian Bokmål.  There are three
 183 two letter language codes associated with these languages, Norwegian
 184 is 'no', Norwegian Nynorsk is 'nn' and Norwegian Bokmål is 'nb'.
 185 Historically the 'no' language code was used for Norwegian Bokmål, but
 186 many years ago this was found to be å bad idea, and the recommendation
 187 is to use the most specific language code instead, to avoid confusion.
 188 In the transition period it is a good idea to make sure 'no' was an
 189 alias for 'nb'.</p>
 190
 191 <p>Back to docbook processing tools in Debian.  The dblatex tool only
 192 understand 'nn'.  There are translations for 'no', but not 'nb' (BTS
 193 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/684391">#684391</a>), but due to a bug
 194 (BTS <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/682936">#682936</a>) the 'no'
 195 language code is not recognised.  The docbook-xsl tool chain only
 196 recognise 'nn' and 'nb', but not 'no'.  The xmlto tool only recognise
 197 'nn' and 'nb', but not 'no'.  The end result that there is no language
 198 code I can use to get the docbook file working with all of these tools
 199 at the same time. :(</p>
 200
 201 <p>The correct solution is to use &lt;book lang="nb"&gt;, but it will
 202 take time before that will work with all the free software docbook
 203 processors. :(</p>
 204
 205 <p>Oh, the joy of well integrated tools. :/</p>
 206
 207       </div>
 208       <div class="tags">
 209
 210
 211         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>.
 212
 213
 214       </div>
 215     </div>
 216     <div class="padding"></div>
 217
 218     <div class="entry">
 219       <div class="title">
 220         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Best_way_to_create_a_docbook_book_.html">Best way to create a docbook book?</a>
 221       </div>
 222       <div class="date">
 223         31st July 2012
 224       </div>
 225       <div class="body">
 226         <p>I tried to send this text to the
 227 <a href="https://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/docbook-apps/">docbook-apps
 228 mailing list at lists.oasis-open.org</a>, but it only accept messages
 229 from subscribers and rejected my post, and I completely lack the
 230 bandwidth required to subscribe to another mailing list, so instead I
 231 try to post my message here and hope my blog readers can help me
 232 out.</p>
 233
 234 <p>I am quite new to docbook processing, and am climbing a steep
 235 learning curve at the moment.</p>
 236
 237 <p>To give you some background, I am working on a Norwegian
 238 translation of the book Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig, and I use
 239 docbook to handle the process.  The files to build the book are
 240 available from
 241 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.
 242 The book got around 400 pages with parts, images, footnotes, tables,
 243 index entries etc, which has proven to be a challenge for the free
 244 software docbook processors.  My build platform is Debian GNU/Linux
 245 Squeeze.</p>
 246
 247 <p>I want to build PDF, EPUB and HTML version of the book, and have
 248 tried different tool chains to do the conversion from docbook to these
 249 formats.  I am currently focusing on the PDF version, and have a few
 250 problems.</p>
 251
 252 <ul>
 253
 254 <li>Using dblatex, the &lt;part&gt; handling is not the way I want to,
 255    as &lt;/part&gt; do not really end the &lt;part&gt;. (See
 256    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/683166">BTS report #683166</a>), the
 257    xetex backend (needed to process UTF-8) give incorrect hyphens in
 258    index references spanning several pages (See
 259    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/682901">BTS report #682901</a>), and
 260    I am unable to get the norwegian template texts (See
 261    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/682936">BTS report #682936</a>).</li>
 262
 263 <li>Using straight xmlto fail with some latex error (See
 264    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/683163">BTS report
 265    #683163</a>).</li>
 266
 267 <li>Using xmlto with the fop backend fail to handle images (do not
 268    show up in the PDF), fail to handle a long footnote (overlap
 269    footnote and text body, see
 270    <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/683197">BTS report #683197</a>), and
 271    fail to create a correct index (some lack page ref, and the page
 272    refs listed are not right).</li>
 273
 274 <li>Using xmlto with the dblatex backend behave like dblatex.</li>
 275
 276 <li>Using docbook-xls with xsltproc + fop have the same footnote and
 277    index problems the xmlto + fop processing.</li>
 278
 279 </ul>
 280
 281 <p>So I wonder, what would be the best way to create the PDF version
 282 of this book?  Are some of the bugs found above solved in new or
 283 experimental versions of some docbook tool chain?</p>
 284
 285 <p>What about HTML and EPUB versions?</p>
 286
 287       </div>
 288       <div class="tags">
 289
 290
 291         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>.
 292
 293
 294       </div>
 295     </div>
 296     <div class="padding"></div>
 297
 298     <div class="entry">
 299       <div class="title">
 300         <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>
 301       </div>
 302       <div class="date">
 303         21st July 2012
 304       </div>
 305       <div class="body">
 306         <p>I reported earlier that I am working on
 307 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnad_for___sende_norsk_versjon_av_Free_Culture_til_stortingets_representanter_.html">a
 308 norwegian version</a> of the book
 309 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig.
 310 Progress is good, and yesterday I got a major contribution from Anders
 311 Hagen Jarmund completing chapter six.  The source files as well as a
 312 PDF and EPUB version of this book are available from
 313 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p>
 314
 315 <p>I am happy to report that the draft for the first two chapters
 316 (preface, introduction) is complete, and three other chapters are also
 317 completely translated.  This completes 26 percent of the number of
 318 strings (equivalent to paragraphs) in the book, and there is thus 74
 319 percent left to translate.  A graph of the progress is present at the
 320 bottom of the github project page.  There is still room for more
 321 contributors.  Get in touch or send github pull requests with fixes if
 322 you got time and are willing to help make this book make it to
 323 print. :)</p>
 324
 325 <p>The book translation framework could also be a good basis for other
 326 translations, if you want the book to be available in your
 327 language.</p>
 328
 329       </div>
 330       <div class="tags">
 331
 332
 333         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>.
 334
 335
 336       </div>
 337     </div>
 338     <div class="padding"></div>
 339
 340     <div class="entry">
 341       <div class="title">
 342         <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>
 343       </div>
 344       <div class="date">
 345         16th July 2012
 346       </div>
 347       <div class="body">
 348         <p>I am currently working on a
 349 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnad_for___sende_norsk_versjon_av_Free_Culture_til_stortingets_representanter_.html">project
 350 to translate</a> the book
 351 <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig
 352 to Norwegian.  And the source we base our translation on is the
 353 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook">docbook</a> version, to
 354 allow us to use po4a and .po files to handle the translation, and for
 355 this to work well the docbook source document need to be properly
 356 tagged.  The source files of this project is available from
 357 <a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p>
 358
 359 <p>The problem is that the docbook source have flaws, and we have
 360 no-one involved in the project that is a docbook expert.  Is there a
 361 docbook expert somewhere that is interested in helping us create a
 362 well tagged docbook version of the book, and adjust our build process
 363 for the PDF, EPUB and HTML version of the book?  This will provide a
 364 well tagged English version (our source document), and make it a lot
 365 easier for us to create a good Norwegian version.  If you can and want
 366 to help, please get in touch with me or fork the github project and
 367 send pull requests with fixes. :)</p>
 368
 369       </div>
 370       <div class="tags">
 371
 372
 373         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>.
 374
 375
 376       </div>
 377     </div>
 378     <div class="padding"></div>
 379
 380     <div class="entry">
 381       <div class="title">
 382         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__George_Bredberg.html">Debian Edu interview: George Bredberg</a>
 383       </div>
 384       <div class="date">
 385          9th July 2012
 386       </div>
 387       <div class="body">
 388         <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
 389 Skolelinux</a> project have users all over the globe, but until
 390 recently we have not known about any users in Norway's neighbour
 391 country Sweden.  This changed when George Bredberg showed up in March
 392 this year on the mailing list, asking interesting questions about how
 393 to adjust and scale the just released
 394 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu
 395 Wheezy</a> setup to his liking.  He granted me an interview, and I am
 396 happy to share his answers with you here.</p>
 397
 398 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
 399
 400 <p>I'm a 44 year old country guy that have been working 12 years at
 401 the same school as 50% IT-manager and 50% Teacher. My educational
 402 background is fil.kand in history and religious beliefs, an exam as a
 403 "folkhighschool" teacher, that is, for teaching grownups.  In
 404 Norwegian I believe it's called "Vuxenupplaring". I also have a master
 405 in "Technology and social change". So I'm not really a tech guy, I
 406 just like to study how humans and technology interact and that is my
 407 perspective when working with IT.</p>
 408
 409 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
 410 project?</strong></p>
 411
 412 I have followed the Skolelinux project for quite some time by
 413 now. Earlier I tested out the K12-LTSP project, which we used for some
 414 time, but I really like the idea of having a distribution aimed to be
 415 a complete solution for schools with necessary tools integrated. When
 416 K12-LTSP abandoned that idea some years ago, I started to look more
 417 seriously into Skolelinux instead.
 418
 419 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
 420 Edu?</strong></p>
 421
 422 The big point of Skolelinux to me is that it is a complete
 423 distribution, ready to install. It has LDAP-support, MS Windows
 424 integration tools and so forth already configured, saving an
 425 administrator a lot of time and headache. We were using another Linux
 426 based thin-client system called Thinlinc, that has served us very
 427 well. But that Skolelinux is based on VNC and LTSP, to me, is better
 428 when it comes to the kind of multimedia used in schools. That is
 429 showing videos from Youtube or educational TV. It is also easier to
 430 mix thin clients with workstations, since the user settings will be the
 431 same. In our VNC-based solution you had to "beat around the bush" by
 432 setting up a second, hidden, home-directory for user settings for the
 433 workstations, because they will be different from the ones used on the
 434 thin clients. Skolelinux support for diskless workstations are very
 435 convenient since a school today often need to use a class room
 436 projector showing videos in full screen. That is easily done with a
 437 small integrated media computer running as a diskless workstation. You
 438 have only two installs to update and configure. One for the thin
 439 clients and one for the workstations. Also saving a lot of time.  Our
 440 old system was also based on Redhat and CentOS. They are both very
 441 nice distributions, but they are sometimes painfully slow when it
 442 comes to updating multimedia support and multimedia programs (even
 443 such as Gimp), leaving us with a bit "oldish" applications. Debian is
 444 quicker to update.
 445
 446 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
 447 Edu?</strong></p>
 448
 449 <p>Debian is a bit too quick when it comes to updating. As an example
 450 we use old HP terminals as thinclients, and two times already this
 451 year (2012) the updates you get from the repositories has stopped
 452 sound from working with them.  It's a kernel/ALSA issue. So you have
 453 to be more careful properly testing the updates before you run them in
 454 a production environment. This has never happened with CentOS.</p>
 455
 456 <p>I also would like to be able to set my own domain-settings at
 457 install time.  In Skolelinux they are kind of hard coded into the
 458 distribution, when it comes to LDAP and at least samba integration.
 459 That is more a cosmetic/translation issue, and not a real problem.
 460 Running MS Windows applications within the Skolelinux environment needs
 461 to be better supported. That is, running them seamlessly via RDP, and
 462 support for single-sign on.  That will make the transition to free
 463 software easier, because you can keep the applications you really
 464 need.  No support will make it impossible if you work in a school where
 465 some applications can't be open source. As for us we really need to
 466 run Adobe InDesign in our journalist classes.  We run a journalist
 467 education, and is one of the very few non university ones that is ok:d
 468 by Svenska journalistförbundet (Swedish journalist association).  Our
 469 education gives the pupils the right of membership there, once they
 470 are done.  This is important if you want to get a job.</p>
 471
 472 <p>Adobe InDesign is the program most commonly used in newspapers and
 473 magazines.  We used Quark Express before, but they seem to loose there
 474 market to Adobe. The only "equivalent" to InDesign in the opensource
 475 world is Scribus, and its not advanced enough. At least not according
 476 to the teacher. I think it would be possible to use it, because they
 477 are not supposed to learn a program, they are supposed to learn how to
 478 edit and compile a newspaper.  But politically at our school we are not
 479 there yet.  And Scribus lacks a lot of things you find i InDesign.</p>
 480
 481 <p>We used even a windows program for sound editing when it comes to
 482 the radio-journalist part. The year to come we are going to try
 483 Audacity. That software has the same kind of limitations compared to
 484 Adobe Audition, but that teacher is a bit more open minded. We have
 485 tried Ardour also, but that instead is more like a music studio
 486 program, not intended for the kind of editing taking place in a radio
 487 studio. Its way to complex and the GUI is to scattered when you only
 488 want to cut, make pass-overs, add extra channels and normalise.  Those
 489 things you can do in Audacity, but its not as easy as in Audition. You
 490 have to do more things manually with envelopes, and that is a bit old
 491 fashion and timewasting. Its also harder to cut and move sound from
 492 one channel to another, which is a thing that you do frequently
 493 because you often find yourself needing to rearrange parts of the
 494 sound file.</p>
 495
 496 <p>So, I am not sure we will succeed in replacing even Audition, but we
 497 will try.  The problem is the students have certain expectations when
 498 they start an education towards a profession.  So the programs has to
 499 look and feel professional.  Good thing with radio, there are many
 500 programs out there, that radio studios use, so its not as standardised
 501 as Newspaper editing. That means, it does not really matter what
 502 program they learn, because once they start working they still have to
 503 learn the program the studio uses, so instead focus has to be to learn
 504 the editing part without to much focus on a specific software.</p>
 505
 506 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
 507
 508 <p>Myself I'm running Linux Mint, or Ubuntu these days.  I use almost
 509 only open source software, and preferably Linux based. When it comes
 510 to most used applications its OpenOffice, and Firefox (of course ;)
 511 )</p>
 512
 513 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
 514 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
 515
 516 <p>To get schools to use free software there has to be good open
 517 source software that are windows based, to ease the transition. But
 518 it's also very important that the multimedia support is working
 519 flawlessly.  The problems with Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and whatever
 520 will create problems when it comes to both teachers and
 521 students. Economy are also important for schools, so using thin
 522 clients, as long as they have good multimedia support, is a very good
 523 idea. It's also important that the open source software works even for
 524 the administration.  It's hard to convince the teachers to stick with
 525 open source, if the principal has to run Windows.  It also creates a
 526 problem if some classes has to use Windows for there tasks, since that
 527 will create a difference in "status" between classes, so a good
 528 support for running windows applications via the thin client (Linux)
 529 desktop is essential.  At least at our school, where we have mixed
 530 level of educations, from high-school to journalist-school.</p>
 531
 532 <p>Update 2012-07-09 08:30: Paul Wise tipped me on IRC about three
 533 useful sources related to Free Software for radio stations: the LWN
 534 article <a href="https://lwn.net/Articles/481607/">Radio station
 535 management with Airtime</a>,
 536 <a href="http://www.sourcefabric.org/en/airtime/">Airtime</a> which
 537 claim to be a Free open source radio automation software and
 538 <a href="http://www.rivendellaudio.org/">Rivendell</a> which claim to
 539 be complete radio broadcast automation solution.  All of them seem
 540 useful to the aspiring radio producer.</p>
 541
 542       </div>
 543       <div class="tags">
 544
 545
 546         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>.
 547
 548
 549       </div>
 550     </div>
 551     <div class="padding"></div>
 552
 553     <div class="entry">
 554       <div class="title">
 555         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_do_schools_waste_money_on_IT_.html">Why do schools waste money on IT?</a>
 556       </div>
 557       <div class="date">
 558          8th July 2012
 559       </div>
 560       <div class="body">
 561         <p>In the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project, we have realised that one
 562 of the major blockers for the project success is the purchasing skills
 563 in schools and municipalities.  We provide what the happy users of
 564 Debian Edu / Skolelinux say they need and to a lower cost than the
 565 alternatives, and yet so few schools decide to use our solution.  I
 566 was pleased to discover the same observation done by mySociety and Tom
 567 Steinberg in his blog post
 568 "<a href="http://www.mysociety.org/2012/06/19/can-you-recognize-the-million-pound-chair/">Can
 569 you recognize the million pound chair?</a>".  Read it and weep for the
 570 spending of your tax money.</p>
 571
 572 <p>Of course there are other factors involved as well, like our
 573 projects bad marketing skills and the Linux community fragmentation
 574 causing worry with the people on the outside, so we as a project need
 575 to keep working hard to gain users, but it is a up-hill battle when
 576 public decision makers are unable to understand computer system
 577 purchases.</p>
 578
 579       </div>
 580       <div class="tags">
 581
 582
 583         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>.
 584
 585
 586       </div>
 587     </div>
 588     <div class="padding"></div>
 589
 590     <div class="entry">
 591       <div class="title">
 592         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_Timetabling_Software___nice_free_software.html">Free Timetabling Software - nice free software</a>
 593       </div>
 594       <div class="date">
 595          7th July 2012
 596       </div>
 597       <div class="body">
 598         <p>Included in <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
 599 Skolelinux</a> is a large collection of end user and school specific
 600 software.  It is one of the packages not installed by default but
 601 provided in the Debian archive for schools to install if they want to,
 602 is a system to automatically plan the school time table using
 603 information about available teachers, classes and rooms, combined with
 604 the list of required courses and how many hours each topic should
 605 receive.  The software is
 606
 607 <a href="http://lalescu.ro/liviu/fet/">named FET</a>, and it provide a
 608 graphical user interface to input the required information, save the
 609 result in a fairly simple XML format, and generate time tables for
 610 both teachers and students.  It is available both for
 611 <a href="http://lalescu.ro/liviu/fet/download.html">Linux, MacOSX and
 612 Windows</a>.</p>
 613
 614 <p>This is <a href="http://lalescu.ro/liviu/fet/features.html">the
 615 feature list</a>, liftet from the project web site:</p>
 616
 617 <p><ul>
 618
 619   <li>FET is free software, licensed under the GNU GPL v2 or later.
 620     You can freely use, copy, modify and redistribute it </li>
 621
 622   <li>Localized to en_US (US English, default), ar (Arabic), ca
 623     (Catalan), da (Danish), de (German), el (Greek), es (Spanish), fa
 624     (Persian), fr (French), gl (Galician), he (Hebrew), hu
 625     (Hungarian), id (Indonesian), it (Italian), lt (Lithuanian), mk
 626     (Macedonian), ms (Malay), nl (Dutch), pl (Polish), pt_BR
 627     (Brazilian Portuguese), ro (Romanian), ru (Russian), si (Sinhala),
 628     sk (Slovak), sr (Serbian), tr (Turkish), uk (Ukrainian), uz
 629     (Uzbek) and vi (Vietnamese) (incompletely for some languages)
 630     </li>
 631
 632   <li>Fully automatic generation algorithm, allowing also
 633     semi-automatic or manual allocation</li>
 634
 635   <li>Platform independent implementation, allowing running on
 636     GNU/Linux, Windows, Mac and any system that Qt supports </li>
 637
 638   <li>Flexible modular XML format for the input file, allowing editing
 639     with an XML editor or by hand (besides FET interface)</li>
 640
 641   <li>Import/export from CSV format</li>
 642
 643   <li>The resulted timetables are exported into HTML, XML and CSV
 644     formats </li>
 645
 646   <li>Flexible students structure, organized into sets: years, groups
 647     and subgroups. FET allows overlapping years and groups and
 648     non-overlapping subgroups. You can even define individual students
 649     (as separate sets)</li>
 650
 651   <li>Each constraint has a weight percentage, from 0.0% to 100.0%
 652     (but some special constraints are allowed to have only 100% weight
 653     percentage)</li>
 654
 655   <li>Limits for the algorithm (all these limits can be increased on
 656     demand, as a custom version, because this would require a bit more
 657     memory):
 658     <ul>
 659       <li>Maximum total number of hours (periods) per day: 60</li>
 660       <li>Maximum number of working days per week: 35</li>
 661       <li>Maximum total number of teachers: 6000</li>
 662       <li>Maximum total number of sets of students: 30000</li>
 663       <li>Maximum total number of subjects: 6000</li>
 664       <li>Virtually unlimited number of activity tags</li>
 665       <li>Maximum number of activities: 30000</li>
 666       <li>Maximum number of rooms: 6000</li>
 667       <li>Maximum number of buildings: 6000</li>
 668       <li>Possibility of adding multiple teachers and
 669           students sets for each activity.  (it is possible
 670           also to have no teachers or no students sets for an
 671           activity)</li>
 672       <li>Virtually unlimited number of time constraints</li>
 673       <li>Virtually unlimited number of space constraints</li>
 674     </ul></li>
 675
 676   <li>A large and flexible palette of time constraints:
 677     <ul>
 678       <li>Break periods</li>
 679       <li>For teacher(s):
 680         <ul>
 681           <li>Not available periods</li>
 682           <li>Max/min days per week</li>
 683           <li>Max gaps per day/week</li>
 684           <li>Max hours daily/continuously</li>
 685           <li>Min hours daily</li>
 686           <li>Max hours daily/continuously with an activity tag</li>
 687
 688           <li>Respect working in an hourly interval a max number of
 689             days per week</li>
 690         </ul></li>
 691       <li>For students (sets):
 692         <ul>
 693           <li>Not available periods</li>
 694           <li>Begins early (specify max allowed beginnings at second hour)</li>
 695           <li>Max gaps per day/week</li>
 696           <li>Max hours daily/continuously</li>
 697           <li>Min hours daily</li>
 698           <li>Max hours daily/continuously with an activity tag</li>
 699
 700           <li>Respect working in an hourly interval a max number of
 701             days per week</li>
 702         </ul></li>
 703       <li>For an activity or a set of activities/subactivities:
 704         <ul>
 705           <li>A single preferred starting time</li>
 706           <li>A set of preferred starting times</li>
 707           <li>A set of preferred time slots</li>
 708           <li>Min/max days between them</li>
 709           <li>End(s) students day</li>
 710           <li>Same starting time/day/hour</li>
 711           <li>Occupy max time slots from selection (a complex and
 712             flexible constraint, useful in many situations)</li>
 713           <li>Consecutive, ordered, grouped (for 2 or 3 (sub)activities)</li>
 714           <li>Not overlapping</li>
 715           <li>Max simultaneous in selected time slots</li>
 716           <li>Min gaps between a set of (sub)activities</li>
 717         </ul></li>
 718     </ul></li>
 719
 720   <li>A large and flexible palette of space constraints:
 721     <ul>
 722       <li>Room not available periods</li>
 723       <li>For teacher(s):
 724         <ul>
 725           <li>Home room(s)</li>
 726           <li>Max building changes per day/week</li>
 727           <li>Min gaps between building changes</li>
 728         </ul>
 729       </li>
 730
 731       <li>For students (sets):
 732         <ul>
 733           <li>Home room(s)</li>
 734           <li>Max building changes per day/week</li>
 735           <li>Min gaps between building changes</li>
 736         </ul>
 737       </li>
 738       <li>Preferred room(s):
 739         <ul>
 740           <li>For a subject</li>
 741           <li>For an activity tag</li>
 742           <li>For a subject and an activity tag</li>
 743           <li>Individually for a (sub)activity</li>
 744         </ul>
 745       </li>
 746
 747       <li>For a set of activities:
 748         <ul>
 749           <li>Occupy a maximum number of different rooms</li>
 750         </ul>
 751       </li>
 752     </ul>
 753   </li>
 754 </ul></p>
 755
 756 <p>I have not used it myself, as I am not involved in time table
 757 planning at a school, but it seem to work fine when I test it.  If you
 758 need to set up your schools time table, and is tired of doing it
 759 manually, check it out.
 760
 761 A quick summary on how to use it can be found in
 762 <a href="http://marvelsoft.co.in/wp/2012/03/generate-timetable-for-state-cbse-icse-igcse-schools-free/">a
 763 blog post from MarvelSoft</a>.  If you find FET useful, please provide
 764 a recipe for the Debian Edu project in the
 765 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu#Howtos">Debian Edu HowTo
 766 section</a>.</p>
 767
 768       </div>
 769       <div class="tags">
 770
 771
 772         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>.
 773
 774
 775       </div>
 776     </div>
 777     <div class="padding"></div>
 778
 779     <div class="entry">
 780       <div class="title">
 781         <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>
 782       </div>
 783       <div class="date">
 784          3rd July 2012
 785       </div>
 786       <div class="body">
 787         <p>In the NUUG <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</a>
 788 project (Norwegian version of
 789 <a href="http://www.fixmystreet.com/">FixMyStreet</a> from
 790 <a href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a>), we have discovered
 791 a problem with the municipalities using
 792 <a href="http://www.zimbra.com/">Zimbra</a>.  When FiksGataMi send a
 793 problem report to the government, the email From: address is set to
 794 the address of the person reporting the problem, while envelope sender
 795 is set to the FiksGataMi contact address.  The intention is to make
 796 sure the municipality send any replies to the person reporting the
 797 problem, while any email delivery problems are sent to us in NUUG.
 798 This work well in most cases, but not for Karmøy municipality using
 799 Zimbra.  Karmøy is using the vacation message function in Zimbra to
 800 send an automatic reply to report that the message has been received,
 801 and this message is sent to the envelope sender and not the address in
 802 the From: header.</p>
 803
 804 <p>This causes the automatic message from Karmøy to go to NUUGs
 805 request-tracker instance instead of to the person reporting the
 806 problem.  We can not really change the envelope sender address, as
 807 this would make it impossible for us to discover when there are
 808 problems with the MTAs receiving problem reports.  We have been in
 809 contact with the people at Karmøy municipality, and they are willing
 810 to adjust Zimbra if something can be changed there to get a better
 811 behaviour.</p>
 812
 813 <p>The default behaviour of Zimbra is as far as I can tell according
 814 to the specification in RFC 3834, which recommend that vacation
 815 messages are sent to the envelope sender and not to the From: address.
 816 But I wonder if it is possible to adjust or configure Zimbra to behave
 817 differently.  Anyone know?  Please let us know at
 818 <a href="http://lists.nuug.no/mailman/listinfo/fiksgatami">fiksgatami
 819 (at) nuug.no</a>.</p>
 820
 821       </div>
 822       <div class="tags">
 823
 824
 825         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>.
 826
 827
 828       </div>
 829     </div>
 830     <div class="padding"></div>
 831
 832     <div class="entry">
 833       <div class="title">
 834         <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>
 835       </div>
 836       <div class="date">
 837         26th June 2012
 838       </div>
 839       <div class="body">
 840         <p>I've been too busy at home, but finally I found time to wrap up
 841 another interview with the people behind
 842 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>.
 843 This time we get to know José Luis Redrejo Rodríguez, one of our great
 844 helpers from Spain.  His effort was the reason we added support for
 845 several desktop types (KDE, Gnome and most recently LXDE) in Debian
 846 Edu, and have all of these available in the recently published
 847 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu
 848 Squeeze</a> version.</p>
 849
 850 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
 851
 852 <p>I'm a father, teacher and engineer who is working for the Education
 853 ministry of the Region of Extremadura (Spain) in the implementation of
 854 ICT in schools</p>
 855
 856 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
 857 project?</strong></p>
 858
 859 <p>At 2006, I verified that both, we in Extremadura and Skolelinux
 860 project, had been working in parallel for some years, doing very
 861 similar things, using very similar tools and with similar targets, so
 862 I decided it was time to join forces as much as possible.</p>
 863
 864 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
 865 Edu?</strong></p>
 866
 867 <p>A community of highly skilled experts working together, with a
 868 really open schema of collaboration and work. I really love the
 869 concepts of Do-ocracy and Merit-ocracy and the way these concepts are
 870 been used everyday inside Debian Edu.</p>
 871
 872 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
 873 Edu?</strong></p>
 874
 875 <p>Sometimes the differences in the implementations, laws or
 876 economical and technical resources in the different countries don't
 877 allow us to agree in the same solution for all of us, and several
 878 approaches are needed, what is a waste of effort. Also, there is a
 879 lack of more man power to be able to follow the fast evolution of the
 880 technologies in school.</p>
 881
 882 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
 883
 884 <p>Debian, of course, and due to my kind of job I am most of my time
 885 between Iceweasel, <a href="http://www.geany.org/">Geany</a> and
 886 <a href="http://www.ohloh.net/p/gnome-terminator">Terminator</a>.</p>
 887
 888 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
 889 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
 890
 891 <p>I think there is not a single strategy because there are very
 892 different scenarios: schools with mixed proprietary and free
 893 environments, schools using only workstations, other schools using
 894 laptops, netbooks, tablets, interactive white-boards, etc.</p>
 895
 896 <p>Also the range of ages of the students is very broad and you can
 897 not use the same solutions for primary schools and secondary or even
 898 universities. So different strategies are needed.</p>
 899
 900 <p>But, looking at these differences, and looking back to the things
 901 we've done and implemented, and the places were we have spent most of
 902 our forces, I think we should focus as much as possible in free
 903 multi-platform environments, using only standards tools, and moving
 904 more and more to Internet or network solutions that could be deployed
 905 using wireless. I think we'll see more and more personal devices in
 906 the schools, devices the students and teachers will take home with
 907 them, so the solutions must be able to be taken at home and continue
 908 working there.</p>
 909
 910       </div>
 911       <div class="tags">
 912
 913
 914         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>.
 915
 916
 917       </div>
 918     </div>
 919     <div class="padding"></div>
 920
 921     <div class="entry">
 922       <div class="title">
 923         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Song_book_for_Computer_Scientists.html">Song book for Computer Scientists</a>
 924       </div>
 925       <div class="date">
 926         24th June 2012
 927       </div>
 928       <div class="body">
 929         <p>Many years ago, while studying Computer Science at the
 930 <a href="http://www.uit.no/">University of Tromsø</a>, I started
 931 collecting computer related songs for use at parties.  The original
 932 version was written in LaTeX, but a few years ago I got help from
 933 Håkon W. Lie, one of the inventors of W3C CSS, to convert it to HTML
 934 while keeping the ability to create a nice book in PDF format.  I have
 935 not had time to maintain the book for a while now, and guess I should
 936 put it up on some public version control repository where others can
 937 help me extend and update the book.  If anyone is volunteering to help
 938 me with this, send me an email.  Also let me know if there are songs
 939 missing in my book.</p>
 940
 941 <p>I have not mentioned the book on my blog so far, and it occured to
 942 me today that I really should let all my readers share the joys of
 943 singing out load about programming, computers and computer networks.
 944 Especially now that <a href="http://debconf12.debconf.org/">Debconf
 945 12</a> is about to start (and I am not going).  Want to sing?  Check
 946 out <a href="http://www.hungry.com/~pere/cs-songbook/">Petter's
 947 Computer Science Songbook</a>.
 948
 949       </div>
 950       <div class="tags">
 951
 952
 953         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>.
 954
 955
 956       </div>
 957     </div>
 958     <div class="padding"></div>
 959
 960     <div class="entry">
 961       <div class="title">
 962         <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>
 963       </div>
 964       <div class="date">
 965         11th June 2012
 966       </div>
 967       <div class="body">
 968         <p>During my work on
 969 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.nb.html">Debian Edu
 970 based on Squeeze</a>, I came across some issues that should be
 971 addressed in the Wheezy release.  I finally found time to wrap up my
 972 notes and provide quick summary of what I found, with a bit
 973 explanation.</p>
 974
 975 <p><ul>
 976
 977 <li>We need to rewrite our package installation framework, as tasksel
 978 changed from using tasksel tasks to using meta packages (aka packages
 979 with dependencies like our education-* packages), and our installation
 980 system depend on tasksel tasks in
 981 /usr/share/tasksel/debian-edu-tasks.desc for package
 982 installation.</li>
 983
 984 <li>Enable Kerberos login for more services.  Now with the Kerberos
 985 foundation in place, we should use it to get single sign on with more
 986 services, and avoiding unneeded password / login questions.  We should
 987 at least try to enable it for these services:
 988 <ul>
 989
 990   <li>CUPS for admins to add/configure printers and users when using
 991     quotas.</li>
 992   <li>Nagios for admins checking the system status.</li>
 993   <li>GOsa for admins updating LDAP and users changing their passwords.</li>
 994   <li>LDAP for admins updating LDAP.</li>
 995   <li>Squid for users when exam mode / filtering is active.</li>
 996   <li>ssh for admins and users to save a password prompt.</li>
 997
 998 </ul></li>
 999
1000 <li>When we move GOsa to use Kerberos instead of LDAP bind to
1001 authenticate users, we should try to block or at least limit access to
1002 use LDAP bind for authentication, to ensure Kerberos is used when it
1003 is intended, and nothing fall back to using the less safe LDAP bind</li>
1004
1005 <li>Merge debian-edu-config and debian-edu-install.  The split made
1006 sense when d-e-install did a lot more, but these days it is just an
1007 inconvenience when we update the debconf preseeding values.</li>
1008
1009 <li>Fix partman-auto to allow us to abort the installation before
1010 touching the disk if the disk is too small.  This is
1011 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/653305">BTS report #653305</a> and the
1012 d-i developers are fine with the patch and someone just need to apply
1013 it and upload.  After this is done we need to adjust
1014 debian-edu-install to use this new hook.</li>
1015
1016 <li>Adjust to new LTSP framework (boot time config instead of install
1017 time config).  LTSP changed its design, and our hooks to install
1018 packages and update the configuration is most likely not going to work
1019 in Wheezy.
1020
1021 <li>Consider switching to NBD instead of NFS for LTSP root, to allow
1022 the Kernel to cache files in its normal file cache, possibly speeding
1023 up KDE login on slow networks.</li>
1024
1025 <li>Make it possible to create expired user passwords that need to
1026 change on first login.  This is useful when handing out password on
1027 paper, to make sure only the user know the password.  This require
1028 fixes to the PAM handling of kdm and gdm.</li>
1029
1030 <li>Make GUI for adding new machines automatically from sitesummary.
1031 The current command line script is not very friendly to people most
1032 familiar with GUIs.  This should probably be integrated into GOsa to
1033 have it available where the admin will be looking for it..</li>
1034
1035 <li>We should find way for Nagios to check that the DHCP service
1036 actually is working (as in handling out IP addresses).  None of the
1037 Nagios checks I have found so far have been working for me.</li>
1038
1039 <li>We should switch from libpam-nss-ldapd to sssd for all profiles
1040 using LDAP, and not only on for roaming workstations, to have less
1041 packages to configure and consistent setup across all profiles.</li>
1042
1043 <li>We should configure Kerberos to update LDAP and Samba password
1044 when changing password using the Kerberos protocol.  The hook was
1045 requested in <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/588968">BTS report
1046 #588968</a> and is now available in Wheezy.  We might need to write a
1047 MIT Kerberos plugin in C to get this.</li>
1048
1049 <li>We should clean up the set of applications installed by default.
1050 <ul>
1051
1052 <li>reduce the number of chemistry visualisers</li>
1053 <li>consider dropping xpaint</li>
1054 <li>and probably more?</li>
1055 </ul></li>
1056
1057 <li>Some hardware need external firmware to work properly.  This is
1058 mostly the case for WiFi network cards, but there are some other
1059 examples too.  For popular laptops to work out of the box, such
1060 firmware need to be installed from non-free, and we should provide
1061 some GUI to do this.  Ubuntu already have this implemented, and we
1062 could consider using their packages.  At the moment we have some
1063 command line script to do this (one for the running system, another
1064 for the LTSP chroot).</li>
1065
1066
1067 <li>In Squeeze, we provide KDE, Gnome and LXDE as desktop options.  We
1068 should extend the list to Xfce and Sugar, and preferably find a way to
1069 install several and allow the admin or the user to select which one to
1070 use.</li>
1071
1072 <li>The golearn tool from the goplay package make it easy to check out
1073 interesting educational packages.  We should work on the package
1074 tagging in Debian to ensure it represent all the useful educational
1075 packages, and extend the tool to allow it to use packagekit to install
1076 new applications with a simple mouse click.</li>
1077
1078 <li>The Squeeze version got half a exam solution already in place,
1079 with the introduction of iptable based network blocking, but for it to
1080 be a complete exam solution the Squid proxy need to enable
1081 filtering/blocking as well when the exam mode is enabled.  We should
1082 implement a way to easily enable this for the schools that want it,
1083 instead of the "it is documented" method of today.</li>
1084
1085 <li>A feature used in several schools is the ability for a teacher to
1086 "take over" the desktop of individual or all computers in the room.
1087 There are at least three implementations,
1088 <a href="italc.sourceforge.net/">italc</a>,
1089 <a href="http://www.itais.net/help/en/">controlaula</a> og
1090 <a href="http://www.epoptes.org/">epoptes</a> and we should pick one of
1091 them and make it trivial to set it up in a school.  The challenges is
1092 how to distribute crypto keys and how to group computers in one room
1093 and how to set up which machine/user can control the machines in a
1094 given room.</li>
1095
1096 <li>Tablets and surf boards are getting more and more popular, and we
1097 should look into providing a good solution for integrating these into
1098 the Debian Edu network.  Not quite sure how.  Perhaps we should
1099 provide a installation profile with better touch screen support for
1100 them, or add some sync services to allow them to exchange
1101 configuration and data with the central server.  This should be
1102 investigated.</li>
1103
1104 </ul></p>
1105
1106 <p>I guess we will discover more as we continue to work on the Wheezy
1107 version.</p>
1108
1109       </div>
1110       <div class="tags">
1111
1112
1113         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>.
1114
1115
1116       </div>
1117     </div>
1118     <div class="padding"></div>
1119
1120     <div class="entry">
1121       <div class="title">
1122         <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>
1123       </div>
1124       <div class="date">
1125          9th June 2012
1126       </div>
1127       <div class="body">
1128         <p>Slashdot got a story about Intel planning a
1129 <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
1130 with face recognition</a> to recognise the viewer, and it occurred to
1131 me that it would be more interesting to turn it around, and do face
1132 recognition on the TV image itself.  It could let the viewer know who
1133 is present on the screen, and perhaps look up their credibility,
1134 company affiliation, previous appearances etc for the viewer to better
1135 evaluate what is being said and done.  That would be a feature I would
1136 be willing to pay for.</p>
1137
1138 <p>I would not be willing to pay for a TV that point a camera on my
1139 household, like the big brother feature apparently proposed by Intel.
1140 It is the telescreen idea fetched straight out of the book
1141 <a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt">1984 by George
1142 Orwell</a>.</p>
1143
1144       </div>
1145       <div class="tags">
1146
1147
1148         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>.
1149
1150
1151       </div>
1152     </div>
1153     <div class="padding"></div>
1154
1155     <div class="entry">
1156       <div class="title">
1157         <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>
1158       </div>
1159       <div class="date">
1160          6th June 2012
1161       </div>
1162       <div class="body">
1163         <p>A few days ago
1164 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/SOAP_based_webservice_from_Dell_to_check_server_support_status.html">I
1165 reported how to get</a> the support status out of Dell using an
1166 unofficial and undocumented SOAP API, which I since have found out was
1167 <a href="http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/linux-poweredge/2012-February/045959.html">discovered
1168 by Daniel De Marco in february</a>.  Combined with my web scraping
1169 code for HP, Dell and IBM
1170 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Checking_server_hardware_support_status_for_Dell__HP_and_IBM_servers.html">from
1171 2009</a>, I got inspired and wrote
1172 <a href="https://views.scraperwiki.com/run/computer-hardware-support-status/">a
1173 web service</a> based on Scraperwiki to make it easy to look up the
1174 support status and get a machine readable result back.</p>
1175
1176 <p>This is what it look like at the moment when asking for the JSON
1177 output:
1178
1179 <blockquote><pre>
1180 % 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>
1181 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": ""})
1182 %
1183 </pre></blockquote>
1184
1185 <p>It currently support Dell and HP, and I am hoping for help to add
1186 support for other vendors.  The python source is available on
1187 Scraperwiki and I welcome help with adding more features.</p>
1188
1189       </div>
1190       <div class="tags">
1191
1192
1193         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>.
1194
1195
1196       </div>
1197     </div>
1198     <div class="padding"></div>
1199
1200     <div class="entry">
1201       <div class="title">
1202         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Mike_Gabriel.html">Debian Edu interview: Mike Gabriel</a>
1203       </div>
1204       <div class="date">
1205          2nd June 2012
1206       </div>
1207       <div class="body">
1208         <p>Back in 2010, Mike Gabriel showed up on the
1209 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>
1210 mailing list.  He quickly proved to be a valuable developer, and
1211 thanks to his tireless effort we now have Kerberos integrated into the
1212 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu
1213 Squeeze</a> version.</p>
1214
1215 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
1216
1217 <p>My name is Mike Gabriel, I am 38 years old and live near Kiel,
1218 Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. I live together with a wonderful partner
1219 (Angela Fuß) and two own children and two bonus children (contributed
1220 by Angela).</p>
1221
1222 <p>During the day I am part-time employed as a system administrator
1223 and part-time working as an IT consultant. The consultancy work
1224 touches free software topics wherever and whenever possible. During
1225 the nights I am a free software developer. In the gaps I also train in
1226 becoming an osteopath.</p>
1227
1228 <p>Starting in 2010 we (Andreas Buchholz, Angela Fuß, Mike Gabriel)
1229 have set up a free software project in the area of Kiel that aims at
1230 introducing free software into schools. The project's name is
1231 "IT-Zukunft Schule" (IT future for schools). The project links IT
1232 skills with communication skills.</p>
1233
1234 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
1235 project?</strong></p>
1236
1237 <p>While preparing our own customised Linux distribution for
1238 "IT-Zukunft Schule" we were repeatedly asked if we really wanted to
1239 reinvent the wheel. What schools really need is already available,
1240 people said.  From this impulse we started evaluating other Linux
1241 distributions that target being used for school networks.</p>
1242
1243 <p>At the end we short-listed two approaches and compared them: a
1244 commercial Linux distribution developed by a company in Bremen,
1245 Germany, and Skolelinux / Debian Edu. Between 12/2010 and 03/2011 we
1246 went to several events and met people being responsible for marketing
1247 and development of either of the distributions. Skolelinux / Debian
1248 Edu was by far much more convincing compared to the other product that
1249 got short-listed beforehand--across the full spectrum. What was most
1250 attractive for me personally: the perspective of collaboration within
1251 the developmental branch of the Debian Edu project itself.</p>
1252
1253 <p>In parallel with this, we talked to many local and not-so-local
1254 people.  People teaching at schools, headmasters, politicians, data
1255 protection experts, other IT professionals.</p>
1256
1257 <p>We came to two conclusions:</p>
1258
1259 <p>First, a technical conclusion: What schools need is available in
1260 bits and pieces here and there, and none of the solutions really fit
1261 by 100%. Any school we have seen has a very individual IT setup
1262 whereas most of each school's requirements could mapped by a standard
1263 IT solution.  The requirement to this IT solution is flexibility and
1264 customisability, so that individual adaptations here and there are
1265 possible.  In terms of re-distributing and rolling out such a
1266 standardised IT system for schools (a system that is still to some
1267 degree customisable) there is still a lot of work to do here
1268 locally. Debian Edu / Skolelinux has been our choice as the starting
1269 point.</p>
1270
1271 <p>Second, a holistic conclusion: What schools need does not exist at
1272 all (or we missed it so far). There are several technical solutions
1273 for handling IT at schools that tend to make a good impression. What
1274 has been missing completely here in Germany, though, is the enrolment
1275 of people into using IT and teaching with IT. "IT-Zukunft Schule"
1276 tries to provide an approach for this.</p>
1277
1278 <p>Only some schools have some sort of a media concept which explains,
1279 defines and gives guidance on how to use IT in class. Most schools in
1280 Northern Germany do not have an IT service provider, the school's IT
1281 equipment is managed by one or (if the school is lucky) two (admin)
1282 teachers, most of the workload these admin teachers get done in there
1283 spare time.</p>
1284
1285 <p>We were surprised that only a very few admin teachers were
1286 networked with colleagues from other schools. Basically, every school
1287 here around has its individual approach of providing IT equipment to
1288 teachers and students and the exchange of ideas has been quasi
1289 non-existent until 2010/2011.</p>
1290
1291 <p>Quite some (non-admin) teachers try to avoid using IT technology in
1292 class as a learning medium completely. Several reasons for this
1293 avoidance do exist.</p>
1294
1295 <p>We discovered that no-one has ever taken a closer look at this
1296 social part of IT management in schools, so far. On our quest journey
1297 for a technical IT solution for schools, we discussed this issue with
1298 several teachers, headmasters, politicians, other IT professionals and
1299 they all confirmed: a holistic approach of considering IT management
1300 at schools, an approach that includes the people in place, will be new
1301 and probably a gain for all.</p>
1302
1303 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
1304 Edu?</strong></p>
1305
1306 <p>There is a list of advantages: international context, openness to
1307 any kind of contributions, do-ocracy policy, the closeness to Debian,
1308 the different installation scenarios possible (from stand-alone
1309 workstation to complex multi-server sites), the transparency within
1310 project communication, honest communication within the group of
1311 developers, etc.</p>
1312
1313 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
1314 Edu?</strong></p>
1315
1316 <p>Every coin has two sides:</p>
1317
1318 <p>Technically: <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/311188">BTS issue
1319 #311188</a>, tricky upgradability of a Debian Edu main server, network
1320 client installations on top of a plain vanilla Debian installation
1321 should become possible sometime in the near future, one could think
1322 about splitting the very complex package debian-edu-config into
1323 several portions (to make it easier for new developers to
1324 contribute).</p>
1325
1326 <p>Another issue I see is that we (as Debian Edu developers) should
1327 find out more about the network of people who do the marketing for
1328 Debian Edu / Skolelinux. There is a very active group in Germany
1329 promoting Skolelinux on the bigger Linux Days within Germany. Are
1330 there other groups like that in other countries? How can we bring
1331 these marketing people together (marketing group A with group B and
1332 all of them with the group of Debian Edu developers)? During the last
1333 meeting of the German Skolelinux group, I got the impression of people
1334 there being rather disconnected from the development department of
1335 Debian Edu / Skolelinux.</p>
1336
1337 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
1338
1339 <p>For my daily business, I do not use commercial software at all.</p>
1340
1341 <p>For normal stuff I use Iceweasel/Firefox, Libreoffice.org. For
1342 serious text writing I prefer LaTeX. I use gimp, inkscape, scribus for
1343 more artistic tasks. I run virtual machines in KVM and Virtualbox.</p>
1344
1345 <p>I am one of the upstream developers of X2Go. In 2010 I started the
1346 development of a Python based X2Go Client, called PyHoca-GUI.
1347 PyHoca-GUI has brought forth a Python X2Go Client API that currently
1348 is being integrated in Ubuntu's software center.</p>
1349
1350 <p>For communications I have my own Kolab server running using Horde
1351 as web-based groupware client. For IRC I love to use irssi, for Jabber
1352 I have several clients that I use, mostly pidgin, though. I am also
1353 the Debian maintainer of Coccinella, a Jabber-based interactive
1354 whiteboard.</p>
1355
1356 <p>My favourite terminal emulator is KDE's Yakuake.</p>
1357
1358 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
1359 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
1360
1361 <p>Communicate, communicate, communicate. Enrol people, enrol people,
1362 enrol people.</p>
1363
1364       </div>
1365       <div class="tags">
1366
1367
1368         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>.
1369
1370
1371       </div>
1372     </div>
1373     <div class="padding"></div>
1374
1375     <div class="entry">
1376       <div class="title">
1377         <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>
1378       </div>
1379       <div class="date">
1380          1st June 2012
1381       </div>
1382       <div class="body">
1383         <p>A few years ago I wrote
1384 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Checking_server_hardware_support_status_for_Dell__HP_and_IBM_servers.html">how
1385 to extract support status</a> for your Dell and HP servers.  Recently
1386 I have learned from colleges here at the
1387 <a href="http://www.uio.no/">University of Oslo</a> that Dell have
1388 made this even easier, by providing a SOAP based web service.  Given
1389 the service tag, one can now query the Dell servers and get machine
1390 readable information about the support status.  This perl code
1391 demonstrate how to do it:</p>
1392
1393 <p><pre>
1394 use strict;
1395 use warnings;
1396 use SOAP::Lite;
1397 use Data::Dumper;
1398 my $GUID = '11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111';
1399 my $App = 'test';
1400 my $servicetag = $ARGV[0] or die "Please supply a servicetag. $!\n";
1401 my ($deal, $latest, @dates);
1402 my $s = SOAP::Lite
1403     -> uri('http://support.dell.com/WebServices/')
1404     -> on_action( sub { join '', @_ } )
1405     -> proxy('http://xserv.dell.com/services/assetservice.asmx')
1406     ;
1407 my $a = $s->GetAssetInformation(
1408     SOAP::Data->name('guid')->value($GUID)->type(''),
1409     SOAP::Data->name('applicationName')->value($App)->type(''),
1410     SOAP::Data->name('serviceTags')->value($servicetag)->type(''),
1411 );
1412 print Dumper($a -> result) ;
1413 </pre></p>
1414
1415 <p>The output can look like this:</p>
1416
1417 <p><pre>
1418 $VAR1 = {
1419           'Asset' => {
1420                      'Entitlements' => {
1421                                        'EntitlementData' => [
1422                                                             {
1423                                                               'EntitlementType' => 'Expired',
1424                                                               'EndDate' => '2009-07-29T00:00:00',
1425                                                               'Provider' => '',
1426                                                               'StartDate' => '2006-07-29T00:00:00',
1427                                                               'DaysLeft' => '0'
1428                                                             },
1429                                                             {
1430                                                               'EntitlementType' => 'Expired',
1431                                                               'EndDate' => '2009-07-29T00:00:00',
1432                                                               'Provider' => '',
1433                                                               'StartDate' => '2006-07-29T00:00:00',
1434                                                               'DaysLeft' => '0'
1435                                                             },
1436                                                             {
1437                                                               'EntitlementType' => 'Expired',
1438                                                               'EndDate' => '2007-07-29T00:00:00',
1439                                                               'Provider' => '',
1440                                                               'StartDate' => '2006-07-29T00:00:00',
1441                                                               'DaysLeft' => '0'
1442                                                             }
1443                                                           ]
1444                                      },
1445                      'AssetHeaderData' => {
1446                                           'SystemModel' => 'GX620',
1447                                           'ServiceTag' => '8DSGD2J',
1448                                           'SystemShipDate' => '2006-07-29T19:00:00-05:00',
1449                                           'Buid' => '2323',
1450                                           'Region' => 'Europe',
1451                                           'SystemID' => 'PLX_GX620',
1452                                           'SystemType' => 'OptiPlex'
1453                                         }
1454                    }
1455         };
1456 </pre></p>
1457
1458 <p>I have not been able to find any documentation from Dell about this
1459 service outside the
1460 <a href="http://xserv.dell.com/services/assetservice.asmx?op=GetAssetInformation">inline
1461 documentation</a>, and according to
1462 <a href="http://iboyd.net/index.php/2012/02/14/updated-dell-warranty-information-script/">one
1463 comment</a> it can have stability issues, but it is a lot better than
1464 scraping HTML pages. :)</p>
1465
1466 <p>Wonder if HP and other server vendors have a similar service.  If
1467 you know of one, drop me an email. :)</p>
1468
1469       </div>
1470       <div class="tags">
1471
1472
1473         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>.
1474
1475
1476       </div>
1477     </div>
1478     <div class="padding"></div>
1479
1480     <div class="entry">
1481       <div class="title">
1482         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_monitor_calibration_using_ColorHug.html">First monitor calibration using ColorHug</a>
1483       </div>
1484       <div class="date">
1485         31st May 2012
1486       </div>
1487       <div class="body">
1488         <p>A few days ago my color calibration gadget
1489 <a href="http://www.hughski.com/index.html">ColorHug</a> arrived in the
1490 mail, and I've had a few days to test it.  As all my machines are
1491 running Debian Squeeze, where
1492 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/c/colorhug-client.html">the
1493 calibration software</a> is missing (it is present in Wheezy and Sid),
1494 I ran the calibration using the Fedora based live CD.  This worked
1495 just fine.  So far I have only done the quick calibration.  It was
1496 slow enough for me, so I will leave the more extensive calibration for
1497 another day.</p>
1498
1499 <p>After calibration, I get a
1500 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICC_profile">ICC color
1501 profile</a> file that can be passed to programs understanding such
1502 tools.  KDE do not seem to understand it out of the box, so I searched
1503 for command line tools to use to load the color profile into X.
1504 xcalib was the first one I found, and it seem to work fine for single
1505 monitor setups.  But for my video player, a laptop with a flat screen
1506 attached, it was unable to load the color profile for the correct
1507 monitor.  After searching a bit, I
1508 <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1347896">discovered</a>
1509 that the dispwin tool from the argyll package would do what I wanted,
1510 and a simple</p>
1511
1512 <p><pre>
1513 dispwin -d 1 profile.icc
1514 </pre></p>
1515
1516 <p>later I had the color profile loaded for the correct monitor.  The
1517 result was a bit more pink than I expected.  I guess I picked the
1518 wrong monitor type for the "led" monitor I got, but the result is good
1519 enough for now.</p>
1520
1521       </div>
1522       <div class="tags">
1523
1524
1525         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1526
1527
1528       </div>
1529     </div>
1530     <div class="padding"></div>
1531
1532     <div class="entry">
1533       <div class="title">
1534         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Ralf_Gesellensetter.html">Debian Edu interview: Ralf Gesellensetter</a>
1535       </div>
1536       <div class="date">
1537         27th May 2012
1538       </div>
1539       <div class="body">
1540         <p>In 2003, a German teacher showed up on the
1541 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>
1542 mailing list with interesting problems and reports proving he setting
1543 up Linux for a (for us at the time) lot of pupils.  His name was Ralf
1544 Gesellensetter, and he has been an important tester and contributor
1545 since then, helping to make sure the
1546 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu
1547 Squeeze</a> release became as good as it is..</p>
1548
1549 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
1550
1551 <p>I am a teacher from Germany, and my subjects are Geography,
1552 Mathematics, and Computer Science ("Informatik"). During the past 12
1553 years (since 2000), I have been working for a comprehensive (and soon,
1554 also inclusive) school leading to all kind of general levels, such as
1555 O- or A-level ("Abitur").  For quite as long, I've been taking care of
1556 our computer network.</p>
1557
1558 <p>Now, in my early 40s, I enjoy the privilege of spending a lot of my
1559 spare time together with my wife, our son (3 years) and our daughter
1560 (4 months).</p>
1561
1562 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
1563 project?</strong></p>
1564
1565 <p>We had tried different Linux based school servers, when members of
1566 my local Linux User Group (LUG OWL) detected Skolelinux. I remember
1567 very well, being part of a party celebrating the Linux New Media Award
1568 ("Best Newcomer Distribution", also nominated: Ubuntu) that was given
1569 to Skolelinux at Linux World Exposition in Frankfurt, 2005 (IIRC). Few
1570 months later, I had the chance to join a developer meeting in Ulsrud
1571 (Oslo) and to hand out the award to Knut Yrvin and others.  For more
1572 than 7 years, Skolelinux is part of our schools infrastructure, namely
1573 our main server (tjener), one LTSP (today without thin clients), and
1574 approximately 50 work stations. Most of these have the option to boot a
1575 locally installed Skolelinux image.  As a consequence, I joined quite
1576 a few events dealing with free software or Linux, and met many Debian
1577 (Edu) developers. All of them seemed quite nice and competent to me,
1578 one more reason to stick to Skolelinux.</p>
1579
1580 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
1581 Edu?</strong></p>
1582
1583 <p>Debian driven, you are given all the advantages of a community
1584 project including well maintained updates. Once, you are familiar with
1585 the network layout, you can easily roll out an entire educational
1586 computer infrastructure, from just one installation media. As only
1587 free software (FOSS) is used, that supports even elderly hardware,
1588 up-sizing your IT equipment is only limited by space (i.e. available
1589 labs).  Especially if you run a LTSP thin client server, your
1590 administration costs tend towards zero.</p>
1591
1592 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
1593 Edu?</strong></p>
1594
1595 <p>While Debian's stability has loads of advantages for servers, this
1596 might be different in some cases for clients: Schools with unlimited
1597 budget might buy new hardware with components that are not yet
1598 supported by Debian stable, or wish to use more recent versions of
1599 office packages or desktop environments.  These schools have the
1600 option to run Debian testing or other distributions - if they have the
1601 capacity to do so.  Another issue is that Debian release cycles
1602 include a wide range of changes; therefor a high percentage of human
1603 power seems to be absorbed by just keeping the features of Skolelinux
1604 within the new setting of the version to come. During this process,
1605 the cogs of Debian Edu are getting more and more professional,
1606 i.e. harder to understand for novices.</p>
1607
1608 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
1609
1610 <p>LibreOffice, Wikipedia, Openstreetmap, Iceweasel (Mozilla Firefox),
1611 KMail, Gimp, Inkscape - and of course the Linux Kernel (not only on
1612 PC, Laptop, Mobile, but also our SAT receiver)</p>
1613
1614 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
1615 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
1616
1617 <p><ol>
1618
1619 <li>Support computer science as regular subject in schools to make
1620 people really "own" their hardware, to make them understand the
1621 difference between proprietary software products, and free software
1622 developing.</li>
1623
1624 <li>Make budget baskets corresponding: In Germany's public schools
1625 there are more or less fixed budgets for IT equipment (including
1626 licenses), so schools won't benefit from any savings here. This
1627 privilege is left to private schools which have consequently a large
1628 share among German Skolelinux schools.</li>
1629
1630 <li>Get free software in the seminars where would-be teachers are
1631 trained. In many cases, teachers' software customs are respected by
1632 decision makers rather than the expertise of any IT experts.</li>
1633
1634 <li>Don't limit ourself to free software run natively. Everybody uses
1635 free software or free licenses (for instance Wikipedia), and this
1636 general concept should get expanded to free educational content to be
1637 shared world wide (school books e.g.).</li>
1638
1639 <li>Make clear where ever you can that the market share of free (libre)
1640 office suites is much above 20 p.c. today, and that you pupils don't
1641 need to know the "ribbon menu" in order to get employed.</li>
1642
1643 <li>Talk about the difference between freeware and free software.</li>
1644
1645 <li>Spread free software, or even collections of portable free apps
1646 for USB pen drives. Endorse students to get a legal copy of
1647 Libreoffice rather than accepting them to use illegal serials.  And
1648 keep sending documents in ODF formats.</li>
1649
1650 </ol></p>
1651
1652       </div>
1653       <div class="tags">
1654
1655
1656         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>.
1657
1658
1659       </div>
1660     </div>
1661     <div class="padding"></div>
1662
1663     <div class="entry">
1664       <div class="title">
1665         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_cost_of_ODF_and_OOXML.html">The cost of ODF and OOXML</a>
1666       </div>
1667       <div class="date">
1668         26th May 2012
1669       </div>
1670       <div class="body">
1671         <p>I just come across a blog post from Glyn Moody reporting the
1672 claimed cost from Microsoft on requiring ODF to be used by the UK
1673 government.  I just sent him an email to let him know that his
1674 assumption are most likely wrong.  Sharing it here in case some of my
1675 blog readers have seem the same numbers float around in the UK.</p>
1676
1677 <p><blockquote> <p>Hi.  I just noted your
1678 <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>
1679 comment:</p>
1680
1681 <p><blockquote>"They're all in Danish, not unreasonably, but even
1682 with the help of Google Translate I can't find any figures about the
1683 savings of "moving to a flexible two standard" as claimed by the
1684 Microsoft email. But I assume it is backed up somewhere, so let's take
1685 it, and the £500 million figure for the UK, on trust."
1686 </blockquote></p>
1687
1688 <p>I can tell you that the Danish reports are inflated.  I believe it is
1689 the same reports that were used in the Norwegian debate around 2007,
1690 and Gisle Hannemyr (a well known IT commentator in Norway) had a look
1691 at the content.  In short, the reason it is claimed that using ODF
1692 will be so costly, is based on the assumption that this mean every
1693 existing document need to be converted from one of the MS Office
1694 formats to ODF, transferred to the receiver, and converted back from
1695 ODF to one of the MS Office formats, and that the conversion will cost
1696 10 minutes of work time for both the sender and the receiver.  In
1697 reality the sender would have a tool capable of saving to ODF, and the
1698 receiver would have a tool capable of reading it, and the time spent
1699 would at most be a few seconds for saving and loading, not 20 minutes
1700 of wasted effort.</p>
1701
1702 <p>Microsoft claimed all these costs were saved by allowing people to
1703 transfer the original files from MS Office instead of spending 10
1704 minutes converting to ODF. :)</p>
1705
1706 <p>See
1707 <a href="http://hannemyr.com/no/ms12_vl02.php">http://hannemyr.com/no/ms12_vl02.php</a>
1708 and
1709 <a href="http://hannemyr.com/no/ms12.php">http://hannemyr.com/no/ms12.php</a>
1710 for background information.  Norwegian only, sorry. :)</p>
1711 </blockquote></p>
1712
1713       </div>
1714       <div class="tags">
1715
1716
1717         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>.
1718
1719
1720       </div>
1721     </div>
1722     <div class="padding"></div>
1723
1724     <div class="entry">
1725       <div class="title">
1726         <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>
1727       </div>
1728       <div class="date">
1729         18th May 2012
1730       </div>
1731       <div class="body">
1732         <p>In january, I
1733 <a href="http://blog.cihar.com/archives/2012/01/17/colorhug-has-arrived/">discovered
1734 the ColorHug</a>, a USB dongle from
1735 <a href="http://www.hughski.com/index.html">Hughski</a> to calibrate
1736 the color on a computer screen.  The software required is
1737 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/c/colorhug-client.html">included
1738 in Debian</a>, and I decided back then to preorder from the next
1739 batch.  Yesterday I finally heard back from them, and got the
1740 opportunity to order.  Today I ordered mine, and eagerly await the
1741 delivery.  I hope it arrive next week, as I got a confirmation that it
1742 should go in the mail on monday. :)</p>
1743
1744 <p>If you want to ensure the colors on the screen match the intended
1745 colors, I suggest you check out this cheap tool with free software
1746 drivers. :)</p>
1747
1748       </div>
1749       <div class="tags">
1750
1751
1752         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1753
1754
1755       </div>
1756     </div>
1757     <div class="padding"></div>
1758
1759     <div class="entry">
1760       <div class="title">
1761         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__J_rgen_Leibner.html">Debian Edu interview: Jürgen Leibner</a>
1762       </div>
1763       <div class="date">
1764         13th May 2012
1765       </div>
1766       <div class="body">
1767         <p>It has been a few busy weeks for me, but I am finally back to
1768 publish another interview with the people behind
1769 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>.
1770 This time it is one of our German developers, who have helped out over the
1771 years to make sure both a lot of major but also a lot of the minor
1772 details get right before release.
1773
1774 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
1775
1776 <p>My name is Jürgen Leibner, I'm 49 years old and living in
1777 Bielefeld, a town in northern Germany.  I worked nearly 20 years as
1778 certified engineer in the department for plant design and layout of an
1779 international company for machinery and equipment.  Since 2011 I'm a
1780 certified technical writer (tekom e.V.) and doing technical
1781 documentations for a steam turbine manufacturer.  From April this year
1782 I will manage the department of technical documentation at a
1783 manufacturer of automation and assembly line engineering.</p>
1784
1785 <p>My first contact with linux was around 1993. Since that time I used
1786 it at work and at home repeatedly but not exclusively as I do now at
1787 home since 2006.</p>
1788
1789 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
1790 project?</strong></p>
1791
1792 <p>Once a day in the early year of 2001 when I wanted to fetch my
1793 daughter from primary school, there was a teacher sitting in the
1794 middle of 20 old computers trying to boot them and he failed. I helped
1795 him to get them booting. That was seen by the school director and she
1796 asked me if I would like to manage that the school gets all that old
1797 computers in use. I answered: "Yes".</p>
1798
1799 <p>Some weeks later every of the 10 classrooms had one computer
1800 running Windows98. I began to collect old computers and equipment as
1801 gifts and installed the first computer room with a peer-to-peer
1802 network. I did my work at school without being payed in my spare time
1803 and with a lot of fun.  About one year later the school was connected
1804 to Internet and a local area network was installed in the school
1805 building.  That was the time to have a server and I knew it must be a
1806 Linux server to be able to fulfil all the wishes of the teachers and
1807 being able to do this in a transparent and economic way, without extra
1808 costs for things like licence and software.  So I searched for a
1809 school server system running under Linux and I found a couple of
1810 people nearby who founded 'skolelinux.de'. It was the Skolelinux
1811 prerelease 32 I first tried out for being used at the school.  I
1812 managed the IT of that school until the municipal authority took over
1813 the IT management and centralised the services for all schools in
1814 Bielefeld in December of 2006.</p>
1815
1816 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
1817 Edu?</strong></p>
1818
1819 <p>When I'm looking back to the beginning, there were other advantages
1820 for me as today.</p>
1821
1822 <p>In the past there were advantages like:</p>
1823
1824 <p><ul>
1825
1826 <li>I don't need to buy it so it generates no costs to the school as
1827 they had little money to spent for computers and software.</li>
1828
1829 <li>It has a licence which grands all rights to use it without
1830 cost.</li>
1831
1832 <li>It was more able to fit all requirements of a server system for
1833 schools than a Microsoft server system, even if there are only Windows
1834 clients because of it's preconfigured overall concept of being a
1835 infrastructure solution and community for schools, not only a
1836 server</li>
1837
1838 <li>I was able to configure the server to the needs of the
1839 school.</li>
1840
1841 </ul></p>
1842
1843 <p>Today some of the advantages has been lost, changed or new ones
1844 came up in this way:</p>
1845
1846 <p><ul>
1847
1848 <li>Most schools here do have money to buy hardware and software
1849 now.</li>
1850
1851 <li>They are today mostly managed from central IT departments which
1852 have own concepts which often do not fit to Debian Edu concepts
1853 because they are to close to Microsoft ideology.</li>
1854
1855 <li>With the Squeeze version of Debian Edu which now uses GOsa² for
1856 management I feel more able to manage the daily tasks than with the
1857 interfaces used in the past.</li>
1858
1859 <li>It is more modular than in the past and fits even better to the
1860 different needs.</li>
1861
1862 <li>The documentation is usable and gets better every day.</li>
1863
1864 <li>More people than ever before are using Debian Edu all over the
1865 world and so the community, which is an very important part I think,
1866 is sharing knowledge and minds.</li>
1867
1868 <li>Most, maybe all, of the technical requirements for schools are
1869 solved today by Debian Edu. </li>
1870
1871 </ul></p>
1872
1873 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
1874 Edu?</strong></p>
1875
1876 <p><ul>
1877
1878 <li>There are too few IT companies able to integrate Debian Edu into
1879 their product portfolio for serving schools with concepts or even
1880 whole municipality areas.</li>
1881
1882 <li>Debian Edu has beside other free and open software projects not
1883 enough lobbyists which promote free and open software to
1884 politicians.</li>
1885
1886 <li>Technically there are no disadvantages I'm aware of.</li>
1887
1888 </ul></p>
1889
1890 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
1891
1892 <p>I use Debian stable on my home server and on my little desktop
1893 computer. On my laptop I use Debian testing/sid. The applications I
1894 use on my laptop and my desktop are Open/Libre-office, Iceweasel,
1895 KMail, DigiKam, Amarok, Dolphin, okular and all the other programs I
1896 need from the KDE environment.  On console I use newsbeuter, mutt,
1897 screen, irssi and all the other famous and useful tools.</p>
1898
1899 <p>My home server provides mail services with exim, dovecot, roundcube
1900 and mutt over ssh on the console, file services with samba, NFS,
1901 rsync, web services with apache, moinmoin-wiki, multimedia services
1902 with gallery2 and mediatomb and database services with MySQL for me
1903 and the whole family.  I probably forgot something.</p>
1904
1905 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
1906 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
1907
1908 <p>I believe, we should provide concepts for IT companies to integrate
1909 Debian Edu into their product portfolio with use cases for different
1910 countries and areas all over the world.</p>
1911
1912       </div>
1913       <div class="tags">
1914
1915
1916         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>.
1917
1918
1919       </div>
1920     </div>
1921     <div class="padding"></div>
1922
1923     <div class="entry">
1924       <div class="title">
1925         <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>
1926       </div>
1927       <div class="date">
1928         30th April 2012
1929       </div>
1930       <div class="body">
1931         <p><!-- IMG_5869.JPG -->
1932 <img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/panasonic-er-1611.jpeg"></p>
1933
1934 <p>I normally cut my hair short, and my tool of choice has been a
1935 common hair/beard cutter, bought in a electrical shop here in Norway.
1936 But the last ones have not really been up to the task.  My last
1937 cutter, some model from Braun, could only cut a few of my hairs at the
1938 time, and cutting my head took forever.  And the one before that did
1939 not work very well either.  We have looked for something better for a
1940 while, but it was not until I ended up visiting a hairdresser that we
1941 discovered that there are indeed better tools available.  But these
1942 are not marketed and sold to "regular consumers".  The hair saloons
1943 can get them through their suppliers, but their suppliers only sell
1944 companies.  The models they sell, are very different from the ones
1945 available from Elkjøp and Lefdal.  The main difference is their
1946 efficiency.  It would cut my hair in 5 minutes, instead of the 30-40
1947 minutes required by my impotent Braun.  The hairdresser I visited had
1948 a Panasonic ER160, which unfortunately is no longer available from the
1949 producer.  But I found it had a successor, the Panasonic ER1611.</p>
1950
1951 <p>The next step was to find somewhere to buy it.  This was not
1952 straight forward.  The list of suppliers I got from the hairdresser
1953 did not want to sell anything to me.  But searching for the model on
1954 the web we found a supplier in Norway willing to sell it to us for
1955 around NOK 4000,-.  This was a bit much.  We kept searching and
1956 finally found a Danish supplier
1957 <a href="http://nicehair.dk/panasonic-er-1611-professionel-hartrimmer.html">selling
1958 it for around NOK 1800,-</a>.  We ordered one, and it arrived a few
1959 days ago.</p>
1960
1961 <p>The instructions said it had to charge for 8 hours when we started
1962 to use it, so we left it charging over night.  Normally it will only
1963 need one hour to charge.  The following evening we successfully tested
1964 it, and I can warmly recommend it to anyone looking for a real hair
1965 cutter.  The ones we have used until now have been hair cutter
1966 toys.</p>
1967
1968       </div>
1969       <div class="tags">
1970
1971
1972         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1973
1974
1975       </div>
1976     </div>
1977     <div class="padding"></div>
1978
1979     <div class="entry">
1980       <div class="title">
1981         <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>
1982       </div>
1983       <div class="date">
1984         26th April 2012
1985       </div>
1986       <div class="body">
1987         <p>In <a href="http://www.idg.no/computerworld/article243690.ece">an
1988 article today</a> published by Computerworld Norway, the photographer
1989 <a href="http://www.urke.com/eirik/">Eirik Helland Urke</a> reports
1990 that the video editor application included with
1991 <a href="http://www.htc.com/www/smartphones/htc-one-x/#specs">HTC One
1992 X</a> have some quite surprising terms of use.  The article is mostly
1993 based on the twitter message from mister Urke, stating:
1994
1995 <p><blockquote>
1996 "<a href="http://twitter.com/urke/status/194062269724897280">Drøy
1997 brukeravtale: HTC kan bruke MINE redigerte videoer kommersielt. Selv
1998 kan jeg KUN bruke dem privat.</a>"
1999 </blockquote></p>
2000
2001 <p>I quickly translated it to this English message:</p>
2002
2003 <p><blockquote>
2004 "Arrogant user agreement: HTC can use MY edited videos
2005 commercially.  Although I can ONLY use them privately."
2006 </blockquote></p>
2007
2008 <p>I've been unable to find the text of the license term myself, but
2009 suspect it is a variation of the MPEG-LA terms I
2010 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Terms_of_use_for_video_produced_by_a_Canon_IXUS_130_digital_camera.html">discovered
2011 with my Canon IXUS 130</a>.  The HTC One X specification specifies that
2012 the recording format of the phone is .amr for audio and .mp3 for
2013 video.  AMR is
2014 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_Multi-Rate_audio_codec#Licensing_and_patent_issues">Adaptive
2015 Multi-Rate audio codec</a> with patents which according to the
2016 Wikipedia article require an license agreement with
2017 <a href="http://www.voiceage.com/">VoiceAge</a>.  MP4 is
2018 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Patent_licensing">MPEG4 with
2019 H.264</a>, which according to Wikipedia require a licence agreement
2020 with <a href="http://www.mpegla.com/">MPEG-LA</a>.</p>
2021
2022 <p>I know why I prefer
2023 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">free and open
2024 standards</a> also for video.</p>
2025
2026       </div>
2027       <div class="tags">
2028
2029
2030         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/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>.
2031
2032
2033       </div>
2034     </div>
2035     <div class="padding"></div>
2036
2037     <div class="entry">
2038       <div class="title">
2039         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/RAND_terms___non_reasonable_and_discriminatory.html">RAND terms - non-reasonable and discriminatory</a>
2040       </div>
2041       <div class="date">
2042         19th April 2012
2043       </div>
2044       <div class="body">
2045         <p>Here in Norway, the
2046 <a href="http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/fad.html?id=339"> Ministry of
2047 Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs</a> is behind
2048 a <a href="http://standard.difi.no/forvaltningsstandarder">directory of
2049 standards</a> that are recommended or mandatory for use by the
2050 government.  When the directory was created, the people behind it made
2051 an effort to ensure that everyone would be able to implement the
2052 standards and compete on equal terms to supply software and solutions
2053 to the government.  Free software and non-free software could compete
2054 on the same level.</p>
2055
2056 <p>But recently, some standards with RAND
2057 (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_and_non-discriminatory_licensing">Reasonable
2058 And Non-Discriminatory</a>) terms have made their way into the
2059 directory.  And while this might not sound too bad, the fact is that
2060 standard specifications with RAND terms often block free software from
2061 implementing them.  The reasonable part of RAND mean that the cost per
2062 user/unit is low,and the non-discriminatory part mean that everyone
2063 willing to pay will get a license.  Both sound great in theory.  In
2064 practice, to get such license one need to be able to count users, and
2065 be able to pay a small amount of money per unit or user.  By
2066 definition, users of free software do not need to register their use.
2067 So counting users or units is not possible for free software projects.
2068 And given that people will use the software without handing any money
2069 to the author, it is not really economically possible for a free
2070 software author to pay a small amount of money to license the rights
2071 to implement a standard when the income available is zero.  The result
2072 in these situations is that free software are locked out from
2073 implementing standards with RAND terms.</p>
2074
2075 <p>Because of this, when I see someone claiming the terms of a
2076 standard is reasonable and non-discriminatory, all I can think of is
2077 how this really is non-reasonable and discriminatory.  Because free
2078 software developers are working in a global market, it does not really
2079 help to know that software patents are not supposed to be enforceable
2080 in Norway.  The patent regimes in other countries affect us even here.
2081 I really hope the people behind the standard directory will pay more
2082 attention to these issues in the future.</p>
2083
2084 <p>You can find more on the issues with RAND, FRAND and RAND-Z terms
2085 from Simon Phipps
2086 (<a href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/simon-says/2010/11/rand-not-so-reasonable/">RAND:
2087 Not So Reasonable?</a>).</p>
2088
2089 <p>Update 2012-04-21: Just came across a
2090 <a href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2012/04/of-microsoft-netscape-patents-and-open-standards/index.htm">blog
2091 post from Glyn Moody</a> over at Computer World UK warning about the
2092 same issue, and urging people to speak out to the UK government.  I
2093 can only urge Norwegian users to do the same for
2094 <a href="http://www.standard.difi.no/hoyring/hoyring-om-nye-anbefalte-it-standarder">the
2095 hearing taking place at the moment</a> (respond before 2012-04-27).
2096 It proposes to require video conferencing standards including
2097 specifications with RAND terms.</p>
2098
2099       </div>
2100       <div class="tags">
2101
2102
2103         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>.
2104
2105
2106       </div>
2107     </div>
2108     <div class="padding"></div>
2109
2110     <div class="entry">
2111       <div class="title">
2112         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Andreas_Mundt.html">Debian Edu interview: Andreas Mundt</a>
2113       </div>
2114       <div class="date">
2115         15th April 2012
2116       </div>
2117       <div class="body">
2118         <p>Behind <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and
2119 Skolelinux</a> there are a lot of people doing the hard work of
2120 setting together all the pieces.  This time I present to you Andreas
2121 Mundt, who have been part of the technical development team several
2122 years.  He was also a key contributor in getting GOsa and Kerberos set
2123 up in the recently released
2124 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze">Debian
2125 Edu Squeeze</a> version.</p>
2126
2127 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
2128
2129 <p>My name is Andreas Mundt, I grew up in south Germany.  After
2130 studying Physics I spent several years at university doing research in
2131 Quantum Optics.  After that I worked some years in an optics company.
2132 Finally I decided to turn over a new leaf in my life and started
2133 teaching 10 to 19 years old kids at school.  I teach math, physics,
2134 information technology and science/technology.</p>
2135
2136 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
2137 project?</strong></p>
2138
2139 <p>Already before I switched to teaching, I followed the Debian Edu
2140 project because of my interest in education and Debian.  Within the
2141 qualification/training period for the teaching, I started
2142 contributing.</p>
2143
2144 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2145 Edu?</strong></p>
2146
2147 <p>The advantages of Debian Edu are the well known name, the
2148 out-of-the-box philosophy and of course the great free software of the
2149 Debian Project!</p>
2150
2151 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2152 Edu?</strong></p>
2153
2154 <p>As every coin has two sides, the out-of-the-box philosophy has its
2155 downside, too.  In my opinion, it is hard to modify and tweak the
2156 setup, if you need or want that.  Further more, it is not easily
2157 possible to upgrade the system to a new release.  It takes much too
2158 long after a Debian release to prepare the -Edu release, perhaps
2159 because the number of developers working on the core of the code is
2160 rather small and often busy elsewhere.</p>
2161
2162 <p>The <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianLAN">Debian LAN</a>
2163 project might fill the use case of a more flexible system.</p>
2164
2165 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
2166
2167 <p>I am only using non-free software if I am forced to and run Debian
2168 on all my machines.  For documents I prefer LaTeX and PGF/TikZ, then
2169 mutt and iceweasel for email respectively web browsing.  At school I
2170 have Arduino and Fritzing in use for a micro controller project.</p>
2171
2172 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
2173 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
2174
2175 <p>One of the major problems is the vendor lock-in from top to bottom:
2176 Especially in combination with ignorant government employees and
2177 politicians, this works out great for the "market-leader".  The school
2178 administration here in Baden-Wuerttemberg is occupied by that vendor.
2179 Documents have to be prepared in non-free, proprietary formats.  Even
2180 free browsers do not work for the school administration.  Publishers
2181 of school books provide software only for proprietary platforms.</p>
2182
2183 <p>To change this, political work is very important.  Parts of the
2184 political spectrum have become aware of the problem in the last years.
2185 However it takes quite some time and courageous politicians to 'free'
2186 the system.  There is currently some discussion about "Open Data" and
2187 "Free/Open Standards".  I am not sure if all the involved parties have
2188 a clue about the potential of these ideas, and probably only a
2189 fraction takes them seriously.  However it might slowly make free
2190 software and the philosophy behind it more known and popular.</p>
2191
2192       </div>
2193       <div class="tags">
2194
2195
2196         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>.
2197
2198
2199       </div>
2200     </div>
2201     <div class="padding"></div>
2202
2203     <div class="entry">
2204       <div class="title">
2205         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Justin_B__Rye.html">Debian Edu interview: Justin B. Rye</a>
2206       </div>
2207       <div class="date">
2208          8th April 2012
2209       </div>
2210       <div class="body">
2211         <p>It take all kind of contributions to create a Linux distribution
2212 like <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>,
2213 and this time I lend the ear to Justin B. Rye, who is listed as a big
2214 contributor to the
2215 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze">Debian
2216 Edu Squeeze release manual</a>.
2217
2218 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
2219
2220 <p>I'm a 44-year-old linguistics graduate living in Edinburgh who has
2221 occasionally been employed as a sysadmin.</p>
2222
2223 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
2224 project?</strong></p>
2225
2226 <p>I'm neither a developer nor a Skolelinux/Debian Edu user!  The only
2227 reason my name's in the credits for the documentation is that I hang
2228 around on debian-l10n-english waiting for people to mention things
2229 they'd like a native English speaker to proofread...  So I did a sweep
2230 through the wiki for typos and Norglish and inconsistent spellings of
2231 "localisation".</p>
2232
2233 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2234 Edu?</strong></p>
2235
2236 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2237 Edu?</strong></p>
2238
2239 <p>These questions are too hard for me - I don't use it!  In fact I
2240 had hardly any contact with I.T. until long after I'd got out of the
2241 education system.</p>
2242
2243 <p>I can tell you the advantages of Debian for me though: it soaks up
2244 as much of my free time as I want and no more, and lets me do
2245 everything I want a computer for without ever forcing me to spend
2246 money on the latest hardware.</p>
2247
2248 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
2249
2250 <p>I've been using Debian since Rex; popularity-contest says the
2251 software that I use most is xinit, xterm, and xulrunner (in other
2252 words, I use a distinctly retro sort of desktop).</p>
2253
2254 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
2255 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
2256
2257 <p>Well, I don't know.  I suppose I'd be inclined to try reasoning
2258 with the people who make the decisions, but obviously if that worked
2259 you would hardly need a strategy.</p>
2260
2261       </div>
2262       <div class="tags">
2263
2264
2265         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>.
2266
2267
2268       </div>
2269     </div>
2270     <div class="padding"></div>
2271
2272     <div class="entry">
2273       <div class="title">
2274         <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>
2275       </div>
2276       <div class="date">
2277          6th April 2012
2278       </div>
2279       <div class="body">
2280         <p>Recently I have spent time with
2281 <a href="http://www.slxdrift.no/">Skolelinux Drift AS</a> on speeding
2282 up a <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>
2283 Lenny installation using LTSP diskless workstations, and in the
2284 process I discovered something very surprising.  The reason the KDE
2285 menu was responding slow when using it for the first time, was mostly
2286 due to the way KDE find application icons.  I discovered that showing
2287 the Multimedia menu would cause more than 20 000 IP packages to be
2288 passed between the LTSP client and the NFS server.  Most of these were
2289
2290 NFS LOOKUP calls, resulting in a NFS3ERR_NOENT response.  Because the
2291 ping times between the client and the server were in the range 2-20
2292 ms, the menus would be very slow.  Looking at the strace of kicker in
2293 Lenny (or plasma-desktop i Squeeze - same problem there), I see that
2294 the source of these NFS calls are access(2) system calls for
2295 non-existing files.  KDE can do hundreds of access(2) calls to find
2296 one icon file.  In my example, just finding the mplayer icon required
2297 around 230 access(2) calls.</p>
2298
2299 <p>The KDE code seem to search for icons using a list of icon
2300 directories, and the list of possible directories is large.  In
2301 (almost) each directory, it look for files ending in .png, .svgz, .svg
2302 and .xpm.  The result is a very slow KDE menu when /usr/ is NFS
2303 mounted.  Showing a single sub menu may result in thousands of NFS
2304 requests.  I am not the first one to discover this.  I found a
2305 <a href="https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=211416">KDE bug report
2306 from 2009</a> about this problem, and it is still unsolved.</p>
2307
2308 <p>My solution to speed up the KDE menu was to create a package
2309 kde-icon-cache that upon installation will look at all .desktop files
2310 used to generate the KDE menu, find their icons, search the icon paths
2311 for the file that KDE will end up finding at run time, and copying the
2312 icon file to /var/lib/kde-icon-cache/.  Finally, I add symlinks to
2313 these icon files in one of the first directories where KDE will look
2314 for them.  This cut down the number of file accesses required to find
2315 one icon from several hundred to less than 5, and make the KDE menu
2316 almost instantaneous.  I'm not quite sure where to make the package
2317 publicly available, so for now it is only available on request.</p>
2318
2319 <p>The bug report mention that this do not only affect the KDE menu
2320 and icon handling, but also the login process.  Not quite sure how to
2321 speed up that part without replacing NFS with for example NBD, and
2322 that is not really an option at the moment.</p>
2323
2324 <p>If you got feedback on this issue, please let us know on debian-edu
2325 (at) lists.debian.org.</p>
2326
2327       </div>
2328       <div class="tags">
2329
2330
2331         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>.
2332
2333
2334       </div>
2335     </div>
2336     <div class="padding"></div>
2337
2338     <div class="entry">
2339       <div class="title">
2340         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_in_the_Linux_Weekly_News.html">Debian Edu in the Linux Weekly News</a>
2341       </div>
2342       <div class="date">
2343          5th April 2012
2344       </div>
2345       <div class="body">
2346         <p>About two weeks ago, I was interviewed via email about
2347 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a> by
2348 Bruce Byfield in Linux Weekly News.  The result was made public for
2349 non-subscribers today.  I am pleased to see liked our Linux solution
2350 for schools.  Check out his article
2351 <a href="https://lwn.net/Articles/488805/">Debian Edu/Skolelinux: A
2352 distribution for education</a> if you want to learn more.</p>
2353
2354       </div>
2355       <div class="tags">
2356
2357
2358         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>.
2359
2360
2361       </div>
2362     </div>
2363     <div class="padding"></div>
2364
2365     <div class="entry">
2366       <div class="title">
2367         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Wolfgang_Schweer.html">Debian Edu interview: Wolfgang Schweer</a>
2368       </div>
2369       <div class="date">
2370          1st April 2012
2371       </div>
2372       <div class="body">
2373         <p>Germany is a core area for the
2374 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a>
2375 user community, and this time I managed to get hold of Wolfgang
2376 Schweer, a valuable contributor to the project from Germany.
2377
2378 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
2379
2380 <p>I've studied Mathematics at the university 'Ruhr-Universität' in
2381 Bochum, Germany. Since 1981 I'm working as a teacher at the school
2382 "<a href="http://www.westfalenkolleg-dortmund.de/">Westfalen-Kolleg
2383 Dortmund</a>", a second chance school.  Here, young adults is given
2384 the opportunity to get further education in order to do the school
2385 examination 'Abitur', which will allow to study at a university. This
2386 second chance is of value for those who want a better job perspective
2387 or failed to get a higher school examination being teens.</p>
2388
2389 <p>Besides teaching I was involved in developing online courses for a
2390 blended learning project called 'abitur-online.nrw' and in some other
2391 information technology related projects. For about ten years I've been
2392 teacher and coordinator for the 'abitur-online' project at my
2393 school. Being now in my early sixties, I've decided to leave school at
2394 the end of April this year.</p>
2395
2396 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
2397 project?</strong></p>
2398
2399 <p>The first information about Skolelinux must have come to my
2400 attention years ago and somehow related to LTSP (Linux Terminal Server
2401 Project).  At school, we had set up a network at the beginning of 1997
2402 using Suse Linux on the desktop, replacing a Novell network. Since
2403 2002, we used old machines from the city council of Dortmund as thin
2404 clients (LTSP, later Ubuntu/Lessdisks) cause new hardware was out of
2405 reach. At home I'm using Debian since years and - subscribed to the
2406 Debian news letter - heard from time to time about Skolelinux. About
2407 two years ago I proposed to replace the (somehow undocumented and only
2408 known to me) system at school by a well known Debian based system:
2409 Skolelinux.</p>
2410
2411 <p>Students and teachers appreciated the new system because of a
2412 better look and feel and an enhanced access to local media on thin
2413 clients.  The possibility to alter and/or reset passwords using a GUI
2414 was welcomed, too. Being able to do administrative tasks using a GUI
2415 and to easily set up workstations using PXE was of very high value for
2416 the admin teachers.</p>
2417
2418 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2419 Edu?</strong></p>
2420
2421 <p>It's open source, easy to set up, stable and flexible due to it's
2422 Debian base. It integrates LTSP out-of-the-box. And it is documented!
2423 So it was a perfect choice.</p>
2424
2425 <p>Being open source, there are no license problems and so it's
2426 possible to point teachers and students to programs like
2427 OpenOffice.org, ViewYourMind (mind mapping) and The Gimp.  It's of
2428 high value to be able to adapt parts of the system to special needs of
2429 a school and to choose where to get support for this.</p>
2430
2431 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2432 Edu?</strong></p>
2433
2434 <p>Nothing yet.</p>
2435
2436 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
2437
2438 <p>At home (Debian Sid with Gnome Desktop): Iceweasel, LibreOffice,
2439 Mutt, Gedit, Document Viewer, Midnight Commander, flpsed (PDF
2440 Annotator).  At school (Skolelinux Lenny): Iceweasel, Gedit,
2441 LibreOffice.</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>Some time ago I thought it was enough to tell people about it. But
2447 that doesn't seem to work quite well. Now I concentrate on those more
2448 interested and hope to get multiplicators that way.</p>
2449
2450       </div>
2451       <div class="tags">
2452
2453
2454         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>.
2455
2456
2457       </div>
2458     </div>
2459     <div class="padding"></div>
2460
2461     <div class="entry">
2462       <div class="title">
2463         <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>
2464       </div>
2465       <div class="date">
2466         25th March 2012
2467       </div>
2468       <div class="body">
2469         <!-- Video HTML based on http://www.diveintohtml5.net/video.html -->
2470
2471 <p>The same Debian Edu developer that did the last screen cast I
2472 published, Wolfgang Schweer, has created a new screen cast showing how
2473 to set up Kmail in Debian Edu Squeze to authenticate using Kerberos,
2474 allowing users to check their local email account without providing
2475 any password. The video is embedded here in quarter size,
2476 and also available from <a href="https://vimeo.com/38601767">vimeo</a>
2477 and download as a
2478 <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-03-14-Debian-Edu_Configure_Kmail_for_internal_usage.ogv">Ogg
2479 Theora</a> file.  Check it out below.</p>
2480
2481 <p><video id="kmail-kerberos-movie" width="256" height="184" preload controls>
2482   <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"' />
2483     <p>Download video as
2484       <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-03-14-Debian-Edu_Configure_Kmail_for_internal_usage.ogv">Ogg</a>.</p>
2485 </video></p>
2486
2487       </div>
2488       <div class="tags">
2489
2490
2491         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>.
2492
2493
2494       </div>
2495     </div>
2496     <div class="padding"></div>
2497
2498     <div class="entry">
2499       <div class="title">
2500         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__John_Ingleby.html">Debian Edu interview: John Ingleby</a>
2501       </div>
2502       <div class="date">
2503         19th March 2012
2504       </div>
2505       <div class="body">
2506         <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>
2507 users are spread all across the globe.  The second inteview after
2508 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/03/msg00001.html">the
2509 Squeeze release</a> was publised is with John Ingleby, a teacher and
2510 long time Linux user in United Kingdom.</p>
2511
2512 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
2513
2514 <p>I teach ICT part time at the Rudolf Steiner School in Kings
2515 Langley, near London, UK. Previously I worked as a technical
2516 author/trainer while my children attended the school, and I also
2517 contributed to the Schoolforge UK community with the aim of
2518 encouraging UK schools to adopt free/open source software. Five or six
2519 years ago we had about 50 schools interested in some way, but we
2520 weren't able to convert many of them into sustainable
2521 installations.</p>
2522
2523 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
2524 project?</strong></p>
2525
2526 <p>Skolelinux had two representatives at an early Edubuntu meeting in
2527 London which I attended. However at that time our school network had
2528 just been installed using CentOS, LTSP 4 and GNOME. When LTSP 5 came
2529 along we switched to Edubuntu thin client servers so now we have a
2530 mixed environment which includes Windows PCs and student laptops, as
2531 well as their MacBooks and iPads. However, the proprietary systems
2532 have always been rather problematic, and we never built a GUI for the
2533 LDAP server, so when I discovered Skolelinux is configured for all
2534 these things we decided to try it.</p>
2535
2536 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2537 Edu?</strong></p>
2538
2539 <p>By far the biggest advantage is the Debian Edu community. Apart
2540 from that I have always believed in the same "sustainable computing"
2541 goals that Skolelinux is built on: installing Linux on computers which
2542 would otherwise be thrown away, to provide a reliable, secure and
2543 low-cost IT environment for schools. From my own experience I know
2544 that a part-time person can teach and manage a network of about 25
2545 Linux computers, but it would take much more of my time if we had
2546 proprietary software everywhere.</p>
2547
2548 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2549 Edu?</strong></p>
2550
2551 <p>As a newcomer I'm just finding out who's who in the community and
2552 how you're organised, and what your procedures are for dealing with
2553 various things such as editing manual pages and so-on. The only
2554 English language mailing list seems to be for developers as well as
2555 users, so my inbox needs heavy pruning each day!</p>
2556
2557 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
2558
2559 <p>Besides the software already mentioned at school we use Samba,
2560 OpenLDAP, CUPS, Nagios and Dansguardian for the network, and on the
2561 desktops we have LibreOffice, Firefox, GIMP and Inkscape. At home I
2562 use Ubuntu and an Android 4 eePad Transformer (but I'm not sure if
2563 that counts...)</p>
2564
2565 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
2566 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
2567
2568 <p>That's a tough question! For very many years UK schools installed
2569 and taught only proprietary software, so that at the highest levels
2570 the notion of "computer" means simply "proprietary office
2571 applications".  However, schools today are experiencing budget
2572 constraints, and many are having to think hard about upgrading Windows
2573 XP.  At the same time, we have students showing teachers how to use
2574 iPads, MacBooks and Android, so the choice of operating system is no
2575 longer quite so automatic. What is more, our government at last
2576 realised that we need people with programming skills, so they're
2577 putting coding back in the curriculum! And it's encouraging that the
2578 first 10,000 Raspberry Pi units sold out in 2 hours.</p>
2579
2580 <p>I don't really know what strategy is going to get UK schools to use
2581 free software, but building an active community of Skolelinux/Debian
2582 Edu users in this country has to be part of it.</p>
2583
2584       </div>
2585       <div class="tags">
2586
2587
2588         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>.
2589
2590
2591       </div>
2592     </div>
2593     <div class="padding"></div>
2594
2595     <div class="entry">
2596       <div class="title">
2597         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Writing_and_translating_documentation_in_Debian_Edu.html">Writing and translating documentation in Debian Edu</a>
2598       </div>
2599       <div class="date">
2600         16th March 2012
2601       </div>
2602       <div class="body">
2603         <p>Documentation in Debian Edu is provided in several languages, and
2604 it is important to make it both easy to contribute and to keep the
2605 translated versions in sync.  To do this we have come up with what we
2606 believe is a very efficient work flow.</p>
2607
2608 <ol>
2609
2610 <li>The documentation is written in a
2611 <a href="http://moinmo.in">moinmoin wiki</a> (see for example
2612 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze">the
2613 Squeeze release manual</a>) with support for exporting the content as
2614 docbook XML.</li>
2615
2616 <li>This docbook document is given to po4a to extract a gettext style
2617 .pot file with the content, which in turn is used to create .po files
2618 with the translated text.</li>
2619
2620 <li>The .po files are given to translators, and they can always tell
2621 which part of the original wiki document is new or changed.  They can
2622 use their normal translation tools like lokalize or poedit to write
2623 the translation.  There is even a system in place to handle translated
2624 images.</li>
2625
2626 <li>The translated .po files are combined with the original docbook
2627 XML document using po4a to create a translated docbook document.</li>
2628
2629 <li>The final step is to use all the generated docbook files and
2630 create PDF and HTML version of the original and translated documents.</li>
2631
2632 </ol>
2633
2634 <p>This setup work very well, but have a few issues.  The biggest
2635 issue is that <a href="http://moinmo.in/DocBook">the docbook support
2636 we use in moinmoin</a> is not actively maintained.  The docbook
2637 support is also buggy, and our build system contain workarounds to
2638 make sure the generated docbook is usable despite these bugs.</p>
2639
2640 <p>If you want to have a look at our setup, it is all there in the
2641 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/debian-edu-doc">debian-edu-doc
2642 package</a>.</p>
2643
2644       </div>
2645       <div class="tags">
2646
2647
2648         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>.
2649
2650
2651       </div>
2652     </div>
2653     <div class="padding"></div>
2654
2655     <div class="entry">
2656       <div class="title">
2657         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux___Debian_Edu_Squeeze_is_out_.html">Skolelinux / Debian Edu Squeeze is out!</a>
2658       </div>
2659       <div class="date">
2660         11th March 2012
2661       </div>
2662       <div class="body">
2663         <p>This weekend we finally published the first stable release of
2664 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux / Debian Edu</a> based
2665 on Debian/Squeeze.  The full announcement is
2666 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/03/msg00001.html">available</a>
2667 from the project announcement list.  Now is a good time to test if it
2668 you have not done so already.</p>
2669
2670 <p>I plan to present the new version at
2671 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20120313-skolelinux/">a NUUG
2672 meeting</a> on tuesday.  I look forward to seeing you there if you are
2673 in Oslo, Norway.</p>
2674
2675       </div>
2676       <div class="tags">
2677
2678
2679         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>.
2680
2681
2682       </div>
2683     </div>
2684     <div class="padding"></div>
2685
2686     <div class="entry">
2687       <div class="title">
2688         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Nigel_Barker.html">Debian Edu interview: Nigel Barker</a>
2689       </div>
2690       <div class="date">
2691          9th March 2012
2692       </div>
2693       <div class="body">
2694         <p>Inspired by <a href="http://raphaelhertzog.com/tag/interview/">the
2695 interview series</a> conducted by Raphael, I started a Norwegian
2696 interview series with people involved in the Debian Edu / Skolelinux
2697 community.  This was so popular that I believe it is time to move to a
2698 more international audience.</p>
2699
2700 <p>While <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and
2701 Skolelinux</a> originated in France and Norway, and have most users in
2702 Europe, there are users all around the globe.  One of those far away
2703 from me is Nigel Barker, a long time Debian Edu system administrator
2704 and contributor.  It is thanks to him that Debian Edu is adjusted to
2705 work out of the box in Japan.  I got him to answer a few questions,
2706 and am happy to share the response with you. :)
2707
2708
2709 <p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
2710
2711 <p>My name is Nigel Barker, and I am British. I am married to Yumiko,
2712 and we have three lovely children, aged 15, 14 and 4(!) I am the IT
2713 Coordinator at Hiroshima International School, Japan. I am also a
2714 teacher, and in fact I spend most of my day teaching Mathematics,
2715 Science, IT, and Chemistry. I was originally a Chemistry teacher, but
2716 I have always had an interest in computers. Another teacher teaches
2717 primary school IT, but apart from that I am the only computer person,
2718 so that means I am the network manager, technician and webmaster,
2719 also, and I help people with their computer problems. I teach python
2720 to beginners in an after-school club. I am way too busy, so I really
2721 appreciate the simplicity of Skolelinux.</p>
2722
2723 <p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
2724 project?</strong></p>
2725
2726 <p>In around 2004 or 5 I discovered the ltsp project, and set up a
2727 server in the IT lab. I wanted some way to connect it to our central
2728 samba server, which I was also quite poor at configuring. I discovered
2729 Edubuntu when it came out, but it didn't really improve my setup. I
2730 did various desperate searches for things like "school Linux server"
2731 and ended up in a document called "Drift" something or other. Reading
2732 there it became clear that Skolelinux was going to solve all my
2733 problems in one go. I was very excited, but apprehensive, because my
2734 previous attempts to install Debian had ended in failure (I used
2735 Mandrake for everything - ltsp, samba, apache, mail, ns...). I
2736 downloaded a beta version, had some problems, so subscribed to the
2737 Debian Edu list for help. I have remained subscribed ever since, and
2738 my school has run a Skolelinux network since Sarge.</p>
2739
2740 <p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2741 Edu?</strong></p>
2742
2743 <p>For me the integrated setup. This is not just the server, or the
2744 workstation, or the ltsp. Its all of them, and its all configured
2745 ready to go. I read somewhere in the early documentation that it is
2746 designed to be setup and managed by the Maths or Science teacher, who
2747 doesn't necessarily know much about computers, in a small Norwegian
2748 school. That describes me perfectly if you replace Norway with
2749 Japan.</p>
2750
2751 <p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
2752 Edu?</strong></p>
2753
2754 <p>The desktop is fairly plain. If you compare it with Edubuntu, who
2755 have fun themes for children, or with distributions such as Mint, who
2756 make the desktop beautiful. They create a good impression on people
2757 who don't need to understand how to use any of it, but who might be
2758 important to the school. School administrators or directors, for
2759 instance, or parents. Even kids. Debian itself usually has ugly
2760 default theme settings. It was my dream a few years back that some
2761 kind of integration would allow Edubuntu to do the desktop stuff and
2762 Debian Edu the servers, but now I realise how impossible that is.  A
2763 second disadvantage is that if something goes wrong, or you need to
2764 customise something, then suddenly the level of expertise required
2765 multiplies. For example, backup wasn't working properly in Lenny. It
2766 took me ages to learn how to set up my own server to do rsync backups.
2767 I am afraid of anything to do with ldap, but perhaps Gosa will
2768 help.</p>
2769
2770 <p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
2771
2772 <p>Nowadays I only use Debian on my personal computers. I have one for
2773 studio work (I play guitar and write songs), running AV Linux
2774 (customised Debian) a netbook running Squeeze, and a bigger laptop
2775 still running Skolelinux Lenny workstation. I have a Tjener in my
2776 house, that's very useful for the family photos and music.  At school
2777 the students only use Skolelinux. (Some teachers and the office still
2778 have windows). So that means we only use free software all day every
2779 day. Open office, The GIMP, Firefox/Iceweasel, VLC and Audacity are
2780 installed on every computer in school, irrespective of OS.  We also
2781 have Koha on Debian for the library, and Apache, Moodle, b2evolution
2782 and Etomite on Debian for the www. The firewall is Untangle.</p>
2783
2784 <p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
2785 get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
2786
2787 <p>Current trends are in our favour. Open source is big in industry,
2788 and ordinary people have heard of it. The spread of Android and the
2789 popularity of Apple have helped to weaken the impression that you have
2790 to have Microsoft on everything. People complain to me much less about
2791 file formats and Word than they did 5 years ago.  The Edu aspect is
2792 also a selling point. This is all customised for schools. Where is the
2793 Windows-edu, or the Mac-edu?  But of course the main attraction is
2794 budget.The trick is to convince people that the quality is not
2795 compromised when you stop paying and use free software instead. That
2796 is one reason why I say the desktop experience is a weakness. People
2797 are not impressed when their USB drive doesn't work, or their browser
2798 doesn't play flash, for example.</p>
2799
2800       </div>
2801       <div class="tags">
2802
2803
2804         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>.
2805
2806
2807       </div>
2808     </div>
2809     <div class="padding"></div>
2810
2811     <div class="entry">
2812       <div class="title">
2813         <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>
2814       </div>
2815       <div class="date">
2816          7th March 2012
2817       </div>
2818       <div class="body">
2819         <!-- Video HTML based on http://www.diveintohtml5.net/video.html -->
2820
2821 <p>One of the Debian Edu developers, Wolfgang Schweer, just created a
2822 screen cast documenting how to create a lot of new users in LDAP on
2823 Debian Edu Squeeze.  The video is embedded here in quarter size, and
2824 also available from <a href="http://vimeo.com/37675399">vimeo</a> and
2825 download as a
2826 <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-02-29-debian_edu_mass_create_user_accounts.ogv">Ogg
2827 Theora</a> file.  Check it out below.</p>
2828
2829 <p><video id="gosa-mass-user-create-movie" width="256" height="184" preload controls>
2830   <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"' />
2831     <p>Download video as
2832       <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux/press/screencasts/2012-02-29-debian_edu_mass_create_user_accounts.ogv">Ogg</a>.</p>
2833 </video></p>
2834
2835       </div>
2836       <div class="tags">
2837
2838
2839         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>.
2840
2841
2842       </div>
2843     </div>
2844     <div class="padding"></div>
2845
2846     <div class="entry">
2847       <div class="title">
2848         <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>
2849       </div>
2850       <div class="date">
2851          4th March 2012
2852       </div>
2853       <div class="body">
2854         <p>This weekend we wrapped up and published the third release
2855 candidate for <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
2856 Skolelinux</a> based on Squeeze.  The full announcement is
2857 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/03/msg00000.html">available</a>
2858 from the project announcement list.  Check it out if you
2859 need a software solution for your school.</p>
2860
2861       </div>
2862       <div class="tags">
2863
2864
2865         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>.
2866
2867
2868       </div>
2869     </div>
2870     <div class="padding"></div>
2871
2872     <div class="entry">
2873       <div class="title">
2874         <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>
2875       </div>
2876       <div class="date">
2877          3rd March 2012
2878       </div>
2879       <div class="body">
2880         <p>Many years ago, the <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux
2881 / Debian Edu project</a> initiated a student project to create a tool
2882 for making stop motion movies.  The proposal came from a teacher
2883 needing such tool on Skolelinux.  The project, called "stopmotion",
2884 was manned by two extraordinary students and won a school award and a
2885 national aware with this great project.  The project was initiated and
2886 mentored by Herman Robak, and manned by the students Bjørn Erik Nilsen
2887 and Fredrik Berg Kjølstad.  They got in touch with people at Aardman
2888 Animation studio and received feedback on how professionals would like
2889 such stopmotion tool to work, and the end result was and is used by
2890 animators around the globe.  But as is usual after studying, both got
2891 jobs and went elsewhere, and did not have time to properly tend to the
2892 project, and it has been lingering for a few years now.  Until last
2893 year...</p>
2894
2895 <p>Last year some of the users got together with Herman, and moved the
2896 project to Sourceforge and in effect restarted the project under a new
2897 name,
2898 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxstopmotion/">linuxstopmotion</a>.
2899 The name change was done to make it possible to find the project using
2900 Internet search engines (try to search for 'stopmotion' to see what I
2901 mean). I've been following
2902 <a href="https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/linuxstopmotion-community">the
2903 mailing list</a> and the improvement already in place and planned for
2904 the future is encouraging.  If you want to make stop motion movies.
2905 Check it out. :)</p>
2906
2907       </div>
2908       <div class="tags">
2909
2910
2911         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>.
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/Second_release_candidate_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Squeeze.html">Second release candidate of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Squeeze</a>
2921       </div>
2922       <div class="date">
2923         27th February 2012
2924       </div>
2925       <div class="body">
2926         <p>This weekend we wrapped up and published the second release
2927 candidate for <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
2928 Skolelinux</a> based on Squeeze.  The full announcement did for some
2929 reason not make it the project announcement list, but is
2930 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2012/02/msg00015.html">available</a>
2931 from the Debian development announcement list.  Check it out if you
2932 need a software solution for your school.</p>
2933
2934       </div>
2935       <div class="tags">
2936
2937
2938         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>.
2939
2940
2941       </div>
2942     </div>
2943     <div class="padding"></div>
2944
2945     <div class="entry">
2946       <div class="title">
2947         <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>
2948       </div>
2949       <div class="date">
2950         19th February 2012
2951       </div>
2952       <div class="body">
2953         <p>One week delayed due to DVD build problems, we managed today to
2954 wrap up and publish the first release candidate for
2955 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> based
2956 on Squeeze.  The full announcement is
2957 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/02/msg00001.html">available</a>
2958 on the project announcement list.  Check it out if you need a software
2959 solution for your school.</p>
2960
2961       </div>
2962       <div class="tags">
2963
2964
2965         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>.
2966
2967
2968       </div>
2969     </div>
2970     <div class="padding"></div>
2971
2972     <div class="entry">
2973       <div class="title">
2974         <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>
2975       </div>
2976       <div class="date">
2977         14th February 2012
2978       </div>
2979       <div class="body">
2980         <p>Once in a while my home server have disk problems.  Thanks to Linux
2981 Software RAID, I have not lost data yet (but
2982 <a href="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.linux.raid/34532">I was
2983 close</a> this summer :).  But once a disk is starting to behave
2984 funny, a practical problem present itself.  How to get from the Linux
2985 device name (like /dev/sdd) to something that can be used to identify
2986 the disk when the computer is turned off?  In my case I have SATA
2987 disks with a unique ID printed on the label.  All I need is a way to
2988 figure out how to query the disk to get the ID out.</p>
2989
2990 <p>After fumbling a bit, I
2991 <a href="http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-getting-scsi-ide-harddisk-information/">found
2992 that hdparm -I</a> will report the disk serial number, which is
2993 printed on the disk label.  The following (almost) one-liner can be
2994 used to look up the ID of all the failed disks:</p>
2995
2996 <blockquote><pre>
2997 for d in $(cat /proc/mdstat |grep '(F)'|tr ' ' "\n"|grep '(F)'|cut -d\[ -f1|sort -u);
2998 do
2999     printf "Failed disk $d: "
3000     hdparm -I /dev/$d |grep 'Serial Num'
3001 done
3002 </blockquote></pre>
3003
3004 <p>Putting it here to make sure I do not have to search for it the
3005 next time, and in case other find it useful.</p>
3006
3007 <p>At the moment I have two failing disk. :(</p>
3008
3009 <blockquote><pre>
3010 Failed disk sdd1:       Serial Number:      WD-WCASJ1860823
3011 Failed disk sdd2:       Serial Number:      WD-WCASJ1860823
3012 Failed disk sde2:       Serial Number:      WD-WCASJ1840589
3013 </blockquote></pre>
3014
3015 <p>The last time I had failing disks, I added the serial number on
3016 labels I printed and stuck on the short sides of each disk, to be able
3017 to figure out which disk to take out of the box without having to
3018 remove each disk to look at the physical vendor label.  The vendor
3019 label is at the top of the disk, which is hidden when the disks are
3020 mounted inside my box.</p>
3021
3022 <p>I really wish the check_linux_raid Nagios plugin for checking Linux
3023 Software RAID in the
3024 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/n/nagios-plugins.html">nagios-plugins-standard</a>
3025 debian package would look up this value automatically, as it would
3026 make the plugin a lot more useful when my disks fail.  At the moment
3027 it only report a failure when there are no more spares left (it really
3028 should warn as soon as a disk is failing), and it do not tell me which
3029 disk(s) is failing when the RAID is running short on disks.</p>
3030
3031       </div>
3032       <div class="tags">
3033
3034
3035         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>.
3036
3037
3038       </div>
3039     </div>
3040     <div class="padding"></div>
3041
3042     <div class="entry">
3043       <div class="title">
3044         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_proxy_configuration_with_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux.html">Automatic proxy configuration with Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>
3045       </div>
3046       <div class="date">
3047         13th February 2012
3048       </div>
3049       <div class="body">
3050         <p>New in the Squeeze version of
3051 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> is the
3052 ability for clients to automatically configure their proxy settings
3053 based on their environment.  We want all systems on the client to use
3054 the WPAD based proxy definition fetched from <tt>http://wpad/wpad.dat</tt>, to
3055 allow sites to control the proxy setting from a central place and make
3056 sure clients do not have hard coded proxy settings.  The schools can
3057 change the global proxy setting by editing
3058 <tt>tjener:/etc/debian-edu/www/wpad.dat</tt> and the change propagate
3059 to all Debian Edu clients in the network.</p>
3060
3061 <p>The problem is that some systems do not understand the WPAD system.
3062 In other words, how do one get from a WPAD file like this (this is a
3063 simple one, they can run arbitrary code):</p>
3064
3065 <blockquote><pre>
3066 function FindProxyForURL(url, host)
3067 {
3068    if (!isResolvable(host) ||
3069        isPlainHostName(host) ||
3070        dnsDomainIs(host, ".intern"))
3071       return "DIRECT";
3072    else
3073       return "PROXY webcache:3128; DIRECT";
3074 }
3075 </pre></blockquote>
3076
3077 <p>to a proxy setting in the process environment looking like this:</p>
3078
3079 <blockquote><pre>
3080 http_proxy=http://webcache:3128/
3081 ftp_proxy=http://webcache:3128/
3082 </pre></blockquote>
3083
3084 <p>To do this conversion I developed a perl script that will execute
3085 the javascript fragment in the WPAD file and return the proxy that
3086 would be used for
3087 <tt><a href="http://www.debian.org/">http://www.debian.org/</a></tt>,
3088 and insert this extracted proxy URL in <tt>/etc/environment</tt> and
3089 <tt>/etc/apt/apt.conf</tt>.  The perl script wpad-extract work just
3090 fine in Squeeze, but in Wheezy the library it need to run the
3091 javascript code is <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/631045">no longer
3092 able to build</a> because the C library it depended on is now a C++
3093 library.  I hope someone find a solution to that problem before Wheezy
3094 is frozen.  An alternative would be for us to rewrite wpad-extract to
3095 use some other javascript library currently working in Wheezy, but no
3096 known alternative is known at the moment.</p>
3097
3098 <p>This automatic proxy system allow the roaming workstation (aka
3099 laptop) setup in Debian Edu/Squeeze to use the proxy when the laptop
3100 is connected to the backbone network in a Debian Edu setup, and to
3101 automatically use any proxy present and announced using the WPAD
3102 feature when it is connected to other networks.  And if no proxy is
3103 announced, direct connections will be used instead.</p>
3104
3105 <p>Silently using a proxy announced on the network might be a privacy
3106 or security problem.  But those controlling DHCP and DNS on a network
3107 could just as easily set up a transparent proxy, and force all HTTP
3108 and FTP connections to use a proxy anyway, so I consider that
3109 distinction to be academic.  If you are afraid of using the wrong
3110 proxy, you should avoid connecting to the network in question in the
3111 first place.  In Debian Edu, the proxy setup is updated using dhcp and
3112 ifupdown hooks, to make sure the configuration is updated every time
3113 the network setup changes.</p>
3114
3115 <p>The WPAD system is documented in a
3116 <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-wrec-wpad-01">IETF
3117 draft</a> and a
3118 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Proxy_Autodiscovery_Protocol">Wikipedia
3119 page</a> for those that want to learn more.</p>
3120
3121       </div>
3122       <div class="tags">
3123
3124
3125         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>.
3126
3127
3128       </div>
3129     </div>
3130     <div class="padding"></div>
3131
3132     <div class="entry">
3133       <div class="title">
3134         <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>
3135       </div>
3136       <div class="date">
3137          5th February 2012
3138       </div>
3139       <div class="body">
3140         <p>Since the Lenny version of
3141 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>, a
3142 feature to save power have been included.  It is as simple as it is
3143 practical: Shut down unused clients at night, and turn them on again
3144 in the morning.  This is done using the
3145 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/shutdown-at-night.html">shutdown-at-night</a> Debian package.</p>
3146
3147 <p>To enable this feature on a client, the machine need to be added to
3148 the netgroup shutdown-at-night-hosts.  For Debian Edu, this is done in
3149 LDAP, and once this is in place, the machine in question will check
3150 every hour from 16:00 until 06:00 to see if the machine is unused, and
3151 shut it down if it is.  If the hardware in question is supported by
3152 the
3153 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/n/nvram-wakeup.html">nvram-wakeup</a>
3154 package, the BIOS is told to turn the machine back on around 07:00 +-
3155 10 minutes.  If this isn't working, one can configure wake-on-lan to
3156 try to turn on the client.  The wake-on-lan option is only documented
3157 and not enabled by default in Debian Edu.</p>
3158
3159 <p>It is important to not turn all machines on at once, as this can
3160 blow a fuse if several computers are connected to the same fuse like
3161 the common setup for a classroom.  The nvram-wakeup method only work
3162 for machines with a functioning hardware/BIOS clock.  I've seen old
3163 machines where the BIOS battery were dead and the hardware clock were
3164 starting from 0 (or was it 1990?) every boot.  If you have one of
3165 those, you have to turn on the computer manually.</p>
3166
3167 <p>The shutdown-at-night package is completely self contained, and can
3168 also be used outside the Debian Edu environment.  For those without a
3169 central LDAP server with netgroups, one can instead touch the file
3170 <tt>/etc/shutdown-at-night/shutdown-at-night</tt> to enable it.
3171 Perhaps you too can use it to save some power?</p>
3172
3173       </div>
3174       <div class="tags">
3175
3176
3177         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>.
3178
3179
3180       </div>
3181     </div>
3182     <div class="padding"></div>
3183
3184     <div class="entry">
3185       <div class="title">
3186         <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>
3187       </div>
3188       <div class="date">
3189          4th February 2012
3190       </div>
3191       <div class="body">
3192         <p>I am happy to announce that finally we managed today to wrap up and
3193 publish the third beta version of
3194 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> based
3195 on Squeeze.  If you want to test a LDAP backed Kerberos server with
3196 out of the box PXE configuration for running diskless machines and
3197 installing new machines, check it out.  If you need a software
3198 solution for your school, check it out too.  The full announcement is
3199 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/02/msg00000.html">available</a>
3200 on the project announcement list.</p>
3201
3202 <p>I am very happy to report these changes and improvements since
3203 beta2 (there are more, see announcement for full list):</p>
3204
3205 <ul>
3206
3207 <li>It is now possible to change the pre-configured IP subnet from
3208   10.0.0.0/8 to something else by using the subnet-change tool after
3209   the installation.</li>
3210
3211 <li>Too full partitions are now automatically extended on the Main
3212   Server, based on the rules specified in /etc/fsautoresizetab.</li>
3213
3214 <li>The CUPS queues are now automatically flushed every night, and all
3215   disabled queues are restarted every hour.  This should cut down on
3216   the amount of manual administration needed for printers.</li>
3217
3218 <li>The set of initial users have been changed.  Now a personal user
3219   for the local system administrator is created during installation
3220   instead of the previously created localadmin and super-admin users,
3221   and this user is granted administrative privileges using group
3222   membership.  This reduces the number of passwords one need to keep
3223   up to date on the system.</li>
3224
3225 </ul>
3226
3227 <p>The new main server seem to work so well that I am testing it as my
3228 private DNS/LDAP/Kerberos/PXE/LTSP server at home.  I will use it look
3229 for issues we could fix to polish Debian Edu even further before the
3230 final Squeeze release is published.</p>
3231
3232 <p>Next weekend the project organise a
3233 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/01/msg00001.html">developer
3234 gathering</a> in Oslo.  We will continue the work on the Squeeze
3235 version, and start initial planning for the Wheezy version.  Perhaps I
3236 will see you there?</p>
3237
3238       </div>
3239       <div class="tags">
3240
3241
3242         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>.
3243
3244
3245       </div>
3246     </div>
3247     <div class="padding"></div>
3248
3249     <div class="entry">
3250       <div class="title">
3251         <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>
3252       </div>
3253       <div class="date">
3254         27th January 2012
3255       </div>
3256       <div class="body">
3257         <p>With some computer hardware, one need non-free firmware blobs.
3258 This is the sad fact of todays computers.  In the next version of
3259 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> based
3260 on Squeeze, we provide several scripts and modifications to make
3261 firmware blobs easier to handle.  The common use case I run into is a
3262 laptop with a wireless network card requiring non-free firmware to
3263 work, but there are other use cases as well.</p>
3264
3265 <p>First and foremost, Debian Edu provide ISO images for DVD and CD
3266 with all firmware packages in the Debian sections main and non-free
3267 included, to ensure debian-installer find and can install all of them
3268 during installation.  This take care firmware for network devices used
3269 by the installer when installing from from local media.  But for
3270 example multimedia devices are not activated in the installer and are
3271 not taken care of by this.</p>
3272
3273 <p>For non-network devices, we provide the script
3274 <tt>/usr/share/debian-edu-config/tools/auto-addfirmware</tt> which
3275 search through the <tt>dmesg</tt> output for drivers requesting extra
3276 firmware.  The firmware file name is looked up in the Contents-ARCH.gz
3277 file available in the package repository, and the packages providing
3278 the requested firmware file(s) is installed.  I have proposed to do
3279 something similar in debian-installer (BTS report
3280 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/655507">#655507</a>), to allow PXE
3281 installs of Debian to handle firmware installation better.  Run the
3282 script as root from the command line to fetch and install the needed
3283 firmware packages.</p>
3284
3285 <p>Debian Edu provide PXE installation of Debian out of the box, and
3286 because some machines need firmware to get their network cards
3287 working, the installation initrd some times need extra firmware
3288 included to be able to install at all.  To fill the PXE installation
3289 initrd with extra firmware, the
3290 <tt>/usr/share/debian-edu-config/tools/pxe-addfirmware</tt> script is
3291 provided.  Again, just run it as root on the command line to fill the
3292 PXE initrd with firmware packages.</p>
3293
3294 <p>Last, some LTSP clients might also need firmware to get their
3295 network cards working.  For this,
3296 <tt>/usr/share/debian-edu-config/tools/ltsp-addfirmware</tt> is
3297 provided to update the LTSP initrd with firmware blobs.  It is used
3298 the same way as the other firmware related tools.</p>
3299
3300 <p>At the moment, we do not run any of these during installation.  We
3301 do not know if this is acceptable for the local administrator to use
3302 non-free software, and it is their choice.</p>
3303
3304 <p>We plan to release beta3 this weekend.  You might want to give it a
3305 try.</p>
3306
3307       </div>
3308       <div class="tags">
3309
3310
3311         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>.
3312
3313
3314       </div>
3315     </div>
3316     <div class="padding"></div>
3317
3318     <div class="entry">
3319       <div class="title">
3320         <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>
3321       </div>
3322       <div class="date">
3323         25th January 2012
3324       </div>
3325       <div class="body">
3326         <p>The next version of <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu
3327 / Skolelinux</a> will include a new tool
3328 <tt>sitesummary2ldapdhcp</tt>, which can be used to quickly set up all
3329 the computers in a school without much manual labour.  Here is a short
3330 summary on how to use it to set up a new school.</p>
3331
3332 <p>First, install a combined Main Server and Thin Client Server as the
3333 central server in the network.  Next, PXE boot all the client machines
3334 as thin clients and wait 5 minutes after the last client booted to
3335 allow the clients to report their existence to the central server.  When
3336 this is done, log on to the central server and run
3337 <tt>sitesummary2ldapdhcp -a</tt> in the <tt>konsole</tt> to use the
3338 collected information to generate system objects in LDAP.  The output
3339 will look similar to this:</p>
3340
3341 <p><blockquote><pre>
3342 % sitesummary2ldapdhcp -a
3343 info: Updating machine tjener.intern [10.0.2.2] id ether-00:01:02:03:04:05.
3344 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.
3345
3346 Enter password if you want to activate these changes, and ^c to abort.
3347
3348 Connecting to LDAP as cn=admin,ou=ldap-access,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3349 enter password: *******
3350 %
3351 </pre></blockquote></p>
3352
3353 <p>After providing the LDAP administrative password (the same as the
3354 root password set during installation), the LDAP database will be
3355 populated with system objects for each PXE booted machine with
3356 automatically generated names.  The final step to set up the school is
3357 then to log into <a href="https://oss.gonicus.de/labs/gosa/">GOsa</a>,
3358 the web based user, group and system administration system to change
3359 system names, add systems to the correct host groups and finally
3360 enable DHCP and DNS for the systems.  All clients that should be used
3361 as diskless workstations should be added to the workstation-hosts
3362 group.  After this is done, all computers can be booted again via PXE
3363 and get their assigned names and group based configuration
3364 automatically.</p>
3365
3366 <p>We plan to release beta3 with the updated version of this feature
3367 enabled this weekend.  You might want to give it a try.</p>
3368
3369 <p>Update 2012-01-28: When calling sitesummary2ldapdhcp to add new
3370 hosts, one need to add the option -a.  I forgot to mention this in my
3371 original text, and have added it to the text now.</p>
3372
3373       </div>
3374       <div class="tags">
3375
3376
3377         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>.
3378
3379
3380       </div>
3381     </div>
3382     <div class="padding"></div>
3383
3384     <div class="entry">
3385       <div class="title">
3386         <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>
3387       </div>
3388       <div class="date">
3389         10th January 2012
3390       </div>
3391       <div class="body">
3392         <p>In the Squeeze version of
3393 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> soon
3394 to be released, users of the system will get their default browser
3395 start page set from LDAP, allowing the system administrator to point
3396 all users to the school web page by updating one setting in LDAP.  In
3397 addition to setting the default start page when a machine boots, users
3398 are shown the same page as a welcome page when they log in for the
3399 first time.</p>
3400
3401 <p>The LDAP object dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no have an attribute
3402 labeledURI with "http://www/ LDAP for Debian Edu/Skolelinux" as the
3403 default content.  By changing this value to another URL, all users get
3404 to see the page behind this new URL.</p>
3405
3406 <p>An easy way to update it is by using the ldapvi tool.  It can be
3407 called as "<tt>ldapvi -ZD '(cn=admin)'</tt>' to update LDAP with the
3408 new setting.</p>
3409
3410 <p>We have written the code to adjust the default start page and show
3411 the welcome page, and I wonder if there is an easier way to do this
3412 from within Iceweasel instead.</p>
3413
3414       </div>
3415       <div class="tags">
3416
3417
3418         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>.
3419
3420
3421       </div>
3422     </div>
3423     <div class="padding"></div>
3424
3425     <div class="entry">
3426       <div class="title">
3427         <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>
3428       </div>
3429       <div class="date">
3430          7th January 2012
3431       </div>
3432       <div class="body">
3433         <p>I am happy to announce that today we managed to wrap up and publish
3434 the second beta version of
3435 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>.  If
3436 you want to test a LDAP backed Kerberos server with out of the box PXE
3437 configuration for running diskless machines and installing new
3438 machines, check it out.  If you need a software solution for your
3439 school, check it out too.  The full announcement is
3440 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/01/msg00000.html">available</a>
3441 on the project announcement list.</p>
3442
3443       </div>
3444       <div class="tags">
3445
3446
3447         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>.
3448
3449
3450       </div>
3451     </div>
3452     <div class="padding"></div>
3453
3454     <div class="entry">
3455       <div class="title">
3456         <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>
3457       </div>
3458       <div class="date">
3459          3rd January 2012
3460       </div>
3461       <div class="body">
3462         <p>During christmas, I have been working getting the next version of
3463 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> ready
3464 for release.  The initial problem I looked at was particularly
3465 interesting.</p>
3466
3467 <P>The installer would hang at the end when it was doing it
3468 post-installation configuration, and whatevery I did to try to find
3469 the cause and fix it always worked while I tested it, but never when I
3470 integrated it into the installer and ran the installation from
3471 scratch.  I would try to restart processes, close file descriptors,
3472 remove or create files, and the installer would always unblock and
3473 wrap up its tasks.</p>
3474
3475 <p>Eventually the cause was found.  The kernel was simply running out
3476 of entropy, causing the Kerberos setup to hang waiting for more.
3477 Pressing keys was adding entropy to the kernel, and thus all my tries
3478 to fix the problem worked not because what I was typing to fix it, but
3479 because I was typing.</P>
3480
3481 <p>The fix I implemented was to add a background process looking at
3482 the level of entropy in the kernel (by checking
3483 /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail), and if it was too small, the
3484 installer will flush the kernel file buffers and do 'find /' to
3485 generate some disk IO.  Disk IO generate entropy in the kernel, and is
3486 one of the few things that can be initated from within the system to
3487 generate entropy.</p>
3488
3489 <p>The fix is in
3490 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze/Installation">beta1
3491 of the Debian Edu/Squeeze</a> version, and we
3492 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu">welcome more testers and
3493 developers</a>.  We plan to release beta2 this weekend.</p>
3494
3495       </div>
3496       <div class="tags">
3497
3498
3499         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>.
3500
3501
3502       </div>
3503     </div>
3504     <div class="padding"></div>
3505
3506     <div class="entry">
3507       <div class="title">
3508         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_upgrading_server_firmware_on_Dell_PowerEdge.html">Automatically upgrading server firmware on Dell PowerEdge</a>
3509       </div>
3510       <div class="date">
3511         21st November 2011
3512       </div>
3513       <div class="body">
3514         <p>At work we have heaps of servers.  I believe the total count is
3515 around 1000 at the moment.  To be able to get help from the vendors
3516 when something go wrong, we want to keep the firmware on the servers
3517 up to date.  If the firmware isn't the latest and greatest, the
3518 vendors typically refuse to start debugging any problems until the
3519 firmware is upgraded.  So before every reboot, we want to upgrade the
3520 firmware, and we would really like everyone handling servers at the
3521 university to do this themselves when they plan to reboot a machine.
3522 For that to happen we at the unix server admin group need to provide
3523 the tools to do so.</p>
3524
3525 <p>To make firmware upgrading easier, I am working on a script to
3526 fetch and install the latest firmware for the servers we got.  Most of
3527 our hardware are from Dell and HP, so I have focused on these servers
3528 so far.  This blog post is about the Dell part.</P>
3529
3530 <p>On the Dell FTP site I was lucky enough to find
3531 <a href="ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/catalog/Catalog.xml.gz">an XML file</a>
3532 with firmware information for all 11th generation servers, listing
3533 which firmware should be used on a given model and where on the FTP
3534 site I can find it.  Using a simple perl XML parser I can then
3535 download the shell scripts Dell provides to do firmware upgrades from
3536 within Linux and reboot when all the firmware is primed and ready to
3537 be activated on the first reboot.</p>
3538
3539 <p>This is the Dell related fragment of the perl code I am working on.
3540 Are there anyone working on similar tools for firmware upgrading all
3541 servers at a site?  Please get in touch and lets share resources.</p>
3542
3543 <p><pre>
3544 #!/usr/bin/perl
3545 use strict;
3546 use warnings;
3547 use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
3548 BEGIN {
3549     # Install needed RHEL packages if missing
3550     my %rhelmodules = (
3551         'XML::Simple' => 'perl-XML-Simple',
3552         );
3553     for my $module (keys %rhelmodules) {
3554         eval "use $module;";
3555         if ($@) {
3556             my $pkg = $rhelmodules{$module};
3557             system("yum install -y $pkg");
3558             eval "use $module;";
3559         }
3560     }
3561 }
3562 my $errorsto = 'pere@hungry.com';
3563
3564 upgrade_dell();
3565
3566 exit 0;
3567
3568 sub run_firmware_script {
3569     my ($opts, $script) = @_;
3570     unless ($script) {
3571         print STDERR "fail: missing script name\n";
3572         exit 1
3573     }
3574     print STDERR "Running $script\n\n";
3575
3576     if (0 == system("sh $script $opts")) { # FIXME correct exit code handling
3577         print STDERR "success: firmware script ran succcessfully\n";
3578     } else {
3579         print STDERR "fail: firmware script returned error\n";
3580     }
3581 }
3582
3583 sub run_firmware_scripts {
3584     my ($opts, @dirs) = @_;
3585     # Run firmware packages
3586     for my $dir (@dirs) {
3587         print STDERR "info: Running scripts in $dir\n";
3588         opendir(my $dh, $dir) or die "Unable to open directory $dir: $!";
3589         while (my $s = readdir $dh) {
3590             next if $s =~ m/^\.\.?/;
3591             run_firmware_script($opts, "$dir/$s");
3592         }
3593         closedir $dh;
3594     }
3595 }
3596
3597 sub download {
3598     my $url = shift;
3599     print STDERR "info: Downloading $url\n";
3600     system("wget --quiet \"$url\"");
3601 }
3602
3603 sub upgrade_dell {
3604     my @dirs;
3605     my $product = `dmidecode -s system-product-name`;
3606     chomp $product;
3607
3608     if ($product =~ m/PowerEdge/) {
3609
3610         # on RHEL, these pacakges are needed by the firwmare upgrade scripts
3611         system('yum install -y compat-libstdc++-33.i686 libstdc++.i686 libxml2.i686 procmail');
3612
3613         my $tmpdir = tempdir(
3614             CLEANUP => 1
3615             );
3616         chdir($tmpdir);
3617         fetch_dell_fw('catalog/Catalog.xml.gz');
3618         system('gunzip Catalog.xml.gz');
3619         my @paths = fetch_dell_fw_list('Catalog.xml');
3620         # -q is quiet, disabling interactivity and reducing console output
3621         my $fwopts = "-q";
3622         if (@paths) {
3623             for my $url (@paths) {
3624                 fetch_dell_fw($url);
3625             }
3626             run_firmware_scripts($fwopts, $tmpdir);
3627         } else {
3628             print STDERR "error: Unsupported Dell model '$product'.\n";
3629             print STDERR "error: Please report to $errorsto.\n";
3630         }
3631         chdir('/');
3632     } else {
3633         print STDERR "error: Unsupported Dell model '$product'.\n";
3634         print STDERR "error: Please report to $errorsto.\n";
3635     }
3636 }
3637
3638 sub fetch_dell_fw {
3639     my $path = shift;
3640     my $url = "ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/$path";
3641     download($url);
3642 }
3643
3644 # Using ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/catalog/Catalog.xml.gz, figure out which
3645 # firmware packages to download from Dell.  Only work for Linux
3646 # machines and 11th generation Dell servers.
3647 sub fetch_dell_fw_list {
3648     my $filename = shift;
3649
3650     my $product = `dmidecode -s system-product-name`;
3651     chomp $product;
3652     my ($mybrand, $mymodel) = split(/\s+/, $product);
3653
3654     print STDERR "Finding firmware bundles for $mybrand $mymodel\n";
3655
3656     my $xml = XMLin($filename);
3657     my @paths;
3658     for my $bundle (@{$xml->{SoftwareBundle}}) {
3659         my $brand = $bundle->{TargetSystems}->{Brand}->{Display}->{content};
3660         my $model = $bundle->{TargetSystems}->{Brand}->{Model}->{Display}->{content};
3661         my $oscode;
3662         if ("ARRAY" eq ref $bundle->{TargetOSes}->{OperatingSystem}) {
3663             $oscode = $bundle->{TargetOSes}->{OperatingSystem}[0]->{osCode};
3664         } else {
3665             $oscode = $bundle->{TargetOSes}->{OperatingSystem}->{osCode};
3666         }
3667         if ($mybrand eq $brand && $mymodel eq $model && "LIN" eq $oscode)
3668         {
3669             @paths = map { $_->{path} } @{$bundle->{Contents}->{Package}};
3670         }
3671     }
3672     for my $component (@{$xml->{SoftwareComponent}}) {
3673         my $componenttype = $component->{ComponentType}->{value};
3674
3675         # Drop application packages, only firmware and BIOS
3676         next if 'APAC' eq $componenttype;
3677
3678         my $cpath = $component->{path};
3679         for my $path (@paths) {
3680             if ($cpath =~ m%/$path$%) {
3681                 push(@paths, $cpath);
3682             }
3683         }
3684     }
3685     return @paths;
3686 }
3687 </pre>
3688
3689 <p>The code is only tested on RedHat Enterprise Linux, but I suspect
3690 it could work on other platforms with some tweaking.  Anyone know a
3691 index like Catalog.xml is available from HP for HP servers?  At the
3692 moment I maintain a similar list manually and it is quickly getting
3693 outdated.</p>
3694
3695       </div>
3696       <div class="tags">
3697
3698
3699         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>.
3700
3701
3702       </div>
3703     </div>
3704     <div class="padding"></div>
3705
3706     <div class="entry">
3707       <div class="title">
3708         <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>
3709       </div>
3710       <div class="date">
3711          7th October 2011
3712       </div>
3713       <div class="body">
3714         <p>Here in Norway the public libraries are debating with the
3715 publishing houses how to handle electronic books.  Surprisingly, the
3716 libraries seem to be willing to accept digital restriction mechanisms
3717 (DRM) on books and renting e-books with artificial scarcity from the
3718 publishing houses.  Time limited renting (2-3 years) is one proposed
3719 model, and only allowing X borrowers for each book is another.
3720 Personally I find it amazing that libraries are even considering such
3721 models.</p>
3722
3723 <p>Anyway, while reading <a href="http://boklaben.no/?p=220">part of
3724 this debate</a>, it occurred to me that someone should present a more
3725 sensible approach to the libraries, to allow its borrowers to get used
3726 to a better model.  The idea is simple:</p>
3727
3728 <p>Create a computer system for the libraries, either in the form of a
3729 Live DVD or a installable distribution, that provide a simple kiosk
3730 solution to hand out free e-books.  As a start, the books distributed
3731 by <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">Project Gutenberg</a> (abount
3732 36,000 books), <a href="http://runeberg.org/">Project Runenberg</a>
3733 (1149 books) and <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/texts">The
3734 Internet Archive</a> (3,033,748 books) could be included, but any book
3735 where the copyright has expired or with a free licence could be
3736 distributed.</p>
3737
3738 <p>The computer system would make it easy to:</p>
3739
3740 <ul>
3741
3742 <li>Copy e-books into a USB stick, reading tablets, cell phones and
3743   other relevant equipment.</li>
3744
3745 <li>Show the books for reading on the the screen in the library.</li>
3746
3747 </ul>
3748
3749 <p>In addition to such kiosk solution, there should probably be a web
3750 site as well to allow people easy access to these books without
3751 visiting the library.  The site would be the distribution point for
3752 the kiosk systems, which would connect regularly to fetch any new
3753 books available.</p>
3754
3755 <p>Are there anyone working on a system like this?  I guess it would
3756 fit any library in the world, and not just the Norwegian public
3757 libraries. :)</p>
3758
3759       </div>
3760       <div class="tags">
3761
3762
3763         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>.
3764
3765
3766       </div>
3767     </div>
3768     <div class="padding"></div>
3769
3770     <div class="entry">
3771       <div class="title">
3772         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Ripping_problematic_DVDs_using_dvdbackup_and_genisoimage.html">Ripping problematic DVDs using dvdbackup and genisoimage</a>
3773       </div>
3774       <div class="date">
3775         17th September 2011
3776       </div>
3777       <div class="body">
3778         <p>For convenience, I want to store copies of all my DVDs on my file
3779 server.  It allow me to save shelf space flat while still having my
3780 movie collection easily available.  It also make it possible to let
3781 the kids see their favourite DVDs without wearing the physical copies
3782 down.  I prefer to store the DVDs as ISOs to keep the DVD menu and
3783 subtitle options intact.  It also ensure that the entire film is one
3784 file on the disk.  As this is for personal use, the ripping is
3785 perfectly legal here in Norway.</p>
3786
3787 <p>Normally I rip the DVDs using dd like this:</p>
3788
3789 <blockquote><pre>
3790 #!/bin/sh
3791 # apt-get install lsdvd
3792 title=$(lsdvd 2>/dev/null|awk '/Disc Title: / {print $3}')
3793 dd if=/dev/dvd of=/storage/dvds/$title.iso bs=1M
3794 </pre></blockquote>
3795
3796 <p>But some DVDs give a input/output error when I read it, and I have
3797 been looking for a better alternative.  I have no idea why this I/O
3798 error occur, but suspect my DVD drive, the Linux kernel driver or
3799 something fishy with the DVDs in question.  Or perhaps all three.</p>
3800
3801 <p>Anyway, I believe I found a solution today using dvdbackup and
3802 genisoimage.  This script gave me a working ISO for a problematic
3803 movie by first extracting the DVD file system and then re-packing it
3804 back as an ISO.
3805
3806 <blockquote><pre>
3807 #!/bin/sh
3808 # apt-get install lsdvd dvdbackup genisoimage
3809 set -e
3810 tmpdir=/storage/dvds/
3811 title=$(lsdvd 2>/dev/null|awk '/Disc Title: / {print $3}')
3812 dvdbackup -i /dev/dvd -M -o $tmpdir -n$title
3813 genisoimage -dvd-video -o $tmpdir/$title.iso $tmpdir/$title
3814 rm -rf $tmpdir/$title
3815 </pre></blockquote>
3816
3817 <p>Anyone know of a better way available in Debian/Squeeze?</p>
3818
3819 <p>Update 2011-09-18: I got a tip from Konstantin Khomoutov about the
3820 readom program from the wodim package.  It is specially written to
3821 read optical media, and is called like this: <tt>readom dev=/dev/dvd
3822 f=image.iso</tt>.  It got 6 GB along with the problematic Cars DVD
3823 before it failed, and failed right away with a Timmy Time DVD.</p>
3824
3825 <p>Next, I got a tip from Bastian Blank about
3826 <a href="http://bblank.thinkmo.de/blog/new-software-python-dvdvideo">his
3827 program python-dvdvideo</a>, which seem to be just what I am looking
3828 for.  Tested it with my problematic Timmy Time DVD, and it succeeded
3829 creating a ISO image.  The git source built and installed just fine in
3830 Squeeze, so I guess this will be my tool of choice in the future.</p>
3831
3832       </div>
3833       <div class="tags">
3834
3835
3836         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>.
3837
3838
3839       </div>
3840     </div>
3841     <div class="padding"></div>
3842
3843     <div class="entry">
3844       <div class="title">
3845         <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>
3846       </div>
3847       <div class="date">
3848          4th August 2011
3849       </div>
3850       <div class="body">
3851         <p>Wouter Verhelst have some
3852 <a href="http://grep.be/blog/en/retorts/pere_kubuntu_boot">interesting
3853 comments and opinions</a> on my blog post on
3854 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_should_start_from__etc_rcS_d__in_Debian____almost_nothing.html">the
3855 need to clean up /etc/rcS.d/ in Debian</a> and my blog post about
3856 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_missing_in_the_Debian_desktop__or_why_my_parents_use_Kubuntu.html">the
3857 default KDE desktop in Debian</a>.  I only have time to address one
3858 small piece of his comment now, and though it best to address the
3859 misunderstanding he bring forward:</p>
3860
3861 <p><blockquote>
3862 Currently, a system admin has four options: [...] boot to a
3863 single-user system (by adding 'single' to the kernel command line;
3864 this runs rcS and rc1 scripts)
3865 </blockquote></p>
3866
3867 <p>This make me believe Wouter believe booting into single user mode
3868 and booting into runlevel 1 is the same.  I am not surprised he
3869 believe this, because it would make sense and is a quite sensible
3870 thing to believe.  But because the boot in Debian is slightly broken,
3871 runlevel 1 do not work properly and it isn't the same as single user
3872 mode.  I'll try to explain what is actually happing, but it is a bit
3873 hard to explain.</p>
3874
3875 <p>Single user mode is defined like this in /etc/inittab:
3876 "<tt>~~:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin</tt>".  This means the only thing that is
3877 executed in single user mode is sulogin.  Single user mode is a boot
3878 state "between" the runlevels, and when booting into single user mode,
3879 only the scripts in /etc/rcS.d/ are executed before the init process
3880 enters the single user state.  When switching to runlevel 1, the state
3881 is in fact not ending in runlevel 1, but it passes through runlevel 1
3882 and end up in the single user mode (see /etc/rc1.d/S03single, which
3883 runs "init -t1 S" to switch to single user mode at the end of runlevel
3884 1.  It is confusing that the 'S' (single user) init mode is not the
3885 mode enabled by /etc/rcS.d/ (which is more like the initial boot
3886 mode).</p>
3887
3888 <p>This summary might make it clearer.  When booting for the first
3889 time into single user mode, the following commands are executed:
3890 "<tt>/etc/init.d/rc S; /sbin/sulogin</tt>".  When booting into
3891 runlevel 1, the following commands are executed: "<tt>/etc/init.d/rc
3892 S; /etc/init.d/rc 1; /sbin/sulogin</tt>".  A problem show up when
3893 trying to continue after visiting single user mode.  Not all services
3894 are started again as they should, causing the machine to end up in an
3895 unpredicatble state.  This is why Debian admins recommend rebooting
3896 after visiting single user mode.</p>
3897
3898 <p>A similar problem with runlevel 1 is caused by the amount of
3899 scripts executed from /etc/rcS.d/.  When switching from say runlevel 2
3900 to runlevel 1, the services started from /etc/rcS.d/ are not properly
3901 stopped when passing through the scripts in /etc/rc1.d/, and not
3902 started again when switching away from runlevel 1 to the runlevels
3903 2-5.  I believe the problem is best fixed by moving all the scripts
3904 out of /etc/rcS.d/ that are not <strong>required</strong> to get a
3905 functioning single user mode during boot.</p>
3906
3907 <p>I have spent several years investigating the Debian boot system,
3908 and discovered this problem a few years ago.  I suspect it originates
3909 from when sysvinit was introduced into Debian, a long time ago.</p>
3910
3911       </div>
3912       <div class="tags">
3913
3914
3915         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>.
3916
3917
3918       </div>
3919     </div>
3920     <div class="padding"></div>
3921
3922     <div class="entry">
3923       <div class="title">
3924         <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>
3925       </div>
3926       <div class="date">
3927         30th July 2011
3928       </div>
3929       <div class="body">
3930         <p>In the Debian boot system, several packages include scripts that
3931 are started from /etc/rcS.d/.  In fact, there is a bite more of them
3932 than make sense, and this causes a few problems.  What kind of
3933 problems, you might ask.  There are at least two problems.  The first
3934 is that it is not possible to recover a machine after switching to
3935 runlevel 1.  One need to actually reboot to get the machine back to
3936 the expected state.  The other is that single user boot will sometimes
3937 run into problems because some of the subsystems are activated before
3938 the root login is presented, causing problems when trying to recover a
3939 machine from a problem in that subsystem.  A minor additional point is
3940 that moving more scripts out of rcS.d/ and into the other rc#.d/
3941 directories will increase the amount of scripts that can run in
3942 parallel during boot, and thus decrease the boot time.</p>
3943
3944 <p>So, which scripts should start from rcS.d/.  In short, only the
3945 scripts that _have_ to execute before the root login prompt is
3946 presented during a single user boot should go there.  Everything else
3947 should go into the numeric runlevels.  This means things like
3948 lm-sensors, fuse and x11-common should not run from rcS.d, but from
3949 the numeric runlevels.  Today in Debian, there are around 115 init.d
3950 scripts that are started from rcS.d/, and most of them should be moved
3951 out.  Do your package have one of them?  Please help us make single
3952 user and runlevel 1 better by moving it.</p>
3953
3954 <p>Scripts setting up the screen, keyboard, system partitions
3955 etc. should still be started from rcS.d/, but there is for example no
3956 need to have the network enabled before the single user login prompt
3957 is presented.</p>
3958
3959 <p>As always, things are not so easy to fix as they sound.  To keep
3960 Debian systems working while scripts migrate and during upgrades, the
3961 scripts need to be moved from rcS.d/ to rc2.d/ in reverse dependency
3962 order, ie the scripts that nothing in rcS.d/ depend on can be moved,
3963 and the next ones can only be moved when their dependencies have been
3964 moved first.  This migration must be done sequentially while we ensure
3965 that the package system upgrade packages in the right order to keep
3966 the system state correct.  This will require some coordination when it
3967 comes to network related packages, but most of the packages with
3968 scripts that should migrate do not have anything in rcS.d/ depending
3969 on them.  Some packages have already been updated, like the sudo
3970 package, while others are still left to do.  I wish I had time to work
3971 on this myself, but real live constrains make it unlikely that I will
3972 find time to push this forward.</p>
3973
3974       </div>
3975       <div class="tags">
3976
3977
3978         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>.
3979
3980
3981       </div>
3982     </div>
3983     <div class="padding"></div>
3984
3985     <div class="entry">
3986       <div class="title">
3987         <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>
3988       </div>
3989       <div class="date">
3990         29th July 2011
3991       </div>
3992       <div class="body">
3993         <p>While at Debconf11, I have several times during discussions
3994 mentioned the issues I believe should be improved in Debian for its
3995 desktop to be useful for more people.  The use case for this is my
3996 parents, which are currently running Kubuntu which solve the
3997 issues.</p>
3998
3999 <p>I suspect these four missing features are not very hard to
4000 implement.  After all, they are present in Ubuntu, so if we wanted to
4001 do this in Debian we would have a source.</p>
4002
4003 <ol>
4004
4005 <li><strong>Simple GUI based upgrade of packages.</strong> When there
4006 are new packages available for upgrades, a icon in the KDE status bar
4007 indicate this, and clicking on it will activate the simple upgrade
4008 tool to handle it.  I have no problem guiding both of my parents
4009 through the process over the phone.  If a kernel reboot is required,
4010 this too is indicated by the status bars and the upgrade tool.  Last
4011 time I checked, nothing with the same features was working in KDE in
4012 Debian.</li>
4013
4014 <li><strong>Simple handling of missing Firefox browser
4015 plugins.</strong> When the browser encounter a MIME type it do not
4016 currently have a handler for, it will ask the user if the system
4017 should search for a package that would add support for this MIME type,
4018 and if the user say yes, the APT sources will be searched for packages
4019 advertising the MIME type in their control file (visible in the
4020 Packages file in the APT archive).  If one or more packages are found,
4021 it is a simple click of the mouse to add support for the missing mime
4022 type.  If the package require the user to accept some non-free
4023 license, this is explained to the user.  The entire process make it
4024 more clear to the user why something do not work in the browser, and
4025 make the chances higher for the user to blame the web page authors and
4026 not the browser for any missing features.</li>
4027
4028 <li><strong>Simple handling of missing multimedia codec/format
4029 handlers.</strong> When the media players encounter a format or codec
4030 it is not supporting, a dialog pop up asking the user if the system
4031 should search for a package that would add support for it.  This
4032 happen with things like MP3, Windows Media or H.264.  The selection
4033 and installation procedure is very similar to the Firefox browser
4034 plugin handling.  This is as far as I know implemented using a
4035 gstreamer hook.  The end result is that the user easily get access to
4036 the codecs that are present from the APT archives available, while
4037 explaining more on why a given format is unsupported by Ubuntu.</li>
4038
4039 <li><strong>Better browser handling of some MIME types.</strong> When
4040 displaying a text/plain file in my Debian browser, it will propose to
4041 start emacs to show it.  If I remember correctly, when doing the same
4042 in Kunbutu it show the file as a text file in the browser.  At least I
4043 know Opera will show text files within the browser.  I much prefer the
4044 latter behaviour.</li>
4045
4046 </ol>
4047
4048 <p>There are other nice features as well, like the simplified suite
4049 upgrader, but given that I am the one mostly doing the dist-upgrade,
4050 it do not matter much.</p>
4051
4052 <p>I really hope we could get these features in place for the next
4053 Debian release.  It would require the coordinated effort of several
4054 maintainers, but would make the end user experience a lot better.</p>
4055
4056       </div>
4057       <div class="tags">
4058
4059
4060         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>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
4061
4062
4063       </div>
4064     </div>
4065     <div class="padding"></div>
4066
4067     <div class="entry">
4068       <div class="title">
4069         <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>
4070       </div>
4071       <div class="date">
4072         26th July 2011
4073       </div>
4074       <div class="body">
4075         <p>The Norwegian <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</A>
4076 site is build on Debian/Squeeze, and this platform was chosen because
4077 I am most familiar with Debian (being a Debian Developer for around 10
4078 years) because it is the latest stable Debian release which should get
4079 security support for a few years.</p>
4080
4081 <p>The web service is written in Perl, and depend on some perl modules
4082 that are missing in Debian at the moment.  It would be great if these
4083 modules were added to the Debian archive, allowing anyone to set up
4084 their own <a href="http://www.fixmystreet.com">FixMyStreet</a> clone
4085 in their own country using only Debian packages.  The list of modules
4086 missing in Debian/Squeeze isn't very long, and I hope the perl group
4087 will find time to package the 12 modules Catalyst::Plugin::SmartURI,
4088 Catalyst::Plugin::Unicode::Encoding, Catalyst::View::TT, Devel::Hide,
4089 Sort::Key, Statistics::Distributions, Template::Plugin::Comma,
4090 Template::Plugin::DateTime::Format, Term::Size::Any, Term::Size::Perl,
4091 URI::SmartURI and Web::Scraper to make the maintenance of FixMyStreet
4092 easier in the future.</p>
4093
4094 <p>Thanks to the great tools in Debian, getting the missing modules
4095 installed on my server was a simple call to 'cpan2deb Module::Name'
4096 and 'dpkg -i' to install the resulting package.  But this leave me
4097 with the responsibility of tracking security problems, which I really
4098 do not have time for.</p>
4099
4100       </div>
4101       <div class="tags">
4102
4103
4104         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>.
4105
4106
4107       </div>
4108     </div>
4109     <div class="padding"></div>
4110
4111     <div class="entry">
4112       <div class="title">
4113         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Free_Software_vs__proprietary_softare___.html">Free Software vs. proprietary softare...</a>
4114       </div>
4115       <div class="date">
4116         20th June 2011
4117       </div>
4118       <div class="body">
4119         <p>Reading
4120 <a href="http://blog.thingiverse.com/2011/06/20/open-source-vs-closed-source-eulas/">the
4121 thingiverse blog</a>, I came across two highlights of interesting
4122 parts of the
4123 <a href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Autodesk_EULA">Autodesk</a>
4124 and
4125 <a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/06/things-you-cant-do-with-the-microsoft-kinect-sdk.html">Microsoft
4126 Kinect</a> End User License Agreements (EULAs), which illustrates
4127 quite well why I stay away from software with EULAs.  Whenever I take
4128 the time to read their content, the terms are simply unacceptable.</p>
4129
4130       </div>
4131       <div class="tags">
4132
4133
4134         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>.
4135
4136
4137       </div>
4138     </div>
4139     <div class="padding"></div>
4140
4141     <div class="entry">
4142       <div class="title">
4143         <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>
4144       </div>
4145       <div class="date">
4146         30th April 2011
4147       </div>
4148       <div class="body">
4149         <p>Today, the first draft implementation of an
4150 <a href="http://www.open311.org/">Open311 API</a> for the Norwegian
4151 service <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</a> started to
4152 work.  It is only available on the developer server for now, and I
4153 have not tested it using any existing Open311 client (I lack the
4154 platforms needed to run the clients I have found so far), but it is
4155 able to query the database and extract a list of open and closed
4156 requests within a given category and reported to a given municipality.
4157 I believe that is a good start to create a useful service for those
4158 that want to do data mining on the requests submitted so far.</p>
4159
4160 <p>Where is it?  Visit
4161 <a href="http://fiksgatami-dev.nuug.no/open311.cgi/v2/">http://fiksgatami-dev.nuug.no/open311.cgi/v2/</a>
4162 to have a look.  Please send feedback to the
4163 <a href="http://lists.nuug.no/mailman/listinfo/fiksgatami">fiksgatami
4164 (at) nuug.no</a> mailing list.</p>
4165
4166       </div>
4167       <div class="tags">
4168
4169
4170         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>.
4171
4172
4173       </div>
4174     </div>
4175     <div class="padding"></div>
4176
4177     <div class="entry">
4178       <div class="title">
4179         <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>
4180       </div>
4181       <div class="date">
4182         29th April 2011
4183       </div>
4184       <div class="body">
4185         <p>The last few days I have spent some time trying to add support for
4186 the <a href="http://www.open311.org/">Open311 API</a> in the
4187 <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">Norwegian FixMyStreet service</a>.
4188 Earlier I believed Open311 would be a useful API to use to submit
4189 reports to the municipalities, but when I noticed that the
4190 <a href="http://fixmystreet.org.nz/">New Zealand version</a> of
4191 FixMyStreet had implemented Open311 on the server side, it occurred to
4192 me that this was a nice way to allow the public, press and
4193 municipalities to do data mining directly in the FixMyStreet service.
4194 Thus I went to work implementing the Open311 specification for
4195 FixMyStreet.  The implementation is not yet ready, but I am starting
4196 to get a draft limping along.  In the process, I have discovered a few
4197 issues with the Open311 specification.</p>
4198
4199 <p>One obvious missing feature is the lack of natural language
4200 handling in the specification.  The specification seem to assume all
4201 reports will be written in English, and do not provide a way for the
4202 receiving end to specify which languages are understood there.  To be
4203 able to use the same client and submit to several Open311 receivers,
4204 it would be useful to know which language to use when writing reports.
4205 I believe the specification should be extended to allow the receivers
4206 of problem reports to specify which language they accept, and the
4207 submitter to specify which language the report is written in.
4208 Language of a text can also be automatically guessed using statistical
4209 methods, but for multi-lingual persons like myself, it is useful to
4210 know which language to use when writing a problem report.  I suspect
4211 some lang=nb,nn kind of attribute would solve it.</p>
4212
4213 <p>A key part of the Open311 API is the list of services provided,
4214 which is similar to the categories used by FixMyStreet.  One issue I
4215 run into is the need to specify both name and unique identifier for
4216 each category.  The specification do not state that the identifier
4217 should be numeric, but all example implementations have used numbers
4218 here.  In FixMyStreet, there is no number associated with each
4219 category.  As the specification do not forbid it, I will use the name
4220 as the unique identifier for now and see how open311 clients handle
4221 it.</p>
4222
4223 <p>The report format in open311 and the report format in FixMyStreet
4224 differ in a key part.  FixMyStreet have a title and a description,
4225 while Open311 only have a description and lack the title.  I'm not
4226 quite sure how to best handle this yet.  When asking for a FixMyStreet
4227 report in Open311 format, I just merge title an description into the
4228 open311 description, but this is not going to work if the open311 API
4229 should be used for submitting new reports to FixMyStreet.</p>
4230
4231 <p>The search feature in Open311 is missing a way to ask for problems
4232 near a geographic location.  I believe this is important if one is to
4233 use Open311 as the query language for mobile units.  The specification
4234 should be extended to handle this, probably using some new lat=, lon=
4235 and range= options.</p>
4236
4237 <p>The final challenge I see is that the FixMyStreet code handle
4238 several administrations in one interface, while the Open311 API seem
4239 to assume only one administration.  For FixMyStreet, this mean a
4240 report can be sent to several administrations, and the categories
4241 available depend on the location of the problem.  Not quite sure how
4242 to best handle this.  I've noticed
4243 <a href="http://seeclickfix.com/open311/">SeeClickFix</a> added
4244 latitude and longitude options to the services request, but it do not
4245 solve the problem of what to return when no location is specified.
4246 Will have to investigate this a bit more.</p>
4247
4248 <p>My distaste for web forums have kept me from bringing these issues
4249 up with the open311 developer group.  I really wish they had a email
4250 list available via <a href="http://www.gmane.org/">Gmane</a> to use for
4251 discussions instead of only
4252 <a href="http://lists.open311.org/groups/discuss">a forum<a/>.  Oh,
4253 well.  That will probably resolve itself, one way or another.  I've
4254 also tried visiting the IRC channel #open311 on FreeNode, but no-one
4255 seem to reply to my questions there.  This make me wonder if I just
4256 fail to understand how the open311 community work.  It sure do not
4257 work like the free software project communities I am used to.</p>
4258
4259       </div>
4260       <div class="tags">
4261
4262
4263         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>.
4264
4265
4266       </div>
4267     </div>
4268     <div class="padding"></div>
4269
4270     <div class="entry">
4271       <div class="title">
4272         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Gnash_enteres_Google_Summer_of_Code_2011.html">Gnash enteres Google Summer of Code 2011</a>
4273       </div>
4274       <div class="date">
4275          6th April 2011
4276       </div>
4277       <div class="body">
4278         <p><a href="http://www.getgnash.org/">The Gnash project</a> is still
4279 the most promising solution for a Free Software Flash implementation.
4280 A few days ago the project
4281 <a href="http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnash-dev/2011-04/msg00011.html">announced</a>
4282 that it will participate in Google Summer of Code.  I hope many
4283 students apply, and that some of them succeed in getting AVM2 support
4284 into Gnash.</p>
4285
4286       </div>
4287       <div class="tags">
4288
4289
4290         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>.
4291
4292
4293       </div>
4294     </div>
4295     <div class="padding"></div>
4296
4297     <div class="entry">
4298       <div class="title">
4299         <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>
4300       </div>
4301       <div class="date">
4302          3rd April 2011
4303       </div>
4304       <div class="body">
4305         <p>Here is a small update for my English readers.  Most of my blog
4306 posts have been in Norwegian the last few weeks, so here is a short
4307 update in English.</p>
4308
4309 <p>The kids still keep me too busy to get much free software work
4310 done, but I did manage to organise a project to get a Norwegian port
4311 of the British service
4312 <a href="http://www.fixmystreet.com/">FixMyStreet</a> up and running,
4313 and it has been running for a month now.  The entire project has been
4314 organised by me and two others.  Around Christmas we gathered sponsors
4315 to fund the development work.  In January I drafted a contract with
4316 <a href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a> on what to develop,
4317 and in February the development took place.  Most of it involved
4318 converting the source to use GPS coordinates instead of British
4319 easting/northing, and the resulting code should be a lot easier to get
4320 running in any country by now.  The Norwegian
4321 <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</a> is using
4322 <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetmap</a> as the map
4323 source and the source for administrative borders in Norway, and
4324 support for this had to be added/fixed.</p>
4325
4326 <p>The Norwegian version went live March 3th, and we spent the weekend
4327 polishing the system before we announced it March 7th.  The system is
4328 running on a KVM instance of Debian/Squeeze, and has seen almost 3000
4329 problem reports in a few weeks.  Soon we hope to announce the Android
4330 and iPhone versions making it even easier to report problems with the
4331 public infrastructure.</p>
4332
4333 <p>Perhaps something to consider for those of you in countries without
4334 such service?</p>
4335
4336       </div>
4337       <div class="tags">
4338
4339
4340         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>.
4341
4342
4343       </div>
4344     </div>
4345     <div class="padding"></div>
4346
4347     <div class="entry">
4348       <div class="title">
4349         <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>
4350       </div>
4351       <div class="date">
4352         28th January 2011
4353       </div>
4354       <div class="body">
4355         <p>The last few days I have looked at ways to track open security
4356 issues here at my work with the University of Oslo.  My idea is that
4357 it should be possible to use the information about security issues
4358 available on the Internet, and check our locally
4359 maintained/distributed software against this information.  It should
4360 allow us to verify that no known security issues are forgotten.  The
4361 CVE database listing vulnerabilities seem like a great central point,
4362 and by using the package lists from Debian mapped to CVEs provided by
4363 the testing security team, I believed it should be possible to figure
4364 out which security holes were present in our free software
4365 collection.</p>
4366
4367 <p>After reading up on the topic, it became obvious that the first
4368 building block is to be able to name software packages in a unique and
4369 consistent way across data sources.  I considered several ways to do
4370 this, for example coming up with my own naming scheme like using URLs
4371 to project home pages or URLs to the Freshmeat entries, or using some
4372 existing naming scheme.  And it seem like I am not the first one to
4373 come across this problem, as MITRE already proposed and implemented a
4374 solution.  Enter the <a href="http://cpe.mitre.org/index.html">Common
4375 Platform Enumeration</a> dictionary, a vocabulary for referring to
4376 software, hardware and other platform components.  The CPE ids are
4377 mapped to CVEs in the <a href="http://web.nvd.nist.gov/">National
4378 Vulnerability Database</a>, allowing me to look up know security
4379 issues for any CPE name.  With this in place, all I need to do is to
4380 locate the CPE id for the software packages we use at the university.
4381 This is fairly trivial (I google for 'cve cpe $package' and check the
4382 NVD entry if a CVE for the package exist).</p>
4383
4384 <p>To give you an example.  The GNU gzip source package have the CPE
4385 name cpe:/a:gnu:gzip.  If the old version 1.3.3 was the package to
4386 check out, one could look up
4387 <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
4388 in NVD</a> and get a list of 6 security holes with public CVE entries.
4389 The most recent one is
4390 <a href="http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2010-0001">CVE-2010-0001</a>,
4391 and at the bottom of the NVD page for this vulnerability the complete
4392 list of affected versions is provided.</p>
4393
4394 <p>The NVD database of CVEs is also available as a XML dump, allowing
4395 for offline processing of issues.  Using this dump, I've written a
4396 small script taking a list of CPEs as input and list all CVEs
4397 affecting the packages represented by these CPEs.  One give it CPEs
4398 with version numbers as specified above and get a list of open
4399 security issues out.</p>
4400
4401 <p>Of course for this approach to be useful, the quality of the NVD
4402 information need to be high.  For that to happen, I believe as many as
4403 possible need to use and contribute to the NVD database.  I notice
4404 RHEL is providing
4405 <a href="https://www.redhat.com/security/data/metrics/rhsamapcpe.txt">a
4406 map from CVE to CPE</a>, indicating that they are using the CPE
4407 information.  I'm not aware of Debian and Ubuntu doing the same.</p>
4408
4409 <p>To get an idea about the quality for free software, I spent some
4410 time making it possible to compare the CVE database from Debian with
4411 the CVE database in NVD.  The result look fairly good, but there are
4412 some inconsistencies in NVD (same software package having several
4413 CPEs), and some inaccuracies (NVD not mentioning buggy packages that
4414 Debian believe are affected by a CVE).  Hope to find time to improve
4415 the quality of NVD, but that require being able to get in touch with
4416 someone maintaining it.  So far my three emails with questions and
4417 corrections have not seen any reply, but I hope contact can be
4418 established soon.</p>
4419
4420 <p>An interesting application for CPEs is cross platform package
4421 mapping.  It would be useful to know which packages in for example
4422 RHEL, OpenSuSe and Mandriva are missing from Debian and Ubuntu, and
4423 this would be trivial if all linux distributions provided CPE entries
4424 for their packages.</p>
4425
4426       </div>
4427       <div class="tags">
4428
4429
4430         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>.
4431
4432
4433       </div>
4434     </div>
4435     <div class="padding"></div>
4436
4437     <div class="entry">
4438       <div class="title">
4439         <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>
4440       </div>
4441       <div class="date">
4442         23rd January 2011
4443       </div>
4444       <div class="body">
4445         <p>In the
4446 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/discover-data">discover-data</a>
4447 package in Debian, there is a script to report useful information
4448 about the running hardware for use when people report missing
4449 information.  One part of this script that I find very useful when
4450 debugging hardware problems, is the part mapping loaded kernel module
4451 to the PCI device it claims.  It allow me to quickly see if the kernel
4452 module I expect is driving the hardware I am struggling with.  To see
4453 the output, make sure discover-data is installed and run
4454 <tt>/usr/share/bug/discover-data 3>&1</tt>.  The relevant output on
4455 one of my machines like this:</p>
4456
4457 <pre>
4458 loaded modules:
4459 10de:03eb i2c_nforce2
4460 10de:03f1 ohci_hcd
4461 10de:03f2 ehci_hcd
4462 10de:03f0 snd_hda_intel
4463 10de:03ec pata_amd
4464 10de:03f6 sata_nv
4465 1022:1103 k8temp
4466 109e:036e bttv
4467 109e:0878 snd_bt87x
4468 11ab:4364 sky2
4469 </pre>
4470
4471 <p>The code in question look like this, slightly modified for
4472 readability and to drop the output to file descriptor 3:</p>
4473
4474 <pre>
4475 if [ -d /sys/bus/pci/devices/ ] ; then
4476     echo loaded pci modules:
4477     (
4478         cd /sys/bus/pci/devices/
4479         for address in * ; do
4480             if [ -d "$address/driver/module" ] ; then
4481                 module=`cd $address/driver/module ; pwd -P | xargs basename`
4482                 if grep -q "^$module " /proc/modules ; then
4483                     address=$(echo $address |sed s/0000://)
4484                     id=`lspci -n -s $address | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $3}'`
4485                     echo "$id $module"
4486                 fi
4487             fi
4488         done
4489     )
4490     echo
4491 fi
4492 </pre>
4493
4494 <p>Similar code could be used to extract USB device module
4495 mappings:</p>
4496
4497 <pre>
4498 if [ -d /sys/bus/usb/devices/ ] ; then
4499     echo loaded usb modules:
4500     (
4501         cd /sys/bus/usb/devices/
4502         for address in * ; do
4503             if [ -d "$address/driver/module" ] ; then
4504                 module=`cd $address/driver/module ; pwd -P | xargs basename`
4505                 if grep -q "^$module " /proc/modules ; then
4506                     address=$(echo $address |sed s/0000://)
4507                     id=$(lsusb -s $address | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $6}')
4508                     if [ "$id" ] ; then
4509                         echo "$id $module"
4510                     fi
4511                 fi
4512             fi
4513         done
4514     )
4515     echo
4516 fi
4517 </pre>
4518
4519 <p>This might perhaps be something to include in other tools as
4520 well.</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/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/The_video_format_most_supported_in_web_browsers_.html">The video format most supported in web browsers?</a>
4536       </div>
4537       <div class="date">
4538         16th January 2011
4539       </div>
4540       <div class="body">
4541         <p>The video format struggle on the web continues, and the three
4542 contenders seem to be Ogg Theora, H.264 and WebM.  Most video sites
4543 seem to use H.264, while others use Ogg Theora.  Interestingly enough,
4544 the comments I see give me the feeling that a lot of people believe
4545 H.264 is the most supported video format in browsers, but according to
4546 the Wikipedia article on
4547 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5_video">HTML5 video</a>,
4548 this is not true.  Check out the nice table of supprted formats in
4549 different browsers there.  The format supported by most browsers is
4550 Ogg Theora, supported by released versions of Mozilla Firefox, Google
4551 Chrome, Chromium, Opera, Konqueror, Epiphany, Origyn Web Browser and
4552 BOLT browser, while not supported by Internet Explorer nor Safari.
4553 The runner up is WebM supported by released versions of Google Chrome
4554 Chromium Opera and Origyn Web Browser, and test versions of Mozilla
4555 Firefox.  H.264 is supported by released versions of Safari, Origyn
4556 Web Browser and BOLT browser, and the test version of Internet
4557 Explorer.  Those wanting Ogg Theora support in Internet Explorer and
4558 Safari can install plugins to get it.</p>
4559
4560 <p>To me, the simple conclusion from this is that to reach most users
4561 without any extra software installed, one uses Ogg Theora with the
4562 HTML5 video tag.   Of course to reach all those without a browser
4563 handling HTML5, one need fallback mechanisms.  In
4564 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a>, we provide first fallback to a
4565 plugin capable of playing MPEG1 video, and those without such support
4566 we have a second fallback to the Cortado java applet playing Ogg
4567 Theora.  This seem to work quite well, as can be seen in an <a
4568 href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20110111-semantic-web/">example
4569 from last week</a>.</p>
4570
4571 <p>The reason Ogg Theora is the most supported format, and H.264 is
4572 the least supported is simple.  Implementing and using H.264
4573 require royalty payment to MPEG-LA, and the terms of use from MPEG-LA
4574 are incompatible with free software licensing.  If you believed H.264
4575 was without royalties and license terms, check out
4576 "<a href="http://webmink.com/essays/h-264/">H.264 – Not The Kind Of
4577 Free That Matters</a>" by Simon Phipps.</p>
4578
4579 <p>A incomplete list of sites providing video in Ogg Theora is
4580 available from
4581 <a href="http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/List_of_Theora_videos">the
4582 Xiph.org wiki</a>, if you want to have a look.  I'm not aware of a
4583 similar list for WebM nor H.264.</p>
4584
4585 <p>Update 2011-01-16 09:40: A question from Tollef on IRC made me
4586 realise that I failed to make it clear enough this text is about the
4587 &lt;video&gt; tag support in browsers and not the video support
4588 provided by external plugins like the Flash plugins.</p>
4589
4590       </div>
4591       <div class="tags">
4592
4593
4594         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/video">video</a>.
4595
4596
4597       </div>
4598     </div>
4599     <div class="padding"></div>
4600
4601     <div class="entry">
4602       <div class="title">
4603         <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>
4604       </div>
4605       <div class="date">
4606         12th January 2011
4607       </div>
4608       <div class="body">
4609         <p>Today I discovered
4610 <a href="http://www.digi.no/860070/google-dropper-h264-stotten-i-chrome">via
4611 digi.no</a> that the Chrome developers, in a surprising announcement,
4612 <a href="http://blog.chromium.org/2011/01/html-video-codec-support-in-chrome.html">yesterday
4613 announced</a> plans to drop H.264 support for HTML5 &lt;video&gt; in
4614 the browser.  The argument used is that H.264 is not a "completely
4615 open" codec technology.  If you believe H.264 was free for everyone
4616 to use, I recommend having a look at the essay
4617 "<a href="http://webmink.com/essays/h-264/">H.264 – Not The Kind Of
4618 Free That Matters</a>".  It is not free of cost for creators of video
4619 tools, nor those of us that want to publish on the Internet, and the
4620 terms provided by MPEG-LA excludes free software projects from
4621 licensing the patents needed for H.264.  Some background information
4622 on the Google announcement is available from
4623 <a href="http://www.osnews.com/story/24243/Google_To_Drop_H264_Support_from_Chrome">OSnews</a>.
4624 A good read. :)</p>
4625
4626 <p>Personally, I believe it is great that Google is taking a stand to
4627 promote equal terms for everyone when it comes to video publishing on
4628 the Internet.  This can only be done by publishing using free and open
4629 standards, which is only possible if the web browsers provide support
4630 for these free and open standards.  At the moment there seem to be two
4631 camps in the web browser world when it come to video support.  Some
4632 browsers support H.264, and others support
4633 <a href="http://www.theora.org/">Ogg Theora</a> and
4634 <a href="http://www.webmproject.org/">WebM</a>
4635 (<a href="http://www.diracvideo.org/">Dirac</a> is not really an option
4636 yet), forcing those of us that want to publish video on the Internet
4637 and which can not accept the terms of use presented by MPEG-LA for
4638 H.264 to not reach all potential viewers.
4639 Wikipedia keep <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5_video">an
4640 updated summary</a> of the current browser support.</p>
4641
4642 <p>Not surprising, several people would prefer Google to keep
4643 promoting H.264, and John Gruber
4644 <a href="http://daringfireball.net/2011/01/simple_questions">presents
4645 the mind set</a> of these people quite well.  His rhetorical questions
4646 provoked a reply from Thom Holwerda with another set of questions
4647 <a href="http://www.osnews.com/story/24245/10_Questions_for_John_Gruber_Regarding_H_264_WebM">presenting
4648 the issues with H.264</a>. Both are worth a read.</p>
4649
4650 <p>Some argue that if Google is dropping H.264 because it isn't free,
4651 they should also drop support for the Adobe Flash plugin.  This
4652 argument was covered by Simon Phipps in
4653 <a href="http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/simon-says/2011/01/google-and-h264---far-from-hypocritical/index.htm">todays
4654 blog post</a>, which I find to put the issue in context.  To me it
4655 make perfect sense to drop native H.264 support for HTML5 in the
4656 browser while still allowing plugins.</p>
4657
4658 <p>I suspect the reason this announcement make so many people protest,
4659 is that all the users and promoters of H.264 suddenly get an uneasy
4660 feeling that they might be backing the wrong horse.  A lot of TV
4661 broadcasters have been moving to H.264 the last few years, and a lot
4662 of money has been invested in hardware based on the belief that they
4663 could use the same video format for both broadcasting and web
4664 publishing.  Suddenly this belief is shaken.</p>
4665
4666 <p>An interesting question is why Google is doing this.  While the
4667 presented argument might be true enough, I believe Google would only
4668 present the argument if the change make sense from a business
4669 perspective.  One reason might be that they are currently negotiating
4670 with MPEG-LA over royalties or usage terms, and giving MPEG-LA the
4671 feeling that dropping H.264 completely from Chroome, Youtube and
4672 Google Video would improve the negotiation position of Google.
4673 Another reason might be that Google want to save money by not having
4674 to pay the video tax to MPEG-LA at all, and thus want to move to a
4675 video format not requiring royalties at all.  A third reason might be
4676 that the Chrome development team simply want to avoid the
4677 Chrome/Chromium split to get more help with the development of Chrome.
4678 I guess time will tell.</p>
4679
4680 <p>Update 2011-01-15: The Google Chrome team provided
4681 <a href="http://blog.chromium.org/2011/01/more-about-chrome-html-video-codec.html">more
4682 background and information on the move</a> it a blog post yesterday.</p>
4683
4684       </div>
4685       <div class="tags">
4686
4687
4688         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>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
4689
4690
4691       </div>
4692     </div>
4693     <div class="padding"></div>
4694
4695     <div class="entry">
4696       <div class="title">
4697         <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>
4698       </div>
4699       <div class="date">
4700         30th December 2010
4701       </div>
4702       <div class="body">
4703         <p>After trying to
4704 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Is_Ogg_Theora_a_free_and_open_standard_.html">compare
4705 Ogg Theora</a> to
4706 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">the Digistan
4707 definition</a> of a free and open standard, I concluded that this need
4708 to be done for more standards and started on a framework for doing
4709 this.  As a start, I want to get the status for all the standards in
4710 the Norwegian reference directory, which include UTF-8, HTML, PDF, ODF,
4711 JPEG, PNG, SVG and others.  But to be able to complete this in a
4712 reasonable time frame, I will need help.</p>
4713
4714 <p>If you want to help out with this work, please visit
4715 <a href="http://wiki.nuug.no/grupper/standard/digistan-analyse">the
4716 wiki pages I have set up for this</a>, and let me know that you want
4717 to help out.  The IRC channel #nuug on irc.freenode.net is a good
4718 place to coordinate this for now, as it is the IRC channel for the
4719 NUUG association where I have created the framework (I am the leader
4720 of the Norwegian Unix User Group).</p>
4721
4722 <p>The framework is still forming, and a lot is left to do.  Do not be
4723 scared by the sketchy form of the current pages. :)</p>
4724
4725       </div>
4726       <div class="tags">
4727
4728
4729         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>.
4730
4731
4732       </div>
4733     </div>
4734     <div class="padding"></div>
4735
4736     <div class="entry">
4737       <div class="title">
4738         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_many_definitions_of_a_open_standard.html">The many definitions of a open standard</a>
4739       </div>
4740       <div class="date">
4741         27th December 2010
4742       </div>
4743       <div class="body">
4744         <p>One of the reasons I like the Digistan definition of
4745 "<a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">Free and
4746 Open Standard</a>" is that this is a new term, and thus the meaning of
4747 the term has been decided by Digistan.  The term "Open Standard" has
4748 become so misunderstood that it is no longer very useful when talking
4749 about standards.  One end up discussing which definition is the best
4750 one and with such frame the only one gaining are the proponents of
4751 de-facto standards and proprietary solutions.</p>
4752
4753 <p>But to give us an idea about the diversity of definitions of open
4754 standards, here are a few that I know about.  This list is not
4755 complete, but can be a starting point for those that want to do a
4756 complete survey.  More definitions are available on the
4757 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_standard">wikipedia
4758 page</a>.</p>
4759
4760 <p>First off is my favourite, the definition from the European
4761 Interoperability Framework version 1.0.  Really sad to notice that BSA
4762 and others has succeeded in getting it removed from version 2.0 of the
4763 framework by stacking the committee drafting the new version with
4764 their own people.  Anyway, the definition is still available and it
4765 include the key properties needed to make sure everyone can use a
4766 specification on equal terms.</p>
4767
4768 <blockquote>
4769
4770 <p>The following are the minimal characteristics that a specification
4771 and its attendant documents must have in order to be considered an
4772 open standard:</p>
4773
4774 <ul>
4775
4776 <li>The standard is adopted and will be maintained by a not-for-profit
4777 organisation, and its ongoing development occurs on the basis of an
4778 open decision-making procedure available to all interested parties
4779 (consensus or majority decision etc.).</li>
4780
4781 <li>The standard has been published and the standard specification
4782 document is available either freely or at a nominal charge. It must be
4783 permissible to all to copy, distribute and use it for no fee or at a
4784 nominal fee.</li>
4785
4786 <li>The intellectual property - i.e. patents possibly present - of
4787 (parts of) the standard is made irrevocably available on a royalty-
4788 free basis.</li>
4789
4790 <li>There are no constraints on the re-use of the standard.</li>
4791
4792 </ul>
4793 </blockquote>
4794
4795 <p>Another one originates from my friends over at
4796 <a href="http://www.dkuug.dk/">DKUUG</a>, who coined and gathered
4797 support for <a href="http://www.aaben-standard.dk/">this
4798 definition</a> in 2004.  It even made it into the Danish parlament as
4799 <a href="http://www.ft.dk/dokumenter/tingdok.aspx?/samling/20051/beslutningsforslag/B103/som_fremsat.htm">their
4800 definition of a open standard</a>.  Another from a different part of
4801 the Danish government is available from the wikipedia page.</p>
4802
4803 <blockquote>
4804
4805 <p>En åben standard opfylder følgende krav:</p>
4806
4807 <ol>
4808
4809 <li>Veldokumenteret med den fuldstændige specifikation offentligt
4810 tilgængelig.</li>
4811
4812 <li>Frit implementerbar uden økonomiske, politiske eller juridiske
4813 begrænsninger på implementation og anvendelse.</li>
4814
4815 <li>Standardiseret og vedligeholdt i et åbent forum (en såkaldt
4816 "standardiseringsorganisation") via en åben proces.</li>
4817
4818 </ol>
4819
4820 </blockquote>
4821
4822 <p>Then there is <a href="http://www.fsfe.org/projects/os/def.html">the
4823 definition</a> from Free Software Foundation Europe.</p>
4824
4825 <blockquote>
4826
4827 <p>An Open Standard refers to a format or protocol that is</p>
4828
4829 <ol>
4830
4831 <li>subject to full public assessment and use without constraints in a
4832 manner equally available to all parties;</li>
4833
4834 <li>without any components or extensions that have dependencies on
4835 formats or protocols that do not meet the definition of an Open
4836 Standard themselves;</li>
4837
4838 <li>free from legal or technical clauses that limit its utilisation by
4839 any party or in any business model;</li>
4840
4841 <li>managed and further developed independently of any single vendor
4842 in a process open to the equal participation of competitors and third
4843 parties;</li>
4844
4845 <li>available in multiple complete implementations by competing
4846 vendors, or as a complete implementation equally available to all
4847 parties.</li>
4848
4849 </ol>
4850
4851 </blockquote>
4852
4853 <p>A long time ago, SUN Microsystems, now bought by Oracle, created
4854 its
4855 <a href="http://blogs.sun.com/dennisding/resource/Open%20Standard%20Definition.pdf">Open
4856 Standards Checklist</a> with a fairly detailed description.</p>
4857
4858 <blockquote>
4859 <p>Creation and Management of an Open Standard
4860
4861 <ul>
4862
4863 <li>Its development and management process must be collaborative and
4864   democratic:
4865
4866          <ul>
4867
4868          <li>Participation must be accessible to all those who wish to
4869             participate and can meet fair and reasonable criteria
4870             imposed by the organization under which it is developed
4871             and managed.</li>
4872
4873          <li>The processes must be documented and, through a known
4874             method, can be changed through input from all
4875             participants.</li>
4876
4877          <li>The process must be based on formal and binding commitments for
4878             the disclosure and licensing of intellectual property rights.</li>
4879
4880          <li>Development and management should strive for consensus,
4881             and an appeals process must be clearly outlined.</li>
4882
4883          <li>The standard specification must be open to extensive
4884             public review at least once in its life-cycle, with
4885             comments duly discussed and acted upon, if required.</li>
4886
4887          </ul>
4888
4889 </li>
4890
4891 </ul>
4892
4893 <p>Use and Licensing of an Open Standard</p>
4894 <ul>
4895
4896 <li>The standard must describe an interface, not an implementation,
4897   and the industry must be capable of creating multiple, competing
4898   implementations to the interface described in the standard without
4899   undue or restrictive constraints.  Interfaces include APIs,
4900   protocols, schemas, data formats and their encoding.</li>
4901
4902 <li> The standard must not contain any proprietary "hooks" that create
4903   a technical or economic barriers</li>
4904
4905 <li>Faithful implementations of the standard must
4906   interoperate. Interoperability means the ability of a computer
4907   program to communicate and exchange information with other computer
4908   programs and mutually to use the information which has been
4909   exchanged. This includes the ability to use, convert, or exchange
4910   file formats, protocols, schemas, interface information or
4911   conventions, so as to permit the computer program to work with other
4912   computer programs and users in all the ways in which they are
4913   intended to function.</li>
4914
4915 <li>It must be permissible for anyone to copy, distribute and read the
4916   standard for a nominal fee, or even no fee. If there is a fee, it
4917   must be low enough to not preclude widespread use.</li>
4918
4919 <li>It must be possible for anyone to obtain free (no royalties or
4920   fees; also known as "royalty free"), worldwide, non-exclusive and
4921   perpetual licenses to all essential patent claims to make, use and
4922   sell products based on the standard.  The only exceptions are
4923   terminations per the reciprocity and defensive suspension terms
4924   outlined below. Essential patent claims include pending, unpublished
4925   patents, published patents, and patent applications. The license is
4926   only for the exact scope of the standard in question.
4927
4928       <ul>
4929
4930       <li> May be conditioned only on reciprocal licenses to any of
4931         licensees' patent claims essential to practice that standard
4932         (also known as a reciprocity clause)</li>
4933
4934       <li> May be terminated as to any licensee who sues the licensor
4935         or any other licensee for infringement of patent claims
4936         essential to practice that standard (also known as a
4937         "defensive suspension" clause)</li>
4938
4939       <li> The same licensing terms are available to every potential
4940         licensor</li>
4941
4942       </ul>
4943 </li>
4944
4945 <li>The licensing terms of an open standards must not preclude
4946   implementations of that standard under open source licensing terms
4947   or restricted licensing terms</li>
4948
4949 </ul>
4950
4951 </blockquote>
4952
4953 <p>It is said that one of the nice things about standards is that
4954 there are so many of them.  As you can see, the same holds true for
4955 open standard definitions.  Most of the definitions have a lot in
4956 common, and it is not really controversial what properties a open
4957 standard should have, but the diversity of definitions have made it
4958 possible for those that want to avoid a level marked field and real
4959 competition to downplay the significance of open standards.  I hope we
4960 can turn this tide by focusing on the advantages of Free and Open
4961 Standards.</p>
4962
4963       </div>
4964       <div class="tags">
4965
4966
4967         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>.
4968
4969
4970       </div>
4971     </div>
4972     <div class="padding"></div>
4973
4974     <div class="entry">
4975       <div class="title">
4976         <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>
4977       </div>
4978       <div class="date">
4979         25th December 2010
4980       </div>
4981       <div class="body">
4982         <p><a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">The
4983 Digistan definition</a> of a free and open standard reads like this:</p>
4984
4985 <blockquote>
4986
4987 <p>The Digital Standards Organization defines free and open standard
4988 as follows:</p>
4989
4990 <ol>
4991
4992 <li>A free and open standard is immune to vendor capture at all stages
4993 in its life-cycle. Immunity from vendor capture makes it possible to
4994 freely use, improve upon, trust, and extend a standard over time.</li>
4995
4996 <li>The standard is adopted and will be maintained by a not-for-profit
4997 organisation, and its ongoing development occurs on the basis of an
4998 open decision-making procedure available to all interested
4999 parties.</li>
5000
5001 <li>The standard has been published and the standard specification
5002 document is available freely. It must be permissible to all to copy,
5003 distribute, and use it freely.</li>
5004
5005 <li>The patents possibly present on (parts of) the standard are made
5006 irrevocably available on a royalty-free basis.</li>
5007
5008 <li>There are no constraints on the re-use of the standard.</li>
5009
5010 </ol>
5011
5012 <p>The economic outcome of a free and open standard, which can be
5013 measured, is that it enables perfect competition between suppliers of
5014 products based on the standard.</p>
5015 </blockquote>
5016
5017 <p>For a while now I have tried to figure out of Ogg Theora is a free
5018 and open standard according to this definition.  Here is a short
5019 writeup of what I have been able to gather so far.  I brought up the
5020 topic on the Xiph advocacy mailing list
5021 <a href="http://lists.xiph.org/pipermail/advocacy/2009-July/001632.html">in
5022 July 2009</a>, for those that want to see some background information.
5023 According to Ivo Emanuel Gonçalves and Monty Montgomery on that list
5024 the Ogg Theora specification fulfils the Digistan definition.</p>
5025
5026 <p><strong>Free from vendor capture?</strong></p>
5027
5028 <p>As far as I can see, there is no single vendor that can control the
5029 Ogg Theora specification.  It can be argued that the
5030 <a href="http://www.xiph.org/">Xiph foundation</A> is such vendor, but
5031 given that it is a non-profit foundation with the expressed goal
5032 making free and open protocols and standards available, it is not
5033 obvious that this is a real risk.  One issue with the Xiph
5034 foundation is that its inner working (as in board member list, or who
5035 control the foundation) are not easily available on the web.  I've
5036 been unable to find out who is in the foundation board, and have not
5037 seen any accounting information documenting how money is handled nor
5038 where is is spent in the foundation.  It is thus not obvious for an
5039 external observer who control The Xiph foundation, and for all I know
5040 it is possible for a single vendor to take control over the
5041 specification.  But it seem unlikely.</p>
5042
5043 <p><strong>Maintained by open not-for-profit organisation?</strong></p>
5044
5045 <p>Assuming that the Xiph foundation is the organisation its web pages
5046 claim it to be, this point is fulfilled.  If Xiph foundation is
5047 controlled by a single vendor, it isn't, but I have not found any
5048 documentation indicating this.</p>
5049
5050 <p>According to
5051 <a href="http://media.hiof.no/diverse/fad/rapport_4.pdf">a report</a>
5052 prepared by Audun Vaaler og Børre Ludvigsen for the Norwegian
5053 government, the Xiph foundation is a non-commercial organisation and
5054 the development process is open, transparent and non-Discrimatory.
5055 Until proven otherwise, I believe it make most sense to believe the
5056 report is correct.</p>
5057
5058 <p><strong>Specification freely available?</strong></p>
5059
5060 <p>The specification for the <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/doc/">Ogg
5061 container format</a> and both the
5062 <a href="http://www.xiph.org/vorbis/doc/">Vorbis</a> and
5063 <a href="http://theora.org/doc/">Theora</a> codeces are available on
5064 the web.  This are the terms in the Vorbis and Theora specification:
5065
5066 <blockquote>
5067
5068 Anyone may freely use and distribute the Ogg and [Vorbis/Theora]
5069 specifications, whether in private, public, or corporate
5070 capacity. However, the Xiph.Org Foundation and the Ogg project reserve
5071 the right to set the Ogg [Vorbis/Theora] specification and certify
5072 specification compliance.
5073
5074 </blockquote>
5075
5076 <p>The Ogg container format is specified in IETF
5077 <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/doc/rfc3533.txt">RFC 3533</a>, and
5078 this is the term:<p>
5079
5080 <blockquote>
5081
5082 <p>This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
5083 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
5084 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and
5085 distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind,
5086 provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
5087 included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
5088 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
5089 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
5090 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing
5091 Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined
5092 in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to
5093 translate it into languages other than English.</p>
5094
5095 <p>The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
5096 revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.</p>
5097 </blockquote>
5098
5099 <p>All these terms seem to allow unlimited distribution and use, an
5100 this term seem to be fulfilled.  There might be a problem with the
5101 missing permission to distribute modified versions of the text, and
5102 thus reuse it in other specifications.  Not quite sure if that is a
5103 requirement for the Digistan definition.</p>
5104
5105 <p><strong>Royalty-free?</strong></p>
5106
5107 <p>There are no known patent claims requiring royalties for the Ogg
5108 Theora format.
5109 <a href="http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=65782">MPEG-LA</a>
5110 and
5111 <a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/04/30/237238/Steve-Jobs-Hints-At-Theora-Lawsuit">Steve
5112 Jobs</a> in Apple claim to know about some patent claims (submarine
5113 patents) against the Theora format, but no-one else seem to believe
5114 them.  Both Opera Software and the Mozilla Foundation have looked into
5115 this and decided to implement Ogg Theora support in their browsers
5116 without paying any royalties.  For now the claims from MPEG-LA and
5117 Steve Jobs seem more like FUD to scare people to use the H.264 codec
5118 than any real problem with Ogg Theora.</p>
5119
5120 <p><strong>No constraints on re-use?</strong></p>
5121
5122 <p>I am not aware of any constraints on re-use.</p>
5123
5124 <p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
5125
5126 <p>3 of 5 requirements seem obviously fulfilled, and the remaining 2
5127 depend on the governing structure of the Xiph foundation.  Given the
5128 background report used by the Norwegian government, I believe it is
5129 safe to assume the last two requirements are fulfilled too, but it
5130 would be nice if the Xiph foundation web site made it easier to verify
5131 this.</p>
5132
5133 <p>It would be nice to see other analysis of other specifications to
5134 see if they are free and open standards.</p>
5135
5136       </div>
5137       <div class="tags">
5138
5139
5140         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>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.
5141
5142
5143       </div>
5144     </div>
5145     <div class="padding"></div>
5146
5147     <div class="entry">
5148       <div class="title">
5149         <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>
5150       </div>
5151       <div class="date">
5152         25th December 2010
5153       </div>
5154       <div class="body">
5155         <p>A few days ago
5156 <a href="http://www.idg.no/computerworld/article189879.ece">an
5157 article</a> in the Norwegian Computerworld magazine about how version
5158 2.0 of
5159 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Interoperability_Framework">European
5160 Interoperability Framework</a> has been successfully lobbied by the
5161 proprietary software industry to remove the focus on free software.
5162 Nothing very surprising there, given
5163 <a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/03/29/2115235/Open-Source-Open-Standards-Under-Attack-In-Europe">earlier
5164 reports</a> on how Microsoft and others have stacked the committees in
5165 this work.  But I find this very sad.   The definition of
5166 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/dokumenter/standard-presse-def-200506.txt">an
5167 open standard from version 1</a> was very good, and something I
5168 believe should be used also in the future, alongside
5169 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">the
5170 definition from Digistan</A>.  Version 2 have removed the open
5171 standard definition from its content.</p>
5172
5173 <p>Anyway, the news reminded me of the great reply sent by Dr. Edgar
5174 Villanueva, congressman in Peru at the time, to Microsoft as a reply
5175 to Microsofts attack on his proposal regarding the use of free software
5176 in the public sector in Peru.  As the text was not available from a
5177 few of the URLs where it used to be available, I copy it here from
5178 <a href="http://gnuwin.epfl.ch/articles/en/reponseperou/villanueva_to_ms.html">my
5179 source</a> to ensure it is available also in the future.  Some
5180 background information about that story is available in
5181 <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6099">an article</a> from
5182 Linux Journal in 2002.</p>
5183
5184 <blockquote>
5185 <p>Lima, 8th of April, 2002<br>
5186 To: Señor JUAN ALBERTO GONZÁLEZ<br>
5187 General Manager of Microsoft Perú</p>
5188
5189 <p>Dear Sir:</p>
5190
5191 <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>
5192
5193 <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>
5194
5195 <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>
5196
5197 <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>
5198
5199 <p>
5200 <ul>
5201 <li>Free access to public information by the citizen. </li>
5202 <li>Permanence of public data. </li>
5203 <li>Security of the State and citizens.</li>
5204 </ul>
5205 </p>
5206
5207 <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>
5208
5209 <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>
5210
5211 <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>
5212
5213 <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>
5214
5215 <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>
5216
5217
5218 <p>From reading the Bill it will be clear that once passed:<br>
5219 <li>the law does not forbid the production of proprietary software</li>
5220 <li>the law does not forbid the sale of proprietary software</li>
5221 <li>the law does not specify which concrete software to use</li>
5222 <li>the law does not dictate the supplier from whom software will be bought</li>
5223 <li>the law does not limit the terms under which a software product can be licensed.</li>
5224
5225 </p>
5226
5227 <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>
5228
5229 <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>
5230
5231 <p>As for the observations you have made, we will now go on to analyze them in detail:</p>
5232
5233 <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>
5234
5235 <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>
5236
5237 <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>
5238
5239 <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>
5240
5241 <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>
5242
5243 <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>
5244
5245 <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>
5246
5247 <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>
5248
5249 <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>
5250
5251 <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>
5252
5253 <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>
5254
5255 <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>
5256
5257 <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>
5258
5259 <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>
5260
5261 <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>
5262
5263 <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>
5264
5265 <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>
5266
5267 <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>
5268
5269 <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>
5270
5271 <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>
5272
5273 <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>
5274
5275 <p>On security:</p>
5276
5277 <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>
5278
5279 <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>
5280
5281 <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>
5282
5283 <p>In respect of the guarantee:</p>
5284
5285 <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>
5286
5287 <p>On Intellectual Property:</p>
5288
5289 <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>
5290
5291 <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>
5292
5293 <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>
5294
5295 <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>
5296
5297 <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>
5298
5299 <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>
5300
5301 <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>
5302
5303 <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>
5304
5305 <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>
5306
5307 <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>
5308
5309 <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>
5310
5311 <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>
5312
5313 <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>
5314
5315 <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>
5316
5317 <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>
5318
5319 <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>
5320
5321 <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>
5322
5323 <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>
5324
5325 <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>
5326
5327 <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>
5328
5329 <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>
5330
5331 <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>
5332
5333 <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>
5334
5335 <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>
5336
5337 <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>
5338
5339 <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>
5340
5341 <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>
5342
5343 <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>
5344
5345 <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>
5346
5347 <p>Cordially,<br>
5348 DR. EDGAR DAVID VILLANUEVA NUÑEZ<br>
5349 Congressman of the Republic of Perú.</p>
5350 </blockquote>
5351
5352       </div>
5353       <div class="tags">
5354
5355
5356         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>.
5357
5358
5359       </div>
5360     </div>
5361     <div class="padding"></div>
5362
5363     <div class="entry">
5364       <div class="title">
5365         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_still_going_strong.html">Officeshots still going strong</a>
5366       </div>
5367       <div class="date">
5368         25th December 2010
5369       </div>
5370       <div class="body">
5371         <p>Half a year ago I
5372 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_taking_shape.html">wrote
5373 a bit</a> about <a href="http://www.officeshots.org/">OfficeShots</a>,
5374 a web service to allow anyone to test how ODF documents are handled by
5375 the different programs reading and writing the ODF format.</p>
5376
5377 <p>I just had a look at the service, and it seem to be going strong.
5378 Very interesting to see the results reported in the gallery, how
5379 different Office implementations handle different ODF features.  Sad
5380 to see that KOffice was not doing it very well, and happy to see that
5381 LibreOffice has been tested already (but sadly not listed as a option
5382 for OfficeShots users yet).  I am glad to see that the ODF community
5383 got such a great test tool available.</p>
5384
5385       </div>
5386       <div class="tags">
5387
5388
5389         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>.
5390
5391
5392       </div>
5393     </div>
5394     <div class="padding"></div>
5395
5396     <div class="entry">
5397       <div class="title">
5398         <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>
5399       </div>
5400       <div class="date">
5401         22nd December 2010
5402       </div>
5403       <div class="body">
5404         <p>The last few days I have spent at work here at the <a
5405 href="http://www.uio.no/">University of Oslo</a> testing if the new
5406 batch of computers will work with Linux.  Every year for the last few
5407 years the university have organised shared bid of a few thousand
5408 computers, and this year HP won the bid.  Two different desktops and
5409 five different laptops are on the list this year.  We in the UNIX
5410 group want to know which one of these computers work well with RHEL
5411 and Ubuntu, the two Linux distributions we currently handle at the
5412 university.</p>
5413
5414 <p>My test method is simple, and I share it here to get feedback and
5415 perhaps inspire others to test hardware as well.  To test, I PXE
5416 install the OS version of choice, and log in as my normal user and run
5417 a few applications and plug in selected pieces of hardware.  When
5418 something fail, I make a note about this in the test matrix and move
5419 on.  If I have some spare time I try to report the bug to the OS
5420 vendor, but as I only have the machines for a short time, I rarely
5421 have the time to do this for all the problems I find.</p>
5422
5423 <p>Anyway, to get to the point of this post.  Here is the simple tests
5424 I perform on a new model.</p>
5425
5426 <ul>
5427
5428 <li>Is PXE installation working?  I'm testing with RHEL6, Ubuntu Lucid
5429 and Ubuntu Maverik at the moment.  If I feel like it, I also test with
5430 RHEL5 and Debian Edu/Squeeze.</li>
5431
5432 <li>Is X.org working?  If the graphical login screen show up after
5433 installation, X.org is working.</li>
5434
5435 <li>Is hardware accelerated OpenGL working?  Running glxgears (in
5436 package mesa-utils on Ubuntu) and writing down the frames per second
5437 reported by the program.</li>
5438
5439 <li>Is sound working?  With Gnome and KDE, a sound is played when
5440 logging in, and if I can hear this the test is successful.  If there
5441 are several audio exits on the machine, I try them all and check if
5442 the Gnome/KDE audio mixer can control where to send the sound.  I
5443 normally test this by playing
5444 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20101012-chef/ ">a HTML5
5445 video</a> in Firefox/Iceweasel.</li>
5446
5447 <li>Is the USB subsystem working?  I test this by plugging in a USB
5448 memory stick and see if Gnome/KDE notices this.</li>
5449
5450 <li>Is the CD/DVD player working?  I test this by inserting any CD/DVD
5451 I have lying around, and see if Gnome/KDE notices this.</li>
5452
5453 <li>Is any built in camera working?  Test using cheese, and see if a
5454 picture from the v4l device show up.</li>
5455
5456 <li>Is bluetooth working?  Use the Gnome/KDE browsing tool to see if
5457 any bluetooth devices are discovered.  In my office, I normally see a
5458 few.</li>
5459
5460 <li>For laptops, is the SD or Compaq Flash reader working.  I have
5461 memory modules lying around, and stick them in and see if Gnome/KDE
5462 notice this.</li>
5463
5464 <li>For laptops, is suspend/hibernate working?  I'm testing if the
5465 special button work, and if the laptop continue to work after
5466 resume.</li>
5467
5468 <li>For laptops, is the extra buttons working, like audio level,
5469 adjusting background light, switching on/off external video output,
5470 switching on/off wifi, bluetooth, etc?  The set of buttons differ from
5471 laptop to laptop, so I just write down which are working and which are
5472 not.</li>
5473
5474 <li>Some laptops have smart card readers, finger print readers,
5475 acceleration sensors etc.  I rarely test these, as I do not know how
5476 to quickly test if they are working or not, so I only document their
5477 existence.</li>
5478
5479 </ul>
5480
5481 <p>By now I suspect you are really curious what the test results are
5482 for the HP machines I am testing.  I'm not done yet, so I will report
5483 the test results later.  For now I can report that HP 8100 Elite work
5484 fine, and hibernation fail with HP EliteBook 8440p on Ubuntu Lucid,
5485 and audio fail on RHEL6.  Ubuntu Maverik worked with 8440p.  As you
5486 can see, I have most machines left to test.  One interesting
5487 observation is that Ubuntu Lucid has almost twice the frame rate than
5488 RHEL6 with glxgears.  No idea why.</p>
5489
5490       </div>
5491       <div class="tags">
5492
5493
5494         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>.
5495
5496
5497       </div>
5498     </div>
5499     <div class="padding"></div>
5500
5501     <div class="entry">
5502       <div class="title">
5503         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Some_thoughts_on_BitCoins.html">Some thoughts on BitCoins</a>
5504       </div>
5505       <div class="date">
5506         11th December 2010
5507       </div>
5508       <div class="body">
5509         <p>As I continue to explore
5510 <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">BitCoin</a>, I've starting to wonder
5511 what properties the system have, and how it will be affected by laws
5512 and regulations here in Norway.  Here are some random notes.</p>
5513
5514 <p>One interesting thing to note is that since the transactions are
5515 verified using a peer to peer network, all details about a transaction
5516 is known to everyone.  This means that if a BitCoin address has been
5517 published like I did with mine in my initial post about BitCoin, it is
5518 possible for everyone to see how many BitCoins have been transfered to
5519 that address.  There is even a web service to look at the details for
5520 all transactions.  There I can see that my address
5521 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a>
5522 have received 16.06 Bitcoin, the
5523 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/1LfdGnGuWkpSJgbQySxxCWhv8MHqvwst3">1LfdGnGuWkpSJgbQySxxCWhv8MHqvwst3</a>
5524 address of Simon Phipps have received 181.97 BitCoin and the address
5525 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/1MCwBbhNGp5hRm5rC1Aims2YFRe2SXPYKt">1MCwBbhNGp5hRm5rC1Aims2YFRe2SXPYKt</A>
5526 of EFF have received 2447.38 BitCoins so far.  Thank you to each and
5527 every one of you that donated bitcoins to support my activity. The
5528 fact that anyone can see how much money was transfered to a given
5529 address make it more obvious why the BitCoin community recommend to
5530 generate and hand out a new address for each transaction.  I'm told
5531 there is no way to track which addresses belong to a given person or
5532 organisation without the person or organisation revealing it
5533 themselves, as Simon, EFF and I have done.</p>
5534
5535 <p>In Norway, and in most other countries, there are laws and
5536 regulations limiting how much money one can transfer across the border
5537 without declaring it.  There are money laundering, tax and accounting
5538 laws and regulations I would expect to apply to the use of BitCoin.
5539 If the Skolelinux foundation
5540 (<a href="http://linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/donations.html">SLX
5541 Debian Labs</a>) were to accept donations in BitCoin in addition to
5542 normal bank transfers like EFF is doing, how should this be accounted?
5543 Given that it is impossible to know if money can across the border or
5544 not, should everything or nothing be declared?  What exchange rate
5545 should be used when calculating taxes?  Would receivers have to pay
5546 income tax if the foundation were to pay Skolelinux contributors in
5547 BitCoin?  I have no idea, but it would be interesting to know.</p>
5548
5549 <p>For a currency to be useful and successful, it must be trusted and
5550 accepted by a lot of users.  It must be possible to get easy access to
5551 the currency (as a wage or using currency exchanges), and it must be
5552 easy to spend it.  At the moment BitCoin seem fairly easy to get
5553 access to, but there are very few places to spend it.  I am not really
5554 a regular user of any of the vendor types currently accepting BitCoin,
5555 so I wonder when my kind of shop would start accepting BitCoins.  I
5556 would like to buy electronics, travels and subway tickets, not herbs
5557 and books. :) The currency is young, and this will improve over time
5558 if it become popular, but I suspect regular banks will start to lobby
5559 to get BitCoin declared illegal if it become popular.  I'm sure they
5560 will claim it is helping fund terrorism and money laundering (which
5561 probably would be true, as is any currency in existence), but I
5562 believe the problems should be solved elsewhere and not by blaming
5563 currencies.</p>
5564
5565 <p>The process of creating new BitCoins is called mining, and it is
5566 CPU intensive process that depend on a bit of luck as well (as one is
5567 competing against all the other miners currently spending CPU cycles
5568 to see which one get the next lump of cash).  The "winner" get 50
5569 BitCoin when this happen.  Yesterday I came across the obvious way to
5570 join forces to increase ones changes of getting at least some coins,
5571 by coordinating the work on mining BitCoins across several machines
5572 and people, and sharing the result if one is lucky and get the 50
5573 BitCoins.  Check out
5574 <a href="http://www.bluishcoder.co.nz/bitcoin-pool/">BitCoin Pool</a>
5575 if this sounds interesting.  I have not had time to try to set up a
5576 machine to participate there yet, but have seen that running on ones
5577 own for a few days have not yield any BitCoins througth mining
5578 yet.</p>
5579
5580 <p>Update 2010-12-15: Found an <a
5581 href="http://inertia.posterous.com/reply-to-the-underground-economist-why-bitcoi">interesting
5582 criticism</a> of bitcoin.  Not quite sure how valid it is, but thought
5583 it was interesting to read.  The arguments presented seem to be
5584 equally valid for gold, which was used as a currency for many years.</p>
5585
5586       </div>
5587       <div class="tags">
5588
5589
5590         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>.
5591
5592
5593       </div>
5594     </div>
5595     <div class="padding"></div>
5596
5597     <div class="entry">
5598       <div class="title">
5599         <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>
5600       </div>
5601       <div class="date">
5602         10th December 2010
5603       </div>
5604       <div class="body">
5605         <p>With this weeks lawless
5606 <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/06/wikileaks/index.html">governmental
5607 attacks</a> on Wikileak and
5608 <a href="http://www.salon.com/technology/dan_gillmor/2010/12/06/war_on_speech">free
5609 speech</a>, it has become obvious that PayPal, visa and mastercard can
5610 not be trusted to handle money transactions.
5611 A blog post from
5612 <a href="http://webmink.com/2010/12/06/now-accepting-bitcoin/">Simon
5613 Phipps on bitcoin</a> reminded me about a project that a friend of
5614 mine mentioned earlier.  I decided to follow Simon's example, and get
5615 involved with <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">BitCoin</a>.  I got
5616 some help from my friend to get it all running, and he even handed me
5617 some bitcoins to get started.  I even donated a few bitcoins to Simon
5618 for helping me remember BitCoin.</p>
5619
5620 <p>So, what is bitcoins, you probably wonder?  It is a digital
5621 crypto-currency, decentralised and handled using peer-to-peer
5622 networks.  It allows anonymous transactions and prohibits central
5623 control over the transactions, making it impossible for governments
5624 and companies alike to block donations and other transactions.  The
5625 source is free software, and while the key dependency wxWidgets 2.9
5626 for the graphical user interface is missing in Debian, the command
5627 line client builds just fine.  Hopefully Jonas
5628 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/578157">will get the package into
5629 Debian</a> soon.</p>
5630
5631 <p>Bitcoins can be converted to other currencies, like USD and EUR.
5632 There are <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/trade">companies accepting
5633 bitcoins</a> when selling services and goods, and there are even
5634 currency "stock" markets where the exchange rate is decided.  There
5635 are not many users so far, but the concept seems promising.  If you
5636 want to get started and lack a friend with any bitcoins to spare,
5637 you can even get
5638 <a href="https://freebitcoins.appspot.com/">some for free</a> (0.05
5639 bitcoin at the time of writing).  Use
5640 <a href="http://www.bitcoinwatch.com/">BitcoinWatch</a> to keep an eye
5641 on the current exchange rates.</p>
5642
5643 <p>As an experiment, I have decided to set up bitcoind on one of my
5644 machines.  If you want to support my activity, please send Bitcoin
5645 donations to the address
5646 <b>15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</b>.  Thank you!</p>
5647
5648       </div>
5649       <div class="tags">
5650
5651
5652         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>.
5653
5654
5655       </div>
5656     </div>
5657     <div class="padding"></div>
5658
5659     <div class="entry">
5660       <div class="title">
5661         <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>
5662       </div>
5663       <div class="date">
5664          9th December 2010
5665       </div>
5666       <div class="body">
5667         <p>A few days ago, I was introduces to some students in the robot
5668 student assosiation <a href="http://www.robotica.no/">Robotica
5669 Osloensis</a> at the University of Oslo where I work, who planned to
5670 get their own 3D printer.  They wanted to learn from me based on my
5671 work in the area.  After having a short lunch meeting with them, I
5672 offered them to borrow my reprap kit, as I never had time to complete
5673 the build and this seem unlike to change any time soon.  I look
5674 forward to see how this goes.  This monday their volunteer driver
5675 picked up my kit and drove it to their lab, and tomorrow I am told the
5676 last exam is over so they can start work on getting the 3D printer
5677 operational.</p>
5678
5679 <p>The robotic group have already build several robots on their own,
5680 and seem capable of getting the reprap operational.  I really look
5681 forward to being able to print all the cool 3D designs published on
5682 <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/">Thingiverse</a>.  I even got
5683 some 3D scans I got made during Dagen@IFI when one of the groups at
5684 the computer science department at the university demonstrated their
5685 very cool 3D scanner.</p>
5686
5687       </div>
5688       <div class="tags">
5689
5690
5691         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>.
5692
5693
5694       </div>
5695     </div>
5696     <div class="padding"></div>
5697
5698     <div class="entry">
5699       <div class="title">
5700         <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>
5701       </div>
5702       <div class="date">
5703         29th November 2010
5704       </div>
5705       <div class="body">
5706         <p>On friday, the first Debian Edu / Skolelinux
5707 <a href="http://www.friprogramvareiskolen.no/Gathering/2010-12-03-05-Oslo">development
5708 gathering</a> in a long time take place here in Oslo, Norway.  I
5709 really look forward to seeing all the good people working on the
5710 Squeeze release.  The gathering is open for everyone interested in
5711 learning more about Debian Edu / Skolelinux.</p>
5712
5713 <p>On Saturday, the Norwegian member organization taking care of
5714 organizing these development gatherings, Fri Programvare i Skolen,
5715 will hold its
5716 <a href="http://friprogramvareiskolen.no/Genfors/2010">General Assembly
5717 for 2010</a>.  Membership is open for all, and currently there are 388
5718 people registered as members.  Last year 32 members cast their vote in
5719 the memberdb based election system.  I hope more people find time to
5720 vote this year.</p>
5721
5722       </div>
5723       <div class="tags">
5724
5725
5726         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>.
5727
5728
5729       </div>
5730     </div>
5731     <div class="padding"></div>
5732
5733     <div class="entry">
5734       <div class="title">
5735         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_isn_t_Debian_Edu_using_VLC_.html">Why isn't Debian Edu using VLC?</a>
5736       </div>
5737       <div class="date">
5738         27th November 2010
5739       </div>
5740       <div class="body">
5741         <p>In the latest issue of Linux Journal, the readers choices were
5742 presented, and the winner among the multimedia player were VLC.
5743 Personally, I like VLC, and it is my player of choice when I first try
5744 to play a video file or stream.  Only if VLC fail will I drag out
5745 gmplayer to see if it can do better.  The reason is mostly the failure
5746 model and trust.  When VLC fail, it normally pop up a error message
5747 reporting the problem.  When mplayer fail, it normally segfault or
5748 just hangs.  The latter failure mode drain my trust in the program.<p>
5749
5750 <p>But even if VLC is my player of choice, we have choosen to use
5751 mplayer in <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian
5752 Edu/Skolelinux</a>.  The reason is simple.  We need a good browser
5753 plugin to play web videos seamlessly, and the VLC browser plugin is
5754 not very good.  For example, it lack in-line control buttons, so there
5755 is no way for the user to pause the video.  Also, when I
5756 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/BrowserMultimedia">last
5757 tested the browser plugins</a> available in Debian, the VLC plugin
5758 failed on several video pages where mplayer based plugins worked.  If
5759 the browser plugin for VLC was as good as the gecko-mediaplayer
5760 package (which uses mplayer), we would switch.</P>
5761
5762 <p>While VLC is a good player, its user interface is slightly
5763 annoying.  The most annoying feature is its inconsistent use of
5764 keyboard shortcuts.  When the player is in full screen mode, its
5765 shortcuts are different from when it is playing the video in a window.
5766 For example, space only work as pause when in full screen mode.  I
5767 wish it had consisten shortcuts and that space also would work when in
5768 window mode.  Another nice shortcut in gmplayer is [enter] to restart
5769 the current video.  It is very nice when playing short videos from the
5770 web and want to restart it when new people arrive to have a look at
5771 what is going on.</p>
5772
5773       </div>
5774       <div class="tags">
5775
5776
5777         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>.
5778
5779
5780       </div>
5781     </div>
5782     <div class="padding"></div>
5783
5784     <div class="entry">
5785       <div class="title">
5786         <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>
5787       </div>
5788       <div class="date">
5789         22nd November 2010
5790       </div>
5791       <div class="body">
5792         <p>Michael Biebl suggested to me on IRC, that I changed my automated
5793 upgrade testing of the
5794 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">Lenny
5795 Gnome and KDE Desktop</a> to do <tt>apt-get autoremove</tt> when using apt-get.
5796 This seem like a very good idea, so I adjusted by test scripts and
5797 can now present the updated result from today:</p>
5798
5799 <p>This is for Gnome:</p>
5800
5801 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
5802
5803 <blockquote><p>
5804   apache2.2-bin
5805   aptdaemon
5806   baobab
5807   binfmt-support
5808   browser-plugin-gnash
5809   cheese-common
5810   cli-common
5811   cups-pk-helper
5812   dmz-cursor-theme
5813   empathy
5814   empathy-common
5815   freedesktop-sound-theme
5816   freeglut3
5817   gconf-defaults-service
5818   gdm-themes
5819   gedit-plugins
5820   geoclue
5821   geoclue-hostip
5822   geoclue-localnet
5823   geoclue-manual
5824   geoclue-yahoo
5825   gnash
5826   gnash-common
5827   gnome
5828   gnome-backgrounds
5829   gnome-cards-data
5830   gnome-codec-install
5831   gnome-core
5832   gnome-desktop-environment
5833   gnome-disk-utility
5834   gnome-screenshot
5835   gnome-search-tool
5836   gnome-session-canberra
5837   gnome-system-log
5838   gnome-themes-extras
5839   gnome-themes-more
5840   gnome-user-share
5841   gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3
5842   gstreamer0.10-tools
5843   gtk2-engines
5844   gtk2-engines-pixbuf
5845   gtk2-engines-smooth
5846   hamster-applet
5847   libapache2-mod-dnssd
5848   libapr1
5849   libaprutil1
5850   libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3
5851   libaprutil1-ldap
5852   libart2.0-cil
5853   libboost-date-time1.42.0
5854   libboost-python1.42.0
5855   libboost-thread1.42.0
5856   libchamplain-0.4-0
5857   libchamplain-gtk-0.4-0
5858   libcheese-gtk18
5859   libclutter-gtk-0.10-0
5860   libcryptui0
5861   libdiscid0
5862   libelf1
5863   libepc-1.0-2
5864   libepc-common
5865   libepc-ui-1.0-2
5866   libfreerdp-plugins-standard
5867   libfreerdp0
5868   libgconf2.0-cil
5869   libgdata-common
5870   libgdata7
5871   libgdu-gtk0
5872   libgee2
5873   libgeoclue0
5874   libgexiv2-0
5875   libgif4
5876   libglade2.0-cil
5877   libglib2.0-cil
5878   libgmime2.4-cil
5879   libgnome-vfs2.0-cil
5880   libgnome2.24-cil
5881   libgnomepanel2.24-cil
5882   libgpod-common
5883   libgpod4
5884   libgtk2.0-cil
5885   libgtkglext1
5886   libgtksourceview2.0-common
5887   libmono-addins-gui0.2-cil
5888   libmono-addins0.2-cil
5889   libmono-cairo2.0-cil
5890   libmono-corlib2.0-cil
5891   libmono-i18n-west2.0-cil
5892   libmono-posix2.0-cil
5893   libmono-security2.0-cil
5894   libmono-sharpzip2.84-cil
5895   libmono-system2.0-cil
5896   libmtp8
5897   libmusicbrainz3-6
5898   libndesk-dbus-glib1.0-cil
5899   libndesk-dbus1.0-cil
5900   libopal3.6.8
5901   libpolkit-gtk-1-0
5902   libpt2.6.7
5903   libpython2.6
5904   librpm1
5905   librpmio1
5906   libsdl1.2debian
5907   libsrtp0
5908   libssh-4
5909   libtelepathy-farsight0
5910   libtelepathy-glib0
5911   libtidy-0.99-0
5912   media-player-info
5913   mesa-utils
5914   mono-2.0-gac
5915   mono-gac
5916   mono-runtime
5917   nautilus-sendto
5918   nautilus-sendto-empathy
5919   p7zip-full
5920   pkg-config
5921   python-aptdaemon
5922   python-aptdaemon-gtk
5923   python-axiom
5924   python-beautifulsoup
5925   python-bugbuddy
5926   python-clientform
5927   python-coherence
5928   python-configobj
5929   python-crypto
5930   python-cupshelpers
5931   python-elementtree
5932   python-epsilon
5933   python-evolution
5934   python-feedparser
5935   python-gdata
5936   python-gdbm
5937   python-gst0.10
5938   python-gtkglext1
5939   python-gtksourceview2
5940   python-httplib2
5941   python-louie
5942   python-mako
5943   python-markupsafe
5944   python-mechanize
5945   python-nevow
5946   python-notify
5947   python-opengl
5948   python-openssl
5949   python-pam
5950   python-pkg-resources
5951   python-pyasn1
5952   python-pysqlite2
5953   python-rdflib
5954   python-serial
5955   python-tagpy
5956   python-twisted-bin
5957   python-twisted-conch
5958   python-twisted-core
5959   python-twisted-web
5960   python-utidylib
5961   python-webkit
5962   python-xdg
5963   python-zope.interface
5964   remmina
5965   remmina-plugin-data
5966   remmina-plugin-rdp
5967   remmina-plugin-vnc
5968   rhythmbox-plugin-cdrecorder
5969   rhythmbox-plugins
5970   rpm-common
5971   rpm2cpio
5972   seahorse-plugins
5973   shotwell
5974   software-center
5975   system-config-printer-udev
5976   telepathy-gabble
5977   telepathy-mission-control-5
5978   telepathy-salut
5979   tomboy
5980   totem
5981   totem-coherence
5982   totem-mozilla
5983   totem-plugins
5984   transmission-common
5985   xdg-user-dirs
5986   xdg-user-dirs-gtk
5987   xserver-xephyr
5988 </p></blockquote>
5989
5990 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
5991
5992 <blockquote><p>
5993   cheese
5994   ekiga
5995   eog
5996   epiphany-extensions
5997   evolution-exchange
5998   fast-user-switch-applet
5999   file-roller
6000   gcalctool
6001   gconf-editor
6002   gdm
6003   gedit
6004   gedit-common
6005   gnome-games
6006   gnome-games-data
6007   gnome-nettool
6008   gnome-system-tools
6009   gnome-themes
6010   gnuchess
6011   gucharmap
6012   guile-1.8-libs
6013   libavahi-ui0
6014   libdmx1
6015   libgalago3
6016   libgtk-vnc-1.0-0
6017   libgtksourceview2.0-0
6018   liblircclient0
6019   libsdl1.2debian-alsa
6020   libspeexdsp1
6021   libsvga1
6022   rhythmbox
6023   seahorse
6024   sound-juicer
6025   system-config-printer
6026   totem-common
6027   transmission-gtk
6028   vinagre
6029   vino
6030 </p></blockquote>
6031
6032 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
6033
6034 <blockquote><p>
6035   gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
6036 </p></blockquote>
6037
6038 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
6039
6040 <blockquote><p>
6041 [nothing]
6042 </p></blockquote>
6043
6044 <p>This is for KDE:</p>
6045
6046 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
6047
6048 <blockquote><p>
6049   ksmserver
6050 </p></blockquote>
6051
6052 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
6053
6054 <blockquote><p>
6055   kwin
6056   network-manager-kde
6057 </p></blockquote>
6058
6059 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
6060
6061 <blockquote><p>
6062   arts
6063   dolphin
6064   freespacenotifier
6065   google-gadgets-gst
6066   google-gadgets-xul
6067   kappfinder
6068   kcalc
6069   kcharselect
6070   kde-core
6071   kde-plasma-desktop
6072   kde-standard
6073   kde-window-manager
6074   kdeartwork
6075   kdeartwork-emoticons
6076   kdeartwork-style
6077   kdeartwork-theme-icon
6078   kdebase
6079   kdebase-apps
6080   kdebase-workspace
6081   kdebase-workspace-bin
6082   kdebase-workspace-data
6083   kdeeject
6084   kdelibs
6085   kdeplasma-addons
6086   kdeutils
6087   kdewallpapers
6088   kdf
6089   kfloppy
6090   kgpg
6091   khelpcenter4
6092   kinfocenter
6093   konq-plugins-l10n
6094   konqueror-nsplugins
6095   kscreensaver
6096   kscreensaver-xsavers
6097   ktimer
6098   kwrite
6099   libgle3
6100   libkde4-ruby1.8
6101   libkonq5
6102   libkonq5-templates
6103   libnetpbm10
6104   libplasma-ruby
6105   libplasma-ruby1.8
6106   libqt4-ruby1.8
6107   marble-data
6108   marble-plugins
6109   netpbm
6110   nuvola-icon-theme
6111   plasma-dataengines-workspace
6112   plasma-desktop
6113   plasma-desktopthemes-artwork
6114   plasma-runners-addons
6115   plasma-scriptengine-googlegadgets
6116   plasma-scriptengine-python
6117   plasma-scriptengine-qedje
6118   plasma-scriptengine-ruby
6119   plasma-scriptengine-webkit
6120   plasma-scriptengines
6121   plasma-wallpapers-addons
6122   plasma-widget-folderview
6123   plasma-widget-networkmanagement
6124   ruby
6125   sweeper
6126   update-notifier-kde
6127   xscreensaver-data-extra
6128   xscreensaver-gl
6129   xscreensaver-gl-extra
6130   xscreensaver-screensaver-bsod
6131 </p></blockquote>
6132
6133 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
6134
6135 <blockquote><p>
6136   ark
6137   google-gadgets-common
6138   google-gadgets-qt
6139   htdig
6140   kate
6141   kdebase-bin
6142   kdebase-data
6143   kdepasswd
6144   kfind
6145   klipper
6146   konq-plugins
6147   konqueror
6148   ksysguard
6149   ksysguardd
6150   libarchive1
6151   libcln6
6152   libeet1
6153   libeina-svn-06
6154   libggadget-1.0-0b
6155   libggadget-qt-1.0-0b
6156   libgps19
6157   libkdecorations4
6158   libkephal4
6159   libkonq4
6160   libkonqsidebarplugin4a
6161   libkscreensaver5
6162   libksgrd4
6163   libksignalplotter4
6164   libkunitconversion4
6165   libkwineffects1a
6166   libmarblewidget4
6167   libntrack-qt4-1
6168   libntrack0
6169   libplasma-geolocation-interface4
6170   libplasmaclock4a
6171   libplasmagenericshell4
6172   libprocesscore4a
6173   libprocessui4a
6174   libqalculate5
6175   libqedje0a
6176   libqtruby4shared2
6177   libqzion0a
6178   libruby1.8
6179   libscim8c2a
6180   libsmokekdecore4-3
6181   libsmokekdeui4-3
6182   libsmokekfile3
6183   libsmokekhtml3
6184   libsmokekio3
6185   libsmokeknewstuff2-3
6186   libsmokeknewstuff3-3
6187   libsmokekparts3
6188   libsmokektexteditor3
6189   libsmokekutils3
6190   libsmokenepomuk3
6191   libsmokephonon3
6192   libsmokeplasma3
6193   libsmokeqtcore4-3
6194   libsmokeqtdbus4-3
6195   libsmokeqtgui4-3
6196   libsmokeqtnetwork4-3
6197   libsmokeqtopengl4-3
6198   libsmokeqtscript4-3
6199   libsmokeqtsql4-3
6200   libsmokeqtsvg4-3
6201   libsmokeqttest4-3
6202   libsmokeqtuitools4-3
6203   libsmokeqtwebkit4-3
6204   libsmokeqtxml4-3
6205   libsmokesolid3
6206   libsmokesoprano3
6207   libtaskmanager4a
6208   libtidy-0.99-0
6209   libweather-ion4a
6210   libxklavier16
6211   libxxf86misc1
6212   okteta
6213   oxygencursors
6214   plasma-dataengines-addons
6215   plasma-scriptengine-superkaramba
6216   plasma-widget-lancelot
6217   plasma-widgets-addons
6218   plasma-widgets-workspace
6219   polkit-kde-1
6220   ruby1.8
6221   systemsettings
6222   update-notifier-common
6223 </p></blockquote>
6224
6225 <p>Running apt-get autoremove made the results using apt-get and
6226 aptitude a bit more similar, but there are still quite a lott of
6227 differences.  I have no idea what packages should be installed after
6228 the upgrade, but hope those that do can have a look.</p>
6229
6230       </div>
6231       <div class="tags">
6232
6233
6234         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>.
6235
6236
6237       </div>
6238     </div>
6239     <div class="padding"></div>
6240
6241     <div class="entry">
6242       <div class="title">
6243         <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>
6244       </div>
6245       <div class="date">
6246         22nd November 2010
6247       </div>
6248       <div class="body">
6249         <p>Most of the computers in use by the
6250 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu/Skolelinux project</a>
6251 are virtual machines.  And they have been Xen machines running on a
6252 fairly old IBM eserver xseries 345 machine, and we wanted to migrate
6253 them to KVM on a newer Dell PowerEdge 2950 host machine.  This was a
6254 bit harder that it could have been, because we set up the Xen virtual
6255 machines to get the virtual partitions from LVM, which as far as I
6256 know is not supported by KVM.  So to migrate, we had to convert
6257 several LVM logical volumes to partitions on a virtual disk file.</p>
6258
6259 <p>I found
6260 <a href="http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com.au/articles/35011-Six-steps-for-migrating-Xen-virtual-machines-to-KVM">a
6261 nice recipe</a> to do this, and wrote the following script to do the
6262 migration.  It uses qemu-img from the qemu package to make the disk
6263 image, parted to partition it, losetup and kpartx to present the disk
6264 image partions as devices, and dd to copy the data.  I NFS mounted the
6265 new servers storage area on the old server to do the migration.</p>
6266
6267 <pre>
6268 #!/bin/sh
6269
6270 # Based on
6271 # http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com.au/articles/35011-Six-steps-for-migrating-Xen-virtual-machines-to-KVM
6272
6273 set -e
6274 set -x
6275
6276 if [ -z "$1" ] ; then
6277     echo "Usage: $0 &lt;hostname&gt;"
6278     exit 1
6279 else
6280     host="$1"
6281 fi
6282
6283 if [ ! -e /dev/vg_data/$host-disk ] ; then
6284     echo "error: unable to find LVM volume for $host"
6285     exit 1
6286 fi
6287
6288 # Partitions need to be a bit bigger than the LVM LVs.  not sure why.
6289 disksize=$( lvs --units m | grep $host-disk | awk '{sum = sum + $4} END { print int(sum * 1.05) }')
6290 swapsize=$( lvs --units m | grep $host-swap | awk '{sum = sum + $4} END { print int(sum * 1.05) }')
6291 totalsize=$(( ( $disksize + $swapsize ) ))
6292
6293 img=$host.img
6294 #dd if=/dev/zero of=$img bs=1M count=$(( $disksize + $swapsize ))
6295 qemu-img create $img ${totalsize}MMaking room on the Debian Edu/Sqeeze DVD
6296
6297 parted $img mklabel msdos
6298 parted $img mkpart primary linux-swap 0 $disksize
6299 parted $img mkpart primary ext2 $disksize $totalsize
6300 parted $img set 1 boot on
6301
6302 modprobe dm-mod
6303 losetup /dev/loop0 $img
6304 kpartx -a /dev/loop0
6305
6306 dd if=/dev/vg_data/$host-disk of=/dev/mapper/loop0p1 bs=1M
6307 fsck.ext3 -f /dev/mapper/loop0p1 || true
6308 mkswap /dev/mapper/loop0p2
6309
6310 kpartx -d /dev/loop0
6311 losetup -d /dev/loop0
6312 </pre>
6313
6314 <p>The script is perhaps so simple that it is not copyrightable, but
6315 if it is, it is licenced using GPL v2 or later at your discretion.</p>
6316
6317 <p>After doing this, I booted a Debian CD in rescue mode in KVM with
6318 the new disk image attached, installed grub-pc and linux-image-686 and
6319 set up grub to boot from the disk image.  After this, the KVM machines
6320 seem to work just fine.</p>
6321
6322       </div>
6323       <div class="tags">
6324
6325
6326         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>.
6327
6328
6329       </div>
6330     </div>
6331     <div class="padding"></div>
6332
6333     <div class="entry">
6334       <div class="title">
6335         <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>
6336       </div>
6337       <div class="date">
6338         20th November 2010
6339       </div>
6340       <div class="body">
6341         <p>I'm still running upgrade testing of the
6342 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">Lenny
6343 Gnome and KDE Desktop</a>, but have not had time to spend on reporting the
6344 status.  Here is a short update based on a test I ran 20101118.</p>
6345
6346 <p>I still do not know what a correct migration should look like, so I
6347 report any differences between apt and aptitude and hope someone else
6348 can see if anything should be changed.</p>
6349
6350 <p>This is for Gnome:</p>
6351
6352 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
6353
6354 <blockquote><p>
6355   apache2.2-bin aptdaemon at-spi baobab binfmt-support
6356   browser-plugin-gnash cheese-common cli-common cpp-4.3 cups-pk-helper
6357   dmz-cursor-theme empathy empathy-common finger
6358   freedesktop-sound-theme freeglut3 gconf-defaults-service gdm-themes
6359   gedit-plugins geoclue geoclue-hostip geoclue-localnet geoclue-manual
6360   geoclue-yahoo gnash gnash-common gnome gnome-backgrounds
6361   gnome-cards-data gnome-codec-install gnome-core
6362   gnome-desktop-environment gnome-disk-utility gnome-screenshot
6363   gnome-search-tool gnome-session-canberra gnome-spell
6364   gnome-system-log gnome-themes-extras gnome-themes-more
6365   gnome-user-share gs-common gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3
6366   gstreamer0.10-tools gtk2-engines gtk2-engines-pixbuf
6367   gtk2-engines-smooth hal-info hamster-applet libapache2-mod-dnssd
6368   libapr1 libaprutil1 libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3 libaprutil1-ldap
6369   libart2.0-cil libatspi1.0-0 libboost-date-time1.42.0
6370   libboost-python1.42.0 libboost-thread1.42.0 libchamplain-0.4-0
6371   libchamplain-gtk-0.4-0 libcheese-gtk18 libclutter-gtk-0.10-0
6372   libcryptui0 libcupsys2 libdiscid0 libeel2-data libelf1 libepc-1.0-2
6373   libepc-common libepc-ui-1.0-2 libfreerdp-plugins-standard
6374   libfreerdp0 libgail-common libgconf2.0-cil libgdata-common libgdata7
6375   libgdl-1-common libgdu-gtk0 libgee2 libgeoclue0 libgexiv2-0 libgif4
6376   libglade2.0-cil libglib2.0-cil libgmime2.4-cil libgnome-vfs2.0-cil
6377   libgnome2.24-cil libgnomepanel2.24-cil libgnomeprint2.2-data
6378   libgnomeprintui2.2-common libgnomevfs2-bin libgpod-common libgpod4
6379   libgtk2.0-cil libgtkglext1 libgtksourceview-common
6380   libgtksourceview2.0-common libmono-addins-gui0.2-cil
6381   libmono-addins0.2-cil libmono-cairo2.0-cil libmono-corlib2.0-cil
6382   libmono-i18n-west2.0-cil libmono-posix2.0-cil
6383   libmono-security2.0-cil libmono-sharpzip2.84-cil
6384   libmono-system2.0-cil libmtp8 libmusicbrainz3-6
6385   libndesk-dbus-glib1.0-cil libndesk-dbus1.0-cil libopal3.6.8
6386   libpolkit-gtk-1-0 libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa
6387   libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libpt2.6.7 libpython2.6 librpm1 librpmio1
6388   libsdl1.2debian libservlet2.4-java libsrtp0 libssh-4
6389   libtelepathy-farsight0 libtelepathy-glib0 libtidy-0.99-0
6390   libxalan2-java libxerces2-java media-player-info mesa-utils
6391   mono-2.0-gac mono-gac mono-runtime nautilus-sendto
6392   nautilus-sendto-empathy openoffice.org-writer2latex
6393   openssl-blacklist p7zip p7zip-full pkg-config python-4suite-xml
6394   python-aptdaemon python-aptdaemon-gtk python-axiom
6395   python-beautifulsoup python-bugbuddy python-clientform
6396   python-coherence python-configobj python-crypto python-cupshelpers
6397   python-cupsutils python-eggtrayicon python-elementtree
6398   python-epsilon python-evolution python-feedparser python-gdata
6399   python-gdbm python-gst0.10 python-gtkglext1 python-gtkmozembed
6400   python-gtksourceview2 python-httplib2 python-louie python-mako
6401   python-markupsafe python-mechanize python-nevow python-notify
6402   python-opengl python-openssl python-pam python-pkg-resources
6403   python-pyasn1 python-pysqlite2 python-rdflib python-serial
6404   python-tagpy python-twisted-bin python-twisted-conch
6405   python-twisted-core python-twisted-web python-utidylib python-webkit
6406   python-xdg python-zope.interface remmina remmina-plugin-data
6407   remmina-plugin-rdp remmina-plugin-vnc rhythmbox-plugin-cdrecorder
6408   rhythmbox-plugins rpm-common rpm2cpio seahorse-plugins shotwell
6409   software-center svgalibg1 system-config-printer-udev
6410   telepathy-gabble telepathy-mission-control-5 telepathy-salut tomboy
6411   totem totem-coherence totem-mozilla totem-plugins
6412   transmission-common xdg-user-dirs xdg-user-dirs-gtk xserver-xephyr
6413   zip
6414 </p></blockquote>
6415
6416 Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude
6417
6418 <blockquote><p>
6419   arj bluez-utils cheese dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop ekiga eog
6420   epiphany-extensions epiphany-gecko evolution-exchange
6421   fast-user-switch-applet file-roller gcalctool gconf-editor gdm gedit
6422   gedit-common gnome-app-install gnome-games gnome-games-data
6423   gnome-nettool gnome-system-tools gnome-themes gnome-utils
6424   gnome-vfs-obexftp gnome-volume-manager gnuchess gucharmap
6425   guile-1.8-libs hal libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5
6426   libavahi-ui0 libbind9-50 libbluetooth2 libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7
6427   libcucul0 libcurl3 libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdmx1 libdvdread3
6428   libedata-cal1.2-6 libedataserver1.2-9 libeel2-2.20 libepc-1.0-1
6429   libepc-ui-1.0-1 libexchange-storage1.2-3 libfaad0 libgadu3
6430   libgalago3 libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libggz2 libggzcore9
6431   libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 libgnome-desktop-2
6432   libgnome-pilot2 libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomeprint2.2-0
6433   libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtk-vnc-1.0-0
6434   libgtkhtml2-0 libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgtksourceview2.0-0
6435   libgucharmap6 libhesiod0 libicu38 libisccc50 libisccfg50 libiw29
6436   libjaxp1.3-java-gcj libkpathsea4 liblircclient0 libltdl3 liblwres50
6437   libmagick++10 libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmozjs1d libmpfr1ldbl libmtp7
6438   libmysqlclient15off libnautilus-burn4 libneon27 libnm-glib0
6439   libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 libosp5 libparted1.8-10 libpisock9
6440   libpisync1 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 libpt-1.10.10 libraw1394-8
6441   libsdl1.2debian-alsa libsensors3 libsexy2 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8
6442   libspeexdsp1 libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libsvga1
6443   libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 libtotem-plparser10 libtrackerclient0
6444   libvoikko1 libxalan2-java-gcj libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12
6445   libxtrap6 libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 mysql-common rhythmbox seahorse
6446   sound-juicer swfdec-gnome system-config-printer totem-common
6447   totem-gstreamer transmission-gtk vinagre vino w3c-dtd-xhtml wodim
6448 </p></blockquote>
6449
6450 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
6451
6452 <blockquote><p>
6453   gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
6454 </p></blockquote>
6455
6456 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
6457
6458 <blockquote><p>
6459 [nothing]
6460 </p></blockquote>
6461
6462 <p>This is for KDE:</p>
6463
6464 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
6465
6466 <blockquote><p>
6467   autopoint bomber bovo cantor cantor-backend-kalgebra cpp-4.3 dcoprss
6468   edict espeak espeak-data eyesapplet fifteenapplet finger gettext
6469   ghostscript-x git gnome-audio gnugo granatier gs-common
6470   gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio indi kaddressbook-plugins kalgebra
6471   kalzium-data kanjidic kapman kate-plugins kblocks kbreakout kbstate
6472   kde-icons-mono kdeaccessibility kdeaddons-kfile-plugins
6473   kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdeartwork-misc kdeartwork-theme-window
6474   kdeedu kdeedu-data kdeedu-kvtml-data kdegames kdegames-card-data
6475   kdegames-mahjongg-data kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelirc
6476   kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdenetwork-kfile-plugins
6477   kdepim-kfile-plugins kdepim-kio-plugins kdessh kdetoys kdewebdev
6478   kdiamond kdnssd kfilereplace kfourinline kgeography-data kigo
6479   killbots kiriki klettres-data kmoon kmrml knewsticker-scripts
6480   kollision kpf krosspython ksirk ksmserver ksquares kstars-data
6481   ksudoku kubrick kweather libasound2-plugins libboost-python1.42.0
6482   libcfitsio3 libconvert-binhex-perl libcrypt-ssleay-perl libdb4.6++
6483   libdjvulibre-text libdotconf1.0 liberror-perl libespeak1
6484   libfinance-quote-perl libgail-common libgsl0ldbl libhtml-parser-perl
6485   libhtml-tableextract-perl libhtml-tagset-perl libhtml-tree-perl
6486   libio-stringy-perl libkdeedu4 libkdegames5 libkiten4 libkpathsea5
6487   libkrossui4 libmailtools-perl libmime-tools-perl
6488   libnews-nntpclient-perl libopenbabel3 libportaudio2 libpulse-browse0
6489   libservlet2.4-java libspeechd2 libtiff-tools libtimedate-perl
6490   libunistring0 liburi-perl libwww-perl libxalan2-java libxerces2-java
6491   lirc luatex marble networkstatus noatun-plugins
6492   openoffice.org-writer2latex palapeli palapeli-data parley
6493   parley-data poster psutils pulseaudio pulseaudio-esound-compat
6494   pulseaudio-module-x11 pulseaudio-utils quanta-data rocs rsync
6495   speech-dispatcher step svgalibg1 texlive-binaries texlive-luatex
6496   ttf-sazanami-gothic
6497 </p></blockquote>
6498
6499 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
6500
6501 <blockquote><p>
6502   amor artsbuilder atlantik atlantikdesigner blinken bluez-utils cvs
6503   dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop imlib-base imlib11 kalzium kanagram kandy
6504   kasteroids katomic kbackgammon kbattleship kblackbox kbounce kbruch
6505   kcron kdat kdemultimedia-kappfinder-data kdeprint kdict kdvi kedit
6506   keduca kenolaba kfax kfaxview kfouleggs kgeography kghostview
6507   kgoldrunner khangman khexedit kiconedit kig kimagemapeditor
6508   kitchensync kiten kjumpingcube klatin klettres klickety klines
6509   klinkstatus kmag kmahjongg kmailcvt kmenuedit kmid kmilo kmines
6510   kmousetool kmouth kmplot knetwalk kodo kolf kommander konquest kooka
6511   kpager kpat kpdf kpercentage kpilot kpoker kpovmodeler krec
6512   kregexpeditor kreversi ksame ksayit kshisen ksig ksim ksirc ksirtet
6513   ksmiletris ksnake ksokoban kspaceduel kstars ksvg ksysv kteatime
6514   ktip ktnef ktouch ktron kttsd ktuberling kturtle ktux kuickshow
6515   kverbos kview kviewshell kvoctrain kwifimanager kwin kwin4 kwordquiz
6516   kworldclock kxsldbg libakode2 libarts1-akode libarts1-audiofile
6517   libarts1-mpeglib libarts1-xine libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
6518   libavahi-core5 libavc1394-0 libbind9-50 libbluetooth2
6519   libboost-python1.34.1 libcucul0 libcurl3 libcvsservice0
6520   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdjvulibre21 libdvdread3 libfaad0 libfreebob0
6521   libgd2-noxpm libgraphviz4 libgsmme1c2a libgtkhtml2-0 libicu38
6522   libiec61883-0 libindex0 libisccc50 libisccfg50 libiw29
6523   libjaxp1.3-java-gcj libk3b3 libkcal2b libkcddb1 libkdeedu3
6524   libkdegames1 libkdepim1a libkgantt0 libkleopatra1 libkmime2
6525   libkpathsea4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1
6526   libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 libltdl3 liblwres50 libmagick10
6527   libmimelib1c2a libmodplug0c2 libmozjs1d libmpcdec3 libmpfr1ldbl
6528   libneon27 libnm-util0 libopensync0 libpisock9 libpoppler-glib3
6529   libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler3 libraw1394-8 librss1 libsensors3
6530   libsmbios2 libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90
6531   libtalloc1 libxalan2-java-gcj libxerces2-java-gcj libxtrap6 lskat
6532   mpeglib network-manager-kde noatun pmount tex-common texlive-base
6533   texlive-common texlive-doc-base texlive-fonts-recommended tidy
6534   ttf-dustin ttf-kochi-gothic ttf-sjfonts
6535 </p></blockquote>
6536
6537 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
6538
6539 <blockquote><p>
6540   dolphin kde-core kde-plasma-desktop kde-standard kde-window-manager
6541   kdeartwork kdebase kdebase-apps kdebase-workspace
6542   kdebase-workspace-bin kdebase-workspace-data kdeutils kscreensaver
6543   kscreensaver-xsavers libgle3 libkonq5 libkonq5-templates libnetpbm10
6544   netpbm plasma-widget-folderview plasma-widget-networkmanagement
6545   xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-gl xscreensaver-gl-extra
6546   xscreensaver-screensaver-bsod
6547 </p></blockquote>
6548
6549 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
6550
6551 <blockquote><p>
6552   kdebase-bin konq-plugins konqueror
6553 </p></blockquote>
6554
6555       </div>
6556       <div class="tags">
6557
6558
6559         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>.
6560
6561
6562       </div>
6563     </div>
6564     <div class="padding"></div>
6565
6566     <div class="entry">
6567       <div class="title">
6568         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Gnash_buildbot_slave_and_Debian_kfreebsd.html">Gnash buildbot slave and Debian kfreebsd</a>
6569       </div>
6570       <div class="date">
6571         20th November 2010
6572       </div>
6573       <div class="body">
6574         <p>Answering
6575 <a href="http://www.listware.net/201011/gnash-dev/67431-gnash-dev-buildbot-looking-for-slaves.html">the
6576 call from the Gnash project</a> for
6577 <a href="http://www.gnashdev.org:8010">buildbot</a> slaves to test the
6578 current source, I have set up a virtual KVM machine on the Debian
6579 Edu/Skolelinux virtualization host to test the git source on
6580 Debian/Squeeze.  I hope this can help the developers in getting new
6581 releases out more often.</p>
6582
6583 <p>As the developers want less main-stream build platforms tested to,
6584 I have considered setting up a <a
6585 href="http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu/">Debian/kfreebsd</a>
6586 machine as well.  I have also considered using the kfreebsd
6587 architecture in Debian as a file server in NUUG to get access to the 5
6588 TB zfs volume we currently use to store DV video.  Because of this, I
6589 finally got around to do a test installation of Debian/Squeeze with
6590 kfreebsd.  Installation went fairly smooth, thought I noticed some
6591 visual glitches in the cdebconf dialogs (black cursor left on the
6592 screen at random locations).  Have not gotten very far with the
6593 testing.  Noticed cfdisk did not work, but fdisk did so it was not a
6594 fatal problem.  Have to spend some more time on it to see if it is
6595 useful as a file server for NUUG.  Will try to find time to set up a
6596 gnash buildbot slave on the Debian Edu/Skolelinux this weekend.</p>
6597
6598       </div>
6599       <div class="tags">
6600
6601
6602         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>.
6603
6604
6605       </div>
6606     </div>
6607     <div class="padding"></div>
6608
6609     <div class="entry">
6610       <div class="title">
6611         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_in_3D.html">Debian in 3D</a>
6612       </div>
6613       <div class="date">
6614          9th November 2010
6615       </div>
6616       <div class="body">
6617         <p><img src="http://thingiverse-production.s3.amazonaws.com/renders/23/e0/c4/f9/2b/debswagtdose_preview_medium.jpg"></p>
6618
6619 <p>3D printing is just great.  I just came across this Debian logo in
6620 3D linked in from
6621 <a href="http://blog.thingiverse.com/2010/11/09/participatory-branding/">the
6622 thingiverse blog</a>.</p>
6623
6624       </div>
6625       <div class="tags">
6626
6627
6628         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>.
6629
6630
6631       </div>
6632     </div>
6633     <div class="padding"></div>
6634
6635     <div class="entry">
6636       <div class="title">
6637         <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>
6638       </div>
6639       <div class="date">
6640          7th November 2010
6641       </div>
6642       <div class="body">
6643         <p>Prioritising packages for the Debian Edu /
6644 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a> DVD, which is
6645 supposed provide a school with all the services and user applications
6646 needed on the pupils computer network has always been hard.  Even
6647 schools without Internet connections should be able to get Debian Edu
6648 working using this DVD.</p>
6649
6650 <p>The job became a lot harder when apt and aptitude started
6651 installing recommended packages by default.  We want the same set of
6652 packages to be installed when using the DVD and the netinst CD, and
6653 that means all recommended packages need to be on the DVD.  I created
6654 a patch for debian-cd in <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/601203">BTS
6655 report #601203</a> to do this, and since this change was applied to
6656 the Debian Edu DVD build, we have been seriously short on space.</p>
6657
6658 <p>A few days ago we decided to drop blender, wxmaxima and kicad from
6659 the default installation to save space on the DVD, believing that
6660 those needing these applications are few and can get them from the
6661 Debian archive.</p>
6662
6663 <p>Yesterday, I had a look what source packages to see which packages
6664 were using most space.  A few large packages are well know;
6665 openoffice.org, openclipart and fluid-soundfont.  But I also
6666 discovered that lilypond used 106 MiB and fglrx-driver used 53 MiB.
6667 The lilypond package is pulled in as a dependency for rosegarden, and
6668 when looking a bit closer I discovered that 99 MiB of the 106 MiB were
6669 the documentation package, which is recommended by the binary package.
6670 I decided to drop this documentation package from our DVD, as most of
6671 our users will use the GUI front-ends and do not need the lilypond
6672 documentation.  Similarly, I dropped the non-free fglrx-driver package
6673 which might be installed by d-i when its hardware is detected, as the
6674 free X driver should work.</p>
6675
6676 <p>With this change, we finally got space for the LXDE and Gnome
6677 desktop packages as well as the language specific packages making the
6678 DVD more useful again.</p>
6679
6680       </div>
6681       <div class="tags">
6682
6683
6684         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>.
6685
6686
6687       </div>
6688     </div>
6689     <div class="padding"></div>
6690
6691     <div class="entry">
6692       <div class="title">
6693         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Software_updates_2010_10_24.html">Software updates 2010-10-24</a>
6694       </div>
6695       <div class="date">
6696         24th October 2010
6697       </div>
6698       <div class="body">
6699         <p>Some updates.</p>
6700
6701 <p>My <a href="http://pledgebank.com/gnash-avm2">gnash pledge</a> to
6702 raise money for the project is going well.  The lower limit of 10
6703 signers was reached in 24 hours, and so far 13 people have signed it.
6704 More signers and more funding is most welcome, and I am really curious
6705 how far we can get before the time limit of December 24 is reached.
6706 :)</p>
6707
6708 <p>On the #gnash IRC channel on irc.freenode.net, I was just tipped
6709 about what appear to be a great code coverage tool capable of
6710 generating code coverage stats without any changes to the source code.
6711 It is called
6712 <a href="http://simonkagstrom.github.com/kcov/index.html">kcov</a>,
6713 and can be used using <tt>kcov &lt;directory&gt; &lt;binary&gt;</tt>.
6714 It is missing in Debian, but the git source built just fine in Squeeze
6715 after I installed libelf-dev, libdwarf-dev, pkg-config and
6716 libglib2.0-dev.  Failed to build in Lenny, but suspect that is
6717 solvable.  I hope kcov make it into Debian soon.</p>
6718
6719 <p>Finally found time to wrap up the release notes for <a
6720 href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2010/10/msg00002.html">a
6721 new alpha release of Debian Edu</a>, and just published the second
6722 alpha test release of the Squeeze based Debian Edu /
6723 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a>
6724 release.  Give it a try if you need a complete linux solution for your
6725 school, including central infrastructure server, workstations, thin
6726 client servers and diskless workstations.  A nice touch added
6727 yesterday is RDP support on the thin client servers, for windows
6728 clients to get a Linux desktop on request.</p>
6729
6730       </div>
6731       <div class="tags">
6732
6733
6734         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>.
6735
6736
6737       </div>
6738     </div>
6739     <div class="padding"></div>
6740
6741     <div class="entry">
6742       <div class="title">
6743         <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>
6744       </div>
6745       <div class="date">
6746         19th October 2010
6747       </div>
6748       <div class="body">
6749         <p><a href="http://www.getgnash.org/">The Gnash project</a> is the
6750 most promising solution for a Free Software Flash implementation. It
6751 has done great so far, but there is still far to go, and recently its
6752 funding has dried up.  I believe AVM2 support in Gnash is vital to the
6753 continued progress of the project, as more and more sites show up with
6754 AVM2 flash files.</p>
6755
6756 <p>To try to get funding for developing such support, I have started
6757 <a href="http://www.pledgebank.com/gnash-avm2">a pledge</a> with the
6758 following text:</P>
6759
6760 <p><blockquote>
6761
6762   <p>"I will pay 100$ to the Gnash project to develop AVM2 support but
6763   only if 10 other people will do the same."</p>
6764
6765   <p>- Petter Reinholdtsen, free software developer</p>
6766
6767   <p>Deadline to sign up by: 24th December 2010</p>
6768
6769   <p>The Gnash project need to get support for the new Flash file
6770   format AVM2 to work with a lot of sites using Flash on the
6771   web. Gnash already work with a lot of Flash sites using the old AVM1
6772   format, but more and more sites are using the AVM2 format these
6773   days. The project web page is available from
6774   http://www.getgnash.org/ . Gnash is a free software implementation
6775   of Adobe Flash, allowing those of us that do not accept the terms of
6776   the Adobe Flash license to get access to Flash sites.</p>
6777
6778   <p>The project need funding to get developers to put aside enough
6779   time to develop the AVM2 support, and this pledge is my way to try
6780   to get this to happen.</p>
6781
6782   <p>The project accept donations via the OpenMediaNow foundation,
6783   <a href="http://www.openmedianow.org/?q=node/32">http://www.openmedianow.org/?q=node/32</a> .</p>
6784
6785 </blockquote></p>
6786
6787 <p>I hope you will support this effort too.  I hope more than 10
6788 people will participate to make this happen.  The more money the
6789 project gets, the more features it can develop using these funds.
6790 :)</p>
6791
6792       </div>
6793       <div class="tags">
6794
6795
6796         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>.
6797
6798
6799       </div>
6800     </div>
6801     <div class="padding"></div>
6802
6803     <div class="entry">
6804       <div class="title">
6805         <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>
6806       </div>
6807       <div class="date">
6808          9th October 2010
6809       </div>
6810       <div class="body">
6811         <p>This summer I got the chance to buy cheap Spykee robots, and since
6812 then I have worked on getting Linux software in place to control them.
6813 The firmware for the robot is available from the producer, and using
6814 that source it was trivial to figure out the protocol specification.
6815 I've started on a perl library to control it, and made some demo
6816 programs using this perl library to allow one to control the
6817 robots.</p>
6818
6819 <p>The library is quite functional already, and capable of controlling
6820 the driving, fetching video, uploading MP3s and play them.  There are
6821 a few less important features too.</p>
6822
6823 <p>Since a few weeks ago, I ran out of time to spend on this project,
6824 but I never got around to releasing the current source.  I decided
6825 today that it was time to do something about it, and uploaded the
6826 source to my Debian package store at people.skolelinux.org.</p>
6827
6828 <p>Because it was simpler for me, I made a Debian package and
6829 published the source and deb.  If you got a spykee robot, grab the
6830 source or binary package:</p>
6831
6832 <p><ul>
6833 <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>
6834 <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>
6835 <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>
6836 </ul></p>
6837
6838 <p>If you are interested in helping out with developing this library,
6839 please let me know.</p>
6840
6841       </div>
6842       <div class="tags">
6843
6844
6845         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>.
6846
6847
6848       </div>
6849     </div>
6850     <div class="padding"></div>
6851
6852     <div class="entry">
6853       <div class="title">
6854         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Links_for_2010_10_03.html">Links for 2010-10-03</a>
6855       </div>
6856       <div class="date">
6857          3rd October 2010
6858       </div>
6859       <div class="body">
6860         <p><ul>
6861
6862 <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
6863 is no Plan B: why the IPv4-to-IPv6 transition will be ugly</a></li>
6864
6865 <li>Scanner looking under clothes
6866 <a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/10/03/nyheter/utenriks/reise/overvakingskamera/flyplasser/13667192/">has
6867 already been misused at Heathrow</a>.</li>
6868
6869 <li><a href="http://wiki.softwarelivre.org/Landell">Landell
6870 Webcasting</a> - interesting alternative for
6871 <ahref="http://dvswitch.alioth.debian.org/wiki/">DVSwitch</a> with
6872 simple setup.
6873
6874 </ul></p>
6875
6876       </div>
6877       <div class="tags">
6878
6879
6880         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>.
6881
6882
6883       </div>
6884     </div>
6885     <div class="padding"></div>
6886
6887     <div class="entry">
6888       <div class="title">
6889         <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>
6890       </div>
6891       <div class="date">
6892          9th September 2010
6893       </div>
6894       <div class="body">
6895         <p>A few days ago I had the mixed pleasure of bying a new digital
6896 camera, a Canon IXUS 130.  It was instructive and very disturbing to
6897 be able to verify that also this camera producer have the nerve to
6898 specify how I can or can not use the videos produced with the camera.
6899 Even thought I was aware of the issue, the options with new cameras
6900 are limited and I ended up bying the camera anyway.  What is the
6901 problem, you might ask?  It is software patents, MPEG-4, H.264 and the
6902 MPEG-LA that is the problem, and our right to record our experiences
6903 without asking for permissions that is at risk.
6904
6905 <p>On page 27 of the Danish instruction manual, this section is
6906 written:</p>
6907
6908 <blockquote>
6909 <p>This product is licensed under AT&T patents for the MPEG-4 standard
6910 and may be used for encoding MPEG-4 compliant video and/or decoding
6911 MPEG-4 compliant video that was encoded only (1) for a personal and
6912 non-commercial purpose or (2) by a video provider licensed under the
6913 AT&T patents to provide MPEG-4 compliant video.</p>
6914
6915 <p>No license is granted or implied for any other use for MPEG-4
6916 standard.</p>
6917 </blockquote>
6918
6919 <p>In short, the camera producer have chosen to use technology
6920 (MPEG-4/H.264) that is only provided if I used it for personal and
6921 non-commercial purposes, or ask for permission from the organisations
6922 holding the knowledge monopoly (patent) for technology used.</p>
6923
6924 <p>This issue has been brewing for a while, and I recommend you to
6925 read
6926 "<a href="http://www.osnews.com/story/23236/Why_Our_Civilization_s_Video_Art_and_Culture_is_Threatened_by_the_MPEG-LA">Why
6927 Our Civilization's Video Art and Culture is Threatened by the
6928 MPEG-LA</a>" by Eugenia Loli-Queru and
6929 "<a href="http://webmink.com/2010/09/03/h-264-and-foss/">H.264 Is Not
6930 The Sort Of Free That Matters</a>" by Simon Phipps to learn more about
6931 the issue.  The solution is to support the
6932 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">free and
6933 open standards</a> for video, like <a href="http://www.theora.org/">Ogg
6934 Theora</a>, and avoid MPEG-4 and H.264 if you can.</p>
6935
6936       </div>
6937       <div class="tags">
6938
6939
6940         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/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>.
6941
6942
6943       </div>
6944     </div>
6945     <div class="padding"></div>
6946
6947     <div class="entry">
6948       <div class="title">
6949         <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>
6950       </div>
6951       <div class="date">
6952          4th September 2010
6953       </div>
6954       <div class="body">
6955         <p>In the <a href="http://popcon.debian.org/unknown/by_vote">Debian
6956 popularity-contest numbers</a>, the adobe-flashplugin package the
6957 second most popular used package that is missing in Debian.  The sixth
6958 most popular is flashplayer-mozilla.  This is a clear indication that
6959 working flash is important for Debian users.  Around 10 percent of the
6960 users submitting data to popcon.debian.org have this package
6961 installed.</p>
6962
6963 <p>In the report written by Lars Risan in August 2008
6964 («<a href="http://wiki.skolelinux.no/Dokumentasjon/Rapporter?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=Skolelinux_i_bruk_rapport_1.0.pdf">Skolelinux
6965 i bruk – Rapport for Hurum kommune, Universitetet i Agder og
6966 stiftelsen SLX Debian Labs</a>»), one of the most important problems
6967 schools experienced with <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian
6968 Edu/Skolelinux</a> was the lack of working Flash.  A lot of educational
6969 web sites require Flash to work, and lacking working Flash support in
6970 the web browser and the problems with installing it was perceived as a
6971 good reason to stay with Windows.</p>
6972
6973 <p>I once saw a funny and sad comment in a web forum, where Linux was
6974 said to be the retarded cousin that did not really understand
6975 everything you told him but could work fairly well.  This was a
6976 comment regarding the problems Linux have with proprietary formats and
6977 non-standard web pages, and is sad because it exposes a fairly common
6978 understanding of whose fault it is if web pages that only work in for
6979 example Internet Explorer 6 fail to work on Firefox, and funny because
6980 it explain very well how annoying it is for users when Linux
6981 distributions do not work with the documents they receive or the web
6982 pages they want to visit.</p>
6983
6984 <p>This is part of the reason why I believe it is important for Debian
6985 and Debian Edu to have a well working Flash implementation in the
6986 distribution, to get at least popular sites as Youtube and Google
6987 Video to working out of the box.  For Squeeze, Debian have the chance
6988 to include the latest version of Gnash that will make this happen, as
6989 the new release 0.8.8 was published a few weeks ago and is resting in
6990 unstable.  The new version work with more sites that version 0.8.7.
6991 The Gnash maintainers have asked for a freeze exception, but the
6992 release team have not had time to reply to it yet.  I hope they agree
6993 with me that Flash is important for the Debian desktop users, and thus
6994 accept the new package into Squeeze.</p>
6995
6996       </div>
6997       <div class="tags">
6998
6999
7000         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>.
7001
7002
7003       </div>
7004     </div>
7005     <div class="padding"></div>
7006
7007     <div class="entry">
7008       <div class="title">
7009         <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>
7010       </div>
7011       <div class="date">
7012          1st September 2010
7013       </div>
7014       <div class="body">
7015         <p>This evening I made my first Perl GUI application.  The last few
7016 days I have worked on a Perl module for controlling my recently
7017 aquired Spykee robots, and the module is now getting complete enought
7018 that it is possible to use it to control the robot driving at least.
7019 It was now time to figure out how to use it to create some GUI to
7020 allow me to drive the robot around.  I picked PerlQt as I have had
7021 positive experiences with the Qt API before, and spent a few minutes
7022 browsing the web for examples.  Using Qt Designer seemed like a short
7023 cut, so I ended up writing the perl GUI using Qt Designer and
7024 compiling it into a perl program using the puic program from
7025 libqt-perl.  Nothing fancy yet, but it got buttons to connect and
7026 drive around.</p>
7027
7028 <p>The perl module I have written provide a object oriented API for
7029 controlling the robot.  Here is an small example on how to use it:</p>
7030
7031 <p><pre>
7032 use Spykee;
7033 Spykee::discover(sub {$robot{$_[0]} = $_[1]});
7034 my $host = (keys %robot)[0];
7035 my $spykee = Spykee->new();
7036 $spykee->contact($host, "admin", "admin");
7037 $spykee->left();
7038 sleep 2;
7039 $spykee->right();
7040 sleep 2;
7041 $spykee->forward();
7042 sleep 2;
7043 $spykee->back();
7044 sleep 2;
7045 $spykee->stop();
7046 </pre></p>
7047
7048 <p>Thanks to the release of the source of the robot firmware, I could
7049 peek into the implementation at the other end to figure out how to
7050 implement the protocol used by the robot.  I've implemented several of
7051 the commands the robot understand, but is still missing the camera
7052 support to make it possible to control the robot from remote.  First I
7053 want to implement support for uploading new firmware and configuring
7054 the wireless network, to make it possible to bootstrap a Spykee robot
7055 without the producers Windows and MacOSX software (I only have Linux,
7056 so I had to ask a friend to come over to get the robot testing
7057 going. :).</p>
7058
7059 <p>Will release the source to the public soon, but need to figure out
7060 where to make it available first.  I will add a link to
7061 <a href="http://wiki.nuug.no/grupper/robot/">the NUUG wiki</a> for
7062 those that want to check back later to find it.</p>
7063
7064       </div>
7065       <div class="tags">
7066
7067
7068         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>.
7069
7070
7071       </div>
7072     </div>
7073     <div class="padding"></div>
7074
7075     <div class="entry">
7076       <div class="title">
7077         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Broken_hard_link_handling_with_sshfs.html">Broken hard link handling with sshfs</a>
7078       </div>
7079       <div class="date">
7080         30th August 2010
7081       </div>
7082       <div class="body">
7083         <p>Just got an email from Tobias Gruetzmacher as a followup on my
7084 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Broken_umask_handling_with_sshfs.html">previous
7085 post about sshfs</a>.  He reported another problem with sshfs.  It
7086 fail to handle hard links properly.  A simple way to spot this is to
7087 look at the . and .. entries in the directory tree.  These should have
7088 a link count >1, but on sshfs the count is 1.  I just tested to see
7089 what happen when trying to hardlink, and this fail as well:</p>
7090
7091 <pre>
7092 % ln foo bar
7093 ln: creating hard link `bar' => `foo': Function not implemented
7094 %
7095 </pre>
7096
7097 <p>I have not yet found time to implement a test for this in my file
7098 system test code, but believe having working hard links is useful to
7099 avoid surprised unix programs.  Not as useful as working file locking
7100 and symlinks, which are required to get a working desktop, but useful
7101 nevertheless. :)</p>
7102
7103 <p>The latest version of the file system test code is available via
7104 git from
7105 <a href="http://github.com/gebi/fs-test">http://github.com/gebi/fs-test</a></p>
7106
7107       </div>
7108       <div class="tags">
7109
7110
7111         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>.
7112
7113
7114       </div>
7115     </div>
7116     <div class="padding"></div>
7117
7118     <div class="entry">
7119       <div class="title">
7120         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Broken_umask_handling_with_sshfs.html">Broken umask handling with sshfs</a>
7121       </div>
7122       <div class="date">
7123         26th August 2010
7124       </div>
7125       <div class="body">
7126         <p>My file system sematics program
7127 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Testing_if_a_file_system_can_be_used_for_home_directories___.html">presented
7128 a few days ago</a> is very useful to verify that a file system can
7129 work as a unix home directory,and today I had to extend it a bit.  I'm
7130 looking into alternatives for home directory access here at the
7131 University of Oslo, and one of the options is sshfs.  My friend
7132 Finn-Arne mentioned a while back that they had used sshfs with Debian
7133 Edu, but stopped because of problems.  I asked today what the problems
7134 where, and he mentioned that sshfs failed to handle umask properly.
7135 Trying to detect the problem I wrote this addition to my fs testing
7136 script:</p>
7137
7138 <pre>
7139 mode_t touch_get_mode(const char *name, mode_t mode) {
7140   mode_t retval = 0;
7141   int fd = open(name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_LARGEFILE, mode);
7142   if (-1 != fd) {
7143     unlink(name);
7144     struct stat statbuf;
7145     if (-1 != fstat(fd, &statbuf)) {
7146       retval = statbuf.st_mode & 0x1ff;
7147     }
7148     close(fd);
7149   }
7150   return retval;
7151 }
7152
7153 /* Try to detect problem discovered using sshfs */
7154 int test_umask(void) {
7155   printf("info: testing umask effect on file creation\n");
7156
7157   mode_t orig_umask = umask(000);
7158   mode_t newmode;
7159   if (0666 != (newmode = touch_get_mode("foobar", 0666))) {
7160     printf("  error: Wrong file mode %o when creating using mode 666 and umask 000\n",
7161            newmode);
7162   }
7163   umask(007);
7164   if (0660 != (newmode = touch_get_mode("foobar", 0666))) {
7165     printf("  error: Wrong file mode %o when creating using mode 666 and umask 007\n",
7166            newmode);
7167   }
7168
7169   umask (orig_umask);
7170   return 0;
7171 }
7172
7173 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
7174   [...]
7175   test_umask();
7176   return 0;
7177 }
7178 </pre>
7179
7180 <p>Sure enough.  On NFS to a netapp, I get this result:</p>
7181
7182 <pre>
7183 Testing POSIX/Unix sematics on file system
7184 info: testing symlink creation
7185 info: testing subdirectory creation
7186 info: testing fcntl locking
7187   Read-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
7188   Read-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
7189   Unlocking 1 byte from 1073741824
7190   Write-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
7191   Write-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
7192   Unlocking 2 byte from 1073741824
7193 info: testing umask effect on file creation
7194 </pre>
7195
7196 <p>When mounting the same directory using sshfs, I get this
7197 result:</p>
7198
7199 <pre>
7200 Testing POSIX/Unix sematics on file system
7201 info: testing symlink creation
7202 info: testing subdirectory creation
7203 info: testing fcntl locking
7204   Read-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
7205   Read-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
7206   Unlocking 1 byte from 1073741824
7207   Write-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
7208   Write-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
7209   Unlocking 2 byte from 1073741824
7210 info: testing umask effect on file creation
7211   error: Wrong file mode 644 when creating using mode 666 and umask 000
7212   error: Wrong file mode 640 when creating using mode 666 and umask 007
7213 </pre>
7214
7215 <p>So, I can conclude that sshfs is better than smb to a Netapp or a
7216 Windows server, but not good enough to be used as a home
7217 directory.</p>
7218
7219 <p>Update 2010-08-26: Reported the issue in
7220 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/594498">BTS report #594498</a></p>
7221
7222 <p>Update 2010-08-27: Michael Gebetsroither report that he found the
7223 script so useful that he created a GIT repository and stored it in
7224 <a href="http://github.com/gebi/fs-test">http://github.com/gebi/fs-test</a>.</p>
7225
7226       </div>
7227       <div class="tags">
7228
7229
7230         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>.
7231
7232
7233       </div>
7234     </div>
7235     <div class="padding"></div>
7236
7237     <div class="entry">
7238       <div class="title">
7239         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Rob_Weir__How_to_Crush_Dissent.html">Rob Weir: How to Crush Dissent</a>
7240       </div>
7241       <div class="date">
7242         15th August 2010
7243       </div>
7244       <div class="body">
7245         <p>I found the notes from Rob Weir on
7246 <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/robweir/antic-atom/~3/VGb23-kta8c/how-to-crush-dissent.html">how
7247 to crush dissent</a> matching my own thoughts on the matter quite
7248 well.  Highly recommended for those wondering which road our society
7249 should go down.  In my view we have been heading the wrong way for a
7250 long time.</p>
7251
7252       </div>
7253       <div class="tags">
7254
7255
7256         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>.
7257
7258
7259       </div>
7260     </div>
7261     <div class="padding"></div>
7262
7263     <div class="entry">
7264       <div class="title">
7265         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/No_hardcoded_config_on_Debian_Edu_clients.html">No hardcoded config on Debian Edu clients</a>
7266       </div>
7267       <div class="date">
7268          9th August 2010
7269       </div>
7270       <div class="body">
7271         <p>As reported earlier, the last few days I have looked at how Debian
7272 Edu clients are configured, and tried to get rid of all hardcoded
7273 configuration settings on the clients.  I believe the work to be
7274 mostly done, and the clients seem to work just fine with dynamically
7275 generated configuration.</p>
7276
7277 <p>What is the point, you might ask?  The point is to allow a Debian
7278 Edu desktop to integrate into an existing network infrastructure
7279 without any manual configuration.</p>
7280
7281 <p>This is what happens when installing a Debian Edu client here at
7282 the University of Oslo using PXE.  With the PXE installation, I am
7283 asked for language (Norwegian Bokmål), locality (Norway) and keyboard
7284 layout (no-latin1), Debian Edu profile (Roaming Workstation), if I
7285 accept to reformat the hard drive (yes), if I want to submit info to
7286 popcon.debian.org (no) and root password (secret).  After answering
7287 these questions, the installer goes ahead and does its thing, and
7288 after around 50 minutes it is done.  I press enter to finish the
7289 installation, and the machine reboots into KDE.  When the machine is
7290 ready and kdm asks for login information, I enter my university
7291 username and password, am told by kdm that a local home directory has
7292 been created and that I must log in again, and finally log in with the
7293 same username and password to the KDE 4.4 desktop.  At no point during
7294 this process did it ask for university specific settings, and all the
7295 required configuration was dynamically detected using information
7296 fetched via DHCP and DNS.  The roaming workstation is now ready for
7297 use.</p>
7298
7299 <p>How was this done, you might wonder?  First of all, here is the
7300 list of things that need to be configured on the client to get it
7301 working properly out of the box:</p>
7302
7303 <ul>
7304 <li>IP address/netmask and DNS server.</li>
7305 <li>Web proxy URL.</li>
7306 <li>LDAP server for NSS directory information (user, group, etc).</li>
7307 <li>Kerberos server for PAM password checking.</li>
7308 <li>SMB mount point to access the network home directory. (*)</li>
7309 <li>Central syslog server to send syslog messages to. (*)</li>
7310 <li>Sitesummary collector URL to submit info to central server. (*)</li>
7311 </ul>
7312
7313 <p>(Hm, did I forget anything?  Let me knew if I did.)</p>
7314
7315 <p>The points marked (*) are not required to be able to use the
7316 machine, but needed to provide central storage and allowing system
7317 administrators to track their machines.  Since yesterday, everything
7318 but the sitesummary collector URL is dynamically discovered at boot
7319 and installation time in the svn version of Debian Edu.</p>
7320
7321 <p>The IP and DNS setup is fetched during boot using DHCP as usual.
7322 When a DHCP update arrives, the proxy setup is updated by looking for
7323 http://wpat/wpad.dat and using the content of this WPAD file to
7324 configure the http and ftp proxy in /etc/environment and
7325 /etc/apt/apt.conf.  I decided to update the proxy setup using a DHCP
7326 hook to ensure that the client stops using the Debian Edu proxy when
7327 it is moved outside the Debian Edu network, and instead uses any local
7328 proxy present on the new network when it moves around.</p>
7329
7330 <p>The DNS names of the LDAP, Kerberos and syslog server and related
7331 configuration are generated using DNS information at boot.  First the
7332 installer looks for a host named ldap in the current DNS domain.  If
7333 not found, it looks for _ldap._tcp SRV records in DNS instead.  If an
7334 LDAP server is found, its root DSE entry is requested and the
7335 attributes namingContexts and defaultNamingContext are used to
7336 determine which LDAP base to use for NSS.  If there are several
7337 namingContexts attibutes and the defaultNamingContext is present, that
7338 LDAP subtree is used as the base.  If defaultNamingContext is missing,
7339 the subtrees listed as namingContexts are searched in sequence for any
7340 object with class posixAccount or posixGroup, and the first one with
7341 such an object is used as the LDAP base.  For Kerberos, a similar
7342 search is done by first looking for a host named kerberos, and then
7343 for the _kerberos._tcp SRV record.  I've been unable to find a way to
7344 look up the Kerberos realm, so for this the upper case string of the
7345 current DNS domain is used.</p>
7346
7347 <p>For the syslog server, the hosts syslog and loghost are searched
7348 for, and the _syslog._udp SRV record is consulted if no such host is
7349 found.  This algorithm works for both Debian Edu and the University of
7350 Oslo.  A similar strategy would work for locating the sitesummary
7351 server, but have not been implemented yet.  I decided to fetch and
7352 save these settings during installation, to make sure moving to a
7353 different network does not change the set of users being allowed to
7354 log in nor the passwords required to log in.  Usernames and passwords
7355 will be cached by sssd when the user logs in on the Debian Edu
7356 network, and will not change as the laptop move around.  For a
7357 non-roaming machine, there is no caching, but given that it is
7358 supposed to stay in place it should not matter much.  Perhaps we
7359 should switch those to use sssd too?</p>
7360
7361 <p>The user's SMB mount point for the network home directory is
7362 located when the user logs in for the first time.  The LDAP server is
7363 consulted to look for the user's LDAP object and the sambaHomePath
7364 attribute is used if found.  If it isn't found, the home directory
7365 path fetched from NSS is used instead.  Assuming the path is of the
7366 form /site/server/directory/username, the second part is looked up in
7367 DNS and used to generate a SMB URL of the form
7368 smb://server.domain/username.  This algorithm works for both Debian
7369 edu and the University of Oslo.  Perhaps there are better attributes
7370 to use or a better algorithm that works for more sites, but this will
7371 do for now. :)</p>
7372
7373 <p>This work should make it easier to integrate the Debian Edu clients
7374 into any LDAP/Kerberos infrastructure, and make the current setup even
7375 more flexible than before.  I suspect it will also work for thin
7376 client servers, allowing one to easily set up LTSP and hook it into a
7377 existing network infrastructure, but I have not had time to test this
7378 yet.</p>
7379
7380 <p>If you want to help out with implementing these things for Debian
7381 Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
7382
7383 <p>Update 2010-08-09: Simon Farnsworth gave me a heads-up on how to
7384 detect Kerberos realm from DNS, by looking for _kerberos TXT entries
7385 before falling back to the upper case DNS domain name.  Will have to
7386 implement it for Debian Edu. :)</p>
7387
7388       </div>
7389       <div class="tags">
7390
7391
7392         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>.
7393
7394
7395       </div>
7396     </div>
7397     <div class="padding"></div>
7398
7399     <div class="entry">
7400       <div class="title">
7401         <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>
7402       </div>
7403       <div class="date">
7404          8th August 2010
7405       </div>
7406       <div class="body">
7407         <p>A few years ago, I was involved in a project planning to use
7408 Windows file servers as home directory servers for Debian
7409 Edu/Skolelinux machines.  This was thought to be no problem, as the
7410 access would be through the SMB network file system protocol, and we
7411 knew other sites used SMB with unix and samba as the file server to
7412 mount home directories without any problems.  But, after months of
7413 struggling, we had to conclude that our goal was impossible.</p>
7414
7415 <p>The reason is simply that while SMB can be used for home
7416 directories when the file server is Samba running on Unix, this only
7417 work because of Samba have some extensions and the fact that the
7418 underlying file system is a unix file system.  When using a Windows
7419 file server, the underlying file system do not have POSIX semantics,
7420 and several programs will fail if the users home directory where they
7421 want to store their configuration lack POSIX semantics.</p>
7422
7423 <p>As part of this work, I wrote a small C program I want to share
7424 with you all, to replicate a few of the problematic applications (like
7425 OpenOffice.org and GCompris) and see if the file system was working as
7426 it should.  If you find yourself in spooky file system land, it might
7427 help you find your way out again.  This is the fs-test.c source:</p>
7428
7429 <pre>
7430 /*
7431  * Some tests to check the file system sematics.  Used to verify that
7432  * CIFS from a windows server do not work properly as a linux home
7433  * directory.
7434  * License: GPL v2 or later
7435  *
7436  * needs libsqlite3-dev and build-essential installed
7437  * compile with: gcc -Wall -lsqlite3 -DTEST_SQLITE fs-test.c -o fs-test
7438 */
7439
7440 #define _FILE_OFFSET_BITS 64
7441 #define _LARGEFILE_SOURCE 1
7442 #define _LARGEFILE64_SOURCE 1
7443
7444 #define _GNU_SOURCE /* for asprintf() */
7445
7446 #include &lt;errno.h>
7447 #include &lt;fcntl.h>
7448 #include &lt;stdio.h>
7449 #include &lt;string.h>
7450 #include &lt;stdlib.h>
7451 #include &lt;sys/file.h>
7452 #include &lt;sys/stat.h>
7453 #include &lt;sys/types.h>
7454 #include &lt;unistd.h>
7455
7456 #ifdef TEST_SQLITE
7457 /*
7458  * Test sqlite open, as done by gcompris require the libsqlite3-dev
7459  * package and linking with -lsqlite3.  A more low level test is
7460  * below.
7461  * See also &lt;URL: http://www.sqlite.org./faq.html#q5 >.
7462  */
7463 #include &lt;sqlite3.h>
7464 #define CREATE_TABLE_USERS                                              \
7465   "CREATE TABLE users (user_id INT UNIQUE, login TEXT, lastname TEXT, firstname TEXT, birthdate TEXT, class_id INT ); "
7466 int test_sqlite_open(void) {
7467   char *zErrMsg;
7468   char *name = "testsqlite.db";
7469   sqlite3 *db=NULL;
7470   unlink(name);
7471   int rc = sqlite3_open(name, &db);
7472   if( rc ){
7473     printf("error: sqlite open of %s failed: %s\n", name, sqlite3_errmsg(db));
7474     sqlite3_close(db);
7475     return -1;
7476   }
7477
7478   /* create tables */
7479   rc = sqlite3_exec(db,CREATE_TABLE_USERS, NULL,  0, &zErrMsg);
7480   if( rc != SQLITE_OK ){
7481     printf("error: sqlite table create failed: %s\n", zErrMsg);
7482     sqlite3_close(db);
7483     return -1;
7484   }
7485   printf("info: sqlite worked\n");
7486   sqlite3_close(db);
7487   return 0;
7488 }
7489 #endif /* TEST_SQLITE */
7490
7491 /*
7492  * Demonstrate locking issue found in gcompris using sqlite3.  This
7493  * work with ext3, but not with cifs server on Windows 2003.  This is
7494  * done in the sqlite3 library.
7495  * See also
7496  * &lt;URL:http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2001-08/msg00854.html> and the
7497  * POSIX specification
7498  * &lt;URL:http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/functions/fcntl.html>.
7499  */
7500 int test_gcompris_locking(void) {
7501   struct flock fl;
7502   char *name = "testsqlite.db";
7503   unlink(name);
7504   int fd = open(name, O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_LARGEFILE, 0644);
7505   printf("info: testing fcntl locking\n");
7506
7507   fl.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
7508   fl.l_pid    = getpid();
7509   printf("  Read-locking 1 byte from 1073741824");
7510   fl.l_start  = 1073741824;
7511   fl.l_len    = 1;
7512   fl.l_type   = F_RDLCK;
7513   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
7514
7515   printf("  Read-locking 510 byte from 1073741826");
7516   fl.l_start  = 1073741826;
7517   fl.l_len    = 510;
7518   fl.l_type   = F_RDLCK;
7519   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
7520
7521   printf("  Unlocking 1 byte from 1073741824");
7522   fl.l_start  = 1073741824;
7523   fl.l_len    = 1;
7524   fl.l_type   = F_UNLCK;
7525   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
7526
7527   printf("  Write-locking 1 byte from 1073741824");
7528   fl.l_start  = 1073741824;
7529   fl.l_len    = 1;
7530   fl.l_type   = F_WRLCK;
7531   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
7532
7533   printf("  Write-locking 510 byte from 1073741826");
7534   fl.l_start  = 1073741826;
7535   fl.l_len    = 510;
7536   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
7537
7538   printf("  Unlocking 2 byte from 1073741824");
7539   fl.l_start  = 1073741824;
7540   fl.l_len    = 2;
7541   fl.l_type   = F_UNLCK;
7542   if (0 != fcntl(fd, F_SETLK, &fl) ) printf(" - error!\n"); else printf("\n");
7543
7544   close(fd);
7545   return 0;
7546 }
7547
7548 /*
7549  * Test if permissions of freshly created directories allow entries
7550  * below them.  This was a problem with OpenOffice.org and gcompris.
7551  * Mounting with option 'sync' seem to solve this problem while
7552  * slowing down file operations.
7553  */
7554 int test_subdirectory_creation(void) {
7555 #define LEVELS 5
7556   char *path = strdup("test");
7557   char *dirs[LEVELS];
7558   int level;
7559   printf("info: testing subdirectory creation\n");
7560   for (level = 0; level &lt; LEVELS; level++) {
7561     char *newpath = NULL;
7562     if (-1 == mkdir(path, 0777)) {
7563       printf("  error: Unable to create directory '%s': %s\n",
7564              path, strerror(errno));
7565       break;
7566     }
7567     asprintf(&newpath, "%s/%s", path, "test");
7568     free(path);
7569     path = newpath;
7570   }
7571   return 0;
7572 }
7573
7574 /*
7575  * Test if symlinks can be created.  This was a problem detected with
7576  * KDE.
7577  */
7578 int test_symlinks(void) {
7579   printf("info: testing symlink creation\n");
7580   unlink("symlink");
7581   if (-1 == symlink("file", "symlink"))
7582     printf("  error: Unable to create symlink\n");
7583   return 0;
7584 }
7585
7586 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
7587   printf("Testing POSIX/Unix sematics on file system\n");
7588   test_symlinks();
7589   test_subdirectory_creation();
7590 #ifdef TEST_SQLITE
7591   test_sqlite_open();
7592 #endif /* TEST_SQLITE */
7593   test_gcompris_locking();
7594   return 0;
7595 }
7596 </pre>
7597
7598 <p>When everything is working, it should print something like
7599 this:</p>
7600
7601 <pre>
7602 Testing POSIX/Unix sematics on file system
7603 info: testing symlink creation
7604 info: testing subdirectory creation
7605 info: sqlite worked
7606 info: testing fcntl locking
7607   Read-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
7608   Read-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
7609   Unlocking 1 byte from 1073741824
7610   Write-locking 1 byte from 1073741824
7611   Write-locking 510 byte from 1073741826
7612   Unlocking 2 byte from 1073741824
7613 </pre>
7614
7615 <p>I do not remember the exact details of the problems we saw, but one
7616 of them was with locking, where if I remember correctly, POSIX allow a
7617 read-only lock to be upgraded to a read-write lock without unlocking
7618 the read-only lock (while Windows do not).  Another was a bug in the
7619 CIFS/SMB client implementation in the Linux kernel where directory
7620 meta information would be wrong for a fraction of a second, making
7621 OpenOffice.org fail to create its deep directory tree because it was
7622 not allowed to create files in its freshly created directory.</p>
7623
7624 <p>Anyway, here is a nice tool for your tool box, might you never need
7625 it. :)</p>
7626
7627 <p>Update 2010-08-27: Michael Gebetsroither report that he found the
7628 script so useful that he created a GIT repository and stored it in
7629 <a href="http://github.com/gebi/fs-test">http://github.com/gebi/fs-test</a>.</p>
7630
7631       </div>
7632       <div class="tags">
7633
7634
7635         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>.
7636
7637
7638       </div>
7639     </div>
7640     <div class="padding"></div>
7641
7642     <div class="entry">
7643       <div class="title">
7644         <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>
7645       </div>
7646       <div class="date">
7647          7th August 2010
7648       </div>
7649       <div class="body">
7650         <p>A few days ago, I
7651 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_roaming_workstation___at_the_university_of_Oslo.html">tried
7652 to install</a> a Roaming workation profile from Debian Edu/Squeeze
7653 while on the university network here at the University of Oslo, and
7654 noticed how much had to change to get it operational using the
7655 university infrastructure.  It was fairly easy, but it occured to me
7656 that Debian Edu would improve a lot if I could get the client to
7657 connect without any changes at all, and thus let the client configure
7658 itself during installation and first boot to use the infrastructure
7659 around it.  Now I am a huge step further along that road.</p>
7660
7661 <p>With our current squeeze-test packages, I can select the roaming
7662 workstation profile and get a working laptop connecting to the
7663 university LDAP server for user and group and our active directory
7664 servers for Kerberos authentication.  All this without any
7665 configuration at all during installation.  My users home directory got
7666 a bookmark in the KDE menu to mount it via SMB, with the correct URL.
7667 In short, openldap and sssd is correctly configured.  In addition to
7668 this, the client look for http://wpad/wpad.dat to configure a web
7669 proxy, and when it fail to find it no proxy settings are stored in
7670 /etc/environment and /etc/apt/apt.conf.  Iceweasel and KDE is
7671 configured to look for the same wpad configuration and also do not use
7672 a proxy when at the university network.  If the machine is moved to a
7673 network with such wpad setup, it would automatically use it when DHCP
7674 gave it a IP address.</p>
7675
7676 <p>The LDAP server is located using DNS, by first looking for the DNS
7677 entry ldap.$domain.  If this do not exist, it look for the
7678 _ldap._tcp.$domain SRV records and use the first one as the LDAP
7679 server.  Next, it connects to the LDAP server and search all
7680 namingContexts entries for posixAccount or posixGroup objects, and
7681 pick the first one as the LDAP base.  For Kerberos, a similar
7682 algorithm is used to locate the LDAP server, and the realm is the
7683 uppercase version of $domain.</p>
7684
7685 <p>So, what is not working, you might ask.  SMB mounting my home
7686 directory do not work.  No idea why, but suspected the incorrect
7687 Kerberos settings in /etc/krb5.conf and /etc/samba/smb.conf might be
7688 the cause.  These are not properly configured during installation, and
7689 had to be hand-edited to get the correct Kerberos realm and server,
7690 but SMB mounting still do not work. :(</p>
7691
7692 <p>With this automatic configuration in place, I expect a Debian Edu
7693 roaming profile installation would be able to automatically detect and
7694 connect to any site using LDAP and Kerberos for NSS directory and PAM
7695 authentication.  It should also work out of the box in a Active
7696 Directory environment providing posixAccount and posixGroup objects
7697 with UID and GID values.</p>
7698
7699 <p>If you want to help out with implementing these things for Debian
7700 Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
7701
7702       </div>
7703       <div class="tags">
7704
7705
7706         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>.
7707
7708
7709       </div>
7710     </div>
7711     <div class="padding"></div>
7712
7713     <div class="entry">
7714       <div class="title">
7715         <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>
7716       </div>
7717       <div class="date">
7718          3rd August 2010
7719       </div>
7720       <div class="body">
7721         <p>The new roaming workstation profile in Debian Edu/Squeeze is fairly
7722 similar to the laptop setup am I working on using Ubuntu for the
7723 University of Oslo, and just for the heck of it, I tested today how
7724 hard it would be to integrate that profile into the university
7725 infrastructure.  In this case, it is the university LDAP server,
7726 Active Directory Kerberos server and SMB mounting from the Netapp file
7727 servers.</p>
7728
7729 <p>I was pleasantly surprised that the only three files needed to be
7730 changed (/etc/sssd/sssd.conf, /etc/ldap.conf and
7731 /etc/mklocaluser.d/20-debian-edu-config) and one file had to be added
7732 (/usr/share/perl5/Debian/Edu_Local.pm), to get the client working.
7733 Most of the changes were to get the client to use the university LDAP
7734 for NSS and Kerberos server for PAM, but one was to change a hard
7735 coded DNS domain name in the mklocaluser hook from .intern to
7736 .uio.no.</p>
7737
7738 <p>This testing was so encouraging, that I went ahead and adjusted the
7739 Debian Edu scripts and setup in subversion to centralise the roaming
7740 workstation setup a bit more and avoid the hardcoded DNS domain name,
7741 so that when I test this tomorrow, I expect to get away with modifying
7742 only /etc/sssd/sssd.conf and /etc/ldap.conf to get it to use the
7743 university servers.</p>
7744
7745 <p>My goal is to get the clients to have no hardcoded settings and
7746 fetch all their initial setup during installation and first boot, to
7747 allow them to be inserted also into environments where the default
7748 setup in Debian Edu has been changed or as with the university, where
7749 the environment is different but provides the protocols Debian Edu
7750 uses.</p>
7751
7752       </div>
7753       <div class="tags">
7754
7755
7756         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>.
7757
7758
7759       </div>
7760     </div>
7761     <div class="padding"></div>
7762
7763     <div class="entry">
7764       <div class="title">
7765         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Circular_package_dependencies_harms_apt_recovery.html">Circular package dependencies harms apt recovery</a>
7766       </div>
7767       <div class="date">
7768         27th July 2010
7769       </div>
7770       <div class="body">
7771         <p>I discovered this while doing
7772 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">automated
7773 testing of upgrades from Debian Lenny to Squeeze</a>.  A few packages
7774 in Debian still got circular dependencies, and it is often claimed
7775 that apt and aptitude should be able to handle this just fine, but
7776 some times these dependency loops causes apt to fail.</p>
7777
7778 <p>An example is from todays
7779 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing//test-20100727-lenny-squeeze-kde-aptitude.txt">upgrade
7780 of KDE using aptitude</a>.  In it, a bug in kdebase-workspace-data
7781 causes perl-modules to fail to upgrade.  The cause is simple.  If a
7782 package fail to unpack, then only part of packages with the circular
7783 dependency might end up being unpacked when unpacking aborts, and the
7784 ones already unpacked will fail to configure in the recovery phase
7785 because its dependencies are unavailable.</p>
7786
7787 <p>In this log, the problem manifest itself with this error:</p>
7788
7789 <blockquote><pre>
7790 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of perl-modules:
7791  perl-modules depends on perl (>= 5.10.1-1); however:
7792   Version of perl on system is 5.10.0-19lenny2.
7793 dpkg: error processing perl-modules (--configure):
7794  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
7795 </pre></blockquote>
7796
7797 <p>The perl/perl-modules circular dependency is already
7798 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/527917">reported as a bug</a>, and will
7799 hopefully be solved as soon as possible, but it is not the only one,
7800 and each one of these loops in the dependency tree can cause similar
7801 failures.  Of course, they only occur when there are bugs in other
7802 packages causing the unpacking to fail, but it is rather nasty when
7803 the failure of one package causes the problem to become worse because
7804 of dependency loops.</p>
7805
7806 <p>Thanks to
7807 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/06/msg00116.html">the
7808 tireless effort by Bill Allombert</a>, the number of circular
7809 dependencies
7810 <a href="http://debian.semistable.com/debgraph.out.html">left in Debian
7811 is dropping</a>, and perhaps it will reach zero one day. :)</p>
7812
7813 <p>Todays testing also exposed a bug in
7814 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/590605">update-notifier</a> and
7815 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/590604">different behaviour</a> between
7816 apt-get and aptitude, the latter possibly caused by some circular
7817 dependency.  Reported both to BTS to try to get someone to look at
7818 it.</p>
7819
7820       </div>
7821       <div class="tags">
7822
7823
7824         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>.
7825
7826
7827       </div>
7828     </div>
7829     <div class="padding"></div>
7830
7831     <div class="entry">
7832       <div class="title">
7833         <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>
7834       </div>
7835       <div class="date">
7836         27th July 2010
7837       </div>
7838       <div class="body">
7839         <p>I just posted this announcement culminating several months of work
7840 with the next Debian Edu release.  Not nearly done, but one major step
7841 completed.</p>
7842
7843 <blockquote>
7844 <p>This is the first test release based on Squeeze. The focus of this
7845 release is to test the user application selection. To have a look,
7846 install the standalone profile and let the developers know if the set
7847 of installed packages i.e. applications should be modified. If some
7848 user application is missing, or if there are some applications that no
7849 longer make sense to be included in Debian Edu, please let us know.
7850 Also, if a useful application is missing the translation for your
7851 language of choice, please let us know too.</p>
7852
7853 <p>In addition, feedback and help to polish the desktop (menus,
7854 artwork, starters, etc.) is appreciated. We would like to ship a nice
7855 and handy KDE4 desktop targeted for schools out of the box.</p>
7856
7857 <p>The other profiles should be installable, but there is a lot more
7858 work left to be done before they are ready, so do not expect to
7859 much.</p>
7860
7861 <p>Changes compared to the lenny based version</p>
7862
7863 <ul>
7864 <li>Everything from Debian Squeeze
7865 <ul>
7866   <li>Desktop environment KDE 4.4 => the new KDE desktop in
7867          combination with some new artwork
7868   <li>Web browser Iceweasel 3.5
7869   <li>OpenOffice.org 3.2
7870   <li>Educational toolbox GCompris 9.3
7871   <li>Music creator Rosegarden 10.04.2
7872   <li>Image editor Gimp 2.6.10
7873   <li>Virtual universe Celestia 1.6.0
7874   <li>Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.10.4
7875   <li>3D modeler Blender 2.49.2 (new application)
7876   <li>Video editor Kdenlive 0.7.7 (new application)
7877 </ul></li>
7878 <li>Now using Kerberos for password checking (migration not finished).
7879     Enabled for:
7880 <ul>
7881   <li>PAM
7882   <li>LDAP
7883   <li>IMAP
7884   <li>SMTP (sender verification)
7885 </ul>
7886 </li>
7887 <li>New experimental roaming workstation profile for laptops.</li>
7888 <li>Show welcome page to users when they first log in. The URL is
7889     fetched from LDAP.</li>
7890 <li>New LXDE desktop option, in addition to KDE (default) and Gnome.</li>
7891 <li>General cleanup (not finished)</li>
7892 </ul>
7893 <p>The following features are not working as they should</p>
7894
7895 <ul>
7896 <li>No web based administration tool for creating users and groups. The
7897     scripts ldap-createuser-krb and ldap-add-user-to-group can be used
7898     for testing.</li>
7899 <li>DVD installs are missing debian-installer images for the PXE boot,
7900     and do not set up the PXE menu on eth0 because of this. LTSP
7901     clients should still boot from eth1 on thin client servers.</li>
7902 <li>The restructured KDE menu is not implemented.</li>
7903 <li>The LDAP server setup need to be reviewed for security.</li>
7904 <li>The LDAP directory structure need to be reworked.</li>
7905 <li>Different sets of packages are installed when using the DVD and the
7906     netinst CD. More packages are installed using the netinst CD.</li>
7907 <li>The jackd package fail to install. This is believed to be caused by
7908     some ongoing transition, and hopefully should be solved soon. The
7909     jackd1 package can be installed manually for those that need it.</li>
7910 <li>Some packages lack translations. See
7911     http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Squeeze for updated status,
7912     and help out with translations.</li>
7913 </ul>
7914
7915 <p>To download this multiarch netinstall release you can use</p>
7916
7917 <ul>
7918 <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>
7919 <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>
7920 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso</li>
7921 </ul>
7922 <p>To download this multiarch dvd release you can use</p>
7923
7924 <ul>
7925 <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>
7926 <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>
7927 <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/squeeze-alpha/debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso</li>
7928 </ul>
7929
7930 <p>There is no source DVD available yet. It will be prepared when we
7931 get closer to the final release.</p>
7932
7933 <p>The MD5SUM of these images are</p>
7934
7935 <ul>
7936 <li>3dbf45d59f42a53518b6e3c9ec3b5eb6 debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso</li>
7937 <li>22f2cbfce281d1c6e478be452638675d debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso</li>
7938 </ul>
7939
7940 <p>The SHA1SUM of these images are</p>
7941 <ul>
7942 <li>c53d1b69b40cf37cd27aefaf33f6f6a3821bedf0 debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-CD.iso</li>
7943 <li>2ec29d7db676d59d32197b05c277ffe16348376c debian-edu-6.0.0+edua0-DVD.iso</li>
7944 </ul>
7945 <p>How to report bugs:
7946 http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugsInBugzilla</p>
7947
7948 <p>Please direct replies to debian-edu@lists.debian.org</p>
7949 </blockquote>
7950
7951       </div>
7952       <div class="tags">
7953
7954
7955         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>.
7956
7957
7958       </div>
7959     </div>
7960     <div class="padding"></div>
7961
7962     <div class="entry">
7963       <div class="title">
7964         <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>
7965       </div>
7966       <div class="date">
7967         25th July 2010
7968       </div>
7969       <div class="body">
7970         <p>The last few months me and the other Debian Edu developers have
7971 been working hard to get the Debian/Squeeze based version of Debian
7972 Edu/Skolelinux into shape.  This future version will use Kerberos for
7973 authentication, and services are slowly migrated to single signon,
7974 getting rid of password questions one at the time.</p>
7975
7976 <p>It will also feature a roaming workstation profile with local home
7977 directory, for laptops that are only some times on the Skolelinux
7978 network, and for this profile a shortcut is created in Gnome and KDE
7979 to gain access to the users home directory on the file server.  This
7980 shortcut uses SMB at the moment, and yesterday I had time to test if
7981 SMB mounting had started working in KDE after we added the cifs-utils
7982 package.  I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked.</p>
7983
7984 <p>Thanks to the recent changes to our samba configuration to get it
7985 to use Kerberos for authentication, there were no question about user
7986 password when mounting the SMB volume.  A simple click on the shortcut
7987 in the KDE menu, and a window with the home directory popped
7988 up. :)</p>
7989
7990 <p>One step closer to a single signon solution out of the box in
7991 Debian Edu.  We already had PAM, LDAP, IMAP and SMTP in place, and now
7992 also Samba.  Next step is Cups and hopefully also NFS.</p>
7993
7994 <p>We had planned a alpha0 release of Debian Edu for today, but thanks
7995 to the autobuilder administrators for some architectures being slow to
7996 sign packages, we are still missing the fixed LTSP package we need for
7997 the release.  It was uploaded three days ago with urgency=high, and if
7998 it had entered testing yesterday we would have been able to test it in
7999 time for a alpha0 release today.  As the binaries for ia64 and powerpc
8000 still not uploaded to the Debian archive, we need to delay the alpha
8001 release another day.</p>
8002
8003 <p>If you want to help out with implementing Kerberos for Debian Edu,
8004 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
8005
8006       </div>
8007       <div class="tags">
8008
8009
8010         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>.
8011
8012
8013       </div>
8014     </div>
8015     <div class="padding"></div>
8016
8017     <div class="entry">
8018       <div class="title">
8019         <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>
8020       </div>
8021       <div class="date">
8022         18th July 2010
8023       </div>
8024       <div class="body">
8025         <p>Thanks to
8026 <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opengeodata/~3/wUTCzDZk3lc/project-of-the-week-which-way-home">todays
8027 opengeodata blog entry</a>, I just discovered that the
8028 OpenStreetmap.org site have gotten
8029 <a href="http://nroets.dev.openstreetmap.org/demo/index.html?layers=B000FTFTT">support
8030 for calculating routes</a>.  The support is still experimental and
8031 only available from the development server, until more experience is
8032 gathered on the user interface and any scalability issues.</p>
8033
8034 <p>Earlier, the routing I knew about using the OpenStreetmap.org data
8035 was provided by <a href="http://maps.cloudmade.com/">Cloudmade</a>,
8036 but having it on the main page is required to make everyone aware of
8037 the issue.  I've had people reject Openstreetmap.org as a viable
8038 alternative for them because the front page lacked routing support,
8039 and I hope their needs will be catered for when routing show up on the
8040 www.openstreetmap.org front page.</p>
8041
8042       </div>
8043       <div class="tags">
8044
8045
8046         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>.
8047
8048
8049       </div>
8050     </div>
8051     <div class="padding"></div>
8052
8053     <div class="entry">
8054       <div class="title">
8055         <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>
8056       </div>
8057       <div class="date">
8058         17th July 2010
8059       </div>
8060       <div class="body">
8061         <p>This is a
8062 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">followup</a>
8063 on my
8064 <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
8065 work</a> on
8066 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Combining_PowerDNS_and_ISC_DHCP_LDAP_objects.html">merging
8067 all</a> the computer related LDAP objects in Debian Edu.</p>
8068
8069 <p>As a step to try to see if it possible to merge the DNS and DHCP
8070 LDAP objects, I have had a look at how the packages pdns-backend-ldap
8071 and dhcp3-server-ldap in Debian use the LDAP server.  The two
8072 implementations are quite different in how they use LDAP.</p>
8073
8074 To get this information, I started slapd with debugging enabled and
8075 dumped the debug output to a file to get the LDAP searches performed
8076 on a Debian Edu main-server.  Here is a summary.
8077
8078 <p><strong>powerdns</strong></p>
8079
8080 <a href="http://www.linuxnetworks.de/doc/index.php/PowerDNS_LDAP_Backend">Clues
8081 on how to</a> set up PowerDNS to use a LDAP backend is available on
8082 the web.
8083
8084 <p>PowerDNS have two modes of operation using LDAP as its backend.
8085 One "strict" mode where the forward and reverse DNS lookups are done
8086 using the same LDAP objects, and a "tree" mode where the forward and
8087 reverse entries are in two different subtrees in LDAP with a structure
8088 based on the DNS names, as in tjener.intern and
8089 2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa.</p>
8090
8091 <p>In tree mode, the server is set up to use a LDAP subtree as its
8092 base, and uses a "base" scoped search for the DNS name by adding
8093 "dc=tjener,dc=intern," to the base with a filter for
8094 "(associateddomain=tjener.intern)" for the forward entry and
8095 "dc=2,dc=2,dc=0,dc=10,dc=in-addr,dc=arpa," with a filter for
8096 "(associateddomain=2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa)" for the reverse entry.  For
8097 forward entries, it is looking for attributes named dnsttl, arecord,
8098 nsrecord, cnamerecord, soarecord, ptrrecord, hinforecord, mxrecord,
8099 txtrecord, rprecord, afsdbrecord, keyrecord, aaaarecord, locrecord,
8100 srvrecord, naptrrecord, kxrecord, certrecord, dsrecord, sshfprecord,
8101 ipseckeyrecord, rrsigrecord, nsecrecord, dnskeyrecord, dhcidrecord,
8102 spfrecord and modifytimestamp.  For reverse entries it is looking for
8103 the attributes dnsttl, arecord, nsrecord, cnamerecord, soarecord,
8104 ptrrecord, hinforecord, mxrecord, txtrecord, rprecord, aaaarecord,
8105 locrecord, srvrecord, naptrrecord and modifytimestamp.  The equivalent
8106 ldapsearch commands could look like this:</p>
8107
8108 <blockquote><pre>
8109 ldapsearch -h ldap \
8110   -b dc=tjener,dc=intern,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no \
8111   -s base -x '(associateddomain=tjener.intern)' dNSTTL aRecord nSRecord \
8112   cNAMERecord sOARecord pTRRecord hInfoRecord mXRecord tXTRecord \
8113   rPRecord aFSDBRecord KeyRecord aAAARecord lOCRecord sRVRecord \
8114   nAPTRRecord kXRecord certRecord dSRecord sSHFPRecord iPSecKeyRecord \
8115   rRSIGRecord nSECRecord dNSKeyRecord dHCIDRecord sPFRecord modifyTimestamp
8116
8117 ldapsearch -h ldap \
8118   -b dc=2,dc=2,dc=0,dc=10,dc=in-addr,dc=arpa,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no \
8119   -s base -x '(associateddomain=2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa)'
8120   dnsttl, arecord, nsrecord, cnamerecord soarecord ptrrecord \
8121   hinforecord mxrecord txtrecord rprecord aaaarecord locrecord \
8122   srvrecord naptrrecord modifytimestamp
8123 </pre></blockquote>
8124
8125 <p>In Debian Edu/Lenny, the PowerDNS tree mode is used with
8126 ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no as the base, and these are two
8127 example LDAP objects used there.  In addition to these objects, the
8128 parent objects all th way up to ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8129 also exist.</p>
8130
8131 <blockquote><pre>
8132 dn: dc=tjener,dc=intern,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8133 objectclass: top
8134 objectclass: dnsdomain
8135 objectclass: domainrelatedobject
8136 dc: tjener
8137 arecord: 10.0.2.2
8138 associateddomain: tjener.intern
8139
8140 dn: dc=2,dc=2,dc=0,dc=10,dc=in-addr,dc=arpa,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8141 objectclass: top
8142 objectclass: dnsdomain2
8143 objectclass: domainrelatedobject
8144 dc: 2
8145 ptrrecord: tjener.intern
8146 associateddomain: 2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa
8147 </pre></blockquote>
8148
8149 <p>In strict mode, the server behaves differently.  When looking for
8150 forward DNS entries, it is doing a "subtree" scoped search with the
8151 same base as in the tree mode for a object with filter
8152 "(associateddomain=tjener.intern)" and requests the attributes dnsttl,
8153 arecord, nsrecord, cnamerecord, soarecord, ptrrecord, hinforecord,
8154 mxrecord, txtrecord, rprecord, aaaarecord, locrecord, srvrecord,
8155 naptrrecord and modifytimestamp.  For reverse entires it also do a
8156 subtree scoped search but this time the filter is "(arecord=10.0.2.2)"
8157 and the requested attributes are associateddomain, dnsttl and
8158 modifytimestamp.  In short, in strict mode the objects with ptrrecord
8159 go away, and the arecord attribute in the forward object is used
8160 instead.</p>
8161
8162 <p>The forward and reverse searches can be simulated using ldapsearch
8163 like this:</p>
8164
8165 <blockquote><pre>
8166 ldapsearch -h ldap -b ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no -s sub -x \
8167   '(associateddomain=tjener.intern)' dNSTTL aRecord nSRecord \
8168   cNAMERecord sOARecord pTRRecord hInfoRecord mXRecord tXTRecord \
8169   rPRecord aFSDBRecord KeyRecord aAAARecord lOCRecord sRVRecord \
8170   nAPTRRecord kXRecord certRecord dSRecord sSHFPRecord iPSecKeyRecord \
8171   rRSIGRecord nSECRecord dNSKeyRecord dHCIDRecord sPFRecord modifyTimestamp
8172
8173 ldapsearch -h ldap -b ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no -s sub -x \
8174   '(arecord=10.0.2.2)' associateddomain dnsttl modifytimestamp
8175 </pre></blockquote>
8176
8177 <p>In addition to the forward and reverse searches , there is also a
8178 search for SOA records, which behave similar to the forward and
8179 reverse lookups.</p>
8180
8181 <p>A thing to note with the PowerDNS behaviour is that it do not
8182 specify any objectclass names, and instead look for the attributes it
8183 need to generate a DNS reply.  This make it able to work with any
8184 objectclass that provide the needed attributes.</p>
8185
8186 <p>The attributes are normally provided in the cosine (RFC 1274) and
8187 dnsdomain2 schemas.  The latter is used for reverse entries like
8188 ptrrecord and recent DNS additions like aaaarecord and srvrecord.</p>
8189
8190 <p>In Debian Edu, we have created DNS objects using the object classes
8191 dcobject (for dc), dnsdomain or dnsdomain2 (structural, for the DNS
8192 attributes) and domainrelatedobject (for associatedDomain).  The use
8193 of structural object classes make it impossible to combine these
8194 classes with the object classes used by DHCP.</p>
8195
8196 <p>There are other schemas that could be used too, for example the
8197 dnszone structural object class used by Gosa and bind-sdb for the DNS
8198 attributes combined with the domainrelatedobject object class, but in
8199 this case some unused attributes would have to be included as well
8200 (zonename and relativedomainname).</p>
8201
8202 <p>My proposal for Debian Edu would be to switch PowerDNS to strict
8203 mode and not use any of the existing objectclasses (dnsdomain,
8204 dnsdomain2 and dnszone) when one want to combine the DNS information
8205 with DHCP information, and instead create a auxiliary object class
8206 defined something like this (using the attributes defined for
8207 dnsdomain and dnsdomain2 or dnszone):</p>
8208
8209 <blockquote><pre>
8210 objectclass ( some-oid NAME 'dnsDomainAux'
8211     SUP top
8212     AUXILIARY
8213     MAY ( ARecord $ MDRecord $ MXRecord $ NSRecord $ SOARecord $ CNAMERecord $
8214           DNSTTL $ DNSClass $ PTRRecord $ HINFORecord $ MINFORecord $
8215           TXTRecord $ SIGRecord $ KEYRecord $ AAAARecord $ LOCRecord $
8216           NXTRecord $ SRVRecord $ NAPTRRecord $ KXRecord $ CERTRecord $
8217           A6Record $ DNAMERecord
8218     ))
8219 </pre></blockquote>
8220
8221 <p>This will allow any object to become a DNS entry when combined with
8222 the domainrelatedobject object class, and allow any entity to include
8223 all the attributes PowerDNS wants.  I've sent an email to the PowerDNS
8224 developers asking for their view on this schema and if they are
8225 interested in providing such schema with PowerDNS, and I hope my
8226 message will be accepted into their mailing list soon.</p>
8227
8228 <p><strong>ISC dhcp</strong></p>
8229
8230 <p>The DHCP server searches for specific objectclass and requests all
8231 the object attributes, and then uses the attributes it want.  This
8232 make it harder to figure out exactly what attributes are used, but
8233 thanks to the working example in Debian Edu I can at least get an idea
8234 what is needed without having to read the source code.</p>
8235
8236 <p>In the DHCP server configuration, the LDAP base to use and the
8237 search filter to use to locate the correct dhcpServer entity is
8238 stored.  These are the relevant entries from
8239 /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf:</p>
8240
8241 <blockquote><pre>
8242 ldap-base-dn "dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no";
8243 ldap-dhcp-server-cn "dhcp";
8244 </pre></blockquote>
8245
8246 <p>The DHCP server uses this information to nest all the DHCP
8247 configuration it need.  The cn "dhcp" is located using the given LDAP
8248 base and the filter "(&(objectClass=dhcpServer)(cn=dhcp))".  The
8249 search result is this entry:</p>
8250
8251 <blockquote><pre>
8252 dn: cn=dhcp,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8253 cn: dhcp
8254 objectClass: top
8255 objectClass: dhcpServer
8256 dhcpServiceDN: cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8257 </pre></blockquote>
8258
8259 <p>The content of the dhcpServiceDN attribute is next used to locate the
8260 subtree with DHCP configuration.  The DHCP configuration subtree base
8261 is located using a base scope search with base "cn=DHCP
8262 Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no" and filter
8263 "(&(objectClass=dhcpService)(|(dhcpPrimaryDN=cn=dhcp,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no)(dhcpSecondaryDN=cn=dhcp,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no)))".
8264 The search result is this entry:</p>
8265
8266 <blockquote><pre>
8267 dn: cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8268 cn: DHCP Config
8269 objectClass: top
8270 objectClass: dhcpService
8271 objectClass: dhcpOptions
8272 dhcpPrimaryDN: cn=dhcp, dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8273 dhcpStatements: ddns-update-style none
8274 dhcpStatements: authoritative
8275 dhcpOption: smtp-server code 69 = array of ip-address
8276 dhcpOption: www-server code 72 = array of ip-address
8277 dhcpOption: wpad-url code 252 = text
8278 </pre></blockquote>
8279
8280 <p>Next, the entire subtree is processed, one level at the time.  When
8281 all the DHCP configuration is loaded, it is ready to receive requests.
8282 The subtree in Debian Edu contain objects with object classes
8283 top/dhcpService/dhcpOptions, top/dhcpSharedNetwork/dhcpOptions,
8284 top/dhcpSubnet, top/dhcpGroup and top/dhcpHost.  These provide options
8285 and information about netmasks, dynamic range etc.  Leaving out the
8286 details here because it is not relevant for the focus of my
8287 investigation, which is to see if it is possible to merge dns and dhcp
8288 related computer objects.</p>
8289
8290 <p>When a DHCP request come in, LDAP is searched for the MAC address
8291 of the client (00:00:00:00:00:00 in this example), using a subtree
8292 scoped search with "cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no" as
8293 the base and "(&(objectClass=dhcpHost)(dhcpHWAddress=ethernet
8294 00:00:00:00:00:00))" as the filter.  This is what a host object look
8295 like:</p>
8296
8297 <blockquote><pre>
8298 dn: cn=hostname,cn=group1,cn=THINCLIENTS,cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8299 cn: hostname
8300 objectClass: top
8301 objectClass: dhcpHost
8302 dhcpHWAddress: ethernet 00:00:00:00:00:00
8303 dhcpStatements: fixed-address hostname
8304 </pre></blockquote>
8305
8306 <p>There is less flexiblity in the way LDAP searches are done here.
8307 The object classes need to have fixed names, and the configuration
8308 need to be stored in a fairly specific LDAP structure.  On the
8309 positive side, the invidiual dhcpHost entires can be anywhere without
8310 the DN pointed to by the dhcpServer entries.  The latter should make
8311 it possible to group all host entries in a subtree next to the
8312 configuration entries, and this subtree can also be shared with the
8313 DNS server if the schema proposed above is combined with the dhcpHost
8314 structural object class.
8315
8316 <p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
8317
8318 <p>The PowerDNS implementation seem to be very flexible when it come
8319 to which LDAP schemas to use.  While its "tree" mode is rigid when it
8320 come to the the LDAP structure, the "strict" mode is very flexible,
8321 allowing DNS objects to be stored anywhere under the base cn specified
8322 in the configuration.</p>
8323
8324 <p>The DHCP implementation on the other hand is very inflexible, both
8325 regarding which LDAP schemas to use and which LDAP structure to use.
8326 I guess one could implement ones own schema, as long as the
8327 objectclasses and attributes have the names used, but this do not
8328 really help when the DHCP subtree need to have a fairly fixed
8329 structure.</p>
8330
8331 <p>Based on the observed behaviour, I suspect a LDAP structure like
8332 this might work for Debian Edu:</p>
8333
8334 <blockquote><pre>
8335 ou=services
8336   cn=machine-info (dhcpService) - dhcpServiceDN points here
8337     cn=dhcp (dhcpServer)
8338     cn=dhcp-internal (dhcpSharedNetwork/dhcpOptions)
8339       cn=10.0.2.0 (dhcpSubnet)
8340         cn=group1 (dhcpGroup/dhcpOptions)
8341     cn=dhcp-thinclients (dhcpSharedNetwork/dhcpOptions)
8342       cn=192.168.0.0 (dhcpSubnet)
8343         cn=group1 (dhcpGroup/dhcpOptions)
8344     ou=machines - PowerDNS base points here
8345       cn=hostname (dhcpHost/domainrelatedobject/dnsDomainAux)
8346 </pre></blockquote>
8347
8348 <P>This is not tested yet.  If the DHCP server require the dhcpHost
8349 entries to be in the dhcpGroup subtrees, the entries can be stored
8350 there instead of a common machines subtree, and the PowerDNS base
8351 would have to be moved one level up to the machine-info subtree.</p>
8352
8353 <p>The combined object under the machines subtree would look something
8354 like this:</p>
8355
8356 <blockquote><pre>
8357 dn: dc=hostname,ou=machines,cn=machine-info,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8358 dc: hostname
8359 objectClass: top
8360 objectClass: dhcpHost
8361 objectclass: domainrelatedobject
8362 objectclass: dnsDomainAux
8363 associateddomain: hostname.intern
8364 arecord: 10.11.12.13
8365 dhcpHWAddress: ethernet 00:00:00:00:00:00
8366 dhcpStatements: fixed-address hostname.intern
8367 </pre></blockquote>
8368
8369 </p>One could even add the LTSP configuration associated with a given
8370 machine, as long as the required attributes are available in a
8371 auxiliary object class.</p>
8372
8373       </div>
8374       <div class="tags">
8375
8376
8377         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>.
8378
8379
8380       </div>
8381     </div>
8382     <div class="padding"></div>
8383
8384     <div class="entry">
8385       <div class="title">
8386         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Combining_PowerDNS_and_ISC_DHCP_LDAP_objects.html">Combining PowerDNS and ISC DHCP LDAP objects</a>
8387       </div>
8388       <div class="date">
8389         14th July 2010
8390       </div>
8391       <div class="body">
8392         <p>For a while now, I have wanted to find a way to change the DNS and
8393 DHCP services in Debian Edu to use the same LDAP objects for a given
8394 computer, to avoid the possibility of having a inconsistent state for
8395 a computer in LDAP (as in DHCP but no DNS entry or the other way
8396 around) and make it easier to add computers to LDAP.</p>
8397
8398 <p>I've looked at how powerdns and dhcpd is using LDAP, and using this
8399 information finally found a solution that seem to work.</p>
8400
8401 <p>The old setup required three LDAP objects for a given computer.
8402 One forward DNS entry, one reverse DNS entry and one DHCP entry.  If
8403 we switch powerdns to use its strict LDAP method (ldap-method=strict
8404 in pdns-debian-edu.conf), the forward and reverse DNS entries are
8405 merged into one while making it impossible to transfer the reverse map
8406 to a slave DNS server.</p>
8407
8408 <p>If we also replace the object class used to get the DNS related
8409 attributes to one allowing these attributes to be combined with the
8410 dhcphost object class, we can merge the DNS and DHCP entries into one.
8411 I've written such object class in the dnsdomainaux.schema file (need
8412 proper OIDs, but that is a minor issue), and tested the setup.  It
8413 seem to work.</p>
8414
8415 <p>With this test setup in place, we can get away with one LDAP object
8416 for both DNS and DHCP, and even the LTSP configuration I suggested in
8417 an earlier email.  The combined LDAP object will look something like
8418 this:</p>
8419
8420 <blockquote><pre>
8421   dn: cn=hostname,cn=group1,cn=THINCLIENTS,cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8422   cn: hostname
8423   objectClass: dhcphost
8424   objectclass: domainrelatedobject
8425   objectclass: dnsdomainaux
8426   associateddomain: hostname.intern
8427   arecord: 10.11.12.13
8428   dhcphwaddress: ethernet 00:00:00:00:00:00
8429   dhcpstatements: fixed-address hostname
8430   ldapconfigsound: Y
8431 </pre></blockquote>
8432
8433 <p>The DNS server uses the associateddomain and arecord entries, while
8434 the DHCP server uses the dhcphwaddress and dhcpstatements entries
8435 before asking DNS to resolve the fixed-adddress.  LTSP will use
8436 dhcphwaddress or associateddomain and the ldapconfig* attributes.</p>
8437
8438 <p>I am not yet sure if I can get the DHCP server to look for its
8439 dhcphost in a different location, to allow us to put the objects
8440 outside the "DHCP Config" subtree, but hope to figure out a way to do
8441 that.  If I can't figure out a way to do that, we can still get rid of
8442 the hosts subtree and move all its content into the DHCP Config tree
8443 (which probably should be renamed to be more related to the new
8444 content.  I suspect cn=dnsdhcp,ou=services or something like that
8445 might be a good place to put it.</p>
8446
8447 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
8448 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
8449
8450       </div>
8451       <div class="tags">
8452
8453
8454         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>.
8455
8456
8457       </div>
8458     </div>
8459     <div class="padding"></div>
8460
8461     <div class="entry">
8462       <div class="title">
8463         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_storing_LTSP_configuration_in_LDAP.html">Idea for storing LTSP configuration in LDAP</a>
8464       </div>
8465       <div class="date">
8466         11th July 2010
8467       </div>
8468       <div class="body">
8469         <p>Vagrant mentioned on IRC today that ltsp_config now support
8470 sourcing files from /usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ on the thin
8471 clients, and that this can be used to fetch configuration from LDAP if
8472 Debian Edu choose to store configuration there.</p>
8473
8474 <p>Armed with this information, I got inspired and wrote a test module
8475 to get configuration from LDAP.  The idea is to look up the MAC
8476 address of the client in LDAP, and look for attributes on the form
8477 ltspconfigsetting=value, and use this to export SETTING=value to the
8478 LTSP clients.</p>
8479
8480 <p>The goal is to be able to store the LTSP configuration attributes
8481 in a "computer" LDAP object used by both DNS and DHCP, and thus
8482 allowing us to store all information about a computer in one place.</p>
8483
8484 <p>This is a untested draft implementation, and I welcome feedback on
8485 this approach.  A real LDAP schema for the ltspClientAux objectclass
8486 need to be written.  Comments, suggestions, etc?</p>
8487
8488 <blockquote><pre>
8489 # Store in /opt/ltsp/$arch/usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ldap-config
8490 #
8491 # Fetch LTSP client settings from LDAP based on MAC address
8492 #
8493 # Uses ethernet address as stored in the dhcpHost objectclass using
8494 # the dhcpHWAddress attribute or ethernet address stored in the
8495 # ieee802Device objectclass with the macAddress attribute.
8496 #
8497 # This module is written to be schema agnostic, and only depend on the
8498 # existence of attribute names.
8499 #
8500 # The LTSP configuration variables are saved directly using a
8501 # ltspConfig prefix and uppercasing the rest of the attribute name.
8502 # To set the SERVER variable, set the ltspConfigServer attribute.
8503 #
8504 # Some LDAP schema should be created with all the relevant
8505 # configuration settings.  Something like this should work:
8506 #
8507 # objectclass ( 1.1.2.2 NAME 'ltspClientAux'
8508 #     SUP top
8509 #     AUXILIARY
8510 #     MAY ( ltspConfigServer $ ltsConfigSound $ ... )
8511
8512 LDAPSERVER=$(debian-edu-ldapserver)
8513 if [ "$LDAPSERVER" ] ; then
8514     LDAPBASE=$(debian-edu-ldapserver -b)
8515     for MAC in $(LANG=C ifconfig |grep -i hwaddr| awk '{print $5}'|sort -u) ; do
8516         filter="(|(dhcpHWAddress=ethernet $MAC)(macAddress=$MAC))"
8517         ldapsearch -h "$LDAPSERVER" -b "$LDAPBASE" -v -x "$filter" | \
8518             grep '^ltspConfig' | while read attr value ; do
8519             # Remove prefix and convert to upper case
8520             attr=$(echo $attr | sed 's/^ltspConfig//i' | tr a-z A-Z)
8521             # bass value on to clients
8522             eval "$attr=$value; export $attr"
8523         done
8524     done
8525 fi
8526 </pre></blockquote>
8527
8528 <p>I'm not sure this shell construction will work, because I suspect
8529 the while block might end up in a subshell causing the variables set
8530 there to not show up in ltsp-config, but if that is the case I am sure
8531 the code can be restructured to make sure the variables are passed on.
8532 I expect that can be solved with some testing. :)</p>
8533
8534 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
8535 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
8536
8537 <p>Update 2010-07-17: I am aware of another effort to store LTSP
8538 configuration in LDAP that was created around year 2000 by
8539 <a href="http://www.pcxperience.com/thinclient/documentation/ldap.html">PC
8540 Xperience, Inc., 2000</a>.  I found its
8541 <a href="http://people.redhat.com/alikins/ltsp/ldap/">files</a> on a
8542 personal home page over at redhat.com.</p>
8543
8544       </div>
8545       <div class="tags">
8546
8547
8548         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>.
8549
8550
8551       </div>
8552     </div>
8553     <div class="padding"></div>
8554
8555     <div class="entry">
8556       <div class="title">
8557         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/jXplorer__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">jXplorer, a very nice LDAP GUI</a>
8558       </div>
8559       <div class="date">
8560          9th July 2010
8561       </div>
8562       <div class="body">
8563         <p>Since
8564 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">my
8565 last post</a> about available LDAP tools in Debian, I was told about a
8566 LDAP GUI that is even better than luma.  The java application
8567 <a href="http://jxplorer.org/">jXplorer</a> is claimed to be capable of
8568 moving LDAP objects and subtrees using drag-and-drop, and can
8569 authenticate using Kerberos.  I have only tested the Kerberos
8570 authentication, but do not have a LDAP setup allowing me to rewrite
8571 LDAP with my test user yet.  It is
8572 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/j/jxplorer.html">available in
8573 Debian</a> testing and unstable at the moment.  The only problem I
8574 have with it is how it handle errors.  If something go wrong, its
8575 non-intuitive behaviour require me to go through some query work list
8576 and remove the failing query.  Nothing big, but very annoying.</p>
8577
8578       </div>
8579       <div class="tags">
8580
8581
8582         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>.
8583
8584
8585       </div>
8586     </div>
8587     <div class="padding"></div>
8588
8589     <div class="entry">
8590       <div class="title">
8591         <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>
8592       </div>
8593       <div class="date">
8594          3rd July 2010
8595       </div>
8596       <div class="body">
8597         <p>Here is a short update on my <a
8598 href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">my
8599 Debian Lenny->Squeeze upgrade testing</a>.  Here is a summary of the
8600 difference for Gnome when it is upgraded by apt-get and aptitude.  I'm
8601 not reporting the status for KDE, because the upgrade crashes when
8602 aptitude try because of missing conflicts
8603 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584861">#584861</a> and
8604 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/585716">#585716</a>).</p>
8605
8606 <p>At the end of the upgrade test script, dpkg -l is executed to get a
8607 complete list of the installed packages.  Based on this I see these
8608 differences when I did a test run today.  As usual, I do not really
8609 know what the correct set of packages would be, but thought it best to
8610 publish the difference.</p>
8611
8612 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
8613
8614 <blockquote><p>
8615   at-spi cpp-4.3 finger gnome-spell gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
8616   libatspi1.0-0 libcupsys2 libeel2-data libgail-common libgdl-1-common
8617   libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-common libgnomevfs2-bin
8618   libgtksourceview-common libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa
8619   libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libservlet2.4-java libxalan2-java
8620   libxerces2-java openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip
8621   python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gtkhtml2
8622   python-gtkmozembed svgalibg1 xserver-xephyr zip
8623 </p></blockquote>
8624
8625 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
8626
8627 <blockquote><p>
8628   bluez-utils dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop epiphany-gecko
8629   gnome-app-install gnome-mount gnome-vfs-obexftp gnome-volume-manager
8630   libao2 libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libbind9-50
8631   libbluetooth2 libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcurl3
8632   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedata-cal1.2-6 libedataserver1.2-9
8633   libeel2-2.20 libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libexchange-storage1.2-3
8634   libfaad0 libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libggz2 libggzcore9
8635   libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 libgnome-desktop-2
8636   libgnome-pilot2 libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomeprint2.2-0
8637   libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0
8638   libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6 libhesiod0 libicu38 libisccc50
8639   libisccfg50 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 liblwres50 libmagick++10
8640   libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off libnautilus-burn4
8641   libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 libosp5
8642   libparted1.8-10 libpisock9 libpisync1 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3
8643   libpt-1.10.10 libraw1394-8 libsensors3 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8
8644   libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1
8645   libtotem-plparser10 libtrackerclient0 libvoikko1 libxalan2-java-gcj
8646   libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6 libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3
8647   mysql-common swfdec-gnome totem-gstreamer wodim
8648 </p></blockquote>
8649
8650 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
8651
8652 <blockquote><p>
8653   gnome gnome-desktop-environment hamster-applet python-gnomeapplet
8654   python-gnomekeyring python-wnck rhythmbox-plugins xorg
8655   xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
8656   xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
8657   xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-video-all
8658   xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark xserver-xorg-video-ati
8659   xserver-xorg-video-chips xserver-xorg-video-cirrus
8660   xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
8661   xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
8662   xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-mach64
8663   xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
8664   xserver-xorg-video-nouveau xserver-xorg-video-nv
8665   xserver-xorg-video-r128 xserver-xorg-video-radeon
8666   xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd xserver-xorg-video-rendition
8667   xserver-xorg-video-s3 xserver-xorg-video-s3virge
8668   xserver-xorg-video-savage xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion
8669   xserver-xorg-video-sis xserver-xorg-video-sisusb
8670   xserver-xorg-video-tdfx xserver-xorg-video-tga
8671   xserver-xorg-video-trident xserver-xorg-video-tseng
8672   xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vmware
8673   xserver-xorg-video-voodoo
8674 </p></blockquote>
8675
8676 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
8677
8678 <blockquote><p>
8679   deskbar-applet xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core
8680   xserver-xorg-input-wacom xserver-xorg-video-intel
8681   xserver-xorg-video-openchrome
8682 </p></blockquote>
8683
8684 <p>I was told on IRC that the xorg-xserver package was
8685 <a href="http://git.debian.org/?p=pkg-xorg/xserver/xorg-server.git;a=commit;h=9c8080d06c457932d3bfec021c69ac000aa60120">changed
8686 in git</a> today to try to get apt-get to not remove xorg completely.
8687 No idea when it hits Squeeze, but when it does I hope it will reduce
8688 the difference somewhat.
8689
8690       </div>
8691       <div class="tags">
8692
8693
8694         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>.
8695
8696
8697       </div>
8698     </div>
8699     <div class="padding"></div>
8700
8701     <div class="entry">
8702       <div class="title">
8703         <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>
8704       </div>
8705       <div class="date">
8706          1st July 2010
8707       </div>
8708       <div class="body">
8709         <p>For a laptop, centralized user directories and password checking is
8710 a bit troubling.  Laptops are typically used also when not connected
8711 to the network, and it is vital for a user to be able to log in or
8712 unlock the screen saver also when a central server is unavailable.
8713 This is possible by caching passwords and directory information (user
8714 and group attributes) locally, and the packages to do so are available
8715 in Debian.  Here follow two recipes to set this up in Debian/Squeeze.
8716 It is also possible to set up in Debian/Lenny, but require more manual
8717 setup there because pam-auth-update is missing in Lenny.</p>
8718
8719 <h2>LDAP/Kerberos + nscd + libpam-ccreds + libpam-mklocaluser/pam_mkhomedir</h2>
8720
8721 This is the traditional method with a twist.  The password caching is
8722 provided by libpam-ccreds (version 10-4 or later is needed on
8723 Squeeze), and the directory caching is done by nscd.  The directory
8724 lookup and password checking is done using LDAP.  If one want to use
8725 Kerberos for password checking the libpam-ldapd package can be
8726 replaced with libpam-krb5 or libpam-heimdal.  If one is happy having a
8727 local home directory with the path listed in LDAP, one can use the
8728 pam_mkhomedir module from pam-modules to make this happen instead of
8729 using libpam-mklocaluser.  A setup for pam-auth-update to enable
8730 pam_mkhomedir will have to be written until a fix for
8731 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/568577">bug #568577</a> is in the
8732 archive.  Because I believe it is a bad idea to have local home
8733 directories using misleading paths like /site/server/partition/, I
8734 prefer to create a local user with the home directory in /home/.  This
8735 is done using the libpam-mklocaluser package.</p>
8736
8737 <p>These packages need to be installed and configured</p>
8738
8739 <blockquote><pre>
8740 libnss-ldapd libpam-ldapd nscd libpam-ccreds libpam-mklocaluser
8741 </pre></blockquote>
8742
8743 <p>The ldapd packages will ask for LDAP connection information, and
8744 one have to fill in the values that fits ones own site.  Make sure the
8745 PAM part uses encrypted connections, to make sure the password is not
8746 sent in clear text to the LDAP server.  I've been unable to get TLS
8747 certificate checking for a self signed certificate working, which make
8748 LDAP authentication unsafe for Debian Edu (nslcd is not checking if it
8749 is talking to the correct LDAP server), and very much welcome feedback
8750 on how to get this working.</p>
8751
8752 <p>Because nscd do not have a default configuration fit for offline
8753 caching until <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/485282">bug #485282</a>
8754 is fixed, this configuration should be used instead of the one
8755 currently in /etc/nscd.conf.  The changes are in the fields
8756 reload-count and positive-time-to-live, and is based on the
8757 instructions I found in the
8758 <a href="http://www.flyn.org/laptopldap/">LDAP for Mobile Laptops</a>
8759 instructions by Flyn Computing.</p>
8760
8761 <blockquote><pre>
8762         debug-level             0
8763         reload-count            unlimited
8764         paranoia                no
8765
8766         enable-cache            passwd          yes
8767         positive-time-to-live   passwd          2592000
8768         negative-time-to-live   passwd          20
8769         suggested-size          passwd          211
8770         check-files             passwd          yes
8771         persistent              passwd          yes
8772         shared                  passwd          yes
8773         max-db-size             passwd          33554432
8774         auto-propagate          passwd          yes
8775
8776         enable-cache            group           yes
8777         positive-time-to-live   group           2592000
8778         negative-time-to-live   group           20
8779         suggested-size          group           211
8780         check-files             group           yes
8781         persistent              group           yes
8782         shared                  group           yes
8783         max-db-size             group           33554432
8784         auto-propagate          group           yes
8785
8786         enable-cache            hosts           no
8787         positive-time-to-live   hosts           2592000
8788         negative-time-to-live   hosts           20
8789         suggested-size          hosts           211
8790         check-files             hosts           yes
8791         persistent              hosts           yes
8792         shared                  hosts           yes
8793         max-db-size             hosts           33554432
8794
8795         enable-cache            services        yes
8796         positive-time-to-live   services        2592000
8797         negative-time-to-live   services        20
8798         suggested-size          services        211
8799         check-files             services        yes
8800         persistent              services        yes
8801         shared                  services        yes
8802         max-db-size             services        33554432
8803 </pre></blockquote>
8804
8805 <p>While we wait for a mechanism to update /etc/nsswitch.conf
8806 automatically like the one provided in
8807 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/496915">bug #496915</a>, the file
8808 content need to be manually replaced to ensure LDAP is used as the
8809 directory service on the machine.  /etc/nsswitch.conf should normally
8810 look like this:</p>
8811
8812 <blockquote><pre>
8813 passwd:         files ldap
8814 group:          files ldap
8815 shadow:         files ldap
8816 hosts:          files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4
8817 networks:       files
8818 protocols:      files
8819 services:       files
8820 ethers:         files
8821 rpc:            files
8822 netgroup:       files ldap
8823 </pre></blockquote>
8824
8825 <p>The important parts are that ldap is listed last for passwd, group,
8826 shadow and netgroup.</p>
8827
8828 <p>With these changes in place, any user in LDAP will be able to log
8829 in locally on the machine using for example kdm, get a local home
8830 directory created and have the password as well as user and group
8831 attributes cached.
8832
8833 <h2>LDAP/Kerberos + nss-updatedb + libpam-ccreds +
8834   libpam-mklocaluser/pam_mkhomedir</h2>
8835
8836 <p>Because nscd have had its share of problems, and seem to have
8837 problems doing proper caching, I've seen suggestions and recipes to
8838 use nss-updatedb to copy parts of the LDAP database locally when the
8839 LDAP database is available.  I have not tested such setup, because I
8840 discovered sssd.</p>
8841
8842 <h2>LDAP/Kerberos + sssd + libpam-mklocaluser</h2>
8843
8844 <p>A more flexible and robust setup than the nscd combination
8845 mentioned earlier that has shown up recently, is the
8846 <a href="https://fedorahosted.org/sssd/">sssd</a> package from Redhat.
8847 It is part of the <a href="http://www.freeipa.org/">FreeIPA</A> project
8848 to provide a Active Directory like directory service for Linux
8849 machines.  The sssd system combines the caching of passwords and user
8850 information into one package, and remove the need for nscd and
8851 libpam-ccreds.  It support LDAP and Kerberos, but not NIS.  Version
8852 1.2 do not support netgroups, but it is said that it will support this
8853 in version 1.5 expected to show up later in 2010.  Because the
8854 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/sssd.html">sssd package</a>
8855 was missing in Debian, I ended up co-maintaining it with Werner, and
8856 version 1.2 is now in testing.
8857
8858 <p>These packages need to be installed and configured to get the
8859 roaming setup I want</p>
8860
8861 <blockquote><pre>
8862 libpam-sss libnss-sss libpam-mklocaluser
8863 </pre></blockquote>
8864
8865 The complete setup of sssd is done by editing/creating
8866 <tt>/etc/sssd/sssd.conf</tt>.
8867
8868 <blockquote><pre>
8869 [sssd]
8870 config_file_version = 2
8871 reconnection_retries = 3
8872 sbus_timeout = 30
8873 services = nss, pam
8874 domains = INTERN
8875
8876 [nss]
8877 filter_groups = root
8878 filter_users = root
8879 reconnection_retries = 3
8880
8881 [pam]
8882 reconnection_retries = 3
8883
8884 [domain/INTERN]
8885 enumerate = false
8886 cache_credentials = true
8887
8888 id_provider = ldap
8889 auth_provider = ldap
8890 chpass_provider = ldap
8891
8892 ldap_uri = ldap://ldap
8893 ldap_search_base = dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
8894 ldap_tls_reqcert = never
8895 ldap_tls_cacert = /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
8896 </pre></blockquote>
8897
8898 <p>I got the same problem here with certificate checking.  Had to set
8899 "ldap_tls_reqcert = never" to get it working.</p>
8900
8901 <p>With the libnss-sss package in testing at the moment, the
8902 nsswitch.conf file is update automatically, so there is no need to
8903 modify it manually.</p>
8904
8905 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
8906 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
8907
8908       </div>
8909       <div class="tags">
8910
8911
8912         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>.
8913
8914
8915       </div>
8916     </div>
8917     <div class="padding"></div>
8918
8919     <div class="entry">
8920       <div class="title">
8921         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">LUMA, a very nice LDAP GUI</a>
8922       </div>
8923       <div class="date">
8924         28th June 2010
8925       </div>
8926       <div class="body">
8927         <p>The last few days I have been looking into the status of the LDAP
8928 directory in Debian Edu, and in the process I started to miss a GUI
8929 tool to browse the LDAP tree.  The only one I was able to find in
8930 Debian/Squeeze and Lenny is
8931 <a href="http://luma.sourceforge.net/">LUMA</a>, which has proved to
8932 be a great tool to get a overview of the current LDAP directory
8933 populated by default in Skolelinux.  Thanks to it, I have been able to
8934 find empty and obsolete subtrees, misplaced objects and duplicate
8935 objects.  It will be installed by default in Debian/Squeeze.  If you
8936 are working with LDAP, give it a go. :)</p>
8937
8938 <p>I did notice one problem with it I have not had time to report to
8939 the BTS yet.  There is no .desktop file in the package, so the tool do
8940 not show up in the Gnome and KDE menus, but only deep down in in the
8941 Debian submenu in KDE.  I hope that can be fixed before Squeeze is
8942 released.</p>
8943
8944 <p>I have not yet been able to get it to modify the tree yet.  I would
8945 like to move objects and remove subtrees directly in the GUI, but have
8946 not found a way to do that with LUMA yet.  So in the mean time, I use
8947 <a href="http://www.lichteblau.com/ldapvi/">ldapvi</a> for that.</p>
8948
8949 <p>If you have tips on other GUI tools for LDAP that might be useful
8950 in Debian Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
8951
8952 <p>Update 2010-06-29: Ross Reedstrom tipped us about the
8953 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/g/gq.html">gq</a> package as a
8954 useful GUI alternative.  It seem like a good tool, but is unmaintained
8955 in Debian and got a RC bug keeping it out of Squeeze.  Unless that
8956 changes, it will not be an option for Debian Edu based on Squeeze.</p>
8957
8958       </div>
8959       <div class="tags">
8960
8961
8962         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>.
8963
8964
8965       </div>
8966     </div>
8967     <div class="padding"></div>
8968
8969     <div class="entry">
8970       <div class="title">
8971         <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>
8972       </div>
8973       <div class="date">
8974         24th June 2010
8975       </div>
8976       <div class="body">
8977         <p>A while back, I
8978 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">complained
8979 about the fact</a> that it is not possible with the provided schemas
8980 for storing DNS and DHCP information in LDAP to combine the two sets
8981 of information into one LDAP object representing a computer.</p>
8982
8983 <p>In the mean time, I discovered that a simple fix would be to make
8984 the dhcpHost object class auxiliary, to allow it to be combined with
8985 the dNSDomain object class, and thus forming one object for one
8986 computer when storing both DHCP and DNS information in LDAP.</p>
8987
8988 <p>If I understand this correctly, it is not safe to do this change
8989 without also changing the assigned number for the object class, and I
8990 do not know enough about LDAP schema design to do that properly for
8991 Debian Edu.</p>
8992
8993 <p>Anyway, for future reference, this is how I believe we could change
8994 the
8995 <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dhc-ldap-schema-00">DHCP
8996 schema</a> to solve at least part of the problem with the LDAP schemas
8997 available today from IETF.</p>
8998
8999 <pre>
9000 --- dhcp.schema    (revision 65192)
9001 +++ dhcp.schema    (working copy)
9002 @@ -376,7 +376,7 @@
9003  objectclass ( 2.16.840.1.113719.1.203.6.6
9004         NAME 'dhcpHost'
9005         DESC 'This represents information about a particular client'
9006 -       SUP top
9007 +       SUP top AUXILIARY
9008         MUST cn
9009         MAY  (dhcpLeaseDN $ dhcpHWAddress $ dhcpOptionsDN $ dhcpStatements $ dhcpComments $ dhcpOption)
9010         X-NDS_CONTAINMENT ('dhcpService' 'dhcpSubnet' 'dhcpGroup') )
9011 </pre>
9012
9013 <p>I very much welcome clues on how to do this properly for Debian
9014 Edu/Squeeze.  We provide the DHCP schema in our debian-edu-config
9015 package, and should thus be free to rewrite it as we see fit.</p>
9016
9017 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
9018 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
9019
9020       </div>
9021       <div class="tags">
9022
9023
9024         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>.
9025
9026
9027       </div>
9028     </div>
9029     <div class="padding"></div>
9030
9031     <div class="entry">
9032       <div class="title">
9033         <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>
9034       </div>
9035       <div class="date">
9036         16th June 2010
9037       </div>
9038       <div class="body">
9039         <p>A few times I have had the need to simulate the way tasksel
9040 installs packages during the normal debian-installer run.  Until now,
9041 I have ended up letting tasksel do the work, with the annoying problem
9042 of not getting any feedback at all when something fails (like a
9043 conffile question from dpkg or a download that fails), using code like
9044 this:
9045
9046 <blockquote><pre>
9047 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
9048 tasksel --new-install
9049 </pre></blockquote>
9050
9051 This would invoke tasksel, let its automatic task selection pick the
9052 tasks to install, and continue to install the requested tasks without
9053 any output what so ever.
9054
9055 Recently I revisited this problem while working on the automatic
9056 package upgrade testing, because tasksel would some times hang without
9057 any useful feedback, and I want to see what is going on when it
9058 happen.  Then it occured to me, I can parse the output from tasksel
9059 when asked to run in test mode, and use that aptitude command line
9060 printed by tasksel then to simulate the tasksel run.  I ended up using
9061 code like this:
9062
9063 <blockquote><pre>
9064 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
9065 cmd="$(in_target tasksel -t --new-install | sed 's/debconf-apt-progress -- //')"
9066 $cmd
9067 </pre></blockquote>
9068
9069 <p>The content of $cmd is typically something like "<tt>aptitude -q
9070 --without-recommends -o APT::Install-Recommends=no -y install
9071 ~t^desktop$ ~t^gnome-desktop$ ~t^laptop$ ~pstandard ~prequired
9072 ~pimportant</tt>", which will install the gnome desktop task, the
9073 laptop task and all packages with priority standard , required and
9074 important, just like tasksel would have done it during
9075 installation.</p>
9076
9077 <p>A better approach is probably to extend tasksel to be able to
9078 install packages without using debconf-apt-progress, for use cases
9079 like this.</p>
9080
9081       </div>
9082       <div class="tags">
9083
9084
9085         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>.
9086
9087
9088       </div>
9089     </div>
9090     <div class="padding"></div>
9091
9092     <div class="entry">
9093       <div class="title">
9094         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_taking_shape.html">Officeshots taking shape</a>
9095       </div>
9096       <div class="date">
9097         13th June 2010
9098       </div>
9099       <div class="body">
9100         <p>For those of us caring about document exchange and
9101 interoperability, <a href="http://www.officeshots.org/">OfficeShots</a>
9102 is a great service.  It is to ODF documents what
9103 <a href="http://browsershots.org/">BrowserShots</a> is for web
9104 pages.</p>
9105
9106 <p>A while back, I was contacted by Knut Yrvin at the part of Nokia
9107 that used to be Trolltech, who wanted to help the OfficeShots project
9108 and wondered if the University of Oslo where I work would be
9109 interested in supporting the project.  I helped him to navigate his
9110 request to the right people at work, and his request was answered with
9111 a spot in the machine room with power and network connected, and Knut
9112 arranged funding for a machine to fill the spot.  The machine is
9113 administrated by the OfficeShots people, so I do not have daily
9114 contact with its progress, and thus from time to time check back to
9115 see how the project is doing.</p>
9116
9117 <p>Today I had a look, and was happy to see that the Dell box in our
9118 machine room now is the host for several virtual machines running as
9119 OfficeShots factories, and the project is able to render ODF documents
9120 in 17 different document processing implementation on Linux and
9121 Windows.  This is great.</p>
9122
9123       </div>
9124       <div class="tags">
9125
9126
9127         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>.
9128
9129
9130       </div>
9131     </div>
9132     <div class="padding"></div>
9133
9134     <div class="entry">
9135       <div class="title">
9136         <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>
9137       </div>
9138       <div class="date">
9139         13th June 2010
9140       </div>
9141       <div class="body">
9142         <p>My
9143 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">testing
9144 of Debian upgrades</a> from Lenny to Squeeze continues, and I've
9145 finally made the upgrade logs available from
9146 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/</a>.
9147 I am now testing dist-upgrade of Gnome and KDE in a chroot using both
9148 apt and aptitude, and found their differences interesting.  This time
9149 I will only focus on their removal plans.</p>
9150
9151 <p>After installing a Gnome desktop and the laptop task, apt-get wants
9152 to remove 72 packages when dist-upgrading from Lenny to Squeeze.  The
9153 surprising part is that it want to remove xorg and all
9154 xserver-xorg-video* drivers.  Clearly not a good choice, but I am not
9155 sure why.  When asking aptitude to do the same, it want to remove 129
9156 packages, but most of them are library packages I suspect are no
9157 longer needed.  Both of them want to remove bluetooth packages, which
9158 I do not know.  Perhaps these bluetooth packages are obsolete?</p>
9159
9160 <p>For KDE, apt-get want to remove 82 packages, among them kdebase
9161 which seem like a bad idea and xorg the same way as with Gnome. Asking
9162 aptitude for the same, it wants to remove 192 packages, none which are
9163 too surprising.</p>
9164
9165 <p>I guess the removal of xorg during upgrades should be investigated
9166 and avoided, and perhaps others as well.  Here are the complete list
9167 of planned removals.  The complete logs is available from the URL
9168 above.  Note if you want to repeat these tests, that the upgrade test
9169 for kde+apt-get hung in the tasksel setup because of dpkg asking
9170 conffile questions.  No idea why.  I worked around it by using
9171 '<tt>echo >> /proc/<em>pidofdpkg</em>/fd/0</tt>' to tell dpkg to
9172 continue.</p>
9173
9174 <p><b>apt-get gnome 72</b>
9175 <br>bluez-gnome cupsddk-drivers deskbar-applet gnome
9176   gnome-desktop-environment gnome-network-admin gtkhtml3.14
9177   iceweasel-gnome-support libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libgdl-1-0
9178   libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libmetacity0 libslab0 libxcb-xlib0
9179   nautilus-cd-burner python-gnome2-desktop python-gnome2-extras
9180   serpentine swfdec-mozilla update-manager xorg xserver-xorg
9181   xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
9182   xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
9183   xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom
9184   xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark
9185   xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips
9186   xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix
9187   xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
9188   xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
9189   xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt
9190   xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64
9191   xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
9192   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv
9193   xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128
9194   xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd
9195   xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3
9196   xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage
9197   xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis
9198   xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
9199   xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident
9200   xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l
9201   xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga
9202   xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9
9203   xulrunner-1.9-gnome-support</p>
9204
9205 <p><b>aptitude gnome 129</b>
9206
9207 <br>bluez-gnome bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers dhcdbd
9208   djvulibre-desktop finger gnome-app-install gnome-mount
9209   gnome-network-admin gnome-spell gnome-vfs-obexftp
9210   gnome-volume-manager gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs gtkhtml3.14 libao2
9211   libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2
9212   libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcupsys2 libcurl3 libdatrie0
9213   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedataserver1.2-9 libeel2-2.20
9214   libeel2-data libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libfaad0 libgail-common
9215   libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libgdl-1-0 libgdl-1-common
9216   libggz2 libggzcore9 libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0
9217   libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libgnomeprint2.2-0
9218   libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgnomeprintui2.2-common
9219   libgnomevfs2-bin libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0
9220   libgtksourceview-common libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6
9221   libhesiod0 libicu38 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 libmagick++10
9222   libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmetacity0 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off
9223   libnautilus-burn4 libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2
9224   libosp5 libparted1.8-10 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 libpt-1.10.10
9225   libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libraw1394-8
9226   libsensors3 libslab0 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8 libssh2-1
9227   libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 libtotem-plparser10
9228   libtrackerclient0 libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0
9229   libxerces2-java libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6
9230   libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 mysql-common nautilus-cd-burner
9231   openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip
9232   python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gnome2-desktop
9233   python-gnome2-extras python-gtkhtml2 python-gtkmozembed
9234   python-numeric python-sexy serpentine svgalibg1 swfdec-gnome
9235   swfdec-mozilla totem-gstreamer update-manager wodim
9236   xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt
9237   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga
9238   zip</p>
9239
9240 <p><b>apt-get kde 82</b>
9241
9242 <br>cupsddk-drivers karm kaudiocreator kcoloredit kcontrol kde kde-core
9243   kdeaddons kdeartwork kdebase kdebase-bin kdebase-bin-kde3
9244   kdebase-kio-plugins kdesktop kdeutils khelpcenter kicker
9245   kicker-applets knewsticker kolourpaint konq-plugins konqueror korn
9246   kpersonalizer kscreensaver ksplash libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libkiten1
9247   libxcb-xlib0 quanta superkaramba texlive-base-bin xorg xserver-xorg
9248   xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
9249   xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
9250   xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom
9251   xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark
9252   xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips
9253   xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix
9254   xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
9255   xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
9256   xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt
9257   xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64
9258   xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
9259   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv
9260   xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128
9261   xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd
9262   xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3
9263   xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage
9264   xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis
9265   xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
9266   xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident
9267   xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l
9268   xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga
9269   xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9</p>
9270
9271 <p><b>aptitude kde 192</b>
9272 <br>bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers cvs dcoprss dhcdbd
9273   djvulibre-desktop dosfstools eyesapplet fifteenapplet finger gettext
9274   ghostscript-x imlib-base imlib11 indi kandy karm kasteroids
9275   kaudiocreator kbackgammon kbstate kcoloredit kcontrol kcron kdat
9276   kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdeartwork-misc kdeartwork-theme-window
9277   kdebase-bin-kde3 kdebase-kio-plugins kdeedu-data
9278   kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelirc kdemultimedia-kappfinder-data
9279   kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdenetwork-kfile-plugins
9280   kdepim-kfile-plugins kdepim-kio-plugins kdeprint kdesktop kdessh
9281   kdict kdnssd kdvi kedit keduca kenolaba kfax kfaxview kfouleggs
9282   kghostview khelpcenter khexedit kiconedit kitchensync klatin
9283   klickety kmailcvt kmenuedit kmid kmilo kmoon kmrml kodo kolourpaint
9284   kooka korn kpager kpdf kpercentage kpf kpilot kpoker kpovmodeler
9285   krec kregexpeditor ksayit ksim ksirc ksirtet ksmiletris ksmserver
9286   ksnake ksokoban ksplash ksvg ksysv ktip ktnef kuickshow kverbos
9287   kview kviewshell kvoctrain kwifimanager kwin kwin4 kworldclock
9288   kxsldbg libakode2 libao2 libarts1-akode libarts1-audiofile
9289   libarts1-mpeglib libarts1-xine libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
9290   libavahi-core5 libavc1394-0 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2
9291   libboost-python1.34.1 libcucul0 libcurl3 libcvsservice0 libdatrie0
9292   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdjvulibre21 libdvdread3 libfaad0 libfreebob0
9293   libgail-common libgd2-noxpm libgraphviz4 libgsmme1c2a libgtkhtml2-0
9294   libicu38 libiec61883-0 libindex0 libiw29 libk3b3 libkcal2b libkcddb1
9295   libkdeedu3 libkdepim1a libkgantt0 libkiten1 libkleopatra1 libkmime2
9296   libkpathsea4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1
9297   libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 libltdl3 libmagick10 libmimelib1c2a
9298   libmozjs1d libmpcdec3 libneon27 libnm-util0 libopensync0 libpisock9
9299   libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler3 libraw1394-8 libsmbios2
9300   libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libtalloc1 libtiff-tools
9301   libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0 libxerces2-java
9302   libxerces2-java-gcj libxtrap6 mpeglib networkstatus
9303   openoffice.org-writer2latex pmount poster psutils quanta quanta-data
9304   superkaramba svgalibg1 tex-common texlive-base texlive-base-bin
9305   texlive-common texlive-doc-base texlive-fonts-recommended
9306   xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt
9307   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga
9308   xulrunner-1.9</p>
9309
9310
9311       </div>
9312       <div class="tags">
9313
9314
9315         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>.
9316
9317
9318       </div>
9319     </div>
9320     <div class="padding"></div>
9321
9322     <div class="entry">
9323       <div class="title">
9324         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">Automatic upgrade testing from Lenny to Squeeze</a>
9325       </div>
9326       <div class="date">
9327         11th June 2010
9328       </div>
9329       <div class="body">
9330         <p>The last few days I have done some upgrade testing in Debian, to
9331 see if the upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze will go smoothly.  A few bugs
9332 have been discovered and reported in the process
9333 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/585410">#585410</a> in nagios3-cgi,
9334 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584879">#584879</a> already fixed in
9335 enscript and <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584861">#584861</a> in
9336 kdebase-workspace-data), and to get a more regular testing going on, I
9337 am working on a script to automate the test.</p>
9338
9339 <p>The idea is to create a Lenny chroot and use tasksel to install a
9340 Gnome or KDE desktop installation inside the chroot before upgrading
9341 it.  To ensure no services are started in the chroot, a policy-rc.d
9342 script is inserted.  To make sure tasksel believe it is to install a
9343 desktop on a laptop, the tasksel tests are replaced in the chroot
9344 (only acceptable because this is a throw-away chroot).</p>
9345
9346 <p>A naive upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze using aptitude dist-upgrade
9347 currently always fail because udev refuses to upgrade with the kernel
9348 in Lenny, so to avoid that problem the file /etc/udev/kernel-upgrade
9349 is created.  The bug report
9350 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/566000">#566000</a> make me suspect
9351 this problem do not trigger in a chroot, but I touch the file anyway
9352 to make sure the upgrade go well.  Testing on virtual and real
9353 hardware have failed me because of udev so far, and creating this file
9354 do the trick in such settings anyway.  This is a
9355 <a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/debian-26/failed-dist-upgrade-due-to-udev-config_sysfs_deprecated-nonsense-804130/">known
9356 issue</a> and the current udev behaviour is intended by the udev
9357 maintainer because he lack the resources to rewrite udev to keep
9358 working with old kernels or something like that.  I really wish the
9359 udev upstream would keep udev backwards compatible, to avoid such
9360 upgrade problem, but given that they fail to do so, I guess
9361 documenting the way out of this mess is the best option we got for
9362 Debian Squeeze.</p>
9363
9364 <p>Anyway, back to the task at hand, testing upgrades.  This test
9365 script, which I call <tt>upgrade-test</tt> for now, is doing the
9366 trick:</p>
9367
9368 <blockquote><pre>
9369 #!/bin/sh
9370 set -ex
9371
9372 if [ "$1" ] ; then
9373     desktop=$1
9374 else
9375     desktop=gnome
9376 fi
9377
9378 from=lenny
9379 to=squeeze
9380
9381 exec &lt; /dev/null
9382 unset LANG
9383 mirror=http://ftp.skolelinux.org/debian
9384 tmpdir=chroot-$from-upgrade-$to-$desktop
9385 fuser -mv .
9386 debootstrap $from $tmpdir $mirror
9387 chroot $tmpdir aptitude update
9388 cat > $tmpdir/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d &lt;&lt;EOF
9389 #!/bin/sh
9390 exit 101
9391 EOF
9392 chmod a+rx $tmpdir/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
9393 exit_cleanup() {
9394     umount $tmpdir/proc
9395 }
9396 mount -t proc proc $tmpdir/proc
9397 # Make sure proc is unmounted also on failure
9398 trap exit_cleanup EXIT INT
9399
9400 chroot $tmpdir aptitude -y install debconf-utils
9401
9402 # Make sure tasksel autoselection trigger.  It need the test scripts
9403 # to return the correct answers.
9404 echo tasksel tasksel/desktop multiselect $desktop | \
9405     chroot $tmpdir debconf-set-selections
9406
9407 # Include the desktop and laptop task
9408 for test in desktop laptop ; do
9409     echo > $tmpdir/usr/lib/tasksel/tests/$test &lt;&lt;EOF
9410 #!/bin/sh
9411 exit 2
9412 EOF
9413     chmod a+rx $tmpdir/usr/lib/tasksel/tests/$test
9414 done
9415
9416 DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
9417 DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical
9418 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND DEBIAN_PRIORITY
9419 chroot $tmpdir tasksel --new-install
9420
9421 echo deb $mirror $to main > $tmpdir/etc/apt/sources.list
9422 chroot $tmpdir aptitude update
9423 touch $tmpdir/etc/udev/kernel-upgrade
9424 chroot $tmpdir aptitude -y dist-upgrade
9425 fuser -mv
9426 </pre></blockquote>
9427
9428 <p>I suspect it would be useful to test upgrades with both apt-get and
9429 with aptitude, but I have not had time to look at how they behave
9430 differently so far.  I hope to get a cron job running to do the test
9431 regularly and post the result on the web.  The Gnome upgrade currently
9432 work, while the KDE upgrade fail because of the bug in
9433 kdebase-workspace-data</p>
9434
9435 <p>I am not quite sure what kind of extract from the huge upgrade logs
9436 (KDE 167 KiB, Gnome 516 KiB) it make sense to include in this blog
9437 post, so I will refrain from trying.  I can report that for Gnome,
9438 aptitude report 760 packages upgraded, 448 newly installed, 129 to
9439 remove and 1 not upgraded and 1024MB need to be downloaded while for
9440 KDE the same numbers are 702 packages upgraded, 507 newly installed,
9441 193 to remove and 0 not upgraded and 1117MB need to be downloaded</p>
9442
9443 <p>I am very happy to notice that the Gnome desktop + laptop upgrade
9444 is able to migrate to dependency based boot sequencing and parallel
9445 booting without a hitch.  Was unsure if there were still bugs with
9446 packages failing to clean up their obsolete init.d script during
9447 upgrades, and no such problem seem to affect the Gnome desktop+laptop
9448 packages.</p>
9449
9450       </div>
9451       <div class="tags">
9452
9453
9454         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>.
9455
9456
9457       </div>
9458     </div>
9459     <div class="padding"></div>
9460
9461     <div class="entry">
9462       <div class="title">
9463         <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>
9464       </div>
9465       <div class="date">
9466          6th June 2010
9467       </div>
9468       <div class="body">
9469         <p>If Debian is to migrate to upstart on Linux, I expect some init.d
9470 scripts to migrate (some of) their operations to upstart job while
9471 keeping the init.d for hurd and kfreebsd.  The packages with such
9472 needs will need a way to get their init.d scripts to behave
9473 differently when used with sysvinit and with upstart.  Because of
9474 this, I had a look at the environment variables set when a init.d
9475 script is running under upstart, and when it is not.</p>
9476
9477 <p>With upstart, I notice these environment variables are set when a
9478 script is started from rcS.d/ (ignoring some irrelevant ones like
9479 COLUMNS):</p>
9480
9481 <blockquote><pre>
9482 DEFAULT_RUNLEVEL=2
9483 previous=N
9484 PREVLEVEL=
9485 RUNLEVEL=
9486 runlevel=S
9487 UPSTART_EVENTS=startup
9488 UPSTART_INSTANCE=
9489 UPSTART_JOB=rc-sysinit
9490 </pre></blockquote>
9491
9492 <p>With sysvinit, these environment variables are set for the same
9493 script.</p>
9494
9495 <blockquote><pre>
9496 INIT_VERSION=sysvinit-2.88
9497 previous=N
9498 PREVLEVEL=N
9499 RUNLEVEL=S
9500 runlevel=S
9501 </pre></blockquote>
9502
9503 <p>The RUNLEVEL and PREVLEVEL environment variables passed on from
9504 sysvinit are not set by upstart.  Not sure if it is intentional or not
9505 to not be compatible with sysvinit in this regard.</p>
9506
9507 <p>For scripts needing to behave differently when upstart is used,
9508 looking for the UPSTART_JOB environment variable seem to be a good
9509 choice.</p>
9510
9511       </div>
9512       <div class="tags">
9513
9514
9515         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>.
9516
9517
9518       </div>
9519     </div>
9520     <div class="padding"></div>
9521
9522     <div class="entry">
9523       <div class="title">
9524         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_manual_for_standards_wars___.html">A manual for standards wars...</a>
9525       </div>
9526       <div class="date">
9527          6th June 2010
9528       </div>
9529       <div class="body">
9530         <p>Via the
9531 <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/robweir/antic-atom/~3/QzU4RgoAGMg/weekly-links-10.html">blog
9532 of Rob Weir</a> I came across the very interesting essay named
9533 <a href="http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/shapiro/wars.pdf">The Art of
9534 Standards Wars</a> (PDF 25 pages).  I recommend it for everyone
9535 following the standards wars of today.</p>
9536
9537       </div>
9538       <div class="tags">
9539
9540
9541         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>.
9542
9543
9544       </div>
9545     </div>
9546     <div class="padding"></div>
9547
9548     <div class="entry">
9549       <div class="title">
9550         <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>
9551       </div>
9552       <div class="date">
9553          3rd June 2010
9554       </div>
9555       <div class="body">
9556         <p>When using sitesummary at a site to track machines, it is possible
9557 to get a list of the machine types in use thanks to the DMI
9558 information extracted from each machine.  The script to do so is
9559 included in the sitesummary package, and here is example output from
9560 the Skolelinux build servers:</p>
9561
9562 <blockquote><pre>
9563 maintainer:~# /usr/lib/sitesummary/hardware-model-summary
9564   vendor                    count
9565   Dell Computer Corporation     1
9566     PowerEdge 1750              1
9567   IBM                           1
9568     eserver xSeries 345 -[8670M1X]-     1
9569   Intel                         2
9570   [no-dmi-info]                 3
9571 maintainer:~#
9572 </pre></blockquote>
9573
9574 <p>The quality of the report depend on the quality of the DMI tables
9575 provided in each machine.  Here there are Intel machines without model
9576 information listed with Intel as vendor and no model, and virtual Xen
9577 machines listed as [no-dmi-info].  One can add -l as a command line
9578 option to list the individual machines.</p>
9579
9580 <p>A larger list is
9581 <a href="http://narvikskolen.no/sitesummary/">available from the the
9582 city of Narvik</a>, which uses Skolelinux on all their shools and also
9583 provide the basic sitesummary report publicly.  In their report there
9584 are ~1400 machines. I know they use both Ubuntu and Skolelinux on
9585 their machines, and as sitesummary is available in both distributions,
9586 it is trivial to get all of them to report to the same central
9587 collector.</p>
9588
9589       </div>
9590       <div class="tags">
9591
9592
9593         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>.
9594
9595
9596       </div>
9597     </div>
9598     <div class="padding"></div>
9599
9600     <div class="entry">
9601       <div class="title">
9602         <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>
9603       </div>
9604       <div class="date">
9605          1st June 2010
9606       </div>
9607       <div class="body">
9608         <p>It is strange to watch how a bug in Debian causing KDM to fail to
9609 start at boot when an NVidia video card is used is handled.  The
9610 problem seem to be that the nvidia X.org driver uses a long time to
9611 initialize, and this duration is longer than kdm is configured to
9612 wait.</p>
9613
9614 <p>I came across two bugs related to this issue,
9615 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/583312">#583312</a> initially filed
9616 against initscripts and passed on to nvidia-glx when it became obvious
9617 that the nvidia drivers were involved, and
9618 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/524751">#524751</a> initially filed against
9619 kdm and passed on to src:nvidia-graphics-drivers for unknown reasons.</p>
9620
9621 <p>To me, it seem that no-one is interested in actually solving the
9622 problem nvidia video card owners experience and make sure the Debian
9623 distribution work out of the box for these users.  The nvidia driver
9624 maintainers expect kdm to be set up to wait longer, while kdm expect
9625 the nvidia driver maintainers to fix the driver to start faster, and
9626 while they wait for each other I guess the users end up switching to a
9627 distribution that work for them.  I have no idea what the solution is,
9628 but I am pretty sure that waiting for each other is not it.</p>
9629
9630 <p>I wonder why we end up handling bugs this way.</p>
9631
9632       </div>
9633       <div class="tags">
9634
9635
9636         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>.
9637
9638
9639       </div>
9640     </div>
9641     <div class="padding"></div>
9642
9643     <div class="entry">
9644       <div class="title">
9645         <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>
9646       </div>
9647       <div class="date">
9648         27th May 2010
9649       </div>
9650       <div class="body">
9651         <p>A few days ago, parallel booting was enabled in Debian/testing.
9652 The feature seem to hold up pretty well, but three fairly serious
9653 issues are known and should be solved:
9654
9655 <p><ul>
9656
9657 <li>The wicd package seen to
9658 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/508289">break NFS mounting</a> and
9659 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/581586">network setup</a> when
9660 parallel booting is enabled.  No idea why, but the wicd maintainer
9661 seem to be on the case.</li>
9662
9663 <li>The nvidia X driver seem to
9664 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/583312">have a race condition</a>
9665 triggered more easily when parallel booting is in effect.  The
9666 maintainer is on the case.</li>
9667
9668 <li>The sysv-rc package fail to properly enable dependency based boot
9669 sequencing (the shutdown is broken) when old file-rc users
9670 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/575080">try to switch back</a> to
9671 sysv-rc.  One way to solve it would be for file-rc to create
9672 /etc/init.d/.legacy-bootordering, and another is to try to make
9673 sysv-rc more robust.  Will investigate some more and probably upload a
9674 workaround in sysv-rc to help those trying to move from file-rc to
9675 sysv-rc get a working shutdown.</li>
9676
9677 </ul></p>
9678
9679 <p>All in all not many surprising issues, and all of them seem
9680 solvable before Squeeze is released.  In addition to these there are
9681 some packages with bugs in their dependencies and run level settings,
9682 which I expect will be fixed in a reasonable time span.</p>
9683
9684 <p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to
9685 the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at
9686 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the
9687 list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p>
9688
9689 <p>Update: Correct bug number to file-rc issue.</p>
9690
9691       </div>
9692       <div class="tags">
9693
9694
9695         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>.
9696
9697
9698       </div>
9699     </div>
9700     <div class="padding"></div>
9701
9702     <div class="entry">
9703       <div class="title">
9704         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/More_flexible_firmware_handling_in_debian_installer.html">More flexible firmware handling in debian-installer</a>
9705       </div>
9706       <div class="date">
9707         22nd May 2010
9708       </div>
9709       <div class="body">
9710         <p>After a long break from debian-installer development, I finally
9711 found time today to return to the project.  Having to spend less time
9712 working dependency based boot in debian, as it is almost complete now,
9713 definitely helped freeing some time.</p>
9714
9715 <p>A while back, I ran into a problem while working on Debian Edu.  We
9716 include some firmware packages on the Debian Edu CDs, those needed to
9717 get disk and network controllers working.  Without having these
9718 firmware packages available during installation, it is impossible to
9719 install Debian Edu on the given machine, and because our target group
9720 are non-technical people, asking them to provide firmware packages on
9721 an external medium is a support pain.  Initially, I expected it to be
9722 enough to include the firmware packages on the CD to get
9723 debian-installer to find and use them.  This proved to be wrong.
9724 Next, I hoped it was enough to symlink the relevant firmware packages
9725 to some useful location on the CD (tried /cdrom/ and
9726 /cdrom/firmware/).  This also proved to not work, and at this point I
9727 found time to look at the debian-installer code to figure out what was
9728 going to work.</p>
9729
9730 <p>The firmware loading code is in the hw-detect package, and a closer
9731 look revealed that it would only look for firmware packages outside
9732 the installation media, so the CD was never checked for firmware
9733 packages.  It would only check USB sticks, floppies and other
9734 "external" media devices.  Today I changed it to also look in the
9735 /cdrom/firmware/ directory on the mounted CD or DVD, which should
9736 solve the problem I ran into with Debian edu.  I also changed it to
9737 look in /firmware/, to make sure the installer also find firmware
9738 provided in the initrd when booting the installer via PXE, to allow us
9739 to provide the same feature in the PXE setup included in Debian
9740 Edu.</p>
9741
9742 <p>To make sure firmware deb packages with a license questions are not
9743 activated without asking if the license is accepted, I extended
9744 hw-detect to look for preinst scripts in the firmware packages, and
9745 run these before activating the firmware during installation.  The
9746 license question is asked using debconf in the preinst, so this should
9747 solve the issue for the firmware packages I have looked at so far.</p>
9748
9749 <p>If you want to discuss the details of these features, please
9750 contact us on debian-boot@lists.debian.org.</p>
9751
9752       </div>
9753       <div class="tags">
9754
9755
9756         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>.
9757
9758
9759       </div>
9760     </div>
9761     <div class="padding"></div>
9762
9763     <div class="entry">
9764       <div class="title">
9765         <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>
9766       </div>
9767       <div class="date">
9768         19th May 2010
9769       </div>
9770       <div class="body">
9771         <p>Today, the last piece of the puzzle for roaming laptops in Debian
9772 Edu finally entered the Debian archive.  Today, the new
9773 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/libp/libpam-mklocaluser.html">libpam-mklocaluser</a>
9774 package was accepted.  Two days ago, two other pieces was accepted
9775 into unstable.  The
9776 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/p/pam-python.html">pam-python</a>
9777 package needed by libpam-mklocaluser, and the
9778 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/sssd.html">sssd</a> package
9779 passed NEW on Monday.  In addition, the
9780 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/libp/libpam-ccreds.html">libpam-ccreds</a>
9781 package we need is in experimental (version 10-4) since Saturday, and
9782 hopefully will be moved to unstable soon.</p>
9783
9784 <p>This collection of packages allow for two different setups for
9785 roaming laptops.  The traditional setup would be using libpam-ccreds,
9786 nscd and libpam-mklocaluser with LDAP or Kerberos authentication,
9787 which should work out of the box if the configuration changes proposed
9788 for nscd in <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/485282">BTS report
9789 #485282</a> is implemented.  The alternative setup is to use sssd with
9790 libpam-mklocaluser to connect to LDAP or Kerberos and let sssd take
9791 care of the caching of passwords and group information.</p>
9792
9793 <p>I have so far been unable to get sssd to work with the LDAP server
9794 at the University, but suspect the issue is some SSL/GnuTLS related
9795 problem with the server certificate.  I plan to update the Debian
9796 package to version 1.2, which is scheduled for next week, and hope to
9797 find time to make sure the next release will include both the
9798 Debian/Ubuntu specific patches.  Upstream is friendly and responsive,
9799 and I am sure we will find a good solution.</p>
9800
9801 <p>The idea is to set up the roaming laptops to authenticate using
9802 LDAP or Kerberos and create a local user with home directory in /home/
9803 when a usre in LDAP logs in via KDM or GDM for the first time, and
9804 cache the password for offline checking, as well as caching group
9805 memberhips and other relevant LDAP information.  The
9806 libpam-mklocaluser package was created to make sure the local home
9807 directory is in /home/, instead of /site/server/directory/ which would
9808 be the home directory if pam_mkhomedir was used.  To avoid confusion
9809 with support requests and configuration, we do not want local laptops
9810 to have users in a path that is used for the same users home directory
9811 on the home directory servers.</p>
9812
9813 <p>One annoying problem with gdm is that it do not show the PAM
9814 message passed to the user from libpam-mklocaluser when the local user
9815 is created.  Instead gdm simply reject the login with some generic
9816 message.  The message is shown in kdm, ssh and login, so I guess it is
9817 a bug in gdm.  Have not investigated if there is some other message
9818 type that can be used instead to get gdm to also show the message.</p>
9819
9820 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
9821 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
9822
9823       </div>
9824       <div class="tags">
9825
9826
9827         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>.
9828
9829
9830       </div>
9831     </div>
9832     <div class="padding"></div>
9833
9834     <div class="entry">
9835       <div class="title">
9836         <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>
9837       </div>
9838       <div class="date">
9839         14th May 2010
9840       </div>
9841       <div class="body">
9842         <p>Since this evening, parallel booting is the default in
9843 Debian/unstable for machines using dependency based boot sequencing.
9844 Apparently the testing of concurrent booting has been wider than
9845 expected, if I am to believe the
9846 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg00122.html">input
9847 on debian-devel@</a>, and I concluded a few days ago to move forward
9848 with the feature this weekend, to give us some time to detect any
9849 remaining problems before Squeeze is frozen.  If serious problems are
9850 detected, it is simple to change the default back to sequential boot.
9851 The upload of the new sysvinit package also activate a new upstream
9852 version.</p>
9853
9854 More information about
9855 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts/DependencyBasedBoot">dependency
9856 based boot sequencing</a> is available from the Debian wiki.  It is
9857 currently possible to disable parallel booting when one run into
9858 problems caused by it, by adding this line to /etc/default/rcS:</p>
9859
9860 <blockquote><pre>
9861 CONCURRENCY=none
9862 </pre></blockquote>
9863
9864 <p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to
9865 the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at
9866 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the
9867 list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p>
9868
9869       </div>
9870       <div class="tags">
9871
9872
9873         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>.
9874
9875
9876       </div>
9877     </div>
9878     <div class="padding"></div>
9879
9880     <div class="entry">
9881       <div class="title">
9882         <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>
9883       </div>
9884       <div class="date">
9885         14th May 2010
9886       </div>
9887       <div class="body">
9888         <p>In the recent Debian Edu versions, the
9889 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/SiteSummary">sitesummary
9890 system</a> is used to keep track of the machines in the school
9891 network.  Each machine will automatically report its status to the
9892 central server after boot and once per night.  The network setup is
9893 also reported, and using this information it is possible to get the
9894 MAC address of all network interfaces in the machines.  This is useful
9895 to update the DHCP configuration.</p>
9896
9897 <p>To give some idea how to use sitesummary, here is a one-liner to
9898 ist all MAC addresses of all machines reporting to sitesummary.  Run
9899 this on the collector host:</p>
9900
9901 <blockquote><pre>
9902 perl -MSiteSummary -e 'for_all_hosts(sub { print join(" ", get_macaddresses(shift)), "\n"; });'
9903 </pre></blockquote>
9904
9905 <p>This will list all MAC addresses assosiated with all machine, one
9906 line per machine and with space between the MAC addresses.</p>
9907
9908 <p>To allow system administrators easier job at adding static DHCP
9909 addresses for hosts, it would be possible to extend this to fetch
9910 machine information from sitesummary and update the DHCP and DNS
9911 tables in LDAP using this information.  Such tool is unfortunately not
9912 written yet.</p>
9913
9914       </div>
9915       <div class="tags">
9916
9917
9918         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>.
9919
9920
9921       </div>
9922     </div>
9923     <div class="padding"></div>
9924
9925     <div class="entry">
9926       <div class="title">
9927         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/systemd__an_interesting_alternative_to_upstart.html">systemd, an interesting alternative to upstart</a>
9928       </div>
9929       <div class="date">
9930         13th May 2010
9931       </div>
9932       <div class="body">
9933         <p>The last few days a new boot system called
9934 <a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd">systemd</a>
9935 has been
9936 <a href="http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/systemd.html">introduced</a>
9937
9938 to the free software world.  I have not yet had time to play around
9939 with it, but it seem to be a very interesting alternative to
9940 <a href="http://upstart.ubuntu.com/">upstart</a>, and might prove to be
9941 a good alternative for Debian when we are able to switch to an event
9942 based boot system.  Tollef is
9943 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/580814">in the process</a> of getting
9944 systemd into Debian, and I look forward to seeing how well it work.  I
9945 like the fact that systemd handles init.d scripts with dependency
9946 information natively, allowing them to run in parallel where upstart
9947 at the moment do not.</p>
9948
9949 <p>Unfortunately do systemd have the same problem as upstart regarding
9950 platform support.  It only work on recent Linux kernels, and also need
9951 some new kernel features enabled to function properly.  This means
9952 kFreeBSD and Hurd ports of Debian will need a port or a different boot
9953 system.  Not sure how that will be handled if systemd proves to be the
9954 way forward.</p>
9955
9956 <p>In the mean time, based on the
9957 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg00122.html">input
9958 on debian-devel@</a> regarding parallel booting in Debian, I have
9959 decided to enable full parallel booting as the default in Debian as
9960 soon as possible (probably this weekend or early next week), to see if
9961 there are any remaining serious bugs in the init.d dependencies.  A
9962 new version of the sysvinit package implementing this change is
9963 already in experimental.  If all go well, Squeeze will be released
9964 with parallel booting enabled by default.</p>
9965
9966       </div>
9967       <div class="tags">
9968
9969
9970         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>.
9971
9972
9973       </div>
9974     </div>
9975     <div class="padding"></div>
9976
9977     <div class="entry">
9978       <div class="title">
9979         <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>
9980       </div>
9981       <div class="date">
9982          6th May 2010
9983       </div>
9984       <div class="body">
9985         <p>These days, the init.d script dependencies in Squeeze are quite
9986 complete, so complete that it is actually possible to run all the
9987 init.d scripts in parallell based on these dependencies.  If you want
9988 to test your Squeeze system, make sure
9989 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts/DependencyBasedBoot">dependency
9990 based boot sequencing</a> is enabled, and add this line to
9991 /etc/default/rcS:</p>
9992
9993 <blockquote><pre>
9994 CONCURRENCY=makefile
9995 </pre></blockquote>
9996
9997 <p>That is it.  It will cause sysv-rc to use the startpar tool to run
9998 scripts in parallel using the dependency information stored in
9999 /etc/init.d/.depend.boot, /etc/init.d/.depend.start and
10000 /etc/init.d/.depend.stop to order the scripts.  Startpar is configured
10001 to try to start the kdm and gdm scripts as early as possible, and will
10002 start the facilities required by kdm or gdm as early as possible to
10003 make this happen.</p>
10004
10005 <p>Give it a try, and see if you like the result.  If some services
10006 fail to start properly, it is most likely because they have incomplete
10007 init.d script dependencies in their startup script (or some of their
10008 dependent scripts have incomplete dependencies).  Report bugs and get
10009 the package maintainers to fix it. :)</p>
10010
10011 <p>Running scripts in parallel could be the default in Debian when we
10012 manage to get the init.d script dependencies complete and correct.  I
10013 expect we will get there in Squeeze+1, if we get manage to test and
10014 fix the remaining issues.</p>
10015
10016 <p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to
10017 the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at
10018 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the
10019 list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p>
10020
10021       </div>
10022       <div class="tags">
10023
10024
10025         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>.
10026
10027
10028       </div>
10029     </div>
10030     <div class="padding"></div>
10031
10032     <div class="entry">
10033       <div class="title">
10034         <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>
10035       </div>
10036       <div class="date">
10037          2nd May 2010
10038       </div>
10039       <div class="body">
10040         <p>One interesting feature in Active Directory, is the ability to
10041 create a new user with an expired password, and thus force the user to
10042 change the password on the first login attempt.</p>
10043
10044 <p>I'm not quite sure how to do that with the LDAP setup in Debian
10045 Edu, but did some initial testing with a local account.  The account
10046 and password aging information is available in /etc/shadow, but
10047 unfortunately, it is not possible to specify an expiration time for
10048 passwords, only a maximum age for passwords.</p>
10049
10050 <p>A freshly created account (using adduser test) will have these
10051 settings in /etc/shadow:</p>
10052
10053 <blockquote><pre>
10054 root@tjener:~# chage -l test
10055 Last password change                                    : May 02, 2010
10056 Password expires                                        : never
10057 Password inactive                                       : never
10058 Account expires                                         : never
10059 Minimum number of days between password change          : 0
10060 Maximum number of days between password change          : 99999
10061 Number of days of warning before password expires       : 7
10062 root@tjener:~#
10063 </pre></blockquote>
10064
10065 <p>The only way I could come up with to create a user with an expired
10066 account, is to change the date of the last password change to the
10067 lowest value possible (January 1th 1970), and the maximum password age
10068 to the difference in days between that date and today.  To make it
10069 simple, I went for 30 years (30 * 365 = 10950) and January 2th (to
10070 avoid testing if 0 is a valid value).</p>
10071
10072 <p>After using these commands to set it up, it seem to work as
10073 intended:</p>
10074
10075 <blockquote><pre>
10076 root@tjener:~# chage -d 1 test; chage -M 10950 test
10077 root@tjener:~# chage -l test
10078 Last password change                                    : Jan 02, 1970
10079 Password expires                                        : never
10080 Password inactive                                       : never
10081 Account expires                                         : never
10082 Minimum number of days between password change          : 0
10083 Maximum number of days between password change          : 10950
10084 Number of days of warning before password expires       : 7
10085 root@tjener:~#
10086 </pre></blockquote>
10087
10088 <p>So far I have tested this with ssh and console, and kdm (in
10089 Squeeze) login, and all ask for a new password before login in the
10090 user (with ssh, I was thrown out and had to log in again).</p>
10091
10092 <p>Perhaps we should set up something similar for Debian Edu, to make
10093 sure only the user itself have the account password?</p>
10094
10095 <p>If you want to comment on or help out with implementing this for
10096 Debian Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
10097
10098 <p>Update 2010-05-02 17:20: Paul Tötterman tells me on IRC that the
10099 shadow(8) page in Debian/testing now state that setting the date of
10100 last password change to zero (0) will force the password to be changed
10101 on the first login.  This was not mentioned in the manual in Lenny, so
10102 I did not notice this in my initial testing.  I have tested it on
10103 Squeeze, and '<tt>chage -d 0 username</tt>' do work there.  I have not
10104 tested it on Lenny yet.</p>
10105
10106 <p>Update 2010-05-02-19:05: Jim Paris tells me via email that an
10107 equivalent command to expire a password is '<tt>passwd -e
10108 username</tt>', which insert zero into the date of the last password
10109 change.</p>
10110
10111       </div>
10112       <div class="tags">
10113
10114
10115         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>.
10116
10117
10118       </div>
10119     </div>
10120     <div class="padding"></div>
10121
10122     <div class="entry">
10123       <div class="title">
10124         <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>
10125       </div>
10126       <div class="date">
10127         28th April 2010
10128       </div>
10129       <div class="body">
10130         <p>For some years now, I have wondered how we should handle laptops in
10131 Debian Edu.  The Debian Edu infrastructure is mostly designed to
10132 handle stationary computers, and less suited for computers that come
10133 and go.</p>
10134
10135 <p>Now I finally believe I have an sensible idea on how to adjust
10136 Debian Edu for laptops, by introducing a new profile for them, for
10137 example called Roaming Workstations.  Here are my thought on this.
10138 The setup would consist of the following:</p>
10139
10140 <ul>
10141
10142  <li>During installation, the user name of the owner / primary user of
10143    the laptop is requested and a local home directory is set up for
10144    the user, with uid and gid information fetched from the LDAP
10145    server.  This allow the user to work also when offline.  The
10146    central home directory can be available in a subdirectory on
10147    request, for example mounted via CIFS.  It could be mounted
10148    automatically when a user log in while on the Debian Edu network,
10149    and unmounted when the machine is taken away (network down,
10150    hibernate, etc), it can be set up to do automatic mounting on
10151    request (using autofs), or perhaps some GUI button on the desktop
10152    can be used to access it when needed.  Perhaps it is enough to use
10153    the fish protocol in KDE?</li>
10154
10155  <li>Password checking is set up to use LDAP or Kerberos
10156    authentication when the machine is on the Debian Edu network, and
10157    to cache the password for offline checking when the machine unable
10158    to reach the LDAP or Kerberos server.  This can be done using
10159    <a href="http://www.padl.com/OSS/pam_ccreds.html">libpam-ccreds</a>
10160    or the Fedora developed
10161    <a href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/SSSD">System
10162    Security Services Daemon</a> packages.</li>
10163
10164  <li>File synchronisation with the central home directory is set up
10165    using a shared directory in both the local and the central home
10166    directory, using unison.</li>
10167
10168  <li>Printing should be set up to print to all printers broadcasting
10169    their existence on the local network, and should then work out of
10170    the box with CUPS.  For sites needing accurate printer quotas, some
10171    system with Kerberos authentication or printing via ssh could be
10172    implemented.</li>
10173
10174  <li>For users that should have local root access to their laptop,
10175    sudo should be used to allow this to the local user.</li>
10176
10177  <li>It would be nice if user and group information from LDAP is
10178    cached on the client, but given that there are entries for the
10179    local user and primary group in /etc/, it should not be needed.</li>
10180
10181 </ul>
10182
10183 <p>I believe all the pieces to implement this are in Debian/testing at
10184 the moment.  If we work quickly, we should be able to get this ready
10185 in time for the Squeeze release to freeze.  Some of the pieces need
10186 tweaking, like libpam-ccreds should get support for pam-auth-update
10187 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/566718">#566718</a>) and nslcd (or
10188 perhaps debian-edu-config) should get some integration code to stop
10189 its daemon when the LDAP server is unavailable to avoid long timeouts
10190 when disconnected from the net.  If we get Kerberos enabled, we need
10191 to make sure we avoid long timeouts there too.</p>
10192
10193 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
10194 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
10195
10196       </div>
10197       <div class="tags">
10198
10199
10200         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>.
10201
10202
10203       </div>
10204     </div>
10205     <div class="padding"></div>
10206
10207     <div class="entry">
10208       <div class="title">
10209         <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>
10210       </div>
10211       <div class="date">
10212         19th April 2010
10213       </div>
10214       <div class="body">
10215         <p>The last few weeks i have had the pleasure of reading a
10216 thought-provoking collection of essays by Cory Doctorow, on topics
10217 touching copyright, virtual worlds, the future of man when the
10218 conscience mind can be duplicated into a computer and many more. The
10219 book titled "Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity,
10220 Copyright, and the Future of the Future" is available with few
10221 restrictions on the web, for example from
10222 <a href="http://craphound.com/content/">his own site</a>. I read the
10223 epub-version from
10224 <a href="http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2883">feedbooks</a> using
10225 <a href="http://www.fbreader.org/">fbreader</a> and my N810. I
10226 strongly recommend this book.</p>
10227
10228       </div>
10229       <div class="tags">
10230
10231
10232         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>.
10233
10234
10235       </div>
10236     </div>
10237     <div class="padding"></div>
10238
10239     <div class="entry">
10240       <div class="title">
10241         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Kerberos_for_Debian_Edu_Squeeze_.html">Kerberos for Debian Edu/Squeeze?</a>
10242       </div>
10243       <div class="date">
10244         14th April 2010
10245       </div>
10246       <div class="body">
10247         <p><a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20100413-kerberos/">Yesterdays
10248 NUUG presentation</a> about Kerberos was inspiring, and reminded me
10249 about the need to start using Kerberos in Skolelinux.  Setting up a
10250 Kerberos server seem to be straight forward, and if we get this in
10251 place a long time before the Squeeze version of Debian freezes, we
10252 have a chance to migrate Skolelinux away from NFSv3 for the home
10253 directories, and over to an architecture where the infrastructure do
10254 not have to trust IP addresses and machines, and instead can trust
10255 users and cryptographic keys instead.</p>
10256
10257 <p>A challenge will be integration and administration.  Is there a
10258 Kerberos implementation for Debian where one can control the
10259 administration access in Kerberos using LDAP groups?  With it, the
10260 school administration will have to maintain access control using flat
10261 files on the main server, which give a huge potential for errors.</p>
10262
10263 <p>A related question I would like to know is how well Kerberos and
10264 pam-ccreds (offline password check) work together.  Anyone know?</p>
10265
10266 <p>Next step will be to use Kerberos for access control in Lwat and
10267 Nagios.  I have no idea how much work that will be to implement.  We
10268 would also need to document how to integrate with Windows AD, as such
10269 shared network will require two Kerberos realms that need to cooperate
10270 to work properly.</p>
10271
10272 <p>I believe a good start would be to start using Kerberos on the
10273 skolelinux.no machines, and this way get ourselves experience with
10274 configuration and integration.  A natural starting point would be
10275 setting up ldap.skolelinux.no as the Kerberos server, and migrate the
10276 rest of the machines from PAM via LDAP to PAM via Kerberos one at the
10277 time.</p>
10278
10279 <p>If you would like to contribute to get this working in Skolelinux,
10280 I recommend you to see the video recording from yesterdays NUUG
10281 presentation, and start using Kerberos at home.  The video show show
10282 up in a few days.</p>
10283
10284       </div>
10285       <div class="tags">
10286
10287
10288         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>.
10289
10290
10291       </div>
10292     </div>
10293     <div class="padding"></div>
10294
10295     <div class="entry">
10296       <div class="title">
10297         <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>
10298       </div>
10299       <div class="date">
10300          6th March 2010
10301       </div>
10302       <div class="body">
10303         <p>6 years ago, as part of the Debian Edu development I am involved
10304 in, I asked for a hook in the kdm and gdm setup to run scripts as root
10305 when the user log out.  A bug was submitted against the xfree86-common
10306 package in 2004 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/230422">#230422</a>),
10307 and revisited every time Debian Edu was working on a new release.
10308 Today, this finally paid off.</p>
10309
10310 <p>The framework for this feature was today commited to the git
10311 repositry for the xorg package, and the git repository for xdm has
10312 been updated to use this framework.  Next on my agenda is to make sure
10313 kdm and gdm also add code to use this framework.</p>
10314
10315 <p>In Debian Edu, we want to ability to run commands as root when the
10316 user log out, to get rid of runaway processes and do general cleanup
10317 after a user.  With this framework in place, we finally can do that in
10318 a generic way that work with all display managers using this
10319 framework.  My goal is to get all display managers in Debian use it,
10320 similar to how they use the Xsession.d framework today.<p>
10321
10322       </div>
10323       <div class="tags">
10324
10325
10326         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>.
10327
10328
10329       </div>
10330     </div>
10331     <div class="padding"></div>
10332
10333     <div class="entry">
10334       <div class="title">
10335         <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>
10336       </div>
10337       <div class="date">
10338         11th February 2010
10339       </div>
10340       <div class="body">
10341         <p>On Tuesday, the Debian/Lenny based version of
10342 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a> was finally
10343 shipped.  This was a major leap forward for the project, and I am very
10344 pleased that we finally got the release wrapped up.  Work on the first
10345 point release starts imediately, as we plan to get that one out a
10346 month after the major release, to include all fixes for bugs we found
10347 and fixed too late in the release process to include last Tuesday.</p>
10348
10349 <p>Perhaps it even is time for some partying?</p>
10350
10351 <p>After this first point release, my plan is to focus again on the
10352 next major release, based on Squeeze.  We will try to get as many of
10353 the fixes we need into the official Debian packages before the freeze,
10354 and have just a few weeks or months to make it happen.</p>
10355
10356       </div>
10357       <div class="tags">
10358
10359
10360         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>.
10361
10362
10363       </div>
10364     </div>
10365     <div class="padding"></div>
10366
10367     <div class="entry">
10368       <div class="title">
10369         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_Munin_and_Nagios_configuration.html">Automatic Munin and Nagios configuration</a>
10370       </div>
10371       <div class="date">
10372         27th January 2010
10373       </div>
10374       <div class="body">
10375         <p>One of the new features in the next Debian/Lenny based release of
10376 Debian Edu/Skolelinux, which is scheduled for release in the next few
10377 days, is automatic configuration of the service monitoring system
10378 Nagios.  The previous release had automatic configuration of trend
10379 analysis using Munin, and this Lenny based release take that a step
10380 further.</p>
10381
10382 <p>When installing a Debian Edu Main-server, it is automatically
10383 configured as a Munin and Nagios server.  In addition, it is
10384 configured to be a server for the
10385 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/SiteSummary">SiteSummary
10386 system</a> I have written for use in Debian Edu.  The SiteSummary
10387 system is inspired by a system used by the University of Oslo where I
10388 work.  In short, the system provide a centralised collector of
10389 information about the computers on the network, and a client on each
10390 computer submitting information to this collector.  This allow for
10391 automatic information on which packages are installed on each machine,
10392 which kernel the machines are using, what kind of configuration the
10393 packages got etc.  This also allow us to automatically generate Munin
10394 and Nagios configuration.</p>
10395
10396 <p>All computers reporting to the sitesummary collector with the
10397 munin-node package installed is automatically enabled as a Munin
10398 client and graphs from the statistics collected from that machine show
10399 up automatically on http://www/munin/ on the Main-server.</p>
10400
10401 <p>All non-laptop computers reporting to the sitesummary collector are
10402 automatically monitored for network presence (ping and any network
10403 services detected).  In addition, all computers (also laptops) with
10404 the nagios-nrpe-server package installed and configured the way
10405 sitesummary would configure it, are monitored for full disks, software
10406 raid status, swap free and other checks that need to run locally on
10407 the machine.</p>
10408
10409 <p>The result is that the administrator on a school using Debian Edu
10410 based on Lenny will be able to check the health of his installation
10411 with one look at the Nagios settings, without having to spend any time
10412 keeping the Nagios configuration up-to-date.</p>
10413
10414 <p>The only configuration one need to do to get Nagios up and running
10415 is to set the password used to get access via HTTP.  The system
10416 administrator need to run "<tt>htpasswd /etc/nagios3/htpasswd.users
10417 nagiosadmin</tt>" to create a nagiosadmin user and set a password for
10418 it to be able to log into the Nagios web pages.  After that,
10419 everything is taken care of.</p>
10420
10421       </div>
10422       <div class="tags">
10423
10424
10425         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>.
10426
10427
10428       </div>
10429     </div>
10430     <div class="padding"></div>
10431
10432     <div class="entry">
10433       <div class="title">
10434         <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>
10435       </div>
10436       <div class="date">
10437         12th August 2009
10438       </div>
10439       <div class="body">
10440         <p>Just for fun, I did a search right now on Google for a few file ODF
10441 and MS Office based formats (not to be mistaken for ISO or ECMA
10442 OOXML), to get an idea of their relative usage.  I searched using
10443 'filetype:odt' and equvalent terms, and got these results:</P>
10444
10445 <table>
10446 <tr><th>Type</th><th>ODF</th><th>MS Office</th></tr>
10447 <tr><td>Tekst</td> <td>odt:282000</td> <td>docx:308000</td></tr>
10448 <tr><td>Presentasjon</td> <td>odp:75600</td> <td>pptx:183000</td></tr>
10449 <tr><td>Regneark</td> <td>ods:26500     </td> <td>xlsx:145000</td></tr>
10450 </table>
10451
10452 <p>Next, I added a 'site:no' limit to get the numbers for Norway, and
10453 got these numbers:</p>
10454
10455 <table>
10456 <tr><th>Type</th><th>ODF</th><th>MS Office</th></tr>
10457 <tr><td>Tekst</td> <td>odt:2480 </td> <td>docx:4460</td></tr>
10458 <tr><td>Presentasjon</td> <td>odp:299   </td> <td>pptx:741</td></tr>
10459 <tr><td>Regneark</td> <td>ods:187       </td> <td>xlsx:372</td></tr>
10460 </table>
10461
10462 <p>I wonder how these numbers change over time.</p>
10463
10464 <p>I am aware of Google returning different results and numbers based
10465 on where the search is done, so I guess these numbers will differ if
10466 they are conduced in another country.  Because of this, I did the same
10467 search from a machine in California, USA, a few minutes after the
10468 search done from a machine here in Norway.</p>
10469
10470
10471 <table>
10472 <tr><th>Type</th><th>ODF</th><th>MS Office</th></tr>
10473 <tr><td>Tekst</td> <td>odt:129000</td> <td>docx:308000</td></tr>
10474 <tr><td>Presentasjon</td> <td>odp:44200</td> <td>pptx:93900</td></tr>
10475 <tr><td>Regneark</td> <td>ods:26500     </td> <td>xlsx:82400</td></tr>
10476 </table>
10477
10478 <p>And with 'site:no':
10479
10480 <table>
10481 <tr><th>Type</th><th>ODF</th><th>MS Office</th></tr>
10482 <tr><td>Tekst</td> <td>odt:2480</td> <td>docx:3410</td></tr>
10483 <tr><td>Presentasjon</td> <td>odp:175</td> <td>pptx:604</td></tr>
10484 <tr><td>Regneark</td> <td>ods:186       </td> <td>xlsx:296</td></tr>
10485 </table>
10486
10487 <p>Interesting difference, not sure what to conclude from these
10488 numbers.</p>
10489
10490       </div>
10491       <div class="tags">
10492
10493
10494         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>.
10495
10496
10497       </div>
10498     </div>
10499     <div class="padding"></div>
10500
10501     <div class="entry">
10502       <div class="title">
10503         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ISO_still_hope_to_fix_OOXML.html">ISO still hope to fix OOXML</a>
10504       </div>
10505       <div class="date">
10506          8th August 2009
10507       </div>
10508       <div class="body">
10509         <p>According to <a
10510 href="http://twerner.blogspot.com/2009/08/defects-of-office-open-xml.html">a
10511 blog post from Torsten Werner</a>, the current defect report for ISO
10512 29500 (ISO OOXML) is 809 pages.  His interesting point is that the
10513 defect report is 71 pages more than the full ODF 1.1 specification.
10514 Personally I find it more interesting that ISO still believe ISO OOXML
10515 can be fixed in ISO.  Personally, I believe it is broken beyon repair,
10516 and I completely lack any trust in ISO for being able to get anywhere
10517 close to solving the problems.  I was part of the Norwegian committee
10518 involved in the OOXML fast track process, and was not impressed with
10519 Standard Norway and ISO in how they handled it.</p>
10520
10521 <p>These days I focus on ODF instead, which seem like a specification
10522 with the future ahead of it.  We are working in NUUG to organise a ODF
10523 seminar this autumn.</p>
10524
10525       </div>
10526       <div class="tags">
10527
10528
10529         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>.
10530
10531
10532       </div>
10533     </div>
10534     <div class="padding"></div>
10535
10536     <div class="entry">
10537       <div class="title">
10538         <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>
10539       </div>
10540       <div class="date">
10541         27th July 2009
10542       </div>
10543       <div class="body">
10544         <p>Since this evening, with the upload of sysvinit version 2.87dsf-2,
10545 and the upload of insserv version 1.12.0-10 yesterday, Debian unstable
10546 have been migrated to using dependency based boot sequencing.  This
10547 conclude work me and others have been doing for the last three days.
10548 It feels great to see this finally part of the default Debian
10549 installation.  Now we just need to weed out the last few problems that
10550 are bound to show up, to get everything ready for Squeeze.</p>
10551
10552 <p>The next step is migrating /sbin/init from sysvinit to upstart, and
10553 fixing the more fundamental problem of handing the event based
10554 non-predictable kernel in the early boot.</p>
10555
10556       </div>
10557       <div class="tags">
10558
10559
10560         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>.
10561
10562
10563       </div>
10564     </div>
10565     <div class="padding"></div>
10566
10567     <div class="entry">
10568       <div class="title">
10569         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Taking_over_sysvinit_development.html">Taking over sysvinit development</a>
10570       </div>
10571       <div class="date">
10572         22nd July 2009
10573       </div>
10574       <div class="body">
10575         <p>After several years of frustration with the lack of activity from
10576 the existing sysvinit upstream developer, I decided a few weeks ago to
10577 take over the package and become the new upstream.  The number of
10578 patches to track for the Debian package was becoming a burden, and the
10579 lack of synchronization between the distribution made it hard to keep
10580 the package up to date.</p>
10581
10582 <p>On the new sysvinit team is the SuSe maintainer Dr. Werner Fink,
10583 and my Debian co-maintainer Kel Modderman.  About 10 days ago, I made
10584 a new upstream tarball with version number 2.87dsf (for Debian, SuSe
10585 and Fedora), based on the patches currently in use in these
10586 distributions.  We Debian maintainers plan to move to this tarball as
10587 the new upstream as soon as we find time to do the merge.  Since the
10588 new tarball was created, we agreed with Werner at SuSe to make a new
10589 upstream project at <a href="http://savannah.nongnu.org/">Savannah</a>, and continue
10590 development there.  The project is registered and currently waiting
10591 for approval by the Savannah administrators, and as soon as it is
10592 approved, we will import the old versions from svn and continue
10593 working on the future release.</p>
10594
10595 <p>It is a bit ironic that this is done now, when some of the involved
10596 distributions are moving to upstart as a syvinit replacement.</p>
10597
10598       </div>
10599       <div class="tags">
10600
10601
10602         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>.
10603
10604
10605       </div>
10606     </div>
10607     <div class="padding"></div>
10608
10609     <div class="entry">
10610       <div class="title">
10611         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_boots_quicker_and_quicker.html">Debian boots quicker and quicker</a>
10612       </div>
10613       <div class="date">
10614         24th June 2009
10615       </div>
10616       <div class="body">
10617         <p>I spent Monday and tuesday this week in London with a lot of the
10618 people involved in the boot system on Debian and Ubuntu, to see if we
10619 could find more ways to speed up the boot system.  This was an Ubuntu
10620 funded
10621 <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FoundationsTeam/BootPerformance/DebianUbuntuSprint">developer
10622 gathering</a>. It was quite productive.  We also discussed the future
10623 of boot systems, and ways to handle the increasing number of boot
10624 issues introduced by the Linux kernel becoming more and more
10625 asynchronous and event base.  The Ubuntu approach using udev and
10626 upstart might be a good way forward.  Time will show.</p>
10627
10628 <p>Anyway, there are a few ways at the moment to speed up the boot
10629 process in Debian.  All of these should be applied to get a quick
10630 boot:</p>
10631
10632 <ul>
10633
10634 <li>Use dash as /bin/sh.</li>
10635
10636 <li>Disable the init.d/hwclock*.sh scripts and make sure the hardware
10637    clock is in UTC.</li>
10638
10639 <li>Install and activate the insserv package to enable
10640    <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts/DependencyBasedBoot">dependency
10641    based boot sequencing</a>, and enable concurrent booting.</li>
10642
10643 </ul>
10644
10645 These points are based on the Google summer of code work done by
10646 <a href="http://initscripts-ng.alioth.debian.org/soc2006-bootsystem/">Carlos
10647 Villegas</a>.
10648
10649 <p>Support for makefile-style concurrency during boot was uploaded to
10650 unstable yesterday.  When we tested it, we were able to cut 6 seconds
10651 from the boot sequence.  It depend on very correct dependency
10652 declaration in all init.d scripts, so I expect us to find edge cases
10653 where the dependences in some scripts are slightly wrong when we start
10654 using this.</p>
10655
10656 <p>On our IRC channel for this effort, #pkg-sysvinit, a new idea was
10657 introduced by Raphael Geissert today, one that could affect the
10658 startup speed as well.  Instead of starting some scripts concurrently
10659 from rcS.d/ and another set of scripts from rc2.d/, it would be
10660 possible to run a of them in the same process.  A quick way to test
10661 this would be to enable insserv and run 'mv /etc/rc2.d/S* /etc/rcS.d/;
10662 insserv'.  Will need to test if that work. :)</p>
10663
10664       </div>
10665       <div class="tags">
10666
10667
10668         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>.
10669
10670
10671       </div>
10672     </div>
10673     <div class="padding"></div>
10674
10675     <div class="entry">
10676       <div class="title">
10677         <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>
10678       </div>
10679       <div class="date">
10680          2nd May 2009
10681       </div>
10682       <div class="body">
10683         <p>There are two software projects that have had huge influence on the
10684 quality of free software, and I wanted to mention both in case someone
10685 do not yet know them.</p>
10686
10687 <p>The first one is <a href="http://valgrind.org/">valgrind</a>, a
10688 tool to detect and expose errors in the memory handling of programs.
10689 It is easy to use, all one need to do is to run 'valgrind program',
10690 and it will report any problems on stdout.  It is even better if the
10691 program include debug information.  With debug information, it is able
10692 to report the source file name and line number where the problem
10693 occurs.  It can report things like 'reading past memory block in file
10694 X line N, the memory block was allocated in file Y, line M', and
10695 'using uninitialised value in control logic'.  This tool has made it
10696 trivial to investigate reproducible crash bugs in programs, and have
10697 reduced the number of this kind of bugs in free software a lot.
10698
10699 <p>The second one is
10700 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverity">Coverity</a> which is
10701 a source code checker.  It is able to process the source of a program
10702 and find problems in the logic without running the program.  It
10703 started out as the Stanford Checker and became well known when it was
10704 used to find bugs in the Linux kernel.  It is now a commercial tool
10705 and the company behind it is running
10706 <a href="http://www.scan.coverity.com/">a community service</a> for the
10707 free software community, where a lot of free software projects get
10708 their source checked for free.  Several thousand defects have been
10709 found and fixed so far.  It can find errors like 'lock L taken in file
10710 X line N is never released if exiting in line M', or 'the code in file
10711 Y lines O to P can never be executed'.  The projects included in the
10712 community service project have managed to get rid of a lot of
10713 reliability problems thanks to Coverity.</p>
10714
10715 <p>I believe tools like this, that are able to automatically find
10716 errors in the source, are vital to improve the quality of software and
10717 make sure we can get rid of the crashing and failing software we are
10718 surrounded by today.</p>
10719
10720       </div>
10721       <div class="tags">
10722
10723
10724         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>.
10725
10726
10727       </div>
10728     </div>
10729     <div class="padding"></div>
10730
10731     <div class="entry">
10732       <div class="title">
10733         <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>
10734       </div>
10735       <div class="date">
10736         28th April 2009
10737       </div>
10738       <div class="body">
10739         <p>Julien Blache
10740 <a href="http://blog.technologeek.org/2009/04/12/214">claim that no
10741 patch is better than a useless patch</a>.  I completely disagree, as a
10742 patch allow one to discuss a concrete and proposed solution, and also
10743 prove that the issue at hand is important enough for someone to spent
10744 time on fixing it.  No patch do not provide any of these positive
10745 properties.</p>
10746
10747       </div>
10748       <div class="tags">
10749
10750
10751         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>.
10752
10753
10754       </div>
10755     </div>
10756     <div class="padding"></div>
10757
10758     <div class="entry">
10759       <div class="title">
10760         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Recording_video_from_cron_using_VLC.html">Recording video from cron using VLC</a>
10761       </div>
10762       <div class="date">
10763          5th April 2009
10764       </div>
10765       <div class="body">
10766         <p>One think I have wanted to figure out for a along time is how to
10767 run vlc from cron to do recording of video streams on the net.  The
10768 task is trivial with mplayer, but I do not really trust the security
10769 of mplayer (it crashes too often on strange input), and thus prefer
10770 vlc.  I finally found a way to do it today.  I spent an hour or so
10771 searching the web for recipes and reading the documentation.  The
10772 hardest part was to get rid of the GUI window, but after finding the
10773 dummy interface, the command line finally presented itself:</p>
10774
10775 <blockquote><pre>URL=http://www.ping.uio.no/video/rms-oslo_2009.ogg
10776 SAVEFILE=rms.ogg
10777 DISPLAY= vlc -q $URL \
10778   --sout="#duplicate{dst=std{access=file,url='$SAVEFILE'},dst=nodisplay}" \
10779   --intf=dummy</pre></blockquote>
10780
10781 <p>The command stream the URL and store it in the SAVEFILE by
10782 duplicating the output stream to "nodisplay" and the file, using the
10783 dummy interface.  The dummy interface and the nodisplay output make
10784 sure no X interface is needed.</p>
10785
10786 <p>The cron job then need to start this job with the appropriate URL
10787 and file name to save, sleep for the duration wanted, and then kill
10788 the vlc process with SIGTERM.  Here is a complete script
10789 <tt>vlc-record</tt> to use from <tt>at</tt> or <tt>cron</tt>:</p>
10790
10791 <blockquote><pre>#!/bin/sh
10792 set -e
10793 URL="$1"
10794 SAVEFILE="$2"
10795 DURATION="$3"
10796 DISPLAY= vlc -q "$URL" \
10797   --sout="#duplicate{dst=std{access=file,url='$SAVEFILE'},dst=nodisplay}" \
10798   --intf=dummy < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 &
10799 pid=$!
10800 sleep $DURATION
10801 kill $pid
10802 wait $pid</pre></blockquote>
10803
10804       </div>
10805       <div class="tags">
10806
10807
10808         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>.
10809
10810
10811       </div>
10812     </div>
10813     <div class="padding"></div>
10814
10815     <div class="entry">
10816       <div class="title">
10817         <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>
10818       </div>
10819       <div class="date">
10820         30th March 2009
10821       </div>
10822       <div class="body">
10823         <p>Where I work at the University of Oslo, one decision stand out as a
10824 very good one to form a long lived computer infrastructure.  It is the
10825 simple one, lost by many in todays computer industry: Standardize on
10826 open network protocols and open exchange/storage formats, not applications.
10827 Applications come and go, while protocols and files tend to stay, and
10828 thus one want to make it easy to change application and vendor, while
10829 avoiding conversion costs and locking users to a specific platform or
10830 application.</p>
10831
10832 <p>This approach make it possible to replace the client applications
10833 independently of the server applications.  One can even allow users to
10834 use several different applications as long as they handle the selected
10835 protocol and format.  In the normal case, only one client application
10836 is recommended and users only get help if they choose to use this
10837 application, but those that want to deviate from the easy path are not
10838 blocked from doing so.</p>
10839
10840 <p>It also allow us to replace the server side without forcing the
10841 users to replace their applications, and thus allow us to select the
10842 best server implementation at any moment, when scale and resouce
10843 requirements change.</p>
10844
10845 <p>I strongly recommend standardizing - on open network protocols and
10846 open formats, but I would never recommend standardizing on a single
10847 application that do not use open network protocol or open formats.</p>
10848
10849       </div>
10850       <div class="tags">
10851
10852
10853         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>.
10854
10855
10856       </div>
10857     </div>
10858     <div class="padding"></div>
10859
10860     <div class="entry">
10861       <div class="title">
10862         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Returning_from_Skolelinux_developer_gathering.html">Returning from Skolelinux developer gathering</a>
10863       </div>
10864       <div class="date">
10865         29th March 2009
10866       </div>
10867       <div class="body">
10868         <p>I'm sitting on the train going home from this weekends Debian
10869 Edu/Skolelinux development gathering.  I got a bit done tuning the
10870 desktop, and looked into the dynamic service location protocol
10871 implementation avahi.  It look like it could be useful for us.  Almost
10872 30 people participated, and I believe it was a great environment to
10873 get to know the Skolelinux system.  Walter Bender, involved in the
10874 development of the Sugar educational platform, presented his stuff and
10875 also helped me improve my OLPC installation.  He also showed me that
10876 his Turtle Art application can be used in standalone mode, and we
10877 agreed that I would help getting it packaged for Debian.  As a
10878 standalone application it would be great for Debian Edu.  We also
10879 tried to get the video conferencing working with two OLPCs, but that
10880 proved to be too hard for us.  The application seem to need more work
10881 before it is ready for me.  I look forward to getting home and relax
10882 now. :)</p>
10883
10884       </div>
10885       <div class="tags">
10886
10887
10888         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>.
10889
10890
10891       </div>
10892     </div>
10893     <div class="padding"></div>
10894
10895     <div class="entry">
10896       <div class="title">
10897         <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>
10898       </div>
10899       <div class="date">
10900         29th March 2009
10901       </div>
10902       <div class="body">
10903         <p>The state of standardized LDAP schemas on Linux is far from
10904 optimal.  There is RFC 2307 documenting one way to store NIS maps in
10905 LDAP, and a modified version of this normally called RFC 2307bis, with
10906 some modifications to be compatible with Active Directory.  The RFC
10907 specification handle the content of a lot of system databases, but do
10908 not handle DNS zones and DHCP configuration.</p>
10909
10910 <p>In <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu/Skolelinux</a>,
10911 we would like to store information about users, SMB clients/hosts,
10912 filegroups, netgroups (users and hosts), DHCP and DNS configuration,
10913 and LTSP configuration in LDAP.  These objects have a lot in common,
10914 but with the current LDAP schemas it is not possible to have one
10915 object per entity.  For example, one need to have at least three LDAP
10916 objects for a given computer, one with the SMB related stuff, one with
10917 DNS information and another with DHCP information.  The schemas
10918 provided for DNS and DHCP are impossible to combine into one LDAP
10919 object.  In addition, it is impossible to implement quick queries for
10920 netgroup membership, because of the way NIS triples are implemented.
10921 It just do not scale.  I believe it is time for a few RFC
10922 specifications to cleam up this mess.</p>
10923
10924 <p>I would like to have one LDAP object representing each computer in
10925 the network, and this object can then keep the SMB (ie host key), DHCP
10926 (mac address/name) and DNS (name/IP address) settings in one place.
10927 It need to be efficently stored to make sure it scale well.</p>
10928
10929 <p>I would also like to have a quick way to map from a user or
10930 computer and to the net group this user or computer is a member.</p>
10931
10932 <p>Active Directory have done a better job than unix heads like myself
10933 in this regard, and the unix side need to catch up.  Time to start a
10934 new IETF work group?</p>
10935
10936       </div>
10937       <div class="tags">
10938
10939
10940         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>.
10941
10942
10943       </div>
10944     </div>
10945     <div class="padding"></div>
10946
10947     <div class="entry">
10948       <div class="title">
10949         <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>
10950       </div>
10951       <div class="date">
10952         28th February 2009
10953       </div>
10954       <div class="body">
10955         <p>At work, we have a few hundred Linux servers, and with that amount
10956 of hardware it is important to keep track of when the hardware support
10957 contract expire for each server.  We have a machine (and service)
10958 register, which until recently did not contain much useful besides the
10959 machine room location and contact information for the system owner for
10960 each machine.  To make it easier for us to track support contract
10961 status, I've recently spent time on extending the machine register to
10962 include information about when the support contract expire, and to tag
10963 machines with expired contracts to make it easy to get a list of such
10964 machines.  I extended a perl script already being used to import
10965 information about machines into the register, to also do some screen
10966 scraping off the sites of Dell, HP and IBM (our majority of machines
10967 are from these vendors), and automatically check the support status
10968 for the relevant machines.  This make the support status information
10969 easily available and I hope it will make it easier for the computer
10970 owner to know when to get new hardware or renew the support contract.
10971 The result of this work documented that 27% of the machines in the
10972 registry is without a support contract, and made it very easy to find
10973 them.  27% might seem like a lot, but I see it more as the case of us
10974 using machines a bit longer than the 3 years a normal support contract
10975 last, to have test machines and a platform for less important
10976 services.  After all, the machines without a contract are working fine
10977 at the moment and the lack of contract is only a problem if any of
10978 them break down.  When that happen, we can either fix it using spare
10979 parts from other machines or move the service to another old
10980 machine.</p>
10981
10982 <p>I believe the code for screen scraping the Dell site was originally
10983 written by Trond Hasle Amundsen, and later adjusted by me and Morten
10984 Werner Forsbring.  The HP scraping was written by me after reading a
10985 nice article in ;login: about how to use WWW::Mechanize, and the IBM
10986 scraping was written by me based on the Dell code.  I know the HTML
10987 parsing could be done using nice libraries, but did not want to
10988 introduce more dependencies.  This is the current incarnation:</p>
10989
10990 <pre>
10991 use LWP::Simple;
10992 use POSIX;
10993 use WWW::Mechanize;
10994 use Date::Parse;
10995 [...]
10996 sub get_support_info {
10997     my ($machine, $model, $serial, $productnumber) = @_;
10998     my $str;
10999
11000     if ( $model =~ m/^Dell / ) {
11001         # fetch website from Dell support
11002         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";
11003         my $webpage = get($url);
11004         return undef unless ($webpage);
11005
11006         my $daysleft = -1;
11007         my @lines = split(/\n/, $webpage);
11008         foreach my $line (@lines) {
11009             next unless ($line =~ m/Beskrivelse/);
11010             $line =~ s/&lt;[^>]+?>/;/gm;
11011             $line =~ s/^.+?;(Beskrivelse;)/$1/;
11012
11013             my @f = split(/\;/, $line);
11014             @f = @f[13 .. $#f];
11015             my $lastend = "";
11016             while ($f[3] eq "DELL") {
11017                 my ($type, $startstr, $endstr, $days) = @f[0, 5, 7, 10];
11018
11019                 my $start = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d",
11020                                             localtime(str2time($startstr)));
11021                 my $end = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d",
11022                                           localtime(str2time($endstr)));
11023                 $str .= "$type $start -> $end ";
11024                 @f = @f[14 .. $#f];
11025                 $lastend = $end if ($end gt $lastend);
11026             }
11027             my $today = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d", localtime(time));
11028             tag_machine_unsupported($machine)
11029                 if ($lastend lt $today);
11030         }
11031     } elsif ( $model =~ m/^HP / ) {
11032         my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new();
11033         my $url =
11034             'http://www1.itrc.hp.com/service/ewarranty/warrantyInput.do';
11035         $mech->get($url);
11036         my $fields = {
11037             'BODServiceID' => 'NA',
11038             'RegisteredPurchaseDate' => '',
11039             'country' => 'NO',
11040             'productNumber' => $productnumber,
11041             'serialNumber1' => $serial,
11042         };
11043         $mech->submit_form( form_number => 2,
11044                             fields      => $fields );
11045         # Next step is screen scraping
11046         my $content = $mech->content();
11047
11048         $content =~ s/&lt;[^>]+?>/;/gm;
11049         $content =~ s/\s+/ /gm;
11050         $content =~ s/;\s*;/;;/gm;
11051         $content =~ s/;[\s;]+/;/gm;
11052
11053         my $today = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d", localtime(time));
11054
11055         while ($content =~ m/;Warranty Type;/) {
11056             my ($type, $status, $startstr, $stopstr) = $content =~
11057                 m/;Warranty Type;([^;]+);.+?;Status;(\w+);Start Date;([^;]+);End Date;([^;]+);/;
11058             $content =~ s/^.+?;Warranty Type;//;
11059             my $start = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d",
11060                                         localtime(str2time($startstr)));
11061             my $end = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d",
11062                                       localtime(str2time($stopstr)));
11063
11064             $str .= "$type ($status) $start -> $end ";
11065
11066             tag_machine_unsupported($machine)
11067                 if ($end lt $today);
11068         }
11069     } elsif ( $model =~ m/^IBM / ) {
11070         # This code ignore extended support contracts.
11071         my ($producttype) = $model =~ m/.*-\[(.{4}).+\]-/;
11072         if ($producttype &amp;&amp; $serial) {
11073             my $content =
11074                 get("http://www-947.ibm.com/systems/support/supportsite.wss/warranty?action=warranty&amp;brandind=5000008&amp;Submit=Submit&amp;type=$producttype&amp;serial=$serial");
11075             if ($content) {
11076                 $content =~ s/&lt;[^>]+?>/;/gm;
11077                 $content =~ s/\s+/ /gm;
11078                 $content =~ s/;\s*;/;;/gm;
11079                 $content =~ s/;[\s;]+/;/gm;
11080
11081                 $content =~ s/^.+?;Warranty status;//;
11082                 my ($status, $end) = $content =~ m/;Warranty status;([^;]+)\s*;Expiration date;(\S+) ;/;
11083
11084                 $str .= "($status) -> $end ";
11085
11086                 my $today = POSIX::strftime("%Y-%m-%d", localtime(time));
11087                 tag_machine_unsupported($machine)
11088                     if ($end lt $today);
11089             }
11090         }
11091     }
11092     return $str;
11093 }
11094 </pre>
11095
11096 <p>Here are some examples on how to use the function, using fake
11097 serial numbers.  The information passed in as arguments are fetched
11098 from dmidecode.</p>
11099
11100 <pre>
11101 print get_support_info("hp.host", "HP ProLiant BL460c G1", "1234567890"
11102                        "447707-B21");
11103 print get_support_info("dell.host", "Dell Inc. PowerEdge 2950", "1234567");
11104 print get_support_info("ibm.host", "IBM eserver xSeries 345 -[867061X]-",
11105                        "1234567");
11106 </pre>
11107
11108 <p>I would recommend this approach for tracking support contracts for
11109 everyone with more than a few computers to administer. :)</p>
11110
11111 <p>Update 2009-03-06: The IBM page do not include extended support
11112 contracts, so it is useless in that case.  The original Dell code do
11113 not handle extended support contracts either, but has been updated to
11114 do so.</p>
11115
11116       </div>
11117       <div class="tags">
11118
11119
11120         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>.
11121
11122
11123       </div>
11124     </div>
11125     <div class="padding"></div>
11126
11127     <div class="entry">
11128       <div class="title">
11129         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_bar_codes_at_a_computing_center.html">Using bar codes at a computing center</a>
11130       </div>
11131       <div class="date">
11132         20th February 2009
11133       </div>
11134       <div class="body">
11135         <p>At work with the University of Oslo, we have several hundred computers
11136 in our computing center.  This give us a challenge in tracking the
11137 location and cabling of the computers, when they are added, moved and
11138 removed.  Some times the location register is not updated when a
11139 computer is inserted or moved and we then have to search the room for
11140 the "missing" computer.</p>
11141
11142 <p>In the last issue of Linux Journal, I came across a project
11143 <a href="http://www.libdmtx.org/">libdmtx</a> to write and read bar
11144 code blocks as defined in the
11145 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Matrix">The Data Matrix
11146 Standard</a>.  This is bar codes that can be read with a normal
11147 digital camera, for example that on a cell phone, and several such bar
11148 codes can be read by libdmtx from one picture.  The bar code standard
11149 allow up to 2 KiB to be written in the tag.  There is another project
11150 with <a href="http://www.terryburton.co.uk/barcodewriter/">a bar code
11151 writer written in postscript</a> capable of creating such bar codes,
11152 but this was the first time I found a tool to read these bar
11153 codes.</p>
11154
11155 <p>It occurred to me that this could be used to tag and track the
11156 machines in our computing center.  If both racks and computers are
11157 tagged this way, we can use a picture of the rack and all its
11158 computers to detect the rack location of any computer in that rack.
11159 If we do this regularly for the entire room, we will find all
11160 locations, and can detect movements and removals.</p>
11161
11162 <p>I decided to test if this would work in practice, and picked a
11163 random rack and tagged all the machines with their names.  Next, I
11164 took pictures with my digital camera, and gave the dmtxread program
11165 these JPEG pictures to see how many tags it could read.  This worked
11166 fairly well.  If the pictures was well focused and not taken from the
11167 side, all tags in the image could be read.  Because of limited space
11168 between the racks, I was unable to get a good picture of the entire
11169 rack, but could without problem read all tags from a picture covering
11170 about half the rack.  I had to limit the search time used by dmtxread
11171 to 60000 ms to make sure it terminated in a reasonable time frame.</p>
11172
11173 <p>My conclusion is that this could work, and we should probably look
11174 at adjusting our computer tagging procedures to use bar codes for
11175 easier automatic tracking of computers.</p>
11176
11177       </div>
11178       <div class="tags">
11179
11180
11181         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>.
11182
11183
11184       </div>
11185     </div>
11186     <div class="padding"></div>
11187
11188     <div class="entry">
11189       <div class="title">
11190         <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>
11191       </div>
11192       <div class="date">
11193         17th January 2009
11194       </div>
11195       <div class="body">
11196         <p>As part of the work we do in <a href="http://www.nuug.no">NUUG</a>
11197 to publish video recordings of our monthly presentations, we provide a
11198 page with embedded video for easy access to the recording.  Putting a
11199 good set of HTML tags together to get working embedded video in all
11200 browsers and across all operating systems is not easy.  I hope this
11201 will become easier when the &lt;video&gt; tag is implemented in all
11202 browsers, but I am not sure.  We provide the recordings in several
11203 formats, MPEG1, Ogg Theora, H.264 and Quicktime, and want the
11204 browser/media plugin to pick one it support and use it to play the
11205 recording, using whatever embed mechanism the browser understand.
11206 There is at least four different tags to use for this, the new HTML5
11207 &lt;video&gt; tag, the &lt;object&gt; tag, the &lt;embed&gt; tag and
11208 the &lt;applet&gt; tag.  All of these take a lot of options, and
11209 finding the best options is a major challenge.</p>
11210
11211 <p>I just tested the experimental Opera browser available from <a
11212 href="http://labs.opera.com">labs.opera.com</a>, to see how it handled
11213 a &lt;video&gt; tag with a few video sources and no extra attributes.
11214 I was not very impressed.  The browser start by fetching a picture
11215 from the video stream.  Not sure if it is the first frame, but it is
11216 definitely very early in the recording.  So far, so good. Next,
11217 instead of streaming the 76 MiB video file, it start to download all
11218 of it, but do not start to play the video.  This mean I have to wait
11219 for several minutes for the downloading to finish.  When the download
11220 is done, the playing of the video do not start!  Waiting for the
11221 download, but I do not get to see the video?  Some testing later, I
11222 discover that I have to add the controls="true" attribute to be able
11223 to get a play button to pres to start the video.  Adding
11224 autoplay="true" did not help.  I sure hope this is a misfeature of the
11225 test version of Opera, and that future implementations of the
11226 &lt;video&gt; tag will stream recordings by default, or at least start
11227 playing when the download is done.</p>
11228
11229 <p>The test page I used (since changed to add more attributes) is
11230 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20090113-foredrag-om-foredrag/">available
11231 from the nuug site</a>.  Will have to test it with the new Firefox
11232 too.</p>
11233
11234 <p>In the test process, I discovered a missing feature.  I was unable
11235 to find a way to get the URL of the playing video out of Opera, so I
11236 am not quite sure it picked the Ogg Theora version of the video.  I
11237 sure hope it was using the announced Ogg Theora support. :)</p>
11238
11239       </div>
11240       <div class="tags">
11241
11242
11243         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>.
11244
11245
11246       </div>
11247     </div>
11248     <div class="padding"></div>
11249
11250     <div class="entry">
11251       <div class="title">
11252         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Software_video_mixer_on_a_USB_stick.html">Software video mixer on a USB stick</a>
11253       </div>
11254       <div class="date">
11255         28th December 2008
11256       </div>
11257       <div class="body">
11258         <p>The <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group</a> is
11259 recording our montly presentation on video, and recently we have
11260 worked on improving the quality of the recordings by mixing the slides
11261 directly with the video stream.  For this, we use the
11262 <a href="http://dvswitch.alioth.debian.org/">dvswitch</a> package from
11263 the Debian video team.  As this require quite one computer per video
11264 source, and NUUG do not have enough laptops available, we need to
11265 borrow laptops.  And to avoid having to install extra software on
11266 these borrwed laptops, I have wrapped up all the programs needed on a
11267 bootable USB stick.  The software required is dvswitch with assosiated
11268 source, sink and mixer applications and
11269 <a href="http://www.kinodv.org/">dvgrab</a>.  To allow this setup to
11270 work without any configuration, I've patched dvswitch to use
11271 <a href="http://www.avahi.org/">avahi</a> to connect the various parts
11272 together.  And to allow us to use laptops without firewire plugs, I
11273 upgraded dvgrab to the one from Debian/unstable to get one that work
11274 with USB sources.  We have not yet tested this setup in a production
11275 setup, but I hope it will work properly, and allow us to set up a
11276 video mixer in a very short time frame.  We will need it for
11277 <a href="http://www.goopen.no/">Go Open 2009</a>.</p>
11278
11279 <p><a href="http://www.nuug.no/pub/video/bin/usbstick-dvswitch.img.gz">The
11280 USB image</a> is for a 1 GB memory stick, but can be used on any
11281 larger stick as well.</p>
11282
11283       </div>
11284       <div class="tags">
11285
11286
11287         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>.
11288
11289
11290       </div>
11291     </div>
11292     <div class="padding"></div>
11293
11294     <div class="entry">
11295       <div class="title">
11296         <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>
11297       </div>
11298       <div class="date">
11299          7th December 2008
11300       </div>
11301       <div class="body">
11302         <p>This weekend we had a small developer gathering for Debian Edu in
11303 Oslo.  Most of Saturday was used for the general assemly for the
11304 member organization, but the rest of the weekend I used to tune the
11305 LTSP installation.  LTSP now work out of the box on the 10-network.
11306 Acer Aspire One proved to be a very nice thin client, with both
11307 screen, mouse and keybard in a small box.  Was working on getting the
11308 diskless workstation setup configured out of the box, but did not
11309 finish it before the weekend was up.</p>
11310
11311 <p>Did not find time to look at the 4 VGA cards in one box we got from
11312 the Brazilian group, so that will have to wait for the next
11313 development gathering.  Would love to have the Debian Edu installer
11314 automatically detect and configure a multiseat setup when it find one
11315 of these cards.</p>
11316
11317       </div>
11318       <div class="tags">
11319
11320
11321         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>.
11322
11323
11324       </div>
11325     </div>
11326     <div class="padding"></div>
11327
11328     <div class="entry">
11329       <div class="title">
11330         <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>
11331       </div>
11332       <div class="date">
11333         25th November 2008
11334       </div>
11335       <div class="body">
11336         <p>Recently I have spent some time evaluating the multimedia browser
11337 plugins available in Debian Lenny, to see which one we should use by
11338 default in Debian Edu.  We need an embedded video playing plugin with
11339 control buttons to pause or stop the video, and capable of streaming
11340 all the multimedia content available on the web.  The test results and
11341 notes are available on
11342 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/BrowserMultimedia">the
11343 Debian wiki</a>.  I was surprised how few of the plugins are able to
11344 fill this need.  My personal video player favorite, VLC, has a really
11345 bad plugin which fail on a lot of the test pages.  A lot of the MIME
11346 types I would expect to work with any free software player (like
11347 video/ogg), just do not work.  And simple formats like the
11348 audio/x-mplegurl format (m3u playlists), just isn't supported by the
11349 totem and vlc plugins.  I hope the situation will improve soon.  No
11350 wonder sites use the proprietary Adobe flash to play video.</p>
11351
11352 <p>For Lenny, we seem to end up with the mplayer plugin.  It seem to
11353 be the only one fitting our needs. :/</p>
11354
11355       </div>
11356       <div class="tags">
11357
11358
11359         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>.
11360
11361
11362       </div>
11363     </div>
11364     <div class="padding"></div>
11365
11366     <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>
11367     <div id="sidebar">
11368
11369
11370
11371 <h2>Archive</h2>
11372 <ul>
11373
11374 <li>2012
11375 <ul>
11376
11377 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/01/">January (7)</a></li>
11378
11379 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/02/">February (10)</a></li>
11380
11381 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/03/">March (17)</a></li>
11382
11383 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/04/">April (12)</a></li>
11384
11385 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/05/">May (12)</a></li>
11386
11387 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/06/">June (20)</a></li>
11388
11389 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/07/">July (17)</a></li>
11390
11391 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/08/">August (6)</a></li>
11392
11393 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/09/">September (2)</a></li>
11394
11395 </ul></li>
11396
11397 <li>2011
11398 <ul>
11399
11400 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/01/">January (16)</a></li>
11401
11402 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/02/">February (6)</a></li>
11403
11404 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/03/">March (6)</a></li>
11405
11406 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/04/">April (7)</a></li>
11407
11408 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/05/">May (3)</a></li>
11409
11410 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/06/">June (2)</a></li>
11411
11412 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/07/">July (7)</a></li>
11413
11414 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/08/">August (6)</a></li>
11415
11416 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/09/">September (4)</a></li>
11417
11418 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/10/">October (2)</a></li>
11419
11420 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/11/">November (3)</a></li>
11421
11422 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/12/">December (1)</a></li>
11423
11424 </ul></li>
11425
11426 <li>2010
11427 <ul>
11428
11429 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/01/">January (2)</a></li>
11430
11431 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/02/">February (1)</a></li>
11432
11433 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/03/">March (3)</a></li>
11434
11435 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/04/">April (3)</a></li>
11436
11437 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/05/">May (9)</a></li>
11438
11439 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/06/">June (14)</a></li>
11440
11441 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/07/">July (12)</a></li>
11442
11443 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/08/">August (13)</a></li>
11444
11445 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/09/">September (7)</a></li>
11446
11447 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/10/">October (9)</a></li>
11448
11449 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/11/">November (13)</a></li>
11450
11451 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/12/">December (12)</a></li>
11452
11453 </ul></li>
11454
11455 <li>2009
11456 <ul>
11457
11458 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/01/">January (8)</a></li>
11459
11460 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/02/">February (8)</a></li>
11461
11462 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/03/">March (12)</a></li>
11463
11464 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/04/">April (10)</a></li>
11465
11466 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/05/">May (9)</a></li>
11467
11468 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/06/">June (3)</a></li>
11469
11470 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/07/">July (4)</a></li>
11471
11472 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/08/">August (3)</a></li>
11473
11474 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/09/">September (1)</a></li>
11475
11476 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/10/">October (2)</a></li>
11477
11478 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/11/">November (3)</a></li>
11479
11480 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/12/">December (3)</a></li>
11481
11482 </ul></li>
11483
11484 <li>2008
11485 <ul>
11486
11487 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/11/">November (5)</a></li>
11488
11489 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/12/">December (7)</a></li>
11490
11491 </ul></li>
11492
11493 </ul>
11494
11495
11496
11497 <h2>Tags</h2>
11498 <ul>
11499
11500  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer (13)</a></li>
11501
11502  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/amiga">amiga (1)</a></li>
11503
11504  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/aros">aros (1)</a></li>
11505
11506  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin (2)</a></li>
11507
11508  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem (12)</a></li>
11509
11510  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bsa">bsa (2)</a></li>
11511
11512  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian (57)</a></li>
11513
11514  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu (111)</a></li>
11515
11516  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan (9)</a></li>
11517
11518  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook (6)</a></li>
11519
11520  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/drivstoffpriser">drivstoffpriser (4)</a></li>
11521
11522  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english (148)</a></li>
11523
11524  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami (17)</a></li>
11525
11526  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling (12)</a></li>
11527
11528  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture (7)</a></li>
11529
11530  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen (6)</a></li>
11531
11532  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju (30)</a></li>
11533
11534  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart (16)</a></li>
11535
11536  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap (8)</a></li>
11537
11538  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lenker">lenker (4)</a></li>
11539
11540  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ltsp">ltsp (1)</a></li>
11541
11542  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia (23)</a></li>
11543
11544  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk (194)</a></li>
11545
11546  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug (143)</a></li>
11547
11548  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn (4)</a></li>
11549
11550  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/open311">open311 (2)</a></li>
11551
11552  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett (35)</a></li>
11553
11554  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern (49)</a></li>
11555
11556  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/raid">raid (1)</a></li>
11557
11558  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reprap">reprap (11)</a></li>
11559
11560  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rfid">rfid (2)</a></li>
11561
11562  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot (4)</a></li>
11563
11564  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rss">rss (1)</a></li>
11565
11566  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ruter">ruter (4)</a></li>
11567
11568  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/scraperwiki">scraperwiki (2)</a></li>
11569
11570  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet (23)</a></li>
11571
11572  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary (4)</a></li>
11573
11574  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/skepsis">skepsis (1)</a></li>
11575
11576  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard (37)</a></li>
11577
11578  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stavekontroll">stavekontroll (1)</a></li>
11579
11580  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stortinget">stortinget (4)</a></li>
11581
11582  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance (10)</a></li>
11583
11584  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/valg">valg (7)</a></li>
11585
11586  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video (32)</a></li>
11587
11588  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/vitenskap">vitenskap (1)</a></li>
11589
11590  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web (25)</a></li>
11591
11592 </ul>
11593
11594
11595     </div>
11596     <p style="text-align: right">
11597  Created by <a href="http://steve.org.uk/Software/chronicle">Chronicle v4.4</a>
11598 </p>
11599
11600   </body>
11601 </html>