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[homepage.git] / blog / archive / 2016 / 12 / 12.rss

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@@ -6,6 +6,97 @@
                 <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/</link>
 
        
                 <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/</link>
 
        

+       <item>
+               <title>Appstream just learned how to map hardware to packages too!</title>
+               <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Appstream_just_learned_how_to_map_hardware_to_packages_too_.html</link>        
+               <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Appstream_just_learned_how_to_map_hardware_to_packages_too_.html</guid>
+                <pubDate>Fri, 23 Dec 2016 10:30:00 +0100</pubDate>
+               <description>&lt;p&gt;I received a very nice Christmas present today.  As my regular
+readers probably know, I have been working on the
+&lt;a href=&quot;http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram&quot;&gt;the Isenkram
+system&lt;/a&gt; for many years.  The goal of the Isenkram system is to make
+it easier for users to figure out what to install to get a given piece
+of hardware to work in Debian, and a key part of this system is a way
+to map hardware to packages.  Isenkram have its own mapping database,
+and also uses data provided by each package using the AppStream
+metadata format.  And today,
+&lt;a href=&quot;https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/appstream&quot;&gt;AppStream&lt;/a&gt; in
+Debian learned to look up hardware the same way Isenkram is doing it,
+ie using fnmatch():&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;
+% appstreamcli what-provides modalias \
+  usb:v1130p0202d0100dc00dsc00dp00ic03isc00ip00in00
+Identifier: pymissile [generic]
+Name: pymissile
+Summary: Control original Striker USB Missile Launcher
+Package: pymissile
+% appstreamcli what-provides modalias usb:v0694p0002d0000
+Identifier: libnxt [generic]
+Name: libnxt
+Summary: utility library for talking to the LEGO Mindstorms NXT brick
+Package: libnxt
+---
+Identifier: t2n [generic]
+Name: t2n
+Summary: Simple command-line tool for Lego NXT
+Package: t2n
+---
+Identifier: python-nxt [generic]
+Name: python-nxt
+Summary: Python driver/interface/wrapper for the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot
+Package: python-nxt
+---
+Identifier: nbc [generic]
+Name: nbc
+Summary: C compiler for LEGO Mindstorms NXT bricks
+Package: nbc
+%
+&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;A similar query can be done using the combined AppStream and
+Isenkram databases using the isenkram-lookup tool:&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;
+% isenkram-lookup usb:v1130p0202d0100dc00dsc00dp00ic03isc00ip00in00
+pymissile
+% isenkram-lookup usb:v0694p0002d0000
+libnxt
+nbc
+python-nxt
+t2n
+%
+&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;You can find modalias values relevant for your machine using
+&lt;tt&gt;cat $(find /sys/devices/ -name modalias)&lt;/tt&gt;.
+
+&lt;p&gt;If you want to make this system a success and help Debian users
+make the most of the hardware they have, please
+help&lt;a href=&quot;https://wiki.debian.org/AppStream/Guidelines&quot;&gt;add
+AppStream metadata for your package following the guidelines&lt;/a&gt;
+documented in the wiki.  So far only 11 packages provide such
+information, among the several hundred hardware specific packages in
+Debian. The Isenkram database on the other hand contain 101 packages,
+mostly related to USB dongles.  Most of the packages with hardware
+mapping in AppStream are LEGO Mindstorms related, because I have, as
+part of my involvement in
+&lt;a href=&quot;https://wiki.debian.org/LegoDesigners&quot;&gt;the Debian LEGO
+team&lt;/a&gt; given priority to making sure LEGO users get proposed the
+complete set of packages in Debian for that particular hardware.  The
+team also got a nice Christmas present today.  The
+&lt;a href=&quot;https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/nxt-firmware&quot;&gt;nxt-firmware
+package&lt;/a&gt; made it into Debian.  With this package in place, it is
+now possible to use the LEGO Mindstorms NXT unit with only free
+software, as the nxt-firmware package contain the source and firmware
+binaries for the NXT brick.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my
+activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
+&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&amp;label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog&quot;&gt;15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
+</description>
+       </item>
+       

        <item>
                <title>Isenkram updated with a lot more hardware-package mappings</title>
                <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Isenkram_updated_with_a_lot_more_hardware_package_mappings.html</link>        
        <item>
                <title>Isenkram updated with a lot more hardware-package mappings</title>
                <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Isenkram_updated_with_a_lot_more_hardware_package_mappings.html</link>        


@@ -18,10 +109,11 @@ going strong.  It is a system to look up the hardware present on or
 connected to the current system, and map the hardware to Debian
 packages.  It can either be done using the tools in isenkram-cli or
 using the user space daemon in the isenkram package.  The latter will
 connected to the current system, and map the hardware to Debian
 packages.  It can either be done using the tools in isenkram-cli or
 using the user space daemon in the isenkram package.  The latter will

-notify you when new hardware about the packages to install to get it
-working, and even provide a button to click on to ask packagekit to
-install the packages.  Here is an command line example from my
-Thinkpad laptop:&lt;/p&gt;
+notify you, when inserting new hardware, about what packages to
+install to get the dongle working.  It will even provide a button to
+click on to ask packagekit to install the packages.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;Here is an command line example from my Thinkpad laptop:&lt;/p&gt;

 
 &lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;
 % isenkram-lookup  
 
 &lt;p&gt;&lt;pre&gt;
 % isenkram-lookup