X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/01083c8303f011faa772e34ed9f681c1b9fc0058..f29f99052afe6957717bd71b319c2bcc57210b7a:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index af74bd55cd..e6b1048fbf 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -6,6 +6,628 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + Hvordan vurderer regjeringen H.264-patentutfordringen? + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hvordan_vurderer_regjeringen_H_264_patentutfordringen_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hvordan_vurderer_regjeringen_H_264_patentutfordringen_.html + Sun, 16 Nov 2014 10:30:00 +0100 + <p>For en stund tilbake spurte jeg Fornyingsdepartementet om hvilke +juridiske vurderinger rundt patentproblemstillingen som var gjort da +H.264 ble tatt inn i <a href="http://standard.difi.no/">statens +referansekatalog over standarder</a>. Stig Hornnes i FAD tipset meg +om følgende som står i oppsumeringen til høringen om +referansekatalogen versjon 2.0, som jeg siden ved hjelp av en +innsynsforespørsel fikk tak i +<a href="http://wiki.nuug.no/uttalelser/200901-standardkatalog-v2?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=kongelig-resolusjon.pdf">PDF-utgaven av</a> +datert 2009-06-03 (saksnummer 200803291, saksbehandler Henrik +Linnestad).</p> + +<p>Der står det følgende om problemstillingen:</p> + +<p><blockquote> +<strong>4.4 Patentproblematikk</strong> + +<p>NUUG og Opera ser det som særlig viktig at forslagene knyttet til +lyd og video baserer seg på de royalty-frie standardene Vorbis, Theora +og FLAC.</p> + +<p>Kommentarene relaterer seg til at enkelte standarder er åpne, men +inneholder tekniske prosedyrer som det i USA (og noen andre land som +Japan) er gitt patentrettigheter til. I vårt tilfelle berører dette +spesielt standardene Mp3 og H.264, selv om Politidirektoratet peker på +at det muligens kan være tilsvarende problematikk også for Theora og +Vorbis. Dette medfører at det i USA kan kreves royalties for bruk av +tekniske løsninger knyttet til standardene, et krav som også +håndheves. Patenter kan imidlertid bare hevdes i de landene hvor +patentet er gitt, så amerikanske patenter gjelder ikke andre steder +enn USA.</p> + +<p>Spesielt for utvikling av fri programvare er patenter +problematisk. GPL, en "grunnleggende" lisens for distribusjon av fri +programvare, avviser at programvare kan distribueres under denne +lisensen hvis det inneholder referanser til patenterte rutiner som +utløser krav om royalties. Det er imidlertid uproblematisk å +distribuere fri programvareløsninger under GPL som benytter de +aktuelle standardene innen eller mellom land som ikke anerkjenner +patentene. Derfor finner vi også flere implementeringer av Mp3 og +H.264 som er fri programvare, lisensiert under GPL.</p> + +<p>I Norge og EU er patentlovgivningen langt mer restriktiv enn i USA, +men det er også her mulig å få patentert metoder for løsning av et +problem som relaterer seg til databehandling. Det er AIF bekjent ikke +relevante patenter i EU eller Norge hva gjelder H.264 og Mp3, men +muligheten for at det finnes patenter uten at det er gjort krav om +royalties eller at det senere vil gis slike patenter kan ikke helt +avvises.</p> + +<p>AIF mener det er et behov for å gi offentlige virksomheter mulighet +til å benytte antatt royaltyfrie åpne standarder som et likeverdig +alternativ eller i tillegg til de markedsledende åpne standardene.</p> + +</blockquote></p> + +<p>Det ser dermed ikke ut til at de har vurdert patentspørsmålet i +sammenheng med opphavsrettsvilkår slik de er formulert for f.eks. +Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid og Sorenson-verktøyene, +der det kreves brukstillatelse for patenter som ikke er gyldige i +Norge for å bruke disse verktøyene til annet en personlig og ikke +kommersiell aktivitet når det gjelder H.264-video. Jeg må nok lete +videre etter svar på det spørsmålet.</p> + + + + + A Debian package for SMTP via Tor (aka SMTorP) using exim4 + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_Debian_package_for_SMTP_via_Tor__aka_SMTorP__using_exim4.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_Debian_package_for_SMTP_via_Tor__aka_SMTorP__using_exim4.html + Mon, 10 Nov 2014 13:40:00 +0100 + <p>The right to communicate with your friends and family in private, +without anyone snooping, is a right every citicen have in a liberal +democracy. But this right is under serious attack these days.</p> + +<p>A while back it occurred to me that one way to make the dragnet +surveillance conducted by NSA, GCHQ, FRA and others (and confirmed by +the whisleblower Snowden) more expensive for Internet email, +is to deliver all email using SMTP via Tor. Such SMTP option would be +a nice addition to the FreedomBox project if we could send email +between FreedomBox machines without leaking metadata about the emails +to the people peeking on the wire. I +<a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/freedombox-discuss/2014-October/006493.html">proposed +this on the FreedomBox project mailing list in October</a> and got a +lot of useful feedback and suggestions. It also became obvious to me +that this was not a novel idea, as the same idea was tested and +documented by Johannes Berg as early as 2006, and both +<a href="https://github.com/pagekite/Mailpile/wiki/SMTorP">the +Mailpile</a> and <a href="http://dee.su/cables">the Cables</a> systems +propose a similar method / protocol to pass emails between users.</p> + +<p>To implement such system one need to set up a Tor hidden service +providing the SMTP protocol on port 25, and use email addresses +looking like username@hidden-service-name.onion. With such addresses +the connections to port 25 on hidden-service-name.onion using Tor will +go to the correct SMTP server. To do this, one need to configure the +Tor daemon to provide the hidden service and the mail server to accept +emails for this .onion domain. To learn more about Exim configuration +in Debian and test the design provided by Johannes Berg in his FAQ, I +set out yesterday to create a Debian package for making it trivial to +set up such SMTP over Tor service based on Debian. Getting it to work +were fairly easy, and +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/exim4-smtorp">the +source code for the Debian package</a> is available from github. I +plan to move it into Debian if further testing prove this to be a +useful approach.</p> + +<p>If you want to test this, set up a blank Debian machine without any +mail system installed (or run <tt>apt-get purge exim4-config</tt> to +get rid of exim4). Install tor, clone the git repository mentioned +above, build the deb and install it on the machine. Next, run +<tt>/usr/lib/exim4-smtorp/setup-exim-hidden-service</tt> and follow +the instructions to get the service up and running. Restart tor and +exim when it is done, and test mail delivery using swaks like +this:</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +torsocks swaks --server dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion \ + --to fbx@dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>This will test the SMTP delivery using tor. Replace the email +address with your own address to test your server. :)</p> + +<p>The setup procedure is still to complex, and I hope it can be made +easier and more automatic. Especially the tor setup need more work. +Also, the package include a tor-smtp tool written in C, but its task +should probably be rewritten in some script language to make the deb +architecture independent. It would probably also make the code easier +to review. The tor-smtp tool currently need to listen on a socket for +exim to talk to it and is started using xinetd. It would be better if +no daemon and no socket is needed. I suspect it is possible to get +exim to run a command line tool for delivery instead of talking to a +socket, and hope to figure out how in a future version of this +system.</p> + +<p>Until I wipe my test machine, I can be reached using the +<tt>fbx@dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion</tt> mail address, deliverable over +SMTorP. :)</p> + + + + + First Jessie based Debian Edu released (alpha0) + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Jessie_based_Debian_Edu_released__alpha0_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Jessie_based_Debian_Edu_released__alpha0_.html + Mon, 27 Oct 2014 20:40:00 +0100 + <p>I am happy to report that I on behalf of the Debian Edu team just +sent out +<a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2014/10/msg00000.html">this +announcement</a>:</p> + +<pre> +The Debian Edu Team is pleased to announce the release of Debian Edu +Jessie 8.0+edu0~alpha0 + +Debian Edu is a complete operating system for schools. Through its +various installation profiles you can install servers, workstations +and laptops which will work together on the school network. With +Debian Edu, the teachers themselves or their technical support can +roll out a complete multi-user multi-machine study environment within +hours or a few days. Debian Edu comes with hundreds of applications +pre-installed, but you can always add more packages from Debian. + +For those who want to give Debian Edu Jessie a try, download and +installation instructions are available, including detailed +instructions in the manual[1] explaining the first steps, such as +setting up a network or adding users. Please note that the password +for the user your prompted for during installation must have a length +of at least 5 characters! + + [1] &lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie">https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie</a> &gt; + +Would you like to give your school's computer a longer life? Are you +tired of sneaker administration, running from computer to computer +reinstalling the operating system? Would you like to administrate all +the computers in your school using only a couple of hours every week? +Check out Debian Edu Jessie! + +Skolelinux is used by at least two hundred schools all over the world, +mostly in Germany and Norway. + +About Debian Edu and Skolelinux +=============================== + +Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux[2], is a Linux distribution based +on Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely +configured school network. Immediately after installation a school +server running all services needed for a school network is set up just +waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable +Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after +initial installation of the main server from CD or USB stick all other +machines can be installed via the network. The provided school server +provides LDAP database and Kerberos authentication service, +centralized home directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other +services. The desktop contains more than 60 educational software +packages[3] and more are available from the Debian archive, and +schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE, Xfce and MATE desktop +environment. + + [2] &lt;URL: <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">http://www.skolelinux.org/</a> &gt; + [3] &lt;URL: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html</a> &gt; + +Full release notes and manual +============================= + +Below the download URLs there is a list of some of the new features +and bugfixes of Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie. The full +list is part of the manual. (See the feature list in the manual[4] for +the English version.) For some languages manual translations are +available, see the manual translation overview[5]. + + [4] &lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/Features">https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/Features</a> &gt; + [5] &lt;URL: <a href="http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/">http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/</a> &gt; + +Where to get it +--------------- + +To download the multiarch netinstall CD release (624 MiB) you can use + + * <a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso</a> + * <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso</a> + * rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso . + +The SHA1SUM of this image is: 361188818e036ce67280a572f757de82ebfeb095 + +New features for Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie released 2014-10-27 +=============================================================================== + + +Installation changes +-------------------- + + * PXE installation now installs firmware automatically for the hardware present. + +Software updates +---------------- + +Everything which is new in Debian Jessie 8.0, eg: + + * Linux kernel 3.16.x + * Desktop environments KDE "Plasma" 4.11.12, GNOME 3.14, Xfce 4.10, + LXDE 0.5.6 and MATE 1.8 (KDE "Plasma" is installed by default; to + choose one of the others see manual.) + * the browsers Iceweasel 31 ESR and Chromium 38 + * !LibreOffice 4.3.3 + * GOsa 2.7.4 + * LTSP 5.5.4 + * CUPS print system 1.7.5 + * new boot framework: systemd + * Educational toolbox GCompris 14.07 + * Music creator Rosegarden 14.02 + * Image editor Gimp 2.8.14 + * Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.13.0 + * golearn 0.9 + * tuxpaint 0.9.22 + * New version of debian-installer from Debian Jessie. + * Debian Jessie includes about 42000 packages available for + installation. + * More information about Debian Jessie 8.0 is provided in the release + notes[6] and the installation manual[7]. + + [6] &lt;URL: <a href="http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes">http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes</a> &gt; + [7] &lt;URL: <a href="http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual">http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual</a> &gt; + +Fixed bugs +---------- + + * Inserting incorrect DNS information in Gosa will no longer break + DNS completely, but instead stop DNS updates until the incorrect + information is corrected (Debian bug #710362) + * and many others. + +Documentation and translation updates +------------------------------------- + + * The Debian Edu Jessie Manual is fully translated to German, French, + Italian, Danish and Dutch. Partly translated versions exist for + Norwegian Bokmal and Spanish. + +Other changes +------------- + + * Due to new Squid settings, powering off or rebooting the main + server takes more time. + * To manage printers localhost:631 has to be used, currently www:631 + doesn't work. + +Regressions / known problems +---------------------------- + + * Installing LTSP chroot fails with a bug related to eatmydata about + exim4-config failing to run its postinst (see Debian bug #765694 + and Debian bug #762103). + * Munin collection is not properly configured on clients (Debian bug + #764594). The fix is available in a newer version of munin-node. + * PXE setup for Main Server and Thin Client Server setup does not + work when installing on a machine without direct Internet access. + Will be fixed when Debian bug #766960 is fixed in Jessie. + +See the status page[8] for the complete list. + + [8] &lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie">https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie</a> &gt; + +How to report bugs +------------------ + +&lt;URL: <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a> &gt; + +About Debian +============ + +The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly +free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of +the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of +volunteers from all over the world work together to create and +maintain Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a +huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the universal +operating system. + +Contact Information +For further information, please visit the Debian web pages[9] or send +mail to press@debian.org. + + [9] &lt;URL: <a href="http://www.debian.org/">http://www.debian.org/</a> &gt; +</pre> + + + + + I spent last weekend recording MakerCon Nordic + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_spent_last_weekend_recording_MakerCon_Nordic.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_spent_last_weekend_recording_MakerCon_Nordic.html + Thu, 23 Oct 2014 23:00:00 +0200 + <p>I spent last weekend at <a href="http://www.makercon.no/">Makercon +Nordic</a>, a great conference and workshop for makers in Norway and +the surrounding countries. I had volunteered on behalf of the +Norwegian Unix Users Group (NUUG) to video record the talks, and we +had a great and exhausting time recording the entire day, two days in +a row. There were only two of us, Hans-Petter and me, and we used the +regular video equipment for NUUG, with a +<a href="http://dvswitch.alioth.debian.org/wiki/">dvswitch</a>, a +camera and a VGA to DV convert box, and mixed video and slides +live.</p> + +<p>Hans-Petter did the post-processing, consisting of uploading the +around 180 GiB of raw video to Youtube, and the result is +<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MakerConNordic/">now becoming +public</a> on the MakerConNordic account. The videos have the license +NUUG always use on our recordings, which is +<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/no/">Creative +Commons Navngivelse-Del på samme vilkår 3.0 Norge</a>. Many great +talks available. Check it out! :)</p> + + + + + listadmin, the quick way to moderate mailman lists - nice free software + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/listadmin__the_quick_way_to_moderate_mailman_lists___nice_free_software.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/listadmin__the_quick_way_to_moderate_mailman_lists___nice_free_software.html + Wed, 22 Oct 2014 20:00:00 +0200 + <p>If you ever had to moderate a mailman list, like the ones on +alioth.debian.org, you know the web interface is fairly slow to +operate. First you visit one web page, enter the moderation password +and get a new page shown with a list of all the messages to moderate +and various options for each email address. This take a while for +every list you moderate, and you need to do it regularly to do a good +job as a list moderator. But there is a quick alternative, +<a href="http://heim.ifi.uio.no/kjetilho/hacks/#listadmin">the +listadmin program</a>. It allow you to check lists for new messages +to moderate in a fraction of a second. Here is a test run on two +lists I recently took over:</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +% time listadmin xiph +fetching data for pkg-xiph-commits@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue +fetching data for pkg-xiph-maint@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue + +real 0m1.709s +user 0m0.232s +sys 0m0.012s +% +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>In 1.7 seconds I had checked two mailing lists and confirmed that +there are no message in the moderation queue. Every morning I +currently moderate 68 mailman lists, and it normally take around two +minutes. When I took over the two pkg-xiph lists above a few days +ago, there were 400 emails waiting in the moderator queue. It took me +less than 15 minutes to process them all using the listadmin +program.</p> + +<p>If you install +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/listadmin">the listadmin +package</a> from Debian and create a file <tt>~/.listadmin.ini</tt> +with content like this, the moderation task is a breeze:</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +username username@example.org +spamlevel 23 +default discard +discard_if_reason "Posting restricted to members only. Remove us from your mail list." + +password secret +adminurl https://{domain}/mailman/admindb/{list} +mailman-list@lists.example.com + +password hidden +other-list@otherserver.example.org +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>There are other options to set as well. Check the manual page to +learn the details.</p> + +<p>If you are forced to moderate lists on a mailman installation where +the SSL certificate is self signed or not properly signed by a +generally accepted signing authority, you can set a environment +variable when calling listadmin to disable SSL verification:</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 listadmin +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>If you want to moderate a subset of the lists you take care of, you +can provide an argument to the listadmin script like I do in the +initial screen dump (the xiph argument). Using an argument, only +lists matching the argument string will be processed. This make it +quick to accept messages if you notice the moderation request in your +email.</p> + +<p>Without the listadmin program, I would never be the moderator of 68 +mailing lists, as I simply do not have time to spend on that if the +process was any slower. The listadmin program have saved me hours of +time I could spend elsewhere over the years. It truly is nice free +software.</p> + +<p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p> + +<p>Update 2014-10-27: Added missing 'username' statement in +configuration example. Also, I've been told that the +PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 setting do not work for everyone. Not +sure why.</p> + + + + + Debian Jessie, PXE and automatic firmware installation + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Jessie__PXE_and_automatic_firmware_installation.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Jessie__PXE_and_automatic_firmware_installation.html + Fri, 17 Oct 2014 14:10:00 +0200 + <p>When PXE installing laptops with Debian, I often run into the +problem that the WiFi card require some firmware to work properly. +And it has been a pain to fix this using preseeding in Debian. +Normally something more is needed. But thanks to +<a href="https://packages.qa.debian.org/i/isenkram.html">my isenkram +package</a> and its recent tasksel extension, it has now become easy +to do this using simple preseeding.</p> + +<p>The isenkram-cli package provide tasksel tasks which will install +firmware for the hardware found in the machine (actually, requested by +the kernel modules for the hardware). (It can also install user space +programs supporting the hardware detected, but that is not the focus +of this story.)</p> + +<p>To get this working in the default installation, two preeseding +values are needed. First, the isenkram-cli package must be installed +into the target chroot (aka the hard drive) before tasksel is executed +in the pkgsel step of the debian-installer system. This is done by +preseeding the base-installer/includes debconf value to include the +isenkram-cli package. The package name is next passed to debootstrap +for installation. With the isenkram-cli package in place, tasksel +will automatically use the isenkram tasks to detect hardware specific +packages for the machine being installed and install them, because +isenkram-cli contain tasksel tasks.</p> + +<p>Second, one need to enable the non-free APT repository, because +most firmware unfortunately is non-free. This is done by preseeding +the apt-mirror-setup step. This is unfortunate, but for a lot of +hardware it is the only option in Debian.</p> + +<p>The end result is two lines needed in your preseeding file to get +firmware installed automatically by the installer:</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +base-installer base-installer/includes string isenkram-cli +apt-mirror-setup apt-setup/non-free boolean true +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>The current version of isenkram-cli in testing/jessie will install +both firmware and user space packages when using this method. It also +do not work well, so use version 0.15 or later. Installing both +firmware and user space packages might give you a bit more than you +want, so I decided to split the tasksel task in two, one for firmware +and one for user space programs. The firmware task is enabled by +default, while the one for user space programs is not. This split is +implemented in the package currently in unstable.</p> + +<p>If you decide to give this a go, please let me know (via email) how +this recipe work for you. :)</p> + +<p>So, I bet you are wondering, how can this work. First and +foremost, it work because tasksel is modular, and driven by whatever +files it find in /usr/lib/tasksel/ and /usr/share/tasksel/. So the +isenkram-cli package place two files for tasksel to find. First there +is the task description file (/usr/share/tasksel/descs/isenkram.desc):</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +Task: isenkram-packages +Section: hardware +Description: Hardware specific packages (autodetected by isenkram) + Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific packages are + proposed. +Test-new-install: show show +Relevance: 8 +Packages: for-current-hardware + +Task: isenkram-firmware +Section: hardware +Description: Hardware specific firmware packages (autodetected by isenkram) + Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific firmware + packages are proposed. +Test-new-install: mark show +Relevance: 8 +Packages: for-current-hardware-firmware +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>The key parts are Test-new-install which indicate how the task +should be handled and the Packages line referencing to a script in +/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/. The scripts use other scripts to get a +list of packages to install. The for-current-hardware-firmware script +look like this to list relevant firmware for the machine: + +<p><blockquote><pre> +#!/bin/sh +# +PATH=/usr/sbin:$PATH +export PATH +isenkram-autoinstall-firmware -l +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>With those two pieces in place, the firmware is installed by +tasksel during the normal d-i run. :)</p> + +<p>If you want to test what tasksel will install when isenkram-cli is +installed, run <tt>DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical tasksel --test +--new-install</tt> to get the list of packages that tasksel would +install.</p> + +<p><a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/">Debian Edu</a> will be +pilots in testing this feature, as isenkram is used there now to +install firmware, replacing the earlier scripts.</p> + + + + + Ubuntu used to show the bread prizes at ICA Storo + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Ubuntu_used_to_show_the_bread_prizes_at_ICA_Storo.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Ubuntu_used_to_show_the_bread_prizes_at_ICA_Storo.html + Sat, 4 Oct 2014 15:20:00 +0200 + <p>Today I came across an unexpected Ubuntu boot screen. Above the +bread shelf on the ICA shop at Storo in Oslo, the grub menu of Ubuntu +with Linux kernel 3.2.0-23 (ie probably version 12.04 LTS) was stuck +on a screen normally showing the bread types and prizes:</p> + +<p align="center"><img width="70%" src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2014-10-04-ubuntu-ica-storo-crop.jpeg"></p> + +<p>If it had booted as it was supposed to, I would never had known +about this hidden Linux installation. It is interesting what +<a href="http://revealingerrors.com/">errors can reveal</a>.</p> + + + + + New lsdvd release version 0.17 is ready + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_lsdvd_release_version_0_17_is_ready.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_lsdvd_release_version_0_17_is_ready.html + Sat, 4 Oct 2014 08:40:00 +0200 + <p>The <a href="https://sourceforge.net/p/lsdvd/">lsdvd project</a> +got a new set of developers a few weeks ago, after the original +developer decided to step down and pass the project to fresh blood. +This project is now maintained by Petter Reinholdtsen and Steve +Dibb.</p> + +<p>I just wrapped up +<a href="https://sourceforge.net/p/lsdvd/mailman/message/32896061/">a +new lsdvd release</a>, available in git or from +<a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/lsdvd/files/lsdvd/">the +download page</a>. This is the changelog dated 2014-10-03 for version +0.17.</p> + +<ul> + + <li>Ignore 'phantom' audio, subtitle tracks</li> + <li>Check for garbage in the program chains, which indicate that a track is + non-existant, to work around additional copy protection</li> + <li>Fix displaying content type for audio tracks, subtitles</li> + <li>Fix pallete display of first entry</li> + <li>Fix include orders</li> + <li>Ignore read errors in titles that would not be displayed anyway</li> + <li>Fix the chapter count</li> + <li>Make sure the array size and the array limit used when initialising + the palette size is the same.</li> + <li>Fix array printing.</li> + <li>Correct subsecond calculations.</li> + <li>Add sector information to the output format.</li> + <li>Clean up code to be closer to ANSI C and compile without warnings + with more GCC compiler warnings.</li> + +</ul> + +<p>This change bring together patches for lsdvd in use in various +Linux and Unix distributions, as well as patches submitted to the +project the last nine years. Please check it out. :)</p> + + + How to test Debian Edu Jessie despite some fatal problems with the installer http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_test_Debian_Edu_Jessie_despite_some_fatal_problems_with_the_installer.html @@ -33,8 +655,8 @@ recipe on how to get the installation limping along.</p> or rsync (use ftp.skolelinux.org::cd-edu-testing-nolocal-netinst/debian-edu-amd64-i386-NETINST-1.iso). The ISO build was broken on Tuesday, so we do not get a new ISO every -12 hours or so, but thankfully the ISO we got is able to install with -some tweaking.</p> +12 hours or so, but thankfully the ISO we already got we are able to +install with some tweaking.</p> <p>When you get to the Debian Edu profile question, go to tty2 (use Alt-Ctrl-F2), run</p> @@ -58,8 +680,9 @@ root after the initial boot from hard drive, and install the education-desktop-XXX metapackage. XXX can be kde, gnome, lxde, xfce or mate. If you want several desktop options, install more than one metapackage. Once this is done, reboot and you should have a working -graphical login screen. This should no longer be needed once the -education-tasks package version 1.801 enter testing in two days.</p> +graphical login screen. This workaround should no longer be needed +once the education-tasks package version 1.801 enter testing in two +days.</p> <p>I believe the ISO build will start working on two days when the new tasksel package enter testing and Steve McIntyre get a chance to @@ -109,1032 +732,5 @@ list</a>. :)</p> - - Hva henger under skibrua over E16 på Sollihøgda? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hva_henger_under_skibrua_over_E16_p__Sollih_gda_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hva_henger_under_skibrua_over_E16_p__Sollih_gda_.html - Sun, 21 Sep 2014 09:50:00 +0200 - <p>Rundt omkring i Oslo og Østlandsområdet henger det bokser over -veiene som jeg har lurt på hva gjør. De har ut fra plassering og -vinkling sett ut som bokser som sniffer ut et eller annet fra -forbipasserende trafikk, men det har vært uklart for meg hva det er de -leser av. Her om dagen tok jeg bilde av en slik boks som henger under -<a href="http://www.openstreetmap.no/?zoom=19&mlat=59.96396&mlon=10.34443&layers=B00000">ei -skibru på Sollihøgda</a>:</p> - -<p align="center"><img width="60%" src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2014-09-13-kapsch-sollihogda-crop.jpeg"></p> - -<p>Boksen er tydelig merket «Kapsch >>>», logoen til -<a href="http://www.kapsch.net/">det sveitsiske selskapet Kapsch</a> som -blant annet lager sensorsystemer for veitrafikk. Men de lager mye -forskjellig, og jeg kjente ikke igjen boksen på utseendet etter en -kjapp titt på produktlista til selskapet.</p> - -<p>I og med at boksen henger over veien E16, en riksvei vedlikeholdt -av Statens Vegvesen, så antok jeg at det burde være mulig å bruke -REST-API-et som gir tilgang til vegvesenets database over veier, -skilter og annet veirelatert til å finne ut hva i alle dager dette -kunne være. De har både -<a href="https://www.vegvesen.no/nvdb/api/dokumentasjon/datakatalog">en -datakatalog</a> og -<a href="https://www.vegvesen.no/nvdb/api/dokumentasjon/sok">et -søk</a>, der en kan søke etter ulike typer oppføringer innen for et -gitt geografisk område. Jeg laget et enkelt shell-script for å hente -ut antall av en gitt type innenfor området skibrua dekker, og listet -opp navnet på typene som ble funnet. Orket ikke slå opp hvordan -URL-koding av aktuelle strenger kunne gjøres mer generisk, og brukte -en stygg sed-linje i stedet.</p> - -<blockquote><pre> -#!/bin/sh -urlmap() { - sed \ - -e 's/ / /g' -e 's/{/%7B/g' \ - -e 's/}/%7D/g' -e 's/\[/%5B/g' \ - -e 's/\]/%5D/g' -e 's/ /%20/g' \ - -e 's/,/%2C/g' -e 's/\"/%22/g' \ - -e 's/:/%3A/g' -} - -lookup() { - url="$1" - curl -s -H 'Accept: application/vnd.vegvesen.nvdb-v1+xml' \ - "https://www.vegvesen.no/nvdb/api$url" | xmllint --format - -} - -for id in $(seq 1 874) ; do - search="{ - lokasjon: { - bbox: \"10.34425,59.96386,10.34458,59.96409\", - srid: \"WGS84\" - }, - objektTyper: [{ - id: $id, antall: 10 - }] -}" - - query=/sok?kriterie=$(echo $search | urlmap) - if lookup "$query" | - grep -q '&lt;totaltAntallReturnert>0&lt;' - then - : - else - echo $id - lookup "/datakatalog/objekttyper/$id" |grep '^ &lt;navn>' - fi -done - -exit 0 -</pre></blockquote> - -Aktuelt ID-område 1-874 var riktig i datakatalogen da jeg laget -scriptet. Det vil endre seg over tid. Skriptet listet så opp -aktuelle typer i og rundt skibrua: - -<blockquote><pre> -5 - &lt;navn>Rekkverk&lt;/navn> -14 - &lt;navn>Rekkverksende&lt;/navn> -47 - &lt;navn>Trafikklomme&lt;/navn> -49 - &lt;navn>Trafikkøy&lt;/navn> -60 - &lt;navn>Bru&lt;/navn> -79 - &lt;navn>Stikkrenne/Kulvert&lt;/navn> -80 - &lt;navn>Grøft, åpen&lt;/navn> -86 - &lt;navn>Belysningsstrekning&lt;/navn> -95 - &lt;navn>Skiltpunkt&lt;/navn> -96 - &lt;navn>Skiltplate&lt;/navn> -98 - &lt;navn>Referansestolpe&lt;/navn> -99 - &lt;navn>Vegoppmerking, langsgående&lt;/navn> -105 - &lt;navn>Fartsgrense&lt;/navn> -106 - &lt;navn>Vinterdriftsstrategi&lt;/navn> -172 - &lt;navn>Trafikkdeler&lt;/navn> -241 - &lt;navn>Vegdekke&lt;/navn> -293 - &lt;navn>Breddemåling&lt;/navn> -301 - &lt;navn>Kantklippareal&lt;/navn> -318 - &lt;navn>Snø-/isrydding&lt;/navn> -445 - &lt;navn>Skred&lt;/navn> -446 - &lt;navn>Dokumentasjon&lt;/navn> -452 - &lt;navn>Undergang&lt;/navn> -528 - &lt;navn>Tverrprofil&lt;/navn> -532 - &lt;navn>Vegreferanse&lt;/navn> -534 - &lt;navn>Region&lt;/navn> -535 - &lt;navn>Fylke&lt;/navn> -536 - &lt;navn>Kommune&lt;/navn> -538 - &lt;navn>Gate&lt;/navn> -539 - &lt;navn>Transportlenke&lt;/navn> -540 - &lt;navn>Trafikkmengde&lt;/navn> -570 - &lt;navn>Trafikkulykke&lt;/navn> -571 - &lt;navn>Ulykkesinvolvert enhet&lt;/navn> -572 - &lt;navn>Ulykkesinvolvert person&lt;/navn> -579 - &lt;navn>Politidistrikt&lt;/navn> -583 - &lt;navn>Vegbredde&lt;/navn> -591 - &lt;navn>Høydebegrensning&lt;/navn> -592 - &lt;navn>Nedbøyningsmåling&lt;/navn> -597 - &lt;navn>Støy-luft, Strekningsdata&lt;/navn> -601 - &lt;navn>Oppgravingsdata&lt;/navn> -602 - &lt;navn>Oppgravingslag&lt;/navn> -603 - &lt;navn>PMS-parsell&lt;/navn> -604 - &lt;navn>Vegnormalstrekning&lt;/navn> -605 - &lt;navn>Værrelatert strekning&lt;/navn> -616 - &lt;navn>Feltstrekning&lt;/navn> -617 - &lt;navn>Adressepunkt&lt;/navn> -626 - &lt;navn>Friksjonsmåleserie&lt;/navn> -629 - &lt;navn>Vegdekke, flatelapping&lt;/navn> -639 - &lt;navn>Kurvatur, horisontalelement&lt;/navn> -640 - &lt;navn>Kurvatur, vertikalelement&lt;/navn> -642 - &lt;navn>Kurvatur, vertikalpunkt&lt;/navn> -643 - &lt;navn>Statistikk, trafikkmengde&lt;/navn> -647 - &lt;navn>Statistikk, vegbredde&lt;/navn> -774 - &lt;navn>Nedbøyningsmåleserie&lt;/navn> -775 - &lt;navn>ATK, influensstrekning&lt;/navn> -794 - &lt;navn>Systemobjekt&lt;/navn> -810 - &lt;navn>Vinterdriftsklasse&lt;/navn> -821 - &lt;navn>Funksjonell vegklasse&lt;/navn> -825 - &lt;navn>Kurvatur, stigning&lt;/navn> -838 - &lt;navn>Vegbredde, beregnet&lt;/navn> -862 - &lt;navn>Reisetidsregistreringspunkt&lt;/navn> -871 - &lt;navn>Bruksklasse&lt;/navn> -</pre></blockquote> - -<p>Av disse ser ID 775 og 862 mest relevant ut. ID 775 antar jeg -refererer til fotoboksen som står like ved brua, mens -«Reisetidsregistreringspunkt» kanskje kan være boksen som henger der. -Hvordan finner jeg så ut hva dette kan være for noe. En titt på -<a href="http://labs.vegdata.no/nvdb-datakatalog/862-Reisetidsregistreringspunkt/">datakatalogsiden -for ID 862/Reisetidsregistreringspunkt</a> viser at det er finnes 53 -slike målere i Norge, og hvor de er plassert, men gir ellers få -detaljer. Det er plassert 40 på østlandet og 13 i Trondheimsregionen. -Men siden nevner «AutoPASS», og hvis en slår opp oppføringen på -Sollihøgda nevner den «Ciber AS» som ID for eksternt system. (Kan det -være snakk om -<a href="http://www.proff.no/selskap/ciber-norge-as/oslo/internettdesign-og-programmering/Z0I3KMF4/">Ciber -Norge AS</a>, et selskap eid av Ciber Europe Bv?) Et nettsøk på - «Ciber AS autopass» fører meg til en artikkel fra NRK Trøndelag i - 2013 med tittel -«<a href="http://www.nrk.no/trondelag/sjekk-dette-hvis-du-vil-unnga-ko-1.11327947">Sjekk -dette hvis du vil unngå kø</a>». Artikkelen henviser til vegvesenets -nettside -<a href="http://www.reisetider.no/reisetid/forside.html">reisetider.no</a> -som har en -<a href="http://www.reisetider.no/reisetid/omrade.html?omrade=5">kartside -for Østlandet</a> som viser at det måles mellom Sandvika og Sollihøgda. -Det kan dermed se ut til at jeg har funnet ut hva boksene gjør.</p> - -<p>Hvis det stemmer, så er dette bokser som leser av AutoPASS-ID-en -til alle passerende biler med AutoPASS-brikke, og dermed gjør det mulig -for de som kontrollerer boksene å holde rede på hvor en gitt bil er -når den passerte et slikt målepunkt. NRK-artikkelen forteller at -denne informasjonen i dag kun brukes til å koble to -AutoPASS-brikkepasseringer passeringer sammen for å beregne -reisetiden, og at bruken er godkjent av Datatilsynet. Det er desverre -ikke mulig for en sjåfør som passerer under en slik boks å kontrollere -at AutoPASS-ID-en kun brukes til dette i dag og i fremtiden.</p> - -<p>I tillegg til denne type AutoPASS-sniffere vet jeg at det også -finnes mange automatiske stasjoner som tar betalt pr. passering (aka -bomstasjoner), og der lagres informasjon om tid, sted og bilnummer i -10 år. Finnes det andre slike sniffere plassert ut på veiene?</p> - -<p>Personlig har jeg valgt å ikke bruke AutoPASS-brikke, for å gjøre -det vanskeligere og mer kostbart for de som vil invadere privatsfæren -og holde rede på hvor bilen min beveger seg til enhver tid. Jeg håper -flere vil gjøre det samme, selv om det gir litt høyere private -utgifter (dyrere bompassering). Vern om privatsfæren koster i disse -dager.</p> - -<p>Takk til Jan Kristian Jensen i Statens Vegvesen for tips om -dokumentasjon på vegvesenets REST-API.</p> - - - - - Speeding up the Debian installer using eatmydata and dpkg-divert - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Speeding_up_the_Debian_installer_using_eatmydata_and_dpkg_divert.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Speeding_up_the_Debian_installer_using_eatmydata_and_dpkg_divert.html - Tue, 16 Sep 2014 14:00:00 +0200 - <p>The <a href="https://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> installer could be -a lot quicker. When we install more than 2000 packages in -<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux / Debian Edu</a> using -tasksel in the installer, unpacking the binary packages take forever. -A part of the slow I/O issue was discussed in -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/613428">bug #613428</a> about too -much file system sync-ing done by dpkg, which is the package -responsible for unpacking the binary packages. Other parts (like code -executed by postinst scripts) might also sync to disk during -installation. All this sync-ing to disk do not really make sense to -me. If the machine crash half-way through, I start over, I do not try -to salvage the half installed system. So the failure sync-ing is -supposed to protect against, hardware or system crash, is not really -relevant while the installer is running.</p> - -<p>A few days ago, I thought of a way to get rid of all the file -system sync()-ing in a fairly non-intrusive way, without the need to -change the code in several packages. The idea is not new, but I have -not heard anyone propose the approach using dpkg-divert before. It -depend on the small and clever package -<a href="https://packages.qa.debian.org/eatmydata">eatmydata</a>, which -uses LD_PRELOAD to replace the system functions for syncing data to -disk with functions doing nothing, thus allowing programs to live -dangerous while speeding up disk I/O significantly. Instead of -modifying the implementation of dpkg, apt and tasksel (which are the -packages responsible for selecting, fetching and installing packages), -it occurred to me that we could just divert the programs away, replace -them with a simple shell wrapper calling -"eatmydata&nbsp;$program&nbsp;$@", to get the same effect. -Two days ago I decided to test the idea, and wrapped up a simple -implementation for the Debian Edu udeb.</p> - -<p>The effect was stunning. In my first test it reduced the running -time of the pkgsel step (installing tasks) from 64 to less than 44 -minutes (20 minutes shaved off the installation) on an old Dell -Latitude D505 machine. I am not quite sure what the optimised time -would have been, as I messed up the testing a bit, causing the debconf -priority to get low enough for two questions to pop up during -installation. As soon as I saw the questions I moved the installation -along, but do not know how long the question were holding up the -installation. I did some more measurements using Debian Edu Jessie, -and got these results. The time measured is the time stamp in -/var/log/syslog between the "pkgsel: starting tasksel" and the -"pkgsel: finishing up" lines, if you want to do the same measurement -yourself. In Debian Edu, the tasksel dialog do not show up, and the -timing thus do not depend on how quickly the user handle the tasksel -dialog.</p> - -<p><table> - -<tr> -<th>Machine/setup</th> -<th>Original tasksel</th> -<th>Optimised tasksel</th> -<th>Reduction</th> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Latitude D505 Main+LTSP LXDE</td> -<td>64 min (07:46-08:50)</td> -<td><44 min (11:27-12:11)</td> -<td>>20 min 18%</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Latitude D505 Roaming LXDE</td> -<td>57 min (08:48-09:45)</td> -<td>34 min (07:43-08:17)</td> -<td>23 min 40%</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Latitude D505 Minimal</td> -<td>22 min (10:37-10:59)</td> -<td>11 min (11:16-11:27)</td> -<td>11 min 50%</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Thinkpad X200 Minimal</td> -<td>6 min (08:19-08:25)</td> -<td>4 min (08:04-08:08)</td> -<td>2 min 33%</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Thinkpad X200 Roaming KDE</td> -<td>19 min (09:21-09:40)</td> -<td>15 min (10:25-10:40)</td> -<td>4 min 21%</td> -</tr> - -</table></p> - -<p>The test is done using a netinst ISO on a USB stick, so some of the -time is spent downloading packages. The connection to the Internet -was 100Mbit/s during testing, so downloading should not be a -significant factor in the measurement. Download typically took a few -seconds to a few minutes, depending on the amount of packages being -installed.</p> - -<p>The speedup is implemented by using two hooks in -<a href="https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/">Debian -Installer</a>, the pre-pkgsel.d hook to set up the diverts, and the -finish-install.d hook to remove the divert at the end of the -installation. I picked the pre-pkgsel.d hook instead of the -post-base-installer.d hook because I test using an ISO without the -eatmydata package included, and the post-base-installer.d hook in -Debian Edu can only operate on packages included in the ISO. The -negative effect of this is that I am unable to activate this -optimization for the kernel installation step in d-i. If the code is -moved to the post-base-installer.d hook, the speedup would be larger -for the entire installation.</p> - -<p>I've implemented this in the -<a href="https://packages.qa.debian.org/debian-edu-install">debian-edu-install</a> -git repository, and plan to provide the optimization as part of the -Debian Edu installation. If you want to test this yourself, you can -create two files in the installer (or in an udeb). One shell script -need do go into /usr/lib/pre-pkgsel.d/, with content like this:</p> - -<p><blockquote><pre> -#!/bin/sh -set -e -. /usr/share/debconf/confmodule -info() { - logger -t my-pkgsel "info: $*" -} -error() { - logger -t my-pkgsel "error: $*" -} -override_install() { - apt-install eatmydata || true - if [ -x /target/usr/bin/eatmydata ] ; then - for bin in dpkg apt-get aptitude tasksel ; do - file=/usr/bin/$bin - # Test that the file exist and have not been diverted already. - if [ -f /target$file ] ; then - info "diverting $file using eatmydata" - printf "#!/bin/sh\neatmydata $bin.distrib \"\$@\"\n" \ - > /target$file.edu - chmod 755 /target$file.edu - in-target dpkg-divert --package debian-edu-config \ - --rename --quiet --add $file - ln -sf ./$bin.edu /target$file - else - error "unable to divert $file, as it is missing." - fi - done - else - error "unable to find /usr/bin/eatmydata after installing the eatmydata pacage" - fi -} - -override_install -</pre></blockquote></p> - -<p>To clean up, another shell script should go into -/usr/lib/finish-install.d/ with code like this: - -<p><blockquote><pre> -#! /bin/sh -e -. /usr/share/debconf/confmodule -error() { - logger -t my-finish-install "error: $@" -} -remove_install_override() { - for bin in dpkg apt-get aptitude tasksel ; do - file=/usr/bin/$bin - if [ -x /target$file.edu ] ; then - rm /target$file - in-target dpkg-divert --package debian-edu-config \ - --rename --quiet --remove $file - rm /target$file.edu - else - error "Missing divert for $file." - fi - done - sync # Flush file buffers before continuing -} - -remove_install_override -</pre></blockquote></p> - -<p>In Debian Edu, I placed both code fragments in a separate script -edu-eatmydata-install and call it from the pre-pkgsel.d and -finish-install.d scripts.</p> - -<p>By now you might ask if this change should get into the normal -Debian installer too? I suspect it should, but am not sure the -current debian-installer coordinators find it useful enough. It also -depend on the side effects of the change. I'm not aware of any, but I -guess we will see if the change is safe after some more testing. -Perhaps there is some package in Debian depending on sync() and -fsync() having effect? Perhaps it should go into its own udeb, to -allow those of us wanting to enable it to do so without affecting -everyone.</p> - -<p>Update 2014-09-24: Since a few days ago, enabling this optimization -will break installation of all programs using gnutls because of -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/702711">bug #702711. An updated -eatmydata package in Debian will solve it.</p> - - - - - Good bye subkeys.pgp.net, welcome pool.sks-keyservers.net - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Good_bye_subkeys_pgp_net__welcome_pool_sks_keyservers_net.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Good_bye_subkeys_pgp_net__welcome_pool_sks_keyservers_net.html - Wed, 10 Sep 2014 13:10:00 +0200 - <p>Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a talk with the -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group</a> about -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20140909-sks-keyservers/">the -OpenPGP keyserver pool sks-keyservers.net</a>, and was very happy to -learn that there is a large set of publicly available key servers to -use when looking for peoples public key. So far I have used -subkeys.pgp.net, and some times wwwkeys.nl.pgp.net when the former -were misbehaving, but those days are ended. The servers I have used -up until yesterday have been slow and some times unavailable. I hope -those problems are gone now.</p> - -<p>Behind the round robin DNS entry of the -<a href="https://sks-keyservers.net/">sks-keyservers.net</a> service -there is a pool of more than 100 keyservers which are checked every -day to ensure they are well connected and up to date. It must be -better than what I have used so far. :)</p> - -<p>Yesterdays speaker told me that the service is the default -keyserver provided by the default configuration in GnuPG, but this do -not seem to be used in Debian. Perhaps it should?</p> - -<p>Anyway, I've updated my ~/.gnupg/options file to now include this -line:</p> - -<p><blockquote><pre> -keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net -</pre></blockquote></p> - -<p>With GnuPG version 2 one can also locate the keyserver using SRV -entries in DNS. Just for fun, I did just that at work, so now every -user of GnuPG at the University of Oslo should find a OpenGPG -keyserver automatically should their need it:</p> - -<p><blockquote><pre> -% host -t srv _pgpkey-http._tcp.uio.no -_pgpkey-http._tcp.uio.no has SRV record 0 100 11371 pool.sks-keyservers.net. -% -</pre></blockquote></p> - -<p>Now if only -<a href="http://ietfreport.isoc.org/idref/draft-shaw-openpgp-hkp/">the -HKP lookup protocol</a> supported finding signature paths, I would be -very happy. It can look up a given key or search for a user ID, but I -normally do not want that, but to find a trust path from my key to -another key. Given a user ID or key ID, I would like to find (and -download) the keys representing a signature path from my key to the -key in question, to be able to get a trust path between the two keys. -This is as far as I can tell not possible today. Perhaps something -for a future version of the protocol?</p> - - - - - Do you need an agreement with MPEG-LA to publish and broadcast H.264 video in Norway? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Do_you_need_an_agreement_with_MPEG_LA_to_publish_and_broadcast_H_264_video_in_Norway_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Do_you_need_an_agreement_with_MPEG_LA_to_publish_and_broadcast_H_264_video_in_Norway_.html - Mon, 25 Aug 2014 22:10:00 +0200 - <p>Two years later, I am still not sure if it is legal here in Norway -to use or publish a video in H.264 or MPEG4 format edited by the -commercially licensed video editors, without limiting the use to -create "personal" or "non-commercial" videos or get a license -agreement with <a href="http://www.mpegla.com">MPEG LA</a>. If one -want to publish and broadcast video in a non-personal or commercial -setting, it might be that those tools can not be used, or that video -format can not be used, without breaking their copyright license. I -am not sure. -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Trenger_en_avtale_med_MPEG_LA_for___publisere_og_kringkaste_H_264_video_.html">Back -then</a>, I found that the copyright license terms for Adobe Premiere -and Apple Final Cut Pro both specified that one could not use the -program to produce anything else without a patent license from MPEG -LA. The issue is not limited to those two products, though. Other -much used products like those from Avid and Sorenson Media have terms -of use are similar to those from Adobe and Apple. The complicating -factor making me unsure if those terms have effect in Norway or not is -that the patents in question are not valid in Norway, but copyright -licenses are.</p> - -<p>These are the terms for Avid Artist Suite, according to their -<a href="http://www.avid.com/US/about-avid/legal-notices/legal-enduserlicense2">published -end user</a> -<a href="http://www.avid.com/static/resources/common/documents/corporate/LICENSE.pdf">license -text</a> (converted to lower case text for easier reading):</p> - -<p><blockquote> -<p>18.2. MPEG-4. MPEG-4 technology may be included with the -software. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice: </p> - -<p>This product is licensed under the MPEG-4 visual patent portfolio -license for the personal and non-commercial use of a consumer for (i) -encoding video in compliance with the MPEG-4 visual standard (“MPEG-4 -video”) and/or (ii) decoding MPEG-4 video that was encoded by a -consumer engaged in a personal and non-commercial activity and/or was -obtained from a video provider licensed by MPEG LA to provide MPEG-4 -video. No license is granted or shall be implied for any other -use. Additional information including that relating to promotional, -internal and commercial uses and licensing may be obtained from MPEG -LA, LLC. See http://www.mpegla.com. This product is licensed under -the MPEG-4 systems patent portfolio license for encoding in compliance -with the MPEG-4 systems standard, except that an additional license -and payment of royalties are necessary for encoding in connection with -(i) data stored or replicated in physical media which is paid for on a -title by title basis and/or (ii) data which is paid for on a title by -title basis and is transmitted to an end user for permanent storage -and/or use, such additional license may be obtained from MPEG LA, -LLC. See http://www.mpegla.com for additional details.</p> - -<p>18.3. H.264/AVC. H.264/AVC technology may be included with the -software. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice:</p> - -<p>This product is licensed under the AVC patent portfolio license for -the personal use of a consumer or other uses in which it does not -receive remuneration to (i) encode video in compliance with the AVC -standard (“AVC video”) and/or (ii) decode AVC video that was encoded -by a consumer engaged in a personal activity and/or was obtained from -a video provider licensed to provide AVC video. No license is granted -or shall be implied for any other use. Additional information may be -obtained from MPEG LA, L.L.C. See http://www.mpegla.com.</p> -</blockquote></p> - -<p>Note the requirement that the videos created can only be used for -personal or non-commercial purposes.</p> - -<p>The Sorenson Media software have -<a href="http://www.sorensonmedia.com/terms/">similar terms</a>:</p> - -<p><blockquote> - -<p>With respect to a license from Sorenson pertaining to MPEG-4 Video -Decoders and/or Encoders: Any such product is licensed under the -MPEG-4 visual patent portfolio license for the personal and -non-commercial use of a consumer for (i) encoding video in compliance -with the MPEG-4 visual standard (“MPEG-4 video”) and/or (ii) decoding -MPEG-4 video that was encoded by a consumer engaged in a personal and -non-commercial activity and/or was obtained from a video provider -licensed by MPEG LA to provide MPEG-4 video. No license is granted or -shall be implied for any other use. Additional information including -that relating to promotional, internal and commercial uses and -licensing may be obtained from MPEG LA, LLC. See -http://www.mpegla.com.</p> - -<p>With respect to a license from Sorenson pertaining to MPEG-4 -Consumer Recorded Data Encoder, MPEG-4 Systems Internet Data Encoder, -MPEG-4 Mobile Data Encoder, and/or MPEG-4 Unique Use Encoder: Any such -product is licensed under the MPEG-4 systems patent portfolio license -for encoding in compliance with the MPEG-4 systems standard, except -that an additional license and payment of royalties are necessary for -encoding in connection with (i) data stored or replicated in physical -media which is paid for on a title by title basis and/or (ii) data -which is paid for on a title by title basis and is transmitted to an -end user for permanent storage and/or use. Such additional license may -be obtained from MPEG LA, LLC. See http://www.mpegla.com for -additional details.</p> - -</blockquote></p> - -<p>Some free software like -<a href="https://handbrake.fr/">Handbrake</A> and -<a href="http://ffmpeg.org/">FFMPEG</a> uses GPL/LGPL licenses and do -not have any such terms included, so for those, there is no -requirement to limit the use to personal and non-commercial.</p> - - - - - Lenker for 2014-08-03 - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenker_for_2014_08_03.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenker_for_2014_08_03.html - Sun, 3 Aug 2014 23:00:00 +0200 - <p>Lenge siden jeg har hatt tid til å publisere lenker til skriverier -jeg har hatt glede og nytte av av å lese. Her er en liten norsk -lenkesamling.</p> - -<p><ul> - -<li><a href="http://www.nrk.no/ytring/sjoslag-om-fiskemilliardene-1.11576109">Sjøslag -om fiskemilliardene</a> (NRK Ytring 2014-03-03) - litt om hvordan de -norske felles matressurser røves fra felleskapet.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/Matkrisen-kan-komme-til-Norge-7522341.html">Matkrisen -kan komme til Norge</a> (Aftenposten 2014-4-01) - hvordan miljøendringene vil gjøre matproduksjonen i Norge mer sårbar.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.nrk.no/ytring/norge-trenger-kornlager-1.11726744">Norge -trenger kornlager</a> (NRK Ytring 2014-06-07) Chr. Anton Smedshaug -forteller litt om Norges sårbare matsituasjon etter at Staten solgte -Norges kornlager.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.nrk.no/norge/pst-vil-overvake-datatastaturer-1.11583286">PST -vil overvåke datatastaturer</a> (NRK 2014-03-04) - PST ønsker retten -til å bryte seg inn på private PC-er og legge inn spionprogrammer. -Hvilket nok vil gjøre Linux mer populært, men gjør at en i enda mindre -grad enn i dag kan stole på datamaskiner - neppe en god ide for -samfunnet totalt sett.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.osloby.no/nyheter/Ruter-fremstar-som-et-pobelvelde-7490624.html">«Ruter -fremstår som et pøbelvelde»</a> (OsloBy 2014-03-05) - et eksempel på -hvordan kollektivtransportselskapet i Oslo håndterer sine kunder.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2014/03/05/nyheter/dbtv/reklame/clear_channel/32123808/">Clear -Channel nektet å vise Greenpeace-reklame i Oslo</a> (Dagbladet -2014-03-05) - forteller litt om hvordan hvilke budskap som når ut i -det offentlige rom kontrolleres i Norge.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2014/03/06/kultur/meninger/debattinnlegg/kronikk/22_juli/32175854/">Svarte -ikke på kritikken</a> (Dagbladet 2014-03-06) - innlegg fra Norsk -presseforbund der de nok en gang tar opp det forkastelige i at -politiet nå har full tilgang til å bedrive telefonkontroll av -advokater.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/uriks/Putin-spiller-poker_-ikke-sjakk-I-sjakk-har-man-regler-7495368.html">«Putin -spiller poker, ikke sjakk. I sjakk har man regler.»</a> (Aftenposten -2014-03-08) - sjakklegenden Kasparov forklarer litt om hvordan han ser -at Russlands politikk fungerer, blant annet i lys av started av -Ukraina-krisen.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikker/I-seng-med-fienden-7492605.html">I -seng med fienden</a> (Aftenposten 2014-03-10) - kronikk fra Eirik -H. Vinje om hvordan menn og kvinner settes opp mot hverandre i det -offentlige ordskiftet, kanskje på sviktende grunnlag.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/amagasinet/Hvor-er-elevene-7501690.html">Fritt -frem for skulk</a> (Aftenposten 2014-03-14) - skildring av hvordan -norske elever i dag ikke lenger har rimelig krav om oppmøte på -skolen.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/digital/Datalagringsdirektiv-avslorte-abort_-sykdom-og-vapenkjop--7503014.html">«Datalagringsdirektiv» -avslørte abort, sykdom og våpenkjøp</a> (Aftenposten 2014-03-14) - om -hvordan forskere har dokumentert hvordan innsamling av metadata om -telefoni og Internett-bruk kan være svært avslørende.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2014/03/14/kultur/meninger/ideer/lordagskommentaren/agnes_ravatn/32302856/">Konsentrasjonssvikt -på pensum</a> (Dagbladet 2014-03-14) - Kommentar om hvordan (feil) -bruk IKT i skolen kan ødelegge mer enn det bidrar til læring.</li> - -<li><a href="http://doremusnor.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/reservasjonsrettsstaten/">Reservasjonsrettsstaten</a> -(blogg fra Doremus 2014-02-09) - morsom beskrivelse om hvordan -regjeringens forslag til reservasjonsrett for leger kan utvides til å -gjelde alles samvittighet.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikker/Autoritar-gjokunge-7514915.html">Autoritær -gjøkunge</a> (Aftenposten 2014-03-25) - Kronikk av Bjørn Stærk om -snurpenots-overvåkningen som varsleren Snowden dokumenterte.</li> - -<li><a href="http://blogg.friprog.no/2014/03/leveransekrise-i-offentlig-sektor-mener-mike-bracken-executive-director-of-digital-in-the-cabinet-office/">Leveransekrise -i Offentlig sektor – mener Mike Bracken, Executive Director of Digital -in the Cabinet Office</a> (blogg fra Friprog-senteret 2014-03-26).</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2014/03/26/kultur/meninger/kronikk/etiopia/avlytting/32499687/">Norge -må stanse avlyttingen</a> (Dagbladet 2014-03-26) - leserinnlegg fra -Felix Horne der han ber om at Norge gjør en innsats for å få slutt på -overvåkning av innbyggerne som gjøres i Norge av Etiopiske -myndigheter.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikker/Demokrati-er-ingen-naturlig-styreform-7521957.html">Demokrati -er ingen naturlig styreform</a> (Aftenposten 2014-04-01) - kronikk av -Stein Ringen om hvordan demokrati som styreform går tapt når -innbyggerne tar det for gitt.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.nrk.no/ytring/ytringsansvar-ere-enhver-tilladte_-1.11618934">Ytringsansvar -ere Enhver tilladte!</a> (NRK Ytring 2014-04-01) - innspill fra Trygve -Svensson og Helge Svare om at hver enkelt av oss har et ansvar for å -ytre oss i den offentlige debatten.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/Jeg-er-ingen-god-samfunnsborger-7527128.html">Jeg -er ingen god samfunnsborger</a> (Aftenposten 2014-04-16), kronikk av -Simen Tveitereid om alternative måter å motiveres i samfunnet, uten å -hige etter mer penger og flere ting.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/debatt/Avgjorelsen-far-umiddelbar-virkning-7531811.html">DLD-dommen: -Avgjørelsen får umiddelbar virkning</a> (Aftenposten 2014-04-10) - -kronikk av Høyres Michael Tetzschner, en partiutbryter i DLD-saken som -stemte nei til DLD i Stortinget i 2011.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.uhuru.biz/?p=1466">Datalagringsdirektivets -endelikt</a> (blogg fra John Wessel-Aas 2014-04-11) - oppsummering -av hvordan direktivet ble funnet ugyldig i EU-domstolen.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.vg.no/nyheter/meninger/kronikk-kapitulasjonspresidenten/a/10147713/">Kronikk: -Kapitulasjonspresidenten</a> (VG 2014-04-22) - kronikk av Einar -Kr. Steffenak om hvordan Stortingspresidenten og regjeringen viser sin -prinsippløshet i møte med Kina.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikker/Innerst-inne-er-alle-nordmenn-7542617.html">Innerst -inne er alle nordmenn</a> (Aftenposten 2014-04-27) - kronikk fra Bjørn -Stærk om hvordan vi i Vesten i stor grad baserer oss på en fantasi om -at alle i verden bærer på en drøm om å bli som oss.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/viten/uviten/Det-italienske-senatet-gav-seg-selv-134-milliarder-euro-i-sluttpakke--7575312.html">Det -italienske senatet gav seg selv 134 milliarder euro i sluttpakke</a> -(Aftenposten 2014-06-19) - forsker Simen Gaure forteller hvordan -løgner og fantasi fra nettkilder i stor grad blir akseptert som -sannhet - antagelig også av deg og meg.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2014/05/30/kultur/meninger/kronikk/skole/33576392/">Et -forsvar for bråkmakerne</a> (Dagbladet 2014-05-30) - kronikk av Dag -Øystein Nome som beskriver hvordan dagens skole ikke fungerer så godt -for mange elever.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.osloby.no/nyheter/Betalte-med-slitt-seddel---havnet-i-arresten-7617208.html">Betalte -med slitt seddel - havnet i arresten</a> (Osloby 2014-06-25)) - -dokumentasjon av Oslopolitiets angrep på vår alles rett til å ferdes -uten elektronisk sporing. Jeg bruker kontanter i så stor grad som -mulig da banken ikke har noe med hvor jeg er og hva jeg kjøper. Vi -som gjør dette risikerer som beskrevet overgrep som frihetsberøvelse -og registrering og lagring av fingeravtrykk og bilde i politiets -database over mistenkte.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/leder/Fredsprisen-til-Snowden-7620422.html">Fredsprisen -til Snowden</a> (Aftenposten 2014-06-28) - leder som forklarer hvorfor -varsleren Snowden bør få fredsprisen.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2014/08/01/kultur/meninger/dbmener/leder1/34598010/">Strategi -for politistaten</a> (Dagbladet 2014-08-01) - leder som advarer om -sterke krefter som bruker terrortrusselen til å lirke Norge nærmere å -bli en politistat.</li> - -<li><a href="http://www.nrk.no/ytring/vi-ma-tenke-nytt-om-narkotika-1.11859322">Vi -må tenke nytt om narkotika</a> (NRK Ytring 2014-08-03) - Mark Lewis -forklarer hvorfor legalisering og offentlig kontroll av -narkotikamarkedet er mye bedre enn å overlate det til kriminelle.</li> - - -</ul></p> - - - - - Debian Edu interview: Bernd Zeitzen - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Bernd_Zeitzen.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Bernd_Zeitzen.html - Thu, 31 Jul 2014 08:30:00 +0200 - <p>The complete and free “out of the box” software solution for -schools, <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / -Skolelinux</a>, is used quite a lot in Germany, and one of the people -involved is Bernd Zeitzen, who show up on the project mailing lists -from time to time with interesting questions and tips on how to adjust -the setup. I managed to interview him this summer.</p> - -<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> - -<p>My name is Bernd Zeitzen and I'm married with Hedda, a self -employed physiotherapist. My former profession is tool maker, but I -haven't worked for 30 years in this job. 30 years ago I started to -support my wife and become her officeworker and a few years later the -administrator for a small computer network, today based on Ubuntu -Server (Samba, OpenVPN). For her daily work she has to use Windows -Desktops because the software she needs to organize her business only -works with Windows . :-(</p> - -<p>In 1988 we started with one PC and DOS, then I learned to use -Windows 98, 2000, XP, …, 8, Ubuntu, MacOSX. Today we are running a -Linux server with 6 Windows clients and 10 persons (teacher of -children with special needs, speech therapist, occupational therapist, -psychologist and officeworkers) using our Samba shares via OpenVPN to -work with the documentations of our patients.</p> - -<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu -project?</strong></p> - -<p>Two years ago a friend of mine asked me, if I want to get a job in -his school (<a href="http://www.gymnasium-harsewinkel.de/">Gymnasium -Harsewinkel</a>). They started with Skolelinux / Debian Edu and they -were looking for people to give support to the teachers using the -software and the network and teaching the pupils increasing their -computer skills in optional lessons. I'm spending 4-6 hours a week -with this job.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>The independence.</p> - -<p>First: Every person is allowed to use, share and develop the -software. Even if you are poor, you are allowed to use the software -included in Skolelinux/Debian Edu and all the other Free Software.</p> - -<p>Second: The software runs on old machines and this gives us the -possibility to recycle computers, weeded out from offices. The -servers and desktops are running for more than two years and they are -working reliable. </p> - -<p>We have two servers (one tjener and one terminal server), 45 -workstations in three classrooms and seven laptops as a mobile -solution for all classrooms. These machines are all booting from the -terminal server. In the moment we are installing 30 laptops as mobile -workstations. Then the pupils have the possibility to work with these -machines in their classrooms. Internet access is realized by a WLAN -router, connected to the schools network. This is all done without a -dedicated system administrator or a computer science teacher.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>Teachers and pupils are Windows users. &lt;Irony on&gt; And Linux -isn't cool. It's software for freaks using the command line. &lt;Irony -off&gt; They don't realize the stability of the system. </p> - -<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> - -<p>Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, Ubuntu Server 12.04 (Samba, -Apache, MySQL, Joomla!, … and Skolelinux / Debian Edu)</p> - -<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to -get schools to use free software?</strong></p> - -<p>In Germany we have the situation: every school is free to decide -which software they want to use. This decision is influenced by -teachers who learned to use Windows and MS Office. They buy a PC with -Windows preinstalled and an additional testing version of MS -Office. They don't know about the possibility to use Free Software -instead. Another problem are the publisher of school books. They -develop their software, added to the school books, for Windows.</p> - - - - - 98.6 percent done with the Norwegian draft translation of Free Culture - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/98_6_percent_done_with_the_Norwegian_draft_translation_of_Free_Culture.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/98_6_percent_done_with_the_Norwegian_draft_translation_of_Free_Culture.html - Wed, 23 Jul 2014 22:40:00 +0200 - <p>This summer I finally had time to continue working on the Norwegian -<a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> version of the 2004 book -<a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig, -to get a Norwegian text explaining the problems with todays copyright -law. Yesterday, I finally completed translated the book text. There -are still some foot/end notes left to translate, the colophon page -need to be rewritten, and a few words and phrases still need to be -translated, but the Norwegian text is ready for the first proof -reading. :) More spell checking is needed, and several illustrations -need to be cleaned up. The work stopped up because I had to give -priority to other projects the last year, and the progress graph of -the translation show this very well:</p> - -<p><img width="80%" align="center" src="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/progress.png"></p> - -<p>If you want to read the result, check out the -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a> -project pages and the -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a>, -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a> -and HTML version available in the -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/tree/master/archive">archive -directory</a>.</p> - -<p>Please report typos, bugs and improvements to the github project if -you find any.</p> - - - - - From English wiki to translated PDF and epub via Docbook - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/From_English_wiki_to_translated_PDF_and_epub_via_Docbook.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/From_English_wiki_to_translated_PDF_and_epub_via_Docbook.html - Tue, 17 Jun 2014 11:30:00 +0200 - <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux -project</a> provide an instruction manual for teachers, system -administrators and other users that contain useful tips for setting up -and maintaining a Debian Edu installation. This text is about how the -text processing of this manual is handled in the project.</p> - -<p>One goal of the project is to provide information in the native -language of its users, and for this we need to handle translations. -But we also want to make sure each language contain the same -information, so for this we need a good way to keep the translations -in sync. And we want it to be easy for our users to improve the -documentation, avoiding the need to learn special formats or tools to -contribute, and the obvious way to do this is to make it possible to -edit the documentation using a web browser. We also want it to be -easy for translators to keep the translation up to date, and give them -help in figuring out what need to be translated. Here is the list of -tools and the process we have found trying to reach all these -goals.</p> - -<p>We maintain the authoritative source of our manual in the -<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/">Debian -wiki</a>, as several wiki pages written in English. It consist of one -front page with references to the different chapters, several pages -for each chapter, and finally one "collection page" gluing all the -chapters together into one large web page (aka -<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/AllInOne">the -AllInOne page</a>). The AllInOne page is the one used for further -processing and translations. Thanks to the fact that the -<a href="http://moinmo.in/">MoinMoin</a> installation on -wiki.debian.org support exporting pages in -<a href="http://www.docbook.org/">the Docbook format</a>, we can fetch -the list of pages to export using the raw version of the AllInOne -page, loop over each of them to generate a Docbook XML version of the -manual. This process also download images and transform image -references to use the locally downloaded images. The generated -Docbook XML files are slightly broken, so some post-processing is done -using the <tt>documentation/scripts/get_manual</tt> program, and the -result is a nice Docbook XML file (debian-edu-wheezy-manual.xml) and -a handfull of images. The XML file can now be used to generate PDF, HTML -and epub versions of the English manual. This is the basic step of -our process, making PDF (using dblatex), HTML (using xsltproc) and -epub (using dbtoepub) version from Docbook XML, and the resulting files -are placed in the debian-edu-doc-en binary package.</p> - -<p>But English documentation is not enough for us. We want translated -documentation too, and we want to make it easy for translators to -track the English original. For this we use the -<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/p/poxml.html">poxml</a> package, -which allow us to transform the English Docbook XML file into a -translation file (a .pot file), usable with the normal gettext based -translation tools used by those translating free software. The pot -file is used to create and maintain translation files (several .po -files), which the translations update with the native language -translations of all titles, paragraphs and blocks of text in the -original. The next step is combining the original English Docbook XML -and the translation file (say debian-edu-wheezy-manual.nb.po), to -create a translated Docbook XML file (in this case -debian-edu-wheezy-manual.nb.xml). This translated (or partly -translated, if the translation is not complete) Docbook XML file can -then be used like the original to create a PDF, HTML and epub version -of the documentation.</p> - -<p>The translators use different tools to edit the .po files. We -recommend using -<a href="http://www.kde.org/applications/development/lokalize/">lokalize</a>, -while some use emacs and vi, others can use web based editors like -<a href="http://pootle.translatehouse.org/">Poodle</a> or -<a href="https://www.transifex.com/">Transifex</a>. All we care about -is where the .po file end up, in our git repository. Updated -translations can either be committed directly to git, or submitted as -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/src:debian-edu-doc">bug reports -against the debian-edu-doc package</a>.</p> - -<p>One challenge is images, which both might need to be translated (if -they show translated user applications), and are needed in different -formats when creating PDF and HTML versions (epub is a HTML version in -this regard). For this we transform the original PNG images to the -needed density and format during build, and have a way to provide -translated images by storing translated versions in -images/$LANGUAGECODE/. I am a bit unsure about the details here. The -package maintainers know more.</p> - -<p>If you wonder what the result look like, we provide -<a href="http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/">the content -of the documentation packages on the web</a>. See for example the -<a href="http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/it/debian-edu-wheezy-manual.pdf">Italian -PDF version</a> or the -<a href="http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/de/debian-edu-wheezy-manual.html">German -HTML version</a>. We do not yet build the epub version by default, -but perhaps it will be done in the future.</p> - -<p>To learn more, check out -<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/debian-edu-doc.html">the -debian-edu-doc package</a>, -<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/">the -manual on the wiki</a> and -<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/Translations">the -translation instructions</a> in the manual.</p> - - -