X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/0eae61fd9783f8eadf6d9848106c6d24fb9ff838..d6886f7be80b96366e231e17e1aba1aa839e969e:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index 889423978a..deb4d95046 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -6,6 +6,420 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + LUMA, a very nice LDAP GUI + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html + Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:30:00 +0200 + +<p>The last few days I have been looking into the status of the LDAP +directory in Debian Edu, and in the process I started to miss a GUI +tool to browse the LDAP tree. The only one I was able to find in +Debian/Squeeze and Lenny is +<a href="http://luma.sourceforge.net/">LUMA</a>, which has proved to +be a great tool to get a overview of the current LDAP directory +populated by default in Skolelinux. Thanks to it, I have been able to +find empty and obsolete subtrees, misplaced objects and duplicate +objects. It will be installed by default in Debian/Squeeze. If you +are working with LDAP, give it a go. :)</p> + +<p>I did notice one problem with it I have not had time to report to +the BTS yet. There is no .desktop file in the package, so the tool do +not show up in the Gnome and KDE menus, but only deep down in in the +Debian submenu in KDE. I hope that can be fixed before Squeeze is +released.</p> + +<p>I have not yet been able to get it to modify the tree yet. I would +like to move objects and remove subtrees directly in the GUI, but have +not found a way to do that with LUMA yet. So in the mean time, I use +<a href="http://www.lichteblau.com/ldapvi/">ldapvi</a> for that.</p> + +<p>If you have tips on other GUI tools for LDAP that might be useful +in Debian Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p> + + + + + Idea for a change to LDAP schemas allowing DNS and DHCP info to be combined into one object + 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 + 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 + Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:35:00 +0200 + +<p>A while back, I +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">complained +about the fact</a> that it is not possible with the provided schemas +for storing DNS and DHCP information in LDAP to combine the two sets +of information into one LDAP object representing a computer.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, I discovered that a simple fix would be to make +the dhcpHost object class auxiliary, to allow it to be combined with +the dNSDomain object class, and thus forming one object for one +computer when storing both DHCP and DNS information in LDAP.</p> + +<p>If I understand this correctly, it is not safe to do this change +without also changing the assigned number for the object class, and I +do not know enough about LDAP schema design to do that properly for +Debian Edu.</p> + +<p>Anyway, for future reference, this is how I believe we could change +the +<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dhc-ldap-schema-00">DHCP +schema</a> to solve at least part of the problem with the LDAP schemas +available today from IETF.</p> + +<pre> +--- dhcp.schema (revision 65192) ++++ dhcp.schema (working copy) +@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ + objectclass ( 2.16.840.1.113719.1.203.6.6 + NAME 'dhcpHost' + DESC 'This represents information about a particular client' +- SUP top ++ SUP top AUXILIARY + MUST cn + MAY (dhcpLeaseDN $ dhcpHWAddress $ dhcpOptionsDN $ dhcpStatements $ dhcpComments $ dhcpOption) + X-NDS_CONTAINMENT ('dhcpService' 'dhcpSubnet' 'dhcpGroup') ) +</pre> + +<p>I very much welcome clues on how to do this properly for Debian +Edu/Squeeze. We provide the DHCP schema in our debian-edu-config +package, and should thus be free to rewrite it as we see fit.</p> + +<p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu, +please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p> + + + + + Calling tasksel like the installer, while still getting useful output + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Calling_tasksel_like_the_installer__while_still_getting_useful_output.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Calling_tasksel_like_the_installer__while_still_getting_useful_output.html + Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:55:00 +0200 + +<p>A few times I have had the need to simulate the way tasksel +installs packages during the normal debian-installer run. Until now, +I have ended up letting tasksel do the work, with the annoying problem +of not getting any feedback at all when something fails (like a +conffile question from dpkg or a download that fails), using code like +this: + +<blockquote><pre> +export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive +tasksel --new-install +</pre></blockquote> + +This would invoke tasksel, let its automatic task selection pick the +tasks to install, and continue to install the requested tasks without +any output what so ever. + +Recently I revisited this problem while working on the automatic +package upgrade testing, because tasksel would some times hang without +any useful feedback, and I want to see what is going on when it +happen. Then it occured to me, I can parse the output from tasksel +when asked to run in test mode, and use that aptitude command line +printed by tasksel then to simulate the tasksel run. I ended up using +code like this: + +<blockquote><pre> +export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive +cmd="$(in_target tasksel -t --new-install | sed 's/debconf-apt-progress -- //')" +$cmd +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>The content of $cmd is typically something like "<tt>aptitude -q +--without-recommends -o APT::Install-Recommends=no -y install +~t^desktop$ ~t^gnome-desktop$ ~t^laptop$ ~pstandard ~prequired +~pimportant</tt>", which will install the gnome desktop task, the +laptop task and all packages with priority standard , required and +important, just like tasksel would have done it during +installation.</p> + +<p>A better approach is probably to extend tasksel to be able to +install packages without using debconf-apt-progress, for use cases +like this.</p> + + + + + Vinmonopolet bryter loven åpenlyst - og flere planlegger å gjøre det samme + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Vinmonopolet_bryter_loven___penlyst___og_flere_planlegger____gj__re_det_samme.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Vinmonopolet_bryter_loven___penlyst___og_flere_planlegger____gj__re_det_samme.html + Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:00:00 +0200 + +<p><a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/06/16/nyheter/innenriks/streik/arbeidsliv/12157858/">Dagbladet +melder</a> at Vinmonopolet med bakgrunn i vekterstreiken som pågår i +Norge for tiden, har bestemt seg for med vitende og vilje å bryte +sentralbanklovens paragraf 14 ved å nekte folk å betale med +kontanter, og at flere butikker planlegger å følge deres eksempel. +Jeg synes det er hårreisende hvis de slipper unna med et slikt +soleklart lovbrudd, og lurer på hva slags muligheter jeg vil ha hvis +jeg blir nektet å handle med kontanter. Jeg handler i hovedsak med +kontanter selv, da jeg anser det som en borgerrett å kunne handle +anonymt uten at det blir registrert. For meg er det et angrep på mitt +personvern å nekte å ta imot kontant betaling.</p> + +<p><a href="http://www.lovdata.no/all/tl-19850524-028-003.html#14">Paragrafen +i sentralbankloven</a> lyder:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>§ 14. Tvungent betalingsmiddel</p> + +<p>Bankens sedler og mynter er tvungent betalingsmiddel i Norge. Ingen +er pliktig til i én betaling å ta imot mer enn femogtyve mynter av +hver enhet.</p> + +<p>Sterkt skadde sedler og mynter er ikke tvungent +betalingsmiddel. Banken gir nærmere forskrifter om erstatning for +bortkomne, brente eller skadde sedler og mynter.</p> + +<p>Selv om en avtale inneholder klausul om betaling av en +pengeforpliktelse i gullverdi, kan skyldneren frigjøre seg med tvungne +betalingsmidler uten hensyn til denne klausul.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Det er med bakgrunn i denne lovet ikke tillatt å nekte å ta imot +kontakt betaling. Det er en lov jeg har sans for, og som jeg mener må +håndheves strengt.</p> + + + + + Officeshots taking shape + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_taking_shape.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_taking_shape.html + Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:40:00 +0200 + +<p>For those of us caring about document exchange and +interoperability, <a href="http://www.officeshots.org/">OfficeShots</a> +is a great service. It is to ODF documents what +<a href="http://browsershots.org/">BrowserShots</a> is for web +pages.</p> + +<p>A while back, I was contacted by Knut Yrvin at the part of Nokia +that used to be Trolltech, who wanted to help the OfficeShots project +and wondered if the University of Oslo where I work would be +interested in supporting the project. I helped him to navigate his +request to the right people at work, and his request was answered with +a spot in the machine room with power and network connected, and Knut +arranged funding for a machine to fill the spot. The machine is +administrated by the OfficeShots people, so I do not have daily +contact with its progress, and thus from time to time check back to +see how the project is doing.</p> + +<p>Today I had a look, and was happy to see that the Dell box in our +machine room now is the host for several virtual machines running as +OfficeShots factories, and the project is able to render ODF documents +in 17 different document processing implementation on Linux and +Windows. This is great.</p> + + + + + Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, removals by apt and aptitude + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__removals_by_apt_and_aptitude.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__removals_by_apt_and_aptitude.html + Sun, 13 Jun 2010 09:05:00 +0200 + +<p>My +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">testing +of Debian upgrades</a> from Lenny to Squeeze continues, and I've +finally made the upgrade logs available from +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/</a>. +I am now testing dist-upgrade of Gnome and KDE in a chroot using both +apt and aptitude, and found their differences interesting. This time +I will only focus on their removal plans.</p> + +<p>After installing a Gnome desktop and the laptop task, apt-get wants +to remove 72 packages when dist-upgrading from Lenny to Squeeze. The +surprising part is that it want to remove xorg and all +xserver-xorg-video* drivers. Clearly not a good choice, but I am not +sure why. When asking aptitude to do the same, it want to remove 129 +packages, but most of them are library packages I suspect are no +longer needed. Both of them want to remove bluetooth packages, which +I do not know. Perhaps these bluetooth packages are obsolete?</p> + +<p>For KDE, apt-get want to remove 82 packages, among them kdebase +which seem like a bad idea and xorg the same way as with Gnome. Asking +aptitude for the same, it wants to remove 192 packages, none which are +too surprising.</p> + +<p>I guess the removal of xorg during upgrades should be investigated +and avoided, and perhaps others as well. Here are the complete list +of planned removals. The complete logs is available from the URL +above. Note if you want to repeat these tests, that the upgrade test +for kde+apt-get hung in the tasksel setup because of dpkg asking +conffile questions. No idea why. I worked around it by using +'<tt>echo >> /proc/<em>pidofdpkg</em>/fd/0</tt>' to tell dpkg to +continue.</p> + +<p><b>apt-get gnome 72</b> +<br>bluez-gnome cupsddk-drivers deskbar-applet gnome + gnome-desktop-environment gnome-network-admin gtkhtml3.14 + iceweasel-gnome-support libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libgdl-1-0 + libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libmetacity0 libslab0 libxcb-xlib0 + nautilus-cd-burner python-gnome2-desktop python-gnome2-extras + serpentine swfdec-mozilla update-manager xorg xserver-xorg + xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev + xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse + xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom + xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark + xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips + xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix + xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev + xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128 + xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt + xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64 + xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic + xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv + xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128 + xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd + xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3 + xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage + xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis + xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx + xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident + xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l + xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga + xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9 + xulrunner-1.9-gnome-support</p> + +<p><b>aptitude gnome 129</b> + +<br>bluez-gnome bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers dhcdbd + djvulibre-desktop finger gnome-app-install gnome-mount + gnome-network-admin gnome-spell gnome-vfs-obexftp + gnome-volume-manager gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs gtkhtml3.14 libao2 + libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2 + libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcupsys2 libcurl3 libdatrie0 + libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedataserver1.2-9 libeel2-2.20 + libeel2-data libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libfaad0 libgail-common + libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libgdl-1-0 libgdl-1-common + libggz2 libggzcore9 libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 + libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libgnomeprint2.2-0 + libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgnomeprintui2.2-common + libgnomevfs2-bin libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0 + libgtksourceview-common libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6 + libhesiod0 libicu38 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 libmagick++10 + libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmetacity0 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off + libnautilus-burn4 libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 + libosp5 libparted1.8-10 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 libpt-1.10.10 + libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libraw1394-8 + libsensors3 libslab0 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8 libssh2-1 + libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 libtotem-plparser10 + libtrackerclient0 libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0 + libxerces2-java libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6 + libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 mysql-common nautilus-cd-burner + openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip + python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gnome2-desktop + python-gnome2-extras python-gtkhtml2 python-gtkmozembed + python-numeric python-sexy serpentine svgalibg1 swfdec-gnome + swfdec-mozilla totem-gstreamer update-manager wodim + xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt + xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga + zip</p> + +<p><b>apt-get kde 82</b> + +<br>cupsddk-drivers karm kaudiocreator kcoloredit kcontrol kde kde-core + kdeaddons kdeartwork kdebase kdebase-bin kdebase-bin-kde3 + kdebase-kio-plugins kdesktop kdeutils khelpcenter kicker + kicker-applets knewsticker kolourpaint konq-plugins konqueror korn + kpersonalizer kscreensaver ksplash libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libkiten1 + libxcb-xlib0 quanta superkaramba texlive-base-bin xorg xserver-xorg + xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev + xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse + xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom + xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark + xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips + xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix + xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev + xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128 + xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt + xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64 + xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic + xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv + xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128 + xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd + xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3 + xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage + xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis + xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx + xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident + xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l + xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga + xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9</p> + +<p><b>aptitude kde 192</b> +<br>bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers cvs dcoprss dhcdbd + djvulibre-desktop dosfstools eyesapplet fifteenapplet finger gettext + ghostscript-x imlib-base imlib11 indi kandy karm kasteroids + kaudiocreator kbackgammon kbstate kcoloredit kcontrol kcron kdat + kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdeartwork-misc kdeartwork-theme-window + kdebase-bin-kde3 kdebase-kio-plugins kdeedu-data + kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelirc kdemultimedia-kappfinder-data + kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdenetwork-kfile-plugins + kdepim-kfile-plugins kdepim-kio-plugins kdeprint kdesktop kdessh + kdict kdnssd kdvi kedit keduca kenolaba kfax kfaxview kfouleggs + kghostview khelpcenter khexedit kiconedit kitchensync klatin + klickety kmailcvt kmenuedit kmid kmilo kmoon kmrml kodo kolourpaint + kooka korn kpager kpdf kpercentage kpf kpilot kpoker kpovmodeler + krec kregexpeditor ksayit ksim ksirc ksirtet ksmiletris ksmserver + ksnake ksokoban ksplash ksvg ksysv ktip ktnef kuickshow kverbos + kview kviewshell kvoctrain kwifimanager kwin kwin4 kworldclock + kxsldbg libakode2 libao2 libarts1-akode libarts1-audiofile + libarts1-mpeglib libarts1-xine libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 + libavahi-core5 libavc1394-0 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2 + libboost-python1.34.1 libcucul0 libcurl3 libcvsservice0 libdatrie0 + libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdjvulibre21 libdvdread3 libfaad0 libfreebob0 + libgail-common libgd2-noxpm libgraphviz4 libgsmme1c2a libgtkhtml2-0 + libicu38 libiec61883-0 libindex0 libiw29 libk3b3 libkcal2b libkcddb1 + libkdeedu3 libkdepim1a libkgantt0 libkiten1 libkleopatra1 libkmime2 + libkpathsea4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1 + libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 libltdl3 libmagick10 libmimelib1c2a + libmozjs1d libmpcdec3 libneon27 libnm-util0 libopensync0 libpisock9 + libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler3 libraw1394-8 libsmbios2 + libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libtalloc1 libtiff-tools + libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0 libxerces2-java + libxerces2-java-gcj libxtrap6 mpeglib networkstatus + openoffice.org-writer2latex pmount poster psutils quanta quanta-data + superkaramba svgalibg1 tex-common texlive-base texlive-base-bin + texlive-common texlive-doc-base texlive-fonts-recommended + xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt + xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga + xulrunner-1.9</p> + + + + + + Åpne trådløsnett er et samfunnsgode + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/__pne_tr__dl__snett_er_et_samfunnsgode.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/__pne_tr__dl__snett_er_et_samfunnsgode.html + Sat, 12 Jun 2010 12:45:00 +0200 + +<p>Veldig glad for å oppdage via +<a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/06/11/1841256/Finland-To-Legalize-Use-of-Unsecured-Wi-Fi">Slashdot</a> +at folk i Finland har forstått at åpne trådløsnett er et samfunnsgode. +Jeg ser på åpne trådløsnett som et fellesgode på linje med retten til +ferdsel i utmark og retten til å bevege seg i strandsonen. Jeg har +glede av åpne trådløsnett når jeg finner dem, og deler gladelig nett +med andre så lenge de ikke forstyrrer min bruk av eget nett. +Nettkapasiteten er sjelden en begrensning ved normal browsing og enkel +SSH-innlogging (som er min vanligste nettbruk), og nett kan brukes til +så mye positivt og nyttig (som nyhetslesing, sjekke været, kontakte +slekt og venner, holde seg oppdatert om politiske saker, kontakte +organisasjoner og politikere, etc), at det for meg er helt urimelig å +blokkere dette for alle som ikke gjør en flue fortred. De som mener +at potensialet for misbruk er grunn nok til å hindre all den positive +og lovlydige bruken av et åpent trådløsnett har jeg dermed ingen +forståelse for. En kan ikke eksistensen av forbrytere styre hvordan +samfunnet skal organiseres. Da får en et kontrollsamfunn de færreste +ønsker å leve i, og det at vi har et samfunn i Norge der tilliten til +hverandre er høy gjør at samfunnet fungerer ganske godt. Det bør vi +anstrenge oss for å beholde.</p> + + + Automatic upgrade testing from Lenny to Squeeze http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html @@ -270,270 +684,5 @@ choice.</p> - - A manual for standards wars... - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_manual_for_standards_wars___.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_manual_for_standards_wars___.html - Sun, 6 Jun 2010 14:15:00 +0200 - -<p>Via the -<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/robweir/antic-atom/~3/QzU4RgoAGMg/weekly-links-10.html">blog -of Rob Weir</a> I came across the very interesting essay named -<a href="http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/shapiro/wars.pdf">The Art of -Standards Wars</a> (PDF 25 pages). I recommend it for everyone -following the standards wars of today.</p> - - - - - Sitesummary tip: Listing computer hardware models used at site - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sitesummary_tip__Listing_computer_hardware_models_used_at_site.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sitesummary_tip__Listing_computer_hardware_models_used_at_site.html - Thu, 3 Jun 2010 12:05:00 +0200 - -<p>When using sitesummary at a site to track machines, it is possible -to get a list of the machine types in use thanks to the DMI -information extracted from each machine. The script to do so is -included in the sitesummary package, and here is example output from -the Skolelinux build servers:</p> - -<blockquote><pre> -maintainer:~# /usr/lib/sitesummary/hardware-model-summary - vendor count - Dell Computer Corporation 1 - PowerEdge 1750 1 - IBM 1 - eserver xSeries 345 -[8670M1X]- 1 - Intel 2 - [no-dmi-info] 3 -maintainer:~# -</pre></blockquote> - -<p>The quality of the report depend on the quality of the DMI tables -provided in each machine. Here there are Intel machines without model -information listed with Intel as vendor and mo model, and virtual Xen -machines listed as [no-dmi-info]. One can add -l as a command line -option to list the individual machines.</p> - -<p>A larger list is -<a href="http://narvikskolen.no/sitesummary/">available from the the -city of Narvik</a>, which uses Skolelinux on all their shools and also -provide the basic sitesummary report publicly. In their report there -are ~1400 machines. I know they use both Ubuntu and Skolelinux on -their machines, and as sitesummary is available in both distributions, -it is trivial to get all of them to report to the same central -collector.</p> - - - - - Togsatsing på norsk, mot sykkel - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Togsatsing_p___norsk__mot_sykkel.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Togsatsing_p___norsk__mot_sykkel.html - Wed, 2 Jun 2010 23:45:00 +0200 - -<p>Det står dårlig til med toget når en finner på å la det -<a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article3677060.ece">kappkjøre -med sykkel</a>... Jeg tror det trengs strukturendringer for å få -fikset på togproblemene i Norge.</p> - -<p>Mon tro hva toglinje mellom Narvik og Tromsø ville hatt slags -effekt på området der?</p> - - - - - KDM fail at boot with NVidia cards - and no one try to fix it? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/KDM_fail_at_boot_with_NVidia_cards___and_no_one_try_to_fix_it_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/KDM_fail_at_boot_with_NVidia_cards___and_no_one_try_to_fix_it_.html - Tue, 1 Jun 2010 17:05:00 +0200 - -<p>It is strange to watch how a bug in Debian causing KDM to fail to -start at boot when an NVidia video card is used is handled. The -problem seem to be that the nvidia X.org driver uses a long time to -initialize, and this duration is longer than kdm is configured to -wait.</p> - -<p>I came across two bugs related to this issue, -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/583312">#583312</a> initially filed -against initscripts and passed on to nvidia-glx when it became obvious -that the nvidia drivers were involved, and -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/524751">#524751</a> initially filed against -kdm and passed on to src:nvidia-graphics-drivers for unknown reasons.</p> - -<p>To me, it seem that no-one is interested in actually solving the -problem nvidia video card owners experience and make sure the Debian -distribution work out of the box for these users. The nvidia driver -maintainers expect kdm to be set up to wait longer, while kdm expect -the nvidia driver maintainers to fix the driver to start faster, and -while they wait for each other I guess the users end up switching to a -distribution that work for them. I have no idea what the solution is, -but I am pretty sure that waiting for each other is not it.</p> - -<p>I wonder why we end up handling bugs this way.</p> - - - - - Parallellized boot seem to hold up well in Debian/testing - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Parallellized_boot_seem_to_hold_up_well_in_Debian_testing.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Parallellized_boot_seem_to_hold_up_well_in_Debian_testing.html - Thu, 27 May 2010 23:55:00 +0200 - -<p>A few days ago, parallel booting was enabled in Debian/testing. -The feature seem to hold up pretty well, but three fairly serious -issues are known and should be solved: - -<p><ul> - -<li>The wicd package seen to -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/508289">break NFS mounting</a> and -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/581586">network setup</a> when -parallel booting is enabled. No idea why, but the wicd maintainer -seem to be on the case.</li> - -<li>The nvidia X driver seem to -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/583312">have a race condition</a> -triggered more easily when parallel booting is in effect. The -maintainer is on the case.</li> - -<li>The sysv-rc package fail to properly enable dependency based boot -sequencing (the shutdown is broken) when old file-rc users -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/575080">try to switch back</a> to -sysv-rc. One way to solve it would be for file-rc to create -/etc/init.d/.legacy-bootordering, and another is to try to make -sysv-rc more robust. Will investigate some more and probably upload a -workaround in sysv-rc to help those trying to move from file-rc to -sysv-rc get a working shutdown.</li> - -</ul></p> - -<p>All in all not many surprising issues, and all of them seem -solvable before Squeeze is released. In addition to these there are -some packages with bugs in their dependencies and run level settings, -which I expect will be fixed in a reasonable time span.</p> - -<p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to -the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the -list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p> - -<p>Update: Correct bug number to file-rc issue.</p> - - - - - More flexible firmware handling in debian-installer - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/More_flexible_firmware_handling_in_debian_installer.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/More_flexible_firmware_handling_in_debian_installer.html - Sat, 22 May 2010 21:30:00 +0200 - -<p>After a long break from debian-installer development, I finally -found time today to return to the project. Having to spend less time -working dependency based boot in debian, as it is almost complete now, -definitely helped freeing some time.</p> - -<p>A while back, I ran into a problem while working on Debian Edu. We -include some firmware packages on the Debian Edu CDs, those needed to -get disk and network controllers working. Without having these -firmware packages available during installation, it is impossible to -install Debian Edu on the given machine, and because our target group -are non-technical people, asking them to provide firmware packages on -an external medium is a support pain. Initially, I expected it to be -enough to include the firmware packages on the CD to get -debian-installer to find and use them. This proved to be wrong. -Next, I hoped it was enough to symlink the relevant firmware packages -to some useful location on the CD (tried /cdrom/ and -/cdrom/firmware/). This also proved to not work, and at this point I -found time to look at the debian-installer code to figure out what was -going to work.</p> - -<p>The firmware loading code is in the hw-detect package, and a closer -look revealed that it would only look for firmware packages outside -the installation media, so the CD was never checked for firmware -packages. It would only check USB sticks, floppies and other -"external" media devices. Today I changed it to also look in the -/cdrom/firmware/ directory on the mounted CD or DVD, which should -solve the problem I ran into with Debian edu. I also changed it to -look in /firmware/, to make sure the installer also find firmware -provided in the initrd when booting the installer via PXE, to allow us -to provide the same feature in the PXE setup included in Debian -Edu.</p> - -<p>To make sure firmware deb packages with a license questions are not -activated without asking if the license is accepted, I extended -hw-detect to look for preinst scripts in the firmware packages, and -run these before activating the firmware during installation. The -license question is asked using debconf in the preinst, so this should -solve the issue for the firmware packages I have looked at so far.</p> - -<p>If you want to discuss the details of these features, please -contact us on debian-boot@lists.debian.org.</p> - - - - - Magnetstripeinnhold i billetter fra Flytoget og Hurtigruten - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Magnetstripeinnhold_i_billetter_fra_Flytoget_og_Hurtigruten.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Magnetstripeinnhold_i_billetter_fra_Flytoget_og_Hurtigruten.html - Fri, 21 May 2010 16:00:00 +0200 - -<p>For en stund tilbake kjøpte jeg en magnetkortleser for å kunne -titte på hva som er skrevet inn på magnetstripene til ulike kort. Har -ikke hatt tid til å analysere mange kort så langt, men tenkte jeg -skulle dele innholdet på to kort med mine lesere.</p> - -<p>For noen dager siden tok jeg flyet til Harstad og Hurtigruten til -Bergen. Flytoget fra Oslo S til flyplassen ga meg en billett med -magnetstripe. Påtrykket finner jeg følgende informasjon:</p> - -<pre> -Flytoget Airport Express Train - -Fra - Til : Oslo Sentralstasjon -Kategori : Voksen -Pris : Nok 170,00 -Herav mva. 8,00% : NOK 12,59 -Betaling : Kontant -Til - Fra : Oslo Lufthavn -Utstedt: : 08.05.10 -Gyldig Fra-Til : 08.05.10-07.11.10 -Billetttype : Enkeltbillett - -102-1015-100508-48382-01-08 -</pre> - -<p>På selve magnetstripen er innholdet -<tt>;E?+900120011=23250996541068112619257138248441708433322932704083389389062603279671261502492655?</tt>. -Aner ikke hva innholdet representerer, og det er lite overlapp mellom -det jeg ser trykket på billetten og det jeg ser av tegn i -magnetstripen. Håper det betyr at de bruker kryptografiske metoder -for å gjøre det vanskelig å forfalske billetter.</p> - -<p>Den andre billetten er fra Hurtigruten, der jeg mistenker at -strekkoden på fronten er mer brukt enn magnetstripen (det var i hvert -fall den biten vi stakk inn i dørlåsen).</p> - -<p>Påtrykket forsiden er følgende:</p> - -<pre> -Romnummer 727 -Hurtigruten -Midnatsol -Reinholdtsen -Petter -Bookingno: SAX69 0742193 -Harstad-Bergen -Dep: 09.05.2010 Arr: 12.05.2010 -Lugar fra Risøyhamn -Kost: FRO=4 -</pre> - -<p>På selve magnetstripen er innholdet -<tt>;1316010007421930=00000000000000000000?+E?</tt>. Heller ikke her -ser jeg mye korrespondanse mellom påtrykk og magnetstripe.</p> - - -