X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/14c30fcadbf6b05cee38bda48e476b5393e1e2cf..d5419a21235ed29b12c81efeac4ade8ec1cc1a98:/blog/index.rss?ds=sidebyside diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index dbbe2415df..b623b75925 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -6,6 +6,160 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + Freedombox on Dreamplug, Raspberry Pi and virtual x86 machine + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Freedombox_on_Dreamplug__Raspberry_Pi_and_virtual_x86_machine.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Freedombox_on_Dreamplug__Raspberry_Pi_and_virtual_x86_machine.html + Fri, 14 Mar 2014 11:00:00 +0100 + <p>The <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">Freedombox +project</a> is working on providing the software and hardware for +making it easy for non-technical people to host their data and +communication at home, and being able to communicate with their +friends and family encrypted and away from prying eyes. It has been +going on for a while, and is slowly progressing towards a new test +release (0.2).</p> + +<p>And what day could be better than the Pi day to announce that the +new version will provide "hard drive" / SD card / USB stick images for +Dreamplug, Raspberry Pi and VirtualBox (or any other virtualization +system), and can also be installed using a Debian installer preseed +file. The Debian based Freedombox is now based on Debian Jessie, +where most of the needed packages used are already present. Only one, +the freedombox-setup package, is missing. To try to build your own +boot image to test the current status, fetch the freedom-maker scripts +and build using +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/vmdebootstrap">vmdebootstrap</a> +with a user with sudo access to become root: + +<pre> +git clone http://anonscm.debian.org/git/freedombox/freedom-maker.git \ + freedom-maker +sudo apt-get install git vmdebootstrap mercurial python-docutils \ + mktorrent extlinux virtualbox qemu-user-static binfmt-support \ + u-boot-tools +make -C freedom-maker dreamplug-image raspberry-image virtualbox-image +</pre> + +<p>Root access is needed to run debootstrap and mount loopback +devices. See the README for more details on the build. If you do not +want all three images, trim the make line. But note that thanks to <a +href="https://bugs.debian.org/741407">a race condition in +vmdebootstrap</a>, the build might fail without the patch to the +kpartx call.</p> + +<p>If you instead want to install using a Debian CD and the preseed +method, boot a Debian Wheezy ISO and use this boot argument to load +the preseed values:</p> + +<pre> +url=<a href="http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-jessie.dat">http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-jessie.dat</a> +</pre> + +<p>But note that due to <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/740673">a +recently introduced bug in apt in Jessie</a>, the installer will +currently hang while setting up APT sources. Killing the +'<tt>apt-cdrom ident</tt>' process when it hang a few times during the +installation will get the installation going. This affect all +installations in Jessie, and I expect it will be fixed soon.</p> + +Give it a go and let us know how it goes on the mailing list, and help +us get the new release published. :) Please join us on +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org:6667/%23freedombox">IRC (#freedombox on +irc.debian.org)</a> and +<a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss">the +mailing list</a> if you want to help make this vision come true.</p> + + + + + How to add extra storage servers in Debian Edu / Skolelinux + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_add_extra_storage_servers_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_add_extra_storage_servers_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux.html + Wed, 12 Mar 2014 12:50:00 +0100 + <p>On larger sites, it is useful to use a dedicated storage server for +storing user home directories and data. The design for handling this +in <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>, is +to update the automount rules in LDAP and let the automount daemon on +the clients take care of the rest. I was reminded about the need to +document this better when one of the customers of +<a href="http://www.slxdrift.no/">Skolelinux Drift AS</a>, where I am +on the board of directors, asked about how to do this. The steps to +get this working are the following:</p> + +<p><ol> + +<li>Add new storage server in DNS. I use nas-server.intern as the +example host here.</li> + +<li>Add automoun LDAP information about this server in LDAP, to allow +all clients to automatically mount it on reqeust.</li> + +<li>Add the relevant entries in tjener.intern:/etc/fstab, because +tjener.intern do not use automount to avoid mounting loops.</li> + +</ol></p> + +<p>DNS entries are added in GOsa², and not described here. Follow the +<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Wheezy/GettingStarted">instructions +in the manual</a> (Machine Management with GOsa² in section Getting +started).</p> + +<p>Ensure that the NFS export points on the server are exported to the +relevant subnets or machines:</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +root@tjener:~# showmount -e nas-server +Export list for nas-server: +/storage 10.0.0.0/8 +root@tjener:~# +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>Here everything on the backbone network is granted access to the +/storage export. With NFSv3 it is slightly better to limit it to +netgroup membership or single IP addresses to have some limits on the +NFS access.</p> + +<p>The next step is to update LDAP. This can not be done using GOsa², +because it lack a module for automount. Instead, use ldapvi and add +the required LDAP objects using an editor.</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +ldapvi --ldap-conf -ZD '(cn=admin)' -b ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>When the editor show up, add the following LDAP objects at the +bottom of the document. The "/&" part in the last LDAP object is a +wild card matching everything the nas-server exports, removing the +need to list individual mount points in LDAP.</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +add cn=nas-server,ou=auto.skole,ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no +objectClass: automount +cn: nas-server +automountInformation: -fstype=autofs --timeout=60 ldap:ou=auto.nas-server,ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no + +add ou=auto.nas-server,ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no +objectClass: top +objectClass: automountMap +ou: auto.nas-server + +add cn=/,ou=auto.nas-server,ou=automount,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no +objectClass: automount +cn: / +automountInformation: -fstype=nfs,tcp,rsize=32768,wsize=32768,rw,intr,hard,nodev,nosuid,noatime nas-server.intern:/& +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>The last step to remember is to mount the relevant mount points in +tjener.intern by adding them to /etc/fstab, creating the mount +directories using mkdir and running "mount -a" to mount them.</p> + +<p>When this is done, your users should be able to access the files on +the storage server directly by just visiting the +/tjener/nas-server/storage/ directory using any application on any +workstation, LTSP client or LTSP server.</p> + + + Hvordan bør RFC 822-formattert epost lagres i en NOARK5-database? http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hvordan_b_r_RFC_822_formattert_epost_lagres_i_en_NOARK5_database_.html @@ -727,157 +881,5 @@ likevel.</p> - - Debian Edu interview: Klaus Knopper - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Klaus_Knopper.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Klaus_Knopper.html - Fri, 6 Dec 2013 09:50:00 +0100 - <p>It has been a while since I managed to publish the last interview, -but the <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / -Skolelinux</a> community is still going strong, and yesterday we even -had a new school administrator show up on -<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/#debian-edu">#debian-edu</a> to share -his success story with installing Debian Edu at their school. This -time I have been able to get some helpful comments from the creator of -Knoppix, Klaus Knopper, who was involved in a Skolelinux project in -Germany a few years ago.</p> - -<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> - -<p>I am Klaus Knopper. I have a master degree in electrical -engineering, and is currently professor in information management at -the university of applied sciences Kaiserslautern / Germany and -freelance Open Source software developer and consultant.</p> - -<p>All of this is pretty much of the work I spend my days with. Apart -from teaching, I'm also conducting some more or less experimental -projects like the <a href="http://www.knoppix.org">Knoppix GNU/Linux live -system</a> (Debian-based like Skolelinux), -<a href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-adriane/index-en.html">ADRIANE</a> -(a blind-friendly talking desktop system) and -<a href="http://www.knopper.net/linbo/index-en.html">LINBO</a> -(Linux-based network boot console, a fast remote install and repair -system supporting various operating systems).</p> - -<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu -project?</strong></p> - -<p>The credit for this have to go to Kurt Gramlich, who is the German -coordinator for Skolelinux. We were looking for an all-in-one open -source community-supported distribution for schools, and Kurt -introduced us to Skolelinux for this purpose.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<ul> - <li>Quick installation,</li> - <li>works (almost) out of the box,</li> - <li>contains many useful software packages for teaching and learning,</li> - <li>is a purely community-based distro and not controlled by a - single company,</li> - <li>has a large number of supporters and teachers who share their - experience and problem solutions.</li> -</ul> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<ul> - <li>Skolelinux is - as we had to learn - not easily upgradable to - the next version. Opposed to its genuine Debian base, upgrading to - a new version means a full new installation from scratch to get it - working again reliably. - - <li>Skolelinux is based on Debian/stable, and therefore always a - little outdated in terms of program versions compared to Edubuntu or - similar educational Linux distros, which rather use Debian/testing - as their base. - - <li>Skolelinux has some very self-opinionated and stubborn default - configuration which in my opinion adds unnecessary complexity and is - not always suitable for a schools needs, the preset network - configuration is actually a core definition feature of Skolelinux - and not easy to change, so schools sometimes have to change their - network configuration to make it "Skolelinux-compatible". - - <li>Some proposed extensions, which were made available as - contribution, like secure examination mode and lecture material - distribution and collection, were not accepted into the mainline - Skolelinux development and are now not easy to maintain in the - future because of Skolelinux somewhat undeterministic update - schemes.</li> - - <li>Skolelinux has only a very tiny number of base developers - compared to Debian.</li> - -</ul> - -<p>For these reasons and experience from our project, I would now -rather consider using plain Debian for schools next time, until -Skolelinux is more closely integrated into Debian and becomes -upgradeable without reinstallation.</p> - -<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> - -<p>GNU/Linux with LXDE desktop, bash for interactive dialog and -programming, texlive for documentation and correspondence, -occasionally LibreOffice for document format conversion. Various -programming languages for teaching.</p> - -<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to -get schools to use free software?</strong></p> - -<p>Strong arguments are</p> - -<ul> - - <li>Knowledge is free, and so should be methods and tools for - teaching and learning.</li> - - <li>Students can learn with and use the same software at school, at - home, and at their working place without running into license or - conversion problems.</li> - - <li>Closed source or proprietary software hides knowledge rather - than exposing it, and proprietary software vendors try to bind - customers to certain products. But teachers need to teach - science, not products.</li> - - <li>If you have everything you for daily work as open source, what - would you need proprietary software for?</li> - -</ul> - - - - - Dugnadsnett for alle, a wireless community network in Oslo, take shape - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnadsnett_for_alle__a_wireless_community_network_in_Oslo__take_shape.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dugnadsnett_for_alle__a_wireless_community_network_in_Oslo__take_shape.html - Sat, 30 Nov 2013 10:10:00 +0100 - <p>If you want the ability to electronically communicate directly with -your neighbors and friends using a network controlled by your peers in -stead of centrally controlled by a few corporations, or would like to -experiment with interesting network technology, the -<a href="http://www.dugnadsnett.no/">Dugnasnett for alle i Oslo</a> -might be project for you. 39 mesh nodes are currently being planned, -in the freshly started initiative from NUUG and Hackeriet to create a -wireless community network. The work is inspired by -<a href="http://freifunk.net/">Freifunk</a>, -<a href="http://www.awmn.net/">Athens Wireless Metropolitan -Network</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roofnet">Roofnet</a> -and other successful mesh networks around the globe. Two days ago we -held a workshop to try to get people started on setting up their own -mesh node, and there we decided to create a new mailing list -<a href="http://lists.nuug.no/mailman/listinfo/dugnadsnett">dugnadsnett -(at) nuug.no</a> and IRC channel -<a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/#dugnadsnett.no">#dugnadsnett.no</a> to -coordinate the work. See also the NUUG blog post -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/E_postliste_og_IRC_kanal_for_Dugnadsnett_for_alle_i_Oslo.shtml">announcing -the mailing list and IRC channel</a>.</p> - - -