X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/1a61a65f98e142155ea20c7a346739b629d5511f..ee4e17a9dfc65ff97021d6319e0e8da129c2ff08:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index 2d752b9efb..5e33e0e4a5 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -6,6 +6,407 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + Good causes: Debian Outreach Program for Women, EFF documenting the spying and Open access in Norway + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Good_causes__Debian_Outreach_Program_for_Women__EFF_documenting_the_spying_and_Open_access_in_Norway.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Good_causes__Debian_Outreach_Program_for_Women__EFF_documenting_the_spying_and_Open_access_in_Norway.html + Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:30:00 +0200 + <p>The last few days I came across a few good causes that should get +wider attention. I recommend signing and donating to each one of +these. :)</p> + +<p>Via <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2013/18/">Debian +Project News for 2013-10-14</a> I came across the Outreach Program for +Women program which is a Google Summer of Code like initiative to get +more women involved in free software. One debian sponsor has offered +to match <a href="http://debian.ch/opw2013">any donation done to Debian +earmarked</a> for this initiative. I donated a few minutes ago, and +hope you will to. :)</p> + +<p>And the Electronic Frontier Foundation just announced plans to +create <a href="https://supporters.eff.org/donate/nsa-videos">video +documentaries about the excessive spying</a> on every Internet user that +take place these days, and their need to fund the work. I've already +donated. Are you next?</p> + +<p>For my Norwegian audience, the organisation Studentenes og +Akademikernes Internasjonale Hjelpefond is collecting signatures for a +statement under the heading +<a href="http://saih.no/Bloggers_United/">Bloggers United for Open +Access</a> for those of us asking for more focus on open access in the +Norwegian government. So far 499 signatures. I hope you will sign it +too.</p> + + + + + Oslo community mesh network - with NUUG and Hackeriet at Hausmania + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Oslo_community_mesh_network___with_NUUG_and_Hackeriet_at_Hausmania.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Oslo_community_mesh_network___with_NUUG_and_Hackeriet_at_Hausmania.html + Fri, 11 Oct 2013 14:10:00 +0200 + <p>Wireless mesh networks are self organising and self healing +networks that can be used to connect computers across small and large +areas, depending on the radio technology used. Normal wifi equipment +can be used to create home made radio networks, and there are several +successful examples like +<a href="http://www.freifunk.net/">Freifunk</a> and +<a href="http://www.awmn.net/">Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network</a> +(see +<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_community_networks_by_region#Greece">wikipedia +for a large list</a>) around the globe. To give you an idea how it +work, check out the nice overview of the Kiel Freifunk community which +can be seen from their +<a href="http://freifunk.in-kiel.de/ffmap/nodes.html">dynamically +updated node graph and map</a>, where one can see how the mesh nodes +automatically handle routing and recover from nodes disappearing. +There is also a small community mesh network group in Oslo, Norway, +and that is the main topic of this blog post.</p> + +<p>I've wanted to check out mesh networks for a while now, and hoped +to do it as part of my involvement with the <a +href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG member organisation</a> community, and +my recent involvement in +<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">the Freedombox project</a> +finally lead me to give mesh networks some priority, as I suspect a +Freedombox should use mesh networks to connect neighbours and family +when possible, given that most communication between people are +between those nearby (as shown for example by research on Facebook +communication patterns). It also allow people to communicate without +any central hub to tap into for those that want to listen in on the +private communication of citizens, which have become more and more +important over the years.</p> + +<p>So far I have only been able to find one group of people in Oslo +working on community mesh networks, over at the hack space +<a href="http://hackeriet.no/">Hackeriet</a> at Husmania. They seem to +have started with some Freifunk based effort using OLSR, called +<a href="http://oslo.freifunk.net/index.php?title=Main_Page">the Oslo +Freifunk project</a>, but that effort is now dead and the people +behind it have moved on to a batman-adv based system called +<a href="http://meshfx.org/trac">meshfx</a>. Unfortunately the wiki +site for the Oslo Freifunk project is no longer possible to update to +reflect this fact, so the old project page can't be updated to point to +the new project. A while back, the people at Hackeriet invited people +from the Freifunk community to Oslo to talk about mesh networks. I +came across this video where Hans Jørgen Lysglimt interview the +speakers about this talk (from +<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Kd7CLkhSY">youtube</a>):</p> + +<p><iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N2Kd7CLkhSY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> + +<p>I mentioned OLSR and batman-adv, which are mesh routing protocols. +There are heaps of different protocols, and I am still struggling to +figure out which one would be "best" for some definitions of best, but +given that the community mesh group in Oslo is so small, I believe it +is best to hook up with the existing one instead of trying to create a +completely different setup, and thus I have decided to focus on +batman-adv for now. It sure help me to know that the very cool +<a href="http://www.servalproject.org/">Serval project in Australia</a> +is using batman-adv as their meshing technology when it create a self +organizing and self healing telephony system for disaster areas and +less industrialized communities. Check out this cool video presenting +that project (from +<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30qNfzJCQOA">youtube</a>):</p> + +<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/30qNfzJCQOA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> + +<p>According to the wikipedia page on +<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_mesh_network">Wireless +mesh network</a> there are around 70 competing schemes for routing +packets across mesh networks, and OLSR, B.A.T.M.A.N. and +B.A.T.M.A.N. advanced are protocols used by several free software +based community mesh networks.</p> + +<p>The batman-adv protocol is a bit special, as it provide layer 2 +(as in ethernet ) routing, allowing ipv4 and ipv6 to work on the same +network. One way to think about it is that it provide a mesh based +vlan you can bridge to or handle like any other vlan connected to your +computer. The required drivers are already in the Linux kernel at +least since Debian Wheezy, and it is fairly easy to set up. A +<a href="http://www.open-mesh.org/projects/batman-adv/wiki/Quick-start-guide">good +introduction</a> is available from the Open Mesh project. These are +the key settings needed to join the Oslo meshfx network:</p> + +<p><table> +<tr><th>Setting</th><th>Value</th></tr> +<tr><td>Protocol / kernel module</td><td>batman-adv</td></tr> +<tr><td>ESSID</td><td>meshfx@hackeriet</td></tr> +<td>Channel / Frequency</td><td>11 / 2462</td></tr> +<td>Cell ID</td><td>02:BA:00:00:00:01</td> +</table></p> + +<p>The reason for setting ad-hoc wifi Cell ID is to work around bugs +in firmware used in wifi card and wifi drivers. (See a nice post from +VillageTelco about +"<a href="http://tiebing.blogspot.no/2009/12/ad-hoc-cell-splitting-re-post-original.html">Information +about cell-id splitting, stuck beacons, and failed IBSS merges!</a> +for details.) When these settings are activated and you have some +other mesh node nearby, your computer will be connected to the mesh +network and can communicate with any mesh node that is connected to +any of the nodes in your network of nodes. :)</p> + +<p>My initial plan was to reuse my old Linksys WRT54GL as a mesh node, +but that seem to be very hard, as I have not been able to locate a +firmware supporting batman-adv. If anyone know how to use that old +wifi access point with batman-adv these days, please let me know.</p> + +<p>If you find this project interesting and want to join, please join +us on IRC, either channel +<a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/#oslohackerspace">#oslohackerspace</a> +or <a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/#nuug">#nuug</a> on +irc.freenode.net.</p> + +<p>While investigating mesh networks in Oslo, I came across an old +research paper from the university of Stavanger and Telenor Research +and Innovation called +<a href="http://folk.uio.no/paalee/publications/netrel-egeland-iswcs-2008.pdf">The +reliability of wireless backhaul mesh networks</a> and elsewhere +learned that Telenor have been experimenting with mesh networks at +Grünerløkka in Oslo. So mesh networks are also interesting for +commercial companies, even though Telenor discovered that it was hard +to figure out a good business plan for mesh networking and as far as I +know have closed down the experiment. Perhaps Telenor or others would +be interested in a cooperation?</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2013-10-12</strong>: I was just +<a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/freedombox-discuss/2013-October/005900.html">told +by the Serval project developers</a> that they no longer use +batman-adv (but are compatible with it), but their own crypto based +mesh system.</p> + + + + + Skolelinux / Debian Edu 7.1 install and overview video from Marcelo Salvador + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux___Debian_Edu_7_1_install_and_overview_video_from_Marcelo_Salvador.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux___Debian_Edu_7_1_install_and_overview_video_from_Marcelo_Salvador.html + Tue, 8 Oct 2013 17:10:00 +0200 + <p>The other day I was pleased and surprised to discover that Marcelo +Salvador had published a +<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-GgpdqgLFc">video on +Youtube</a> showing how to install the standalone Debian Edu / +Skolelinux profile. This is the profile intended for use at home or +on laptops that should not be integrated into the provided network +services (no central home directory, no Kerberos / LDAP directory etc, +in other word a single user machine). The result is 11 minutes long, +and show some user applications (seem to be rather randomly picked). +Missed a few of my favorites like celestia, planets and chromium +showing the <a href="http://www.zygotebody.com/">Zygote Body 3D model +of the human body</a>, but I guess he did not know about those or find +other programs more interesting. :) And the video do not show the +advantages I believe is one of the most valuable featuers in Debian +Edu, its central school server making it possible to run hundreds of +computers without hard drives by installing one central +<a href="http://www.ltsp.org/">LTSP server</a>.</p> + +<p>Anyway, check out the video, embedded below and linked to above:</p> + +<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w-GgpdqgLFc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> + +<p>Are there other nice videos demonstrating Skolelinux? Please let +me know. :)</p> + + + + + Finally, Debian Edu Wheezy is released today! + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Finally__Debian_Edu_Wheezy_is_released_today_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Finally__Debian_Edu_Wheezy_is_released_today_.html + Sun, 29 Sep 2013 10:20:00 +0200 + <p>A few hours ago, the announcement for the first stable release of +Debian Edu Wheezy went out from the Debian publicity team. The +complete announcement text can be found at +<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2013/20130928">the Debian News +section</a>, translated to several languages. Please check it out.</p> + +<p>There is one minor known problem that we will fix very soon. One +can not install a amd64 Thin Client Server using PXE, as the /var/ +partition is too small. A workaround is to extend the partition (use +lvresize + resize2fs in tty 2 while installing).</p> + + + + + Videos about the Freedombox project - for inspiration and learning + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Videos_about_the_Freedombox_project___for_inspiration_and_learning.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Videos_about_the_Freedombox_project___for_inspiration_and_learning.html + Fri, 27 Sep 2013 14:10:00 +0200 + <p>The <a href="http://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/">Freedombox +project</a> have been going on for a while, and have presented the +vision, ideas and solution several places. Here is a little +collection of videos of talks and presentation of the project.</p> + +<ul> + +<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukvUz5taxvA">FreedomBox - +2,5 minute marketing film</a> (Youtube)</li> + +<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzW25QTVWsE">Eben Moglen +discusses the Freedombox on CBS news 2011</a> (Youtube)</li> + +<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae8SZbxfE0g">Eben Moglen - +Freedom in the Cloud - Software Freedom, Privacy and and Security for +Web 2.0 and Cloud computing at ISOC-NY Public Meeting 2010</a> +(Youtube)</li> + +<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNaIji_3xBE">Fosdem 2011 +Keynote by Eben Moglen presenting the Freedombox</a> (Youtube)</li> + +<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bDDUyJSQ9s">Presentation of +the Freedombox by James Vasile at Elevate in Gratz 2011</a> (Youtube)</li> + +<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQTmnk27g9s"> Freedombox - +Discovery, Identity, and Trust by Nick Daly at Freedombox Hackfest New +York City in 2012</a> (Youtube)</li> + +<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkbSB4Ba7Ck">Introduction +to the Freedombox at Freedombox Hackfest New York City in 2012</a> +(Youtube)</li> + +<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-P2Jaeg0aQ">Freedom, Out +of the Box! by Bdale Garbee at linux.conf.au Ballarat, 2012</a> (Youtube) </li> + +<li><a href="https://archive.fosdem.org/2013/schedule/event/freedombox/">Freedombox +1.0 by Eben Moglen and Bdale Garbee at Fosdem 2013</a> (FOSDEM) </li> + +<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1LpYX2zVYg">What is the +FreedomBox today by Bdale Garbee at Debconf13 in Vaumarcus +2013</a> (Youtube)</li> + +</ul> + +<p>A larger list is available from +<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/TalksAndPresentations">the +Freedombox Wiki</a>.</p> + +<p>On other news, I am happy to report that Freedombox based on Debian +Jessie is coming along quite well, and soon both Owncloud and using +Tor should be available for testers of the Freedombox solution. :) In +a few weeks I hope everything needed to test it is included in Debian. +The withsqlite package is already in Debian, and the plinth package is +pending in NEW. The third and vital part of that puzzle is the +metapackage/setup framework, which is still pending an upload. 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> + + + + + Third and probably last beta release of Debian Edu Wheezy + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_and_probably_last_beta_release_of_Debian_Edu_Wheezy.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_and_probably_last_beta_release_of_Debian_Edu_Wheezy.html + Mon, 16 Sep 2013 21:30:00 +0200 + <p>The third wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement from Holger Levsen:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Hi,</p> + +<p>it is my pleasure to announce the third beta release (beta 2 for +short) of <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / +Skolelinux</a> based on Debian Wheezy!</p> + +<p>Please test these images extensivly, if no new problems are found +we plan to do this final Debian Edu Wheezy release this coming +weekend. We are not aware of any major problems or blockers in beta2, +if you find something, please notify us immediately!</p> + +<p>(More about the remaining steps for the Edu Wheezy release in +another mail to the edu list tonight or tomorrow...)</p> + +<p>Noteworthy changes and software updates for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b2 +compared to beta1:</p> + +<ul> + +<li>The KDE proxy setup has been adjusted to use the provided wpad.dat. This +also gets Chromium to use this proxy.</li> +<li>Install kdepim-groupware with KDE desktops to make sure korganizer +understand ical/dav sources.</li> +<li>Increased default maximum size of /var/spool/squid and /skole/backup on the +main server.</li> +<li>A source DVD image containing all source packages is now available as well.</li> +<li>Updates for chromium (29.0.1547.57-1~deb7u1), imagemagick +(6.7.7.10-5+deb7u2), php5 (5.4.4-14+deb7u4), libmodplug +(0.8.8.4-3+deb7u1+git20130828), tiff (4.0.2-6+deb7u2), linux-image +(3.2.0-4-486_3.2.46-1+deb7u1).</li> + +</ul> + +<p>Where to get it:</p> + +<p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p> + +<ul> +<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso</a></li> +<li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso</a></li> +<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-CD.iso .</li> +</ul> + +<p>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 3a1c89f4666df80eebcd46c5bf5fedb866f9472f</p> + +<p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use +<ul> +<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso</a></li> +<li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso</a></li> +<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-USB.iso .</li> +</ul> + +<p>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 702d1718548f401c74bfa6df9f032cc3ee16597e</p> + +<p>The Source DVD image has the filename +debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-source-DVD.iso and the SHA1SUM +089eed8b3f962db47aae1f6a9685e9bb2fa30ca5 and is available the same way +as the other isos.</p> + +<p>How to report bugs</p> + +<p>For information how to report bugs please see +<br><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a></p> + + +<p>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</p> + +<p>Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux, 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 and more are available from the Debian archive, and schools +can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE and Xfce desktop environment.</p> + +<p>This is the seventh test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.</p> + +<p>Notes for upgrades from Alpha Prereleases</p> + +<p>Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the +versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta +release. Both alpha and beta0 based installations should reinstall or +deal with gosa.conf manually; there are two options: (1) Keep +gosa.conf and edit this file as outlined on the mailing list. (2) +Accept the new version of gosa.conf and replace both contained admin +password placeholders with the password hashes found in the old one +(backup copy!). In both cases all users need to change their password +to make sure a password is set for CIFS access to their home +directory.</p> + + +<p>cheers, +<br> Holger</p> +</blockquote> + + + Recipe to test the Freedombox project on amd64 or Raspberry Pi http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Recipe_to_test_the_Freedombox_project_on_amd64_or_Raspberry_Pi.html @@ -34,8 +435,8 @@ up in their home and get access to secure and private services and communication. The initial deployment platform have been the <a href="http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-dreamplugdetails.aspx">Dreamplug</a>, which is a piece of hardware I do not own. So to be able to test what -the current Freedombox setup, I had to come up with a way to install -it on some hardware I do got access to. I have rewritten the +the current Freedombox setup look like, I had to come up with a way to install +it on some hardware I do have access to. I have rewritten the <a href="https://github.com/NickDaly/freedom-maker">freedom-maker</a> image build framework to use .deb packages instead of only copying setup into the boot images, and thanks to this rewrite I am able to @@ -65,7 +466,7 @@ users. I've not been able to do anything else with it so far, but know there are several branches spread around github and other places with lots of half baked features.</p> -<p>Anyway, if you want to have a look at the current stat, the +<p>Anyway, if you want to have a look at the current state, the following recipes should work to give you a test machine to poke at.</p> @@ -120,7 +521,7 @@ short "<tt>apt-get source -b freedombox-privoxy</tt>" away off the DHCP server by running "<tt>update-rc.d isc-dhcp-server disable</tt>" as root.</p> -<p>Please let me know if this work for you, or if you have any +<p>Please let me know if this works for you, or if you have any problems. We gather on the IRC channel <a href="irc://irc.debian.org:6667/%23freedombox">#freedombox</a> on irc.debian.org and the @@ -576,440 +977,5 @@ the broken disks.</p> - - 90 percent done with the Norwegian draft translation of Free Culture - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/90_percent_done_with_the_Norwegian_draft_translation_of_Free_Culture.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/90_percent_done_with_the_Norwegian_draft_translation_of_Free_Culture.html - Fri, 2 Aug 2013 10:40:00 +0200 - <p>It has been a while since my last update. Since last summer, I -have worked on a 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 the copyright -law. Yesterday, I finally broken the 90% mark, when counting the -number of strings to translate. Due to real life constraints, I have -not had time to work on it since March, but when the summer broke out, -I found time to work on it again. Still lots of work left, but the -first draft is nearing completion. I created a graph to show the -progress of the translation:</p> - -<p><img width="80%" align="center" src="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/progress.png"></p> - -<p>When the first draft is done, the translated text need to be -proof read, and the remaining formatting problems with images and SVG -drawings need to be fixed. There are probably also some index entries -missing that need to be added. This can be done by comparing the -index entries listed in the SiSU version of the book, or comparing the -English docbook version with the paper version. Last, the colophon -page with ISBN numbers etc need to be wrapped up before the release is -done. I should also figure out how to get correct Norwegian sorting -of the index pages. All docbook tools I have tried so far (xmlto, -docbook-xsl, dblatex) get the order of symbols and the special -Norwegian letters ÆØÅ wrong.</p> - -<p>There is still need for translators and people with docbook -knowledge, to be able to get a good looking book (I still struggle -with dblatex, xmlto and docbook-xsl) as well as to do the draft -translation and proof reading. And I would like the figures to be -redrawn as SVGs to make it easy to translate them. Any SVG master -around? There are also some legal terms that are unfamiliar to me. -If you want to help, please get in touch with me, and check out the -project files currently available from -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p> - -<p>If you are curious what the translated book currently look like, -the updated -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a> -and -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a> -are published on github. The HTML version is published as well, but -github hand it out with MIME type text/plain, confusing browsers, so I -saw no point in linking to that version.</p> - - - - - First beta release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_beta_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_beta_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html - Sat, 27 Jul 2013 20:30:00 +0200 - <p>The first wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up -today. This is the release announcement:</p> - -<p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b0 released -2013-07-27</strong></p> - -<p>These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux -7.1+edu0~b0, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p> - -<p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p> - -<p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as -Skolelinux</a>, 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, DVD 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 -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more -than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from -the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE -and Xfce desktop environment.</p> - -<p>This is the fifth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically -this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the -Squeeze release.</p> - -<p>ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the -versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta -release.</p> - -<p><strong>Software updates</strong></p> - -<ul> - -<li>Switched roaming workstation profiles from wicd to network-manager - for network configuration, as wicd didn't work any more.</li> -<li>Changed version numbers of patched gosa and libpam-mklocaluser - packages to make sure our locally patched versions will be replaced - by the official packages when they are released from Debian. Those - installing alpha version need to reinstall or manually downgrade gosa - and libpam-mklocaluser.</li> -<li>Added bluetooth tools to the default desktop (bluedevil, blueman).</li> -<li>Added tools for sharing the desktop on KDE (krdc, krfb).</li> -<li>Added valgrind to the default installation for easier debugging of - crash bugs.</li> - -</ul> - -<p><strong>Other changes</strong></p> - -<ul> - -<li>Fixed artwork package to work with gnome, no longer break - desktop=gnome installations.</li> -<li>Adjusted installer to now work when forced to use a proxy with the - netinst CD.</li> -<li>Fixed code detecting and setting/loading hardware specific - setup/firmware to work more robust out of the box.</li> -<li>Adjusted Kerberos setup to detect realm and server settings at - install time instead of dynamically at run time. This avoid a crash - with krb5-auth-dialog on diskless workstations without a DNS name.</li> -<li>Worked around misfeature in network-manager not calling the dhclient - exit hooks, causing automatic proxy configuration and automatic host - name setting at run time to work again.</li> -<li>Fixed feature setting the default Iceweasel start page from URL - fetched from LDAP, to allow schools to set the global default by - updating the dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no LDAP object.</li> -<li>Changed default host name on all networked machines to be unique - (generated from MAC or reverse DNS) after boot.</li> -<li>Adjusted partition sizes to make sure they are big enough.</li> - -</ul> - -<p><strong>Known issues</strong></p> - -<ul> - -<li>Grub is missing the new artwork.</li> -<li>KDE fail to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to - not use the http proxy as it should.</li> -<li>Chromium also fail to use the proxy.</li> - -</ul> - -<p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p> - -<p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p> - -<ul> - -<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso</a></li> - -<li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso</a></li> - -<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso .</li> - -</ul> - -<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 55d5de9765b6dccd5d9ec33cf1a07109 -<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 996a1d9517740e4d627d100de2d12b23dd545a3f</p> - -<p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use</p> - -<ul> - -<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso</a></li> -<li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso</a></li> -<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso .</li> - -</ul> - -<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: d8f0818c51a78d357de794066f289f69 -<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 49185ca354e8d0543240423746924f76a6cee733</p> - - -<p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p> - -<p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a> - - - - - How to fix a Thinkpad X230 with a broken 180 GB SSD disk - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_fix_a_Thinkpad_X230_with_a_broken_180_GB_SSD_disk.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_fix_a_Thinkpad_X230_with_a_broken_180_GB_SSD_disk.html - Wed, 17 Jul 2013 23:50:00 +0200 - <p>Today I switched to -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html">my -new laptop</a>. I've previously written about the problems I had with -my new Thinkpad X230, which was delivered with an -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_SSD_520_Series_180_GB_with_Lenovo_firmware_still_lock_up_from_sustained_writes.html">180 -GB Intel SSD disk with Lenovo firmware</a> that did not handle -sustained writes. My hardware supplier have been very forthcoming in -trying to find a solution, and after first trying with another -identical 180 GB disks they decided to send me a 256 GB Samsung SSD -disk instead to fix it once and for all. The Samsung disk survived -the installation of Debian with encrypted disks (filling the disk with -random data during installation killed the first two), and I thus -decided to trust it with my data. I have installed it as a Debian Edu -Wheezy roaming workstation hooked up with my Debian Edu Squeeze main -server at home using Kerberos and LDAP, and will use it as my work -station from now on.</p> - -<p>As this is a solid state disk with no moving parts, I believe the -Debian Wheezy default installation need to be tuned a bit to increase -performance and increase life time of the disk. The Linux kernel and -user space applications do not yet adjust automatically to such -environment. To make it easier for my self, I created a draft Debian -package <tt>ssd-setup</tt> to handle this tuning. The -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/ssd-setup.git">source -for the ssd-setup package</a> is available from collab-maint, and it -is set up to adjust the setup of the machine by just installing the -package. If there is any non-SSD disk in the machine, the package -will refuse to install, as I did not try to write any logic to sort -file systems in SSD and non-SSD file systems.</p> - -<p>I consider the package a draft, as I am a bit unsure how to best -set up Debian Wheezy with an SSD. It is adjusted to my use case, -where I set up the machine with one large encrypted partition (in -addition to /boot), put LVM on top of this and set up partitions on -top of this again. See the README file in the package source for the -references I used to pick the settings. At the moment these -parameters are tuned:</p> - -<ul> - -<li>Set up cryptsetup to pass TRIM commands to the physical disk - (adding discard to /etc/crypttab)</li> - -<li>Set up LVM to pass on TRIM commands to the underlying device (in - this case a cryptsetup partition) by changing issue_discards from - 0 to 1 in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf.</li> - -<li>Set relatime as a file system option for ext3 and ext4 file - systems.</li> - -<li>Tell swap to use TRIM commands by adding 'discard' to - /etc/fstab.</li> - -<li>Change I/O scheduler from cfq to deadline using a udev rule.</li> - -<li>Run fstrim on every ext3 and ext4 file system every night (from - cron.daily).</li> - -<li>Adjust sysctl values vm.swappiness to 1 and vm.vfs_cache_pressure - to 50 to reduce the kernel eagerness to swap out processes.</li> - -</ul> - -<p>During installation, I cancelled the part where the installer fill -the disk with random data, as this would kill the SSD performance for -little gain. My goal with the encrypted file system is to ensure -those stealing my laptop end up with a brick and not a working -computer. I have no hope in keeping the really resourceful people -from getting the data on the disk (see -<a href="http://xkcd.com/538/">XKCD #538</a> for an explanation why). -Thus I concluded that adding the discard option to crypttab is the -right thing to do.</p> - -<p>I considered using the noop I/O scheduler, as several recommended -it for SSD, but others recommended deadline and a benchmark I found -indicated that deadline might be better for interactive use.</p> - -<p>I also considered using the 'discard' file system option for ext3 -and ext4, but read that it would give a performance hit ever time a -file is removed, and thought it best to that that slowdown once a day -instead of during my work.</p> - -<p>My package do not set up tmpfs on /var/run, /var/lock and /tmp, as -this is already done by Debian Edu.</p> - -<p>I have not yet started on the user space tuning. I expect -iceweasel need some tuning, and perhaps other applications too, but -have not yet had time to investigate those parts.</p> - -<p>The package should work on Ubuntu too, but I have not yet tested it -there.</p> - -<p>As for the answer to the question in the title of this blog post, -as far as I know, the only solution I know about is to replace the -disk. It might be possible to flash it with Intel firmware instead of -the Lenovo firmware. But I have not tried and did not want to do so -without approval from Lenovo as I wanted to keep the warranty on the -disk until a solution was found and they wanted the broken disks -back.</p> - - - - - Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB with Lenovo firmware still lock up from sustained writes - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_SSD_520_Series_180_GB_with_Lenovo_firmware_still_lock_up_from_sustained_writes.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_SSD_520_Series_180_GB_with_Lenovo_firmware_still_lock_up_from_sustained_writes.html - Wed, 10 Jul 2013 13:30:00 +0200 - <p>A few days ago, I wrote about -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html">the -problems I experienced with my new X230 and its SSD disk</a>, which -was dying during installation because it is unable to cope with -sustained write. My supplier is in contact with -<a href="http://www.lenovo.com/">Lenovo</a>, and they wanted to send a -replacement disk to try to fix the problem. They decided to send an -identical model, so my hopes for a permanent fix was slim.</p> - -<p>Anyway, today I got the replacement disk and tried to install -Debian Edu Wheezy with encrypted disk on it. The new disk have the -same firmware version as the original. This time my hope raised -slightly as the installation progressed, as the original disk used to -die after 4-7% of the disk was written to, while this time it kept -going past 10%, 20%, 40% and even past 50%. But around 60%, the disk -died again and I was back on square one. I still do not have a new -laptop with a disk I can trust. I can not live with a disk that might -lock up when I download a new -<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> ISO or -other large files. I look forward to hearing from my supplier with -the next proposal from Lenovo.</p> - -<p>The original disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, -11S0C38722Z1ZNME35X1TR, ISN: CVCV321407HB180EGN, SA: G57560302, FW: -LF1i, 29MAY2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, -Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40002756C4, Model: -SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU -P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.</p> - -<p>The replacement disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, -11S0C38722Z1ZNDE34N0L0, ISN: CVCV315306RK180EGN, SA: G57560-302, FW: -LF1i, 22APR2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, -Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40000AB69E, Model: -SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU -P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.</p> - -<p>The only difference is in the first number (serial number?), ISN, -SA, date and WNPP values. Mentioning all the details here in case -someone is able to use the information to find a way to identify the -failing disk among working ones (if any such working disk actually -exist).</p> - - - - - July 13th: Debian/Ubuntu BSP and Skolelinux/Debian Edu developer gathering in Oslo - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/July_13th__Debian_Ubuntu_BSP_and_Skolelinux_Debian_Edu_developer_gathering_in_Oslo.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/July_13th__Debian_Ubuntu_BSP_and_Skolelinux_Debian_Edu_developer_gathering_in_Oslo.html - Tue, 9 Jul 2013 10:40:00 +0200 - <p>The upcoming Saturday, 2013-07-13, we are organising a combined -Debian Edu developer gathering and Debian and Ubuntu bug squashing -party in Oslo. It is organised by <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">the -member assosiation NUUG</a> and -<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">the Debian Edu / Skolelinux -project</a> together with <a href="http://bitraf.no/">the hack space -Bitraf</a>.</p> - -<p>It starts 10:00 and continue until late evening. Everyone is -welcome, and there is no fee to participate. There is on the other -hand limited space, and only room for 30 people. Please put your name -on <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/BSP/2013/07/13/no/Oslo">the event -wiki page</a> if you plan to join us.</p> - - - - - The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html - Fri, 5 Jul 2013 08:30:00 +0200 - <p>Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html">replacement -for my trusty old Thinkpad X41</a>. Unfortunately I did not have much -time to spend on it, and it took a while to find a model I believe -will do the job, but two days ago the replacement finally arrived. I -ended up picking a -<a href="http://www.linlap.com/lenovo_thinkpad_x230">Thinkpad X230</a> -with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu Wheezy as -a roaming workstation, and it seemed to work flawlessly. But my -second installation with encrypted disk was not as successful. More -on that below.</p> - -<p>I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most -important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never -listed in the feature list. But I did get good help from the search -feature at <a href="http://www.prisjakt.no/">Prisjakt</a>, which -allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other -requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks according -to that search interface, so I had to drop specifying the number of -disks from my search parameters. I also asked around among friends to -get their impression on keyboards and robustness.</p> - -<p>So the new laptop arrived, and it is quite a lot wider than the -X41. I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is -significantly wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my -hand a lot more to reach the edges. But the key response is fairly -good and the individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope -I will get used to it. My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really -needed a new laptop now. :)</p> - -<p>Turning off the touch pad was simple. All it took was a quick -visit to the BIOS during boot it disable it.</p> - -<p>But there is a fatal problem with the laptop. The 180 GB SSD disk -lock up during load. And this happen when installing Debian Wheezy -with encrypted disk, while the disk is being filled with random data. -I also tested to install Ubuntu Raring, and it happen there too if I -reenable the code to fill the disk with random data (it is disabled by -default in Ubuntu). And the bug with is already known. It was -reported to Debian as <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/691427">BTS -report #691427 2012-10-25</a> (journal commit I/O error on brand-new -Thinkpad T430s ext4 on lvm on SSD). It is also reported to the Linux -kernel developers as -<a href="https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=51861">Kernel bugzilla -report #51861 2012-12-20</a> (Intel SSD 520 stops working under load -(SSDSC2BW180A3L in Lenovo ThinkPad T430s)). It is also reported on the -Lenovo forums, both for -<a href="http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-and-newer-T-series/T430s-Intel-SSD-520-180GB-issue/m-p/1070549">T430 -2012-11-10</a> and for -<a href="http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/x230-SATA-errors-with-180GB-Intel-520-SSD-under-heavy-write-load/m-p/1068147">X230 -03-20-2013</a>. The problem do not only affect installation. The -reports state that the disk lock up during use if many writes are done -on the disk, so it is much no use to work around the installation -problem and end up with a computer that can lock up at any moment. -There is even a -<a href="https://git.efficios.com/?p=test-ssd.git">small C program -available</a> that will lock up the hard drive after running a few -minutes by writing to a file.</p> - -<p>I've contacted my supplier and asked how to handle this, and after -contacting PCHELP Norway (request 01D1FDP) which handle support -requests for Lenovo, his first suggestion was to upgrade the disk -firmware. Unfortunately there is no newer firmware available from -Lenovo, as my disk already have the most recent one (version LF1i). I -hope to hear more from him today and hope the problem can be -fixed. :)</p> - - -