X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/277785cad5c309ccb976e6a607fbb2ca93a9775d..035c19c46c9f78dc6adf515b8418f9d0b55c709d:/blog/archive/2012/06/index.html diff --git a/blog/archive/2012/06/index.html b/blog/archive/2012/06/index.html index 1ff3848845..2ced007645 100644 --- a/blog/archive/2012/06/index.html +++ b/blog/archive/2012/06/index.html @@ -72,6 +72,430 @@ med får en kopi.

+
+
+ SOAP based webservice from Dell to check server support status +
+
+ 1st June 2012 +
+
+

A few years ago I wrote +how +to extract support status for your Dell and HP servers. Recently +I have learned from colleges here at the +University of Oslo that Dell have +made this even easier, by providing a SOAP based web service. Given +the service tag, one can now query the Dell servers and get machine +readable information about the support status. This perl code +demonstrate how to do it:

+ +

+use strict;
+use warnings;
+use SOAP::Lite;
+use Data::Dumper;
+my $GUID = '11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111';
+my $App = 'test';
+my $servicetag = $ARGV[0] or die "Please supply a servicetag. $!\n";
+my ($deal, $latest, @dates);
+my $s = SOAP::Lite
+    -> uri('http://support.dell.com/WebServices/')
+    -> on_action( sub { join '', @_ } )
+    -> proxy('http://xserv.dell.com/services/assetservice.asmx')
+    ;
+my $a = $s->GetAssetInformation(
+    SOAP::Data->name('guid')->value($GUID)->type(''),
+    SOAP::Data->name('applicationName')->value($App)->type(''),
+    SOAP::Data->name('serviceTags')->value($servicetag)->type(''),
+);
+print Dumper($a -> result) ;
+

+ +

The output can look like this:

+ +

+$VAR1 = {
+          'Asset' => {
+                     'Entitlements' => {
+                                       'EntitlementData' => [
+                                                            {
+                                                              'EntitlementType' => 'Expired',
+                                                              'EndDate' => '2009-07-29T00:00:00',
+                                                              'Provider' => '',
+                                                              'StartDate' => '2006-07-29T00:00:00',
+                                                              'DaysLeft' => '0'
+                                                            },
+                                                            {
+                                                              'EntitlementType' => 'Expired',
+                                                              'EndDate' => '2009-07-29T00:00:00',
+                                                              'Provider' => '',
+                                                              'StartDate' => '2006-07-29T00:00:00',
+                                                              'DaysLeft' => '0'
+                                                            },
+                                                            {
+                                                              'EntitlementType' => 'Expired',
+                                                              'EndDate' => '2007-07-29T00:00:00',
+                                                              'Provider' => '',
+                                                              'StartDate' => '2006-07-29T00:00:00',
+                                                              'DaysLeft' => '0'
+                                                            }
+                                                          ]
+                                     },
+                     'AssetHeaderData' => {
+                                          'SystemModel' => 'GX620',
+                                          'ServiceTag' => '8DSGD2J',
+                                          'SystemShipDate' => '2006-07-29T19:00:00-05:00',
+                                          'Buid' => '2323',
+                                          'Region' => 'Europe',
+                                          'SystemID' => 'PLX_GX620',
+                                          'SystemType' => 'OptiPlex'
+                                        }
+                   }
+        };
+

+ +

I have not been able to find any documentation from Dell about this +service outside the +inline +documentation, and according to +one +comment it can have stability issues, but it is a lot better than +scraping HTML pages. :)

+ +

Wonder if HP and other server vendors have a similar service. If +you know of one, drop me an email. :)

+ +
+
+ + + Tags: english, nuug. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
+ Debian Edu interview: Mike Gabriel +
+
+ 2nd June 2012 +
+
+

Back in 2010, Mike Gabriel showed up on the +Debian Edu and Skolelinux +mailing list. He quickly proved to be a valuable developer, and +thanks to his tireless effort we now have Kerberos integrated into the +Debian Edu +Squeeze version.

+ +

Who are you, and how do you spend your days?

+ +

My name is Mike Gabriel, I am 38 years old and live near Kiel, +Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. I live together with a wonderful partner +(Angela Fuß) and two own children and two bonus children (contributed +by Angela).

+ +

During the day I am part-time employed as a system administrator +and part-time working as an IT consultant. The consultancy work +touches free software topics wherever and whenever possible. During +the nights I am a free software developer. In the gaps I also train in +becoming an osteopath.

+ +

Starting in 2010 we (Andreas Buchholz, Angela Fuß, Mike Gabriel) +have set up a free software project in the area of Kiel that aims at +introducing free software into schools. The project's name is +"IT-Zukunft Schule" (IT future for schools). The project links IT +skills with communication skills.

+ +

How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu +project?

+ +

While preparing our own customised Linux distribution for +"IT-Zukunft Schule" we were repeatedly asked if we really wanted to +reinvent the wheel. What schools really need is already available, +people said. From this impulse we started evaluating other Linux +distributions that target being used for school networks.

+ +

At the end we short-listed two approaches and compared them: a +commercial Linux distribution developed by a company in Bremen, +Germany, and Skolelinux / Debian Edu. Between 12/2010 and 03/2011 we +went to several events and met people being responsible for marketing +and development of either of the distributions. Skolelinux / Debian +Edu was by far much more convincing compared to the other product that +got short-listed beforehand--across the full spectrum. What was most +attractive for me personally: the perspective of collaboration within +the developmental branch of the Debian Edu project itself.

+ +

In parallel with this, we talked to many local and not-so-local +people. People teaching at schools, headmasters, politicians, data +protection experts, other IT professionals.

+ +

We came to two conclusions:

+ +

First, a technical conclusion: What schools need is available in +bits and pieces here and there, and none of the solutions really fit +by 100%. Any school we have seen has a very individual IT setup +whereas most of each school's requirements could mapped by a standard +IT solution. The requirement to this IT solution is flexibility and +customisability, so that individual adaptations here and there are +possible. In terms of re-distributing and rolling out such a +standardised IT system for schools (a system that is still to some +degree customisable) there is still a lot of work to do here +locally. Debian Edu / Skolelinux has been our choice as the starting +point.

+ +

Second, a holistic conclusion: What schools need does not exist at +all (or we missed it so far). There are several technical solutions +for handling IT at schools that tend to make a good impression. What +has been missing completely here in Germany, though, is the enrolment +of people into using IT and teaching with IT. "IT-Zukunft Schule" +tries to provide an approach for this.

+ +

Only some schools have some sort of a media concept which explains, +defines and gives guidance on how to use IT in class. Most schools in +Northern Germany do not have an IT service provider, the school's IT +equipment is managed by one or (if the school is lucky) two (admin) +teachers, most of the workload these admin teachers get done in there +spare time.

+ +

We were surprised that only a very few admin teachers were +networked with colleagues from other schools. Basically, every school +here around has its individual approach of providing IT equipment to +teachers and students and the exchange of ideas has been quasi +non-existent until 2010/2011.

+ +

Quite some (non-admin) teachers try to avoid using IT technology in +class as a learning medium completely. Several reasons for this +avoidance do exist.

+ +

We discovered that no-one has ever taken a closer look at this +social part of IT management in schools, so far. On our quest journey +for a technical IT solution for schools, we discussed this issue with +several teachers, headmasters, politicians, other IT professionals and +they all confirmed: a holistic approach of considering IT management +at schools, an approach that includes the people in place, will be new +and probably a gain for all.

+ +

What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian +Edu?

+ +

There is a list of advantages: international context, openness to +any kind of contributions, do-ocracy policy, the closeness to Debian, +the different installation scenarios possible (from stand-alone +workstation to complex multi-server sites), the transparency within +project communication, honest communication within the group of +developers, etc.

+ +

What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian +Edu?

+ +

Every coin has two sides:

+ +

Technically: BTS issue +#311188, tricky upgradability of a Debian Edu main server, network +client installations on top of a plain vanilla Debian installation +should become possible sometime in the near future, one could think +about splitting the very complex package debian-edu-config into +several portions (to make it easier for new developers to +contribute).

+ +

Another issue I see is that we (as Debian Edu developers) should +find out more about the network of people who do the marketing for +Debian Edu / Skolelinux. There is a very active group in Germany +promoting Skolelinux on the bigger Linux Days within Germany. Are +there other groups like that in other countries? How can we bring +these marketing people together (marketing group A with group B and +all of them with the group of Debian Edu developers)? During the last +meeting of the German Skolelinux group, I got the impression of people +there being rather disconnected from the development department of +Debian Edu / Skolelinux.

+ +

Which free software do you use daily?

+ +

For my daily business, I do not use commercial software at all.

+ +

For normal stuff I use Iceweasel/Firefox, Libreoffice.org. For +serious text writing I prefer LaTeX. I use gimp, inkscape, scribus for +more artistic tasks. I run virtual machines in KVM and Virtualbox.

+ +

I am one of the upstream developers of X2Go. In 2010 I started the +development of a Python based X2Go Client, called PyHoca-GUI. +PyHoca-GUI has brought forth a Python X2Go Client API that currently +is being integrated in Ubuntu's software center.

+ +

For communications I have my own Kolab server running using Horde +as web-based groupware client. For IRC I love to use irssi, for Jabber +I have several clients that I use, mostly pidgin, though. I am also +the Debian maintainer of Coccinella, a Jabber-based interactive +whiteboard.

+ +

My favourite terminal emulator is KDE's Yakuake.

+ +

Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?

+ +

Communicate, communicate, communicate. Enrol people, enrol people, +enrol people.

+ +
+
+ + + Tags: debian edu, english, intervju. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
+ Kommentar til artikkel i Adresseavisa som omtaler FiksGataMi +
+
+ 2nd June 2012 +
+
+

Jeg oppdaget nylig en +artikkel +i Adresseavisa i Trondheim som nevner FiksGataMi, og der Trondheim +kommune ser ut til å fortelle at de ikke følger forvaltningslovens +krav ved mottak av meldinger sendt inn via FiksGataMi. La derfor +nettopp inn denne kommentaren til artikkelen:

+ +

+ +

Her er en liten faktaoppdatering om FiksGataMi-tjenesten, da noen +ser ut til å ha misforstått hvordan den fungerer.

+ +

FiksGataMi er et privat initiativ opprettet og drevet av +medlemsforeningen NUUG. FiksGataMi tar imot meldinger om feil i +offentlig infrastruktur, og sender meldingen skriftlig videre på vegne +av innmelder til aktuell aktør i det offentlige, det være seg kommune, +fylke eller vegvesenregion. Offentlig etat blir valgt ut fra +geografisk plassering og kategori valgt av innsender. Offentlige +etater er i følge forvaltningsloven pliktig å følge opp og besvare +skriftlige henvendelser, og hvis noen av mottakerne ikke gjør dette +kan en klage på lovbrudd i det offentlige. FiksGataMi fungerer dermed +som en slags epostklient for innbyggerne der kopi av innsendte +meldinger gjøres tilgjengelig og knyttes til kartplassering for enkel +gjenfinning. Å sende inn nye problemrapporter via FiksGataMi er +dermed ikke avhengig av at kommunen aktivt må følge med på meldinger +hos FiksGataMi, da de får dem tilsendt på sine offisielle +epostmottakspunkter. Hvorvidt noe blir fikset og om innbyggerne er +opp til mottaker av meldingene. For Trondheim kommune er +mottaksadressen bydrift.vegdrift@trondheim.kommune.no, en adresse jeg +inntil jeg leste denne artikkelen trodde ble håndtert i henhold til +forvaltningslovens krav.

+ +

Kan ellers fortelle at 57 kommuner lenker til FiksGataMi fra sine +nettsider, og at 37 % (4182 av 11266 ) av problemrapportene sendt inn +via FiksGataMi er markert som løst i løsningen. Trondheim kommune har +fått tilbud om å få rapportene levert på datamaskinlesbart format i +stedet for epost, men har ikke takket ja så langt.

+ +

Vennlig hilsen Petter Reinholdtsen, en av NUUG-folkene bak FiksGataMi.no

+ +

+ +

Det høres for meg ut som om innbyggerne i Trondheim burde klage på +kommunens potensielle lovbrudd.

+ +
+
+ + + Tags: fiksgatami, norsk. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
+ Web service to look up HP and Dell computer hardware support status +
+
+ 6th June 2012 +
+
+

A few days ago +I +reported how to get the support status out of Dell using an +unofficial and undocumented SOAP API, which I since have found out was +discovered +by Daniel De Marco in february. Combined with my web scraping +code for HP, Dell and IBM +from +2009, I got inspired and wrote +a +web service based on Scraperwiki to make it easy to look up the +support status and get a machine readable result back.

+ +

This is what it look like at the moment when asking for the JSON +output: + +

+% GET https://views.scraperwiki.com/run/computer-hardware-support-status/?format=json&vendor=Dell&servicetag=2v1xwn1
+supportstatus({"servicetag": "2v1xwn1", "warrantyend": "2013-11-24", "shipped": "2010-11-24", "scrapestamputc": "2012-06-06T20:26:56.965847", "scrapedurl": "http://143.166.84.118/services/assetservice.asmx?WSDL", "vendor": "Dell", "productid": ""})
+%
+
+ +

It currently support Dell and HP, and I am hoping for help to add +support for other vendors. The python source is available on +Scraperwiki and I welcome help with adding more features.

+ +
+
+ + + Tags: english, nuug. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
+ TV with face recognition, for improved viewer experience +
+
+ 9th June 2012 +
+
+

Slashdot got a story about Intel planning a +TV +with face recognition to recognise the viewer, and it occurred to +me that it would be more interesting to turn it around, and do face +recognition on the TV image itself. It could let the viewer know who +is present on the screen, and perhaps look up their credibility, +company affiliation, previous appearances etc for the viewer to better +evaluate what is being said and done. That would be a feature I would +be willing to pay for.

+ +

I would not be willing to pay for a TV that point a camera on my +household, like the big brother feature apparently proposed by Intel. +It is the telescreen idea fetched straight out of the book +1984 by George +Orwell.

+ +
+
+ + + Tags: english, surveillance. + + +
+
+
+

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