With kids in the house, one challenge is getting them to sleep -during the night and wake up when it is morning. I mean, when I -believe it is morning, and not two hours earlier. In our household we -have decided that 07:00 is the turning point, but getting the kids to -sleep until 07:00 is a small challenge every day. They have adapted -quite well, and rarely wake up at 05:00 any more, but some times wake -up at times like 05:50, 06:15, 06:30 or 06:45, and it is hard to put -the awake one to bed again without disturbing and waking the rest. -And I understand perfectly well that they fail to sleep until 07:00 -some times, as there is no way for them to know if it is before or -after the magic moment without coming and asking us parents.
- -But yesterday I came up with a method to solve this problem. It -involve home automation. A few years ago I bought a -Tellstick and RF -switches at the local Clas -Ohlson shop, allowing me to control lights and other electrical -gadgets using my Linux server. When I moved from the old flat to a -small house, I put away all this equipment as most of the lighting in -the house was not using wall sockets and thus not easy to connect to -the gadgets I had. But recently I bought a -Tellstick -Net to be able to read sensor input as well as control power -sockets. I want to control ovens in the basement to avoid the pipes -to freeze, and monitor the humidity to detect flooding. The default -setup for Tellstick Net is to be controlled by the vendor web service, -which to me is a security problem, but it is also possible to build -ones own -firmware -with local access instead of being controlled by a Swedish -company, thanks to the release of the GPL licensed firmware source -code. I plan to get that running before I let it control anything -important. But while working on this, one idea to make it easier for -the kids came to me yesterday. We can set up a night light controlled -by the computer, and turn it automatically on at 07:00. The kids can -then check the light in the morning to know if they are supposed to -get up or not. They joined me in setting everything up, and I -repeated the concept several times before bed times to make sure they -remembered to check the light before getting up in the morning.
- -We tested it this morning, and all the kids stayed in bed until -after 07:00, and every one of them commented on the fact that the -"morning light" was turned on and signalled that the morning had -arrived. So this look like a success, and I am excited to see how -this develops the next few days. :) I really hope this can allow us -all to sleep a bit longer in the morning.
- -A nice advantage of this setup is that we can remote control when -to tell the kids to get up. We do not have to wait until 07:00, and -can also delay it if we want to.
+ +I was introduced to the +Freedombox project +in 2010, when Eben Moglen presented his vision about serving the need +of non-technical people to keep their personal information private and +within the legal protection of their own homes. The idea is to give +people back the power over their network and machines, and return +Internet back to its intended peer-to-peer architecture. Instead of +depending on a central service, the Freedombox will give everyone +control over their own basic infrastructure.
+ +I've intended to join the effort since then, but other tasks have +taken priority. But this summers nasty news about the misuse of trust +and privilege exercised by the "western" intelligence gathering +communities increased my eagerness to contribute to a point where I +actually started working on the project a while back.
+ +The initial +Debian initiative based on the vision from Eben Moglen, is to +create a simple and cheap Debian based appliance that anyone can hook +up in their home and get access to secure and private services and +communication. The initial deployment platform have been the +Dreamplug, +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 +freedom-maker +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 +set up any machine supported by Debian Wheezy as a Freedombox, using +the previously mentioned deb (and a few support debs for packages +missing in Debian).
+ +The current Freedombox setup consist of a set of bootstrapping +scripts +(freedombox-setup), +and a administrative web interface +(plinth + exmachina + +withsqlite), as well as a privacy enhancing proxy based on +privoxy +(freedombox-privoxy). There is also a web/javascript based XMPP +client (jwchat) +trying (unsuccessfully so far) to talk to the XMPP server +(ejabberd). The +web interface is pluggable, and the goal is to use it to enable OpenID +services, mesh network connectivity, use of TOR, etc, etc. Not much of +this is really working yet, see +the +project TODO for links to GIT repositories. Most of the code is +on github at the moment. The HTTP proxy is operational out of the +box, and the admin web interface can be used to add/remove plinth +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.
+ +Anyway, if you want to have a look at the current stat, the +following recipes should work to give you a test machine to poke +at.
+ +Debian Wheezy amd64
+ +-
+
+
- Fetch normal Debian Wheezy installation ISO. +
- Boot from it, either as CD or USB stick. +
Press [tab] on the boot prompt and add this as a boot argument +to the Debian installer:
+
url=http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-wheezy.dat
+
+- Answer the few language/region/password questions and pick disk to +install on. + +
- When the installation is finished and the machine have rebooted a +few times, your Freedombox is ready for testing. + +
Raspberry Pi Raspbian
+ +-
+
+
- Fetch a Raspbian SD card image, create SD card. +
- Boot from SD card, extend file system to fill the card completely. +
Log in and add this to /etc/sources.list:
++deb http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox wheezy main +
+Run this as root:
++wget -O - http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/BE1A583D.asc | \ + apt-key add - +apt-get update +apt-get install freedombox-setup +/usr/lib/freedombox/setup +
+- Reboot into your freshly created Freedombox. + +
You can test it on other architectures too, but because the +freedombox-privoxy package is binary, it will only work as intended on +the architectures where I have had time to build the binary and put it +in my APT repository. But do not let this stop you. It is only a +short "apt-get source -b freedombox-privoxy" away. :)
+ +Note that by default Freedombox is a DHCP server on the +192.168.1.0/24 subnet, so if this is your subnet be careful and turn +off the DHCP server by running "update-rc.d isc-dhcp-server +disable" as root.
+ +Please let me know if this work for you, or if you have any +problems. We gather on the IRC channel +#freedombox on +irc.debian.org and the +project +mailing list.
+ +Once you get your freedombox operational, you can visit +http://your-host-name:8001/ to see the state of the plint +welcome screen (dead end - do not be surprised if you are unable to +get past it), and next visit http://your-host-name:8001/help/ +to look at the rest of plinth. The default user is 'admin' and the +default password is 'secret'.
Nytt stortingsvalg er på trappene, og folket får igjen mulighet til -å påvirke sammensetningen i vår lovgivende forsamling. Da er det -relevant å vite hvilke representanter og partier som har støttet -innføringen av brev- og besøkskontroll av hele den norske -befolkningen, det vil si datalagringsdirektivet.
- -Hvis du vil vite hva hver enkelt stortingsrepresentant har stemt i -stortingsvoteringene om datalagringsdirektivet, så har nettstedet til -Holder De Ord den (så vidt jeg -vet) eneste komplette oversikten på sin temaside om -innføringen -av datalagringsdirektivet. Den har detaljene fra de 11 relevante -forslagene som har vært fremmet så lagt. De har vært votert over -2011-04-04, 2011-04-11, 2012-06-11, 2012-10-05 og 2012-12-06.
- -Hvis du lurer på hva som er problemet med datalagringsdirektivet, -anbefaler jeg å lese artiklene -fra Jon Wessel-Aas om temaet, samt informasjon fra foreningen -Digitalt -Personvern.
+ +I 2011 raderte et stortingsflertall bestående av Høyre og +Arbeiderpartiet vekk en betydelig del av privatsfæren til det norske +folk. Det ble vedtatt at det skulle registreres og lagres i et halvt +år hvor alle som bærer på en mobiltelefon befinner seg, hvem de +snakker med og hvor lenge de snakket sammen. Det skal også +registreres hvem de sendte SMS-meldinger til, hvem en har sendt epost +til, og hvilke nett-tjenere en besøkte. Saken er kjent som +Datalagringsdirektivet +(DLD), og innebærer at alle innbyggerne og andre innenfor Norges +grenser overvåkes døgnet rundt. Det ble i praksis innført brev og +besøkskontroll av hele befolkningen. Rapporter fra de landene som +allerede har innført slik total lagring av borgernes +kommunikasjonsmønstre forteller at det ikke hjelper i +kriminalitetsbekjempelsen. Den norske prislappen blir mange hundre +millioner, uten at det ser ut til å bidra positivt til politiets +arbeide. Jeg synes flere hundre millioner i stedet burde vært brukt +på noe som kan dokumenteres å ha effekt i kriminalitetsbekjempelsen. +Se mer på +Wikipedia +og Jon Wessel-Aas.
+ +Hva er problemet, tenkter du kanskje? Et åpenbart problem er at +medienes kildevern i praksis blir radert ut. Den innsamlede +informasjonen gjør det mulig å finne ut hvem som har snakket med +journalister på telefon, SMS og epost, og hvem som har vært i nærheten +av journalister så sant begge bar med seg en telefon. Et annet er at +advokatvernet blir sterkt redusert, der politiet kan finne ut hvem +som har snakket med en advokat når, eller vært i møter en med advokat. +Et tredje er at svært personlig informasjon kan avledes fra hvilke +nettsteder en har besøkt. Har en besøkt hivnorge.no, +swingersnorge.com eller andre sider som kan brukes til avlede +interesser som hører til privatsfæren, vil denne informasjonen være +tilgjengelig takket være datalagringsdirektivet.
+ +De fleste partiene var mot, kun to partier stemte for. Høyre og +Arbeiderpartiet. Og både Høyre og Arbeiderpartiet i Oslo har +DLD-forkjempere på toppen av sine lister (har ikke sjekket de andre +fylkene). Det er dermed helt uaktuelt for meg å stemme på disse +partiene. Her er oversikten over partienes valglister i Oslo, med +informasjon om hvem som stemte hva i første DLD-votering i Stortinget, +basert på informasjon fra mine venner i +Holder de +Ord samt data.stortinget.no. +Først ut er stortingslista fra Høyre for Oslo:
+ + + +# | Navn, fødselsår og valgkrets | Stemme/kommentar |
---|---|---|
1. | +Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide (1976), Gamle Oslo | +Stemte for DLD |
2. | +Nikolai Astrup (1978), Frogner | +Stemte mot DLD |
3. | +Michael Tetzschner (1954), Vestre Aker | +Stemte mot DLD | + +
4. | +Kristin Vinje (1963), Nordre Aker | +Ikke til stede |
5. | +Mudassar Hussain Kapur (1976), Nordstrand | +Ikke til stede |
6. | +Stefan Magnus B. Heggelund (1984), Grünerløkka | +Ikke til stede |
7. | +Heidi Nordby Lunde (1973), Grünerløkka | +Ikke til stede |
8. | +Frode Helgerud (1950), Frogner | +Ikke til stede |
9. | +Afshan Rafiq (1975), Stovner | +Ikke til stede |
10. | +Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg (1936), Frogner | +Ikke til stede |
11. | +Camilla Strandskog (1984) St.Hanshaugen | +Ikke til stede |
12. | +John Christian Elden (1967), Ullern | +Ikke til stede |
13. | +Berit Solli (1972), Alna | +Ikke til stede |
14. | +Ola Kvisgaard (1963), Frogner | +Ikke til stede |
15. | +James Stove Lorentzen (1957), Vestre Aker | +Ikke til stede |
16. | +Gülsüm Koc (1987), Stovner | +Ikke til stede |
17. | +Jon Ole Whist (1976), Grünerløkka | +Ikke til stede |
18. | +Maren Eline Malthe-Sørenssen (1971), Vestre Aker | +Ikke til stede |
19. | +Ståle Hagen (1968), Søndre Nordstrand | +Ikke til stede |
20. | +Kjell Omdal Erichsen (1978), Sagene | +Ikke til stede |
21. | +Saida R. Begum (1987), Grünerløkka | +Ikke til stede |
22. | +Torkel Brekke (1970), Nordre Aker | +Ikke til stede |
23. | +Sverre K. Seeberg (1950), Vestre Aker | +Ikke til stede |
24. | +Julie Margrethe Brodtkorb (1974), Ullern | +Ikke til stede |
25. | +Fabian Stang (1955), Frogner | +Ikke til stede |
Deretter har vi stortingslista fra Arbeiderpartiet for Oslo:
+ +# | Navn, fødselsår og valgkrets | Stemme/kommentar |
---|---|---|
1. | +Jens Stoltenberg (1959), Frogner | +Ikke til stede i Stortinget, leder av regjeringen som fremmet forslaget |
2. | +Hadia Tajik (1983), Grünerløkka | +Stemte for DLD |
3. | +Jonas Gahr Støre (1960), Vestre Aker | +Ikke til stede i Stortinget, medlem av regjeringen som fremmet forslaget |
4. | +Marianne Marthinsen (1980), Grünerløkka | +Stemte for DLD |
5. | +Jan Bøhler (1952), Alna | +Stemte for DLD |
6. | +Marit Nybakk (1947), Frogner | +Stemte for DLD |
7. | +Truls Wickholm (1978), Sagene | +Stemte for DLD |
8. | +Prableen Kaur (1993), Grorud | +Ikke til stede |
9. | +Vegard Grøslie Wennesland (1983), St.Hanshaugen | +Ikke til stede |
10. | +Inger Helene Vaaten (1975), Grorud | +Ikke til stede |
11. | +Ivar Leveraas (1939), Alna | +Ikke til stede |
12. | +Grete Haugdal (1971), Gamle Oslo | +Ikke til stede |
13. | +Olav Tønsberg (1948), Alna | +Ikke til stede |
14. | +Khamshajiny Gunaratnam (1988), Grorud | +Ikke til stede |
15. | +Fredrik Mellem (1969), Sagene | +Ikke til stede |
16. | +Brit Axelsen (1945), Stovner | +Ikke til stede |
17. | +Dag Bayegan-Harlem (1977), Ullern | +Ikke til stede |
18. | +Kristin Sandaker (1963), Ãsteinsjø | +Ikke til stede |
19. | +Bashe Musse (1965), Grünerløkka | +Ikke til stede |
20. | +Torunn Kanutte Husvik (1983), St. Hanshaugen | +Ikke til stede |
21. | +Steinar Andersen (1947), Nordstrand | +Ikke til stede |
22. | +Anne Cathrine Berger (1972), Sagene | +Ikke til stede |
23. | +Khalid Mahmood (1959), Ãstensjø | +Ikke til stede |
24. | +Munir Jaber (1990), Alna | +Ikke til stede |
25. | +Libe Solberg Rieber-Mohn (1965), Frogner | +Ikke til stede |
Hvilket parti får så min stemme i år. Jeg tror det blir +Piratpartiet. Hvis de kan bidra +til at det kommer noen inn på Stortinget med teknisk peiling, så får +kanskje ikke overvåkningsgalskapen like fritt spillerom som det har +hatt så langt.
+Jeg ser med gru at Arbeiderpartiet, Høyre og Fremskrittspartiet -applauderer -tollvesenets forslag om å øke overvåkningen i Norge nok et hakk. -Det er ikke så rart, da de som uttaler seg jo også har støttet -innføringen av datalagringsdirektivet eller i hvert fall ikke veldig -aktivt har motarbeidet det. Innføringen av datalagringsdirektivet er -en lovendring som innebærer brev og besøkskontroll for hele -befolkningen.
- -Datalagringsdirektivet -har vært oppe til votering i stortinget tre ganger så langt. Det ble -vedtatt første gang 2011-04-04 -og -andre -gang 2011-04-11 (lovendringer voteres to ganger), og forslag om å -stoppe loven ble -nedstemt -2012-12-06 (se også -oversikt fra Holder De -Ord).
- -Jan Bøhler i Arbeiderpartiet stemte for å innføre -datalagringsdirektivet i lovverket i første votering, var ikke -tilstede i andre votering og støttet loven i tredje votering. André -Oktay Dahl i Høyre var ikke til stede i første og andre votering men -støttet loven i tredje votering. Ulf Leirstein i Fremskrittspartiet -stemte mot loven i første votering men var ikke til stede i andre og -tredje votering.
- -Hvis du lurer på hva som er problemet med datalagringsdirektivet, -anbefaler jeg å lese artiklene -fra Jon Wessel-Aas om temaet, samt informasjon fra foreningen -Digitalt -Personvern.
- -Oppdatering 2013-03-09: Endret lenke til Holder De -Ord, som har byttet mange lenker i forbindelse med import av -voteringsdata for 2010-2011.
+ +The second wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today, slightly delayed because of some bugs in the initial Windows +integration fixes . This is the release announcement:
+ +New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b1 released 2013-08-22
+ +These are the release notes for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~b1, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".
+ +About Debian Edu and Skolelinux
+ +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.
+ +This is the sixth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically this +is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the Squeeze +release.
+ +ALERT: 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 every user +need to change their their password to make sure a password is set for +CIFS access to their home directory.
+ +Software updates
+ +-
+
+
- Added ssh askpass packages to default installation, to ensure ssh + work also without a attached tty. +
- Add the command-not-found package to the default installation to + make it easier to figure out where to find missing command line + tools. Please note, that the command 'update-command-not-found' + has to be run as root to actually make it useful (internet access + required). + +
Other changes
+ +-
+
+
- Adjusted the USB stick ISO image build to include every tool +needed for desktop=xfce installations. +
- Adjust thin-client-server task to work when installing from USB +stick ISO image. +
- Made new grub artwork (changed png from indexed to RGB format). +
- Minor cleanup in the CUPS setup. +
- Make sure that bootstrapping of the Samba domain really happens + during installation of the main server and adjust SID handling to + cope with this. +
- Make Samba passwords changeable (again) via GOsa². +
- Fix generation of LM and NT password hashes via GOsa² to avoid + empty password hashes. +
- Adapted Samba machine domain joining to latest change in the + smbldap-tools Perl package, fixing bugs blocking Windows machines + from joining the Samba domain. + +
Known issues
+ +-
+
+
- KDE fails to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to + not use the http proxy as it should. +
- Chromium also fails to use the proxy when using the KDE desktop + (using the KDE configuration). + +
Where to get it
+ +To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use
+ +-
+
+
- ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso + +
- http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso + +
- rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso . + +
The MD5SUM of this image is: 1e357f80b55e703523f2254adde6d78b
+
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 7157f9be5fd27c7694d713c6ecfed61c3edda3b2
To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use
+ +-
+
+
- ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso +
- http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso +
- rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso . + +
The MD5SUM of this image is: 7a8408ead59cf7e3cef25afb6e91590b
+
The SHA1SUM of this image is: f1817c031f02790d5edb3bfa0dcf8451088ad119
How to report bugs
+ +My -last -bitcoin related blog post mentioned that the new -bitcoin package for -Debian was waiting in NEW. It was accepted by the Debian ftp-masters -2013-01-19, and have been available in unstable since then. It was -automatically copied to Ubuntu, and is available in their Raring -version too.
- -But there is a strange problem with the build that block this new -version from being available on the i386 and kfreebsd-i386 -architectures. For some strange reason, the autobuilders in Debian -for these architectures fail to run the test suite on these -architectures (BTS #672524). -We are so far unable to reproduce it when building it manually, and -no-one have been able to propose a fix. If you got an idea what is -failing, please let us know via the BTS.
- -One feature that is annoying me with of the bitcoin client, because -I often run low on disk space, is the fact that the client will exit -if it run short on space (BTS -#696715). So make sure you have enough disk space when you run -it. :)
- -As usual, if you use bitcoin and want to show your support of my -activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address -15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.
+ +Earlier, I reported about +my +problems using an Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB disk. Friday I was +told by IBM that the original disk should be thrown away. And as +there no longer was a problem if I bricked the firmware, I decided +today to try to install Intel firmware to replace the Lenovo firmware +currently on the disk.
+ +I searched the Intel site for firmware, and found +issdfut_2.0.4.iso +(aka Intel SATA Solid-State Drive Firmware Update Tool) which +according to the site should contain the latest firmware for SSD +disks. I inserted the broken disk in one of my spare laptops and +booted the ISO from a USB stick. The disk was recognized, but the +program claimed the newest firmware already were installed and refused +to insert any Intel firmware. So no change, and the disk is still +unable to handle write load. :( I guess the only way to get them +working would be if Lenovo releases new firmware. No idea how likely +that is. Anyway, just blogging about this test for completeness. I +got a working Samsung disk, and see no point in spending more time on +the broken disks.
Yesterday, I -asked -for testers for my prototype for making Debian better at handling -pluggable hardware devices, which I -set -out to create earlier this month. Several valuable testers showed -up, and caused me to really want to to open up the development to more -people. But before I did this, I want to come up with a sensible name -for this project. Today I finally decided on a new name, and I have -renamed the project from hw-support-handler to this new name. In the -process, I moved the source to git and made it available as a -collab-maint -repository in Debian. The new name? It is Isenkram. -To fetch and build the latest version of the source, use
- --git clone http://anonscm.debian.org/git/collab-maint/isenkram.git -cd isenkram && git-buildpackage -us -uc -- -
I have not yet adjusted all files to use the new name yet. If you -want to hack on the source or improve the package, please go ahead. -But please talk to me first on IRC or via email before you do major -changes, to make sure we do not step on each others toes. :)
- -If you wonder what 'isenkram' is, it is a Norwegian word for iron -stuff, typically meaning tools, nails, screws, etc. Typical hardware -stuff, in other words. I've been told it is the Norwegian variant of -the German word eisenkram, for those that are familiar with that -word.
- -Update 2013-01-26: Added -us -us to build -instructions, to avoid confusing people with an error from the signing -process.
- -Update 2013-01-27: Switch to HTTP URL for the git -clone argument to avoid the need for authentication.
+ +It has been a while since my last update. Since last summer, I +have worked on a Norwegian +docbook version of the 2004 book +Free Culture 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:
+ +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 ÃÃÃ wrong.
+ +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 +github.
+ +If you are curious what the translated book currently look like, +the updated +PDF +and +EPUB +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.
Early this month I set out to try to -improve -the Debian support for pluggable hardware devices. Now my -prototype is working, and it is ready for a larger audience. To test -it, fetch the -source -from the Debian Edu subversion repository, build and install the -package. You might have to log out and in again activate the -autostart script.
- -The design is simple:
+ +The first wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:
+ +New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b0 released +2013-07-27
+ +These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~b0, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".
+ +About Debian Edu and Skolelinux
+ +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, 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 +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.
+ +This is the fifth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.
+ +ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the +versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta +release.
+ +Software updates
+ +-
+
+
- Switched roaming workstation profiles from wicd to network-manager + for network configuration, as wicd didn't work any more. +
- 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. +
- Added bluetooth tools to the default desktop (bluedevil, blueman). +
- Added tools for sharing the desktop on KDE (krdc, krfb). +
- Added valgrind to the default installation for easier debugging of + crash bugs. + +
Other changes
+ +-
+
+
- Fixed artwork package to work with gnome, no longer break + desktop=gnome installations. +
- Adjusted installer to now work when forced to use a proxy with the + netinst CD. +
- Fixed code detecting and setting/loading hardware specific + setup/firmware to work more robust out of the box. +
- 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. +
- 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. +
- 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. +
- Changed default host name on all networked machines to be unique + (generated from MAC or reverse DNS) after boot. +
- Adjusted partition sizes to make sure they are big enough. + +
Known issues
+ +-
+
+
- Grub is missing the new artwork. +
- KDE fail to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to + not use the http proxy as it should. +
- Chromium also fail to use the proxy. + +
Where to get it
+ +To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use
-
-
- Add desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ causing a program -hw-support-handlerd to start when the user log in. +
- ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso -
- This program listen for kernel events about new hardware (directly -from the kernel like udev does), not using HAL dbus events as I -initially did. +
- http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso -
- When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware modalias in -the APT database, a database -available -via HTTP and a database available as part of the package. +
- rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso . -
- If a package is mapped to the hardware in question, the package -isn't installed yet and this is the first time the hardware was -plugged in, show a desktop notification suggesting to install the -package or packages. +
The MD5SUM of this image is: 55d5de9765b6dccd5d9ec33cf1a07109
+
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 996a1d9517740e4d627d100de2d12b23dd545a3f
To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use
--
+
+
- ftp://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 +
- rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso .
I still need to come up with a better name for the system. Here -are some screen shots showing the prototype in action. First the -notification, then the password request, and finally the request to -approve all the dependencies. Sorry for the Norwegian Bokmål GUI.
- -
-
-
-
-
The prototype still need to be improved with longer timeouts, but -is already useful. The database of hardware to package mappings also -need more work. It is currently compatible with the Ubuntu way of -storing such information in the package control file, but could be -changed to use other formats instead or in addition to the current -method. I've dropped the use of discover for this mapping, as the -modalias approach is more flexible and easier to use on Linux as long -as the Linux kernel expose its modalias strings directly.
- -Update 2013-01-21 16:50: Due to popular demand, -here is the command required to check out and build the source: Use -'svn checkout -svn://svn.debian.org/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/; cd -hw-support-handler; debuild'. If you lack debuild, install the -devscripts package.
- -Update 2013-01-23 12:00: The project is now -renamed to Isenkram and the source moved from the Debian Edu -subversion repository to a Debian collab-maint git repository. See -build -instructions for details.
+The MD5SUM of this image is: d8f0818c51a78d357de794066f289f69
+
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 49185ca354e8d0543240423746924f76a6cee733
How to report bugs
+ +This Christmas my trusty old laptop died. It died quietly and -suddenly in bed. With a quiet whimper, it went completely quiet and -black. The power button was no longer able to turn it on. It was a -IBM Thinkpad X41, and the best laptop I ever had. Better than both -Thinkpads X30, X31, X40, X60, X61 and X61S. Far better than the -Compaq I had before that. Now I need to find a replacement. To keep -going during Christmas, I moved the one year old SSD disk to my old -X40 where it fitted (only one I had left that could use it), but it is -not a durable solution. - -
My laptop needs are fairly modest. This is my wishlist from when I -got a new one more than 10 years ago. It still holds true.:)
+ +Today I switched to +my +new laptop. I've previously written about the problems I had with +my new Thinkpad X230, which was delivered with an +180 +GB Intel SSD disk with Lenovo firmware 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.
+ +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 ssd-setup to handle this tuning. The +source +for the ssd-setup package 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.
+ +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:
-
-
- Lightweight (around 1 kg) and small volume (preferably smaller - than A4). -
- Robust, it will be in my backpack every day. -
- Three button mouse and a mouse pin instead of touch pad. -
- Long battery life time. Preferable a week. -
- Internal WIFI network card. -
- Internal Twisted Pair network card. -
- Some USB slots (2-3 is plenty) -
- Good keyboard - similar to the Thinkpad. -
- Video resolution at least 1024x768, with size around 12" (A4 paper -size). -
- Hardware supported by Debian Stable, ie the default kernel and - X.org packages. -
- Quiet, preferably fan free (or at least not using the fan most of - the time). +
- Set up cryptsetup to pass TRIM commands to the physical disk + (adding discard to /etc/crypttab) + +
- 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. + +
- Set relatime as a file system option for ext3 and ext4 file + systems. + +
- Tell swap to use TRIM commands by adding 'discard' to + /etc/fstab. + +
- Change I/O scheduler from cfq to deadline using a udev rule. + +
- Run fstrim on every ext3 and ext4 file system every night (from + cron.daily). + +
- Adjust sysctl values vm.swappiness to 1 and vm.vfs_cache_pressure + to 50 to reduce the kernel eagerness to swap out processes.
You will notice that there are no RAM and CPU requirements in the -list. The reason is simply that the specifications on laptops the -last 10-15 years have been sufficient for my needs, and I have to look -at other features to choose my laptop. But are there still made as -robust laptops as my X41? The Thinkpad X60/X61 proved to be less -robust, and Thinkpads seem to be heading in the wrong direction since -Lenovo took over. But I've been told that X220 and X1 Carbon might -still be useful.
- -Perhaps I should rethink my needs, and look for a pad with an -external keyboard? I'll have to check the -Linux Laptops site for -well-supported laptops, or perhaps just buy one preinstalled from one -of the vendors listed on the Linux -Pre-loaded site.
+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 +XKCD #538 for an explanation why). +Thus I concluded that adding the discard option to crypttab is the +right thing to do.
+ +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.
+ +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.
+ +My package do not set up tmpfs on /var/run, /var/lock and /tmp, as +this is already done by Debian Edu.
+ +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.
+ +The package should work on Ubuntu too, but I have not yet tested it +there.
+ +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.