X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/3fddeda8fb4e22bfa12732e3d0fe904f2a7e8a4f..c34a3c4ed42580eae32bcf7205825db0651ff50b:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index d105e36c62..961899c3d6 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -6,6 +6,582 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + Idea for storing LTSP configuration in LDAP + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_storing_LTSP_configuration_in_LDAP.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_storing_LTSP_configuration_in_LDAP.html + Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:00:00 +0200 + +<p>Vagrant mentioned on IRC today that ltsp_config now support +sourcing files from /usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ on the thin +clients, and that this can be used to fetch configuration from LDAP if +Debian Edu choose to store configuration there.</p> + +<p>Armed with this information, I got inspired and wrote a test module +to get configuration from LDAP. The idea is to look up the MAC +address of the client in LDAP, and look for attributes on the form +ltspconfigsetting=value, and use this to export SETTING=value to the +LTSP clients.</p> + +<p>The goal is to be able to store the LTSP configuration attributes +in a "computer" LDAP object used by both DNS and DHCP, and thus +allowing us to store all information about a computer in one place.</p> + +<p>This is a untested draft implementation, and I welcome feedback on +this approach. A real LDAP schema for the ltspClientAux objectclass +need to be written. Comments, suggestions, etc?</p> + +<blockquote><pre> +# Store in /opt/ltsp/$arch/usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ldap-config +# +# Fetch LTSP client settings from LDAP based on MAC address +# +# Uses ethernet address as stored in the dhcpHost objectclass using +# the dhcpHWAddress attribute or ethernet address stored in the +# ieee802Device objectclass with the macAddress attribute. +# +# This module is written to be schema agnostic, and only depend on the +# existence of attribute names. +# +# The LTSP configuration variables are saved directly using a +# ltspConfig prefix and uppercasing the rest of the attribute name. +# To set the SERVER variable, set the ltspConfigServer attribute. +# +# Some LDAP schema should be created with all the relevant +# configuration settings. Something like this should work: +# +# objectclass ( 1.1.2.2 NAME 'ltspClientAux' +# SUP top +# AUXILIARY +# MAY ( ltspConfigServer $ ltsConfigSound $ ... ) + +LDAPSERVER=$(debian-edu-ldapserver) +if [ "$LDAPSERVER" ] ; then + LDAPBASE=$(debian-edu-ldapserver -b) + for MAC in $(LANG=C ifconfig |grep -i hwaddr| awk '{print $5}'|sort -u) ; do + filter="(|(dhcpHWAddress=ethernet $MAC)(macAddress=$MAC))" + ldapsearch -h "$LDAPSERVER" -b "$LDAPBASE" -v -x "$filter" | \ + grep '^ltspConfig' | while read attr value ; do + # Remove prefix and convert to upper case + attr=$(echo $attr | sed 's/^ltspConfig//i' | tr a-z A-Z) + # bass value on to clients + eval "$attr=$value; export $attr" + done + done +fi +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>I'm not sure this shell construction will work, because I suspect +the while block might end up in a subshell causing the variables set +there to not show up in ltsp-config, but if that is the case I am sure +the code can be restructured to make sure the variables are passed on. +I expect that can be solved with some testing. :)</p> + +<p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu, +please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p> + + + + + jXplorer, a very nice LDAP GUI + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/jXplorer__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/jXplorer__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html + Fri, 9 Jul 2010 12:55:00 +0200 + +<p>Since +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">my +last post</a> about available LDAP tools in Debian, I was told about a +LDAP GUI that is even better than luma. The java application +<a href="http://jxplorer.org/">jXplorer</a> is claimed to be capable of +moving LDAP objects and subtrees using drag-and-drop, and can +authenticate using Kerberos. I have only tested the Kerberos +authentication, but do not have a LDAP setup allowing me to rewrite +LDAP with my test user yet. It is +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/j/jxplorer.html">available in +Debian</a> testing and unstable at the moment. The only problem I +have with it is how it handle errors. If something go wrong, its +non-intuitive behaviour require me to go through some query work list +and remove the failing query. Nothing big, but very annoying.</p> + + + + + MS Word krøller det til for politiet? + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MS_Word_kr__ller_det_til_for_politiet_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MS_Word_kr__ller_det_til_for_politiet_.html + Thu, 8 Jul 2010 14:00:00 +0200 + +<p>De siste dagene har Aftenposten +<a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article3718597.ece">fortalt</a> +<a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article3724249.ece">hvordan</a> +politet har brukt skriveverktøy som ikke håndterer arabisk tekst og +tekst som skal skrives fra høyre mot venstre når de har laget +løpeseddel for å be om informasjon fra publikum. Resultatet har vært +en uleselig arabisk-bit på løpeseddelen. Feilen har oppstått når +teksten har blitt "kopiert inn i programvare som ikke har støtte for +språk som skrives fra høyre mot venstre", og jeg er ganske sikker på +at det er snakk om Microsoft Office i dette tilfellet. Er det slik at +MS Office i norsk språkdrakt ikke har støtte for tekst som skal +skrives fra høyre mot venstre? Jeg tror alle utgaver av +OpenOffice.org har slik støtte, og det er jo ikke veldig vanskelig å +la slik støtte finnes i alle utgaver av et program hvis støtten først +er utviklet. Aftenpostens melding får meg til å undre om problemet +ville vært unngått hvis politiet brukte OpenOffice.org i stedet for MS +Office.</p> + +<p>Mon tro om det er flere eksempler på at MS Office har ødelagt for +offentlig myndighet?</p> + + + + + Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, apt vs aptitude with the Gnome desktop + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__apt_vs_aptitude_with_the_Gnome_desktop.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__apt_vs_aptitude_with_the_Gnome_desktop.html + Sat, 3 Jul 2010 23:55:00 +0200 + +<p>Here is a short update on my <a +href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">my +Debian Lenny->Squeeze upgrade testing</a>. Here is a summary of the +difference for Gnome when it is upgraded by apt-get and aptitude. I'm +not reporting the status for KDE, because the upgrade crashes when +aptitude try because of missing conflicts +(<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584861">#584861</a> and +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/585716">#585716</a>).</p> + +<p>At the end of the upgrade test script, dpkg -l is executed to get a +complete list of the installed packages. Based on this I see these +differences when I did a test run today. As usual, I do not really +know what the correct set of packages would be, but thought it best to +publish the difference.</p> + +<p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p> + +<blockquote><p> + at-spi cpp-4.3 finger gnome-spell gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs + libatspi1.0-0 libcupsys2 libeel2-data libgail-common libgdl-1-common + libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-common libgnomevfs2-bin + libgtksourceview-common libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa + libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libservlet2.4-java libxalan2-java + libxerces2-java openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip + python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gtkhtml2 + python-gtkmozembed svgalibg1 xserver-xephyr zip +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p> + +<blockquote><p> + bluez-utils dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop epiphany-gecko + gnome-app-install gnome-mount gnome-vfs-obexftp gnome-volume-manager + libao2 libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libbind9-50 + libbluetooth2 libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcurl3 + libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedata-cal1.2-6 libedataserver1.2-9 + libeel2-2.20 libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libexchange-storage1.2-3 + libfaad0 libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libggz2 libggzcore9 + libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 libgnome-desktop-2 + libgnome-pilot2 libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomeprint2.2-0 + libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0 + libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6 libhesiod0 libicu38 libisccc50 + libisccfg50 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 liblwres50 libmagick++10 + libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off libnautilus-burn4 + libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 libosp5 + libparted1.8-10 libpisock9 libpisync1 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 + libpt-1.10.10 libraw1394-8 libsensors3 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8 + libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 + libtotem-plparser10 libtrackerclient0 libvoikko1 libxalan2-java-gcj + libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6 libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 + mysql-common swfdec-gnome totem-gstreamer wodim +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p> + +<blockquote><p> + gnome gnome-desktop-environment hamster-applet python-gnomeapplet + python-gnomekeyring python-wnck rhythmbox-plugins xorg + xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev + xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse + xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-video-all + xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark xserver-xorg-video-ati + xserver-xorg-video-chips xserver-xorg-video-cirrus + xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev + xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128 + xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-mach64 + xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic + xserver-xorg-video-nouveau xserver-xorg-video-nv + xserver-xorg-video-r128 xserver-xorg-video-radeon + xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd xserver-xorg-video-rendition + xserver-xorg-video-s3 xserver-xorg-video-s3virge + xserver-xorg-video-savage xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion + xserver-xorg-video-sis xserver-xorg-video-sisusb + xserver-xorg-video-tdfx xserver-xorg-video-tga + xserver-xorg-video-trident xserver-xorg-video-tseng + xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vmware + xserver-xorg-video-voodoo +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p> + +<blockquote><p> + deskbar-applet xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core + xserver-xorg-input-wacom xserver-xorg-video-intel + xserver-xorg-video-openchrome +</p></blockquote> + +<p>I was told on IRC that the xorg-xserver package was +<a href="http://git.debian.org/?p=pkg-xorg/xserver/xorg-server.git;a=commit;h=9c8080d06c457932d3bfec021c69ac000aa60120">changed +in git</a> today to try to get apt-get to not remove xorg completely. +No idea when it hits Squeeze, but when it does I hope it will reduce +the difference somewhat. + + + + + Caching password, user and group on a roaming Debian laptop + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Caching_password__user_and_group_on_a_roaming_Debian_laptop.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Caching_password__user_and_group_on_a_roaming_Debian_laptop.html + Thu, 1 Jul 2010 11:40:00 +0200 + +<p>For a laptop, centralized user directories and password checking is +a bit troubling. Laptops are typically used also when not connected +to the network, and it is vital for a user to be able to log in or +unlock the screen saver also when a central server is unavailable. +This is possible by caching passwords and directory information (user +and group attributes) locally, and the packages to do so are available +in Debian. Here follow two recipes to set this up in Debian/Squeeze. +It is also possible to set up in Debian/Lenny, but require more manual +setup there because pam-auth-update is missing in Lenny.</p> + +<h2>LDAP/Kerberos + nscd + libpam-ccreds + libpam-mklocaluser/pam_mkhomedir</h2> + +This is the traditional method with a twist. The password caching is +provided by libpam-ccreds (version 10-4 or later is needed on +Squeeze), and the directory caching is done by nscd. The directory +lookup and password checking is done using LDAP. If one want to use +Kerberos for password checking the libpam-ldapd package can be +replaced with libpam-krb5 or libpam-heimdal. If one is happy having a +local home directory with the path listed in LDAP, one can use the +pam_mkhomedir module from pam-modules to make this happen instead of +using libpam-mklocaluser. A setup for pam-auth-update to enable +pam_mkhomedir will have to be written until a fix for +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/568577">bug #568577</a> is in the +archive. Because I believe it is a bad idea to have local home +directories using misleading paths like /site/server/partition/, I +prefer to create a local user with the home directory in /home/. This +is done using the libpam-mklocaluser package.</p> + +<p>These packages need to be installed and configured</p> + +<blockquote><pre> +libnss-ldapd libpam-ldapd nscd libpam-ccreds libpam-mklocaluser +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>The ldapd packages will ask for LDAP connection information, and +one have to fill in the values that fits ones own site. Make sure the +PAM part uses encrypted connections, to make sure the password is not +sent in clear text to the LDAP server. I've been unable to get TLS +certificate checking for a self signed certificate working, which make +LDAP authentication unsafe for Debian Edu (nslcd is not checking if it +is talking to the correct LDAP server), and very much welcome feedback +on how to get this working.</p> + +<p>Because nscd do not have a default configuration fit for offline +caching until <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/485282">bug #485282</a> +is fixed, this configuration should be used instead of the one +currently in /etc/nscd.conf. The changes are in the fields +reload-count and positive-time-to-live, and is based on the +instructions I found in the +<a href="http://www.flyn.org/laptopldap/">LDAP for Mobile Laptops</a> +instructions by Flyn Computing.</p> + +<blockquote><pre> + debug-level 0 + reload-count unlimited + paranoia no + + enable-cache passwd yes + positive-time-to-live passwd 2592000 + negative-time-to-live passwd 20 + suggested-size passwd 211 + check-files passwd yes + persistent passwd yes + shared passwd yes + max-db-size passwd 33554432 + auto-propagate passwd yes + + enable-cache group yes + positive-time-to-live group 2592000 + negative-time-to-live group 20 + suggested-size group 211 + check-files group yes + persistent group yes + shared group yes + max-db-size group 33554432 + auto-propagate group yes + + enable-cache hosts no + positive-time-to-live hosts 2592000 + negative-time-to-live hosts 20 + suggested-size hosts 211 + check-files hosts yes + persistent hosts yes + shared hosts yes + max-db-size hosts 33554432 + + enable-cache services yes + positive-time-to-live services 2592000 + negative-time-to-live services 20 + suggested-size services 211 + check-files services yes + persistent services yes + shared services yes + max-db-size services 33554432 +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>While we wait for a mechanism to update /etc/nsswitch.conf +automatically like the one provided in +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/496915">bug #496915</a>, the file +content need to be manually replaced to ensure LDAP is used as the +directory service on the machine. /etc/nsswitch.conf should normally +look like this:</p> + +<blockquote><pre> +passwd: files ldap +group: files ldap +shadow: files ldap +hosts: files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4 +networks: files +protocols: files +services: files +ethers: files +rpc: files +netgroup: files ldap +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>The important parts are that ldap is listed last for passwd, group, +shadow and netgroup.</p> + +<p>With these changes in place, any user in LDAP will be able to log +in locally on the machine using for example kdm, get a local home +directory created and have the password as well as user and group +attributes cached. + +<h2>LDAP/Kerberos + nss-updatedb + libpam-ccreds + + libpam-mklocaluser/pam_mkhomedir</h2> + +<p>Because nscd have had its share of problems, and seem to have +problems doing proper caching, I've seen suggestions and recipes to +use nss-updatedb to copy parts of the LDAP database locally when the +LDAP database is available. I have not tested such setup, because I +discovered sssd.</p> + +<h2>LDAP/Kerberos + sssd + libpam-mklocaluser</h2> + +<p>A more flexible and robust setup than the nscd combination +mentioned earlier that has shown up recently, is the +<a href="https://fedorahosted.org/sssd/">sssd</a> package from Redhat. +It is part of the <a href="http://www.freeipa.org/">FreeIPA</A> project +to provide a Active Directory like directory service for Linux +machines. The sssd system combines the caching of passwords and user +information into one package, and remove the need for nscd and +libpam-ccreds. It support LDAP and Kerberos, but not NIS. Version +1.2 do not support netgroups, but it is said that it will support this +in version 1.5 expected to show up later in 2010. Because the +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/sssd.html">sssd package</a> +was missing in Debian, I ended up co-maintaining it with Werner, and +version 1.2 is now in testing. + +<p>These packages need to be installed and configured to get the +roaming setup I want</p> + +<blockquote><pre> +libpam-sss libnss-sss libpam-mklocaluser +</pre></blockquote> + +The complete setup of sssd is done by editing/creating +<tt>/etc/sssd/sssd.conf</tt>. + +<blockquote><pre> +[sssd] +config_file_version = 2 +reconnection_retries = 3 +sbus_timeout = 30 +services = nss, pam +domains = INTERN + +[nss] +filter_groups = root +filter_users = root +reconnection_retries = 3 + +[pam] +reconnection_retries = 3 + +[domain/INTERN] +enumerate = false +cache_credentials = true + +id_provider = ldap +auth_provider = ldap +chpass_provider = ldap + +ldap_uri = ldap://ldap +ldap_search_base = dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no +ldap_tls_reqcert = never +ldap_tls_cacert = /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>I got the same problem here with certificate checking. Had to set +"ldap_tls_reqcert = never" to get it working.</p> + +<p>With the libnss-sss package in testing at the moment, the +nsswitch.conf file is update automatically, so there is no need to +modify it manually.</p> + +<p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu, +please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p> + + + + + LUMA, a very nice LDAP GUI + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html + Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:30:00 +0200 + +<p>The last few days I have been looking into the status of the LDAP +directory in Debian Edu, and in the process I started to miss a GUI +tool to browse the LDAP tree. The only one I was able to find in +Debian/Squeeze and Lenny is +<a href="http://luma.sourceforge.net/">LUMA</a>, which has proved to +be a great tool to get a overview of the current LDAP directory +populated by default in Skolelinux. Thanks to it, I have been able to +find empty and obsolete subtrees, misplaced objects and duplicate +objects. It will be installed by default in Debian/Squeeze. If you +are working with LDAP, give it a go. :)</p> + +<p>I did notice one problem with it I have not had time to report to +the BTS yet. There is no .desktop file in the package, so the tool do +not show up in the Gnome and KDE menus, but only deep down in in the +Debian submenu in KDE. I hope that can be fixed before Squeeze is +released.</p> + +<p>I have not yet been able to get it to modify the tree yet. I would +like to move objects and remove subtrees directly in the GUI, but have +not found a way to do that with LUMA yet. So in the mean time, I use +<a href="http://www.lichteblau.com/ldapvi/">ldapvi</a> for that.</p> + +<p>If you have tips on other GUI tools for LDAP that might be useful +in Debian Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p> + +<p>Update 2010-06-29: Ross Reedstrom tipped us about the +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/g/gq.html">gq</a> package as a +useful GUI alternative. It seem like a good tool, but is unmaintained +in Debian and got a RC bug keeping it out of Squeeze. Unless that +changes, it will not be an option for Debian Edu based on Squeeze.</p> + + + + + Idea for a change to LDAP schemas allowing DNS and DHCP info to be combined into one object + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_a_change_to_LDAP_schemas_allowing_DNS_and_DHCP_info_to_be_combined_into_one_object.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_a_change_to_LDAP_schemas_allowing_DNS_and_DHCP_info_to_be_combined_into_one_object.html + Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:35:00 +0200 + +<p>A while back, I +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">complained +about the fact</a> that it is not possible with the provided schemas +for storing DNS and DHCP information in LDAP to combine the two sets +of information into one LDAP object representing a computer.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, I discovered that a simple fix would be to make +the dhcpHost object class auxiliary, to allow it to be combined with +the dNSDomain object class, and thus forming one object for one +computer when storing both DHCP and DNS information in LDAP.</p> + +<p>If I understand this correctly, it is not safe to do this change +without also changing the assigned number for the object class, and I +do not know enough about LDAP schema design to do that properly for +Debian Edu.</p> + +<p>Anyway, for future reference, this is how I believe we could change +the +<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dhc-ldap-schema-00">DHCP +schema</a> to solve at least part of the problem with the LDAP schemas +available today from IETF.</p> + +<pre> +--- dhcp.schema (revision 65192) ++++ dhcp.schema (working copy) +@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ + objectclass ( 2.16.840.1.113719.1.203.6.6 + NAME 'dhcpHost' + DESC 'This represents information about a particular client' +- SUP top ++ SUP top AUXILIARY + MUST cn + MAY (dhcpLeaseDN $ dhcpHWAddress $ dhcpOptionsDN $ dhcpStatements $ dhcpComments $ dhcpOption) + X-NDS_CONTAINMENT ('dhcpService' 'dhcpSubnet' 'dhcpGroup') ) +</pre> + +<p>I very much welcome clues on how to do this properly for Debian +Edu/Squeeze. We provide the DHCP schema in our debian-edu-config +package, and should thus be free to rewrite it as we see fit.</p> + +<p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu, +please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p> + + + + + Calling tasksel like the installer, while still getting useful output + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Calling_tasksel_like_the_installer__while_still_getting_useful_output.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Calling_tasksel_like_the_installer__while_still_getting_useful_output.html + Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:55:00 +0200 + +<p>A few times I have had the need to simulate the way tasksel +installs packages during the normal debian-installer run. Until now, +I have ended up letting tasksel do the work, with the annoying problem +of not getting any feedback at all when something fails (like a +conffile question from dpkg or a download that fails), using code like +this: + +<blockquote><pre> +export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive +tasksel --new-install +</pre></blockquote> + +This would invoke tasksel, let its automatic task selection pick the +tasks to install, and continue to install the requested tasks without +any output what so ever. + +Recently I revisited this problem while working on the automatic +package upgrade testing, because tasksel would some times hang without +any useful feedback, and I want to see what is going on when it +happen. Then it occured to me, I can parse the output from tasksel +when asked to run in test mode, and use that aptitude command line +printed by tasksel then to simulate the tasksel run. I ended up using +code like this: + +<blockquote><pre> +export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive +cmd="$(in_target tasksel -t --new-install | sed 's/debconf-apt-progress -- //')" +$cmd +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>The content of $cmd is typically something like "<tt>aptitude -q +--without-recommends -o APT::Install-Recommends=no -y install +~t^desktop$ ~t^gnome-desktop$ ~t^laptop$ ~pstandard ~prequired +~pimportant</tt>", which will install the gnome desktop task, the +laptop task and all packages with priority standard , required and +important, just like tasksel would have done it during +installation.</p> + +<p>A better approach is probably to extend tasksel to be able to +install packages without using debconf-apt-progress, for use cases +like this.</p> + + + Vinmonopolet bryter loven åpenlyst - og flere planlegger å gjøre det samme http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Vinmonopolet_bryter_loven___penlyst___og_flere_planlegger____gj__re_det_samme.html @@ -15,14 +591,14 @@ <p><a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/06/16/nyheter/innenriks/streik/arbeidsliv/12157858/">Dagbladet melder</a> at Vinmonopolet med bakgrunn i vekterstreiken som pågår i Norge for tiden, har bestemt seg for med vitende og vilje å bryte -sentralbanklovens paragraf 14</a> ved å nekte folk å betale med +sentralbanklovens paragraf 14 ved å nekte folk å betale med kontanter, og at flere butikker planlegger å følge deres eksempel. Jeg synes det er hårreisende hvis de slipper unna med et slikt soleklart lovbrudd, og lurer på hva slags muligheter jeg vil ha hvis -jeg blir nektet å handle med kontakter. Jeg handler i hovedsak med +jeg blir nektet å handle med kontanter. Jeg handler i hovedsak med kontanter selv, da jeg anser det som en borgerrett å kunne handle anonymt uten at det blir registrert. For meg er det et angrep på mitt -personvern å nekte å ta imot kontakt betaling.</p> +personvern å nekte å ta imot kontant betaling.</p> <p><a href="http://www.lovdata.no/all/tl-19850524-028-003.html#14">Paragrafen i sentralbankloven</a> lyder:</p> @@ -80,547 +656,5 @@ Windows. This is great.</p> - - Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, removals by apt and aptitude - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__removals_by_apt_and_aptitude.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__removals_by_apt_and_aptitude.html - Sun, 13 Jun 2010 09:05:00 +0200 - -<p>My -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">testing -of Debian upgrades</a> from Lenny to Squeeze continues, and I've -finally made the upgrade logs available from -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/</a>. -I am now testing dist-upgrade of Gnome and KDE in a chroot using both -apt and aptitude, and found their differences interesting. This time -I will only focus on their removal plans.</p> - -<p>After installing a Gnome desktop and the laptop task, apt-get wants -to remove 72 packages when dist-upgrading from Lenny to Squeeze. The -surprising part is that it want to remove xorg and all -xserver-xorg-video* drivers. Clearly not a good choice, but I am not -sure why. When asking aptitude to do the same, it want to remove 129 -packages, but most of them are library packages I suspect are no -longer needed. Both of them want to remove bluetooth packages, which -I do not know. Perhaps these bluetooth packages are obsolete?</p> - -<p>For KDE, apt-get want to remove 82 packages, among them kdebase -which seem like a bad idea and xorg the same way as with Gnome. Asking -aptitude for the same, it wants to remove 192 packages, none which are -too surprising.</p> - -<p>I guess the removal of xorg during upgrades should be investigated -and avoided, and perhaps others as well. Here are the complete list -of planned removals. The complete logs is available from the URL -above. Note if you want to repeat these tests, that the upgrade test -for kde+apt-get hung in the tasksel setup because of dpkg asking -conffile questions. No idea why. I worked around it by using -'<tt>echo >> /proc/<em>pidofdpkg</em>/fd/0</tt>' to tell dpkg to -continue.</p> - -<p><b>apt-get gnome 72</b> -<br>bluez-gnome cupsddk-drivers deskbar-applet gnome - gnome-desktop-environment gnome-network-admin gtkhtml3.14 - iceweasel-gnome-support libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libgdl-1-0 - libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libmetacity0 libslab0 libxcb-xlib0 - nautilus-cd-burner python-gnome2-desktop python-gnome2-extras - serpentine swfdec-mozilla update-manager xorg xserver-xorg - xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev - xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse - xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom - xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark - xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips - xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix - xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev - xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128 - xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt - xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64 - xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic - xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv - xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128 - xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd - xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3 - xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage - xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis - xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx - xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident - xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l - xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga - xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9 - xulrunner-1.9-gnome-support</p> - -<p><b>aptitude gnome 129</b> - -<br>bluez-gnome bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers dhcdbd - djvulibre-desktop finger gnome-app-install gnome-mount - gnome-network-admin gnome-spell gnome-vfs-obexftp - gnome-volume-manager gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs gtkhtml3.14 libao2 - libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2 - libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcupsys2 libcurl3 libdatrie0 - libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedataserver1.2-9 libeel2-2.20 - libeel2-data libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libfaad0 libgail-common - libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libgdl-1-0 libgdl-1-common - libggz2 libggzcore9 libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 - libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libgnomeprint2.2-0 - libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgnomeprintui2.2-common - libgnomevfs2-bin libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0 - libgtksourceview-common libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6 - libhesiod0 libicu38 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 libmagick++10 - libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmetacity0 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off - libnautilus-burn4 libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 - libosp5 libparted1.8-10 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 libpt-1.10.10 - libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libraw1394-8 - libsensors3 libslab0 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8 libssh2-1 - libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 libtotem-plparser10 - libtrackerclient0 libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0 - libxerces2-java libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6 - libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 mysql-common nautilus-cd-burner - openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip - python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gnome2-desktop - python-gnome2-extras python-gtkhtml2 python-gtkmozembed - python-numeric python-sexy serpentine svgalibg1 swfdec-gnome - swfdec-mozilla totem-gstreamer update-manager wodim - xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt - xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga - zip</p> - -<p><b>apt-get kde 82</b> - -<br>cupsddk-drivers karm kaudiocreator kcoloredit kcontrol kde kde-core - kdeaddons kdeartwork kdebase kdebase-bin kdebase-bin-kde3 - kdebase-kio-plugins kdesktop kdeutils khelpcenter kicker - kicker-applets knewsticker kolourpaint konq-plugins konqueror korn - kpersonalizer kscreensaver ksplash libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libkiten1 - libxcb-xlib0 quanta superkaramba texlive-base-bin xorg xserver-xorg - xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev - xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse - xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom - xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark - xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips - xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix - xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev - xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128 - xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt - xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64 - xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic - xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv - xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128 - xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd - xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3 - xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage - xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis - xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx - xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident - xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l - xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga - xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9</p> - -<p><b>aptitude kde 192</b> -<br>bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers cvs dcoprss dhcdbd - djvulibre-desktop dosfstools eyesapplet fifteenapplet finger gettext - ghostscript-x imlib-base imlib11 indi kandy karm kasteroids - kaudiocreator kbackgammon kbstate kcoloredit kcontrol kcron kdat - kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdeartwork-misc kdeartwork-theme-window - kdebase-bin-kde3 kdebase-kio-plugins kdeedu-data - kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelirc kdemultimedia-kappfinder-data - kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdenetwork-kfile-plugins - kdepim-kfile-plugins kdepim-kio-plugins kdeprint kdesktop kdessh - kdict kdnssd kdvi kedit keduca kenolaba kfax kfaxview kfouleggs - kghostview khelpcenter khexedit kiconedit kitchensync klatin - klickety kmailcvt kmenuedit kmid kmilo kmoon kmrml kodo kolourpaint - kooka korn kpager kpdf kpercentage kpf kpilot kpoker kpovmodeler - krec kregexpeditor ksayit ksim ksirc ksirtet ksmiletris ksmserver - ksnake ksokoban ksplash ksvg ksysv ktip ktnef kuickshow kverbos - kview kviewshell kvoctrain kwifimanager kwin kwin4 kworldclock - kxsldbg libakode2 libao2 libarts1-akode libarts1-audiofile - libarts1-mpeglib libarts1-xine libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 - libavahi-core5 libavc1394-0 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2 - libboost-python1.34.1 libcucul0 libcurl3 libcvsservice0 libdatrie0 - libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdjvulibre21 libdvdread3 libfaad0 libfreebob0 - libgail-common libgd2-noxpm libgraphviz4 libgsmme1c2a libgtkhtml2-0 - libicu38 libiec61883-0 libindex0 libiw29 libk3b3 libkcal2b libkcddb1 - libkdeedu3 libkdepim1a libkgantt0 libkiten1 libkleopatra1 libkmime2 - libkpathsea4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1 - libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 libltdl3 libmagick10 libmimelib1c2a - libmozjs1d libmpcdec3 libneon27 libnm-util0 libopensync0 libpisock9 - libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler3 libraw1394-8 libsmbios2 - libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libtalloc1 libtiff-tools - libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0 libxerces2-java - libxerces2-java-gcj libxtrap6 mpeglib networkstatus - openoffice.org-writer2latex pmount poster psutils quanta quanta-data - superkaramba svgalibg1 tex-common texlive-base texlive-base-bin - texlive-common texlive-doc-base texlive-fonts-recommended - xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt - xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga - xulrunner-1.9</p> - - - - - - Åpne trådløsnett er et samfunnsgode - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/__pne_tr__dl__snett_er_et_samfunnsgode.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/__pne_tr__dl__snett_er_et_samfunnsgode.html - Sat, 12 Jun 2010 12:45:00 +0200 - -<p>Veldig glad for å oppdage via -<a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/06/11/1841256/Finland-To-Legalize-Use-of-Unsecured-Wi-Fi">Slashdot</a> -at folk i Finland har forstått at åpne trådløsnett er et samfunnsgode. -Jeg ser på åpne trådløsnett som et fellesgode på linje med retten til -ferdsel i utmark og retten til å bevege seg i strandsonen. Jeg har -glede av åpne trådløsnett når jeg finner dem, og deler gladelig nett -med andre så lenge de ikke forstyrrer min bruk av eget nett. -Nettkapasiteten er sjelden en begrensning ved normal browsing og enkel -SSH-innlogging (som er min vanligste nettbruk), og nett kan brukes til -så mye positivt og nyttig (som nyhetslesing, sjekke været, kontakte -slekt og venner, holde seg oppdatert om politiske saker, kontakte -organisasjoner og politikere, etc), at det for meg er helt urimelig å -blokkere dette for alle som ikke gjør en flue fortred. De som mener -at potensialet for misbruk er grunn nok til å hindre all den positive -og lovlydige bruken av et åpent trådløsnett har jeg dermed ingen -forståelse for. En kan ikke eksistensen av forbrytere styre hvordan -samfunnet skal organiseres. Da får en et kontrollsamfunn de færreste -ønsker å leve i, og det at vi har et samfunn i Norge der tilliten til -hverandre er høy gjør at samfunnet fungerer ganske godt. Det bør vi -anstrenge oss for å beholde.</p> - - - - - Automatic upgrade testing from Lenny to Squeeze - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html - Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:50:00 +0200 - -<p>The last few days I have done some upgrade testing in Debian, to -see if the upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze will go smoothly. A few bugs -have been discovered and reported in the process -(<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/585410">#585410</a> in nagios3-cgi, -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584879">#584879</a> already fixed in -enscript and <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584861">#584861</a> in -kdebase-workspace-data), and to get a more regular testing going on, I -am working on a script to automate the test.</p> - -<p>The idea is to create a Lenny chroot and use tasksel to install a -Gnome or KDE desktop installation inside the chroot before upgrading -it. To ensure no services are started in the chroot, a policy-rc.d -script is inserted. To make sure tasksel believe it is to install a -desktop on a laptop, the tasksel tests are replaced in the chroot -(only acceptable because this is a throw-away chroot).</p> - -<p>A naive upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze using aptitude dist-upgrade -currently always fail because udev refuses to upgrade with the kernel -in Lenny, so to avoid that problem the file /etc/udev/kernel-upgrade -is created. The bug report -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/566000">#566000</a> make me suspect -this problem do not trigger in a chroot, but I touch the file anyway -to make sure the upgrade go well. Testing on virtual and real -hardware have failed me because of udev so far, and creating this file -do the trick in such settings anyway. This is a -<a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/debian-26/failed-dist-upgrade-due-to-udev-config_sysfs_deprecated-nonsense-804130/">known -issue</a> and the current udev behaviour is intended by the udev -maintainer because he lack the resources to rewrite udev to keep -working with old kernels or something like that. I really wish the -udev upstream would keep udev backwards compatible, to avoid such -upgrade problem, but given that they fail to do so, I guess -documenting the way out of this mess is the best option we got for -Debian Squeeze.</p> - -<p>Anyway, back to the task at hand, testing upgrades. This test -script, which I call <tt>upgrade-test</tt> for now, is doing the -trick:</p> - -<blockquote><pre> -#!/bin/sh -set -ex - -if [ "$1" ] ; then - desktop=$1 -else - desktop=gnome -fi - -from=lenny -to=squeeze - -exec &lt; /dev/null -unset LANG -mirror=http://ftp.skolelinux.org/debian -tmpdir=chroot-$from-upgrade-$to-$desktop -fuser -mv . -debootstrap $from $tmpdir $mirror -chroot $tmpdir aptitude update -cat > $tmpdir/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d &lt;&lt;EOF -#!/bin/sh -exit 101 -EOF -chmod a+rx $tmpdir/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d -exit_cleanup() { - umount $tmpdir/proc -} -mount -t proc proc $tmpdir/proc -# Make sure proc is unmounted also on failure -trap exit_cleanup EXIT INT - -chroot $tmpdir aptitude -y install debconf-utils - -# Make sure tasksel autoselection trigger. It need the test scripts -# to return the correct answers. -echo tasksel tasksel/desktop multiselect $desktop | \ - chroot $tmpdir debconf-set-selections - -# Include the desktop and laptop task -for test in desktop laptop ; do - echo > $tmpdir/usr/lib/tasksel/tests/$test &lt;&lt;EOF -#!/bin/sh -exit 2 -EOF - chmod a+rx $tmpdir/usr/lib/tasksel/tests/$test -done - -DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive -DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical -export DEBIAN_FRONTEND DEBIAN_PRIORITY -chroot $tmpdir tasksel --new-install - -echo deb $mirror $to main > $tmpdir/etc/apt/sources.list -chroot $tmpdir aptitude update -touch $tmpdir/etc/udev/kernel-upgrade -chroot $tmpdir aptitude -y dist-upgrade -fuser -mv -</pre></blockquote> - -<p>I suspect it would be useful to test upgrades with both apt-get and -with aptitude, but I have not had time to look at how they behave -differently so far. I hope to get a cron job running to do the test -regularly and post the result on the web. The Gnome upgrade currently -work, while the KDE upgrade fail because of the bug in -kdebase-workspace-data</p> - -<p>I am not quite sure what kind of extract from the huge upgrade logs -(KDE 167 KiB, Gnome 516 KiB) it make sense to include in this blog -post, so I will refrain from trying. I can report that for Gnome, -aptitude report 760 packages upgraded, 448 newly installed, 129 to -remove and 1 not upgraded and 1024MB need to be downloaded while for -KDE the same numbers are 702 packages upgraded, 507 newly installed, -193 to remove and 0 not upgraded and 1117MB need to be downloaded</p> - -<p>I am very happy to notice that the Gnome desktop + laptop upgrade -is able to migrate to dependency based boot sequencing and parallel -booting without a hitch. Was unsure if there were still bugs with -packages failing to clean up their obsolete init.d script during -upgrades, and no such problem seem to affect the Gnome desktop+laptop -packages.</p> - - - - - Skolelinux er laget for sentraldrifting, naturligvis - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux_er_laget_for_sentraldrifting__naturligvis.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux_er_laget_for_sentraldrifting__naturligvis.html - Wed, 9 Jun 2010 12:30:00 +0200 - -<p>Det er merkelig hvordan myter om Skolelinux overlever. En slik -myte er at Skolelinux ikke kan sentraldriftes og ha sentralt plasserte -tjenermaskiner. I siste Computerworld Norge er -<a href="http://www.idg.no/computerworld/article169432.ece">IT-sjef -Viggo Billdal i Steinkjer intervjuet</a>, og forteller uten -blygsel:</p> - -<blockquote><p>Vi hadde Skolelinux, men det har vi sluttet med. Vi testet -om det lønte seg med Microsoft eller en åpen plattform. Vi fant ut at -Microsoft egentlig var totalt sett bedre egnet. Det var store -driftskostnader med Skolelinux, blant annet på grunn av -desentraliserte servere. Det var komplisert, så vi gikk vekk fra det -og bruker nå bare Windows.</p></blockquote> - -<p>En <a -href="https://init.linpro.no/pipermail/skolelinux.no/bruker/2010-June/009101.html">rask -sjekk</a> mot den norske brukerlista i Skolelinuxprosjektet forteller -at Steinkjers forsøk foregikk fram til 2004/2005, og at Røysing skole -i Steinkjer skal ha vært svært fornøyd med Skolelinux men at kommunen -overkjørte skolen og krevde at de gikk over til Windows. Et søk på -nettet sendte meg til -<a href="http://www.dn.no/multimedia/archive/00090/Dagens_it_nr__18_90826a.pdf">Dagens -IT nr. 18 2005</a> hvor en kan lese på side 18:</p> - -<blockquote><p>Inge Tømmerås ved Røysing skole i Steinkjer kjører ennå -Microsoft, men forteller at kompetanseutfordringen med Skolelinux ikke -var så stor. ­ Jeg syntes Skolelinux var utrolig lett å drifte uten -forkunnskaper. Men man må jo selvsagt ha tilgang på ekstern kompetanse -til installasjoner og maskinvarefeil, sier Tømmerås.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Som systemarkitekten bak Skolelinux, kan jeg bare riste på hodet -over påstanden om at Skolelinux krever desentraliserte tjenere. -Skolelinux-arkitekturen er laget for sentralisert drift og plassering -av tjenerne lokalt eller sentralt alt etter behov og nettkapasitet. -Den er modellert på nettverks- og tjenerløsningen som brukes på -Universitetet i Tromsø og Oslo, der jeg jobber med utvikling av -driftstjenester. Dette er det heldigvis noen som har fått med seg, og -jeg er glad for å kunne sitere fra en kommentar på den overnevnte -artikkelen. Min venn og gamle kollega Sturle Sunde forteller der: - -<blockquote> -<p>I Flora kommune køyrer vi Skulelinux på skular med alt frå 15 til -meir enn 500 elevar. Dei store skulane har eigen tenar, for det er -mest praktisk. Eg, som er driftsansvarleg for heile nettet, ser -sjeldan dei tenarane fysisk, men at dei står der gjer skulane mindre -avhengige av eksterne linjer som er trege eller dyre. Dei minste -skulane har ikkje eigen tenar. Å bruke sentral tenar er heller ikkje -noko problem. Småskulane klarar seg fint med 1 mbit-linje til ein -sentral tenar eller tenaren på ein større skule.</p> - -<p>Det beste med Skulelinux er halvtjukke klientar. Dei treng ikkje -harddisk og brukar minimalt med ressursar på tenaren fordi dei køyrer -programma lokalt. Eit klasserom med 30 sju-åtte år gamle maskiner har -mykje meir CPU og RAM totalt enn nokon moderne tenar til under -millionen. Det trengst to kommandoar på den sentrale tenaren for å -oppdatere alle klientane, både tynne og halvtjukke. Vi har ingen -problem med diskar som ryk heller, som var eit problem før fordi -elevane sat og sparka i maskinene. Og dei krev lite bandbreidde i -nettet, so det er fullt mogleg å køyre slike på småskular med trege -linjer mot tenaren på ein større skule.</p> - -<p>Flora kommune har nesten 800 Linux-maskiner i sitt skulenett, og -ein person som tek seg av drift av heile nettet, inkludert tenarar, -klientar, operativsystem, programvare, heimekontorløysing og -administrasjon av brukarar.</p> - -<p>No skal det seiast at vi ikkje køyrer rein Skulelinux ut av -boksen. Vi har gjort ein del tilpassingar mot noko Novell-greier som -var der frå før, og som har komplisert installasjonen vår. Etter at -oppsettet var gjort har løysinga vore stabil og kravd minimalt med -arbeid.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>Jeg vet at Narvik, Harstad og Oslo er kommuner der Skolelinux -sentraldriftes med sentrale tjenere. Det forteller meg at Steinkjers -IT-sjef neppe bør skylde på Skolelinux-løsningen for sine 5 år gamle -minner.</p> - - - - - Upstart or sysvinit - as init.d scripts see it - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Upstart_or_sysvinit___as_init_d_scripts_see_it.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Upstart_or_sysvinit___as_init_d_scripts_see_it.html - Sun, 6 Jun 2010 23:55:00 +0200 - -<p>If Debian is to migrate to upstart on Linux, I expect some init.d -scripts to migrate (some of) their operations to upstart job while -keeping the init.d for hurd and kfreebsd. The packages with such -needs will need a way to get their init.d scripts to behave -differently when used with sysvinit and with upstart. Because of -this, I had a look at the environment variables set when a init.d -script is running under upstart, and when it is not.</p> - -<p>With upstart, I notice these environment variables are set when a -script is started from rcS.d/ (ignoring some irrelevant ones like -COLUMNS):</p> - -<blockquote><pre> -DEFAULT_RUNLEVEL=2 -previous=N -PREVLEVEL= -RUNLEVEL= -runlevel=S -UPSTART_EVENTS=startup -UPSTART_INSTANCE= -UPSTART_JOB=rc-sysinit -</pre></blockquote> - -<p>With sysvinit, these environment variables are set for the same -script.</p> - -<blockquote><pre> -INIT_VERSION=sysvinit-2.88 -previous=N -PREVLEVEL=N -RUNLEVEL=S -runlevel=S -</pre></blockquote> - -<p>The RUNLEVEL and PREVLEVEL environment variables passed on from -sysvinit are not set by upstart. Not sure if it is intentional or not -to not be compatible with sysvinit in this regard.</p> - -<p>For scripts needing to behave differently when upstart is used, -looking for the UPSTART_JOB environment variable seem to be a good -choice.</p> - - - - - A manual for standards wars... - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_manual_for_standards_wars___.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_manual_for_standards_wars___.html - Sun, 6 Jun 2010 14:15:00 +0200 - -<p>Via the -<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/robweir/antic-atom/~3/QzU4RgoAGMg/weekly-links-10.html">blog -of Rob Weir</a> I came across the very interesting essay named -<a href="http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/shapiro/wars.pdf">The Art of -Standards Wars</a> (PDF 25 pages). I recommend it for everyone -following the standards wars of today.</p> - - - - - Sitesummary tip: Listing computer hardware models used at site - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sitesummary_tip__Listing_computer_hardware_models_used_at_site.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sitesummary_tip__Listing_computer_hardware_models_used_at_site.html - Thu, 3 Jun 2010 12:05:00 +0200 - -<p>When using sitesummary at a site to track machines, it is possible -to get a list of the machine types in use thanks to the DMI -information extracted from each machine. The script to do so is -included in the sitesummary package, and here is example output from -the Skolelinux build servers:</p> - -<blockquote><pre> -maintainer:~# /usr/lib/sitesummary/hardware-model-summary - vendor count - Dell Computer Corporation 1 - PowerEdge 1750 1 - IBM 1 - eserver xSeries 345 -[8670M1X]- 1 - Intel 2 - [no-dmi-info] 3 -maintainer:~# -</pre></blockquote> - -<p>The quality of the report depend on the quality of the DMI tables -provided in each machine. Here there are Intel machines without model -information listed with Intel as vendor and mo model, and virtual Xen -machines listed as [no-dmi-info]. One can add -l as a command line -option to list the individual machines.</p> - -<p>A larger list is -<a href="http://narvikskolen.no/sitesummary/">available from the the -city of Narvik</a>, which uses Skolelinux on all their shools and also -provide the basic sitesummary report publicly. In their report there -are ~1400 machines. I know they use both Ubuntu and Skolelinux on -their machines, and as sitesummary is available in both distributions, -it is trivial to get all of them to report to the same central -collector.</p> - - - - - Togsatsing på norsk, mot sykkel - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Togsatsing_p___norsk__mot_sykkel.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Togsatsing_p___norsk__mot_sykkel.html - Wed, 2 Jun 2010 23:45:00 +0200 - -<p>Det står dårlig til med toget når en finner på å la det -<a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article3677060.ece">kappkjøre -med sykkel</a>... Jeg tror det trengs strukturendringer for å få -fikset på togproblemene i Norge.</p> - -<p>Mon tro hva toglinje mellom Narvik og Tromsø ville hatt slags -effekt på området der?</p> - - -