X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/4cb54a3c646f82d40b96772fe23213fec7c9ff1a..14fb4053faf8143a66beec3c20fc517c075b0582:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index 36c0de40ae..814fafb5b5 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,69 +20,195 @@
-
Åpent møte på onsdag om bruken av Microsoft Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo
-
3rd June 2013
-

Jeg jobber til daglig ved Universitetet -i Oslo, en institusjon som lenge har vektlagt verdien av åpne -standarder og fri programvare. Men noe har endret seg, og for en -liten stund tilbake annonserte USIT at dagens fungerende e-postsystemet -basert på fri programvare skulle byttes ut med Microsoft Exchange og -at Microsoft Outlook skulle bli den best fungerende men antagelig ikke -eneste støttede e-postklienten. Annonseringen har ført til flere -protester og en -underskriftskampanje, initiert av Diana Santos, der så langt 253 -personer har signert. Prosjektet -NIKE (Ny integrert -kalender/e-post) ble initiert for å se på mulige løsninger med -utgangspunkt i at en kombinert epost/kalenderløsning var påkrevd, og -prosjektet -NIKE-implementasjon -er igang med å rulle ut MS Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo.

- -

For kun kort tid siden ble det annonsert at det blir et åpent møte -med ledelsen hos universitetet i Oslo med disse planene som tema:

- -

Tid: Onsdag 2013-06-05 kl. 10:00 -
Sted: 9. etasje i Lucy Smiths hus (admin-bygget)

- -

Det kan være en god plass å stille opp hvis en som meg ikke tror -valget av Microsoft Exchange som sentral epostinfrastruktur er et -heldig valg for Norges ledende forskningsuniversitet, men at en er mer -tjent med å selv -beholde -kontrollen over egen infrastruktur.

- -

Saken har ført til endel presseoppslag så langt. Her er de jeg har -fått med meg:

+ +
5th July 2013
+

Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a +replacement +for my trusty old Thinkpad X41. Unfortunately I did not have much +time to spend on it, and it took a while to find a model I believe +will do the job, but two days ago the replacement finally arrived. I +ended up picking a +Thinkpad X230 +with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu Wheezy as +a roaming workstation, and it seemed to work flawlessly. But my +second installation with encrypted disk was not as successful. More +on that below.

+ +

I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most +important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never +listed in the feature list. But I did get good help from the search +feature at Prisjakt, which +allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other +requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks according +to that search interface, so I had to drop specifying the number of +disks from my search parameters. I also asked around among friends to +get their impression on keyboards and robustness.

+ +

So the new laptop arrived, and it is quite a lot wider than the +X41. I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is +significantly wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my +hand a lot more to reach the edges. But the key response is fairly +good and the individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope +I will get used to it. My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really +needed a new laptop now. :)

+ +

Turning off the touch pad was simple. All it took was a quick +visit to the BIOS during boot it disable it.

+ +

But there is a fatal problem with the laptop. The 180 GB SSD disk +lock up during load. And this happen when installing Debian Wheezy +with encrypted disk, while the disk is being filled with random data. +I also tested to install Ubuntu Raring, and it happen there too if I +reenable the code to fill the disk with random data (it is disabled by +default in Ubuntu). And the bug with is already known. It was +reported to Debian as BTS +report #691427 2012-10-25 (journal commit I/O error on brand-new +Thinkpad T430s ext4 on lvm on SSD). It is also reported to the Linux +kernel developers as +Kernel bugzilla +report #51861 2012-12-20 (Intel SSD 520 stops working under load +(SSDSC2BW180A3L in Lenovo ThinkPad T430s)). It is also reported on the +Lenovo forums, both for +T430 +2012-11-10 and for +X230 +03-20-2013. The problem do not only affect installation. The +reports state that the disk lock up during use if many writes are done +on the disk, so it is much no use to work around the installation +problem and end up with a computer that can lock up at any moment. +There is even a +small C program +available that will lock up the hard drive after running a few +minutes by writing to a file.

+ +

I've contacted my supplier and asked how to handle this, and after +contacting PCHELP Norway (request 01D1FDP) which handle support +requests for Lenovo, his first suggestion was to upgrade the disk +firmware. Unfortunately there is no newer firmware available from +Lenovo, as my disk already have the most recent one (version LF1i). I +hope to hear more from him today and hope the problem can be +fixed. :)

+
+
+ + + Tags: debian, english. + + +
+
+
+ +
+ +
3rd July 2013
+

The fourth wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:

-
    +

    New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~alpha3 released +2013-07-03

    -
  • 2013-05-29 - Forsvarer - nytt IT-system - Universitas
  • +

    These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~alpha3, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

    -
  • 2013-05-23 - UiO - innfører nytt epost- og kalenderverktøy - Uniforum
  • +

    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 fourth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.

    -
  • 2013-05-22 - Protestgruppe - vil stanse IT-system - Universitas
  • +

    Software updates

    +
      +
    • Dropped ispell dictionaries from our default installation.
    • +
    • Dropped menu-xdg from the KDE desktop option, to drop the Debian + submenu. It was not included with Gnome, LXDE or Xfce, so this + brings KDE in line with the others.
    • +
    • Dropped xdrawchem, xjig and xsok from our default installation as + they don't have a desktop menu entry and thus won't show up in the + menu now that menu-xdg was removed.
    • +
    • Removed the killer system to kill left behind processes on + multi-user machines, as it was no longer able to understand when a + X display was in use and killed the processes of the active users + too.
    • +
    • Dropped the golearn (from goplay) package as the debtags in wheezy + are too few to make the package useful.
    • +
    +

    Other changes

    +
      +
    • Updated artwork matching http://wiki.debian.org/DebianArt/Themes/Joy +
    • Multi-arch i386/amd64 USB stick ISO available.
    • +
    • Got rid of ispell/wordlist related debconf questions that showed + up for some language options.
    • +
    • Switched to using http.debian.net as APT source by default.
    • +
    • Fixed proxy configuration on Main Server installations.
    • +
    • Changed LTSP setup to ask dpkg to use force-unsafe-io the same way + d-i is doing it.
    • +
    • Made sure root and user passwords were not left behind in the + debconf database after installation on Main Server installations.
    • +
    • Made Roaming Workstation dynamic setup more robust and added draft + script setup-ad-client to hook a Roaming Workstation up to a + Active Directory server instead of a Debian Edu Main Server.
    • +
    • Update system to install needed firmware packages during + installation, to work properly in Wheezy.
    • +
    • Update system to handle hardware quirks (debian-edu-hwsetup).
    • +
    • Corrected PXE installation setup to properly pass selected desktop + and keymap settings to PXE installation clients.
    • +
    • LTSP diskless workstations use sshfs by default, allowing them to + work without adding them to DNS and NIS netgroups for NFS access.
    • +
    +

    Known issues

    +
      +
    • No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) + available yet (698840).
    • +
    • Artwork not enabled for all desktops.
    • +
    +

    Where to get it

    +

    To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

    + -
  • 2013-05-15 - UiO - mÃ¥ ha kontroll over sitt eget epostsystem - Uniforum
  • +

    The MD5SUM of this image is: 2b161a99d2a848c376d8d04e3854e30c +
    The SHA1SUM of this image is: 498922e9c508c0a7ee9dbe1dfe5bf830d779c3c8

    +

    To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

    + +

    The MD5SUM of this image is: 25e808e403a4c15dbef1d13c37d572ac +
    The SHA1SUM of this image is: 15ecfc93eb6b4f453b7eb0bc04b6a279262d9721

    + +

    How to report bugs

    +

    http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs

- Tags: norsk, standard. + Tags: debian edu, english.
@@ -90,142 +216,70 @@ fått med meg:

- -
1st June 2013
-

Included in Debian Edu / -Skolelinux, there are quite a lot of educational software. -Created to help teachers teach, and pupils learn. We have tried to -tag them all using debtags use::learning and role::program, and using -the debtags I was happy to be able to create a collage of the -educational software packages installed by default, sorted by the -debtag field. Here it is. Click on a image to learn more about the -program.

- - - -

field::arts

-

-audacity -childsplay -denemo -freebirth -gcompris -gimp -hydrogen -lilypond -lmms -rosegarden -scribus -solfege -stopmotion -tuxpaint -

+ +
25th June 2013
+

It annoys me when the computer fail to do automatically what it is +perfectly capable of, and I have to do it manually to get things +working. One such task is to find out what firmware packages are +needed to get the hardware on my computer working. Most often this +affect the wifi card, but some times it even affect the RAID +controller or the ethernet card. Today I pushed version 0.4 of the +Isenkram package +including a new script isenkram-autoinstall-firmware handling the +process of asking all the loaded kernel modules what firmware files +they want, find debian packages providing these files and install the +debian packages. Here is a test run on my laptop:

-

field::astronomy

-

-celestia-gnome -gpredict -kstars -planets -stellarium -xplanet -

- -

field::biology:structural

-

-pymol -

- -

field::chemistry

-

-atomix -chemtool -easychem -gchempaint -gdis -ghemical -gperiodic -kalzium -pymol -[viewmol] -xdrawchem -

- -

field::electronics

-

-gcompris -[gpsim] -

- -

field::geography

-

-kgeography -marble -xplanet -

- -

field::linguistics

-

-gcompris -kanagram -khangman -klettres -parley -

+

+# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware 
+info: kernel drivers requested extra firmware: ipw2200-bss.fw ipw2200-ibss.fw ipw2200-sniffer.fw
+info: fetching http://http.debian.net/debian/dists/squeeze/Contents-i386.gz
+info: locating packages with the requested firmware files
+info: Updating APT sources after adding non-free APT source
+info: trying to install firmware-ipw2x00
+firmware-ipw2x00
+firmware-ipw2x00
+Preconfiguring packages ...
+Selecting previously deselected package firmware-ipw2x00.
+(Reading database ... 259727 files and directories currently installed.)
+Unpacking firmware-ipw2x00 (from .../firmware-ipw2x00_0.28+squeeze1_all.deb) ...
+Setting up firmware-ipw2x00 (0.28+squeeze1) ...
+# 
+

-

field::mathematics

-

-childsplay -drgeo -gcompris -geogebra -[geomview] -grace -graphmonkey -graphthing -kalgebra -kbruch -kig -kmplot -mathwar -rocs -scratch -tuxmath -xabacus -

+

When all the requested firmware is present, a simple message is +printed instead:

-

field::physics

-

-gcompris -step -

+

+# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware 
+info: did not find any firmware files requested by loaded kernel modules.  exiting
+# 
+

-

field::TODO

-

-blinken -cgoban -childsplay -gcompris -gnuchess -gnugo -gtans -ktouch -librecad -scratch -

+

It could use some polish, but it is already working well and saving +me some time when setting up new machines. :)

+ +

So, how does it work? It look at the set of currently loaded +kernel modules, and look up each one of them using modinfo, to find +the firmware files listed in the module meta-information. Next, it +download the Contents file from a nearby APT mirror, and search for +the firmware files in this file to locate the package with the +requested firmware file. If the package is in the non-free section, a +non-free APT source is added and the package is installed using +apt-get install. The end result is a slightly better working +machine.

-

In total, 61 applications. 3 of them lacked screen shots on -screenshot.debian.net. If -you know of some packages we should install by default, please let us -know on IRC, #debian-edu -on irc.debian.org, or our -mailing list -debian-edu@.

+

I hope someone find time to implement a more polished version of +this script as part of the hw-detect debian-installer module, to +finally fix BTS report +#655507. There really is no need to insert USB sticks with +firmware during a PXE install when the packages already are available +from the nearby Debian mirror.

- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: debian, english, isenkram.
@@ -233,53 +287,50 @@ debian-edu@.

- -
27th May 2013
-

Two days ago, I asked -how -I could install Linux on a Packard Bell EasyNote LV computer -preinstalled with Windows 8. I found a solution, but am horrified -with the obstacles put in the way of Linux users on a laptop with UEFI -and Windows 8.

- -

I never found out if the cause of my problems were the use of UEFI -secure booting or fast boot. I suspect fast boot was the problem, -causing the firmware to boot directly from HD without considering any -key presses and alternative devices, but do not know UEFI settings -enough to tell.

- -

There is no way to install Linux on the machine in question without -opening the box and disconnecting the hard drive! This is as far as I -can tell, the only way to get access to the firmware setup menu -without accepting the Windows 8 license agreement. I am told (and -found description on how to) that it is possible to configure the -firmware setup once booted into Windows 8. But as I believe the terms -of that agreement are completely unacceptable, accepting the license -was never an alternative. I do not enter agreements I do not intend -to follow.

- -

I feared I had to return the laptops and ask for a refund, and -waste many hours on this, but luckily there was a way to get it to -work. But I would not recommend it to anyone planning to run Linux on -it, and I have become sceptical to Windows 8 certified laptops. Is -this the way Linux will be forced out of the market place, by making -it close to impossible for "normal" users to install Linux without -accepting the Microsoft Windows license terms? Or at least not -without risking to loose the warranty?

- -

I've updated the -Linux Laptop -wiki page for Packard Bell EasyNote LV, to ensure the next person -do not have to struggle as much as I did to get Linux into the -machine.

- -

Thanks to Bob Rosbag, Florian Weimer, Philipp Kern, Ben Hutching, -Michael Tokarev and others for feedback and ideas.

+ +
22nd June 2013
+

In the Debian Edu / +Skolelinux project, we include a post-installation test suite, +which check that services are running, working, and return the +expected results. It runs automatically just after the first boot on +test installations (using test ISOs), but not on production +installations (using non-test ISOs). It test that the LDAP service is +operating, Kerberos is responding, DNS is replying, file systems are +online resizable, etc, etc. And it check that the PXE service is +configured, which is the topic of this post.

+ +

The last week I've fixed the DVD and USB stick ISOs for our Debian +Edu Wheezy release. These ISOs are supposed to be able to install a +complete system without any Internet connection, but for that to +happen all the needed packages need to be on them. Thanks to our test +suite, I discovered that we had forgotten to adjust our PXE setup to +cope with the new names and paths used by the netboot d-i packages. +When Internet connectivity was available, the installer fall back to +using wget to fetch d-i boot images, but when offline it require +working packages to get it working. And ad the packages changed name +from debian-installer-6.0-netboot-$arch to +debian-installer-7.0-netboot-$arch, we no longer pulled in the +packages during installation. Without our test suite, I suspect we +would never have discovered this before release. Now it is fixed +right after we got the ISOs operational.

+ +

Another by-product of the test suite is that we can ask system +administrators with problems getting Debian Edu to work, to run the +test suite using /usr/sbin/debian-edu-test-install and see if +any errors are detected. This usually pinpoint the subsystem causing +the problem.

+ +

If you want to help us help kids learn how to share and create, +please join us on +#debian-edu on +irc.debian.org and the +debian-edu@ mailing +list.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: debian edu, english.
@@ -287,41 +338,143 @@ Michael Tokarev and others for feedback and ideas.

- -
25th May 2013
-

I've run into quite a problem the last few days. I bought three -new laptops for my parents and a few others. I bought Packard Bell -Easynote LV to run Kubuntu on and use as their home computer. But I -am completely unable to figure out how to install Linux on it. The -computer is preinstalled with Windows 8, and I suspect it uses UEFI -instead of a BIOS to boot.

- -

The problem is that I am unable to get it to PXE boot, and unable -to get it to boot the Linux installer from my USB stick. I have yet -to try the DVD install, and still hope it will work. when I turn on -the computer, there is no information on what buttons to press to get -the normal boot menu. I expect to get some boot menu to select PXE or -USB stick booting. When booting, it first ask for the language to -use, then for some regional settings, and finally if I will accept the -Windows 8 terms of use. As these terms are completely unacceptable to -me, I have no other choice but to turn off the computer and try again -to get it to boot the Linux installer.

- -

I have gathered my findings so far on a Linlap page about the -Packard Bell -EasyNote LV model. If you have any idea how to get Linux -installed on this machine, please get in touch or update that wiki -page. If I can't find a way to install Linux, I will have to return -the laptop to the seller and find another machine for my parents.

- -

I wonder, is this the way Linux will be forced out of the market -using UEFI and "secure boot" by making it impossible to install Linux -on new Laptops?

+ +
17th June 2013
+

The Debian Edu and +Skolelinux distribution have users and contributors all around the +globe. And a while back, an enterprising young man showed up on +our IRC channel +#debian-edu and started asking questions about how Debian Edu +worked. We answered as good as we could, and even convinced him to +help us with translations. And today I managed to get an interview +with him, to learn more about him.

+ +

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

+ +

I'm a 25 year old free software enthusiast, living in Romania, +which is also my country of origin. Back in 2009, at a New Year's Eve +party, I had a very nice beer discussion with a +friend, when we realized we have no organised Debian community in our +country. A few days later, we put together the infrastructure for such +community and even gathered a nice Debian-ish crowd. Since then, I +began my quest as a free software hacker and activist and I am +constantly trying to cover as much ground as possible on that +field.

+ +

A few years ago I founded a small web development company, which +provided me the flexible schedule I needed so much for my +activities. For the last 13 months, I have been the Technical Director +of Fundația Ceata, which is a free +software activist organisation endorsed by the FSF and the FSFE, and +the only one we have in our country.

+ +

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

+ +

The idea of participating in the Debian Edu project was a surprise +even to me, since I never used it before I began getting involved in +it. This year I had a great opportunity to deliver a talk on +educational software, and I knew immediately where to look. It was a +love at first sight, since I was previously involved with some of the +technologies the project incorporates, and I rapidly found a lot of +ways to contribute.

+ +

My first contributions consisted in translating the installer and +configuration dialogs, then I found some bugs to squash (I still +haven't fixed them yet though), and I even got my eyes on some other +areas where I can prove myself helpful. Since the appetite for free +software in my country is pretty low, I'll be happy to be the first +one around here advocating for the project's adoption in educational +environments, and maybe even get my hands dirty in creating a flavour +for our own needs. I am not used to make very advanced plannings, so +from now on, time will tell what I'll be doing next, but I think I +have a pretty consistent starting point.

+ +

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

+ +

Not a long time ago, I was in the position of configuring and +maintaining a LDAP server on some Debian derivative, and I must say it +took me a while. A long time ago, I was maintaining a bigger +Samba-powered infrastructure, and I must say I spent quite a lot of +time on it. I have similar stories about many of the services included +with Skolelinux, and the main advantage I see about it is the +out-of-the box availability of them, making it quite competitive when +it comes to managing a school's network, for example.

+ +

Of course, there is more to say about Skolelinux than the +availability of the software included, its flexibility in various +scenarios is something I can't wait to experiment "into the wild" (I +only played with virtual machines so far). And I am sure there is a +lot more I haven't discovered yet about it, being so new within the +project.

+ +

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

+ +

As usual, when it comes to Debian Blends, I see as the biggest +disadvantage the lack of a numerous team dedicated to the +project. Every day I see the same names in the changelogs, and I have +a constantly fear of the bus factor in this story. I'd like to see +Debian Edu advertised more as an entry point into the Debian +ecosystem, especially amongst newcomers and students. IMHO there are a +lot low-hanging fruits in terms of bug squashing, and enough +opportunities to get the feeling of the Debian Project's dynamics. Not +to mention it's a very fun blend to work on!

+ +

Derived from the previous statement, is the delay in catching up +with the main Debian release and documentation. This is common though +to all blends and derivatives, but it's an issue we can all work +on.

+ +

Which free software do you use daily?

+ +

I can hardly imagine myself spending a day without Vim, since my +daily routine covers writing code and hacking configuration files. I +am a fan of the Awesome window manager (but I also like the +Enlightenment project a lot!), +Claws Mail due to its ease of +use and very configurable behaviour. Recently I fell in love with +Redshift, which helps me +get through the night without headaches. Of course, there is much more +stuff in this bag, but I'll need a blog on my own for doing this!

+ +

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

+ +

Well, on this field, I cannot do much more than experiment right +now. So, being far from having a recipe for success, I can only assume +that:

+ +
    + +
  • schools would like to get rid of proprietary software
  • + +
  • students will love the openness of the system, and will want to + experiment with it - maybe we need to harvest the native curiosity + of teenagers more?
  • + +
  • there is no "right one" when it comes to strategies, but it would + be useful to have some success stories published somewhere, so + other can get some inspiration from them (I know I'd promote + them!)
  • + +
  • more active promotion - talks, conferences, even small school + lectures can do magical things if they encounter at least one + person interested. Who knows who that person might be? ;-)
  • + +
+ +

I also see some problems in getting Skolelinux into schools; for +example, in our country we have a great deal of corruption issues, so +it might be hard(er) to fight against proprietary solutions. Also, +people who relied on commercial software for all their lives, would be +very hard to convert against their will.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: debian edu, english, intervju.
@@ -329,127 +482,131 @@ on new Laptops?

- -
24th May 2013
-

En ting -Skolelinux-prosjektet har -hatt mye glede av er studentprosjekter. F.eks. er -stillbildeanimasjonssystemet -Stopmotion resultat av et studentprosjekt i Skolelinux. De siste -månedene har en ivrig student veiledet av Marius Kotsbak i -FRiSK testet hva en -kan få til med en datamaskin til NOK 400,- (antagelig 1700,- med -skjerm, tastatur og mus) når det brukes i Skolelinux. Jeg spurte han -om et intervju.

- -

Hvem er du, og hva driver du med til daglig?

- -

Jeg heter Nirosan Thiyagalingam. Jeg er 24 år og studerer -dataingeniør studiet ved Høgskolen i Sør Trøndelag. Interessen for -data har siden ung alder vært tilstede og jeg har i tillegg alltid -vært glad i å lære nye ting. Med teknologi som endres svært hurtig er -det alltid noe nytt å lære. Noe som igjen har gjort det svært -interessant å følge med på utviklingen. Jeg valgte dataingeniør -studiet grunnet ønske om å lære enda mer om programmering og utvikling -av store systemer.

- -

Hvordan kom du i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet?

- -

Skolelinux prosjektet hørte jeg først om i media. Men det var først -når jeg skulle velge bacheloroppgave at jeg fattet mer interesse for -prosjektet. Et enkelt søk på nettet førte meg til skolelinux sine -hjemmesider. Informasjonen jeg fant der gjorde meg enda nysgjerrig og -jeg valgte derfor en oppgave som gikk ut på å få en -Raspberry PI. Altså en -ultra-billig datamaskin til å kjøre Debian Edu på lik linje med -vanlige datamaskiner. I løpet av prosjektet ble det gjort mye -forskning på nettet. Det var mye jeg måtte forstå rundt hvordan -operativsystemet Linux fungerte før jeg kunne angripe -problemet. Prøvde først å finne ut hvordan man kunne transformere en -vanlig installasjon av Skolelinux til Raspberry PI, men dette var -altfor vanskelig å jeg endte opp med mer spørsmål enn svar. Det ble -videre opprettet kontakt med Skolelinux utviklere på IRC der jeg fikk -diskutert hvilken retning jeg burde gå for å få til en fullverdig -løsning. Det ble bestemt at jeg skulle gå for å først installere -Raspian. Dette er et -operativsystem basert på Debian spesiallaget for Raspberry Pi sin -maskinvare. Nå som Debian var installert på datamaskinen gjenstod det -å installere de nødvendige Skolelinux pakkene for å få til et -fullverdig system. Disse pakkene ble installert manuelt i første -omgang, men ble senere installert automatisk via et script som Petter -Reinholdtsen laget. Dette scriptet er så enkel å bruke at man er i -gang med installasjonen i løpet av bare 5 minutter. Ikke nok med det, -alt skjer helt automatisk. Alt i alt er jeg veldig fornøyd med -resultatet av installasjonsprosessen. Raspberry Pi er en veldig svak -maskin og det merkes godt når man har installert Skolelinux på -den. Video og 3D-rendering fungerer utrolig dårlig, men nettsurfing og -kontorprogrammer fungerer godt. Det kan derfor konkluderes med at -datamaskinen er egnet for enkle oppgaver. - -

Jeg syns det er viktig påpeke at dette kun er startfasen av en slik -løsning. På markedet finnes det nå maskiner som har bedre hardware enn -Raspberry Pi. Det er store muligheter for at man kan klare å -installere Skolelinux på disse også, og da forsvinner nok mest -sannsynlig ytelsesproblemene med Video og 3D rendering også.

- -

Det ble også prøvd med en løsning som gjorde at Raspberry Pi -fungerte som en tynnklient. Denne løsningen hadde langt bedre ytelse -med tanke på hastighet og brukeropplevelse. Men også her var video og -3D rendering dårlig. Det ble brukt en liten Linux distribusjon kalt -BerryTerminal for å få til -dette.

- -

Hva er fordelene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

- -

Fordelen med Skolelinux er mange. At det er gratis er en stor -fordel, men at det er så mange som er med på å utvikle det og -vedlikeholde det er en enda større fordel. Allerede før jeg startet -med prosjektet så jeg mange fordeler, og når jeg nærmet meg sluttfasen -så jeg langt flere. At prosjektet skulle inneha en så høy kvalitet -hadde jeg aldri trodd. En vanlig Skolelinux installasjon har de -nødvendige programmene og funksjonen som både små og store skoler i -tillegg til organisasjoner kan klare seg med. At prosjektet tilbyr en -så komplett løsning er en kjempefordel. Installasjonen er knirkefri -og det er svært enkelt å installere og komme i gang.

- -

Hva er ulempene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

- -

Ulempene jeg ser med prosjektet er ryddigheten av websidene. Selv -om websidene er enkle og konsise er det allikevel ikke appellerende i -like stor grad som for eksempel -Ubuntu sine sider. Deres side -tilbyr, i tillegg til godt design og presentasjon, en nettbasert -emulator av deres operativsystem. Dette er en stor fordel slik jeg ser -det. Bortsett fra dette ser jeg absolutt ingen ulemper med -Skolelinux-prosjektet.

- -

Hvilken fri programvare bruker du til daglig?

- -

Til daglig er jeg en flittig bruker av det åpne media -sentersystemet XBMC. Det enorme -samfunnet rundt dette prosjektet har gjort dette til et program som -dekker alles behov. Man kan tilpasse det akkurat slik man vil både med -tanke på utseende og funksjoner ved installere plug-ins eller -scripts.

- -

Hvilken strategi tror du er den rette å bruke for å få -skoler til å ta i bruk fri programvare?

- -

Strategien som burde brukes sett fra mine øyne er -markedsføring. Jeg er sikker på at om flere skoler fikk et lite innsyn -i hvor bra Skolelinux er så ville de ikke nølt med å gå over fra noe -annet som koster de store summer. At skolelinux til de grader tilbyr -en så komplett løsning bure komme frem. Enten via reklamekampanjer -eller ved å sende ut folk til skoler for så å la skolenettverk -ansvarlige få teste ut hvordan Skolelinux fungerer i praksis. Om det -i tillegg ble utviklet gode websider og en emulator for å la brukere -prøve operativsystemet ville nok dette ha styrket inntrykket -betraktelig.

+ +
12th June 2013
+

There is a certain cross-over between the +Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project and the Edubuntu +project, and for example the LTSP packages in Debian are a joint +effort between the projects. One person with a foot in both camps is +Jonathan Carter, which I am now happy to present to you.

+ +

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

+ +

I'm a South-African free software geek who lives in Cape Town. My +days vary quite a bit since I'm involved in too many things. As I'm +getting older I'm learning how to focus a bit more :)

+ +

I'm also an Edubuntu contributor and I love when there are +opportunities for the Edubuntu and Debian Edu projects to benefit from +each other.

+ +

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

+ +

I've been somewhat familiar with the project before, but I think my +first direct exposure to the project was when I met Petter +[Reinholdtsen] and Knut [Yrvin] at the Edubuntu summit in 2005 in +London. They provided great feedback that helped the bootstrapping of +Edubuntu. Back then Edubuntu (and even Ubuntu) was still very new and +it was great getting input from people who have been around longer. I +was also still very excitable and said yes to everything and to this +day I have a big todo list backlog that I'm catching up with. I think +over the years the relationship between Edubuntu and Debian-Edu has +been gradually improving, although I think there's a lot that we could +still improve on in terms of working together on packages. I'm sure +we'll get there one day.

+ +

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

+ +

Debian itself already has so many advantages. I could go on about +it for pages, but in essence I love that it's a very honest project +that puts its users first with no hidden agendas and also produces +very high quality work.

+ +

I think the advantage of Debian Edu is that it makes many common +set-up tasks simpler so that administrators can get up and running +with a lot less effort and frustration. At the same time I think it +helps to standardise installations in schools so that it's easier for +community members and commercial suppliers to support.

+ +

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

+ +

I had to re-type this one a few times because I'm trying to +separate "disadvantages" from "areas that need improvement" (which is +what I originally rambled on about)

+ +

The biggest disadvantage I can think of is lack of manpower. The +project could do so much more if there were more good contributors. I +think some of the problems are external too. Free software and free +content in education is a no-brainer but it takes some time to catch +on. When you've been working with the same proprietary eco-system for +years and have gotten used to it, it can be hard to adjust to some +concepts in the free software world. It would be nice if there were +more Debian Edu consultants across the world. I'd love to be one +myself but I'm already so over-committed that it's just not possible +currently.

+ +

I think the best short-term solution to that large-scale problem is +for schools to be pro-active and share their experiences and grow +their skills in-house. I'm often saddened to see how much money +educational institutions spend on 3rd party solutions that they don't +have access to after the service has ended and they could've gotten so +much more value otherwise by being more self-sustainable and +autonomous.

+ +

Which free software do you use daily?

+ +

My main laptop dual-boots between Debian and Windows 7. I was +Windows free for years but started dual-booting again last year for +some games which help me focus and relax (Starcraft II in +particular). Gaming support on Linux is improving in leaps and bounds +so I suppose I'll soon be able to regain that disk space :)

+ +

Besides that I rely on Icedove, Chromium, Terminator, Byobu, irssi, +git, Tomboy, KVM, VLC and LibreOffice. Recently I've been torn on +which desktop environment I like and I'm taking some refuge in Xfce +while I figure that out. I like tools that keep things simple. I enjoy +Python and shell scripting. I went to an Arduino workshop recently and +it was awesome seeing how easy and simple the IDE software was to get +up and running in Debian compared to the users running Windows and OS +X.

+ +

I also use mc which some people frown upon slightly. I got used to +using Norton Commander in the early 90's and it stuck (I think the +people who sneer at it is just jealous that they don't know how to use +it :p) + +

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

+ +

I think trying to force it is unproductive. I also think that in +many cases it's appropriate for schools to use non-free systems and I +don't think that there's any particular moral or ethical problem with +that.

+ +

I do think though that free software can already solve so so many +problems in educational institutions and it's just a shame not taking +advantage of that.

+ +

I also think that some curricula need serious review. For example, +some areas of the world rely heavily on very specific versions of MS +Office, teaching students to parrot menu items instead of learning the +general concepts. I think that's very unproductive because firstly, MS +Office's interface changes drastically every few years and on top of +that it also locks in a generation to a product that might not be the +best solution for them.

+ +

To answer your question, I believe that the right strategy is to +educate and inform, giving someone the information they require to +make a decision that would work for them.

@@ -457,77 +614,108 @@ betraktelig.

- -
17th May 2013
-

Debian Edu / Skolelinux is -an operating system based on Debian intended for use in schools. It -contain a turn-key solution for the computer network provided to -pupils in the primary schools. It provide both the central server, -network boot servers and desktop environments with heaps of -educational software. The project was founded almost 12 years ago, -2001-07-02. If you want to support the project, which is in need for -cash to fund developer gatherings and other project related activity, -please -donate some money. - -

A topic that come up again and again on the Debian Edu mailing -lists and elsewhere, is the question on how to transform a Debian or -Ubuntu installation into a Debian Edu installation. It isn't very -hard, and last week I wrote a script to replicate the steps done by -the Debian Edu installer.

- -

The script, -debian-edu-bless -in the debian-edu-config package, will go through these six steps and -transform an existing Debian Wheezy or Ubuntu (untested) installation -into a Debian Edu Workstation:

- -
    - -
  1. Add skolelinux related APT sources.
  2. -
  3. Create /etc/debian-edu/config with the wanted configuration.
  4. -
  5. Install debian-edu-install to load preseeding values and pull in - our configuration.
  6. -
  7. Preseed debconf database with profile setup in - /etc/debian-edu/config, and run tasksel to install packages - according to the profile specified in the config above, - overriding some of the Debian automation machinery.
  8. -
  9. Run debian-edu-cfengine-D installation to configure everything - that could not be done using preseeding.
  10. -
  11. Ask for a reboot to enable all the configuration changes.
  12. - -
- -

There are some steps in the Debian Edu installation that can not be -replicated like this. Disk partitioning and LVM setup, for example. -So this script just assume there is enough disk space to install all -the needed packages.

+
+
11th June 2013
+

When installing RedHat, Fedora, Debian and Ubuntu on some machines, +the screen just turn black when Linux boot, either during installation +or on first boot from the hard disk. I've seen it once in a while the +last few years, but only recently understood the cause. I've seen it +on HP laptops, and on my latest acquaintance the Packard Bell laptop. +The reason seem to be in the wiring of some laptops. The system to +control the screen background light is inverted, so when Linux try to +turn the brightness fully on, it end up turning it off instead. I do +not know which Linux drivers are affected, but this post is about the +i915 driver used by the +Packard Bell +EasyNote LV, Thinkpad X40 and many other laptops.

+ +

The problem can be worked around two ways. Either by adding +i915.invert_brightness=1 as a kernel option, or by adding a file in +/etc/modprobe.d/ to tell modprobe to add the invert_brightness=1 +option when it load the i915 kernel module. On Debian and Ubuntu, it +can be done by running these commands as root:

+ +
+echo options i915 invert_brightness=1 | tee /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf
+update-initramfs -u -k all
+
+ +

Since March 2012 there is +a +mechanism in the Linux kernel to tell the i915 driver which +hardware have this problem, and get the driver to invert the +brightness setting automatically. To use it, one need to add a row in +the +intel_quirks array in the driver source +drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c (look for "static +struct intel_quirk intel_quirks"), specifying the PCI device +number (vendor number 8086 is assumed) and subdevice vendor and device +number.

+ +

My Packard Bell EasyNote LV got this output from lspci +-vvnn for the video card in question:

-

The script was created to help a Debian Edu student working on -setting up Raspberry Pi as a -Debian Edu client, and using it he can take the existing -Raspbian installation and -transform it into a fully functioning Debian Edu Workstation (or -Roaming Workstation, or whatever :).

+

+00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation \
+    3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0156] \
+    (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
+ Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0688]
+ Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- \
+    ParErr- Stepping- SE RR- FastB2B- DisINTx+
+ Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- \
+    SERR-  [disabled]
+ Capabilities: 
+ Kernel driver in use: i915
+

-

The default setting in the script is to create a KDE Workstation. -If a LXDE based Roaming workstation is wanted instead, modify the -PROFILE and DESKTOP values at the top to look like this instead:

+

The resulting intel_quirks entry would then look like this:

-PROFILE="Roaming-Workstation"
-DESKTOP="lxde"
+struct intel_quirk intel_quirks[] = {
+       ...
+        /* Packard Bell EasyNote LV11HC needs invert brightness quirk */
+	{ 0x0156, 0x1025, 0x0688, quirk_invert_brightness },
+       ...
+}
 

-

The script could even become useful to set up Debian Edu servers in -the cloud, by starting with a virtual Debian installation at some -virtual hosting service and setting up all the services on first -boot.

+

According to the kernel module instructions (as seen using +modinfo i915), information about hardware needing the +invert_brightness flag should be sent to the +dri-devel +(at) lists.freedesktop.org mailing list to reach the kernel +developers. But my email about the laptop sent 2013-06-03 have not +yet shown up in +the +web archive for the mailing list, so I suspect they do not accept +emails from non-subscribers. Because of this, I sent my patch also to +the Debian bug tracking system instead as +BTS report #710938, to make +sure the patch is not lost.

+ +

Unfortunately, it is not enough to fix the kernel to get Laptops +with this problem working properly with Linux. If you use Gnome, your +worries should be over at this point. But if you use KDE, there is +something in KDE ignoring the invert_brightness setting and turning on +the screen during login. I've reported it to Debian as +BTS report #711237, and +have no idea yet how to figure out exactly what subsystem is doing +this. Perhaps you can help? Perhaps you know what the Gnome +developers did to handle this, and this can give a clue to the KDE +developers? Or you know where in KDE the screen brightness is changed +during login? If so, please update the BTS report (or get in touch if +you do not know how to update BTS).

- Tags: debian, debian edu, english. + Tags: debian, english.
@@ -535,101 +723,120 @@ boot.

- -
14th May 2013
-

The Debian Edu / Skolelinux -project is making great progress and made its second Wheezy based -release today. This is the release announcement:

+ +
10th June 2013
+

The third wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:

-

New features for Debian Edu 7.0.0 alpha1 released -2013-05-14

+

New features for Debian Edu 7.0.0 alpha2 released +2013-06-10

This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu -alpha1, based on Debian with -codename "Wheezy".

+alpha2, 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. Immediatly 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.

- -

This is the first test release based on Wheezy (which currently is -not released yet). Basically this is an updated and slightly improved -version compared to the Squeeze release.

+

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 third test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.

Software updates

+
    -
  • Install freemind (0.9.0) by default, and stop installing vym by - default.
  • -
  • Install chromium (26.0.1410.43) by default.
  • -
  • Install goplay (0.5-1.1) to make golearn available by default.
  • -
  • Updated support for Japanese input methods, now based on - ibus-anthy.
  • + +
  • Iceweasel was updated from 10 to 17. (DSA 2699-1) +
  • Updated libxv (DSA-2674), libxvmc (DSA-2675), libxfixes (DSA-2676), libxrender (DSA-2677), mesa (DSA-2678), xserver-xorg-video-openchrome (DSA-2679), libxt (DSA-2680), libxcursor (DSA-2681), libxext (DSA-2682), libxi (DSA-2683), libxrandr (DSA-2684), libxp (DSA-2685), libxcb (DSA-2686), libfs (DSA-2687), libxres (DSA-2688), libxtst (DSA-2689), libxxf86dga (DSA-2690), libxinerama (DSA-2691), libxxf86vm (DSA-2692), libx11 (DSA-2693), chromium-browser (DSA-2695), gnutls26 (DSA-2697), wireshark (DSA-2700), krb5 (DSA-2701), telepathy-gabble (DSA-2702) and subversion (DSA-2703). +
  • Switched xrdp on thin client servers to use tightvncserver instead of xvnc4. +
  • Now install software oscilloscope xoscope by default. +
  • Now install music tools gtick, lingot and pianobooster by default. +

Other changes

+
    -
  • Switched default file system from ext3 to ext4 for speed and - reliability improvements.
  • -
  • Got rid of unwanted winbind daemon and PAM setup activated because - of 706434.
  • -
  • Extended and improved the testsuite tests to detect more possible - problems.
  • -
  • Corrected proxy handling to not set http_proxy to a bogus - direct:// URL.
  • -
  • Corrected proxy setup for diskless workstations.
  • -
  • Corrected PXE setup to use our updated udebs during installation.
  • -
  • Made installation handling of low entropy level more robust.
  • -
  • Create larger partitions for Roaming workstations and Thin client - servers, to make room for all the software installed.
  • -
  • Fix bug in Roaming workstation PAM setup, making it impossible to - log in (706753).
  • +
  • The subnet-change script is now able to change all files needing a change on the main-server when changing the IP network used. +
  • Updated translation of the installation. +
  • New Romanian translation. +
  • Fix security problem causing root and first user password to no longer show up in /var/cache/debconf/templates.dat. +
  • Fix roaming workstation setup (Closed in libpam-mklocaluser/0.8, libpam-mklocaluser/0.8~deb7u1: #706753: libpam-mklocaluser: Fail to create local user during first login). +
  • Made roaming workstation setup more robust in non-Debian Edu environments. +
  • New script debian-edu-bless to transform a Debian installation to a Debian Edu profile. +
  • Adjust Iceweasel setup to improve performance when $HOME is on NFS. +
  • More testsuite tests. +
  • Make automatic proxy configuration more robust. +
  • Adjust GOsa² GUI configuration. + +
  • Update thin client and diskless workstation setup to work with +LTSP in Wheezy.
  • + +
  • Diskless workstations now run out of the box -- no need to set +them up with GOsa².
  • + +
  • Update IMAP server setup.
  • + +
  • Fix login into Skolelinux Backup Tool (Closed in +slbackup-php/0.4.4-1: #700257: slbackup-php: Fails to submit correctly +entered password).
  • +

Known issues

+
    -
  • IP resolution for the local hostname give useless IPv6 address - (705900). Only install - libnss-myhostname on roaming workstations until it is fixed.
  • -
  • DVD images are not yet ready.
  • -
  • No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) - available yet (698840).
  • -
  • Missing artwork for the KDE desktop (and probably a few others).
  • -
  • KDE Debian submenu lacks icons.
  • -
  • LXDE menu lacks entry for changing GOsa password - (website). Installing gosa-desktop will be an option.
  • -
  • Backup configuration via web interface is impossible due to - password submission problem - (700257).
  • +
  • DVD binary and source images are not yet ready.
  • + +
  • No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) +available yet (Open in gosa/2.7.4-4: #698840: gosa-plugin-ldapmanager: +missing import feature).
  • + +
  • Missing artwork for the KDE desktop (and probably a few others).
  • + +
  • KDE Debian submenu lacks icons (Closed: #502192: menu-xdg: invents +own icon names instead of using existing). This will remain +unfixed.

Where to get it

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

+ +
  • http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso
  • -

    The MD5SUM of this image is: 685ed76c1aa8e44b12d3fde21faf450b

    +
  • rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso .
  • + + -

    The SHA1SUM of this image is: 6c874de157024da13e115bab29c068080a11ec4c

    +

    The MD5SUM of this image is: 27bbcace407743382f3c42c08dbe8178 +
    The SHA1SUM of this image is: e35f7d7908566cd3075375b3721fa10ee420d419

    How to report bugs

    -

    http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs

    +

    http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs

    @@ -642,81 +849,38 @@ version compared to the Squeeze release.

    - -
    11th May 2013
    -

    In January, -I -announced a new IRC -channel #debian-lego, for those of us in the Debian and Linux -community interested in LEGO, the -marvellous construction system from Denmark. We also created -a wiki page to have -a place to take notes and write down our plans and hopes. And several -people showed up to help. I was very happy to see the effect of my -call. Since the small start, we have a debtags tag -hardware::hobby:lego -tag for LEGO related packages, and now count 10 packages related to -LEGO and Mindstorms:

    - -

    - - - - - - - - - - -
    brickosalternative OS for LEGO Mindstorms RCX. Supports development in C/C++
    leocadvirtual brick CAD software
    libnxtutility library for talking to the LEGO Mindstorms NX
    lnpddaemon for LNP communication with BrickOS
    nbccompiler for LEGO Mindstorms NXT bricks
    nqcNot Quite C compiler for LEGO Mindstorms RCX
    python-nxtpython driver/interface/wrapper for the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot
    python-nxt-filersimple GUI to manage files on a LEGO Mindstorms NXT
    scratcheasy to use programming environment for ages 8 and up
    t2nsimple command-line tool for Lego NXT

    - -

    Some of these are available in Wheezy, and all but one are -currently available in Jessie/testing. leocad is so far only -available in experimental.

    - -

    If you care about LEGO in Debian, please join us on IRC and help -adding the rest of the great free software tools available on Linux -for LEGO designers.

    -
    -
    - - - Tags: debian, english, robot. - - -
    -
    -
    - -
    - -
    10th May 2013
    -

    I fjor sommer ble jeg -gledelig -overrasket over et oppslag i avisen Fremover om Narvik kommunes -bruk av Skolelinux. Oppslaget -var basert på et notat som besvarte spørsmål fra ordfører Tor Nysæter -og rådgiver for skolesektoren, Petter Falkbu, om bruken av Skolelinux -i Narvikskolene og konstnaden ved å gå over til Windows. For litt -over en uke siden siden fikk jeg endelig bedt kommunen om å få innsyn -i dette notatet, og det ble oversendt på epost tirsdag. Jeg fikk -lagt -ut notatet samme dag, og fikk i dag sjekket postlista til Narvik, -der jeg fant notatet som -sak -2013/1023.

    - -

    Notatet forteller at Narvik ville måtte betalt minst 9 millioner -for å gå over til Windows på skolene. I tillegg dokumenterer notatet -at læreplanens krav oppfylles uten problemer ved bruk av Skolelinux. -Jeg anbefaler alle å lese de 10 sidene med gode argumenter for å kutte -unødige utgifter på IT i skoleverket. :)

    + +
    5th June 2013
    +

    Here is a call for help from the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project. +We have two problems blocking the release of the Wheezy version we +hope to get released soon. The two problems require some with PHP +skills, and we seem to lack anyone with both time and PHP skills in +the project: + +

      + +
    1. It is impossible to log into the slbackup web interface + (slbackup-php) using the root user and password. This is + BTS report #700257. + This used to work, but stopped working some time since Squeeze. + Perhaps some obsolete PHP feature was used?
    2. + +
    3. It is not possible to "mass import" user lists in Gosa, neither + using ldif nor using CSV files. The feature was disabled after a + major rewrite of Gosa, and need to be ported to the new system. + This is BTS report + #698840.
    4. + +
    + +

    If you can help us, please join us on IRC +(#debian-edu on +irc.debian.org) and provide patches via the BTS.

    - Tags: debian edu, norsk. + Tags: debian edu, english.
    @@ -724,36 +888,145 @@ unødige utgifter på IT i skoleverket. :)

    - -
    5th May 2013
    -

    When I woke up this morning, I was very happy to see that the -release announcement -for Debian Wheezy was waiting in my mail box. This is a great -Debian release, and I expect to move my machines at home over to it fairly -soon.

    - -

    The new debian release contain heaps of new stuff, and one program -in particular make me very happy to see included. The -Scratch program, made famous by -the Teach kids code movement, is -included for the first time. Alongside similar programs like -kturtle and -turtleart, -it allow for visual programming where syntax errors can not happen, -and a friendly programming environment for learning to control the -computer. Scratch will also be included in the next release of Debian -Edu. - -

    And now that Wheezy is wrapped up, we can wrap up the next Debian -Edu/Skolelinux release too. The -first -alpha release went out last week, and the next should soon -follow.

    +

    +
    4th June 2013
    +

    It has been a while since my last English +Debian Edu and Skolelinux +interview last November. But the developers and translators are still +pulling along to get the Wheezy based release out the door, and this +time I managed to get an interview from one of the French translators +in the project, Cédric Boutillier.

    + +

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

    + +

    I am 34 year old. I live near Paris, France. I am an assistant +professor in probability theory. I spend my daytime teaching +mathematics at the university and doing fundamental research in +probability in connexion with combinatorics and statistical physics.

    + +

    I have been involved in the Debian project for a couple of years +and became Debian Developer a few months ago. I am working on Ruby +packaging, publicity and translation.

    + +

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

    + +

    I came to the Debian Edu project after a call for translation of +the +Debian Edu manual for the release of Debian Edu Squeeze. Since +then, I have been working on updating the French translation of the +manual. + +

    I had the opportunity to make an installation of Debian Edu in a +virtual machine when I was preparing localised version of some screen +shots for the manual. I was amazed to see it worked out of the box and +how comprehensive the list of software installed by default was.

    + +

    What amazed me was the complete network infrastructure directly +ready to use, which can and the nice administration interface provided +by GOsa². What pleased +me also was the fact that among the software installed by default, +there were many "traditional" educative software to learn languages, +to count, to program... but also software to develop creativity and +artistic skills with music (Ardour, +Audacity) and +movies/animation (I was especially thinking of +Stopmotion).

    + +

    I am following the development of Debian Edu and am hanging out on +#debian-edu. +Unfortunately, I don't much time to get more involved in this +beautiful project.

    + +

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

    + +

    For me, the main advantages of Skolelinux/Debian Edu are its +community of experts and its precise documentation, as well as the +fact that it provides a solution ready to use.

    + +

    I would add also the fact that it is based on the rock solid Debian +distribution, which ensures stability and provides a huge collection +of educational free software.

    + +

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

    + +

    Maybe the lack of manpower to do lobbying on the +project. Sometimes, people who need to take decisions concerning IT do +not have all the elements to evaluate properly free software +solutions. The fact that support by a company may be difficult to find +is probably a problem if the school does not have IT personnel.

    + +

    One can find support from a company by looking at +the +wiki dokumentation, where some countries already have a number of +companies providing support for Debian Edu, like Germany or +Norway. This list is easy to find readily from the manual. However, +for other countries, like France, the list is empty. I guess that +consultants proposing support for Debian would be able to provide some +support for Debian Edu as well.

    + +

    Which free software do you use daily?

    + +

    I am using the KDE Plasma Desktop. But the pieces of software I use +most runs in a terminal: Mutt and OfflineIMAP for emails, latex for +scientific documents, mpd for music. VIM is my editor of choice. I am +also using the mathematical software +Scilab and +Sage (built from +source as not completely packaged for Debian, yet). + +

    Do you have any suggestions for teachers interested in +using the free software in Debian to teach mathematics and +statistics?

    + +

    I do not have any "nice" recommendations for statistics. At our +university, we use both R and +Scilab to teach statistics and probabilistic simulations. For +geometry, there are nice programs:

    + +
      + +
    • drgeo and +kig to do +constructions in planar geometry + +
    • kali +to discover symmetry groups (the so-called wallpapers and frieze +groups), although the interface looks a bit old.
    • + +
    + +

    I like also +cantor, which +provides a uniform interface to SciLab, Sage, +Octave, etc...

    + +

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

    + +

    My suggestions would be to

    + +
      + +
    • advertise the reduction of costs when free software is used.
    • + +
    • communicate about the quality of free software projects, using + well known examples like Firefox, ThunderBird and + OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice.
    • + +
    • advertise the living and strong community around the project.
    • + +
    • show that it is not more difficult to use than any other + system.
    • + +
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