X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/4cb54a3c646f82d40b96772fe23213fec7c9ff1a..b8db75c1f74e801fb53b4958415a41ffe0612c2c:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index 36c0de40ae..0ceec8ab9c 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,69 +20,28 @@
-
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:

- - - - +
Browser plugin for SPICE (spice-xpi) uploaded to Debian
+
1st November 2013
+

The SPICE protocol for +remote display access is the preferred solution with oVirt and RedHat +Enterprise Virtualization, and I was sad to discover the other day +that the browser plugin needed to use these systems seamlessly was +missing in Debian. The request +for a package was from 2012-04-10 with no progress since +2013-04-01, so I decided to wrap up a package based on the great work +from Cajus Pollmeier and put it in a collab-maint maintained git +repository to get a package I could use. I would very much like +others to help me maintain the package (or just take over, I do not +mind), but as no-one had volunteered so far, I just uploaded it to +NEW. I hope it will be available in Debian in a few days.

+ +

The source is now available from +http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/spice-xpi.git;a=summary.

- Tags: norsk, standard. + Tags: debian, english.
@@ -90,142 +49,120 @@ fått med meg:

-
Educational applications included in Debian Edu / Skolelinux (the screenshot collection :-)
-
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 -

- -

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 -

+
Teaching vmdebootstrap to create Raspberry Pi SD card images
+
27th October 2013
+

The +vmdebootstrap +program is a a very nice system to create virtual machine images. It +create a image file, add a partition table, mount it and run +debootstrap in the mounted directory to create a Debian system on a +stick. Yesterday, I decided to try to teach it how to make images for +Raspberry Pi, as part +of a plan to simplify the build system for +the FreedomBox +project. The FreedomBox project already uses vmdebootstrap for +the virtualbox images, but its current build system made multistrap +based system for Dreamplug images, and it is lacking support for +Raspberry Pi.

+ +

Armed with the knowledge on how to build "foreign" (aka non-native +architecture) chroots for Raspberry Pi, I dived into the vmdebootstrap +code and adjusted it to be able to build armel images on my amd64 +Debian laptop. I ended up giving vmdebootstrap five new options, +allowing me to replicate the image creation process I use to make +Debian +Jessie based mesh node images for the Raspberry Pi. First, the +--foreign /path/to/binfm_handler option tell vmdebootstrap to +call debootstrap with --foreign and to copy the handler into the +generated chroot before running the second stage. This allow +vmdebootstrap to create armel images on an amd64 host. Next I added +two new options --bootsize size and --boottype +fstype to teach it to create a separate /boot/ partition with the +given file system type, allowing me to create an image with a vfat +partition for the /boot/ stuff. I also added a --variant +variant option to allow me to create smaller images without the +Debian base system packages installed. Finally, I added an option +--no-extlinux to tell vmdebootstrap to not install extlinux +as a boot loader. It is not needed on the Raspberry Pi and probably +most other non-x86 architectures. The changes were accepted by the +upstream author of vmdebootstrap yesterday and today, and is now +available from +the +upstream project page.

+ +

To use it to build a Raspberry Pi image using Debian Jessie, first +create a small script (the customize script) to add the non-free +binary blob needed to boot the Raspberry Pi and the APT source +list:

-

field::mathematics

-

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

- -

field::physics

-

-gcompris -step -

+

+#!/bin/sh
+set -e # Exit on first error
+rootdir="$1"
+cd "$rootdir"
+cat <<EOF > etc/apt/sources.list
+deb http://http.debian.net/debian/ jessie main contrib non-free
+EOF
+# Install non-free binary blob needed to boot Raspberry Pi.  This
+# install a kernel somewhere too.
+wget https://raw.github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-update/master/rpi-update \
+    -O $rootdir/usr/bin/rpi-update
+chmod a+x $rootdir/usr/bin/rpi-update
+mkdir -p $rootdir/lib/modules
+touch $rootdir/boot/start.elf
+chroot $rootdir rpi-update
+

-

field::TODO

-

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

+

Next, fetch the latest vmdebootstrap script and call it like this +to build the image:

+ +
+sudo ./vmdebootstrap \
+    --variant minbase \
+    --arch armel \
+    --distribution jessie \
+    --mirror http://http.debian.net/debian \
+    --image test.img \
+    --size 600M \
+    --bootsize 64M \
+    --boottype vfat \
+    --log-level debug \
+    --verbose \
+    --no-kernel \
+    --no-extlinux \
+    --root-password raspberry \
+    --hostname raspberrypi \
+    --foreign /usr/bin/qemu-arm-static \
+    --customize `pwd`/customize \
+    --package netbase \
+    --package git-core \
+    --package binutils \
+    --package ca-certificates \
+    --package wget \
+    --package kmod
+

-

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@.

+

The list of packages being installed are the ones needed by +rpi-update to make the image bootable on the Raspberry Pi, with the +exception of netbase, which is needed by debootstrap to find +/etc/hosts with the minbase variant. I really wish there was a way to +set up an Raspberry Pi using only packages in the Debian archive, but +that is not possible as far as I know, because it boots from the GPU +using a non-free binary blob.

+ +

The build host need debootstrap, kpartx and qemu-user-static and +probably a few others installed. I have not checked the complete +build dependency list.

+ +

The resulting image will not use the hardware floating point unit +on the Raspberry PI, because the armel architecture in Debian is not +optimized for that use. So the images created will be a bit slower +than Raspbian based images.

- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: debian, english, freedombox, mesh network.
@@ -233,53 +170,51 @@ debian-edu@.

-
How to install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8
-
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.

+
Det er jo makta som er mest sårbar ved massiv overvåkning av Internett
+
26th October 2013
+

De siste måneders eksponering av +den +totale overvåkningen som foregår i den vestlige verden dokumenterer +hvor sårbare vi er. Men det slår meg at de som er mest sårbare +for dette, myndighetspersoner på alle nivåer, neppe har innsett at de +selv er de mest interessante personene å lage profiler på, for å kunne +påvirke dem.

+ +

For å ta et lite eksempel: Stortingets nettsted, +www.stortinget.no (og +forsåvidt også +data.stortinget.no), +inneholder informasjon om det som foregår på Stortinget, og jeg antar +de største brukerne av informasjonen der er representanter og +rådgivere på Stortinget. Intet overraskende med det. Det som derimot +er mer skjult er at Stortingets nettsted bruker +Google +Analytics, hvilket gjør at enhver som besøker nettsidene der også +rapporterer om besøket via Internett-linjer som passerer Sverige, +England og videre til USA. Det betyr at informasjon om ethvert besøk +på stortingets nettsider kan snappes opp av svensk, britisk og USAs +etterretningsvesen. De kan dermed holde et øye med hvilke +Stortingssaker stortingsrepresentantene synes er interessante å sjekke +ut, og hvilke sider rådgivere og andre på stortinget synes er +interessant å besøke, når de gjør det og hvilke andre representanter +som sjekker de samme sidene omtrent samtidig. Stortingets bruk av +Google Analytics gjør det dermed enkelt for utenlands etteretning å +spore representantenes aktivitet og interesse. Hvis noen av +representantene bruker Google Mail eller noen andre tjenestene som +krever innlogging, så vil det være enda enklere å finne ut nøyaktig +hvilke personer som bruker hvilke nettlesere og dermed knytte +informasjonen opp til enkeltpersoner på Stortinget.

+ +

Og jo flere nettsteder som bruker Google Analytics, jo bedre +oversikt over stortingsrepresentantenes lesevaner og interesse blir +tilgjengelig for svensk, britisk og USAs etterretning. Hva de kan +bruke den informasjonen til overlater jeg til leseren å undres +over.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: norsk, personvern, sikkerhet, stortinget, surveillance.
@@ -287,41 +222,93 @@ Michael Tokarev and others for feedback and ideas.

-
How can I install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8?
-
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?

+
A Raspberry Pi based batman-adv Mesh network node
+
21st October 2013
+

The last few days I have been experimenting with +the +batman-adv mesh technology. I want to gain some experience to see +if it will fit the +Freedombox project, and together with my neighbors try to build a +mesh network around the park where I live. Batman-adv is a layer 2 +mesh system ("ethernet" in other words), where the mesh network appear +as if all the mesh clients are connected to the same switch.

+ +

My hardware of choice was the Linksys WRT54GL routers I had lying +around, but I've been unable to get them working with batman-adv. So +instead, I started playing with a +Raspberry Pi, and tried to +get it working as a mesh node. My idea is to use it to create a mesh +node which function as a switch port, where everything connected to +the Raspberry Pi ethernet plug is connected (bridged) to the mesh +network. This allow me to hook a wifi base station like the Linksys +WRT54GL to the mesh by plugging it into a Raspberry Pi, and allow +non-mesh clients to hook up to the mesh. This in turn is useful for +Android phones using the Serval +Project voip client, allowing every one around the playground to +phone and message each other for free. The reason is that Android +phones do not see ad-hoc wifi networks (they are filtered away from +the GUI view), and can not join the mesh without being rooted. But if +they are connected using a normal wifi base station, they can talk to +every client on the local network.

+ +

To get this working, I've created a debian package +meshfx-node +and a script +build-rpi-mesh-node +to create the Raspberry Pi boot image. I'm using Debian Jessie (and +not Raspbian), to get more control over the packages available. +Unfortunately a huge binary blob need to be inserted into the boot +image to get it booting, but I'll ignore that for now. Also, as +Debian lack support for the CPU features available in the Raspberry +Pi, the system do not use the hardware floating point unit. I hope +the routing performance isn't affected by the lack of hardware FPU +support.

+ +

To create an image, run the following with a sudo enabled user +after inserting the target SD card into the build machine:

+ +

+% wget -O build-rpi-mesh-node \
+    https://raw.github.com/petterreinholdtsen/meshfx-node/master/build-rpi-mesh-node
+% sudo bash -x ./build-rpi-mesh-node > build.log 2>&1
+% dd if=/root/rpi/rpi_basic_jessie_$(date +%Y%m%d).img of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M
+%
+

+ +

Booting with the resulting SD card on a Raspberry PI with a USB +wifi card inserted should give you a mesh node. At least it does for +me with a the wifi card I am using. The default mesh settings are the +ones used by the Oslo mesh project at Hackeriet, as I mentioned in +an +earlier blog post about this mesh testing.

+ +

The mesh node was not horribly expensive either. I bought +everything over the counter in shops nearby. If I had ordered online +from the lowest bidder, the price should be significantly lower:

+ +

+ + + + + + + + +
SupplierModelNOK
TeknikkmagasinetRaspberry Pi model B349.90
TeknikkmagasinetRaspberry Pi type B case99.90
LefdalJensen Air:Link 25150295.-
Clas OhlsonKingston 16 GB SD card199.-
Total cost943.80

+ +

Now my mesh network at home consist of one laptop in the basement +connected to my production network, one Raspberry Pi node on the 1th +floor that can be seen by my neighbor across the park, and one +play-node I use to develop the image building script. And some times +I hook up my work horse laptop to the mesh to test it. I look forward +to figuring out what kind of latency the batman-adv setup will give, +and how much packet loss we will experience around the park. :)

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: english, freedombox, mesh network, nuug.
@@ -329,127 +316,21 @@ on new Laptops?

-
Skolelinux-intervju: Nirosan Thiyagalingam
-
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.

+
Perl library to control the Spykee robot moved to github
+
19th October 2013
+

Back in 2010, I created a Perl library to talk to +the Spykee robot +(with two belts, wifi, USB and Linux) and made it available from my +web page. Today I concluded that it should move to a site that is +easier to use to cooperate with others, and moved it to github. If +you got a Spykee robot, you might want to check out +the +libspykee-perl github repository.

- Tags: debian edu, intervju, norsk. + Tags: english, nuug, robot.
@@ -457,77 +338,38 @@ betraktelig.

-
How to transform a Debian based system to a Debian Edu installation
-
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. -
  2. Create /etc/debian-edu/config with the wanted configuration.
    3. -
  3. Install debian-edu-install to load preseeding values and pull in - our configuration.
    4. -
  4. 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.
    5. -
  5. Run debian-edu-cfengine-D installation to configure everything - that could not be done using preseeding.
    6. -
  6. Ask for a reboot to enable all the configuration changes.
    7. - -
- -

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.

- -

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 :).

- -

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:

- -

-PROFILE="Roaming-Workstation"
-DESKTOP="lxde"
-

- -

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.

+
Good causes: Debian Outreach Program for Women, EFF documenting the spying and Open access in Norway
+
15th October 2013
+

The last few days I came across a few good causes that should get +wider attention. I recommend signing and donating to each one of +these. :)

+ +

Via Debian +Project News for 2013-10-14 I came across the Outreach Program for +Women program which is a Google Summer of Code like initiative to get +more women involved in free software. One debian sponsor has offered +to match any donation done to Debian +earmarked for this initiative. I donated a few minutes ago, and +hope you will to. :)

+ +

And the Electronic Frontier Foundation just announced plans to +create video +documentaries about the excessive spying on every Internet user that +take place these days, and their need to fund the work. I've already +donated. Are you next?

+ +

For my Norwegian audience, the organisation Studentenes og +Akademikernes Internasjonale Hjelpefond is collecting signatures for a +statement under the heading +Bloggers United for Open +Access for those of us asking for more focus on open access in the +Norwegian government. So far 499 signatures. I hope you will sign it +too.

- Tags: debian, debian edu, english. + Tags: debian, english, opphavsrett, surveillance.
@@ -535,106 +377,142 @@ boot.

-
Second alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy
-
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:

- -

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

- -

This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu -alpha1, 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.

- -

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.
    • -
- -

Other changes

-
    +
    Oslo community mesh network - with NUUG and Hackeriet at Hausmania
    +
    11th October 2013
    +

    Wireless mesh networks are self organising and self healing +networks that can be used to connect computers across small and large +areas, depending on the radio technology used. Normal wifi equipment +can be used to create home made radio networks, and there are several +successful examples like +Freifunk and +Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network +(see +wikipedia +for a large list) around the globe. To give you an idea how it +work, check out the nice overview of the Kiel Freifunk community which +can be seen from their +dynamically +updated node graph and map, where one can see how the mesh nodes +automatically handle routing and recover from nodes disappearing. +There is also a small community mesh network group in Oslo, Norway, +and that is the main topic of this blog post.

    + +

    I've wanted to check out mesh networks for a while now, and hoped +to do it as part of my involvement with the NUUG member organisation community, and +my recent involvement in +the Freedombox project +finally lead me to give mesh networks some priority, as I suspect a +Freedombox should use mesh networks to connect neighbours and family +when possible, given that most communication between people are +between those nearby (as shown for example by research on Facebook +communication patterns). It also allow people to communicate without +any central hub to tap into for those that want to listen in on the +private communication of citizens, which have become more and more +important over the years.

    + +

    So far I have only been able to find one group of people in Oslo +working on community mesh networks, over at the hack space +Hackeriet at Husmania. They seem to +have started with some Freifunk based effort using OLSR, called +the Oslo +Freifunk project, but that effort is now dead and the people +behind it have moved on to a batman-adv based system called +meshfx. Unfortunately the wiki +site for the Oslo Freifunk project is no longer possible to update to +reflect this fact, so the old project page can't be updated to point to +the new project. A while back, the people at Hackeriet invited people +from the Freifunk community to Oslo to talk about mesh networks. I +came across this video where Hans Jørgen Lysglimt interview the +speakers about this talk (from +youtube):

    + +

    + +

    I mentioned OLSR and batman-adv, which are mesh routing protocols. +There are heaps of different protocols, and I am still struggling to +figure out which one would be "best" for some definitions of best, but +given that the community mesh group in Oslo is so small, I believe it +is best to hook up with the existing one instead of trying to create a +completely different setup, and thus I have decided to focus on +batman-adv for now. It sure help me to know that the very cool +Serval project in Australia +is using batman-adv as their meshing technology when it create a self +organizing and self healing telephony system for disaster areas and +less industrialized communities. Check out this cool video presenting +that project (from +youtube):

    + +

    + +

    According to the wikipedia page on +Wireless +mesh network there are around 70 competing schemes for routing +packets across mesh networks, and OLSR, B.A.T.M.A.N. and +B.A.T.M.A.N. advanced are protocols used by several free software +based community mesh networks.

    + +

    The batman-adv protocol is a bit special, as it provide layer 2 +(as in ethernet ) routing, allowing ipv4 and ipv6 to work on the same +network. One way to think about it is that it provide a mesh based +vlan you can bridge to or handle like any other vlan connected to your +computer. The required drivers are already in the Linux kernel at +least since Debian Wheezy, and it is fairly easy to set up. A +good +introduction is available from the Open Mesh project. These are +the key settings needed to join the Oslo meshfx network:

    -
  • 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).
    • -
- -

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).
    • - -
- -

Where to get it

- -

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

- - -

The MD5SUM of this image is: 685ed76c1aa8e44b12d3fde21faf450b

- -

The SHA1SUM of this image is: 6c874de157024da13e115bab29c068080a11ec4c

- -

How to report bugs

+

+ + + + + +
SettingValue
Protocol / kernel modulebatman-adv
ESSIDmeshfx@hackeriet
Channel / Frequency11 / 2462
Cell ID02:BA:00:00:00:01

-

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

+

The reason for setting ad-hoc wifi Cell ID is to work around bugs +in firmware used in wifi card and wifi drivers. (See a nice post from +VillageTelco about +"Information +about cell-id splitting, stuck beacons, and failed IBSS merges! +for details.) When these settings are activated and you have some +other mesh node nearby, your computer will be connected to the mesh +network and can communicate with any mesh node that is connected to +any of the nodes in your network of nodes. :)

+ +

My initial plan was to reuse my old Linksys WRT54GL as a mesh node, +but that seem to be very hard, as I have not been able to locate a +firmware supporting batman-adv. If anyone know how to use that old +wifi access point with batman-adv these days, please let me know.

+ +

If you find this project interesting and want to join, please join +us on IRC, either channel +#oslohackerspace +or #nuug on +irc.freenode.net.

+ +

While investigating mesh networks in Oslo, I came across an old +research paper from the university of Stavanger and Telenor Research +and Innovation called +The +reliability of wireless backhaul mesh networks and elsewhere +learned that Telenor have been experimenting with mesh networks at +Grünerløkka in Oslo. So mesh networks are also interesting for +commercial companies, even though Telenor discovered that it was hard +to figure out a good business plan for mesh networking and as far as I +know have closed down the experiment. Perhaps Telenor or others would +be interested in a cooperation?

+ +

Update 2013-10-12: I was just +told +by the Serval project developers that they no longer use +batman-adv (but are compatible with it), but their own crypto based +mesh system.

- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: english, freedombox, mesh network, nuug.
@@ -642,47 +520,37 @@ version compared to the Squeeze release.

-
Debian, the Linux distribution of choice for LEGO designers?
-
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.

+
Skolelinux / Debian Edu 7.1 install and overview video from Marcelo Salvador
+
8th October 2013
+

The other day I was pleased and surprised to discover that Marcelo +Salvador had published a +video on +Youtube showing how to install the standalone Debian Edu / +Skolelinux profile. This is the profile intended for use at home or +on laptops that should not be integrated into the provided network +services (no central home directory, no Kerberos / LDAP directory etc, +in other word a single user machine). The result is 11 minutes long, +and show some user applications (seem to be rather randomly picked). +Missed a few of my favorites like celestia, planets and chromium +showing the Zygote Body 3D model +of the human body, but I guess he did not know about those or find +other programs more interesting. :) And the video do not show the +advantages I believe is one of the most valuable featuers in Debian +Edu, its central school server making it possible to run hundreds of +computers without hard drives by installing one central +LTSP server.

+ +

Anyway, check out the video, embedded below and linked to above:

+ + + +

Are there other nice videos demonstrating Skolelinux? Please let +me know. :)

- Tags: debian, english, robot. + Tags: debian edu, english, video.
@@ -690,33 +558,23 @@ for LEGO designers.

-
Narvik sparer minst 9 millioner på å bruke Skolelinux
-
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. :)

+
Finally, Debian Edu Wheezy is released today!
+
29th September 2013
+

A few hours ago, the announcement for the first stable release of +Debian Edu Wheezy went out from the Debian publicity team. The +complete announcement text can be found at +the Debian News +section, translated to several languages. Please check it out.

+ +

There is one minor known problem that we will fix very soon. One +can not install a amd64 Thin Client Server using PXE, as the /var/ +partition is too small. A workaround is to extend the partition (use +lvresize + resize2fs in tty 2 while installing).

- Tags: debian edu, norsk. + Tags: debian edu, english.
@@ -724,36 +582,72 @@ unødige utgifter på IT i skoleverket. :)

-
Debian Wheezy is out - and Debian Edu / Skolelinux should soon follow! #newinwheezy
-
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.

+

Videos about the Freedombox project - for inspiration and learning
+
27th September 2013
+

The Freedombox +project have been going on for a while, and have presented the +vision, ideas and solution several places. Here is a little +collection of videos of talks and presentation of the project.

+ + + +

A larger list is available from +the +Freedombox Wiki.

+ +

On other news, I am happy to report that Freedombox based on Debian +Jessie is coming along quite well, and soon both Owncloud and using +Tor should be available for testers of the Freedombox solution. :) In +a few weeks I hope everything needed to test it is included in Debian. +The withsqlite package is already in Debian, and the plinth package is +pending in NEW. The third and vital part of that puzzle is the +metapackage/setup framework, which is still pending an upload. Join +us on IRC +(#freedombox on irc.debian.org) and +the +mailing list if you want to help make this vision come true.

- Tags: debian, debian edu, english. + Tags: debian, english, freedombox, sikkerhet, surveillance, web.
@@ -781,7 +675,17 @@ follow.

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