X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/4cb54a3c646f82d40b96772fe23213fec7c9ff1a..cd840bdd3f0b86f080883f757a7d2dd020e62277:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index 36c0de40ae..1a7368d446 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,69 +20,97 @@
-
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:

+
Hvordan bør RFC 822-formattert epost lagres i en NOARK5-database?
+
7th March 2014
+

For noen uker siden ble NXCs fri programvarelisenserte +NOARK5-løsning +presentert hos +NUUG (video +på youtube +foreløbig), og det fikk meg til å titte litt mer på NOARK5, +standarden for arkivhåndtering i det offentlige Norge. Jeg lurer på +om denne kjernen kan være nyttig i et par av mine prosjekter, og for ett +av dem er det mest aktuelt å lagre epost. Jeg klarte ikke finne noen +anbefaling om hvordan RFC 822-formattert epost (aka Internett-epost) +burde lagres i NOARK5, selv om jeg vet at noen arkiver tar +PDF-utskrift av eposten med sitt epostprogram og så arkiverer PDF-en +(eller enda værre, tar papirutskrift og lagrer bildet av eposten som +PDF i arkivet).

+ +

Det er ikke så mange formater som er akseptert av riksarkivet til +langtidsoppbevaring av offentlige arkiver, og PDF og XML er de mest +aktuelle i så måte. Det slo meg at det måtte da finnes en eller annen +egnet XML-representasjon og at det kanskje var enighet om hvilken som +burde brukes, så jeg tok mot til meg og spurte +SAMDOK, en gruppe tilknyttet +arkivverket som ser ut til å jobbe med NOARK-samhandling, om de hadde +noen anbefalinger: + +

+

Hei.

+ +

Usikker på om dette er riktig forum å ta opp mitt spørsmål, men jeg +lurer på om det er definert en anbefaling om hvordan RFC +822-formatterte epost (aka vanlig Internet-epost) bør lages håndteres +i NOARK5, slik at en bevarer all informasjon i eposten +(f.eks. Received-linjer). Finnes det en anbefalt XML-mapping ala den +som beskrives på +<URL: https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=32074 >? Mitt +mål er at det skal være mulig å lagre eposten i en NOARK5-kjerne og +kunne få ut en identisk formattert kopi av opprinnelig epost ved +behov.

+

+ +

Postmottaker hos SAMDOK mente spørsmålet heller burde stilles +direkte til riksarkivet, og jeg fikk i dag svar derfra formulert av +seniorrådgiver Geir Ivar Tungesvik:

+ +

+

Riksarkivet har ingen anbefalinger når det gjelder konvertering fra +e-post til XML. Det står arkivskaper fritt å eventuelt definere/bruke +eget format. Inklusive da - som det spørres om - et format der det er +mulig å re-etablere e-post format ut fra XML-en. XML (e-post) +dokumenter må være referert i arkivstrukturen, og det må vedlegges et +gyldig XML skjema (.xsd) for XML-filene. Arkivskaper står altså fritt +til å gjøre hva de vil, bare det dokumenteres og det kan dannes et +utrekk ved avlevering til depot.

+ +

De obligatoriske kravene i Noark 5 standarden må altså oppfylles - +etter dialog med Riksarkivet i forbindelse med godkjenning. For +offentlige arkiv er det særlig viktig med filene loependeJournal.xml +og offentligJournal.xml. Private arkiv som vil forholde seg til Noark +5 standarden er selvsagt frie til å bruke det som er relevant for dem +av obligatoriske krav.

+

+ +

Det ser dermed ut for meg som om det er et lite behov for å +standardisere XML-lagring av RFC-822-formatterte meldinger. Noen som +vet om god spesifikasjon i så måte? I tillegg til den omtalt over, +har jeg kommet over flere aktuelle beskrivelser (søk på "rfc 822 +xml", så finner du aktuelle alternativer).

- +

Finnes det andre og bedre spesifikasjoner for slik lagring? Send +meg en epost hvis du har innspill.

- Tags: norsk, standard. + Tags: norsk, offentlig innsyn.
@@ -90,142 +118,110 @@ 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 -

+
Lenker for 2014-02-28
+
28th February 2014
+

Her er noen lenker til tekster jeg har satt pris på å lese de siste +månedene. Det er mye om varsleren Edward Snowden, som burde få all +hjelp, støtte og beskyttelse Norge kan stille opp med for å ha satt +totalitær overvåkning på sakskartet, men også endel annet +tankevekkende og interessant.

-

field::astronomy

-

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

+
- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: lenker, norsk, personvern.
@@ -233,48 +229,32 @@ 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.

+
New home and release 1.0 for netgroup and innetgr (aka ng-utils)
+
22nd February 2014
+

Many years ago, I wrote a GPL licensed version of the netgroup and +innetgr tools, because I needed them in +Skolelinux. I called the project +ng-utils, and it has served me well. I placed the project under the +Hungry Programmer umbrella, and it was maintained in our CVS +repository. But many years ago, the CVS repository was dropped (lost, +not migrated to new hardware, not sure), and the project have lacked a +proper home since then.

+ +

Last summer, I had a look at the package and made a new release +fixing a irritating crash bug, but was unable to store the changes in +a proper source control system. I applied for a project on +Alioth, but did not have time +to follow up on it. Until today. :)

+ +

After many hours of cleaning and migration, the ng-utils project +now have a new home, and a git repository with the highlight of the +history of the project. I published all release tarballs and imported +them into the git repository. As the project is really stable and not +expected to gain new features any time soon, I decided to make a new +release and call it 1.0. Visit the new project home on +https://alioth.debian.org/projects/ng-utils/ +if you want to check it out. The new version is also uploaded into +Debian Unstable.

@@ -287,41 +267,113 @@ 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?

+
Testing sysvinit from experimental in Debian Hurd
+
3rd February 2014
+

A few days ago I decided to try to help the Hurd people to get +their changes into sysvinit, to allow them to use the normal sysvinit +boot system instead of their old one. This follow up on the +great +Google Summer of Code work done last summer by Justus Winter to +get Debian on Hurd working more like Debian on Linux. To get started, +I downloaded a prebuilt hard disk image from +http://ftp.debian-ports.org/debian-cd/hurd-i386/current/debian-hurd.img.tar.gz, +and started it using virt-manager.

+ +

The first think I had to do after logging in (root without any +password) was to get the network operational. I followed +the +instructions on the Debian GNU/Hurd ports page and ran these +commands as root to get the machine to accept a IP address from the +kvm internal DHCP server:

+ +

+settrans -fgap /dev/netdde /hurd/netdde
+kill $(ps -ef|awk '/[p]finet/ { print $2}')
+kill $(ps -ef|awk '/[d]evnode/ { print $2}')
+dhclient /dev/eth0
+

+ +

After this, the machine had internet connectivity, and I could +upgrade it and install the sysvinit packages from experimental and +enable it as the default boot system in Hurd.

+ +

But before I did that, I set a password on the root user, as ssh is +running on the machine it for ssh login to work a password need to be +set. Also, note that a bug somewhere in openssh on Hurd block +compression from working. Remember to turn that off on the client +side.

+ +

Run these commands as root to upgrade and test the new sysvinit +stuff:

+ +

+cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/experimental.list <<EOF
+deb http://http.debian.net/debian/ experimental main
+EOF
+apt-get update
+apt-get dist-upgrade
+apt-get install -t experimental initscripts sysv-rc sysvinit \
+    sysvinit-core sysvinit-utils
+update-alternatives --config runsystem
+

+ +

To reboot after switching boot system, you have to use +reboot-hurd instead of just reboot, as there is not +yet a sysvinit process able to receive the signals from the normal +'reboot' command. After switching to sysvinit as the boot system, +upgrading every package and rebooting, the network come up with DHCP +after boot as it should, and the settrans/pkill hack mentioned at the +start is no longer needed. But for some strange reason, there are no +longer any login prompt in the virtual console, so I logged in using +ssh instead. + +

Note that there are some race conditions in Hurd making the boot +fail some times. No idea what the cause is, but hope the Hurd porters +figure it out. At least Justus said on IRC (#debian-hurd on +irc.debian.org) that they are aware of the problem. A way to reduce +the impact is to upgrade to the Hurd packages built by Justus by +adding this repository to the machine:

+ +

+cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hurd-ci.list <<EOF
+deb http://darnassus.sceen.net/~teythoon/hurd-ci/ sid main
+EOF
+

+ +

At the moment the prebuilt virtual machine get some packages from +http://ftp.debian-ports.org/debian, because some of the packages in +unstable do not yet include the required patches that are lingering in +BTS. This is the completely list of "unofficial" packages installed:

+ +

+# aptitude search '?narrow(?version(CURRENT),?origin(Debian Ports))'
+i   emacs                   - GNU Emacs editor (metapackage)
+i   gdb                     - GNU Debugger
+i   hurd-recommended        - Miscellaneous translators
+i   isc-dhcp-client         - ISC DHCP client
+i   isc-dhcp-common         - common files used by all the isc-dhcp* packages
+i   libc-bin                - Embedded GNU C Library: Binaries
+i   libc-dev-bin            - Embedded GNU C Library: Development binaries
+i   libc0.3                 - Embedded GNU C Library: Shared libraries
+i A libc0.3-dbg             - Embedded GNU C Library: detached debugging symbols
+i   libc0.3-dev             - Embedded GNU C Library: Development Libraries and Hea
+i   multiarch-support       - Transitional package to ensure multiarch compatibilit
+i A x11-common              - X Window System (X.Org) infrastructure
+i   xorg                    - X.Org X Window System
+i A xserver-xorg            - X.Org X server
+i A xserver-xorg-input-all  - X.Org X server -- input driver metapackage
+#
+

+ +

All in all, testing hurd has been an interesting experience. :) +X.org did not work out of the box and I never took the time to follow +the porters instructions to fix it. This time I was interested in the +command line stuff.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: bootsystem, debian, english.
@@ -329,127 +381,90 @@ 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.

+
A fist full of non-anonymous Bitcoins
+
29th January 2014
+

Bitcoin is a incredible use of peer to peer communication and +encryption, allowing direct and immediate money transfer without any +central control. It is sometimes claimed to be ideal for illegal +activity, which I believe is quite a long way from the truth. At least +I would not conduct illegal money transfers using a system where the +details of every transaction are kept forever. This point is +investigated in +USENIX ;login: +from December 2013, in the article +"A +Fistful of Bitcoins - Characterizing Payments Among Men with No +Names" by Sarah Meiklejohn, Marjori Pomarole,Grant Jordan, Kirill +Levchenko, Damon McCoy, Geoffrey M. Voelker, and Stefan Savage. They +analyse the transaction log in the Bitcoin system, using it to find +addresses belong to individuals and organisations and follow the flow +of money from both Bitcoin theft and trades on Silk Road to where the +money end up. This is how they wrap up their article:

+ +

+

"To demonstrate the usefulness of this type of analysis, we turned +our attention to criminal activity. In the Bitcoin economy, criminal +activity can appear in a number of forms, such as dealing drugs on +Silk Road or simply stealing someone else’s bitcoins. We followed the +flow of bitcoins out of Silk Road (in particular, from one notorious +address) and from a number of highly publicized thefts to see whether +we could track the bitcoins to known services. Although some of the +thieves attempted to use sophisticated mixing techniques (or possibly +mix services) to obscure the flow of bitcoins, for the most part +tracking the bitcoins was quite straightforward, and we ultimately saw +large quantities of bitcoins flow to a variety of exchanges directly +from the point of theft (or the withdrawal from Silk Road).

+ +

As acknowledged above, following stolen bitcoins to the point at +which they are deposited into an exchange does not in itself identify +the thief; however, it does enable further de-anonymization in the +case in which certain agencies can determine (through, for example, +subpoena power) the real-world owner of the account into which the +stolen bitcoins were deposited. Because such exchanges seem to serve +as chokepoints into and out of the Bitcoin economy (i.e., there are +few alternative ways to cash out), we conclude that using Bitcoin for +money laundering or other illicit purposes does not (at least at +present) seem to be particularly attractive."

+

+ +

These researches are not the first to analyse the Bitcoin +transaction log. The 2011 paper +"An Analysis of Anonymity in +the Bitcoin System" by Fergal Reid and Martin Harrigan is +summarized like this:

+ +

+"Anonymity in Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic currency system, is a +complicated issue. Within the system, users are identified by +public-keys only. An attacker wishing to de-anonymize its users will +attempt to construct the one-to-many mapping between users and +public-keys and associate information external to the system with the +users. Bitcoin tries to prevent this attack by storing the mapping of +a user to his or her public-keys on that user's node only and by +allowing each user to generate as many public-keys as required. In +this chapter we consider the topological structure of two networks +derived from Bitcoin's public transaction history. We show that the +two networks have a non-trivial topological structure, provide +complementary views of the Bitcoin system and have implications for +anonymity. We combine these structures with external information and +techniques such as context discovery and flow analysis to investigate +an alleged theft of Bitcoins, which, at the time of the theft, had a +market value of approximately half a million U.S. dollars." +

+ +

I hope these references can help kill the urban myth that Bitcoin +is anonymous. It isn't really a good fit for illegal activites. Use +cash if you need to stay anonymous, at least until regular DNA +sampling of notes and coins become the norm. :)

+ +

As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.

- Tags: debian edu, intervju, norsk. + Tags: bitcoin, english, personvern, sikkerhet.
@@ -457,77 +472,54 @@ 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.

+
New chrpath release 0.16
+
14th January 2014
+

Coverity is a nice tool to +find problems in C, C++ and Java code using static source code +analysis. It can detect a lot of different problems, and is very +useful to find memory and locking bugs in the error handling part of +the source. The company behind it provide +check of free software projects as +a community service, and many hundred free software projects are +already checked. A few days ago I decided to have a closer look at +the Coverity system, and discovered that the +gnash and +ipmitool +projects I am involved with was already registered. But these are +fairly big, and I would also like to have a small and easy project to +check, and decided to request +checking of the chrpath project. It was +added to the checker and discovered seven potential defects. Six of +these were real, mostly resource "leak" when the program detected an +error. Nothing serious, as the resources would be released a fraction +of a second later when the program exited because of the error, but it +is nice to do it right in case the source of the program some time in +the future end up in a library. Having fixed all defects and added +a +mailing list for the chrpath developers, I decided it was time to +publish a new release. These are the release notes:

+ +

New in 0.16 released 2014-01-14:

+ +
    + +
  • Fixed all minor bugs discovered by Coverity.
    • +
  • Updated config.sub and config.guess from the GNU project.
    • +
  • Mention new project mailing list in the documentation.
    • + +
+ +

You can +download the +new version 0.16 from alioth. Please let us know via the Alioth +project if something is wrong with the new release. The test suite +did not discover any old errors, so if you find a new one, please also +include a test suite check.

- Tags: debian, debian edu, english. + Tags: chrpath, debian, english.
@@ -535,106 +527,216 @@ boot.

-
Second alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy
-
14th May 2013
+
Debian Edu interview: Dominik George
+
25th December 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

-
    - -
  • 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).
    • - -
+project consist of both newcomers and old timers, and this time I +was able to get an interview with a newcomer in the project who showed +up on the IRC channel a few weeks ago to let us know about his +successful installation of Debian Edu Wheezy in his School. Say hello +to Dominik +George.

+ + + +

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

+ +

I am a 23 year-old student from Germany who has spent half of his +life with open source. In "real life", I am, as already mentioned, a +student in the fields of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, +Information Technologies and Anglistics. Due to my (only partially +voluntary) huge engagement in the open source world, these things are +a bit vacant right now however.

+ +

I also have been working as a project teacher at a Gymasnium +(public school) for various years now. I took up that work some time +around 2005 when still attending that school myself and have continued +it until today. I also had been running the (kind of very advanced) +network of that school together with a team of very interested and +talented students in the age of 11 to 15 years, who took the chance to +learn a lot about open source and networking before I left the school +to help building another school's informational education concept from +scratch.

+ +

That said, one might see me as a kind of "glue" between school kids +and the elderly of teachers as well as between the open source +ecosystem and the (even more complex) educational ecosystem.

+ +

When I am not busy with open source or education, I like Geocaching +and cycling.

+ +

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

+ +

I think that happened some time around 2009 when I first attended +FrOSCon and visited the project +booth. I think I wasn't too interested back then because I used to +have an attitude of disliking software that does too much stuff on its +own. Maybe I was too inexperienced to realise the upsides of an +"out-of-the-box" solution ;).

+ +

The first time I actively talked to Skolelinux people was at +OpenRheinRuhr 2011 when the +BiscuIT project, a home-grewn software used by my school for various +really cool things from timetables and class contact lists to lunch +ordering, student ID card printing and project elections first got to +a stage where it could have been published. I asked the Skolelinux +guys running the booth if the project were interested in it and gave a +small demonstration, but there wasn't any real feedback and the guys +seemed rather uninterested.

+ +

After I left the school where I developed the software, it got +mostly lost, but I am now reimplementing it for my new school. I have +reusability and compatibility in mind, and I hop there will be a new +basis for contributing it to the Skolelinux project ;)!

+ +

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

+ +

The most important advantage seems to be that it "just +works". After overcoming some minor (but still very annoying) glitches +in the installer, I got a fully functional, working school network, +without the month-long hassle I experienced when setting all that up +from scratch in earlier years. And above that, it rocked - I didn't +have any real hardware at hand, because the school was just founded +and has no money whatsoever, so I installed a combined server (main +server, terminal services and workstation) in a VM on my personal +notebook, bridging the LTSP network interface to the ethernet port, +and then PXE-booted the Windows notebooks that were lying around from +it. I could use 8 clients without any performance issues, by using a +tiny little VM on a tiny little notebook. I think that's enough to say +that it rocks!

+ +

Secondly, there are marketing reasons. Life's bad, and so no +politician will ever permit a setup described as "Debian, an universal +operating system, with some really cool educational tools" while they +will be jsut fine with "Skolelinux, a single-purpose solution for your +school network", even if both turn out to be the very same thing (yes, +this is unfair towards the Skolelinux project, and must not be taken +too seriously - you get the idea, anyway).

+ +

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

+ +

I have not been involved with Skolelinux long enough to really +answer this question in a fair way. Thus, please allow me to put it in +other words: "What do you expect from Skolelinux to keep liking it?" I +can list a few points about that:

-

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

- -

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

+

I'm really sorry I cannot say much more about that :(!

+ +

Which free software do you use daily?

+ +

First of all, all software I use is free and open. I have abandoned +all non-free software (except for firmware on my darned phone) this +year.

+ +

I run Debian GNU/Linux on all PC systems I use. On that, I mostly +run text tools. I use +mksh as shell, +jupp as very advanced +text editor (I even got the developer to help me write a script/macro +based full-featured student management software with the two), +mcabber for XMPP and +irssi for IRC. For that overly +coloured world called the WWW, I use +Iceweasel +(Firefox). Oh, and mutt for +e-mail.

+ +

However, while I am personally aware of the fact that text tools +are more efficient and powerful than anything else, I also use (or at +least operate) some tools that are suitable to bring open source to +kids. One of these things is Jappix, +which I already introduced to some kids even before they got aware of +Facebook, making them see for themselves that they do not need +Facebook now ;).

+ +

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

+ +

Well, that's a two-sided thing. One side is what I believe, and one +side is what I have experienced.

+ +

I believe that the right strategy is showing them the benefits. But +that won't work out as long as the acceptance of free alternatives +grows globally. What I mean is that if all the kids are almost forced +to use Windows, Facebook, Skype, you name it at home, they will not +see why they would want to use alternatives at school. I have seen +students take seat in front of a fully-functional, modern Debian +desktop that could do anything their Windows at home could do, and +they jsut refused to use it because "Linux sucks". It is something +that makes the council of our city spend around 600000 € to buy +software - not including hardware, mind you - for operating school +networks, and for installing a system that, as has been proved, does +not work. For those of you readers who are good at maths, have you +already found out how many lives could have been saved with that money +if we had instead used it to bring education to parts of the world +that need it? I have, and found it to be nothing less dramatic than +plain criminal.

+ +

That said, the only feasible way appears to be the bottom up +method. We have to bring free software to kids and parents. I have +founded an association named +Teckids here in Germany that does +just that. We organise several events for kids and adolescents in the +area of free and open source software, for example the +FrogLabs, which share staff with +Teckids and are the youth programme of +the Free and Open Source Software +Conference (FrOSCon). We do a lot more than most other conferences +- this year, we first offered the FrogLabs as a holiday camp for kids +aged 10 to 16. It was a huge success, with approx. 30 kids taking part +and learning with and about free software through a whole weekend. All +of us had a lot of fun, and the results were really exciting.

+ +

Apart from that, we are preparing a campaign that is supposed to bring +the message of free alternatives to stuff kids use every day to them and +their parents, e.g. the use of Jabber / Jappix instead of Facebook and +Skype. To make that possible, we are planning to get together a team of +clever kids who understand very well what their peers need and can bring +it across to them. So we will have a peer-driven network of adolescents +who teach each other and collect feedback from the community of minors. +We then take that feedback and our own experience to work closely with +open source projects, such as Skolelinux or Jappix, at improving their +software in a way that makes it more and more attractive for the target +group. At least I hope that we will have good cooperation with +Skolelinux in the future ;)!

+ +

So in conclusion, what I believe is that, if it weren't for the world +being so bad, it should be very clear to the political decision makers +that the only way to go nowadays is free software for various reasons, +but I have learnt that the only way that seems to work is bottom up.

+ +
- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: debian edu, english, intervju.
@@ -642,47 +744,44 @@ 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.

+
Dugnadsnett for alle stiller på Oslo Maker Faire i januar 2014
+
10th December 2013
+

Helga 18. og 19. januar 2014 arrangeres +Oslo Maker +Faire, og Dugnadsnett for +alle har fått plass! Planen er å ha et bord med en plakat der vi +forteller om hva Dugnadsnett for alle er for noe, og et lite verksted +der vi hjelper folk som er interessert i å få opp sin egen mesh-node. +Jeg gleder meg til å se hvordan prosjektet blir mottatt der.

+ +

Målet med dugnadsnett for alle i Oslo er å få på plass et datanett +for kommunikasjon ved hjelp av radio-repeaterstasjoner (kalt +mesh-noder) som gjør at en kan direkte kommunisere med slekt, venner +og bekjente i Oslo via andre som deltar i dugnadsnettet, samt gjøre +det mulig komme ut på internett via dugnadsnettet. Første delmål er å +kunne sende SMS-meldinger vha. IP-telefoni løsningen +Serval project mellom +deltagerne i Dugnadsnett for alle i Oslo. Formålet er å ta tilbake +kontrollen over egen nett-infrastruktur og gjøre det dyrere å bedrive +massiv innsamling av informasjon om borgernes bruk av datanett.

+ +

Høres dette interessant ut? Bli med på prosjektet, fortell oss +hvor du kunne tenke deg å sette opp en radio-repeater (slik at folk i +nærheten kan finne hverandre ved hjelp av +kartet over planlagte og +eksisterende radio-repeatere), bli med på epostlisten +dugnadsnett +(at) nuug.no og stikk innom +IRC-kanalen +#dugnadsnett.no. Så langt er det planlagt over 40 +radio-repeatere, med VPN-forbindelser via Internet for å la de delene +av nettet som ikke når hverandre via radio kunne snakke med hverandre +likevel.

- Tags: debian, english, robot. + Tags: mesh network, norsk, nuug.
@@ -690,33 +789,129 @@ 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. :)

+
Debian Edu interview: Klaus Knopper
+
6th December 2013
+

It has been a while since I managed to publish the last interview, +but the Debian Edu / +Skolelinux community is still going strong, and yesterday we even +had a new school administrator show up on +#debian-edu to share +his success story with installing Debian Edu at their school. This +time I have been able to get some helpful comments from the creator of +Knoppix, Klaus Knopper, who was involved in a Skolelinux project in +Germany a few years ago.

+ +

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

+ +

I am Klaus Knopper. I have a master degree in electrical +engineering, and is currently professor in information management at +the university of applied sciences Kaiserslautern / Germany and +freelance Open Source software developer and consultant.

+ +

All of this is pretty much of the work I spend my days with. Apart +from teaching, I'm also conducting some more or less experimental +projects like the Knoppix GNU/Linux live +system (Debian-based like Skolelinux), +ADRIANE +(a blind-friendly talking desktop system) and +LINBO +(Linux-based network boot console, a fast remote install and repair +system supporting various operating systems).

+ +

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

+ +

The credit for this have to go to Kurt Gramlich, who is the German +coordinator for Skolelinux. We were looking for an all-in-one open +source community-supported distribution for schools, and Kurt +introduced us to Skolelinux for this purpose.

+ +

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

+ +
    +
  • Quick installation,
    • +
  • works (almost) out of the box,
    • +
  • contains many useful software packages for teaching and learning,
    • +
  • is a purely community-based distro and not controlled by a + single company,
    • +
  • has a large number of supporters and teachers who share their + experience and problem solutions.
    • +
+ +

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

+ +
    +
  • Skolelinux is - as we had to learn - not easily upgradable to + the next version. Opposed to its genuine Debian base, upgrading to + a new version means a full new installation from scratch to get it + working again reliably. + +
  • Skolelinux is based on Debian/stable, and therefore always a + little outdated in terms of program versions compared to Edubuntu or + similar educational Linux distros, which rather use Debian/testing + as their base. + +
  • Skolelinux has some very self-opinionated and stubborn default + configuration which in my opinion adds unnecessary complexity and is + not always suitable for a schools needs, the preset network + configuration is actually a core definition feature of Skolelinux + and not easy to change, so schools sometimes have to change their + network configuration to make it "Skolelinux-compatible". + +
  • Some proposed extensions, which were made available as + contribution, like secure examination mode and lecture material + distribution and collection, were not accepted into the mainline + Skolelinux development and are now not easy to maintain in the + future because of Skolelinux somewhat undeterministic update + schemes.
    • + +
  • Skolelinux has only a very tiny number of base developers + compared to Debian.
    • + +
+ +

For these reasons and experience from our project, I would now +rather consider using plain Debian for schools next time, until +Skolelinux is more closely integrated into Debian and becomes +upgradeable without reinstallation.

+ +

Which free software do you use daily?

+ +

GNU/Linux with LXDE desktop, bash for interactive dialog and +programming, texlive for documentation and correspondence, +occasionally LibreOffice for document format conversion. Various +programming languages for teaching.

+ +

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

+ +

Strong arguments are

+ +
    + +
  • Knowledge is free, and so should be methods and tools for + teaching and learning.
    • + +
  • Students can learn with and use the same software at school, at + home, and at their working place without running into license or + conversion problems.
    • + +
  • Closed source or proprietary software hides knowledge rather + than exposing it, and proprietary software vendors try to bind + customers to certain products. But teachers need to teach + science, not products.
    • + +
  • If you have everything you for daily work as open source, what + would you need proprietary software for?
    • + +
- Tags: debian edu, norsk. + Tags: debian edu, english, intervju.
@@ -724,36 +919,33 @@ 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.

+

Dugnadsnett for alle, a wireless community network in Oslo, take shape
+
30th November 2013
+

If you want the ability to electronically communicate directly with +your neighbors and friends using a network controlled by your peers in +stead of centrally controlled by a few corporations, or would like to +experiment with interesting network technology, the +Dugnasnett for alle i Oslo +might be project for you. 39 mesh nodes are currently being planned, +in the freshly started initiative from NUUG and Hackeriet to create a +wireless community network. The work is inspired by +Freifunk, +Athens Wireless Metropolitan +Network, Roofnet +and other successful mesh networks around the globe. Two days ago we +held a workshop to try to get people started on setting up their own +mesh node, and there we decided to create a new mailing list +dugnadsnett +(at) nuug.no and IRC channel +#dugnadsnett.no to +coordinate the work. See also the NUUG blog post +announcing +the mailing list and IRC channel.

- Tags: debian, debian edu, english. + Tags: english, mesh network, nuug.
@@ -768,6 +960,17 @@ follow.

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