X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/519be9a2372f59ea2c588c7e74d7e6c4ddbae99c..47d68fecf3b10472c3afbc2a3341c3ed207bdebe:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index 2b6509570b..bdf390a54a 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -7,381 +7,611 @@ - I want the courts to be involved before the police can hijack a news site DNS domain (#domstolkontroll) - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_want_the_courts_to_be_involved_before_the_police_can_hijack_a_news_site_DNS_domain___domstolkontroll_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_want_the_courts_to_be_involved_before_the_police_can_hijack_a_news_site_DNS_domain___domstolkontroll_.html - Thu, 19 May 2016 13:55:00 +0200 - <p>I just donated to the -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/dns-beslag-donasjon.shtml">NUUG defence -"fond"</a> to fund the effort in Norway to get the seizure of the news -site popcorn-time.no tested in court. I hope everyone that agree with -me will do the same.</p> - -<p>Would you be worried if you knew the police in your country could -hijack DNS domains of news sites covering free software system without -talking to a judge first? I am. What if the free software system -combined search engine lookups, bittorrent downloads and video playout -and was called Popcorn Time? Would that affect your view? It still -make me worried.</p> - -<p>In March 2016, the Norwegian police seized (as in forced NORID to -change the IP address pointed to by it to one controlled by the -police) the DNS domain popcorn-time.no, without any supervision from -the courts. I did not know about the web site back then, and assumed -the courts had been involved, and was very surprised when I discovered -that the police had hijacked the DNS domain without asking a judge for -permission first. I was even more surprised when I had a look at -<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://popcorn-time.no">the web -site content on the Internet Archive</A>, and only found news coverage -about Popcorn Time, not any material published without the right -holders permissions.</p> - -<p>The seizure was widely covered in the Norwegian press (see for -example <a href="http://www.hegnar.no/Nyheter/Naeringsliv/2016/03/Popcorn-time.no-beslaglagt-av-OEkokrim">Hegnar Online</a> and -<a href="http://itavisen.no/2016/03/08/okokrim-har-beslaglagt-popcorn-time-no/">ITavisen<a/> -and -<a href="http://www.nrk.no/kultur/okokrim-gar-til-aksjon-mot-popcorn-time-1.12842452">NRK</a>), -at first due to the press release sent out by Økokrim, but then based -on -<a href="http://blogg.torvund.net/2016/03/09/okokrims-beslag-i-domenet-popcorn-time-no/">protests -from the law professor Olav Torvund</a> and -<a href="http://www.klassekampen.no/article/20160311/ARTICLE/160319995">lawyer -Jon Wessel-Aas</a>. It even got some -<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/norwegian-authorities-sued-over-popcorn-time-domain-seizure-160418/">coverage -on TorrentFreak</a>.</p> - -<p>I -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/NUUG_contests_Norwegian_police_DNS_seizure_of_popcorn_time_no.html"> -wrote about the case a month ago</a>, when the -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group</a> (NUUG) -where I am a member decided to ask the courts to test this seizure. -The request was denied, but NUUG and its co-requestor EFN have not -given up, and now they are rallying for support to get the seizure -legally challenged. They accept both bank and Bitcoin transfer for -those that want to support the request.</p> - -<p>If you as me believe news sites about free software should not be -censored, even if the free software have both legal and illegal -applications, and that DNS hijacking should be tested by the courts, I -suggest you <a href="http://www.nuug.no/dns-beslag-donasjon.shtml">show -your support by donating to NUUG</a>.</a> + First draft Norwegian Bokmål edition of The Debian Administrator's Handbook now public + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_draft_Norwegian_Bokm_l_edition_of_The_Debian_Administrator_s_Handbook_now_public.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_draft_Norwegian_Bokm_l_edition_of_The_Debian_Administrator_s_Handbook_now_public.html + Tue, 30 Aug 2016 10:10:00 +0200 + <p>In April we +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_a_Norwegian_Bokm_l_edition_of_The_Debian_Administrator_s_Handbook.html">started +to work</a> on a Norwegian Bokmål edition of the "open access" book on +how to set up and administrate a Debian system. Today I am happy to +report that the first draft is now publicly available. You can find +it on <a href="https://debian-handbook.info/get/">get the Debian +Administrator's Handbook page</a> (under Other languages). The first +eight chapters have a first draft translation, and we are working on +proofreading the content. If you want to help out, please start +contributing using +<a href="https://hosted.weblate.org/projects/debian-handbook/">the +hosted weblate project page</a>, and get in touch using +<a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/debian-handbook-translators">the +translators mailing list</a>. Please also check out +<a href="https://debian-handbook.info/contribute/">the instructions for +contributors</a>. A good way to contribute is to proofread the text +and update weblate if you find errors.</p> + +<p>Our goal is still to make the Norwegian book available on paper as well as +electronic form.</p> - Debian now with ZFS on Linux included - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_now_with_ZFS_on_Linux_included.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_now_with_ZFS_on_Linux_included.html - Thu, 12 May 2016 07:30:00 +0200 - <p>Today, after many years of hard work from many people, -<a href="http://zfsonlinux.org/">ZFS for Linux</a> finally entered -Debian. The package status can be seen on -<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/zfs-linux">the package tracker -for zfs-linux</a>. and -<a href="https://qa.debian.org/developer.php?login=pkg-zfsonlinux-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the -team status page</a>. If you want to help out, please join us. -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-zfsonlinux/zfs.git">The -source code</a> is available via git on Alioth. It would also be -great if you could help out with -<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/dkms">the dkms package</a>, as -it is an important piece of the puzzle to get ZFS working.</p> + Coz can help you find bottlenecks in multi-threaded software - nice free software + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Coz_can_help_you_find_bottlenecks_in_multi_threaded_software___nice_free_software.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Coz_can_help_you_find_bottlenecks_in_multi_threaded_software___nice_free_software.html + Thu, 11 Aug 2016 12:00:00 +0200 + <p>This summer, I read a great article +"<a href="https://www.usenix.org/publications/login/summer2016/curtsinger">coz: +This Is the Profiler You're Looking For</a>" in USENIX ;login: about +how to profile multi-threaded programs. It presented a system for +profiling software by running experiences in the running program, +testing how run time performance is affected by "speeding up" parts of +the code to various degrees compared to a normal run. It does this by +slowing down parallel threads while the "faster up" code is running +and measure how this affect processing time. The processing time is +measured using probes inserted into the code, either using progress +counters (COZ_PROGRESS) or as latency meters (COZ_BEGIN/COZ_END). It +can also measure unmodified code by measuring complete the program +runtime and running the program several times instead.</p> + +<p>The project and presentation was so inspiring that I would like to +get the system into Debian. I +<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=830708">created +a WNPP request for it</a> and contacted upstream to try to make the +system ready for Debian by sending patches. The build process need to +be changed a bit to avoid running 'git clone' to get dependencies, and +to include the JavaScript web page used to visualize the collected +profiling information included in the source package. +But I expect that should work out fairly soon.</p> + +<p>The way the system work is fairly simple. To run an coz experiment +on a binary with debug symbols available, start the program like this: + +<p><blockquote><pre> +coz run --- program-to-run +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>This will create a text file profile.coz with the instrumentation +information. To show what part of the code affect the performance +most, use a web browser and either point it to +<a href="http://plasma-umass.github.io/coz/">http://plasma-umass.github.io/coz/</a> +or use the copy from git (in the gh-pages branch). Check out this web +site to have a look at several example profiling runs and get an idea what the end result from the profile runs look like. To make the +profiling more useful you include &lt;coz.h&gt; and insert the +COZ_PROGRESS or COZ_BEGIN and COZ_END at appropriate places in the +code, rebuild and run the profiler. This allow coz to do more +targeted experiments.</p> + +<p>A video published by ACM +<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE0V-p1odPg">presenting the +Coz profiler</a> is available from Youtube. There is also a paper +from the 25th Symposium on Operating Systems Principles available +titled +<a href="https://www.usenix.org/conference/atc16/technical-sessions/presentation/curtsinger">Coz: +finding code that counts with causal profiling</a>.</p> + +<p><a href="https://github.com/plasma-umass/coz">The source code</a> +for Coz is available from github. It will only build with clang +because it uses a +<a href="https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=55606">C++ +feature missing in GCC</a>, but I've submitted +<a href="https://github.com/plasma-umass/coz/pull/67">a patch to solve +it</a> and hope it will be included in the upstream source soon.</p> + +<p>Please get in touch if you, like me, would like to see this piece +of software in Debian. I would very much like some help with the +packaging effort, as I lack the in depth knowledge on how to package +C++ libraries.</p> - What is the best multimedia player in Debian? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_the_best_multimedia_player_in_Debian_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_the_best_multimedia_player_in_Debian_.html - Sun, 8 May 2016 09:40:00 +0200 - <p><strong>Where I set out to figure out which multimedia player in -Debian claim support for most file formats.</strong></p> - -<p>A few years ago, I had a look at the media support for Browser -plugins in Debian, to get an idea which plugins to include in Debian -Edu. I created a script to extract the set of supported MIME types -for each plugin, and used this to find out which multimedia browser -plugin supported most file formats / media types. -<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/BrowserMultimedia">The -result</a> can still be seen on the Debian wiki, even though it have -not been updated for a while. But browser plugins are less relevant -these days, so I thought it was time to look at standalone -players.</p> - -<p>A few days ago I was tired of VLC not being listed as a viable -player when I wanted to play videos from the Norwegian National -Broadcasting Company, and decided to investigate why. The cause is a -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/822245">missing MIME type in the VLC -desktop file</a>. In the process I wrote a script to compare the set -of MIME types announced in the desktop file and the browser plugin, -only to discover that there is quite a large difference between the -two for VLC. This discovery made me dig up the script I used to -compare browser plugins, and adjust it to compare desktop files -instead, to try to figure out which multimedia player in Debian -support most file formats.</p> - -<p>The result can be seen on the Debian Wiki, as -<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianMultimedia/PlayerSupport">a -table listing all MIME types supported by one of the packages included -in the table</a>, with the package supporting most MIME types being -listed first in the table.</p> - -</p>The best multimedia player in Debian? It is totem, followed by -parole, kplayer, mpv, vlc, smplayer mplayer-gui gnome-mpv and -kmplayer. Time for the other players to update their announced MIME -support?</p> + Sales number for the Free Culture translation, first half of 2016 + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sales_number_for_the_Free_Culture_translation__first_half_of_2016.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sales_number_for_the_Free_Culture_translation__first_half_of_2016.html + Fri, 5 Aug 2016 22:45:00 +0200 + <p>As my regular readers probably remember, the last year I published +a French and Norwegian translation of the classic +<a href="http://www.free-culture.cc/">Free Culture book</a> by the +founder of the Creative Commons movement, Lawrence Lessig. A bit less +known is the fact that due to the way I created the translations, +using docbook and po4a, I also recreated the English original. And +because I already had created a new the PDF edition, I published it +too. The revenue from the books are sent to the Creative Commons +Corporation. In other words, I do not earn any money from this +project, I just earn the warm fuzzy feeling that the text is available +for a wider audience and more people can learn why the Creative +Commons is needed.</p> + +<p>Today, just for fun, I had a look at the sales number over at +Lulu.com, which take care of payment, printing and shipping. Much to +my surprise, the English edition is selling better than both the +French and Norwegian edition, despite the fact that it has been +available in English since it was first published. In total, 24 paper +books was sold for USD $19.99 between 2016-01-01 and 2016-07-31:</p> + +<table border="0"> +<tr><th>Title / language</th><th>Quantity</th></tr> +<tr><td><a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/culture-libre/paperback/product-22645082.html">Culture Libre / French</a></td><td align="right">3</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/fri-kultur/paperback/product-22441576.html">Fri kultur / Norwegian</a></td><td align="right">7</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/free-culture/paperback/product-22440520.html">Free Culture / English</a></td><td align="right">14</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The books are available both from Lulu.com and from large book +stores like Amazon and Barnes&Noble. Most revenue, around $10 per +book, is sent to the Creative Commons project when the book is sold +directly by Lulu.com. The other channels give less revenue. The +summary from Lulu tell me 10 books was sold via the Amazon channel, 10 +via Ingram (what is this?) and 4 directly by Lulu. And Lulu.com tells +me that the revenue sent so far this year is USD $101.42. No idea +what kind of sales numbers to expect, so I do not know if that is a +good amount of sales for a 10 year old book or not. But it make me +happy that the buyers find the book, and I hope they enjoy reading it +as much as I did.</p> + +<p>The ebook edition is available for free from +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">Github</a>.</p> + +<p>If you would like to translate and publish the book in your native +language, I would be happy to help make it happen. Please get in +touch.</p> - The Pyra - handheld computer with Debian preinstalled - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Pyra___handheld_computer_with_Debian_preinstalled.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Pyra___handheld_computer_with_Debian_preinstalled.html - Wed, 4 May 2016 10:00:00 +0200 - A friend of mine made me aware of -<a href="https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/">The Pyra</a>, a -handheld computer which will be delivered with Debian preinstalled. I -would love to get one of those for my birthday. :)</p> - -<p>The machine is a complete ARM-based PC with micro HDMI, SATA, USB -plugs and many others connectors, and include a full keyboard and a 5" -LCD touch screen. The 6000mAh battery is claimed to provide a whole -day of battery life time, but I have not seen any independent tests -confirming this. The vendor is still collecting preorders, and the -last I heard last night was that 22 more orders were needed before -production started.</p> - -<p>As far as I know, this is the first handheld preinstalled with -Debian. Please let me know if you know of any others. Is it the -first computer being sold with Debian preinstalled?</p> + Vitenskapen tar som vanlig feil igjen - relativt feil + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Vitenskapen_tar_som_vanlig_feil_igjen___relativt_feil.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Vitenskapen_tar_som_vanlig_feil_igjen___relativt_feil.html + Mon, 1 Aug 2016 16:00:00 +0200 + <p>For mange år siden leste jeg en klassisk tekst som gjorde såpass +inntrykk på meg at jeg husker den fortsatt, flere år senere, og bruker +argumentene fra den stadig vekk. Teksten var «The Relativity of +Wrong» som Isaac Asimov publiserte i Skeptical Inquirer i 1989. Den +gir litt perspektiv rundt formidlingen av vitenskapelige resultater. +Jeg har hatt lyst til å kunne dele den også med folk som ikke +behersker engelsk så godt, som barn og noen av mine eldre slektninger, +og har savnet å ha den tilgjengelig på norsk. For to uker siden tok +jeg meg sammen og kontaktet Asbjørn Dyrendal i foreningen Skepsis om +de var interessert i å publisere en norsk utgave på bloggen sin, og da +han var positiv tok jeg kontakt med Skeptical Inquirer og spurte om +det var greit for dem. I løpet av noen dager fikk vi tilbakemelding +fra Barry Karr hos The Skeptical Inquirer som hadde sjekket og fått OK +fra Robyn Asimov som representerte arvingene i Asmiov-familien og gikk +igang med oversettingen.</p> + +<p>Resultatet, <a href="http://www.skepsis.no/?p=1617">«Relativt +feil»</a>, ble publisert på skepsis-bloggen for noen minutter siden. +Jeg anbefaler deg på det varmeste å lese denne teksten og dele den med +dine venner.</p> + +<p>For å håndtere oversettelsen og sikre at original og oversettelse +var i sync brukte vi git, po4a, GNU make og Transifex. Det hele +fungerte utmerket og gjorde det enkelt å dele tekstene og jobbe sammen +om finpuss på formuleringene. Hadde hosted.weblate.org latt meg +opprette nye prosjekter selv i stedet for å måtte kontakte +administratoren der, så hadde jeg brukt weblate i stedet.</p> - NUUG contests Norwegian police DNS seizure of popcorn-time.no - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/NUUG_contests_Norwegian_police_DNS_seizure_of_popcorn_time_no.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/NUUG_contests_Norwegian_police_DNS_seizure_of_popcorn_time_no.html - Mon, 18 Apr 2016 10:00:00 +0200 - <p>It is days like today I am really happy to be a member of -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">the Norwegian Unix User group</a>, a -member association for those of us believing in free software, open -standards and unix-like operating systems. NUUG announced today it -will -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Pressemelding__NUUG_og_EFN_begj_rer_rettslig_pr_ving_for_DNS_domenebeslag_av_popcorn_time_no.shtml">try -to bring the seizure of the DNS domain popcorn-time.no as -unlawful</a>, to stand up for the principle that writing about a -controversial topic is not infringing copyrights, and censuring web -pages by hijacking DNS domain should be decided by the courts, not the -police. The DNS domain was seized by the Norwegian National Authority -for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime -a month ago. I hope this bring more paying members to NUUG to give -the association the financial muscle needed to bring this case as far -as it must go to stop this kind of DNS hijacking.</p> + Techno TV broadcasting live across Norway and the Internet (#debconf16, #nuug) on @frikanalen + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Techno_TV_broadcasting_live_across_Norway_and_the_Internet___debconf16___nuug__on__frikanalen.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Techno_TV_broadcasting_live_across_Norway_and_the_Internet___debconf16___nuug__on__frikanalen.html + Mon, 1 Aug 2016 10:30:00 +0200 + <p>Did you know there is a TV channel broadcasting talks from DebConf +16 across an entire country? Or that there is a TV channel +broadcasting talks by or about +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/625529/">Linus Torvalds</a>, +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/625599/">Tor</a>, +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/624019/">OpenID</A>, +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/625624/">Common Lisp</a>, +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/625446/">Civic Tech</a>, +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/625090/">EFF founder John Barlow</a>, +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/625432/">how to make 3D +printer electronics</a> and many more fascinating topics? It works +using only free software (all of it +<a href="http://github.com/Frikanalen">available from Github</a>), and +is administrated using a web browser and a web API.</p> + +<p>The TV channel is the Norwegian open channel +<a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a>, and I am involved +via <a href="https://www.nuug.no/">the NUUG member association</a> in +running and developing the software for the channel. The channel is +organised as a member organisation where its members can upload and +broadcast what they want (think of it as Youtube for national +broadcasting television). Individuals can broadcast too. The time +slots are handled on a first come, first serve basis. Because the +channel have almost no viewers and very few active members, we can +experiment with TV technology without too much flack when we make +mistakes. And thanks to the few active members, most of the slots on +the schedule are free. I see this as an opportunity to spread +knowledge about technology and free software, and have a script I run +regularly to fill up all the open slots the next few days with +technology related video. The end result is a channel I like to +describe as Techno TV - filled with interesting talks and +presentations.</p> + +<p>It is available on channel 50 on the Norwegian national digital TV +network (RiksTV). It is also available as a multicast stream on +Uninett. And finally, it is available as +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/">a WebM unicast stream</a> from +Frikanalen and NUUG. Check it out. :)</p> - Ny utgave (v2.2) av den frie norske stavekontrollen gitt ut - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Ny_utgave__v2_2__av_den_frie_norske_stavekontrollen_gitt_ut.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Ny_utgave__v2_2__av_den_frie_norske_stavekontrollen_gitt_ut.html - Fri, 15 Apr 2016 21:20:00 +0200 - <p>I dag tok jeg mot til meg og pakket sammen en ny versjon av den -frie norske stavekontrollen, ca. tre og et halvt år etter forrige -gang. Resultatet kan lastes ned fra -<a href="http://no.speling.org/">no.speling.org-prosjeksiden</a>, både -som kildekodepakke og som "pack"-fil som kanskje fortsatt kan brukes -av OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice. Byggesystemet trenger oppussing, men i -denne omgang hadde jeg bare tid til å fikse byggefeil forårsaket av -endringer i GNU grep. De øvrige endringene var gjort tidligere i -påvente av en ny utgave.</p> - -<p><strong>Her er det som er nytt (fra NEWS-fila i -kildekodepakken):</strong></p> - -<p>Release 2.2 (2016-04-15)</p> - -<ul> - - <li>Rewrite how scripts/speling2words handle tripple consonants, to - avoid importing duplicate words from no.speling.org, and getting - rid of the existing duplicates in norsk.words.</li> - <li>Remove duplicate entries with tripple consonants from norsk.words.</li> - <li>Update frequency for entries in norsk.words based on - <URL:http://helmer.aksis.uib.no/nta/ordlistf.zip> (ran 'make - freq-update').</li> - <li>Correct nn ispell build, avoid crash in munchlist causing lots of - words to fall out of the database.</li> - <li>Use grep -a to convince grep it is working on text files, to work - with newer grep versions.</li> - - <li>Remove some words disputed in the no.speling.org review process: - <ul> - <li>apparent (nb)</li> - <li>likke (nb)</li> - <li>ugjest, ugjesten, ugjestens (nb)</li> - </ul></li> - -</ul> + Unlocking HTC Desire HD on Linux using unruu and fastboot + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Unlocking_HTC_Desire_HD_on_Linux_using_unruu_and_fastboot.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Unlocking_HTC_Desire_HD_on_Linux_using_unruu_and_fastboot.html + Thu, 7 Jul 2016 11:30:00 +0200 + <p>Yesterday, I tried to unlock a HTC Desire HD phone, and it proved +to be a slight challenge. Here is the recipe if I ever need to do it +again. It all started by me wanting to try the recipe to set up +<a href="https://blog.torproject.org/blog/mission-impossible-hardening-android-security-and-privacy">an +hardened Android installation</a> from the Tor project blog on a +device I had access to. It is a old mobile phone with a broken +microphone The initial idea had been to just +<a href="http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_ace">install +CyanogenMod on it</a>, but did not quite find time to start on it +until a few days ago.</p> + +<p>The unlock process is supposed to be simple: (1) Boot into the boot +loader (press volume down and power at the same time), (2) select +'fastboot' before (3) connecting the device via USB to a Linux +machine, (4) request the device identifier token by running 'fastboot +oem get_identifier_token', (5) request the device unlocking key using +the <a href="http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/">HTC developer web +site</a> and unlock the phone using the key file emailed to you.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, this only work fi you have hboot version 2.00.0029 +or newer, and the device I was working on had 2.00.0027. This +apparently can be easily fixed by downloading a Windows program and +running it on your Windows machine, if you accept the terms Microsoft +require you to accept to use Windows - which I do not. So I had to +come up with a different approach. I got a lot of help from AndyCap +on #nuug, and would not have been able to get this working without +him.</p> + +<p>First I needed to extract the hboot firmware from +<a href="http://www.htcdev.com/ruu/PD9810000_Ace_Sense30_S_hboot_2.00.0029.exe">the +windows binary for HTC Desire HD</a> downloaded as 'the RUU' from HTC. +For this there is is <a href="https://github.com/kmdm/unruu/">a github +project named unruu</a> using libunshield. The unshield tool did not +recognise the file format, but unruu worked and extracted rom.zip, +containing the new hboot firmware and a text file describing which +devices it would work for.</p> + +<p>Next, I needed to get the new firmware into the device. For this I +followed some instructions +<a href="http://www.htc1guru.com/2013/09/new-ruu-zips-posted/">available +from HTC1Guru.com</a>, and ran these commands as root on a Linux +machine with Debian testing:</p> + +<p><pre> +adb reboot-bootloader +fastboot oem rebootRUU +fastboot flash zip rom.zip +fastboot flash zip rom.zip +fastboot reboot +</pre></p> + +<p>The flash command apparently need to be done twice to take effect, +as the first is just preparations and the second one do the flashing. +The adb command is just to get to the boot loader menu, so turning the +device on while holding volume down and the power button should work +too.</p> + +<p>With the new hboot version in place I could start following the +instructions on the HTC developer web site. I got the device token +like this:</p> + +<p><pre> +fastboot oem get_identifier_token 2>&1 | sed 's/(bootloader) //' +</pre> + +<p>And once I got the unlock code via email, I could use it like +this:</p> + +<p><pre> +fastboot flash unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin +</pre></p> + +<p>And with that final step in place, the phone was unlocked and I +could start stuffing the software of my own choosing into the device. +So far I only inserted a replacement recovery image to wipe the phone +before I start. We will see what happen next. Perhaps I should +install <a href="https://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> on it. :)</p> - I.F. Stone - an inspiration for us all - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_F__Stone___an_inspiration_for_us_all.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_F__Stone___an_inspiration_for_us_all.html - Wed, 13 Apr 2016 21:20:00 +0200 - <p>I first got to know I.F. Stone when I came across an article by Jon -Schwarz on The Intercept -<a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/05/07/new-documentary-legacy-f-stone/">about -his extraordinary contribution to investigative journalism in -USA</a>. The article is about a new documentary in two parts -(<a href="https://vimeo.com/123974841">part one is 12 minutes</a> and -<a href="https://vimeo.com/123974842">part two is 30 minutes</a>), and -I found both truly fascinating. It is amazing what he was able to -find by digging up public sources and government papers. He -documented lots of government abuse and cover ups, and I find -<a href="http://www.ifstone.org/weekly.php">his weekly news letters</a> -inspiring to read even today.</p> - -<p><blockquote> -All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed. -<br>- I. F. Stone -</blockquote></p> - -<p>His starting point was that reporters should not assume governments -and corporations are telling the truth, but verify all their claims as -much as possible. I wonder how many Norwegian reporters can be said -to follow the principles of I. F. Stone. They are definitely in short -supply. If you, like me half a year ago, have never heard of him, -check him out.</p> + How to use the Signal app if you only have a land line (ie no mobile phone) + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_use_the_Signal_app_if_you_only_have_a_land_line__ie_no_mobile_phone_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_use_the_Signal_app_if_you_only_have_a_land_line__ie_no_mobile_phone_.html + Sun, 3 Jul 2016 14:20:00 +0200 + <p>For a while now, I have wanted to test +<a href="https://whispersystems.org/">the Signal app</a>, as it is +said to provide end to end encrypted communication and several of my +friends and family are already using it. As I by choice do not own a +mobile phone, this proved to be harder than expected. And I wanted to +have the source of the client and know that it was the code used on my +machine. But yesterday I managed to get it working. I used the +Github source, compared it to the source in +<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/signal-private-messenger/bikioccmkafdpakkkcpdbppfkghcmihk?hl=en-US">the +Signal Chrome app</a> available from the Chrome web store, applied +patches to use the production Signal servers, started the app and +asked for the hidden "register without a smart phone" form. Here is +the recipe how I did it.</p> + +<p>First, I fetched the Signal desktop source from Github, using + +<pre> +git clone https://github.com/WhisperSystems/Signal-Desktop.git +</pre> + +<p>Next, I patched the source to use the production servers, to be +able to talk to other Signal users:</p> + +<pre> +cat &lt;&lt;EOF | patch -p0 +diff -ur ./js/background.js userdata/Default/Extensions/bikioccmkafdpakkkcpdbppfkghcmihk/0.15.0_0/js/background.js +--- ./js/background.js 2016-06-29 13:43:15.630344628 +0200 ++++ userdata/Default/Extensions/bikioccmkafdpakkkcpdbppfkghcmihk/0.15.0_0/js/background.js 2016-06-29 14:06:29.530300934 +0200 +@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ + }); + }); + +- var SERVER_URL = 'https://textsecure-service-staging.whispersystems.org'; +- var ATTACHMENT_SERVER_URL = 'https://whispersystems-textsecure-attachments-staging.s3.amazonaws.com'; ++ var SERVER_URL = 'https://textsecure-service-ca.whispersystems.org:4433'; ++ var ATTACHMENT_SERVER_URL = 'https://whispersystems-textsecure-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com'; + var messageReceiver; + window.getSocketStatus = function() { + if (messageReceiver) { +diff -ur ./js/expire.js userdata/Default/Extensions/bikioccmkafdpakkkcpdbppfkghcmihk/0.15.0_0/js/expire.js +--- ./js/expire.js 2016-06-29 13:43:15.630344628 +0200 ++++ userdata/Default/Extensions/bikioccmkafdpakkkcpdbppfkghcmihk/0.15.0_0/js/expire.js2016-06-29 14:06:29.530300934 +0200 +@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ + ;(function() { + 'use strict'; +- var BUILD_EXPIRATION = 0; ++ var BUILD_EXPIRATION = 1474492690000; + + window.extension = window.extension || {}; + +EOF +</pre> + +<p>The first part is changing the servers, and the second is updating +an expiration timestamp. This timestamp need to be updated regularly. +It is set 90 days in the future by the build process (Gruntfile.js). +The value is seconds since 1970 times 1000, as far as I can tell.</p> + +<p>Based on a tip and good help from the #nuug IRC channel, I wrote a +script to launch Signal in Chromium.</p> + +<pre> +#!/bin/sh +cd $(dirname $0) +mkdir -p userdata +exec chromium \ + --proxy-server="socks://localhost:9050" \ + --user-data-dir=`pwd`/userdata --load-and-launch-app=`pwd` +</pre> + +<p> The script start the app and configure Chromium to use the Tor +SOCKS5 proxy to make sure those controlling the Signal servers (today +Amazon and Whisper Systems) as well as those listening on the lines +will have a harder time location my laptop based on the Signal +connections if they use source IP address.</p> + +<p>When the script starts, one need to follow the instructions under +"Standalone Registration" in the CONTRIBUTING.md file in the git +repository. I right clicked on the Signal window to get up the +Chromium debugging tool, visited the 'Console' tab and wrote +'extension.install("standalone")' on the console prompt to get the +registration form. Then I entered by land line phone number and +pressed 'Call'. 5 seconds later the phone rang and a robot voice +repeated the verification code three times. After entering the number +into the verification code field in the form, I could start using +Signal from my laptop. + +<p>As far as I can tell, The Signal app will leak who is talking to +whom and thus who know who to those controlling the central server, +but such leakage is hard to avoid with a centrally controlled server +setup. It is something to keep in mind when using Signal - the +content of your chats are harder to intercept, but the meta data +exposing your contact network is available to people you do not know. +So better than many options, but not great. And sadly the usage is +connected to my land line, thus allowing those controlling the server +to associate it to my home and person. I would prefer it if only +those I knew could tell who I was on Signal. There are options +avoiding such information leakage, but most of my friends are not +using them, so I am stuck with Signal for now.</p> - A French paperback edition of the book Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig is now available - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_French_paperback_edition_of_the_book_Free_Culture_by_Lawrence_Lessig_is_now_available.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_French_paperback_edition_of_the_book_Free_Culture_by_Lawrence_Lessig_is_now_available.html - Tue, 12 Apr 2016 10:40:00 +0200 - <p>I'm happy to report that -<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/culture-libre/paperback/product-22645082.html">the -French paperback edition</a> of -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">my -project to translate</a> the <a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free -Culture</a> book by Lawrence Lessig is now available for sale on -Lulu.com. Once I have formally verified my proof reading copy, which -should be in the mail, the paperback edition should be available in -book stores like Amazon and Barnes & Noble too.</p> - -<p>This French edition, Culture Libre, is the work of the -<a href="http://dblatex.sourceforge.net/">dblatex</a> developer Benoît -Guillon, who created the PO file from the initial translation -available from -<a href="http://www.wikilivres.ca/wiki/Culture_libre">the Wikilivres -wiki pages</a> and completed and corrected the translation to match -the original docbook edition my project is using, as well as -coordinated the proof reading of the final result. I believe the end -result look great, but I am biased and do not read French. In -addition to the paperback edition, the book is available in PDF, EPUB -and Mobi format from the github project page linked to above.</p> - -<p>When enabling book store distribution on Lulu.com, I had to nearly -triple the price to allow the book stores some profit. I also had to -accept that I will get some revenue when a book is sold via Lulu.com. -But because of the non-commercial clause in the book license -(CC-BY-NC), this might be a problem. To bypass the problem I -discussed how to handle the revenue with the author, and we agreed -that the revenue for these editions go to the -<a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons non-profit -Corporation</a> who handle donations to the Creative Commons project. -So far they have earned around USD 70 on sales of the -<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/free-culture/paperback/product-22440520.html">English</a> -and -<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/fri-kultur/paperback/product-22441576.html">Norwegian -Bokmål</a> editions, according to Lulu.com. They will get the revenue -for the French edition too. Their revenue is higher if you buy the -book directly from Lulu.com instead of via a book store, so I -recommend you buy directly from Lulu.com.</p> - -<p>Perhaps you would like to get the book published in your language? -The translation is done using a web based translator service, so the -technical bar to enter is fairly low. Get in touch if you would like -to make this happen.</p> + The new "best" multimedia player in Debian? + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_new__best__multimedia_player_in_Debian_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_new__best__multimedia_player_in_Debian_.html + Mon, 6 Jun 2016 12:50:00 +0200 + <p>When I set out a few weeks ago to figure out +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_the_best_multimedia_player_in_Debian_.html">which +multimedia player in Debian claimed to support most file formats / +MIME types</a>, I was a bit surprised how varied the sets of MIME types +the various players claimed support for. The range was from 55 to 130 +MIME types. I suspect most media formats are supported by all +players, but this is not really reflected in the MimeTypes values in +their desktop files. There are probably also some bogus MIME types +listed, but it is hard to identify which one this is.</p> + +<p>Anyway, in the mean time I got in touch with upstream for some of +the players suggesting to add more MIME types to their desktop files, +and decided to spend some time myself improving the situation for my +favorite media player VLC. The fixes for VLC entered Debian unstable +yesterday. The complete list of MIME types can be seen on the +<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DebianMultimedia/PlayerSupport">Multimedia +player MIME type support status</a> Debian wiki page.</p> + +<p>The new "best" multimedia player in Debian? It is VLC, followed by +totem, parole, kplayer, gnome-mpv, mpv, smplayer, mplayer-gui and +kmplayer. I am sure some of the other players desktop files support +several of the formats currently listed as working only with vlc, +toten and parole.</p> + +<p>A sad observation is that only 14 MIME types are listed as +supported by all the tested multimedia players in Debian in their +desktop files: audio/mpeg, audio/vnd.rn-realaudio, audio/x-mpegurl, +audio/x-ms-wma, audio/x-scpls, audio/x-wav, video/mp4, video/mpeg, +video/quicktime, video/vnd.rn-realvideo, video/x-matroska, +video/x-ms-asf, video/x-ms-wmv and video/x-msvideo. Personally I find +it sad that video/ogg and video/webm is not supported by all the media +players in Debian. As far as I can tell, all of them can handle both +formats.</p> - Lets make a Norwegian Bokmål edition of The Debian Administrator's Handbook - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_a_Norwegian_Bokm_l_edition_of_The_Debian_Administrator_s_Handbook.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_a_Norwegian_Bokm_l_edition_of_The_Debian_Administrator_s_Handbook.html - Sun, 10 Apr 2016 23:20:00 +0200 - <p>During this weekends -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Oslo__Takk_for_feilfiksingsfesten.shtml">bug -squashing party and developer gathering</a>, we decided to do our part -to make sure there are good books about Debian available in Norwegian -Bokmål, and got in touch with the people behind the -<a href="http://debian-handbook.info/">Debian Administrator's Handbook -project</a> to get started. If you want to help out, please start -contributing using -<a href="https://hosted.weblate.org/projects/debian-handbook/">the -hosted weblate project page</a>, and get in touch using -<a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/debian-handbook-translators">the -translators mailing list</a>. Please also check out -<a href="https://debian-handbook.info/contribute/">the instructions for -contributors</a>.</p> + A program should be able to open its own files on Linux + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_program_should_be_able_to_open_its_own_files_on_Linux.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_program_should_be_able_to_open_its_own_files_on_Linux.html + Sun, 5 Jun 2016 08:30:00 +0200 + <p>Many years ago, when koffice was fresh and with few users, I +decided to test its presentation tool when making the slides for a +talk I was giving for NUUG on Japhar, a free Java virtual machine. I +wrote the first draft of the slides, saved the result and went to bed +the day before I would give the talk. The next day I took a plane to +the location where the meeting should take place, and on the plane I +started up koffice again to polish the talk a bit, only to discover +that kpresenter refused to load its own data file. I cursed a bit and +started making the slides again from memory, to have something to +present when I arrived. I tested that the saved files could be +loaded, and the day seemed to be rescued. I continued to polish the +slides until I suddenly discovered that the saved file could no longer +be loaded into kpresenter. In the end I had to rewrite the slides +three times, condensing the content until the talk became shorter and +shorter. After the talk I was able to pinpoint the problem &ndash; +kpresenter wrote inline images in a way itself could not understand. +Eventually that bug was fixed and kpresenter ended up being a great +program to make slides. The point I'm trying to make is that we +expect a program to be able to load its own data files, and it is +embarrassing to its developers if it can't.</p> + +<p>Did you ever experience a program failing to load its own data +files from the desktop file browser? It is not a uncommon problem. A +while back I discovered that the screencast recorder +gtk-recordmydesktop would save an Ogg Theora video file the KDE file +browser would refuse to open. No video player claimed to understand +such file. I tracked down the cause being <tt>file --mime-type</tt> +returning the application/ogg MIME type, which no video player I had +installed listed as a MIME type they would understand. I asked for +<a href="http://bugs.gw.com/view.php?id=382">file to change its +behavour</a> and use the MIME type video/ogg instead. I also asked +several video players to add video/ogg to their desktop files, to give +the file browser an idea what to do about Ogg Theora files. After a +while, the desktop file browsers in Debian started to handle the +output from gtk-recordmydesktop properly.</p> + +<p>But history repeats itself. A few days ago I tested the music +system Rosegarden again, and I discovered that the KDE and xfce file +browsers did not know what to do with the Rosegarden project files +(*.rg). I've reported <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/825993">the +rosegarden problem to BTS</a> and a fix is commited to git and will be +included in the next upload. To increase the chance of me remembering +how to fix the problem next time some program fail to load its files +from the file browser, here are some notes on how to fix it.</p> + +<p>The file browsers in Debian in general operates on MIME types. +There are two sources for the MIME type of a given file. The output from +<tt>file --mime-type</tt> mentioned above, and the content of the +shared MIME type registry (under /usr/share/mime/). The file MIME +type is mapped to programs supporting the MIME type, and this +information is collected from +<a href="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-entry-spec/">the +desktop files</a> available in /usr/share/applications/. If there is +one desktop file claiming support for the MIME type of the file, it is +activated when asking to open a given file. If there are more, one +can normally select which one to use by right-clicking on the file and +selecting the wanted one using 'Open with' or similar. In general +this work well. But it depend on each program picking a good MIME +type (preferably +<a href="http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/media-types.xhtml">a +MIME type registered with IANA</a>), file and/or the shared MIME +registry recognizing the file and the desktop file to list the MIME +type in its list of supported MIME types.</p> + +<p>The <tt>/usr/share/mime/packages/rosegarden.xml</tt> entry for +<a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/shared-mime-info-spec">the +Shared MIME database</a> look like this:</p> -<p>The book is already available on paper in English, French and -Japanese, and our goal is to get it available on paper in Norwegian -Bokmål too. In addition to the paper edition, there are also EPUB and -Mobi versions available. And there are incomplete translations -available for many more languages.</p> +<p><blockquote><pre> +&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt; +&lt;mime-info xmlns="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info"&gt; + &lt;mime-type type="audio/x-rosegarden"&gt; + &lt;sub-class-of type="application/x-gzip"/&gt; + &lt;comment&gt;Rosegarden project file&lt;/comment&gt; + &lt;glob pattern="*.rg"/&gt; + &lt;/mime-type&gt; +&lt;/mime-info&gt; +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>This states that audio/x-rosegarden is a kind of application/x-gzip +(it is a gzipped XML file). Note, it is much better to use an +official MIME type registered with IANA than it is to make up ones own +unofficial ones like the x-rosegarden type used by rosegarden.</p> + +<p>The desktop file of the rosegarden program failed to list +audio/x-rosegarden in its list of supported MIME types, causing the +file browsers to have no idea what to do with *.rg files:</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +% grep Mime /usr/share/applications/rosegarden.desktop +MimeType=audio/x-rosegarden-composition;audio/x-rosegarden-device;audio/x-rosegarden-project;audio/x-rosegarden-template;audio/midi; +X-KDE-NativeMimeType=audio/x-rosegarden-composition +% +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>The fix was to add "audio/x-rosegarden;" at the end of the +MimeType= line.</p> + +<p>If you run into a file which fail to open the correct program when +selected from the file browser, please check out the output from +<tt>file --mime-type</tt> for the file, ensure the file ending and +MIME type is registered somewhere under /usr/share/mime/ and check +that some desktop file under /usr/share/applications/ is claiming +support for this MIME type. If not, please report a bug to have it +fixed. :)</p> - One in two hundred Debian users using ZFS on Linux? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/One_in_two_hundred_Debian_users_using_ZFS_on_Linux_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/One_in_two_hundred_Debian_users_using_ZFS_on_Linux_.html - Thu, 7 Apr 2016 22:30:00 +0200 - <p>Just for fun I had a look at the popcon number of ZFS related -packages in Debian, and was quite surprised with what I found. I use -ZFS myself at home, but did not really expect many others to do so. -But I might be wrong.</p> - -<p>According to -<a href="https://qa.debian.org/popcon.php?package=spl-linux">the popcon -results for spl-linux</a>, there are 1019 Debian installations, or -0.53% of the population, with the package installed. As far as I know -the only use of the spl-linux package is as a support library for ZFS -on Linux, so I use it here as proxy for measuring the number of ZFS -installation on Linux in Debian. In the kFreeBSD variant of Debian -the ZFS feature is already available, and there -<a href="https://qa.debian.org/popcon.php?package=zfsutils">the popcon -results for zfsutils</a> show 1625 Debian installations or 0.84% of -the population. So I guess I am not alone in using ZFS on Debian.</p> - -<p>But even though the Debian project leader Lucas Nussbaum -<a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2015/04/msg00006.html">announced -in April 2015</a> that the legal obstacles blocking ZFS on Debian were -cleared, the package is still not in Debian. The package is again in -the NEW queue. Several uploads have been rejected so far because the -debian/copyright file was incomplete or wrong, but there is no reason -to give up. The current status can be seen on -<a href="https://qa.debian.org/developer.php?login=pkg-zfsonlinux-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the -team status page</a>, and -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=pkg-zfsonlinux/zfs.git">the -source code</a> is available on Alioth.</p> - -<p>As I want ZFS to be included in next version of Debian to make sure -my home server can function in the future using only official Debian -packages, and the current blocker is to get the debian/copyright file -accepted by the FTP masters in Debian, I decided a while back to try -to help out the team. This was the background for my blog post about -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Creating__updating_and_checking_debian_copyright_semi_automatically.html">creating, -updating and checking debian/copyright semi-automatically</a>, and I -used the techniques I explored there to try to find any errors in the -copyright file. It is not very easy to check every one of the around -2000 files in the source package, but I hope we this time got it -right. If you want to help out, check out the git source and try to -find missing entries in the debian/copyright file.</p> + Tor - from its creators mouth 11 years ago + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Tor___from_its_creators_mouth_11_years_ago.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Tor___from_its_creators_mouth_11_years_ago.html + Sat, 28 May 2016 14:20:00 +0200 + <p>A little more than 11 years ago, one of the creators of Tor, and +the current President of <a href="https://www.torproject.org/">the Tor +project</a>, Roger Dingledine, gave a talk for the members of the +<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User group</a> (NUUG). A +video of the talk was recorded, and today, thanks to the great help +from David Noble, I finally was able to publish the video of the talk +on Frikanalen, the Norwegian open channel TV station where NUUG +currently publishes its talks. You can +<a href="http://frikanalen.no/se">watch the live stream using a web +browser</a> with WebM support, or check out the recording on the video +on demand page for the talk +"<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/625599">Tor: Anonymous +communication for the US Department of Defence...and you.</a>".</p> + +<p>Here is the video included for those of you using browsers with +HTML video and Ogg Theora support:</p> + +<p><video width="70%" poster="http://simula.gunkies.org/media/625599/large_thumb/20050421-tor-frikanalen.jpg" controls> + <source src="http://simula.gunkies.org/media/625599/theora/20050421-tor-frikanalen.ogv" type="video/ogg"/> +</video></p> + +<p>I guess the gist of the talk can be summarised quite simply: If you +want to help the military in USA (and everyone else), use Tor. :)</p>