French Docbook/PDF/EPUB/MOBI edition of the Free Culture book

1st October 2015

As I wrap up the Norwegian version of -Free -Culture book by Lawrence Lessig (still waiting for my final proof -reading copy to arrive in the mail), my great -dblatex helper and -developer of the dblatex docbook processor, BenoÃ®t Guillon, decided a -to try to create a French version of the book. He started with the -French translation available from the -Wikilivres wiki -pages, and wrote a program to convert it into a PO file, allowing -the translation to be integrated into the po4a based framework I use -to create the Norwegian translation the the English edition. We meet -on the #dblatex IRC -channel to discuss the work. If you want to help create a French -edition, check out -his git -repository and join us on IRC. If the French edition look good, -we might publish it as a paper book on lulu.com. A French version of -the drawings and the cover need to be provided for this to happen.

Simpler recipe on how to make a simple $7 IMSI Catcher using Debian

9th August 2017

On friday, I came across an interesting article in the Norwegian +web based ICT news magazine digi.no on +how +to collect the IMSI numbers of nearby cell phones using the cheap +DVB-T software defined radios. The article refered to instructions +and a recipe by +Keld Norman on Youtube on how to make a simple $7 IMSI Catcher, and I decided to test them out.

+ +

The instructions said to use Ubuntu, install pip using apt (to +bypass apt), use pip to install pybombs (to bypass both apt and pip), +and the ask pybombs to fetch and build everything you need from +scratch. I wanted to see if I could do the same on the most recent +Debian packages, but this did not work because pybombs tried to build +stuff that no longer build with the most recent openssl library or +some other version skew problem. While trying to get this recipe +working, I learned that the apt->pip->pybombs route was a long detour, +and the only piece of software dependency missing in Debian was the +gr-gsm package. I also found out that the lead upstream developer of +gr-gsm (the name stand for GNU Radio GSM) project already had a set of +Debian packages provided in an Ubuntu PPA repository. All I needed to +do was to dget the Debian source package and built it.

+ +

The IMSI collector is a python script listening for packages on the +loopback network device and printing to the terminal some specific GSM +packages with IMSI numbers in them. The code is fairly short and easy +to understand. The reason this work is because gr-gsm include a tool +to read GSM data from a software defined radio like a DVB-T USB stick +and other software defined radios, decode them and inject them into a +network device on your Linux machine (using the loopback device by +default). This proved to work just fine, and I've been testing the +collector for a few days now.

+ +

The updated and simpler recipe is thus to

+ +

start with a Debian machine running Stretch or newer,
build and install the gr-gsm package available from +http://ppa.launchpad.net/ptrkrysik/gr-gsm/ubuntu/pool/main/g/gr-gsm/,
clone the git repostory from https://github.com/Oros42/IMSI-catcher,
run grgsm_livemon and adjust the frequency until the terminal +where it was started is filled with a stream of text (meaning you +found a GSM station).
go into the IMSI-catcher directory and run 'sudo python simple_IMSI-catcher.py' to extract the IMSI numbers.

+ +

To make it even easier in the future to get this sniffer up and +running, I decided to package +the gr-gsm project +for Debian (WNPP +#871055), and the package was uploaded into the NEW queue today. +Luckily the gnuradio maintainer has promised to help me, as I do not +know much about gnuradio stuff yet.

+ +

I doubt this "IMSI cacher" is anywhere near as powerfull as +commercial tools like +The +Spy Phone Portable IMSI / IMEI Catcher or the +Harris +Stingray, but I hope the existance of cheap alternatives can make +more people realise how their whereabouts when carrying a cell phone +is easily tracked. Seeing the data flow on the screen, realizing that +I live close to a police station and knowing that the police is also +wearing cell phones, I wonder how hard it would be for criminals to +track the position of the police officers to discover when there are +police near by, or for foreign military forces to track the location +of the Norwegian military forces, or for anyone to track the location +of government officials...

+ +

It is worth noting that the data reported by the IMSI-catcher +script mentioned above is only a fraction of the data broadcasted on +the GSM network. It will only collect one frequency at the time, +while a typical phone will be using several frequencies, and not all +phones will be using the frequencies tracked by the grgsm_livemod +program. Also, there is a lot of radio chatter being ignored by the +simple_IMSI-catcher script, which would be collected by extending the +parser code. I wonder if gr-gsm can be set up to listen to more than +one frequency?

- Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + Tags: debian, english, personvern, surveillance.

@@ -53,144 +117,37 @@ the drawings and the cover need to be provided for this to happen.

The life and death of a laptop battery

24th September 2015

When I get a new laptop, the battery life time at the start is OK. -But this do not last. The last few laptops gave me a feeling that -within a year, the life time is just a fraction of what it used to be, -and it slowly become painful to use the laptop without power connected -all the time. Because of this, when I got a new Thinkpad X230 laptop -about two years ago, I decided to monitor its battery state to have -more hard facts when the battery started to fail.

- -

First I tried to find a sensible Debian package to record the -battery status, assuming that this must be a problem already handled -by someone else. I found -battery-stats, -which collects statistics from the battery, but it was completely -broken. I sent a few suggestions to the maintainer, but decided to -write my own collector as a shell script while I waited for feedback -from him. Via -a -blog post about the battery development on a MacBook Air I also -discovered -batlog, not -available in Debian.

- -

I started my collector 2013-07-15, and it has been collecting -battery stats ever since. Now my -/var/log/hjemmenett-battery-status.log file contain around 115,000 -measurements, from the time the battery was working great until now, -when it is unable to charge above 7% of original capacity. My -collector shell script is quite simple and look like this:

- -

-#!/bin/sh
-# Inspired by
-# http://www.ifweassume.com/2013/08/the-de-evolution-of-my-laptop-battery.html
-# See also
-# http://blog.sleeplessbeastie.eu/2013/01/02/debian-how-to-monitor-battery-capacity/
-logfile=/var/log/hjemmenett-battery-status.log
-
-files="manufacturer model_name technology serial_number \
-    energy_full energy_full_design energy_now cycle_count status"
-
-if [ ! -e "$logfile" ] ; then
-    (
-	printf "timestamp,"
-	for f in $files; do
-	    printf "%s," $f
-	done
-	echo
-    ) > "$logfile"
-fi
-
-log_battery() {
-    # Print complete message in one echo call, to avoid race condition
-    # when several log processes run in parallel.
-    msg=$(printf "%s," $(date +%s); \
-	for f in $files; do \
-	    printf "%s," $(cat $f); \
-	done)
-    echo "$msg"
-}
-
-cd /sys/class/power_supply
-
-for bat in BAT*; do
-    (cd $bat && log_battery >> "$logfile")
-done
-

- -

The script is called when the power management system detect a -change in the power status (power plug in or out), and when going into -and out of hibernation and suspend. In addition, it collect a value -every 10 minutes. This make it possible for me know when the battery -is discharging, charging and how the maximum charge change over time. -The code for the Debian package -is now -available on github.

- -

The collected log file look like this:

- -

-timestamp,manufacturer,model_name,technology,serial_number,energy_full,energy_full_design,energy_now,cycle_count,status,
-1376591133,LGC,45N1025,Li-ion,974,62800000,62160000,39050000,0,Discharging,
-[...]
-1443090528,LGC,45N1025,Li-ion,974,4900000,62160000,4900000,0,Full,
-1443090601,LGC,45N1025,Li-ion,974,4900000,62160000,4900000,0,Full,
-

- -

I wrote a small script to create a graph of the charge development -over time. This graph depicted above show the slow death of my laptop -battery.

- -

But why is this happening? Why are my laptop batteries always -dying in a year or two, while the batteries of space probes and -satellites keep working year after year. If we are to believe -Battery -University, the cause is me charging the battery whenever I have a -chance, and the fix is to not charge the Lithium-ion batteries to 100% -all the time, but to stay below 90% of full charge most of the time. -I've been told that the Tesla electric cars -limit -the charge of their batteries to 80%, with the option to charge to -100% when preparing for a longer trip (not that I would want a car -like Tesla where rights to privacy is abandoned, but that is another -story), which I guess is the option we should have for laptops on -Linux too.

- -

Is there a good and generic way with Linux to tell the battery to -stop charging at 80%, unless requested to charge to 100% once in -preparation for a longer trip? I found -one -recipe on askubuntu for Ubuntu to limit charging on Thinkpad to -80%, but could not get it to work (kernel module refused to -load).

- -

I wonder why the battery capacity was reported to be more than 100% -at the start. I also wonder why the "full capacity" increases some -times, and if it is possible to repeat the process to get the battery -back to design capacity. And I wonder if the discharge and charge -speed change over time, or if this stay the same. I did not yet try -to write a tool to calculate the derivative values of the battery -level, but suspect some interesting insights might be learned from -those.

- -

Update 2015-09-24: I got a tip to install the packages -acpi-call-dkms and tlp (unfortunately missing in Debian stable) -packages instead of the tp-smapi-dkms package I had tried to use -initially, and use 'tlp setcharge 40 80' to change when charging start -and stop. I've done so now, but expect my existing battery is toast -and need to be replaced. The proposal is unfortunately Thinkpad -specific.

Norwegian BokmÃ¥l edition of Debian Administrator's Handbook is now available

25th July 2017

+ +

I finally received a copy of the Norwegian BokmÃ¥l edition of +"The Debian Administrator's +Handbook". This test copy arrived in the mail a few days ago, and +I am very happy to hold the result in my hand. We spent around one and a half year translating it. This paperbook edition +is available +from lulu.com. If you buy it quickly, you save 25% on the list +price. The book is also available for download in electronic form as +PDF, EPUB and Mobipocket, as can be +read online +as a web page.

+ +

This is the second book I publish (the first was the book +"Free Culture" by Lawrence Lessig +in +English, +French +and +Norwegian +BokmÃ¥l), and I am very excited to finally wrap up this +project. I hope +"HÃ¥ndbok +for Debian-administratoren" will be well received.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: debian, debian-handbook, english.

@@ -198,56 +155,50 @@ specific.

Book cover for the Free Culture book finally done

3rd September 2015

Creating a good looking book cover proved harder than I expected. -I wanted to create a cover looking similar to the original cover of -the -Free -Culture book we are translating to Norwegian, and I wanted it in -vector format for high resolution printing. But my inkscape knowledge -were not nearly good enough to pull that off. - -

But thanks to the great inkscape community, I was able to wrap up -the cover yesterday evening. I asked on the -#inkscape IRC channel -on Freenode for help and clues, and Marc Jeanmougin (Mc-) volunteered -to try to recreate it based on the PDF of the cover from the HTML -version. Not only did he create a -SVG document with -the original and his vector version side by side, he even provided -an instruction -video explaining how he did it. But the instruction video is -not easy to follow for an untrained inkscape user. The video is a -recording on how he did it, and he is obviously very experienced as -the menu selections are very quick and he mentioned on IRC that he did -use some keyboard shortcuts that can't be seen on the video, but it -give a good idea about the inkscape operations to use to create the -stripes with the embossed copyright sign in the center.

- -

I took his SVG file, copied the vector image and re-sized it to fit -on the cover I was drawing. I am happy with the end result, and the -current english version look like this:

- -

I am not quite sure about the text on the back, but guess it will -do. I picked three quotes from the official site for the book, and -hope it will work to trigger the interest of potential readers. The -Norwegian cover will look the same, but with the texts and bar code -replaced with the Norwegian version.

- -

The book is very close to being ready for publication, and I expect -to upload the final draft to Lulu in the next few days and order a -final proof reading copy to verify that everything look like it should -before allowing everyone to order their own copy of Free Culture, in -English or Norwegian BokmÃ¥l. I'm waiting to give the the productive -proof readers a chance to complete their work.

Â«Rapporten ser ikke pÃ¥ informasjonssikkerhet knyttet til personlig integritetÂ»

27th June 2017

Jeg kom over teksten +Â«Killing +car privacy by federal mandateÂ» av Leonid Reyzin pÃ¥ Freedom to +Tinker i dag, og det gleder meg Ã¥ se en god gjennomgang om hvorfor det +er et urimelig inngrep i privatsfÃ¦ren Ã¥ la alle biler kringkaste sin +posisjon og bevegelse via radio. Det omtalte forslaget basert pÃ¥ +Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) kalles Basic Safety Message +(BSM) i USA og Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM) i Europa, og det +norske Vegvesenet er en av de som ser ut til Ã¥ kunne tenke seg Ã¥ +pÃ¥legge alle biler Ã¥ fjerne nok en bit av innbyggernes privatsfÃ¦re. +Anbefaler alle Ã¥ lese det som stÃ¥r der. + +

Mens jeg tittet litt pÃ¥ DSRC pÃ¥ biler i Norge kom jeg over et sitat +jeg synes er illustrativt for hvordan det offentlige Norge hÃ¥ndterer +problemstillinger rundt innbyggernes privatsfÃ¦re i SINTEF-rapporten +Â«Informasjonssikkerhet +i AutoPASS-brikkerÂ» av Trond Foss:

+ +

+Â«Rapporten ser ikke pÃ¥ informasjonssikkerhet knyttet til personlig + integritet.Â» +

+ +

SÃ¥ enkelt kan det tydeligvis gjÃ¸res nÃ¥r en vurderer +informasjonssikkerheten. Det holder vel at folkene pÃ¥ toppen kan si +at Â«Personvernet er ivaretattÂ», som jo er den populÃ¦re intetsigende +frasen som gjÃ¸r at mange tror enkeltindividers integritet tas vare pÃ¥. +Sitatet fikk meg til Ã¥ undres pÃ¥ hvor ofte samme tilnÃ¦rming, Ã¥ bare se +bort fra behovet for personlig itegritet, blir valgt nÃ¥r en velger Ã¥ +legge til rette for nok et inngrep i privatsfÃ¦ren til personer i +Norge. Det er jo sjelden det fÃ¥r reaksjoner. Historien om +reaksjonene pÃ¥ Helse SÃ¸r-Ãsts tjenesteutsetting er jo sÃ¸rgelig nok et +unntak og toppen av isfjellet, desverre. Tror jeg fortsatt takker nei +til bÃ¥de AutoPASS og holder meg sÃ¥ langt unna det norske helsevesenet +som jeg kan, inntil de har demonstrert og dokumentert at de verdsetter +individets privatsfÃ¦re og personlige integritet hÃ¸yere enn kortsiktig +gevist og samfunnsnytte.

- Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + Tags: norsk, personvern, sikkerhet.

@@ -255,32 +206,61 @@ proof readers a chance to complete their work.

In my hand, a pocket book edition of the Norwegian Free Culture book!

19th August 2015

Today, finally, my first printed draft edition of the Norwegian -translation of Free Culture I have been working on for the last few -years arrived in the mail. I had to fake a cover to get the interior -printed, and the exterior of the book look awful, but that is -irrelevant at this point. I asked for a printed pocket book version -to get an idea about the font sizes and paper format as well as how -good the figures and images look in print, but also to test what the -pocket book version would look like. After receiving the 500 page -pocket book, it became obvious to me that that pocket book size is too -small for this book. I believe the book is too thick, and several -tables and figures do not look good in the size they get with that -small page sizes. I believe I will go with the 5.5x8.5 inch size -instead. A surprise discovery from the paper version was how bad the -URLs look in print. They are very hard to read in the colophon page. -The URLs are red in the PDF, but light gray on paper. I need to -change the color of links somehow to look better. But there is a -printed book in my hand, and it feels great. :)

- -

Now I only need to fix the cover, wrap up the postscript with the -store behind the book, and collect the last corrections from the proof -readers before the book is ready for proper printing. Cover artists -willing to work for free and create a Creative Commons licensed vector -file looking similar to the original is most welcome, as my skills as -a graphics designer are mostly missing.

Updated sales number for my Free Culture paper editions

12th June 2017

It is pleasing to see that the work we put down in publishing new +editions of the classic Free +Culture book by the founder of the Creative Commons movement, +Lawrence Lessig, is still being appreciated. I had a look at the +latest sales numbers for the paper edition today. Not too impressive, +but happy to see some buyers still exist. All the revenue from the +books is sent to the Creative +Commons Corporation, and they receive the largest cut if you buy +directly from Lulu. Most books are sold via Amazon, with Ingram +second and only a small fraction directly from Lulu. The ebook +edition is available for free from +Github.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Title / language	Quantity
Title / language	2016 jan-jun	2016 jul-dec	2017 jan-may
Culture Libre / French	3	6	15
Fri kultur / Norwegian	7	1	0
Free Culture / English	14	27	16
Total	24	34	31

+ +

A bit sad to see the low sales number on the Norwegian edition, and +a bit surprising the English edition still selling so well.

+ +

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.

@@ -293,68 +273,59 @@ a graphics designer are mostly missing.

First paper version of the Norwegian Free Culture book heading my way

9th August 2015

Typesetting a book is harder than I hoped. As the translation is -mostly done, and a volunteer proof reader was going to check the text -on paper, it was time this summer to focus on formatting my translated -docbook based version of the -Free Culture book by Lawrence -Lessig. I've been trying to get both docboox-xsl+fop and dblatex to -give me a good looking PDF, but in the end I went with dblatex, because -its Debian maintainer and upstream developer were responsive and very -helpful in solving my formatting challenges.

- -

Last night, I finally managed to create a PDF that no longer made -Lulu.com complain after uploading, -and I ordered a text version of the book on paper. It is lacking a -proper book cover and is not tagged with the correct ISBN number, but -should give me an idea what the finished book will look like.

- -

Instead of using Lulu, I did consider printing the book using -CreateSpace, but ended up -using Lulu because it had smaller book size options (CreateSpace seem -to lack pocket book with extended distribution). I looked for a -similar service in Norway, but have not seen anything so far. Please -let me know if I am missing out on something here.

- -

But I still struggle to decide the book size. Should I go for -pocket book (4.25x6.875 inches / 10.8x17.5 cm) with 556 pages, Digest -(5.5x8.5 inches / 14x21.6 cm) with 323 pages or US Trade (6x8 inches / -15.3x22.9 cm) with 280 pages? Fewer pager give a cheaper book, and a -smaller book is easier to carry around. The test book I ordered was -pocket book sized, to give me an idea how well that fit in my hand, -but I suspect I will end up using a digest sized book in the end to -bring the prize down further.

- -

My biggest challenge at the moment is making nice cover art. My -inkscape skills are not yet up to the task of replicating the original -cover in SVG format. I also need to figure out what to write about -the book on the back (will most likely use the same text as the -description on web based book stores). I would love help with this, -if you are willing to license the art source and final version using -the same CC license as the book. My artistic skills are not really up -to the task.

- -

I plan to publish the book in both English and Norwegian and on -paper, in PDF form as well as EPUB and MOBI format. The current -status can as usual be found on -github -in the archive/ directory. So far I have spent all time on making the -PDF version look good. Someone should probably do the same with the -dbtoepub generated e-book. Help is definitely needed here, as I -expect to run out of steem before I find time to improve the epub -formatting.

- -

Please let me know via github if you find typos in the book or -discover translations that should be improved. The final proof -reading is being done right now, and I expect to publish the finished -result in a few months.

Release 0.1.1 of free software archive system Nikita announced

10th June 2017

I am very happy to report that the +Nikita Noark 5 +core project tagged its second release today. The free software +solution is an implementation of the Norwegian archive standard Noark +5 used by government offices in Norway. These were the changes in +version 0.1.1 since version 0.1.0 (from NEWS.md): + +

Continued work on the angularjs GUI, including document upload.
Implemented correspondencepartPerson, correspondencepartUnit and + correspondencepartInternal
Applied for coverity coverage and started submitting code on + regualr basis.
Started fixing bugs reported by coverity
Corrected and completed HATEOAS links to make sure entire API is + available via URLs in _links.
Corrected all relation URLs to use trailing slash.
Add initial support for storing data in ElasticSearch.
Now able to receive and store uploaded files in the archive.
Changed JSON output for object lists to have relations in _links.
Improve JSON output for empty object lists.
Now uses correct MIME type application/vnd.noark5-v4+json.
Added support for docker container images.
Added simple API browser implemented in JavaScript/Angular.
Started on archive client implemented in JavaScript/Angular.
Started on prototype to show the public mail journal.
Improved performance by disabling Sprint FileWatcher.
Added support for 'arkivskaper', 'saksmappe' and 'journalpost'.
Added support for some metadata codelists.
Added support for Cross-origin resource sharing (CORS).
Changed login method from Basic Auth to JSON Web Token (RFC 7519) + style.
Added support for GET-ing ny-* URLs.
Added support for modifying entities using PUT and eTag.
Added support for returning XML output on request.
Removed support for English field and class names, limiting ourself + to the official names.
...

+ +

If this sound interesting to you, please contact us on IRC (#nikita +on irc.freenode.net) or email +(nikita-noark +mailing list).

- Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + Tags: english, nuug, offentlig innsyn, standard.

@@ -362,63 +333,99 @@ result in a few months.

Typesetting DocBook footnotes as endnotes with dblatex

16th July 2015

I'm still working on the Norwegian version of the -Free Culture book by Lawrence -Lessig, and is now working on the final typesetting and layout. -One of the features I want to get the structure similar to the -original book is to typeset the footnotes as endnotes in the notes -chapter. Based on the -feedback from the Debian -maintainer and the dblatex developer, I came up with this recipe I -would like to share with you. The proposal was to create a new LaTeX -class file and add the LaTeX code there, but this is not always -practical, when I want to be able to replace the class using a make -file variable. So my proposal misuses the latex.begindocument XSL -parameter value, to get a small fragment into the correct location in -the generated LaTeX File.

- -

First, decide where in the DocBook document to place the endnotes, -and add this text there:

- -

-<?latex \theendnotes ?>
-

- -

Next, create a xsl stylesheet file dblatex-endnotes.xsl to add the -code needed to add the endnote instructions in the preamble of the -generated LaTeX document, with content like this:

- -

-<?xml version='1.0'?>
-<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'>
-  <xsl:param name="latex.begindocument">
-    <xsl:text>
-\usepackage{endnotes}
-\let\footnote=\endnote
-\def\enoteheading{\mbox{}\par\vskip-\baselineskip }
-\begin{document}
-    </xsl:text>
-  </xsl:param>
-</xsl:stylesheet>
-

- -

Finally, load this xsl file when running dblatex, for example like -this:

- -

-dblatex --xsl-user=dblatex-endnotes.xsl freeculture.nb.xml
-

- -

The end result can be seen on github, where -my -book project is located.

Idea for storing trusted timestamps in a Noark 5 archive

7th June 2017

This is a copy of +an +email I posted to the nikita-noark mailing list. Please follow up +there if you would like to discuss this topic. The background is that +we are making a free software archive system based on the Norwegian +Noark +5 standard for government archives.

+ +

I've been wondering a bit lately how trusted timestamps could be +stored in Noark 5. +Trusted +timestamps can be used to verify that some information +(document/file/checksum/metadata) have not been changed since a +specific time in the past. This is useful to verify the integrity of +the documents in the archive.

+ +

Then it occured to me, perhaps the trusted timestamps could be +stored as dokument variants (ie dokumentobjekt referered to from +dokumentbeskrivelse) with the filename set to the hash it is +stamping?

+ +

Given a "dokumentbeskrivelse" with an associated "dokumentobjekt", +a new dokumentobjekt is associated with "dokumentbeskrivelse" with the +same attributes as the stamped dokumentobjekt except these +attributes:

+ +

format -> "RFC3161" +
mimeType -> "application/timestamp-reply" +
formatDetaljer -> "<source URL for timestamp service>" +
filenavn -> "<sjekksum>.tsr" + +

+ +

This assume a service following +IETF RFC 3161 is +used, which specifiy the given MIME type for replies and the .tsr file +ending for the content of such trusted timestamp. As far as I can +tell from the Noark 5 specifications, it is OK to have several +variants/renderings of a dokument attached to a given +dokumentbeskrivelse objekt. It might be stretching it a bit to make +some of these variants represent crypto-signatures useful for +verifying the document integrity instead of representing the dokument +itself.

+ +

Using the source of the service in formatDetaljer allow several +timestamping services to be used. This is useful to spread the risk +of key compromise over several organisations. It would only be a +problem to trust the timestamps if all of the organisations are +compromised.

+ +

The following oneliner on Linux can be used to generate the tsr +file. $input is the path to the file to checksum, and $sha256 is the +SHA-256 checksum of the file (ie the ".tsr" value mentioned +above).

+ +

+openssl ts -query -data "$inputfile" -cert -sha256 -no_nonce \
+  | curl -s -H "Content-Type: application/timestamp-query" \
+      --data-binary "@-" http://zeitstempel.dfn.de > $sha256.tsr
+

+ +

To verify the timestamp, you first need to download the public key +of the trusted timestamp service, for example using this command:

+ +

+wget -O ca-cert.txt \
+  https://pki.pca.dfn.de/global-services-ca/pub/cacert/chain.txt
+

+ +

Note, the public key should be stored alongside the timestamps in +the archive to make sure it is also available 100 years from now. It +is probably a good idea to standardise how and were to store such +public keys, to make it easier to find for those trying to verify +documents 100 or 1000 years from now. :)

+ +

The verification itself is a simple openssl command:

+ +

+openssl ts -verify -data $inputfile -in $sha256.tsr \
+  -CAfile ca-cert.txt -text
+

+ +

Is there any reason this approach would not work? Is it somehow against +the Noark 5 specification?

- Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + Tags: english, offentlig innsyn, standard.

@@ -426,38 +433,61 @@ book project is located.

Mimes brÃ¸nn, norsk utgave av Alaveteli / WhatDoTheyKnow, endelig lansert

9th July 2015

I gÃ¥r fikk vi endelig lansert en norsk version av mySocietys -WhatDoTheyKnow. -Tjenesten heter Mimes brÃ¸nn, og ble -annonsert -av NUUG via blogg, epost og twitter til NUUG-assosierte personer. -Det har tatt noen Ã¥r, men de siste dagene fikk vi endelig tid til Ã¥ fÃ¥ -pÃ¥ plass de siste bitene. Vi er to, Gorm og meg selv, som har vÃ¦rt -primus motor for det hele, men vi har fÃ¥tt hjelp med oversettelser og -oppsett fra mange flere. Jeg vil si tusen takk til hver og en av dem, -og er veldig fornÃ¸yd med at vi klarte Ã¥ fÃ¥ tjenesten opp Ã¥ kjÃ¸re fÃ¸r -ferietiden slo inn for fullt.

- -

Vi er usikker pÃ¥ hvor mye belastning den virtuelle maskinen der -tjenesten kjÃ¸rer klarer, sÃ¥ vi har lansert litt i det stille og ikke -til for mange folk for Ã¥ se hvordan maskinen klarer seg over sommeren, -fÃ¸r vi gÃ¥r mer aktivt ut og annonserer til hÃ¸sten. Ta en titt, og se -om du kanskje har et spÃ¸rsmÃ¥l til det offentlige som er egnet Ã¥ sende -inn via Mimes brÃ¸nn.

- -

Hvis du lurer pÃ¥ hva i alle dager en slik tjenestes kan brukes til, -anbefaler jeg deg Ã¥ se -TED-foredraget til -Heather Brook om hvordan hun brukte WhatDoTheyKnow til Ã¥ lÃ¦re -hvordan offentlige midler ble misbrukt. Det er en inspirerende -historie.

NÃ¥r nynorskoversettelsen svikter til eksamen...

3rd June 2017

Aftenposten +melder i dag om feil i eksamensoppgavene for eksamen i politikk og +menneskerettigheter, der teksten i bokmÃ¥ls og nynorskutgaven ikke var +like. Oppgaveteksten er gjengitt i artikkelen, og jeg ble nysgjerring +pÃ¥ om den fri oversetterlÃ¸sningen +Apertium ville gjort en bedre +jobb enn Utdanningsdirektoratet. Det kan se slik ut.

+ +

Her er bokmÃ¥lsoppgaven fra eksamenen:

+ +

+
DrÃ¸ft utfordringene knyttet til nasjonalstatenes og andre aktÃ¸rers +rolle og muligheter til Ã¥ hÃ¥ndtere internasjonale utfordringer, som +for eksempel flykningekrisen.
+ +
Vedlegge er eksempler pÃ¥ tekster som kan gi relevante perspektiver +pÃ¥ temaet:
+
+
Flykningeregnskapet 2016, UNHCR og IDMC +
Â«GrenselÃ¸st Europa for fallÂ» A-Magasinet, 26. november 2015 +
+ +

+ +

Dette oversetter Apertium slik:

+ +

+
DrÃ¸ft utfordringane knytte til nasjonalstatane sine og rolla til +andre aktÃ¸rar og hÃ¸ve til Ã¥ handtera internasjonale utfordringar, som +til dÃ¸mes *flykningekrisen.
+ +
Vedleggja er dÃ¸me pÃ¥ tekster som kan gje relevante perspektiv pÃ¥ +temaet:
+ +
+
*Flykningeregnskapet 2016, *UNHCR og *IDMC
+
Â«*GrenselÃ¸st Europa for fallÂ» A-Magasinet, 26. november 2015
+
+ +

+ +

Ord som ikke ble forstÃ¥tt er markert med stjerne (*), og trenger +ekstra sprÃ¥ksjekk. Men ingen ord er forsvunnet, slik det var i +oppgaven elevene fikk presentert pÃ¥ eksamen. Jeg mistenker dog at +"andre aktÃ¸rers rolle og muligheter til ..." burde vÃ¦rt oversatt til +"rolla til andre aktÃ¸rar og deira hÃ¸ve til ..." eller noe slikt, men +det er kanskje flisespikking. Det understreker vel bare at det alltid +trengs korrekturlesning etter automatisk oversettelse.

- Tags: norsk, nuug, offentlig innsyn. + Tags: debian, norsk, stavekontroll.

@@ -465,268 +495,67 @@ historie.

MPEG LA on "Internet Broadcast AVC Video" licensing and non-private use

7th July 2015

After asking the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK) -why -they can broadcast and stream H.264 video without an agreement with -the MPEG LA, I was wiser, but still confused. So I asked MPEG LA -if their understanding matched that of NRK. As far as I can tell, it -does not.

- -

I started by asking for more information about the various -licensing classes and what exactly is covered by the "Internet -Broadcast AVC Video" class that NRK pointed me at to explain why NRK -did not need a license for streaming H.264 video: +

Epost inn som arkivformat i Riksarkivarens forskrift?

27th April 2017

I disse dager, med frist 1. mai, har Riksarkivaren ute en hÃ¸ring pÃ¥ +sin forskrift. Som en kan se er det ikke mye tid igjen fÃ¸r fristen +som gÃ¥r ut pÃ¥ sÃ¸ndag. Denne forskriften er det som lister opp hvilke +formater det er greit Ã¥ arkivere i +Noark +5-lÃ¸sninger i Norge.

+ +

Jeg fant hÃ¸ringsdokumentene hos +Norsk +ArkivrÃ¥d etter Ã¥ ha blitt tipset pÃ¥ epostlisten til +fri +programvareprosjektet Nikita Noark5-Core, som lager et Noark 5 +Tjenestegresesnitt. Jeg er involvert i Nikita-prosjektet og takket +vÃ¦re min interesse for tjenestegrensesnittsprosjektet har jeg lest en +god del Noark 5-relaterte dokumenter, og til min overraskelse oppdaget +at standard epost ikke er pÃ¥ listen over godkjente formater som kan +arkiveres. HÃ¸ringen med frist sÃ¸ndag er en glimrende mulighet til Ã¥ +forsÃ¸ke Ã¥ gjÃ¸re noe med det. Jeg holder pÃ¥ med +egen +hÃ¸ringsuttalelse, og lurer pÃ¥ om andre er interessert i Ã¥ stÃ¸tte +forslaget om Ã¥ tillate arkivering av epost som epost i arkivet.

+ +

Er du igang med Ã¥ skrive egen hÃ¸ringsuttalelse allerede? I sÃ¥ fall +kan du jo vurdere Ã¥ ta med en formulering om epost-lagring. Jeg tror +ikke det trengs sÃ¥ mye. Her et kort forslag til tekst:

-
According to -a -MPEG LA press release dated 2010-02-02, there is no charge when -using MPEG AVC/H.264 according to the terms of "Internet Broadcast AVC -Video". I am trying to understand exactly what the terms of "Internet -Broadcast AVC Video" is, and wondered if you could help me. What -exactly is covered by these terms, and what is not?
+
Viser til hÃ¸ring sendt ut 2017-02-17 (Riksarkivarens referanse + 2016/9840 HELHJO), og tillater oss Ã¥ sende inn noen innspill om + revisjon av Forskrift om utfyllende tekniske og arkivfaglige + bestemmelser om behandling av offentlige arkiver (Riksarkivarens + forskrift).
-
The only source of more information I have been able to find is a -PDF named -AVC -Patent Portfolio License Briefing, which states this about the -fees:
+
SvÃ¦rt mye av vÃ¥r kommuikasjon foregÃ¥r i dag pÃ¥ e-post.Â Vi + foreslÃ¥r derfor at Internett-e-post, slik det er beskrevet i IETF + RFC 5322, + https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5322. bÃ¸r + inn som godkjent dokumentformat.Â Vi foreslÃ¥r at forskriftens + oversikt over godkjente dokumentformater ved innlevering i Â§ 5-16 + endres til Ã¥ ta med Internett-e-post.
-
-
Where End User pays for AVC Video -
-
Subscription (not limited by title) â 100,000 or fewer - subscribers/yr = no royalty; > 100,000 to 250,000 subscribers/yr = - $25,000; >250,000 to 500,000 subscribers/yr = $50,000; >500,000 to - 1M subscribers/yr = $75,000; >1M subscribers/yr = $100,000
- -
Title-by-Title - 12 minutes or less = no royalty; >12 minutes in - length = lower of (a) 2% or (b) $0.02 per title
-
- -
Where remuneration is from other sources -
-
Free Television - (a) one-time $2,500 per transmission encoder or - (b) annual fee starting at $2,500 for > 100,000 HH rising to - maximum $10,000 for >1,000,000 HH
- -
Internet Broadcast AVC Video (not title-by-title, not subscription) - â no royalty for life of the AVC Patent Portfolio License
-
-
- -
Am I correct in assuming that the four categories listed is the -categories used when selecting licensing terms, and that "Internet -Broadcast AVC Video" is the category for things that do not fall into -one of the other three categories? Can you point me to a good source -explaining what is ment by "title-by-title" and "Free Television" in -the license terms for AVC/H.264?
- -
Will a web service providing H.264 encoded video content in a -"video on demand" fashing similar to Youtube and Vimeo, where no -subscription is required and no payment is required from end users to -get access to the videos, fall under the terms of the "Internet -Broadcast AVC Video", ie no royalty for life of the AVC Patent -Portfolio license? Does it matter if some users are subscribed to get -access to personalized services?
- -
Note, this request and all answers will be published on the -Internet.
-

- -

The answer came quickly from Benjamin J. Myers, Licensing Associate -with the MPEG LA:

- -

-
Thank you for your message and for your interest in MPEG LA. We -appreciate hearing from you and I will be happy to assist you.
- -
As you are aware, MPEG LA offers our AVC Patent Portfolio License -which provides coverage under patents that are essential for use of -the AVC/H.264 Standard (MPEG-4 Part 10). Specifically, coverage is -provided for end products and video content that make use of AVC/H.264 -technology. Accordingly, the party offering such end products and -video to End Users concludes the AVC License and is responsible for -paying the applicable royalties.
- -
Regarding Internet Broadcast AVC Video, the AVC License generally -defines such content to be video that is distributed to End Users over -the Internet free-of-charge. Therefore, if a party offers a service -which allows users to upload AVC/H.264 video to its website, and such -AVC Video is delivered to End Users for free, then such video would -receive coverage under the sublicense for Internet Broadcast AVC -Video, which is not subject to any royalties for the life of the AVC -License. This would also apply in the scenario where a user creates a -free online account in order to receive a customized offering of free -AVC Video content. In other words, as long as the End User is given -access to or views AVC Video content at no cost to the End User, then -no royalties would be payable under our AVC License.
- -
On the other hand, if End Users pay for access to AVC Video for a -specific period of time (e.g., one month, one year, etc.), then such -video would constitute Subscription AVC Video. In cases where AVC -Video is delivered to End Users on a pay-per-view basis, then such -content would constitute Title-by-Title AVC Video. If a party offers -Subscription or Title-by-Title AVC Video to End Users, then they would -be responsible for paying the applicable royalties you noted below.
- -
Finally, in the case where AVC Video is distributed for free -through an "over-the-air, satellite and/or cable transmission", then -such content would constitute Free Television AVC Video and would be -subject to the applicable royalties.
- -
For your reference, I have attached -a -.pdf copy of the AVC License. You will find the relevant -sublicense information regarding AVC Video in Sections 2.2 through -2.5, and the corresponding royalties in Section 3.1.2 through 3.1.4. -You will also find the definitions of Title-by-Title AVC Video, -Subscription AVC Video, Free Television AVC Video, and Internet -Broadcast AVC Video in Section 1 of the License. Please note that the -electronic copy is provided for informational purposes only and cannot -be used for execution.
- -
I hope the above information is helpful. If you have additional -questions or need further assistance with the AVC License, please feel -free to contact me directly.
-

- -

Having a fresh copy of the license text was useful, and knowing -that the definition of Title-by-Title required payment per title made -me aware that my earlier understanding of that phrase had been wrong. -But I still had a few questions:

- -

-
I have a small followup question. Would it be possible for me to get -a license with MPEG LA even if there are no royalties to be paid? The -reason I ask, is that some video related products have a copyright -clause limiting their use without a license with MPEG LA. The clauses -typically look similar to this: - -
- This product is licensed under the AVC patent portfolio license for - the personal and non-commercial use of a consumer to (a) encode - video in compliance with the AVC standard ("AVC video") and/or (b) - decode AVC video that was encoded by a consumer engaged in a - personal and non-commercial activity and/or AVC video that was - obtained from a video provider licensed to provide AVC video. No - license is granted or shall be implied for any other use. additional - information may be obtained from MPEG LA L.L.C. -
- -
It is unclear to me if this clause mean that I need to enter into -an agreement with MPEG LA to use the product in question, even if -there are no royalties to be paid to MPEG LA. I suspect it will -differ depending on the jurisdiction, and mine is Norway. What is -MPEG LAs view on this?
-

- -

According to the answer, MPEG LA believe those using such tools for -non-personal or commercial use need a license with them:

- -

- -
With regard to the Notice to Customers, I would like to begin by -clarifying that the Notice from Section 7.1 of the AVC License -reads:
- -
THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE AVC PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSE FOR -THE PERSONAL USE OF A CONSUMER OR OTHER USES IN WHICH IT DOES NOT -RECEIVE REMUNERATION TO (i) ENCODE VIDEO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AVC -STANDARD ("AVC VIDEO") AND/OR (ii) DECODE AVC VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED -BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM -A VIDEO PROVIDER LICENSED TO PROVIDE AVC VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED -OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE -OBTAINED FROM MPEG LA, L.L.C. SEE HTTP://WWW.MPEGLA.COM
- -
The Notice to Customers is intended to inform End Users of the -personal usage rights (for example, to watch video content) included -with the product they purchased, and to encourage any party using the -product for commercial purposes to contact MPEG LA in order to become -licensed for such use (for example, when they use an AVC Product to -deliver Title-by-Title, Subscription, Free Television or Internet -Broadcast AVC Video to End Users, or to re-Sell a third party's AVC -Product as their own branded AVC Product).
- -
Therefore, if a party is to be licensed for its use of an AVC -Product to Sell AVC Video on a Title-by-Title, Subscription, Free -Television or Internet Broadcast basis, that party would need to -conclude the AVC License, even in the case where no royalties were -payable under the License. On the other hand, if that party (either a -Consumer or business customer) simply uses an AVC Product for their -own internal purposes and not for the commercial purposes referenced -above, then such use would be included in the royalty paid for the AVC -Products by the licensed supplier.
- -
Finally, I note that our AVC License provides worldwide coverage in -countries that have AVC Patent Portfolio Patents, including -Norway.
- -
I hope this clarification is helpful. If I may be of any further -assistance, just let me know.

The mentioning of Norwegian patents made me a bit confused, so I -asked for more information:

Som del av arbeidet med tjenestegrensesnitt har vi testet hvordan +epost kan lagres i en Noark 5-struktur, og holder pÃ¥ Ã¥ skrive et +forslag om hvordan dette kan gjÃ¸res som vil bli sendt over til +arkivverket sÃ¥ snart det er ferdig. De som er interesserte kan +fÃ¸lge +fremdriften pÃ¥ web.

- -
But one minor question at the end. If I understand you correctly, -you state in the quote above that there are patents in the AVC Patent -Portfolio that are valid in Norway. This make me believe I read the -list available from <URL: -http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/PatentList.aspx -> incorrectly, as I believed the "NO" prefix in front of patents -were Norwegian patents, and the only one I could find under Mitsubishi -Electric Corporation expired in 2012. Which patents are you referring -to that are relevant for Norway?
- -

- -

Again, the quick answer explained how to read the list of patents -in that list:

- -

- -
Your understanding is correct that the last AVC Patent Portfolio -Patent in Norway expired on 21 October 2012. Therefore, where AVC -Video is both made and Sold in Norway after that date, then no -royalties would be payable for such AVC Video under the AVC License. -With that said, our AVC License provides historic coverage for AVC -Products and AVC Video that may have been manufactured or Sold before -the last Norwegian AVC patent expired. I would also like to clarify -that coverage is provided for the country of manufacture and the -country of Sale that has active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents.
- -
Therefore, if a party offers AVC Products or AVC Video for Sale in -a country with active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents (for example, -Sweden, Denmark, Finland, etc.), then that party would still need -coverage under the AVC License even if such products or video are -initially made in a country without active AVC Patent Portfolio -Patents (for example, Norway). Similarly, a party would need to -conclude the AVC License if they make AVC Products or AVC Video in a -country with active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents, but eventually Sell -such AVC Products or AVC Video in a country without active AVC Patent -Portfolio Patents.
-

- -

As far as I understand it, MPEG LA believe anyone using Adobe -Premiere and other video related software with a H.264 distribution -license need a license agreement with MPEG LA to use such tools for -anything non-private or commercial, while it is OK to set up a -Youtube-like service as long as no-one pays to get access to the -content. I still have no clear idea how this applies to Norway, where -none of the patents MPEG LA is licensing are valid. Will the -copyright terms take precedence or can those terms be ignored because -the patents are not valid in Norway?

Oppdatering 2017-04-28: I dag ble hÃ¸ringuttalelsen jeg skrev + sendt + inn av foreningen NUUG.

- Tags: english, h264, multimedia, opphavsrett, standard, video, web. + Tags: norsk, offentlig innsyn, standard.

@@ -734,62 +563,52 @@ the patents are not valid in Norway?

New laptop - some more clues and ideas based on feedback

5th July 2015

Several people contacted me after my previous blog post about my -need for a new laptop, and provided very useful feedback. I wish to -thank every one of these. Several pointed me to the possibility of -fixing my X230, and I am already in the process of getting Lenovo to -do so thanks to the on site, next day support contract covering the -machine. But the battery is almost useless (I expect to replace it -with a non-official battery) and I do not expect the machine to live -for many more years, so it is time to plan its replacement. If I did -not have a support contract, it was suggested to find replacement parts -using FrancEcrans, but it -might present a language barrier as I do not understand French.

- -

One tip I got was to use the -Skinflint web service to -compare laptop models. It seem to have more models available than -prisjakt.no. Another tip I got from someone I know have similar -keyboard preferences was that the HP EliteBook 840 keyboard is not -very good, and this matches my experience with earlier EliteBook -keyboards I tested. Because of this, I will not consider it any further. - -

When I wrote my blog post, I was not aware of Thinkpad X250, the -newest Thinkpad X model. The keyboard reintroduces mouse buttons -(which is missing from the X240), and is working fairly well with -Debian Sid/Unstable according to -Corsac.net. The reports I -got on the keyboard quality are not consistent. Some say the keyboard -is good, others say it is ok, while others say it is not very good. -Those with experience from X41 and and X60 agree that the X250 -keyboard is not as good as those trusty old laptops, and suggest I -keep and fix my X230 instead of upgrading, or get a used X230 to -replace it. I'm also told that the X250 lack leds for caps lock, disk -activity and battery status, which is very convenient on my X230. I'm -also told that the CPU fan is running very often, making it a bit -noisy. In any case, the X250 do not work out of the box with Debian -Stable/Jessie, one of my requirements.

- -

I have also gotten a few vendor proposals, one was -Pro-Star, another was -Libreboot. -The latter look very attractive to me.

- -

Again, thank you all for the very useful feedback. It help a lot -as I keep looking for a replacement.

- -

Update 2015-07-06: I was recommended to check out the -lapstore.de web shop for used laptops. They got several -different -old -thinkpad X models, and provide one year warranty.

Offentlig elektronisk postjournal blokkerer tilgang for utvalgte webklienter

20th April 2017

Jeg oppdaget i dag at nettstedet som +publiserer offentlige postjournaler fra statlige etater, OEP, har +begynt Ã¥ blokkerer enkelte typer webklienter fra Ã¥ fÃ¥ tilgang. Vet +ikke hvor mange det gjelder, men det gjelder i hvert fall libwww-perl +og curl. For Ã¥ teste selv, kjÃ¸r fÃ¸lgende:

+ +

+% curl -v -s https://www.oep.no/pub/report.xhtml?reportId=3 2>&1 |grep '< HTTP'
+< HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
+% curl -v -s --header 'User-Agent:Opera/12.0' https://www.oep.no/pub/report.xhtml?reportId=3 2>&1 |grep '< HTTP'
+< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
+%
+

+ +

Her kan en se at tjenesten gir Â«404 Not FoundÂ» for curl i +standardoppsettet, mens den gir Â«200 OKÂ» hvis curl hevder Ã¥ vÃ¦re Opera +versjon 12.0. Offentlig elektronisk postjournal startet blokkeringen +2017-03-02.

+ +

Blokkeringen vil gjÃ¸re det litt vanskeligere Ã¥ maskinelt hente +informasjon fra oep.no. Kan blokkeringen vÃ¦re gjort for Ã¥ hindre +automatisert innsamling av informasjon fra OEP, slik Pressens +Offentlighetsutvalg gjorde for Ã¥ dokumentere hvordan departementene +hindrer innsyn i +rapporten +Â«Slik hindrer departementer innsynÂ» som ble publiserte i januar +2017. Det virker usannsynlig, da det jo er trivielt Ã¥ bytte +User-Agent til noe nytt.

+ +

Finnes det juridisk grunnlag for det offentlige Ã¥ diskriminere +webklienter slik det gjÃ¸res her? Der tilgang gis eller ikke alt etter +hva klienten sier at den heter? Da OEP eies av DIFI og driftes av +Basefarm, finnes det kanskje noen dokumenter sendt mellom disse to +aktÃ¸rene man kan be om innsyn i for Ã¥ forstÃ¥ hva som har skjedd. Men +postjournalen +til DIFI viser kun to dokumenter det siste Ã¥ret mellom DIFI og +Basefarm. +Mimes brÃ¸nn neste, +tenker jeg.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: norsk, offentlig innsyn.

@@ -797,42 +616,101 @@ thinkpad X models, and provide one year warranty.

Time to find a new laptop, as the old one is broken after only two years

3rd July 2015

My primary work horse laptop is failing, and will need a -replacement soon. The left 5 cm of the screen on my Thinkpad X230 -started flickering yesterday, and I suspect the cause is a broken -cable, as changing the angle of the screen some times get rid of the -flickering.

- -

My requirements have not really changed since I bought it, and is -still as -I -described them in 2013. The last time I bought a laptop, I had -good help from -prisjakt.no -where I could select at least a few of the requirements (mouse pin, -wifi, weight) and go through the rest manually. Three button mouse -and a good keyboard is not available as an option, and all the three -laptop models proposed today (Thinkpad X240, HP EliteBook 820 G1 and -G2) lack three mouse buttons). It is also unclear to me how good the -keyboard on the HP EliteBooks are. I hope Lenovo have not messed up -the keyboard, even if the quality and robustness in the X series have -deteriorated since X41.

- -

I wonder how I can find a sensible laptop when none of the options -seem sensible to me? Are there better services around to search the -set of available laptops for features? Please send me an email if you -have suggestions.

- -

Update 2015-07-23: I got a suggestion to check out the FSF -list -of endorsed hardware, which is useful background information.

Free software archive system Nikita now able to store documents

19th March 2017

The Nikita +Noark 5 core project is implementing the Norwegian standard for +keeping an electronic archive of government documents. +The +Noark 5 standard document the requirement for data systems used by +the archives in the Norwegian government, and the Noark 5 web interface +specification document a REST web service for storing, searching and +retrieving documents and metadata in such archive. I've been involved +in the project since a few weeks before Christmas, when the Norwegian +Unix User Group +announced +it supported the project. I believe this is an important project, +and hope it can make it possible for the government archives in the +future to use free software to keep the archives we citizens depend +on. But as I do not hold such archive myself, personally my first use +case is to store and analyse public mail journal metadata published +from the government. I find it useful to have a clear use case in +mind when developing, to make sure the system scratches one of my +itches.

+ +

If you would like to help make sure there is a free software +alternatives for the archives, please join our IRC channel +(#nikita on +irc.freenode.net) and +the +project mailing list.

+ +

When I got involved, the web service could store metadata about +documents. But a few weeks ago, a new milestone was reached when it +became possible to store full text documents too. Yesterday, I +completed an implementation of a command line tool +archive-pdf to upload a PDF file to the archive using this +API. The tool is very simple at the moment, and find existing +fonds, series and +files while asking the user to select which one to use if more than +one exist. Once a file is identified, the PDF is associated with the +file and uploaded, using the title extracted from the PDF itself. The +process is fairly similar to visiting the archive, opening a cabinet, +locating a file and storing a piece of paper in the archive. Here is +a test run directly after populating the database with test data using +our API tester:

+ +

+~/src//noark5-tester$ ./archive-pdf mangelmelding/mangler.pdf
+using arkiv: Title of the test fonds created 2017-03-18T23:49:32.103446
+using arkivdel: Title of the test series created 2017-03-18T23:49:32.103446
+
+ 0 - Title of the test case file created 2017-03-18T23:49:32.103446
+ 1 - Title of the test file created 2017-03-18T23:49:32.103446
+Select which mappe you want (or search term): 0
+Uploading mangelmelding/mangler.pdf
+  PDF title: Mangler i spesifikasjonsdokumentet for NOARK 5 Tjenestegrensesnitt
+  File 2017/1: Title of the test case file created 2017-03-18T23:49:32.103446
+~/src//noark5-tester$
+

+ +

You can see here how the fonds (arkiv) and serie (arkivdel) only had +one option, while the user need to choose which file (mappe) to use +among the two created by the API tester. The archive-pdf +tool can be found in the git repository for the API tester.

+ +

In the project, I have been mostly working on +the API +tester so far, while getting to know the code base. The API +tester currently use +the HATEOAS links +to traverse the entire exposed service API and verify that the exposed +operations and objects match the specification, as well as trying to +create objects holding metadata and uploading a simple XML file to +store. The tester has proved very useful for finding flaws in our +implementation, as well as flaws in the reference site and the +specification.

+ +

The test document I uploaded is a summary of all the specification +defects we have collected so far while implementing the web service. +There are several unclear and conflicting parts of the specification, +and we have +started +writing down the questions we get from implementing it. We use a +format inspired by how The +Austin Group collect defect reports for the POSIX standard with +their +instructions for the MANTIS defect tracker system, in lack of an official way to structure defect reports for Noark 5 (our first submitted defect report was a request for a procedure for submitting defect reports :). + +

The Nikita project is implemented using Java and Spring, and is +fairly easy to get up and running using Docker containers for those +that want to test the current code base. The API tester is +implemented in Python.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: english, nuug, offentlig innsyn, standard.

@@ -847,6 +725,54 @@ of endorsed hardware, which is useful background information.

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