-

12th June 2013

-

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

Which free software do you use daily?

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

-

- - - Tags: debian edu, english, intervju. - - -

-

Fixing the Linux black screen of death on machines with Intel HD video

-

11th June 2013

-

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

The resulting intel_quirks entry would then look like this:

- -

-struct intel_quirk intel_quirks[] = {
-       ...
-        /* Packard Bell EasyNote LV11HC needs invert brightness quirk */
-	{ 0x0156, 0x1025, 0x0688, quirk_invert_brightness },
-       ...
-}
-

- -

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

- -

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

-

- - - Tags: debian, english. - - -

-

Third alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy

-

10th June 2013

-

The third wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +

First beta release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy

+

27th July 2013

+

The first wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up today. This is the release announcement:

-

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

+

New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b0 released +2013-07-27

-

This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu -alpha2, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

+

These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~b0, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

@@ -291,19 +50,29 @@ than 60 educational software packages and more are available from the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE and Xfce desktop environment.

-

This is the third test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +

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

+

ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the +versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta +release.

+

Software updates

Iceweasel was updated from 10 to 17. (DSA 2699-1) -
Updated libxv (DSA-2674), libxvmc (DSA-2675), libxfixes (DSA-2676), libxrender (DSA-2677), mesa (DSA-2678), xserver-xorg-video-openchrome (DSA-2679), libxt (DSA-2680), libxcursor (DSA-2681), libxext (DSA-2682), libxi (DSA-2683), libxrandr (DSA-2684), libxp (DSA-2685), libxcb (DSA-2686), libfs (DSA-2687), libxres (DSA-2688), libxtst (DSA-2689), libxxf86dga (DSA-2690), libxinerama (DSA-2691), libxxf86vm (DSA-2692), libx11 (DSA-2693), chromium-browser (DSA-2695), gnutls26 (DSA-2697), wireshark (DSA-2700), krb5 (DSA-2701), telepathy-gabble (DSA-2702) and subversion (DSA-2703). -
Switched xrdp on thin client servers to use tightvncserver instead of xvnc4. -
Now install software oscilloscope xoscope by default. -
Now install music tools gtick, lingot and pianobooster by default. +
Switched roaming workstation profiles from wicd to network-manager + for network configuration, as wicd didn't work any more.
Changed version numbers of patched gosa and libpam-mklocaluser + packages to make sure our locally patched versions will be replaced + by the official packages when they are released from Debian. Those + installing alpha version need to reinstall or manually downgrade gosa + and libpam-mklocaluser.
Added bluetooth tools to the default desktop (bluedevil, blueman).
Added tools for sharing the desktop on KDE (krdc, krfb).
Added valgrind to the default installation for easier debugging of + crash bugs.

@@ -311,66 +80,68 @@ Squeeze release.

The subnet-change script is now able to change all files needing a change on the main-server when changing the IP network used. -
Updated translation of the installation. -
New Romanian translation. -
Fix security problem causing root and first user password to no longer show up in /var/cache/debconf/templates.dat. -
Fix roaming workstation setup (Closed in libpam-mklocaluser/0.8, libpam-mklocaluser/0.8~deb7u1: #706753: libpam-mklocaluser: Fail to create local user during first login). -
Made roaming workstation setup more robust in non-Debian Edu environments. -
New script debian-edu-bless to transform a Debian installation to a Debian Edu profile. -
Adjust Iceweasel setup to improve performance when $HOME is on NFS. -
More testsuite tests. -
Make automatic proxy configuration more robust. -
Adjust GOsaÂ² GUI configuration. +
Fixed artwork package to work with gnome, no longer break + desktop=gnome installations.
Adjusted installer to now work when forced to use a proxy with the + netinst CD.
Fixed code detecting and setting/loading hardware specific + setup/firmware to work more robust out of the box.
Adjusted Kerberos setup to detect realm and server settings at + install time instead of dynamically at run time. This avoid a crash + with krb5-auth-dialog on diskless workstations without a DNS name.
Worked around misfeature in network-manager not calling the dhclient + exit hooks, causing automatic proxy configuration and automatic host + name setting at run time to work again.
Fixed feature setting the default Iceweasel start page from URL + fetched from LDAP, to allow schools to set the global default by + updating the dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no LDAP object.
Changed default host name on all networked machines to be unique + (generated from MAC or reverse DNS) after boot.
Adjusted partition sizes to make sure they are big enough.
Update thin client and diskless workstation setup to work with -LTSP in Wheezy.

-

Diskless workstations now run out of the box -- no need to set -them up with GOsaÂ².

+

Known issues

-

Update IMAP server setup.

+

Fix login into Skolelinux Backup Tool (Closed in -slbackup-php/0.4.4-1: #700257: slbackup-php: Fails to submit correctly -entered password).
Grub is missing the new artwork.
KDE fail to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to + not use the http proxy as it should.
Chromium also fail to use the proxy.

-

Known issues

+

Where to get it

-

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

DVD binary and source images are not yet ready.

No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) -available yet (Open in gosa/2.7.4-4: #698840: gosa-plugin-ldapmanager: -missing import feature).
ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso
Missing artwork for the KDE desktop (and probably a few others).
http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso
KDE Debian submenu lacks icons (Closed: #502192: menu-xdg: invents -own icon names instead of using existing). This will remain -unfixed.
rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso .

Where to get it

The MD5SUM of this image is: 55d5de9765b6dccd5d9ec33cf1a07109 +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 996a1d9517740e4d627d100de2d12b23dd545a3f

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso
http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso
rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso .
ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso
http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso
rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso .

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

The MD5SUM of this image is: d8f0818c51a78d357de794066f289f69 +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 49185ca354e8d0543240423746924f76a6cee733

How to report bugs

-

Is there a PHP expert in the building? Debian Edu need help!

-

5th June 2013

-

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

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

- -

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

-

- - - Tags: debian edu, english. - - -

-

Debian Edu interview: CÃ©dric Boutillier

-

4th June 2013

-

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

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

- -

What amazed me was the complete network infrastructure directly -ready to use, which can and the nice administration interface provided -by GOsaÂ². What pleased -me also was the fact that among the software installed by default, -there were many "traditional" educative software to learn languages, -to count, to program... but also software to develop creativity and -artistic skills with music (Ardour, -Audacity) and -movies/animation (I was especially thinking of -Stopmotion).

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

Which free software do you use daily?

- -

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

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

- -

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

+

How to fix a Thinkpad X230 with a broken 180 GB SSD disk

+

17th July 2013

+

Today I switched to +my +new laptop. I've previously written about the problems I had with +my new Thinkpad X230, which was delivered with an +180 +GB Intel SSD disk with Lenovo firmware that did not handle +sustained writes. My hardware supplier have been very forthcoming in +trying to find a solution, and after first trying with another +identical 180 GB disks they decided to send me a 256 GB Samsung SSD +disk instead to fix it once and for all. The Samsung disk survived +the installation of Debian with encrypted disks (filling the disk with +random data during installation killed the first two), and I thus +decided to trust it with my data. I have installed it as a Debian Edu +Wheezy roaming workstation hooked up with my Debian Edu Squeeze main +server at home using Kerberos and LDAP, and will use it as my work +station from now on.

+ +

As this is a solid state disk with no moving parts, I believe the +Debian Wheezy default installation need to be tuned a bit to increase +performance and increase life time of the disk. The Linux kernel and +user space applications do not yet adjust automatically to such +environment. To make it easier for my self, I created a draft Debian +package ssd-setup to handle this tuning. The +source +for the ssd-setup package is available from collab-maint, and it +is set up to adjust the setup of the machine by just installing the +package. If there is any non-SSD disk in the machine, the package +will refuse to install, as I did not try to write any logic to sort +file systems in SSD and non-SSD file systems.

+ +

I consider the package a draft, as I am a bit unsure how to best +set up Debian Wheezy with an SSD. It is adjusted to my use case, +where I set up the machine with one large encrypted partition (in +addition to /boot), put LVM on top of this and set up partitions on +top of this again. See the README file in the package source for the +references I used to pick the settings. At the moment these +parameters are tuned:

drgeo and -kig to do -constructions in planar geometry +
Set up cryptsetup to pass TRIM commands to the physical disk + (adding discard to /etc/crypttab)
kali -to discover symmetry groups (the so-called wallpapers and frieze -groups), although the interface looks a bit old.
Set up LVM to pass on TRIM commands to the underlying device (in + this case a cryptsetup partition) by changing issue_discards from + 0 to 1 in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf.

+

Set relatime as a file system option for ext3 and ext4 file + systems.

-

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

- -

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

+

Tell swap to use TRIM commands by adding 'discard' to + /etc/fstab.

-

My suggestions would be to

+

Change I/O scheduler from cfq to deadline using a udev rule.

-

Run fstrim on every ext3 and ext4 file system every night (from + cron.daily).
advertise the reduction of costs when free software is used.
communicate about the quality of free software projects, using - well known examples like Firefox, ThunderBird and - OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice.
advertise the living and strong community around the project.
show that it is not more difficult to use than any other - system.
Adjust sysctl values vm.swappiness to 1 and vm.vfs_cache_pressure + to 50 to reduce the kernel eagerness to swap out processes.

+ +

During installation, I cancelled the part where the installer fill +the disk with random data, as this would kill the SSD performance for +little gain. My goal with the encrypted file system is to ensure +those stealing my laptop end up with a brick and not a working +computer. I have no hope in keeping the really resourceful people +from getting the data on the disk (see +XKCD #538 for an explanation why). +Thus I concluded that adding the discard option to crypttab is the +right thing to do.

+ +

I considered using the noop I/O scheduler, as several recommended +it for SSD, but others recommended deadline and a benchmark I found +indicated that deadline might be better for interactive use.

+ +

I also considered using the 'discard' file system option for ext3 +and ext4, but read that it would give a performance hit ever time a +file is removed, and thought it best to that that slowdown once a day +instead of during my work.

+ +

My package do not set up tmpfs on /var/run, /var/lock and /tmp, as +this is already done by Debian Edu.

+ +

I have not yet started on the user space tuning. I expect +iceweasel need some tuning, and perhaps other applications too, but +have not yet had time to investigate those parts.

+ +

The package should work on Ubuntu too, but I have not yet tested it +there.

+ +

As for the answer to the question in the title of this blog post, +as far as I know, the only solution I know about is to replace the +disk. It might be possible to flash it with Intel firmware instead of +the Lenovo firmware. But I have not tried and did not want to do so +without approval from Lenovo as I wanted to keep the warranty on the +disk until a solution was found and they wanted the broken disks +back.

- Tags: debian edu, english, intervju. + Tags: debian, english.

@@ -572,69 +271,54 @@ get schools to use free software?

-

Ãpent mÃ¸te pÃ¥ onsdag om bruken av Microsoft Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo

-

3rd June 2013

-

Jeg jobber til daglig ved Universitetet -i Oslo, en institusjon som lenge har vektlagt verdien av Ã¥pne -standarder og fri programvare. Men noe har endret seg, og for en -liten stund tilbake annonserte USIT at dagens fungerende e-postsystemet -basert pÃ¥ fri programvare skulle byttes ut med Microsoft Exchange og -at Microsoft Outlook skulle bli den best fungerende men antagelig ikke -eneste stÃ¸ttede e-postklienten. Annonseringen har fÃ¸rt til flere -protester og en -underskriftskampanje, initiert av Diana Santos, der sÃ¥ langt 253 -personer har signert. Prosjektet -NIKE (Ny integrert -kalender/e-post) ble initiert for Ã¥ se pÃ¥ mulige lÃ¸sninger med -utgangspunkt i at en kombinert epost/kalenderlÃ¸sning var pÃ¥krevd, og -prosjektet -NIKE-implementasjon -er igang med Ã¥ rulle ut MS Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo.

- -

For kun kort tid siden ble det annonsert at det blir et Ã¥pent mÃ¸te -med ledelsen hos universitetet i Oslo med disse planene som tema:

- -

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

- -

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

- -

Saken har fÃ¸rt til endel presseoppslag sÃ¥ langt. Her er de jeg har -fÃ¥tt med meg:

- -

2013-05-29 - Forsvarer - nytt IT-system - Universitas
2013-05-23 - UiO - innfÃ¸rer nytt epost- og kalenderverktÃ¸y - Uniforum
2013-05-22 - Protestgruppe - vil stanse IT-system - Universitas
2013-05-15 - UiO - mÃ¥ ha kontroll over sitt eget epostsystem - Uniforum

- - +

Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB with Lenovo firmware still lock up from sustained writes

+

10th July 2013

+

A few days ago, I wrote about +the +problems I experienced with my new X230 and its SSD disk, which +was dying during installation because it is unable to cope with +sustained write. My supplier is in contact with +Lenovo, and they wanted to send a +replacement disk to try to fix the problem. They decided to send an +identical model, so my hopes for a permanent fix was slim.

+ +

Anyway, today I got the replacement disk and tried to install +Debian Edu Wheezy with encrypted disk on it. The new disk have the +same firmware version as the original. This time my hope raised +slightly as the installation progressed, as the original disk used to +die after 4-7% of the disk was written to, while this time it kept +going past 10%, 20%, 40% and even past 50%. But around 60%, the disk +died again and I was back on square one. I still do not have a new +laptop with a disk I can trust. I can not live with a disk that might +lock up when I download a new +Debian Edu / Skolelinux ISO or +other large files. I look forward to hearing from my supplier with +the next proposal from Lenovo.

+ +

The original disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNME35X1TR, ISN: CVCV321407HB180EGN, SA: G57560302, FW: +LF1i, 29MAY2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40002756C4, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.

+ +

The replacement disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNDE34N0L0, ISN: CVCV315306RK180EGN, SA: G57560-302, FW: +LF1i, 22APR2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40000AB69E, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.

+ +

The only difference is in the first number (serial number?), ISN, +SA, date and WNPP values. Mentioning all the details here in case +someone is able to use the information to find a way to identify the +failing disk among working ones (if any such working disk actually +exist).

- Tags: norsk, standard. + Tags: debian, english.

@@ -642,137 +326,257 @@ fÃ¥tt med meg:

-

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

-

1st June 2013

-

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

- - - -

field::arts

-

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

+

July 13th: Debian/Ubuntu BSP and Skolelinux/Debian Edu developer gathering in Oslo

+

9th July 2013

+

The upcoming Saturday, 2013-07-13, we are organising a combined +Debian Edu developer gathering and Debian and Ubuntu bug squashing +party in Oslo. It is organised by the +member assosiation NUUG and +the Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project together with the hack space +Bitraf.

+ +

It starts 10:00 and continue until late evening. Everyone is +welcome, and there is no fee to participate. There is on the other +hand limited space, and only room for 30 people. Please put your name +on the event +wiki page if you plan to join us.

+

+ + + Tags: debian, debian edu, english, nuug. + + +

+

+ +

+

The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230?

+

5th July 2013

+

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+

+ + + Tags: debian, english. + + +

+

+ +

+

The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230

+

4th July 2013

+

Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a replacement for my +trusty old Thinkpad X41. Unfortunately I did not have much time to +spend on it, but today the replacement finally arrived. I ended up +picking a Thinkpad +X230 with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu +Wheezy as a roaming workstation, and it worked flawlessly. As I write +this, it is installing what I hope will be a more final installation, +with a encrypted hard drive to ensure any dope head stealing it end up +with an expencive door stop.

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

I look forward to figuring out how to turn off the touch pad.

+

+ + + Tags: debian, english. + + +

+

+ +

+

Fourth alpha release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy

+

3rd July 2013

+

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

-

field::astronomy

-

- - - - - - -

+

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

-

field::biology:structural

-

- -

+

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

-

field::chemistry

-

- - - - - - - - - -[viewmol] - -

+

About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

-

field::electronics

-

- -[gpsim] -

+

Debian Edu, also known as +Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an +out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school +network. Immediately after installation a school server running all +services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users +and machines being added via GOsaÂ², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting +environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of +the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be +installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP +database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home +directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The +desktop contains +more +than 60 educational software packages and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.

-

field::geography

-

- - - -

+

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

-

field::linguistics

-

- - - - - -

+

Software updates

+

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

+

Other changes

+

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

+

Known issues

+

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

+

Where to get it

-

field::mathematics

-

- - - - -[geomview] - - - - - - - - - - - - -

+

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

+

ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso
http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso
rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso .

-

field::physics

-

- - -

+

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

-

field::TODO

-

- - - - - - - - - - -

+

To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

+

ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso
http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso
rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso .

-

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

+

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

+ +

How to report bugs

+ +

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

@@ -785,53 +589,70 @@ debian-edu@.

-

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

-

27th May 2013

-

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

Automatically locate and install required firmware packages on Debian (Isenkram 0.4)

+

25th June 2013

+

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

-

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

+

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

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

@@ -839,41 +660,50 @@ Michael Tokarev and others for feedback and ideas.

-

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

-

25th May 2013

-

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

- -

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

- -

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

- -

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

+

The value of a good distro wide test suite...

+

22nd June 2013

+

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

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

@@ -881,127 +711,143 @@ on new Laptops?

-

Skolelinux-intervju: Nirosan Thiyagalingam

-

24th May 2013

-

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

- -

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

- -

Jeg heter Nirosan Thiyagalingam. Jeg er 24 Ã¥r og studerer -dataingeniÃ¸r studiet ved HÃ¸gskolen i SÃ¸r TrÃ¸ndelag. Interessen for -data har siden ung alder vÃ¦rt tilstede og jeg har i tillegg alltid -vÃ¦rt glad i Ã¥ lÃ¦re nye ting. Med teknologi som endres svÃ¦rt hurtig er -det alltid noe nytt Ã¥ lÃ¦re. Noe som igjen har gjort det svÃ¦rt -interessant Ã¥ fÃ¸lge med pÃ¥ utviklingen. Jeg valgte dataingeniÃ¸r -studiet grunnet Ã¸nske om Ã¥ lÃ¦re enda mer om programmering og utvikling -av store systemer.

- -

Hvordan kom du i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet?

- -

Skolelinux prosjektet hÃ¸rte jeg fÃ¸rst om i media. Men det var fÃ¸rst -nÃ¥r jeg skulle velge bacheloroppgave at jeg fattet mer interesse for -prosjektet. Et enkelt sÃ¸k pÃ¥ nettet fÃ¸rte meg til skolelinux sine -hjemmesider. Informasjonen jeg fant der gjorde meg enda nysgjerrig og -jeg valgte derfor en oppgave som gikk ut pÃ¥ Ã¥ fÃ¥ en -Raspberry PI. AltsÃ¥ en -ultra-billig datamaskin til Ã¥ kjÃ¸re Debian Edu pÃ¥ lik linje med -vanlige datamaskiner. I lÃ¸pet av prosjektet ble det gjort mye -forskning pÃ¥ nettet. Det var mye jeg mÃ¥tte forstÃ¥ rundt hvordan -operativsystemet Linux fungerte fÃ¸r jeg kunne angripe -problemet. PrÃ¸vde fÃ¸rst Ã¥ finne ut hvordan man kunne transformere en -vanlig installasjon av Skolelinux til Raspberry PI, men dette var -altfor vanskelig Ã¥ jeg endte opp med mer spÃ¸rsmÃ¥l enn svar. Det ble -videre opprettet kontakt med Skolelinux utviklere pÃ¥ IRC der jeg fikk -diskutert hvilken retning jeg burde gÃ¥ for Ã¥ fÃ¥ til en fullverdig -lÃ¸sning. Det ble bestemt at jeg skulle gÃ¥ for Ã¥ fÃ¸rst installere -Raspian. Dette er et -operativsystem basert pÃ¥ Debian spesiallaget for Raspberry Pi sin -maskinvare. NÃ¥ som Debian var installert pÃ¥ datamaskinen gjenstod det -Ã¥ installere de nÃ¸dvendige Skolelinux pakkene for Ã¥ fÃ¥ til et -fullverdig system. Disse pakkene ble installert manuelt i fÃ¸rste -omgang, men ble senere installert automatisk via et script som Petter -Reinholdtsen laget. Dette scriptet er sÃ¥ enkel Ã¥ bruke at man er i -gang med installasjonen i lÃ¸pet av bare 5 minutter. Ikke nok med det, -alt skjer helt automatisk. Alt i alt er jeg veldig fornÃ¸yd med -resultatet av installasjonsprosessen. Raspberry Pi er en veldig svak -maskin og det merkes godt nÃ¥r man har installert Skolelinux pÃ¥ -den. Video og 3D-rendering fungerer utrolig dÃ¥rlig, men nettsurfing og -kontorprogrammer fungerer godt. Det kan derfor konkluderes med at -datamaskinen er egnet for enkle oppgaver. - -

Jeg syns det er viktig pÃ¥peke at dette kun er startfasen av en slik -lÃ¸sning. PÃ¥ markedet finnes det nÃ¥ maskiner som har bedre hardware enn -Raspberry Pi. Det er store muligheter for at man kan klare Ã¥ -installere Skolelinux pÃ¥ disse ogsÃ¥, og da forsvinner nok mest -sannsynlig ytelsesproblemene med Video og 3D rendering ogsÃ¥.

- -

Det ble ogsÃ¥ prÃ¸vd med en lÃ¸sning som gjorde at Raspberry Pi -fungerte som en tynnklient. Denne lÃ¸sningen hadde langt bedre ytelse -med tanke pÃ¥ hastighet og brukeropplevelse. Men ogsÃ¥ her var video og -3D rendering dÃ¥rlig. Det ble brukt en liten Linux distribusjon kalt -BerryTerminal for Ã¥ fÃ¥ til -dette.

- -

Hva er fordelene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

- -

Fordelen med Skolelinux er mange. At det er gratis er en stor -fordel, men at det er sÃ¥ mange som er med pÃ¥ Ã¥ utvikle det og -vedlikeholde det er en enda stÃ¸rre fordel. Allerede fÃ¸r jeg startet -med prosjektet sÃ¥ jeg mange fordeler, og nÃ¥r jeg nÃ¦rmet meg sluttfasen -sÃ¥ jeg langt flere. At prosjektet skulle inneha en sÃ¥ hÃ¸y kvalitet -hadde jeg aldri trodd. En vanlig Skolelinux installasjon har de -nÃ¸dvendige programmene og funksjonen som bÃ¥de smÃ¥ og store skoler i -tillegg til organisasjoner kan klare seg med. At prosjektet tilbyr en -sÃ¥ komplett lÃ¸sning er en kjempefordel. Installasjonen er knirkefri -og det er svÃ¦rt enkelt Ã¥ installere og komme i gang.

- -

Hva er ulempene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

- -

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

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Hvilken fri programvare bruker du til daglig?

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

- -

Hvilken strategi tror du er den rette Ã¥ bruke for Ã¥ fÃ¥ -skoler til Ã¥ ta i bruk fri programvare?

- -

Strategien som burde brukes sett fra mine Ã¸yne er -markedsfÃ¸ring. Jeg er sikker pÃ¥ at om flere skoler fikk et lite innsyn -i hvor bra Skolelinux er sÃ¥ ville de ikke nÃ¸lt med Ã¥ gÃ¥ over fra noe -annet som koster de store summer. At skolelinux til de grader tilbyr -en sÃ¥ komplett lÃ¸sning bure komme frem. Enten via reklamekampanjer -eller ved Ã¥ sende ut folk til skoler for sÃ¥ Ã¥ la skolenettverk -ansvarlige fÃ¥ teste ut hvordan Skolelinux fungerer i praksis. Om det -i tillegg ble utviklet gode websider og en emulator for Ã¥ la brukere -prÃ¸ve operativsystemet ville nok dette ha styrket inntrykket -betraktelig.

+

Debian Edu interview: Victor NiÈu

+

17th June 2013

+

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

Which free software do you use daily?

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

- Tags: debian edu, intervju, norsk. + Tags: debian edu, english, intervju.

@@ -1029,7 +875,9 @@ betraktelig.

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@@ -1179,9 +1027,9 @@ betraktelig.

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