X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/86659c5291389ad55a717dda82db7ddff04ab8d7..008e8a93d16efb112922aa70c1d17d6912e75b18:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index b9e87adb5e..3728590138 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -7,751 +7,946 @@ - Sandy Island - øya som er synlig hver tirsdag og fredag? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sandy_Island____ya_som_er_synlig_hver_tirsdag_og_fredag_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sandy_Island____ya_som_er_synlig_hver_tirsdag_og_fredag_.html - Sun, 7 Apr 2013 08:50:00 +0200 - <p>For en stund tilbake gikk nyheten om -<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Island,_New_Caledonia">Sandy -Island</a>, en øy som var dukket opp på noen kart, men som ikke var -synlig når en sjekket den på satellittbilder. Dagbladet meldte for -eksempel at -«<a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2012/11/22/nyheter/google_maps/google/utenriks/internett/24496816/">denne -øya finnes på kart, men ikke i virkeligheten</a>». Noe senere begynte -jeg å lese -<a href="http://www.gyldendal.no/Barn-og-ungdom/3-6-aar/Den-store-Ruffen-boken">historier -om Ruffen</a> til mine barn. Dette er historier om sjøormen Ruffen -skapt av Tor Åge Bringsværd, som starter med følgende beskrivelse:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -«Langt ute i havet ligger en mystisk øy. Den er bare synlig hver -tirsdag og fredag. Derfor står den ikke på noe kart. På denne øye -ligger et slott, og i slottet bor en gammel, fin sjøormfamilie.» -</blockquote></p> - -<p>Det virker åpenbart at Hr. Bringsværd tok feil når han trodde den -ikke var på noe kart, og at noen tydeligvis har vært i nærheten en -tirsdag eller en fredag og fått den med på et kart, mens -satellittbildene er tatt på noen av de fem andre dagene i uka og -dermed ikke ser øya. :)</p> - -<p>I følge -<a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2012/12/03/nyheter/sandy_island/forskning/utenriks/24662158/">en -senere artikkel i Dagbladet</a> hevder Shaun Higgins, en forsker fra -New Zealand, at et hvalfangstskip fra 1876 er opprinnelsen til at -spøkelsesøya i det hele tatt havnet på kartet. Det fremgår ikke fra -historien hvilken ukedag de var innom.</p> - -<p>Jeg har stor sans for Tor Åge Bringsværd. Og han viste nylig en -svært fin side av seg selv da han sa ja til EFNs forespørsel om å gi -ut novellen <a href="http://www.efn.no/kodemus/">Kodémus</a> med -Creative Commons-lisens.</p> + Fourth alpha release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fourth_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fourth_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + Wed, 3 Jul 2013 14:00:00 +0200 + <p>The fourth wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:</p> + +<p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~alpha3 released +2013-07-03</strong></p> + +<p>These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~alpha3, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p> + +<p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as +Skolelinux</a>, 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 GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting +environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of +the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be +installed via the network. 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 +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more +than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.</p> + +<p>This is the fourth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.</p> + +<p><strong>Software updates</strong></p> +<ul> + <li>Dropped ispell dictionaries from our default installation.</li> + <li>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.</li> + <li>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.</li> + <li>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.</li> + <li>Dropped the golearn (from goplay) package as the debtags in wheezy + are too few to make the package useful.</li> +</ul> +<p><strong>Other changes</strong></p> +<ul> + <li>Updated artwork matching http://wiki.debian.org/DebianArt/Themes/Joy + <li>Multi-arch i386/amd64 USB stick ISO available.</li> + <li>Got rid of ispell/wordlist related debconf questions that showed + up for some language options.</li> + <li>Switched to using http.debian.net as APT source by default.</li> + <li>Fixed proxy configuration on Main Server installations.</li> + <li>Changed LTSP setup to ask dpkg to use force-unsafe-io the same way + d-i is doing it.</li> + <li>Made sure root and user passwords were not left behind in the + debconf database after installation on Main Server installations.</li> + <li>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.</li> + <li>Update system to install needed firmware packages during + installation, to work properly in Wheezy.</li> + <li>Update system to handle hardware quirks (debian-edu-hwsetup).</li> + <li>Corrected PXE installation setup to properly pass selected desktop + and keymap settings to PXE installation clients.</li> + <li>LTSP diskless workstations use sshfs by default, allowing them to + work without adding them to DNS and NIS netgroups for NFS access.</li> +</ul> +<p><strong>Known issues</strong></p> +<ul> + <li>No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) + available yet (698840).</li> + <li>Artwork not enabled for all desktops.</li> +</ul> +<p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p> + +<p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p> +<ul> + <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso</a></li> + <li><a href="http://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</a></li> + <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso .</li> +</ul> + +<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 2b161a99d2a848c376d8d04e3854e30c +<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 498922e9c508c0a7ee9dbe1dfe5bf830d779c3c8</p> + +<p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use</p> +<ul> + <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso</a></li> + <li><a href="http://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</a></li> + <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso .</li> +</ul> + +<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 25e808e403a4c15dbef1d13c37d572ac +<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 15ecfc93eb6b4f453b7eb0bc04b6a279262d9721</p> + +<p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a></p> - Isenkram 0.2 finally in the Debian archive - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Isenkram_0_2_finally_in_the_Debian_archive.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Isenkram_0_2_finally_in_the_Debian_archive.html - Wed, 3 Apr 2013 23:40:00 +0200 - <p>Today the <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">Isenkram -package</a> finally made it into the archive, after lingering in NEW -for many months. I uploaded it to the Debian experimental suite -2013-01-27, and today it was accepted into the archive.</p> - -<p>Isenkram is a system for suggesting to users what packages to -install to work with a pluggable hardware device. The suggestion pop -up when the device is plugged in. For example if a Lego Mindstorm NXT -is inserted, it will suggest to install the program needed to program -the NXT controller. Give it a go, and report bugs and suggestions to -BTS. :)</p> + Automatically locate and install required firmware packages on Debian (Isenkram 0.4) + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_locate_and_install_required_firmware_packages_on_Debian__Isenkram_0_4_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_locate_and_install_required_firmware_packages_on_Debian__Isenkram_0_4_.html + Tue, 25 Jun 2013 11:50:00 +0200 + <p>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 +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">Isenkram package</a> +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:</p> + +<p><pre> +# 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) ... +# +</pre></p> + +<p>When all the requested firmware is present, a simple message is +printed instead:</p> + +<p><pre> +# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware +info: did not find any firmware files requested by loaded kernel modules. exiting +# +</pre></p> + +<p>It could use some polish, but it is already working well and saving +me some time when setting up new machines. :)</p> + +<p>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 +<tt>apt-get install</tt>. The end result is a slightly better working +machine.</p> + +<p>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 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/655507">BTS report +#655507</a>. 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.</p> - EFN nyutgir novellen Kodémus av Tor Åge Bringsværd - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/EFN_nyutgir_novellen_Kod_mus_av_Tor__ge_Bringsv_rd.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/EFN_nyutgir_novellen_Kod_mus_av_Tor__ge_Bringsv_rd.html - Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:50:00 +0100 - <p>For noen dager siden nevnte jeg at vi jobbet med å typesette en -novelle med <a href="http://www.docbook.org/">DocBook</a>. I dag ble -utgivelsen annonsert med følgende pressemelding fra Elektronisk -Forpost Norge), som jeg gjengir i sin helhet:</p> - -<p><blockquote> - -<p><strong>EFN nyutgir Kodémus:</strong></p> - -<p><strong>Tor Åge Bringsværd-novelle om IT og overvåkning fra -informasjonsteknologiens spedbarndom får nytt liv</strong></p> - -<p>Elektronisk Forpost Norge (EFN) er veldig glad for anledningen til -å nyutgi Tor Åge Bringsværds novelle Kodémus i digitalt format for nye -(og gamle) generasjoner. Novellen ble skrevet så tidlig som vinteren -1968, og første gang trykt i novellesamlingen Probok på Gyldendal -samme år.</p> - -<p>Informasjonsteknologi spiller en sentral rolle i Kodémus, og det er -spennende å sammenligne beskrivelsen av IT fra 1968 med dagens IT i -2013. Forskjellene er mange -- men det er jammen likhetene også. Ikke -minst det at idag går jo nesten alle rundt med lillebrødre på seg!</p> - -<p>"Riktignok er det ikke påbudt å ha mobil," sier Thomas Gramstad, -leder i EFN. "Men vi holder på å lage et samfunn der det blir så -upraktisk eller tungvint å ikke ha det, at man i praksis ikke slipper -unna. Og disse lillebrødrene sladrer hele tiden til staten (og til -mange andre) om hvor vi er, hva vi gjør, hva vi bryr oss om, hva vi -liker..."</p> - -<p>Det at Kodémus åpenbart er skrevet i en annen tid med en annen type -IT og likevel virker så relevant idag, er i seg selv et hardtslående -tankekors.</p> - -<p>Tross sitt IT-tema fantes ikke Kodémus i elektronisk form, og -frivillige i EFN har skannet inn, OCR-tolket og korrekturlest -novellen, og deretter kodet den i en rekke digitale formater.</p> - -<p>Forfatteren har gitt tillatelse til publisering av Kodémus under ny -lisens, og novellen utgis av EFN med en Creative Commons (CC) -fribrukslisens (nærmere bestemt lisensen CC-BY-NC-ND). For leserne -eller brukerne innebærer dette at de får en klar og standardisert -beskjed om hvilke rettigheter de har til å dele novellen videre med -andre. For forfatteren innebærer dette økt synlighet og -tilgjengelighet for verket, slik at det ikke blir glemt, da -søkemotorer og nettlesere inneholder egne søkevalg for CC-lisenser, og -mange brukere søker etter verk som de vet de kan dele og bruke på -lovlig vis.</p> - -<p>EFN oppfordrer andre forfattere om å gi ut sine gamle tekster med -en fribrukslisens, slik at tekstene ikke blir glemt og for å stimulere -lovlig deling på nettet. EFN kan være behjelpelig med digitalisering -og utlegging på nett, i den grad det finnes kapasitet blant EFNs -medlemmer til dette. Vi mener at nyutgivelser av tekster under frie -lisenser kan øke interessen rundt forfatterskapet, og vil gjerne bidra -til dette.</p> - -<p>EFN utgir og deler med dette en novelle fra den digitale -informasjonsteknologiens tidligste barndom. En novelle som fortsatt er -full av vitalitet og aktualitet, og som derfor kan bidra til, og gi -ettertanke i dagens debatter om IT, personvern, overvåkning og -individets frihet og integritet.</p> - -<p>Du finner novellen her: -<br><a href="http://efn.no/kodemus/">http://efn.no/kodemus/</a></p> - -<p>i flere forskjellige formater, for ulike plattformer. Per idag -finnes novellen i disse formatene: EPUB, MOBI, XML, HTML, PDF og -txt. Det kan bli flere formater senere, og evt. frivillige -bidragsytere til dette er velkommen.</p> - -<p>Kontaktperson for denne pressemeldingen,</p> - -<p>Thomas Gramstad -<br>thomas@efn.no -<br>4817 6875</p> - -<hr> - -<p>EFN arbeider for dine borgerrettigheter i IT-samfunnet, for -nettverks- og delingskultur, personvern og frihet fra overvåkning, -åpne standarder, brukerstyrt programvare, retten til å kopiere, og -styrking av det digitale sivilsamfunnet m.m. -<br><a href="http://efn.no/">www.efn.no</a></p> - -</blockquote></p> - -<p>Jeg håper flere forfattere ser verdien av å gjøre kulturen -tilgjengelig for flere, og slår følge med Hr. Bringsværd i å gi ut -sine verker med bruksvilkår med færre bruksbegrensinger enn -opphavsretten legger opp til. Selv om jeg gjerne skulle sett at han -hadde brukt en Creative Commons-lisens som tillot avledede verker og -kommersiell bruk.</p> + The value of a good distro wide test suite... + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_value_of_a_good_distro_wide_test_suite___.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_value_of_a_good_distro_wide_test_suite___.html + Sat, 22 Jun 2013 07:00:00 +0200 + <p>In the <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / +Skolelinux</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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 ad 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.</p> + +<p>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 <tt>/usr/sbin/debian-edu-test-install</tt> and see if +any errors are detected. This usually pinpoint the subsystem causing +the problem.</p> + +<p>If you want to help us help kids learn how to share and create, +please join us on +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu on +irc.debian.org</a> and the +<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/">debian-edu@</a> mailing +list.</p> - Change the font, save the world (and save some money in the process) - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Change_the_font__save_the_world__and_save_some_money_in_the_process_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Change_the_font__save_the_world__and_save_some_money_in_the_process_.html - Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:10:00 +0100 - <p>Would you like to help the environment and save money at the same -time, without much sacrifice? A small step could be to change the -font you use when printing.</p> - -<p>Three years ago, -<a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2010/04/last-year-printer-comparison-website/">Ars -Technica</a> reported how the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay -changed their default front from -<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arial">Arial</a> to -<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_Gothic">Century -Gothic</a> to save money. The Century Gothic font uses 30% less toner -than Arial to print the same text. In other word, you could cut your -toner costs by 30% (or actually, increase your toner supply life time -by more than 30%), by simply changing the default font used in your -prints.</p> - -<p>But it is not quite obvious how much one will safe by switching. -The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay said it used $100,000 per year -on ink and toner cartridges, according to -<a href="http://www.twincities.com/ci_14833097">a report from -TwinCities.com</a>, and expected to save between $5,000 and $10,000 -per year by asking staff and students to use a different font. Not -all PDFs and documents are created internally, and those from external -sources will most likely still use a different font. Also, the -Century Gothic font is slightly wider than Arial, and thus might use -more sheets of paper to print the same text, so the total saving -depend on the documents printed.</p> - -<p>But it is definitely something to consider, if you want to reduce -the amount of trash, decrease the amount of toner used in the world, -and save some money in the process.</p> + Debian Edu interview: Victor Nițu + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Victor_Ni_u.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Victor_Ni_u.html + Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:50:00 +0200 + <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and +Skolelinux</a> distribution have users and contributors all around the +globe. And a while back, an enterprising young man showed up on +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">our IRC channel +#debian-edu</a> 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.</p> + +<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> + +<p>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 <strike>beer</strike> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <a href="http://ceata.org/">Fundația Ceata</a>, which is a free +software activist organisation endorsed by the FSF and the FSFE, and +the only one we have in our country.</p> + +<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu +project?</strong></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> + +<p>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!), +<a href="http://www.claws-mail.org/‎">Claws Mail</a> due to its ease of +use and very configurable behaviour. Recently I fell in love with +<a href="https://launchpad.net/redshift">Redshift</a>, 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!</p> + +<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?</strong></p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<ul> + +<li>schools would like to get rid of proprietary software</li> + +<li>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?</li> + +<li>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!)</li> + +<li>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? ;-)</li> + +</ul> + +<p>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.</p> - Typesetting a short story using docbook for PDF, HTML and EPUB - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Typesetting_a_short_story_using_docbook_for_PDF__HTML_and_EPUB.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Typesetting_a_short_story_using_docbook_for_PDF__HTML_and_EPUB.html - Sun, 24 Mar 2013 17:30:00 +0100 - <p>A few days ago, during a discussion in -<a href="http://www.efn.no/">EFN</a> about interesting books to read -about copyright and the data retention directive, a suggestion to read -the 1968 short story Kodémus by -<a href="http://web2.gyldendal.no/toraage/">Tore Åge Bringsværd</a> -came up. The text was only available in old paper books, and thus not -easily available for current and future generations. Some of the -people participating in the discussion contacted the author, and -reported back 2013-03-19 that the author was OK with releasing the -short story using a <a href="http://www.creativecommons.org/">Creative -Commons</a> license. The text was quickly scanned and OCR-ed, and we -were ready to start on the editing and typesetting.</p> - -<p>As I already had some experience formatting text in my project to -provide a Norwegian version of the Free Culture book by Lawrence -Lessig, I chipped in and set up a -<a href="http://www.docbook.org/">DocBook</a> processing framework to -generate PDF, HTML and EPUB version of the short story. The tools to -transform DocBook to different formats are already in my Linux -distribution of choice, <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>, so -all I had to do was to use the -<a href="http://dblatex.sourceforge.net/">dblatex</a>, -<a href="http://docbook.sourceforge.net/release/xsl/current/epub/README">dbtoepub</a> -and <a href="https://fedorahosted.org/xmlto/">xmlto</a> tools to do the -conversion. After a few days, we decided to replace dblatex with -xsltproc/fop (aka -<a href="http://wiki.docbook.org/DocBookXslStylesheets">docbook-xsl</a>), -to get the copyright information to show up in the PDF and to get a -nicer &lt;variablelist&gt; typesetting, but that is just a minor -technical detail.</p> - -<p>There were a few challenges, of course. We want to typeset the -short story to look like the original, and that require fairly good -control over the layout. The original short story have three -parts/scenes separated by a single horizontally centred star (*), and -the paragraphs do not contain only flowing text, but dialogs and text -that started on a new line in the middle of the paragraph.</p> - -<p>I initially solved the first challenge by using a paragraph with a -single star in it, ie &lt;para&gt;*&lt;/para&gt;, but it made sure a -placeholder indicated where the scene shifted. This did not look too -good without the centring. The next approach was to create a new -preprocessor directive &lt;?newscene?&gt;, mapping to "&lt;hr/&gt;" -for HTML and "&lt;fo:block text-align="center"&gt;&lt;fo:leader -leader-pattern="rule" rule-thickness="0.5pt"/&gt;&lt;/fo:block&gt;" -for FO/PDF output (did not try to implement this in dblatex, as we had -switched at this time). The HTML XSL file looked like this:</p> - -<p><blockquote><pre> -&lt;?xml version='1.0'?&gt; -&lt;xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'&gt; - &lt;xsl:template match="processing-instruction('newscene')"&gt; - &lt;hr/&gt; - &lt;/xsl:template&gt; -&lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt; -</pre></blockquote></p> - -<p>And the FO/PDF XSL file looked like this:</p> - -<p><blockquote><pre> -&lt;?xml version='1.0'?&gt; -&lt;xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'&gt; - &lt;xsl:template match="processing-instruction('newscene')"&gt; - &lt;fo:block text-align="center"&gt; - &lt;fo:leader leader-pattern="rule" rule-thickness="0.5pt"/&gt; - &lt;/fo:block&gt; - &lt;/xsl:template&gt; -&lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt; -</pre></blockquote></p> - -<p>Finally, I came across the &lt;bridgehead&gt; tag, which seem to be -a good fit for the task at hand, and I replaced &lt;?newscene?&gt; -with &lt;bridgehead&gt;*&lt;/bridgehead&gt;. It isn't centred, but we -can fix it with some XSL rule if the current visual layout isn't -enough.</p> - -<p>I did not find a good DocBook compliant way to solve the -linebreak/paragraph challenge, so I ended up creating a new processor -directive &lt;?linebreak?&gt;, mapping to &lt;br/&gt; in HTML, and -&lt;fo:block/&gt; in FO/PDF. I suspect there are better ways to do -this, and welcome ideas and patches on github. The HTML XSL file now -look like this:</p> - -<p><blockquote><pre> -&lt;?xml version='1.0'?&gt; -&lt;xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'&gt; - &lt;xsl:template match="processing-instruction('linebreak)"&gt; - &lt;br/&gt; - &lt;/xsl:template&gt; -&lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt; -</pre></blockquote></p> - -<p>And the FO/PDF XSL file looked like this:</p> - -<p><blockquote><pre> -&lt;?xml version='1.0'?&gt; -&lt;xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0' - xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"&gt; - &lt;xsl:template match="processing-instruction('linebreak)"&gt; - &lt;fo:block/&gt; - &lt;/xsl:template&gt; -&lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt; -</pre></blockquote></p> - -<p>One unsolved challenge is our wish to expose different ISBN numbers -per publication format, while keeping all of them in some conditional -structure in the DocBook source. No idea how to do this, so we ended -up listing all the ISBN numbers next to their format in the colophon -page.</p> - -<p>If you want to check out the finished result, check out the -<a href="https://github.com/sickel/kodemus">source repository at -github</a> -(<a href="https://github.com/EFN/kodemus">future/new/official -repository</a>). We expect it to be ready and announced in a few -days.</p> + Debian Edu interview: Jonathan Carter + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Jonathan_Carter.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Jonathan_Carter.html + Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:50:00 +0200 + <p>There is a certain cross-over between the +<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project</a> and <a href="http://www.edubuntu.org/">the Edubuntu +project</a>, 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.</p> + +<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> + +<p>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 :)</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu +project?</strong></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>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)</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> + +<p>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 :)</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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) + +<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?</strong></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> - Regjeringen, FAD og DIFI går inn for å fjerne ODF som obligatorisk standard i det offentlige - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Regjeringen__FAD_og_DIFI_g_r_inn_for___fjerne_ODF_som_obligatorisk_standard_i_det_offentlige.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Regjeringen__FAD_og_DIFI_g_r_inn_for___fjerne_ODF_som_obligatorisk_standard_i_det_offentlige.html - Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:10:00 +0100 - <p>I -<a href="http://standard.difi.no/hoyring/forslag-om-endring-av-forskrift-om-it-standarder-i-offentlig-forvaltning">siste -høring</a> om -<a href="http://standard.difi.no/forvaltningsstandarder">referansekatalogen -for IT-standarder i offentlig sektor</a>, med høringsfrist 2012-09-30 -(DIFI-sak 2012/498), ble det foreslått å fjerne ODF som obligatorisk -standard når en publiserte dokumenter som skulle kunne redigeres -videre av mottaker. NUUG og andre protesterte på forslaget, som er et -langt steg tilbake når det gjelder å sikre like rettigheter for alle -når en kommuniserer med det offentlige. For noen dager siden ble jeg -oppmerksom på at Direktoratet for forvaltning og IKT (DIFI) og -Fornyings-,administrasjons- og kirkedepartementet (FAD) har -konkludert, og oversendt forslag til regjeringen i saken. FADs -dokument -<a href="http://www.oep.no/search/result.html?period=none&descType=both&caseNumber=2012%2F2168&senderType=both&documentType=all&list2=94&searchType=advanced&Search=S%C3%B8k+i+journaler">2012/2168</a>-8, -«Utkast til endring av standardiseringsforskriften» datert 2013-02-06 -har følgende triste oppsummering fra høringen i saken:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -Det kom noen innvendinger på forslaget om å fjerne ODF som -obligatorisk standard for redigerbare dokumenter. Innvendingene har -ikke blitt ilagt avgjørende vekt. -</blockquote></p> - -<p>Ved å fjerne ODF som obligatorisk format ved publisering av -redigerbare dokumenter setter en Norge tiår tilbake. Det som vil skje -er at offentlige etater går tilbake til kun å publisere dokumenter på -et av de mange formatene til Microsoft Office, og alle som ikke -aksepterer bruksvilkårene til Microsoft eller ikke har råd til å bruke -penger på å få tilgang til Microsoft Office må igjen basere seg på -verktøy fra utviklerne som er avhengig av å reversutvikle disse -formatene. I og med at ISO-spesifikasjonen for OOXML ikke komplett og -korrekt spesifiserer formatene til MS Office (men er nyttige å titte i -når en reversutvikler), er en tilbake til en situasjon der en ikke har -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fri_og__pen_standard__slik_Digistan_ser_det.html">en -fri og åpen standard</a> å forholde seg til, men i stedet må springe -etter Microsoft. Alle andre leverandører enn Microsoft vil dermed ha -en seriøs ulempe. Det er som å fjerne krav om bruk av meter som -måleenhet, og heretter aksepterer alle måleenheter som like gyldige, -når en vet at den mest brukte enheten vil være armlengden til Steve -Ballmer slik Microsoft måler den.</p> - -<p>Jeg er ikke sikker på om forslaget er vedtatt av regjeringen ennå. -Kristian Bergem hos DIFI nevnte på et møte forrige tirsdag at han -trodde det var vedtatt i statsråd 8. mars, men jeg har ikke klart å -finne en skriftlig kilde på regjeringen.no som bekrefter dette. -Kanskje det ennå ikke er for sent...</p> - -<p>Jeg ba i forrige uke om innsyn i dokument 6, 7 og 8 i FAD-saken, og -har i dag fått innsyn i dokument 7 og 8. Ble nektet innsyn i -dokumentet med tittelen «Oppsummering av høring om endringer i -forskrift om IT-standarder i offentlig forvaltning» med hjemmel i -off. lovens §15.1, så det er vanskelig å vite hvordan argumentene fra -høringen ble mottatt og forstått av saksbehandleren hos DIFI. Lurer -på hvordan jeg kan klage på at jeg ikke fikk se oppsummeringen. Fikk -tre PDFer tilsendt fra FAD, -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/pub/offentliginnsyn/from-FAD/20130115%20Notat%20FAD%20-%20EHF.pdf%20(L)(889185).pdf">Endring av underversjon i EHF</a>, -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/pub/offentliginnsyn/from-FAD/Bakgrunnsnotat%20knyttet%20til%20versjon%20av%20EHF%20standarden%20i%20Forskrift%20om%20IT-standarder%20i%20offentlig%20sektor.pdf">Bakgrunnsnotat knyttet til versjon av EHF standarden i Forskrift om IT-standarder i offentlig sektor</a> og -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/pub/offentliginnsyn/from-FAD/Utkast%20Kongelig%20resolusjon.docx%20(L)(898064).pdf">Utkast til endring av standardiseringsforskriften</a>, hvis du vil ta en titt.</p> + Fixing the Linux black screen of death on machines with Intel HD video + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fixing_the_Linux_black_screen_of_death_on_machines_with_Intel_HD_video.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fixing_the_Linux_black_screen_of_death_on_machines_with_Intel_HD_video.html + Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0200 + <p>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 +<a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Packard Bell +EasyNote LV</a>, Thinkpad X40 and many other laptops.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<pre> +echo options i915 invert_brightness=1 | tee /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf +update-initramfs -u -k all +</pre> + +<p>Since March 2012 there is +<a href="http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=4dca20efb1a9c2efefc28ad2867e5d6c3f5e1955">a +mechanism in the Linux kernel</a> 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 +<a href="http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c">the +intel_quirks array</a> in the driver source +<tt>drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c</tt> (look for "<tt>static +struct intel_quirk intel_quirks</tt>"), specifying the PCI device +number (vendor number 8086 is assumed) and subdevice vendor and device +number.</p> + +<p>My Packard Bell EasyNote LV got this output from <tt>lspci +-vvnn</tt> for the video card in question:</p> + +<p><pre> +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- \ + <TAbort- <MAbort->SERR- <PERR- INTx- + Latency: 0 + Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 42 + Region 0: Memory at c2000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M] + Region 2: Memory at b0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M] + Region 4: I/O ports at 4000 [size=64] + Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] + Capabilities: <access denied> + Kernel driver in use: i915 +</pre></p> + +<p>The resulting intel_quirks entry would then look like this:</p> + +<p><pre> +struct intel_quirk intel_quirks[] = { + ... + /* Packard Bell EasyNote LV11HC needs invert brightness quirk */ + { 0x0156, 0x1025, 0x0688, quirk_invert_brightness }, + ... +} +</pre></p> + +<p>According to the kernel module instructions (as seen using +<tt>modinfo i915</tt>), information about hardware needing the +invert_brightness flag should be sent to the +<a href="http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/dri-devel">dri-devel +(at) lists.freedesktop.org</a> mailing list to reach the kernel +developers. But my email about the laptop sent 2013-06-03 have not +yet shown up in +<a href="http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/dri-devel/2013-June/thread.html">the +web archive for the mailing list</a>, 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 +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/710938">BTS report #710938</a>, to make +sure the patch is not lost.</p> + +<p>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 +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/711237">BTS report #711237</a>, 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).</p> - Skolelinux 6 got a video review from Pcwizz - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux_6_got_a_video_review_from_Pcwizz.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux_6_got_a_video_review_from_Pcwizz.html - Sun, 17 Mar 2013 10:30:00 +0100 - <p>Via -<a href="https://twitter.com/pcwizz/status/313044373262716930">twitter</a> -I just discovered that <a href="http://pcwizz.net/">Pcwizz</a> have -done a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPzTZ61Pcuc">video -review</a> on Youtube of <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux -/ Debian Edu</a> version 6. He installed the standalone profile and -the video show a walk-through of of the menu content, demonstration of -a few programs and his view of our distribution.</p> - -<p>There is also some really nice quotes (transcribed by me, might -have heard wrong). While looking thought the Graphics menu:</p> - -<blockquote> -"Basically everything you ever need in a school environment." -</blockquote> - -<p>And as a general evaluation of the entire distribution:</p> - -<blockquote> -"So, yeah, a bit bloated. It kept all the Debian stuff in there, just -to keep it nice and GNU. So, I do not want to go on about it, but -lets give it 7 out of 10. I am not going to use it. That is because -I am not deploying a school network. There may be some mythical -feature to help you deploy Skolelinux on a school network." -</blockquote> - -<p>To bad he did not test the server profile, and discovered the PXE -installation option. It make it possible to install only the main -server from CD, and the rest of the machines via the net, and might be -considered the mythical feature he talk about. :)</p> - -<p>While looking through the menus, there is also this funny comment -about the part of the K menu generated from the Debian menu subsystem: - -<blockquote> -"[The K menu] have a special Debian section for software that no-one -is going to look at, because it contain lots of junky stuff that you -actually don't need in the education distribution, but have just been -included because it isn't stripped out for some reason." -</blockquote> - -<p>I guess it is yet another argument for merging the Debian menu and -Gnome/KDE desktop menu entries into -<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/Proposals/DebianMenuUsingDesktopEntries">one -consistent menu system</a> instead of two incomplete and partly -inconsistent menu systems.</p> - -<p>The entire video is available below for those accepting iframe -embedding:</p> - -<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wPzTZ61Pcuc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> + Third alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:50:00 +0200 + <p>The third wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:</p> + +<p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.0.0 alpha2 released +2013-06-10</strong></p> + +<p>This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu +alpha2, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p> + +<p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as +Skolelinux</a>, 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 GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting +environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of +the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be +installed via the network. 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 +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more +than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.</p> + +<p>This is the third test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.</p> + +<p><strong>Software updates</strong></p> + +<ul> + +<li>Iceweasel was updated from 10 to 17. (DSA 2699-1) +<li>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). +<li>Switched xrdp on thin client servers to use tightvncserver instead of xvnc4. +<li>Now install software oscilloscope xoscope by default. +<li>Now install music tools gtick, lingot and pianobooster by default. + +</ul> + +<p><strong>Other changes</strong></p> + +<ul> + +<li>The subnet-change script is now able to change all files needing a change on the main-server when changing the IP network used. +<li>Updated translation of the installation. +<li>New Romanian translation. +<li>Fix security problem causing root and first user password to no longer show up in /var/cache/debconf/templates.dat. +<li>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). +<li>Made roaming workstation setup more robust in non-Debian Edu environments. +<li>New script debian-edu-bless to transform a Debian installation to a Debian Edu profile. +<li>Adjust Iceweasel setup to improve performance when $HOME is on NFS. +<li>More testsuite tests. +<li>Make automatic proxy configuration more robust. +<li>Adjust GOsa² GUI configuration. + +<li>Update thin client and diskless workstation setup to work with +LTSP in Wheezy.</li> + +<li>Diskless workstations now run out of the box -- no need to set +them up with GOsa².</li> + +<li>Update IMAP server setup. </li> + +<li>Fix login into Skolelinux Backup Tool (Closed in +slbackup-php/0.4.4-1: #700257: slbackup-php: Fails to submit correctly +entered password). </li> + +</ul> + +<p><strong>Known issues</strong></p> + +<ul> + +<li>DVD binary and source images are not yet ready.</li> + +<li>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).</li> + +<li>Missing artwork for the KDE desktop (and probably a few others). </li> + +<li>KDE Debian submenu lacks icons (Closed: #502192: menu-xdg: invents +own icon names instead of using existing). This will remain +unfixed.</li> + +</ul> + +<p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p> + +<p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p> + +<ul> + +<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso</a></li> + +<li><a href="http://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</a></li> + +<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso .</li> + +</ul> + +<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 27bbcace407743382f3c42c08dbe8178 +<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: e35f7d7908566cd3075375b3721fa10ee420d419</p> + +<p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a> - Til frikanalens støttespillere - fra styret i Frikanalen - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Til_frikanalens_st_ttespillere___fra_styret_i_Frikanalen.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Til_frikanalens_st_ttespillere___fra_styret_i_Frikanalen.html - Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:15:00 +0100 - <p>Min venn Erik Vold har på vegne av styret i -<a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a> sendt ut -<a href="http://lists.nuug.no/pipermail/frikanalen/2013-March/000054.html">følgende -epost</a> til alle kanalens medlemmer og støttespillere, i et forsøk -på å redde kanalen etter at kulturdepartementet kuttet all -finansiering i fjor høst. Jeg fikk meldingen som -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a>-styremedlem, og mener den -trenger et større publikum. Jeg gjengir den derfor i sin helhet, -inkludert lenken til budsjett og regnskapsutkast, etter -<a href="http://lists.nuug.no/pipermail/frikanalen/2013-March/000061.html">avtale -med Erik</a>.</p> - -<p><blockquote> -<p>Til Frikanalens støttespillere</p> - -<p>Frivillighetens TV kanal har med minimal støtte avviklet daglige -sendinger siden 2009 og til tross for at statsstøtten uteble i år, er -vi nå i full gang med å utvikle et nytt TV system som foreningen selv -vil eie. Departementet fikk dessverre ikke med seg at nettet vil -berike TV sendingen fremfor å gjøre den overflødig. De har nå overlatt -finansieringen av videre drift til frivilligheten og vi håper derfor -på deres hjelp til å søke om midler. På kjøpet får dere langt flere -muligheter til å nå ut med deres budskap og med utbyggingen av Hybrid -TV (nett på TV) kan vi sammen motbevise departementets påstand.</p> - -<p>Kostnaden med denne utviklingen er svært lav ettersom de fleste -programmererne jobber gratis og alt er basert på åpen kildekode der -man deler hverandres bidrag til kringkastingsorienterte systemer. I -samarbeid med flere europeiske kanaler i EBU (SVT, BBC, NRK, ZDF, ARD, -France Televisions etc) ønsker vi å bygge opp et nettverk for delt -support og åpen kildekode der Frikanalen er den eneste sandkassen hvor -ny teknologi kan testes på luft. Riks TV åpner for annonsering av -nettinnhold relatert til det du ser på TV (streamevents i HbbTV) -allerede i sommer. Med støtte fra Media Netwerk som drifter Frikanalen -samt Sofia Digital som stiller med Hybrid TV server er vi & NRK sikret -en sentral rolle i utprøvingen. Det vil da bli mulig og streame -direkte til Riks TV sine nye mottakere (og nye IDTV'er) i HD samt at -TV'n kan annonsere en link til deres organisasjonssider, med -oppdaterte nyheter (RSS feeds), relaterte videoer etc., under -avviklingen av deres innslag.</p> - -<p>Vi tror sendingene på den nye nettstyrte TV-kanalen vil bli rikere enn -på den kommersielle plattformen vi har vært på så langt. Brukerne vil -nå få en tettere integrasjon med sosiale medier samt at innholdet -etterhvert kommer ut på Hybrid TV og mobile enheter. Teknisk ansvarlig -i Frikanalen, Erik Vold, er sentral i utviklingen av streamingdelen -for tv.nrk.no (årets produkt i PC World) og erfaringen NRK har gjort -på mobile enheter kan videreføres til oss. Det er heller ingen tvil om -at Hybrid TV vil bli en suksess også i Norge. Erik sitter i Nordig som -har vedtatt en felles standard for de nordiske kringkasterne basert på -HbbTV. Denne standarden bruker web-protokoller som gjør det like -enkelt og billig å utvikle tjenester for Hybrid TV som å lage en -nettside. Samtlige nye TV apparater solgt i Norden vil ha støtte for -HbbTV og med det tror vi oppslutningen vil bli like stor som ellers i -Europa (Tyskland og Frankrike tredoblet antall HbbTV-brukere i -fjor). Vi forventer også mye d rahjelp fra disse foregangslandene. Vår -utvikler Tore Sinding Bekkedal er i skriv ende stund på en HbbTV -workshop med EBU-medlemmer hos IRT i München der han på vegne av NRK -tester og utvikler ny stremingteknologi (MPEG- DASH) for -mobile enheter og hybrid TV.</p> - -<p>Frikanalen har forøvrig flyttet inn i nye kostnadsfrie lokaler på -Chateau Neuf. Med massiv hjelp fra frivillige får vi der en -flerkameraregi i egnede lokaler. Dette åpner for debatter, konserter, -events og mye spennende innhold i samarbeid med Student TV'ene.</p> - -<p>Med hjelp fra NUUG har også streamingdelen av systemet fått plass på -Uninett (Forskningsparken) og dermed er vi på Norges beste -internettlinjer. Vi åpner med dette for live mottak fra samtlige -medlemmer og på sikt kan vi tilby HD på hybrid TV og PC / MAC / mobil.</p> - -<p>Avvikling på luft skjer allerede med egenutviklede løsninger i åpen -kildekode (playout og live-koding). Det er også mulig å se første -byggetrinn med programoversikt og videoer på nett, men foreløpig kun -for nettleserne Opera, Chrome og Firefox: -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/guide/">http://beta.frikanalen.tv/guide/</a> -og -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/">http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/</a>. Kom -gjerne med ønsker og tilbakemeldinger til vår hovedutvikler Benjamin -Bruheim: grolgh (at) gmail.com</p> - -<p>Med en tettere tilknytning til Akademia og NRK, er det god grunn til å -tro at utviklingen vil skyte fart og at vi raskere kommer ut med -dagsaktuelt innhold.</p> - -<p>Vi sender i dag på Riks TV og Altibox, men ikke lenger på TV8. Det er -viktig for våre brukere igjen å komme ut på Get og Canal Digital, -dermed er det svært heldig at vi nå har formidlingsplikt på kabel. Til -tross for at det tar noe tid å få nye avtaler på plass, med frivillig -juridisk bistand, vil vi sannsynligvis komme bedre ut i andre enden -også her. Formidlingsplikten gjelder samtlige kabeldistribusjoner i -Norge, ikke bare de regionene TV8 hadde avtale med.</p> - -<p>Om alt dette skal se dagens lys er vi avhengig av en -grunnfinansiering. Deres medlemsavgifter er i så måte et svært viktig -bidrag som vi er veldig takknemlige for. Vi ser oss likevel nødt til -å be dere om å delta i arbeidet med å dekke de resterende -driftskostnader. Frikanalen sin arbeidskapasitet er betydelig redusert -etter at foreningen ikke lenger kunne finansiere en daglig leder, men -allmøtet kan åpne for at flere bidrar til inntjening (Ekstraordinær -generalforsamling foreslo å tillate sponsorplakater på sendeflaten og -deler av disse inntektene kan tilfalle kanalen). Håper alle -medlemmene kan hjelpe oss med å skrive søknader og skaffe sponsorer, -eller i det minste komme med gode forslag til inntjening. Det er ikke -mye som skal til for å klare videre drift, kun 0,5 mill. pr år.</p> - -<p>Med en støtte som tilsvarer en norsk kortfilm vil vi kunne redde -sendearkivet for flere tusen videoer bygget opp av frivilligheten -gjennom 5 år og vi dobler kapasiteten for å ta imot nye (De som -leverer HD vil for øvrig kunne få HD på nett, mobil og hybrid TV).</p> - -<p>Vi vil også kunne videreføre konsesjonen på Riks TV og realisere en -formidlingsplikt på kabel som har en årlig verdi på ca. 5 millioner -kroner (når over 2/3 av Norges befolkning).</p> - -<p>Uten støtte står verdens eneste nasjonale nettstyrte åpne TV kanal i -fare for å forsvinne. En konkursbegjæring vil gjøre at utstyrsparken -går til advokatsalærer i behandling av boet og kreditorene vil ikke -kunne få dekket sine krav. Det mener vi ikke bare er urett ovenfor -långiverne, men det er urett mot alle de som har bidratt med å bygge -opp frivillighetens eneste sendearkiv og ikke minst alle de som i dag -jobber frivillig med å videreutvikle TV-systemet.</p> - -<p>Håper dere i likhet med styret ser verdien i videre drift og kan melde -tilbake innen årsmøtet (Kontaktinformasjon til styret og frivillige -utviklere er i kopifeltet).</p> - -<p>Vennligst fyll ut det blå feltet i regnearket under med det dere tror -er mulig å få inn. Det dere skriver her er ikke bindende, men gir -styret en indikasjon på om videre drift er mulig. Det blir tatt -stilling til av generalforsamlingen medio mars. Setter derfor pris på -om alle kan bidra med forslag til støtte eller antatte verdier fra -søknad/spons innen det.</p> - -<p>Forhåpentligvis når vi også ønsket budsjett på 1 mill. pr år. Med det -kan vi nedbetale gjelden raskere og sørge for en bedre -tilgjengelighet, samt raskere utvikling:</p> - -<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AouVL_e9_H1QdDgyX01kbElvcWI0UjFQbVNGbFIyUmc&usp=sharing#gid=0">https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AouVL_e9_H1QdDgyX01kbElvcWI0UjFQbVNGbFIyUmc&usp=sharing#gid=0</a></p> - -<p>Med vennlig hilsen -<br>Styret i Frikanalen</p> -</blockquote></p> - -<p>Jeg håper noen av mine lesere med dette ser verdien av Frikanalen -og melder seg inn for å sende sine videoer ut på TV til RiksTV og -Altibox-seerne. Det haster. Årsmøtet i foreningen Frikanalen skal -straks avholdes, og innen den tid må en redningsplan være på plass. -NUUG bidrar allerede litt ved å organisere utviklersamlinger og -finansiere litt mat og drikke til de frivillige som stiller opp på -dugnadsbasis for å utvikle den tekniske løsningen. Det er ikke nok -til å redde kanalen, men gir et lite steg i riktig retning.</p> - -<p><strong>Update 2013-03-13 13:00</strong>: Epostlistelenkene -fungerer ikke lenger, da epostarkivet nå ikke lenger er tilgjengelig -for ikke-abonnenter. Korrigerte teksten fra styret litt etter -oppfordring fra Frikanalen-styret.</p> + Is there a PHP expert in the building? Debian Edu need help! + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Is_there_a_PHP_expert_in_the_building___Debian_Edu_need_help_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Is_there_a_PHP_expert_in_the_building___Debian_Edu_need_help_.html + Wed, 5 Jun 2013 17:50:00 +0200 + <p>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: + +<ol> + +<li>It is impossible to log into the slbackup web interface + (slbackup-php) using the root user and password. This is + <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/700257">BTS report #700257</a>. + This used to work, but stopped working some time since Squeeze. + Perhaps some obsolete PHP feature was used?</li> + +<li>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 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/698840">BTS report + #698840</a>.</li> + +</ol> + +<p>If you can help us, please join us on IRC +(<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu on +irc.debian.org</a>) and provide patches via the BTS.</p> - Osloskolen bryter loven når de sender politihunder inn i klasserom med elever - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Osloskolen_bryter_loven_n_r_de_sender_politihunder_inn_i_klasserom_med_elever.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Osloskolen_bryter_loven_n_r_de_sender_politihunder_inn_i_klasserom_med_elever.html - Sun, 10 Mar 2013 21:10:00 +0100 - <p>Om noen år skal mine barn antagelig begynne på skolen i Oslo. Der -skal de blant annet lære seg å verdsette og håndheve sine egne grenser -og beskytte sin personlige integritet og privatsfære. Det blir ikke -enkelt når ledelsen i Osloskolen med vitende og vilje legger opp til å -krenke elevenes privatsfære ved å la politiet ransake elevene med -narkohund i klasserommet. Jon Wessel-Aas har publisert noen -interessante kommentarer om hvorfor dette er ulovlig. + Debian Edu interview: Cédric Boutillier + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__C_dric_Boutillier.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__C_dric_Boutillier.html + Tue, 4 Jun 2013 10:30:00 +0200 + <p>It has been a while since my last English +<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a> +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, Cédric Boutillier.</p> + +<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu +project?</strong></p> + +<p>I came to the Debian Edu project after a call for translation of +<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Manuals">the +Debian Edu manual</a> for the release of Debian Edu Squeeze. Since +then, I have been working on updating the French translation of the +manual. + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>What amazed me was the complete network infrastructure directly +ready to use, which can and the nice administration interface provided +by <a href="https://oss.gonicus.de/labs/gosa/">GOsa²</a>. 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 (<a href="http://ardour.org/">Ardour</a>, +<a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</a>) and +movies/animation (I was especially thinking of +<a href="http://linuxstopmotion.sourceforge.net/">Stopmotion</a>).</p> + +<p>I am following the development of Debian Edu and am hanging out on +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu</a>. +Unfortunately, I don't much time to get more involved in this +beautiful project.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>One can find support from a company by looking at +<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Help/ProfessionalHelp">the +wiki dokumentation</a>, 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.</p> + +<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> + +<p>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 +<a href="http://www.scilab.org/en/scilab/about‎">Scilab</a> and +<a href="http://www.sagemath.org/index.html‎">Sage</a> (built from +source as not completely packaged for Debian, yet). + +<p><strong>Do you have any suggestions for teachers interested in +using the free software in Debian to teach mathematics and +statistics?</strong></p> + +<p>I do not have any "nice" recommendations for statistics. At our +university, we use both <a href="http://www.r-project.org/‎">R</a> and +Scilab to teach statistics and probabilistic simulations. For +geometry, there are nice programs:</p> <ul> - <li><a href="http://www.uhuru.biz/?p=1293">Bruk av narkohund i - klasserom – fra vondt til verre</a> (2013-03-09)</li> +<li><a href="http://www.drgeo.eu/">drgeo</a> and +<a href="http://edu.kde.org/applications/all/kig‎">kig</a> to do +constructions in planar geometry - <li><a href="http://www.uhuru.biz/?p=1018">Ulovlig og - menneskerettsstridig bruk av narkohund i klasserom</a> - (2012-03-12)</li> +<li><a href="http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/software/download/kali.html">kali</a> +to discover symmetry groups (the so-called wallpapers and frieze +groups), although the interface looks a bit old.</li> </ul> -<p>Jeg er veldig glad for at han bidrar med argumenter og forklaringer -vi foreldre kan ta med oss når vi skal protestere på og få en slutt på -denne forkastelige praksisen. Narkotikaproblemet må adresseres på -andre måter som ikke krenker barn og ungdoms integritet. Jeg ønsker -ikke at mine barn skal læres opp til å akseptere radering av -privatlivets fred, men heller at de skal læres opp til å sloss imot -den innføringen av stadig mer totalitær overvåkning som har pågått -over mange år i Norge. </p> +<p>I like also +<a href="http://edu.kde.org/applications/all/cantor">cantor</a>, which +provides a uniform interface to SciLab, Sage, +<a href="http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Octave‎">Octave</a>, etc...</p> + +<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?</strong></p> + +<p>My suggestions would be to</p> + +<ul> + +<li>advertise the reduction of costs when free software is used.</li> + +<li>communicate about the quality of free software projects, using + well known examples like Firefox, ThunderBird and + OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice.</li> + +<li>advertise the living and strong community around the project.</li> + +<li>show that it is not more difficult to use than any other + system.</li> + +</ul> - First Skolelinux / Debian Edu Squeeze update released - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Skolelinux___Debian_Edu_Squeeze_update_released.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Skolelinux___Debian_Edu_Squeeze_update_released.html - Fri, 8 Mar 2013 09:30:00 +0100 - <p>Last Sunday, 2013-03-03,, Holger Levsen announced the first update -of <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux / Debian Edu</a> -based on Debian Squeeze. This is the first update since -<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2012/03/msg00001.html">the -initial release 2012-03-11</a>. This is the -<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2013/03/msg00000.html">release -announcement email from Holger</a>:</p> - -<blockquote><p>Hi,</p> - -<p>it's my pleasure to announce the immediate availability of Debian -Edu 6.0.7+r1 ("Debian Edu Squeeze").</p> - -<p>Debian Edu 6.0.7+r1 is an incremental update to Debian Edu -6.0.4+r0, containing all the changes between Debian 6.0.4 and 6.0.7 as -well Debian Edu specific bugfixes and enhancements. See below (in this -mail) for the full list of (edu) changes. Please see -<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311">http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311</a> -for more information on "Debian Edu Squeeze".</p> - -<p>Images are available for download at -<a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/</a></p> - -<p>md5sums: -<br>1fe79eb4f0f9ae1c58fc318e26cc1e2e debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-CD.iso -<br>a6ddd924a8bd9a1b5ca122e8fe1c34ec debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-DVD.iso -<br>ac6c72cd7925ccec51bfbf58e2a7c69c debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-source-DVD.iso</p> - -<p>sha1sums: -<br>a4b58233b672a99c7df8dc24fb6de3327654a5c3 debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-CD.iso -<br>9b524915e0ff2aa793f13d93123e5bd2bab2dbaa debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-DVD.iso -<br>43997614893fc5e9e59ad6ce066b05d07fd836fa debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-source-DVD.iso</p> - -<p>These images are suitable for amd64+i386.</p> - -<p>Changes for Debian Edu 6.0.7+r1 Codename "Squeeze", released -2013-03-03:</p> + Åpent møte på onsdag om bruken av Microsoft Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_pent_m_te_p__onsdag_om_bruken_av_Microsoft_Exchange_ved_Universitetet_i_Oslo.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_pent_m_te_p__onsdag_om_bruken_av_Microsoft_Exchange_ved_Universitetet_i_Oslo.html + Mon, 3 Jun 2013 14:00:00 +0200 + <p>Jeg jobber til daglig ved <a href="http://www.uio.no/">Universitetet +i Oslo</a>, en institusjon som lenge har vektlagt verdien av åpne +standarder og fri programvare. Men noe har endret seg, og for en +liten stund tilbake annonserte USIT at dagens fungerende e-postsystemet +basert på fri programvare skulle byttes ut med Microsoft Exchange og +at Microsoft Outlook skulle bli den best fungerende men antagelig ikke +eneste støttede e-postklienten. Annonseringen har ført til flere +protester og <a href="http://folk.uio.no/dssantos/nooutlookatuio/">en +underskriftskampanje</a>, initiert av Diana Santos, der så langt 253 +personer har signert. Prosjektet +<a href="http://www.usit.uio.no/prosjekter/nike/">NIKE (Ny integrert +kalender/e-post)</a> ble initiert for å se på mulige løsninger med +utgangspunkt i at en kombinert epost/kalenderløsning var påkrevd, og +prosjektet +<a href="http://www.usit.uio.no/prosjekter/nike-implementasjon/">NIKE-implementasjon</a> +er igang med å rulle ut MS Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo.</p> + +<p>For kun kort tid siden ble det annonsert at det blir et åpent møte +med ledelsen hos universitetet i Oslo med disse planene som tema:</p> + +<p>Tid: <strong>Onsdag 2013-06-05 kl. 10:00</strong> +<br>Sted: <strong>9. etasje i Lucy Smiths hus (admin-bygget)</strong></p> + +<p> Det kan være en god plass å stille opp hvis en som meg ikke tror +valget av Microsoft Exchange som sentral epostinfrastruktur er et +heldig valg for Norges ledende forskningsuniversitet, men at en er mer +tjent med å selv +<a href="http://nuug.no/dokumenter/kronikk-friprog-itsikkerhet.shtml">beholde +kontrollen over egen infrastruktur</a>.</p> + +<p>Saken har ført til endel presseoppslag så langt. Her er de jeg har +fått med meg:</p> <ul> - <li>sitesummary was updated from 0.1.3 to 0.1.8 - <ul> - <li>Make Nagios configuration more robust and efficient</li> - <li>Comply with 3.X kernel</li> - </ul></li> - <li>debian-edu-doc from 1.4~20120310~6.0.4+r0 to 1.4~20130228~6.0.7+r1 - <ul> - <li>Minor updates from the wiki</li> - <li>Danish translation now complete</li> - </ul></li> - <li>debian-edu-config from 1.453 to 1.455 - <ul> - <li>Fix /etc/hosts for LTSP diskless workstations. Closes: #699880</li> - <li>Make ltsp_local_mount script work for multiple devices.</li> - <li>Correct Kerberos user policy: don't expire password after 2 days. - Closes: #664596</li> - <li>Handle '#' characters in the root or first users password. - Closes: #664976</li> - <li>Fixes for gosa-sync: - <ul> - <li>Don't fail if password contains "</li> - <li>Don't disclose new password string in syslog</li> - </ul></li> - <li>Fixes for gosa-create: - <ul> - <li>Invalidate libnss cache before applying changes</li> - <li>Multiple failures during mass user import into GOsa²</li> - <li>gosa-netgroups plugin: don't erase entries of attribute type - "memberNisNetgroup". Closes: #687256</li> - <li>First user now uses the same Kerberos policy as all other users</li> - </ul></li> - <li>Add Danish web page</li> - </ul> - <li>debian-edu-install from 1.528 to 1.530 - <ul> - <li>Improve preseeding support and documentation</li> - </ul></li> + +<li>2013-05-29 + <a href="http://universitas.no/nyhet/58462/forsvarer-nytt-it-system">Forsvarer + nytt IT-system</a> - Universitas</li> + +<li>2013-05-23 + <a href="http://www.uniforum.uio.no/nyheter/2013/05/uio-innforer-nytt-epost-og-kalendersystem.html">UiO + innfører nytt epost- og kalenderverktøy</a> - Uniforum</li> + + +<li>2013-05-22 + <a href="http://universitas.no/nyhet/58424/protestgruppe-vil-stanse-it-system">Protestgruppe + vil stanse IT-system</a> - Universitas</li> + + +<li>2013-05-15 + <a href="http://www.uniforum.uio.no/leserbrev/2013/uio-ma-ha-kontroll-over-sitt-eget-epostsystem.html">UiO + må ha kontroll over sitt eget epostsystem</a> - Uniforum</li> + </ul> - -<p>End-user documentation in English is available at -<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze/">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze/</a> -- translations to French, Italian, Danish and German are available in -the debian-edu-doc package. (Other languages could use your help!)</p> - -<p>If you want to contribute to Debian Edu, please join our -mailinglist -<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/">debian-edu@lists.debian.org</a>! -</p></blockquote> - -<p>I am very happy to see the fruits of a year of hard work. :)</p> + +