X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/98f7aa4bfbece7c6a013f5945eda6b7f17d78b51..b5795b8c827d8036eda9cc18a490f4356f8832be:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index eb4ac7c9f2..2a019b5282 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,39 +20,56 @@
-
Of course USA looses in cyber war - NSA and friends made sure it would happen
-
19th December 2014
-

So, Sony caved in -(according -to Rob Lowe) and demonstrated that America lost its first cyberwar -(according -to Newt Gingrich). It should not surprise anyone, after the -whistle blower Edward Snowden documented that the government of USA -and their allies for many years have done their best to make sure the -technology used by its citizens is filled with security holes allowing -the secret services to spy on its own population. No one in their -right minds could believe that the ability to snoop on the people all -over the globe could only be used by the personnel authorized to do so -by the president of the United States of America. If the capabilities -are there, they will be used by friend and foe alike, and now they are -being used to bring Sony on its knees.

- -

I doubt it will a lesson learned, and expect USA to loose its next -cyber war too, given how eager the western intelligence communities -(and probably the non-western too, but it is less in the news) seem to -be to continue its current dragnet surveillance practice.

- -

There is a reason why China and others are trying to move away from -Windows to Linux and other alternatives, and it is not to avoid -sending its hard earned dollars to Cayman Islands (or whatever -tax haven -Microsoft is using these days to collect the majority of its -income. :)

+
Book cover for the Free Culture book finally done
+
3rd September 2015
+

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

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

+ +

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

+ + + +

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

+ +

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

- Tags: english, personvern, surveillance. + Tags: docbook, english, freeculture.
@@ -60,180 +77,37 @@ income. :)

-
Klarer ikke Microsoft å holde på hemmeligheter?
-
18th December 2014
-

Må Microsoft virkelig ha hjelp av unger for å holde på -hemmelighetene sine?

- -

I dag kom det en fascinerende artikkel i Aftenposten om -hva -Microsoft har foreslått at foreldre går med på for å la ungene -delta på Lær kidsa koding på -skolen. De ber foreldrene om å få bruke bilder og video av ungene -kommersielt og gratis i all fremtid, hvilket var så drøyt at -Arbeiderpartiets bystyrerepresentant -Per Anders -Torvik Langerød tok opp saken opp under bystyrets muntlige -spørretime onsdag. Resultatet av dette er at Microsoft har trukket -tilbake teksten i samtykkeerklæringen og kommunikasjonsdirektør -Christine Korme i Microsoft sier i artikkelen at «Vi vil presentere en -ny erklæring som gjør det helt klart i hvilken forbindelse materialet -skal brukes, altså ikke-kommersielt», hvilket jo er fint. Jeg lurer -virkelig på hvordan teksten kunne slippe ut til foreldrene i første -omgang. Her har noen på skolen ikke fulgt med i timen, eller mangler -grunnleggende personverntrening.

- -

Men bildet av samtykkeerklæringen inneholder også en annen -problematisk klausul, som ikke omtales overhodet i -Aftenposten-artikkelen. Neste punkt i erklæringen lyder:

- -

-«Du aksepterer ikke å bruke eller videreformidle til en tredjepart -noen hemmelige eller fortrolige opplysninger som gis av Microsoft i -løpet av elevens deltagelse.» -

- -

Mener Microsoft virkelig at foreldre og barn skal ta ansvar for at -Microsoft ikke klarer å holde hemmelig og fortrolig informasjon for -seg selv når de besøker en offentlig norsk skole? Jeg ville nektet -plent å signert på en avtale med en slik klausul, da det er Microsofts -ansvar å holde på sine hemmeligheter, og ikke noe mine barn og min -familie tar på oss erstatningsansvar for hvis de kommer på avveie.

- -

Jeg lurer på om noen har fått se den nye samtykkeerklæringen? -Inneholder den fortsatt klausul om hemmelighold? Hvor mange er det -som hittil har signert på den gamle samtykkeerklæringen? Hvor har den -vært brukt? Savnet svar på disse spørsmålene i artikkelen, da de som -har signert på den gamle vel vil være bundet av den selv om ingen -flere signerer på den.

- -

Lær kidsa koding er et glimrende initiativ, og jeg skulle ønske -noen av foreningen NUUGs medlemmer -hadde kapasitet til å delta i initiativet på NUUGs vegne. Selv tar -jobb, familie og eksisterende prosjekter allerede all tid. Slik -Microsoft tydeligvis holder på er det behov for noen med et annet syn -på livet som bidragsyter her.

-
-
- - - Tags: norsk, nuug, personvern. - - -
-
-
- -
-
Opphavsretts-status for «Empty Socks» fra 1927?
-
12th December 2014
-

For noen dager siden -annonserte -Nasjonalbiblioteket gladnyheten om at de i sine arkiver hadde -funnet et nitratfilm-eksemplar av en 87 år gammel Disney-film ved navn -Empty Socks, en film som tidligere var antatt tapt og der det i følge -nyhetsmeldinger var kun ca. 25 sekunder bevart for ettertiden. -Nasjonalbiblioteket hadde 5 minutter og 30 sekunder av filmen i sitt -magasin. Dette er flott for bevaringen av verdens kulturarv. 5,5 -minutter mindre tapt enn vi trodde av vår felles historie.

- -

Men hvordan kunne filmen gå tapt, når arkivlovene i USA krevde at -publiserte filmer på den tiden ble deponert i bibliotek? Forklaringen -har jeg fra Lawrence Lessig og boken -Free Culture, som jeg holder på -å -oversette til norsk:

- -

-

Dette er delvis på grunn av loven. Opphavsrettseiere var tidlig i - amerikansk opphavsrettslov nødt til å deponere kopier av sine verk i - biblioteker. Disse kopiene skulle både sikre spredning av kunnskap, - og sikre at det fantes en kopi av verket tilgjengelig når vernetiden - utløp, slik at andre kunne få tilgang til og kopiere verket.

- -

Disse reglene gjaldt også for filmer. Men i 1915 gjorde - kongressbiblioteket et unntak for film. Filmer kunne bli - opphavsrettsbeskyttet så lenge det ble gjort slik deponering. Men - filmskaperne fikk så lov til å låne tilbake de deponerte filmene - - så lenge de ville uten noe kostnad. Bare i 1915 var det mer enn 5475 - filmer deponert og “lånt tilbake”. Dermed var det ikke noe eksemplar - i noe bibliotek når vernetiden til filmen utløp. Eksemplaret - eksisterer - hvis den finnes i det hele tatt - i arkivbiblioteket - til filmselskapet.

-

- -

Nyheten gjorde meg nysgjerrig på om filmen kunne være falt i det -fri. En 87 år gammel film kunne jo tenkes å ha blitt en del av -allemannseiet, slik at vi alle kan bruke den til å bygge videre på vår -felles kultur uten å måtte be om tillatelse - slik Walt Disney gjorde -det i starten av sin karriere. Jeg spurte nasjonalbiblioteket, og de -sa nei. Hvordan kan det ha seg med en så gammel film? Jeg besteme -meg for å undersøke nærmere. En kan finne informasjon om den norske -vernetiden på -Lovdata -og Wikipedia. Her er et relevant utsnitt fra -siden om opphavsrett i den norske Wikipedia:

- -

- Ifølge åndsverkloven §§ 40-41 utløper vernetiden for et åndsverk 70 - år etter utløpet av opphavspersonens dødsår. [...] For filmverk - gjelder særlige regler: Her kommer ikke alle mulige opphavspersoner - i betraktning, men kun hovedregissøren, manusforfatteren, - dialogforfatteren og komponisten av filmmusikken. Vernetiden - begynner å løpe etter utgangen av dødsåret til den lengstlevende av - disse. [...] Der opphavspersonen er ukjent, utløper opphavsretten 70 - år etter første kjente offentliggjørelse av verket. Det er kun de - økonomiske rettighetene som faller bort i det vernetiden er - utløpt. De ideelle rettighetene må fortsatt respekteres, noe som - blant annet innebærer at man plikter å navngi opphavspersonen ved - tilgjengeliggjøring. -

- -

I følge nettstedet -The -Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts er følgende personer gitt -æren for denne kortfilmen:

- -
- -
Regissør
-
Walt Disney (1901-12-05 – 1966-12-15) +70 år = 2037
- -
Animasjon -
Ub Iwerks (1901-03-24 – 1971-07-07) +70 år = 2042 -
Rollin "Ham" Hamilton (1898-10-28 - 1951-06-03) +70 år = 2022 -
Hugh Harman (1903-08-31 – 1982-11-25) +70 år = 2053
- -
Kamera -
Mike Marcus (?-?)
- -
- -

Alle fødsels- og dødsdatoene er fra engelske Wikipedia. Det er -ikke oppgitt navn på manusforfatter, dialogforfatter og komponist, men -jeg mistenker at tegnerne vil få opphavsrettigheter på tegnefilmer her -i Norge, og tar derfor med disse. Kameramannen vil ikke få noen -rettigheter så vidt jeg forstår, og er derfor ignorert her.

- -

Slik jeg forstår den norske opphavsretten vil dermed dette -filmverket bli allemannseie (også kalt å falle i det fri) i 2053, 126 -år etter at det ble utgitt. Hvis kun regissørens rettigheter er -relevante, vil det skje i 2037, 110 år etter at det ble utgitt. Etter -det vil enhver kunne dele det med alle de har lyst til, fremføre det -offentlig eller klippe og lime i det for å lage sin egen film basert -på det - helt uten å måtte spørre noen om lov.

- -

Måtte så Nasjonalbiblioteket spørre om lov før de kunne kopiere -sitt nitrat-eksemplar over på mer varig format? Nei, heldigvis. -Åndsverklovens § 16 sier at arkiv, bibliotek, museer og undervisnings- -og forskningsinstitusjoner har rett til å fremstille eksemplar av verk -for konserverings- og sikringsformål og andre særskilte formål.

+
In my hand, a pocket book edition of the Norwegian Free Culture book!
+
19th August 2015
+

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

+ +

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

- Tags: freeculture, norsk, opphavsrett, video. + Tags: docbook, english, freeculture.
@@ -241,70 +115,68 @@ for konserverings- og sikringsformål og andre særskilte formål.

-
How to stay with sysvinit in Debian Jessie
-
22nd November 2014
-

By now, it is well known that Debian Jessie will not be using -sysvinit as its boot system by default. But how can one keep using -sysvinit in Jessie? It is fairly easy, and here are a few recipes, -courtesy of -Erich -Schubert and -Simon -McVittie. - -

If you already are using Wheezy and want to upgrade to Jessie and -keep sysvinit as your boot system, create a file -/etc/apt/preferences.d/use-sysvinit with this content before -you upgrade:

- -

-Package: systemd-sysv
-Pin: release o=Debian
-Pin-Priority: -1
-

- -

This file content will tell apt and aptitude to not consider -installing systemd-sysv as part of any installation and upgrade -solution when resolving dependencies, and thus tell it to avoid -systemd as a default boot system. The end result should be that the -upgraded system keep using sysvinit.

- -

If you are installing Jessie for the first time, there is no way to -get sysvinit installed by default (debootstrap used by -debian-installer have no option for this), but one can tell the -installer to switch to sysvinit before the first boot. Either by -using a kernel argument to the installer, or by adding a line to the -preseed file used. First, the kernel command line argument: - -

-preseed/late_command="in-target apt-get install --purge -y sysvinit-core"
-

- -

Next, the line to use in a preseed file:

- -

-d-i preseed/late_command string in-target apt-get install -y sysvinit-core
-

- -

One can of course also do this after the first boot by installing -the sysvinit-core package.

- -

I recommend only using sysvinit if you really need it, as the -sysvinit boot sequence in Debian have several hardware specific bugs -on Linux caused by the fact that it is unpredictable when hardware -devices show up during boot. But on the other hand, the new default -boot system still have a few rough edges I hope will be fixed before -Jessie is released.

- -

Update 2014-11-26: Inspired by -a -blog post by Torsten Glaser, added --purge to the preseed -line.

+
First paper version of the Norwegian Free Culture book heading my way
+
9th August 2015
+

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

- Tags: bootsystem, debian, english. + Tags: docbook, english, freeculture.
@@ -312,75 +184,63 @@ line.

-
Hvordan vurderer regjeringen H.264-patentutfordringen?
-
16th November 2014
-

For en stund tilbake spurte jeg Fornyingsdepartementet om hvilke -juridiske vurderinger rundt patentproblemstillingen som var gjort da -H.264 ble tatt inn i statens -referansekatalog over standarder. Stig Hornnes i FAD tipset meg -om følgende som står i oppsumeringen til høringen om -referansekatalogen versjon 2.0, som jeg siden ved hjelp av en -innsynsforespørsel fikk tak i -PDF-utgaven av -datert 2009-06-03 (saksnummer 200803291, saksbehandler Henrik -Linnestad).

- -

Der står det følgende om problemstillingen:

+
Typesetting DocBook footnotes as endnotes with dblatex
+
16th July 2015
+

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

+ +

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

-

-4.4 Patentproblematikk - -

NUUG og Opera ser det som særlig viktig at forslagene knyttet til -lyd og video baserer seg på de royalty-frie standardene Vorbis, Theora -og FLAC.

- -

Kommentarene relaterer seg til at enkelte standarder er åpne, men -inneholder tekniske prosedyrer som det i USA (og noen andre land som -Japan) er gitt patentrettigheter til. I vårt tilfelle berører dette -spesielt standardene Mp3 og H.264, selv om Politidirektoratet peker på -at det muligens kan være tilsvarende problematikk også for Theora og -Vorbis. Dette medfører at det i USA kan kreves royalties for bruk av -tekniske løsninger knyttet til standardene, et krav som også -håndheves. Patenter kan imidlertid bare hevdes i de landene hvor -patentet er gitt, så amerikanske patenter gjelder ikke andre steder -enn USA.

- -

Spesielt for utvikling av fri programvare er patenter -problematisk. GPL, en "grunnleggende" lisens for distribusjon av fri -programvare, avviser at programvare kan distribueres under denne -lisensen hvis det inneholder referanser til patenterte rutiner som -utløser krav om royalties. Det er imidlertid uproblematisk å -distribuere fri programvareløsninger under GPL som benytter de -aktuelle standardene innen eller mellom land som ikke anerkjenner -patentene. Derfor finner vi også flere implementeringer av Mp3 og -H.264 som er fri programvare, lisensiert under GPL.

- -

I Norge og EU er patentlovgivningen langt mer restriktiv enn i USA, -men det er også her mulig å få patentert metoder for løsning av et -problem som relaterer seg til databehandling. Det er AIF bekjent ikke -relevante patenter i EU eller Norge hva gjelder H.264 og Mp3, men -muligheten for at det finnes patenter uten at det er gjort krav om -royalties eller at det senere vil gis slike patenter kan ikke helt -avvises.

- -

AIF mener det er et behov for å gi offentlige virksomheter mulighet -til å benytte antatt royaltyfrie åpne standarder som et likeverdig -alternativ eller i tillegg til de markedsledende åpne standardene.

+
+<?latex \theendnotes ?>
+
-

+

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

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

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

-

Det ser dermed ikke ut til at de har vurdert patentspørsmålet i -sammenheng med opphavsrettsvilkår slik de er formulert for f.eks. -Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid og Sorenson-verktøyene, -der det kreves brukstillatelse for patenter som ikke er gyldige i -Norge for å bruke disse verktøyene til annet en personlig og ikke -kommersiell aktivitet når det gjelder H.264-video. Jeg må nok lete -videre etter svar på det spørsmålet.

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

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

- Tags: multimedia, norsk, opphavsrett, standard, video, web. + Tags: docbook, english, freeculture.
@@ -388,81 +248,38 @@ videre etter svar på det spørsmålet.

-
A Debian package for SMTP via Tor (aka SMTorP) using exim4
-
10th November 2014
-

The right to communicate with your friends and family in private, -without anyone snooping, is a right every citicen have in a liberal -democracy. But this right is under serious attack these days.

- -

A while back it occurred to me that one way to make the dragnet -surveillance conducted by NSA, GCHQ, FRA and others (and confirmed by -the whisleblower Snowden) more expensive for Internet email, -is to deliver all email using SMTP via Tor. Such SMTP option would be -a nice addition to the FreedomBox project if we could send email -between FreedomBox machines without leaking metadata about the emails -to the people peeking on the wire. I -proposed -this on the FreedomBox project mailing list in October and got a -lot of useful feedback and suggestions. It also became obvious to me -that this was not a novel idea, as the same idea was tested and -documented by Johannes Berg as early as 2006, and both -the -Mailpile and the Cables systems -propose a similar method / protocol to pass emails between users.

- -

To implement such system one need to set up a Tor hidden service -providing the SMTP protocol on port 25, and use email addresses -looking like username@hidden-service-name.onion. With such addresses -the connections to port 25 on hidden-service-name.onion using Tor will -go to the correct SMTP server. To do this, one need to configure the -Tor daemon to provide the hidden service and the mail server to accept -emails for this .onion domain. To learn more about Exim configuration -in Debian and test the design provided by Johannes Berg in his FAQ, I -set out yesterday to create a Debian package for making it trivial to -set up such SMTP over Tor service based on Debian. Getting it to work -were fairly easy, and -the -source code for the Debian package is available from github. I -plan to move it into Debian if further testing prove this to be a -useful approach.

- -

If you want to test this, set up a blank Debian machine without any -mail system installed (or run apt-get purge exim4-config to -get rid of exim4). Install tor, clone the git repository mentioned -above, build the deb and install it on the machine. Next, run -/usr/lib/exim4-smtorp/setup-exim-hidden-service and follow -the instructions to get the service up and running. Restart tor and -exim when it is done, and test mail delivery using swaks like -this:

- -

-torsocks swaks --server dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion \
-  --to fbx@dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion
-

- -

This will test the SMTP delivery using tor. Replace the email -address with your own address to test your server. :)

- -

The setup procedure is still to complex, and I hope it can be made -easier and more automatic. Especially the tor setup need more work. -Also, the package include a tor-smtp tool written in C, but its task -should probably be rewritten in some script language to make the deb -architecture independent. It would probably also make the code easier -to review. The tor-smtp tool currently need to listen on a socket for -exim to talk to it and is started using xinetd. It would be better if -no daemon and no socket is needed. I suspect it is possible to get -exim to run a command line tool for delivery instead of talking to a -socket, and hope to figure out how in a future version of this -system.

- -

Until I wipe my test machine, I can be reached using the -fbx@dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion mail address, deliverable over -SMTorP. :)

+
Mimes brønn, norsk utgave av Alaveteli / WhatDoTheyKnow, endelig lansert
+
9th July 2015
+

I går fikk vi endelig lansert en norsk version av mySocietys +WhatDoTheyKnow. +Tjenesten heter Mimes brønn, og ble +annonsert +av NUUG via blogg, epost og twitter til NUUG-assosierte personer. +Det har tatt noen år, men de siste dagene fikk vi endelig tid til å få +på plass de siste bitene. Vi er to, Gorm og meg selv, som har vært +primus motor for det hele, men vi har fått hjelp med oversettelser og +oppsett fra mange flere. Jeg vil si tusen takk til hver og en av dem, +og er veldig fornøyd med at vi klarte å få tjenesten opp å kjøre før +ferietiden slo inn for fullt.

+ +

Vi er usikker på hvor mye belastning den virtuelle maskinen der +tjenesten kjører klarer, så vi har lansert litt i det stille og ikke +til for mange folk for å se hvordan maskinen klarer seg over sommeren, +før vi går mer aktivt ut og annonserer til høsten. Ta en titt, og se +om du kanskje har et spørsmål til det offentlige som er egnet å sende +inn via Mimes brønn.

+ +

Hvis du lurer på hva i alle dager en slik tjenestes kan brukes til, +anbefaler jeg deg å se +TED-foredraget til +Heather Brook om hvordan hun brukte WhatDoTheyKnow til å lære +hvordan offentlige midler ble misbrukt. Det er en inspirerende +historie.

- Tags: debian, english, freedombox, personvern, surveillance. + Tags: norsk, nuug, offentlig innsyn.
@@ -470,192 +287,268 @@ SMTorP. :)

-
First Jessie based Debian Edu released (alpha0)
-
27th October 2014
-

I am happy to report that I on behalf of the Debian Edu team just -sent out -this -announcement:

+
MPEG LA on "Internet Broadcast AVC Video" licensing and non-private use
+
7th July 2015
+

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

+ +

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

-The Debian Edu Team is pleased to announce the release of Debian Edu
-Jessie 8.0+edu0~alpha0
-
-Debian Edu is a complete operating system for schools. Through its
-various installation profiles you can install servers, workstations
-and laptops which will work together on the school network. With
-Debian Edu, the teachers themselves or their technical support can
-roll out a complete multi-user multi-machine study environment within
-hours or a few days. Debian Edu comes with hundreds of applications
-pre-installed, but you can always add more packages from Debian.
-
-For those who want to give Debian Edu Jessie a try, download and
-installation instructions are available, including detailed
-instructions in the manual[1] explaining the first steps, such as
-setting up a network or adding users. Please note that the password
-for the user your prompted for during installation must have a length
-of at least 5 characters!
-
- [1] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie >
-
-Would you like to give your school's computer a longer life? Are you
-tired of sneaker administration, running from computer to computer
-reinstalling the operating system? Would you like to administrate all
-the computers in your school using only a couple of hours every week?
-Check out Debian Edu Jessie!
-
-Skolelinux is used by at least two hundred schools all over the world,
-mostly in Germany and Norway.
-
-About Debian Edu and Skolelinux
-===============================
-
-Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux[2], 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 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[3] and more are available from the Debian archive, and
-schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE, Xfce and MATE desktop
-environment.
-
- [2] <URL: http://www.skolelinux.org/ >
- [3] <URL: http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html >
-
-Full release notes and manual
-=============================
-
-Below the download URLs there is a list of some of the new features
-and bugfixes of Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie. The full
-list is part of the manual. (See the feature list in the manual[4] for
-the English version.) For some languages manual translations are
-available, see the manual translation overview[5].
-
- [4] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/Features >
- [5] <URL: http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/ >
-
-Where to get it
----------------
-
-To download the multiarch netinstall CD release (624 MiB) you can use
-
- * ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso
- * http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso
- * rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso .
-
-The SHA1SUM of this image is: 361188818e036ce67280a572f757de82ebfeb095
-
-New features for Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie released 2014-10-27
-===============================================================================
-
-
-Installation changes
---------------------
-
- * PXE installation now installs firmware automatically for the hardware present.
-
-Software updates
-----------------
-
-Everything which is new in Debian Jessie 8.0, eg:
-
- * Linux kernel 3.16.x
- * Desktop environments KDE "Plasma" 4.11.12, GNOME 3.14, Xfce 4.10,
-   LXDE 0.5.6 and MATE 1.8 (KDE "Plasma" is installed by default; to
-   choose one of the others see manual.)
- * the browsers Iceweasel 31 ESR and Chromium 38 
- * !LibreOffice 4.3.3
- * GOsa 2.7.4
- * LTSP 5.5.4
- * CUPS print system 1.7.5
- * new boot framework: systemd
- * Educational toolbox GCompris 14.07 
- * Music creator Rosegarden 14.02
- * Image editor Gimp 2.8.14
- * Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.13.0
- * golearn 0.9
- * tuxpaint 0.9.22
- * New version of debian-installer from Debian Jessie.
- * Debian Jessie includes about 42000 packages available for
-   installation.
- * More information about Debian Jessie 8.0 is provided in the release
-   notes[6] and the installation manual[7].
-
- [6] <URL: http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes >
- [7] <URL: http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual >
-
-Fixed bugs
-----------
-
- * Inserting incorrect DNS information in Gosa will no longer break
-   DNS completely, but instead stop DNS updates until the incorrect
-   information is corrected (Debian bug #710362)
- * and many others.
-
-Documentation and translation updates
-------------------------------------- 
-
- * The Debian Edu Jessie Manual is fully translated to German, French,
-   Italian, Danish and Dutch. Partly translated versions exist for
-   Norwegian Bokmal and Spanish.
-
-Other changes
--------------
-
- * Due to new Squid settings, powering off or rebooting the main
-   server takes more time.
- * To manage printers localhost:631 has to be used, currently www:631
-   doesn't work.
-
-Regressions / known problems
-----------------------------
-
- * Installing LTSP chroot fails with a bug related to eatmydata about
-   exim4-config failing to run its postinst (see Debian bug #765694
-   and Debian bug #762103).
- * Munin collection is not properly configured on clients (Debian bug
-   #764594).  The fix is available in a newer version of munin-node.
- * PXE setup for Main Server and Thin Client Server setup does not
-   work when installing on a machine without direct Internet access.
-   Will be fixed when Debian bug #766960 is fixed in Jessie.
+

+
+
According to
+a
+MPEG LA press release dated 2010-02-02, there is no charge when
+using MPEG AVC/H.264 according to the terms of "Internet Broadcast AVC
+Video".  I am trying to understand exactly what the terms of "Internet
+Broadcast AVC Video" is, and wondered if you could help me.  What
+exactly is covered by these terms, and what is not?

 
-See the status page[8] for the complete list.
+
The only source of more information I have been able to find is a
+PDF named
+AVC
+Patent Portfolio License Briefing, which states this about the
+fees:

 
- [8] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie >
+
    
+ 
  • Where End User pays for AVC Video
+  
      
+   
    • Subscription (not limited by title) – 100,000 or fewer
+     subscribers/yr = no royalty; > 100,000 to 250,000 subscribers/yr =
+     $25,000; >250,000 to 500,000 subscribers/yr = $50,000; >500,000 to
+     1M subscribers/yr = $75,000; >1M subscribers/yr = $100,000
      • 
+
+   
    • Title-by-Title - 12 minutes or less = no royalty; >12 minutes in
+     length = lower of (a) 2% or (b) $0.02 per title
      • 
+  
    • 
+
+ 
  • Where remuneration is from other sources
+  
      
+   
    • Free Television - (a) one-time $2,500 per transmission encoder or
+     (b) annual fee starting at $2,500 for > 100,000 HH rising to
+     maximum $10,000 for >1,000,000 HH
      • 
+
+   
    • Internet Broadcast AVC Video (not title-by-title, not subscription)
+     – no royalty for life of the AVC Patent Portfolio License
      • 
+  
    • 
+

 
-How to report bugs
-------------------
+
Am I correct in assuming that the four categories listed is the
+categories used when selecting licensing terms, and that "Internet
+Broadcast AVC Video" is the category for things that do not fall into
+one of the other three categories?  Can you point me to a good source
+explaining what is ment by "title-by-title" and "Free Television" in
+the license terms for AVC/H.264?

+
+
Will a web service providing H.264 encoded video content in a
+"video on demand" fashing similar to Youtube and Vimeo, where no
+subscription is required and no payment is required from end users to
+get access to the videos, fall under the terms of the "Internet
+Broadcast AVC Video", ie no royalty for life of the AVC Patent
+Portfolio license?  Does it matter if some users are subscribed to get
+access to personalized services?

+
+
Note, this request and all answers will be published on the
+Internet.

+

 
-<URL: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs >
+
The answer came quickly from Benjamin J. Myers, Licensing Associate
+with the MPEG LA:

 
-About Debian
-============
+

+
Thank you for your message and for your interest in MPEG LA.  We
+appreciate hearing from you and I will be happy to assist you.

+
+
As you are aware, MPEG LA offers our AVC Patent Portfolio License
+which provides coverage under patents that are essential for use of
+the AVC/H.264 Standard (MPEG-4 Part 10).  Specifically, coverage is
+provided for end products and video content that make use of AVC/H.264
+technology.  Accordingly, the party offering such end products and
+video to End Users concludes the AVC License and is responsible for
+paying the applicable royalties.

+
+
Regarding Internet Broadcast AVC Video, the AVC License generally
+defines such content to be video that is distributed to End Users over
+the Internet free-of-charge.  Therefore, if a party offers a service
+which allows users to upload AVC/H.264 video to its website, and such
+AVC Video is delivered to End Users for free, then such video would
+receive coverage under the sublicense for Internet Broadcast AVC
+Video, which is not subject to any royalties for the life of the AVC
+License.  This would also apply in the scenario where a user creates a
+free online account in order to receive a customized offering of free
+AVC Video content.  In other words, as long as the End User is given
+access to or views AVC Video content at no cost to the End User, then
+no royalties would be payable under our AVC License.

+
+
On the other hand, if End Users pay for access to AVC Video for a
+specific period of time (e.g., one month, one year, etc.), then such
+video would constitute Subscription AVC Video.  In cases where AVC
+Video is delivered to End Users on a pay-per-view basis, then such
+content would constitute Title-by-Title AVC Video.  If a party offers
+Subscription or Title-by-Title AVC Video to End Users, then they would
+be responsible for paying the applicable royalties you noted below.

+
+
Finally, in the case where AVC Video is distributed for free
+through an "over-the-air, satellite and/or cable transmission", then
+such content would constitute Free Television AVC Video and would be
+subject to the applicable royalties.

+
+
For your reference, I have attached
+a
+.pdf copy of the AVC License. You will find the relevant
+sublicense information regarding AVC Video in Sections 2.2 through
+2.5, and the corresponding royalties in Section 3.1.2 through 3.1.4.
+You will also find the definitions of Title-by-Title AVC Video,
+Subscription AVC Video, Free Television AVC Video, and Internet
+Broadcast AVC Video in Section 1 of the License.  Please note that the
+electronic copy is provided for informational purposes only and cannot
+be used for execution.

+
+
I hope the above information is helpful.  If you have additional
+questions or need further assistance with the AVC License, please feel
+free to contact me directly.

+

 
-The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly
-free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of
-the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of
-volunteers from all over the world work together to create and
-maintain Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a
-huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the universal
-operating system.
+
Having a fresh copy of the license text was useful, and knowing
+that the definition of Title-by-Title required payment per title made
+me aware that my earlier understanding of that phrase had been wrong.
+But I still had a few questions:

 
-Contact Information
-For further information, please visit the Debian web pages[9] or send
-mail to press@debian.org.
+

+
I have a small followup question.  Would it be possible for me to get
+a license with MPEG LA even if there are no royalties to be paid?  The
+reason I ask, is that some video related products have a copyright
+clause limiting their use without a license with MPEG LA.  The clauses
+typically look similar to this:
 
- [9] <URL: http://www.debian.org/ >
-
+

+ This product is licensed under the AVC patent portfolio license for + the personal and non-commercial use of a consumer to (a) encode + video in compliance with the AVC standard ("AVC video") and/or (b) + decode AVC video that was encoded by a consumer engaged in a + personal and non-commercial activity and/or AVC video that was + obtained from a video provider licensed to provide AVC video. No + license is granted or shall be implied for any other use. additional + information may be obtained from MPEG LA L.L.C. +

+ +

It is unclear to me if this clause mean that I need to enter into +an agreement with MPEG LA to use the product in question, even if +there are no royalties to be paid to MPEG LA. I suspect it will +differ depending on the jurisdiction, and mine is Norway. What is +MPEG LAs view on this?

+

+ +

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

+ +

+ +

With regard to the Notice to Customers, I would like to begin by +clarifying that the Notice from Section 7.1 of the AVC License +reads:

+ +

THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE AVC PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSE FOR +THE PERSONAL USE OF A CONSUMER OR OTHER USES IN WHICH IT DOES NOT +RECEIVE REMUNERATION TO (i) ENCODE VIDEO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AVC +STANDARD ("AVC VIDEO") AND/OR (ii) DECODE AVC VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED +BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM +A VIDEO PROVIDER LICENSED TO PROVIDE AVC VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED +OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE +OBTAINED FROM MPEG LA, L.L.C. SEE HTTP://WWW.MPEGLA.COM

+ +

The Notice to Customers is intended to inform End Users of the +personal usage rights (for example, to watch video content) included +with the product they purchased, and to encourage any party using the +product for commercial purposes to contact MPEG LA in order to become +licensed for such use (for example, when they use an AVC Product to +deliver Title-by-Title, Subscription, Free Television or Internet +Broadcast AVC Video to End Users, or to re-Sell a third party's AVC +Product as their own branded AVC Product).

+ +

Therefore, if a party is to be licensed for its use of an AVC +Product to Sell AVC Video on a Title-by-Title, Subscription, Free +Television or Internet Broadcast basis, that party would need to +conclude the AVC License, even in the case where no royalties were +payable under the License. On the other hand, if that party (either a +Consumer or business customer) simply uses an AVC Product for their +own internal purposes and not for the commercial purposes referenced +above, then such use would be included in the royalty paid for the AVC +Products by the licensed supplier.

+ +

Finally, I note that our AVC License provides worldwide coverage in +countries that have AVC Patent Portfolio Patents, including +Norway.

+ +

I hope this clarification is helpful. If I may be of any further +assistance, just let me know.

+

+ +

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

+ +

+ +

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

+ +

+ +

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

+ +

+ +

Your understanding is correct that the last AVC Patent Portfolio +Patent in Norway expired on 21 October 2012. Therefore, where AVC +Video is both made and Sold in Norway after that date, then no +royalties would be payable for such AVC Video under the AVC License. +With that said, our AVC License provides historic coverage for AVC +Products and AVC Video that may have been manufactured or Sold before +the last Norwegian AVC patent expired. I would also like to clarify +that coverage is provided for the country of manufacture and the +country of Sale that has active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents.

+ +

Therefore, if a party offers AVC Products or AVC Video for Sale in +a country with active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents (for example, +Sweden, Denmark, Finland, etc.), then that party would still need +coverage under the AVC License even if such products or video are +initially made in a country without active AVC Patent Portfolio +Patents (for example, Norway). Similarly, a party would need to +conclude the AVC License if they make AVC Products or AVC Video in a +country with active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents, but eventually Sell +such AVC Products or AVC Video in a country without active AVC Patent +Portfolio Patents.

+

+ +

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

- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: english, h264, multimedia, opphavsrett, standard, video, web.
@@ -663,32 +556,62 @@ mail to press@debian.org.
-
I spent last weekend recording MakerCon Nordic
-
23rd October 2014
-

I spent last weekend at Makercon -Nordic, a great conference and workshop for makers in Norway and -the surrounding countries. I had volunteered on behalf of the -Norwegian Unix Users Group (NUUG) to video record the talks, and we -had a great and exhausting time recording the entire day, two days in -a row. There were only two of us, Hans-Petter and me, and we used the -regular video equipment for NUUG, with a -dvswitch, a -camera and a VGA to DV convert box, and mixed video and slides -live.

- -

Hans-Petter did the post-processing, consisting of uploading the -around 180 GiB of raw video to Youtube, and the result is -now becoming -public on the MakerConNordic account. The videos have the license -NUUG always use on our recordings, which is -Creative -Commons Navngivelse-Del på samme vilkår 3.0 Norge. Many great -talks available. Check it out! :)

+
New laptop - some more clues and ideas based on feedback
+
5th July 2015
+

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

+ +

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

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

- Tags: english, nuug, video. + Tags: debian, english.
@@ -696,91 +619,37 @@ talks available. Check it out! :)

-
listadmin, the quick way to moderate mailman lists - nice free software
-
22nd October 2014
-

If you ever had to moderate a mailman list, like the ones on -alioth.debian.org, you know the web interface is fairly slow to -operate. First you visit one web page, enter the moderation password -and get a new page shown with a list of all the messages to moderate -and various options for each email address. This take a while for -every list you moderate, and you need to do it regularly to do a good -job as a list moderator. But there is a quick alternative, -the -listadmin program. It allow you to check lists for new messages -to moderate in a fraction of a second. Here is a test run on two -lists I recently took over:

- -

-% time listadmin xiph
-fetching data for pkg-xiph-commits@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue
-fetching data for pkg-xiph-maint@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue
-
-real    0m1.709s
-user    0m0.232s
-sys     0m0.012s
-%
-

- -

In 1.7 seconds I had checked two mailing lists and confirmed that -there are no message in the moderation queue. Every morning I -currently moderate 68 mailman lists, and it normally take around two -minutes. When I took over the two pkg-xiph lists above a few days -ago, there were 400 emails waiting in the moderator queue. It took me -less than 15 minutes to process them all using the listadmin -program.

- -

If you install -the listadmin -package from Debian and create a file ~/.listadmin.ini -with content like this, the moderation task is a breeze:

- -

-username username@example.org
-spamlevel 23
-default discard
-discard_if_reason "Posting restricted to members only. Remove us from your mail list."
-
-password secret
-adminurl https://{domain}/mailman/admindb/{list}
-mailman-list@lists.example.com
-
-password hidden
-other-list@otherserver.example.org
-

- -

There are other options to set as well. Check the manual page to -learn the details.

- -

If you are forced to moderate lists on a mailman installation where -the SSL certificate is self signed or not properly signed by a -generally accepted signing authority, you can set a environment -variable when calling listadmin to disable SSL verification:

- -

-PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 listadmin
-

- -

If you want to moderate a subset of the lists you take care of, you -can provide an argument to the listadmin script like I do in the -initial screen dump (the xiph argument). Using an argument, only -lists matching the argument string will be processed. This make it -quick to accept messages if you notice the moderation request in your -email.

- -

Without the listadmin program, I would never be the moderator of 68 -mailing lists, as I simply do not have time to spend on that if the -process was any slower. The listadmin program have saved me hours of -time I could spend elsewhere over the years. It truly is nice free -software.

- -

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

- -

Update 2014-10-27: Added missing 'username' statement in -configuration example. Also, I've been told that the -PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 setting do not work for everyone. Not -sure why.

+
Time to find a new laptop, as the old one is broken after only two years
+
3rd July 2015
+

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

+ +

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

@@ -793,114 +662,208 @@ sure why.

-
Debian Jessie, PXE and automatic firmware installation
-
17th October 2014
-

When PXE installing laptops with Debian, I often run into the -problem that the WiFi card require some firmware to work properly. -And it has been a pain to fix this using preseeding in Debian. -Normally something more is needed. But thanks to -my isenkram -package and its recent tasksel extension, it has now become easy -to do this using simple preseeding.

- -

The isenkram-cli package provide tasksel tasks which will install -firmware for the hardware found in the machine (actually, requested by -the kernel modules for the hardware). (It can also install user space -programs supporting the hardware detected, but that is not the focus -of this story.)

- -

To get this working in the default installation, two preeseding -values are needed. First, the isenkram-cli package must be installed -into the target chroot (aka the hard drive) before tasksel is executed -in the pkgsel step of the debian-installer system. This is done by -preseeding the base-installer/includes debconf value to include the -isenkram-cli package. The package name is next passed to debootstrap -for installation. With the isenkram-cli package in place, tasksel -will automatically use the isenkram tasks to detect hardware specific -packages for the machine being installed and install them, because -isenkram-cli contain tasksel tasks.

- -

Second, one need to enable the non-free APT repository, because -most firmware unfortunately is non-free. This is done by preseeding -the apt-mirror-setup step. This is unfortunate, but for a lot of -hardware it is the only option in Debian.

- -

The end result is two lines needed in your preseeding file to get -firmware installed automatically by the installer:

- -

-base-installer base-installer/includes string isenkram-cli
-apt-mirror-setup apt-setup/non-free boolean true
-

- -

The current version of isenkram-cli in testing/jessie will install -both firmware and user space packages when using this method. It also -do not work well, so use version 0.15 or later. Installing both -firmware and user space packages might give you a bit more than you -want, so I decided to split the tasksel task in two, one for firmware -and one for user space programs. The firmware task is enabled by -default, while the one for user space programs is not. This split is -implemented in the package currently in unstable.

- -

If you decide to give this a go, please let me know (via email) how -this recipe work for you. :)

- -

So, I bet you are wondering, how can this work. First and -foremost, it work because tasksel is modular, and driven by whatever -files it find in /usr/lib/tasksel/ and /usr/share/tasksel/. So the -isenkram-cli package place two files for tasksel to find. First there -is the task description file (/usr/share/tasksel/descs/isenkram.desc):

- -

-Task: isenkram-packages
-Section: hardware
-Description: Hardware specific packages (autodetected by isenkram)
- Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific packages are
- proposed.
-Test-new-install: show show
-Relevance: 8
-Packages: for-current-hardware
-
-Task: isenkram-firmware
-Section: hardware
-Description: Hardware specific firmware packages (autodetected by isenkram)
- Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific firmware
- packages are proposed.
-Test-new-install: mark show
-Relevance: 8
-Packages: for-current-hardware-firmware
-

- -

The key parts are Test-new-install which indicate how the task -should be handled and the Packages line referencing to a script in -/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/. The scripts use other scripts to get a -list of packages to install. The for-current-hardware-firmware script -look like this to list relevant firmware for the machine: - -

-#!/bin/sh
-#
-PATH=/usr/sbin:$PATH
-export PATH
-isenkram-autoinstall-firmware -l
-

- -

With those two pieces in place, the firmware is installed by -tasksel during the normal d-i run. :)

- -

If you want to test what tasksel will install when isenkram-cli is -installed, run DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical tasksel --test ---new-install to get the list of packages that tasksel would -install.

- -

Debian Edu will be -pilots in testing this feature, as isenkram is used there now to -install firmware, replacing the earlier scripts.

+
MakerCon Nordic videos now available on Frikanalen
+
2nd July 2015
+

Last oktober I was involved on behalf of +NUUG with recording the talks at +MakerCon Nordic, a conference for +the Maker movement. Since then it has been the plan to publish the +recordings on Frikanalen, which +finally happened the last few days. A few talks are missing because +the speakers asked the organizers to not publish them, but most of the +talks are available. The talks are being broadcasted on RiksTV +channel 50 and using multicast on Uninett, as well as being available +from the Frikanalen web site. The unedited recordings are +available on +Youtube too.

+ +

This is the list of talks available at the moment. Visit the +Frikanalen video +pages to view them.

+ +
    + +
  • Evolutionary algorithms as a design tool - from art + to robotics (Kyrre Glette)
    • + +
  • Make and break (Hans Gerhard Meier)
    • + +
  • Making a one year school course for young makers + (Olav Helland)
    • + +
  • Innovation Inspiration - IPR Databases as a Source of + Inspiration (Hege Langlo)
    • + +
  • Making a toy for makers (Erik Torstensson)
    • + +
  • How to make 3D printer electronics (Elias Bakken)
    • + +
  • Hovering Clouds: Looking at online tool offerings for Product + Design and 3D Printing (William Kempton)
    • + +
  • Travelling maker stories (Øyvind Nydal Dahl)
    • + +
  • Making the first Maker Faire in Sweden (Nils Olander)
    • + +
  • Breaking the mold: Printing 1000’s of parts (Espen Sivertsen)
    • + +
  • Ultimaker — and open source 3D printing (Erik de Bruijn)
    • + +
  • Autodesk’s 3D Printing Platform: Sparking innovation (Hilde + Sevens)
    • + +
  • How Making is Changing the World – and How You Can Too! + (Jennifer Turliuk)
    • + +
  • Open-Source Adventuring: OpenROV, OpenExplorer and the Future of + Connected Exploration (David Lang)
    • + +
  • Making in Norway (Haakon Karlsen Jr., Graham Hayward and Jens + Dyvik)
    • + +
  • The Impact of the Maker Movement (Mike Senese)
    • + +
+ +

Part of the reason this took so long was that the scripts NUUG had +to prepare a recording for publication were five years old and no +longer worked with the current video processing tools (command line +argument changes). In addition, we needed better audio normalization, +which sent me on a detour to +package +bs1770gain for Debian. Now this is in place and it became a lot +easier to publish NUUG videos on Frikanalen.

+
+
+ + + Tags: english, frikanalen, multimedia, video. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
Hvem fører Medietilsynet tilsyn med?
+
28th June 2015
+

I en global verden med eierskap på tvers, trengs det informasjon om +hvem som har kontrollen i selskaper og bedrifter. Og for å få tilgang +til slik informasjon for alle som ønsker å analysere eierskap, holder +med ikke med nasjonale databaser over eierskap, det må globale +samledatabaser med åpne data til. Heldigvis finnes det en +internasjonal bevegelse for å gjøre selskapsinformasjon for alle land +offentlig tilgjengelig. En slik database heter +OpenCorporates, der +informasjonen er gratis tilgjengelig med en "del på samme +vilkår"-lisens. De samler inn selskapsinformasjon, eierskap, +konsesjonstildelinger og lignende. De manglet ganske mye for Norge, +da bruksvilkårene til Norsk offentlig informasjon i stor grad +blokkerer OpenCorporates fra å samle den inn.

+ +

Men jeg er jo involvert i +Frikanalen, som har +TV-konsesjon, og tenkte det kunne være fint om informasjon om alle +mediakonsesjoner var tilgjengelig i OpenCorporates, så jeg sendte +avgårde følgende spørsmål til Medietilsynet 2015-06-22:

+ +
+

Hei. Finnes det en oversikt over enhetene som Mediatilsynet fører +tilsyn med som åpne data? Jeg lette etter den på +<URL:http://data.norge.no/> og +<URL:http://hotell.difi.no/> uten å +finne noe der, og fant heller ikke noe under +<URL:http://www.medietilsynet.no/>.

+ +

Jeg tenker på alle som har fått kringkastingskonsesjon og alle som +er omtalt under +<URL:http://www.medietilsynet.no/mediebildet/>.

+ +

Jeg skulle gjerne hatt dette maskinlesbart, og inkludert +organisasjonsnummer og hva slags forhold mediatilsynet har til +organisasjonene. Tanken er å importere det i +<URL:https://opencorporates.com/> for analyse, så det bør ikke ha +bruksbegresninger som gjør dette umulig.

+
+ +

To dager senere fikk jeg svar, med de datasettene de hadde +tilgjengelig. Svaret fra Hanne Sekkelsten hos Medietilsynet var +informativt og imøtekommende.

+ +
+

Vi viser til din e-post av 22. juni, der du ber om å få tilsendt oversikter +over aktører Medietilsynet fører tilsyn med.

+ +

Medietilsynet fører tilsyn med kringkastere og audiovisuelle +bestillingstjenester som omfattes av kringkastingsloven, og med +eierskap i aviser, fjernsyn radio og elektroniske medier etter +medieeierskapsloven. I tillegg vil Medietilsynet etter at +beskyttelsesloven trer i kraft fra 1. juli ha tilsyn med en rekke nye +aktører. Nærmere informasjon om den nye loven finnes på Medietilsynets +nettsted, her: +http://www.medietilsynet.no/mediebransjen/bildeprogramloven/ +. Vi har ikke utarbeidet oversikter over alle aktørene, men vi sender +deg her de listene vi har utarbeidet, hentet fra våre databaser. Vi +har dessverre ikke ferdige rapporter som inneholder +organisasjonsnummer. Dersom du ønsker flere opplysninger ber vi om at +du tar kontakt med oss slik at vi kan finne ut av hvilke opplysninger +du trenger, og hvilke vi kan fremskaffe.

+ +

Vedlagt følger: + +

    + +
  • Konsesjoner - lokalradio FM pr. 31.12.2014 [PDF (original)]
    • + +
  • Konsesjoner - lokalfjernsyn i det digitale bakkenettet for fjernsyn, pr. mars 2015 [DOCX (original), +PDF]
    • + +
  • Konsesjoner - DAB-radio, status mars 2015 [XPS (original), +PDF]
    • + +
  • Registreringspliktige kringkastere - status mars 2015: [XPS (original), PDF] + +
      +
    • Kabelsendt fjernsyn +
    • Satellittsendt fjernsyn +
    • Nett-tv +
    • Kabelsendt radio +
    • Satellittsendt radio +
    • Nett-radio +
    • +
+ +

Vi må ta forbehold om at det kan være enkelte feil i oversiktene +siden disse ikke er oppdaterte pr. dags dato. Vi vil foreta nye +oppdateringer i august.

+ +

Med hilsen

+ +

Hanne Nistad Sekkelsten +
Seniorrådgiver | Senior Legal Adviser +
Medietilsynet | Norwegian Media Authority +
A: Nygata 4, NO-1607 Fredrikstad +
T: [telefonnummer fjernet] +
E: [adresse fjernet] | W: www.medietilsynet.no +

+
+ +

Desverre er formatene for ustrukturerte til maskinell behandling og +mangler endel informasjon, men det er gode oversikter over hvem +Medietilsynet fører tilsyn med. Filene er på formatene PDF, XPS +(XML-basert PDF-lignende format fra Microsoft) og DOCX, så det vil +være en stor jobb å strukturere informasjonen på en måte som kan +importeres i OpenCorporates. Svaret er ikke i tråd med +Forskrift +om IT-standarder i offentlig forvaltning som sier epostvedlegg +skal sendes som PDF, så jeg har gjorde PDF-utgaver av XPS og +DOCX-utgavene tilgjengelig for å gjøre det enklere for alle å se +innholdet.

- Tags: debian, english, isenkram, sysadmin. + Tags: norsk, offentlig innsyn.
@@ -915,6 +878,29 @@ install firmware, replacing the earlier scripts.

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