I received a very nice Christmas present today. As my regular +readers probably know, I have been working on the +the Isenkram +system for many years. The goal of the Isenkram system is to make +it easier for users to figure out what to install to get a given piece +of hardware to work in Debian, and a key part of this system is a way +to map hardware to packages. Isenkram have its own mapping database, +and also uses data provided by each package using the AppStream +metadata format. And today, +AppStream in +Debian learned to look up hardware the same way Isenkram is doing it, +ie using fnmatch():
+ ++% appstreamcli what-provides modalias \ + usb:v1130p0202d0100dc00dsc00dp00ic03isc00ip00in00 +Identifier: pymissile [generic] +Name: pymissile +Summary: Control original Striker USB Missile Launcher +Package: pymissile +% appstreamcli what-provides modalias usb:v0694p0002d0000 +Identifier: libnxt [generic] +Name: libnxt +Summary: utility library for talking to the LEGO Mindstorms NXT brick +Package: libnxt +--- +Identifier: t2n [generic] +Name: t2n +Summary: Simple command-line tool for Lego NXT +Package: t2n +--- +Identifier: python-nxt [generic] +Name: python-nxt +Summary: Python driver/interface/wrapper for the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot +Package: python-nxt +--- +Identifier: nbc [generic] +Name: nbc +Summary: C compiler for LEGO Mindstorms NXT bricks +Package: nbc +% ++ +
A similar query can be done using the combined AppStream and +Isenkram databases using the isenkram-lookup tool:
+ ++% isenkram-lookup usb:v1130p0202d0100dc00dsc00dp00ic03isc00ip00in00 +pymissile +% isenkram-lookup usb:v0694p0002d0000 +libnxt +nbc +python-nxt +t2n +% ++ +
You can find modalias values relevant for your machine using +cat $(find /sys/devices/ -name modalias). + +
If you want to make this system a success and help Debian users +make the most of the hardware they have, please +helpadd +AppStream metadata for your package following the guidelines +documented in the wiki. So far only 11 packages provide such +information, among the several hundred hardware specific packages in +Debian. The Isenkram database on the other hand contain 101 packages, +mostly related to USB dongles. Most of the packages with hardware +mapping in AppStream are LEGO Mindstorms related, because I have, as +part of my involvement in +the Debian LEGO +team given priority to making sure LEGO users get proposed the +complete set of packages in Debian for that particular hardware. The +team also got a nice Christmas present today. The +nxt-firmware +package made it into Debian. With this package in place, it is +now possible to use the LEGO Mindstorms NXT unit with only free +software, as the nxt-firmware package contain the source and firmware +binaries for the NXT brick.
+ +As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.
+ +