X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/b2642f1921797c2600da902d19e93d7bc138d02e..92433b45dfc4c0df34207c727c29e0a1a8a0f02f:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index 3b1fcbb4ef..9f77f0a71e 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -7,1052 +7,816 @@ - Hva gjør at NRK kan distribuere H.264-video uten patentavtale med MPEG LA? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hva_gj_r_at_NRK_kan_distribuere_H_264_video_uten_patentavtale_med_MPEG_LA_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hva_gj_r_at_NRK_kan_distribuere_H_264_video_uten_patentavtale_med_MPEG_LA_.html - Wed, 10 Jun 2015 15:20:00 +0200 - <p>Helt siden jeg i 2012 fikk beskjed fra MPEG LA om at -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MPEG_LA_mener_NRK_m__ha_avtale_med_dem_for___kringkaste_og_publisere_H_264_video.html">NRK -trengte patentavtale med dem</a> hvis de distribuerte H.264-video til -sluttbrukere, har jeg lurt på hva som gjør at NRK ikke har slik -avtale. For noen dager siden fikk jeg endelig gjort noe med min -undring, og sendte 2015-05-28 følgende epost til info (at) nrk.no med -tittel "Hva gjør at NRK kan distribuere H.264-video uten patentavtale -med MPEG LA?":</p> - -<p><blockquote> -<p>Jeg lurer på en ting rundt NRKs bruk av H.264-video på sine -websider samt distribusjon via RiksTV og kabel-TV. Har NRK vurdert om -det er behov for en patentavtale med -<a href="http://www.mpegla.com/">MPEG LA</a> slik det står i -programvarelisensene til blant annet Apple Final Cut Studio, Adobe -Premiere Pro, Avid og Apples Final Cut Pro X?</p> - -<p>Hvis dere har vurdert dette, hva var utfallet av en slik vurdering?</p> - -<p>Hvis dere ikke har vurdert dette, har NRK planer om å vurdere behovet -for patentavtale?</p> - -<p>I følge en artikkel på -<a href="https://nrkbeta.no/2012/02/01/siste-kutt-for-final-cut/">NRK -Beta i 2012</a> har NRK brukt eller testet både Apple Final Cut -Studio, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid og Apples Final Cut Pro X til bruk -for å redigere video før sending. Alle disse har bruksvilkår -understøttet av opphavsretten som sier at de kun kan brukes til å lage -filmer til personlig og ikke-kommersiell bruk - med mindre en har en -lisensavtale med MPEG LA om bruk av patenter utstedt i USA for H.264. -Se f.eks. <a href="http://www.avid.com/static/resources/common/documents/corporate/LICENSE.pdf">bruksvilkårene for Avid</a>, <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20000101-264.html">Adobe Premiere</a> og <a href="http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/finalcutstudio2.pdf">Apple Final -Cut Studio</a> og søk etter "MPEG LA".</p> - -<p>Dette får meg til å lure på om det er brudd på opphavsretten å bruke -disse verktøyene i strid med bruksvilkårene uten patentavtale med MPEG -LA. Men NRK bruker jo tilsynelatende disse verktøyene uten patentavtale -med MPEG LA.</p> - -<p>I følge forfatteren av Open Broadcast Encoder finnes det to typer -H.264-relaterte avtaler en kan få med MPEG LA. Det er én for å lage -programvare og utstyr som produserer H.264-video, og en annen for å -kringkaste video som bruker H.264. Dette forteller meg at selv om -produsentene av utstyr og programvare som NRK bruker har en slik avtale -med MPEG LA, så trenges det en egen avtale for å kringkaste video på det -formatet.</p> - -<p>I følge Ryan Rodriguez hos MPEG LA, da jeg spurte ham på epost i -juni 2012, har NRK ikke en slik avtale med MPEG LA. Han sa videre at -NRK trenger en slik avtale hvis NRK tilbyr H.264-kodet video til -sluttbrukere. Jeg sjekket listen med -<a href="http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/Licensees.aspx">organisasjoner -med avtale med MPEG LA</a> og NRK står fortsatt ikke der.</p> - -<p>Jeg lurer dermed på hva som gjør at NRK kan bruke de overnevnte -videoredigeringsverktøyene, som tilsynelatende har krav om avtale med -MPEG LA for å kunne brukes slik NRK bruker dem, til å lage videofiler -for distribusjon uten å ha en avtale med MPEG LA om distribusjon av -H.264-video? Dette er spesielt interessant å vite for oss andre som -også vurderer å spre H.264-video etter å ha redigert dem med disse mye -brukte videoredigeringsverktøyene.</p> -</blockquote></p> - -<p>Samme dag fikk jeg automatisk svar om at min henvendelse hadde fått -saksid 1294699. Jeg fikk deretter følgende respons fra NRK -2015-06-09:</p> + In my hand, a pocket book edition of the Norwegian Free Culture book! + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/In_my_hand__a_pocket_book_edition_of_the_Norwegian_Free_Culture_book_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/In_my_hand__a_pocket_book_edition_of_the_Norwegian_Free_Culture_book_.html + Wed, 19 Aug 2015 22:10:00 +0200 + <p>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. :)</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + + + + First paper version of the Norwegian Free Culture book heading my way + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_paper_version_of_the_Norwegian_Free_Culture_book_heading_my_way.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_paper_version_of_the_Norwegian_Free_Culture_book_heading_my_way.html + Sun, 9 Aug 2015 10:15:00 +0200 + <p>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 +<a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> based version of the +<a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> 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.</p> + +<p>Last night, I finally managed to create a PDF that no longer made +<a href="http://www.lulu.com/">Lulu.com</a> 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.</p> + +<p>Instead of using Lulu, I did consider printing the book using +<a href="http://www.createspace.com/">CreateSpace</a>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + + + + Typesetting DocBook footnotes as endnotes with dblatex + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Typesetting_DocBook_footnotes_as_endnotes_with_dblatex.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Typesetting_DocBook_footnotes_as_endnotes_with_dblatex.html + Thu, 16 Jul 2015 18:10:00 +0200 + <p>I'm still working on the Norwegian version of the +<a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture book by Lawrence +Lessig</a>, 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 +<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/685063">feedback from the Debian +maintainer and the dblatex developer</a>, 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.</p> + +<p>First, decide where in the DocBook document to place the endnotes, +and add this text there:</p> -<p><blockquote> -<p>Hei, beklager lang svartid, men det tok litt tid å finne ut hvem som kunne -svare på dette.</p> +<pre> +&lt;?latex \theendnotes ?&gt; +</pre> -<p>For selskaper som leverer h.264 til sluttbrukere på nett (f.eks -NRKs nett- tv utgaver som bruker h.264) - og som leverer slike -tjenester uten betaling fra forbrukere – er det heller ikke påkrevd -noen patentavtale.</p> +<p>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:</p> -<p><a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100825006629/en/MPEG-LA%E2%80%99s-AVC-License-Charge-Royalties-Internet#.VWb2ws_774Y">http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100825006629/en/MPEG-LA%E2%80%99s-AVC-License-Charge-Royalties-Internet#.VWb2ws_774Y</a></p> +<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:param name="latex.begindocument"&gt; + &lt;xsl:text&gt; +\usepackage{endnotes} +\let\footnote=\endnote +\def\enoteheading{\mbox{}\par\vskip-\baselineskip } +\begin{document} + &lt;/xsl:text&gt; + &lt;/xsl:param&gt; +&lt;/xsl:stylesheet&gt; +</pre> -<p>Med vennlig hilsen -<br>Gunn Helen Berg -<br>Informasjonskonsulent, Publikumsservice</p> +<p>Finally, load this xsl file when running dblatex, for example like +this:</p> -<p>NRK -<br>Strategidivisjonen -<Br>Sentralbord: +47 23 04 70 00 -<br>Post: NRK Publikumsservice, 8608 Mo i Rana -<br>nrk.no / info (at) nrk.no</p> -</blockquote></p> +<pre> +dblatex --xsl-user=dblatex-endnotes.xsl freeculture.nb.xml +</pre> -Da dette ikke helt var svar på det jeg lurte på, sendte jeg samme dag -oppfølgerepost tilbake: +<p>The end result can be seen on github, where +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">my +book project</a> is located.</p> + + + + + Mimes brønn, norsk utgave av Alaveteli / WhatDoTheyKnow, endelig lansert + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Mimes_br_nn__norsk_utgave_av_Alaveteli___WhatDoTheyKnow__endelig_lansert.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Mimes_br_nn__norsk_utgave_av_Alaveteli___WhatDoTheyKnow__endelig_lansert.html + Thu, 9 Jul 2015 11:40:00 +0200 + <p>I går fikk vi endelig lansert en norsk version av mySocietys +<a href="https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/">WhatDoTheyKnow</a>. +Tjenesten heter Mimes brønn, og ble +<a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/NUUG_lanserer_innsynstjenesten_Mimes_Br_nn.shtml">annonsert +av NUUG</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Hvis du lurer på hva i alle dager en slik tjenestes kan brukes til, +anbefaler jeg deg å se +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/625321">TED-foredraget til +Heather Brook</a> om hvordan hun brukte WhatDoTheyKnow til å lære +hvordan offentlige midler ble misbrukt. Det er en inspirerende +historie.</p> + + + + + MPEG LA on "Internet Broadcast AVC Video" licensing and non-private use + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MPEG_LA_on__Internet_Broadcast_AVC_Video__licensing_and_non_private_use.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MPEG_LA_on__Internet_Broadcast_AVC_Video__licensing_and_non_private_use.html + Tue, 7 Jul 2015 09:50:00 +0200 + <p>After asking the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK) +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hva_gj_r_at_NRK_kan_distribuere_H_264_video_uten_patentavtale_med_MPEG_LA_.html">why +they can broadcast and stream H.264 video without an agreement with +the MPEG LA</a>, 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.</p> + +<p>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: <p><blockquote> -<p>[Gunn Helen Berg] -<br>> Hei, beklager lang svartid, men det tok litt tid å finne ut hvem som -<br>> kunne svare på dette.</p> - -<p>Takk for svar. Men det besvarte ikke helt det jeg spurte om.</p> - -<p>> For selskaper som leverer h.264 til sluttbrukere på nett (f.eks NRKs -<br>> nett- tv utgaver som bruker h.264) - og som leverer slike tjenester -<br>> uten betaling fra forbrukere – er det heller ikke påkrevd noen -<br>> patentavtale. -<br>> -<br>> http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100825006629/en/MPEG-LA%E2%80%99s-AVC-License-Charge-Royalties-Internet#.VWb2ws_774Y</p> - -<p>Spørsmålet er ikke kun om MPEG LA krever patentavtale eller ikke -(hvilket ikke helt besvares av pressemeldingen omtalt over, gitt at -pressemeldingen kom i 2010, to år før MPEG LA ansvarlige for -internasjonal lisensiering egen Ryan Rodriguez fortalte meg på epost -at NRK trenger en lisens.</p> - -<p>Det er uklart fra pressemeldingen hva "Internet Broadcast AVC -Video" konkret betyr, men i følge en -<a href="http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/avc/Documents/avcweb.pdf">presentasjon -fra MPEG LA med tema "AVC PAtent Portfoli License Briefing" datert -2015-05-15</a> gjelder "Internet Broadcast AVC Video" kun kringkasting -på Internet som ikke tilbyr valg av enkeltinnslag ("not -title-by-title"), hvilket jo NRK gjør på sine nettsider. I tillegg -kringkaster jo NRK H.264-video også utenom Internet (RiksTV, kabel, -satelitt), hvilket helt klart ikke er dekket av vilkårene omtalt i -pressemeldingen.</p> - -<p>Spørsmålet mitt er hvordan NRK kan bruke verktøy med bruksvilkår -som krever avtale med MPEG LA for det NRK bruker dem til, når NRK ikke -har avtale med MPEG LA. Hvis jeg forsto spørsmålet riktig, så mener -NRK at dere ikke trenger avtale med MPEG LA, men uten slik avtale kan -dere vel ikke bruke hverken Apple Final Cut Studio, Adobe Premiere -Pro, Avid eller Apples Final Cut Pro X for å redigere video før -sending?</p> - -<p>Mine konkrete spørsmål var altså:</p> - -<ul> - -<li>Hvis NRK har vurdert om det er behov for en patentavtale med MPEG LA - slik det er krav om i programvarelisensene til blant annet Apple - Final Cut Studio, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid og Apples Final Cut Pro X, - hva var utfallet av en slik vurdering? Kan jeg få kopi av vurderingen - hvis den er gjort skriftlig?</li> -<li>Hvis NRK ikke har vurdert dette, har NRK planer om å vurdere behovet - for patentavtale?</li> +<p>According to +<a href="http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/226/n-10-02-02.pdf">a +MPEG LA press release dated 2010-02-02</a>, 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?</p> -<li>Hva slags saksnummer fikk min henvendelse i NRKs offentlige - postjournal? Jeg ser at postjournalen ikke er publisert for den - aktuelle perioden ennå, så jeg fikk ikke sjekket selv.</li> +<p>The only source of more information I have been able to find is a +PDF named +<a href="http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/avc/Documents/avcweb.pdf">AVC +Patent Portfolio License Briefing</a>, which states this about the +fees:</p> +<ul> + <li>Where End User pays for AVC Video + <ul> + <li>Subscription (not limited by title) – 100,000 or fewer + subscribers/yr = no royalty; &gt; 100,000 to 250,000 subscribers/yr = + $25,000; &gt;250,000 to 500,000 subscribers/yr = $50,000; &gt;500,000 to + 1M subscribers/yr = $75,000; &gt;1M subscribers/yr = $100,000</li> + + <li>Title-by-Title - 12 minutes or less = no royalty; &gt;12 minutes in + length = lower of (a) 2% or (b) $0.02 per title</li> + </ul></li> + + <li>Where remuneration is from other sources + <ul> + <li>Free Television - (a) one-time $2,500 per transmission encoder or + (b) annual fee starting at $2,500 for &gt; 100,000 HH rising to + maximum $10,000 for &gt;1,000,000 HH</li> + + <li>Internet Broadcast AVC Video (not title-by-title, not subscription) + – no royalty for life of the AVC Patent Portfolio License</li> + </ul></li> </ul> -</blockquote></p> - -<p>Det hjelper å ha funnet rette vedkommende i NRK, for denne gangen -fikk jeg svar tilbake dagen etter (2015-06-10), fra Geir Børdalen i -NRK:</p> -<p><blockquote> -<p>Hei Petter Reinholdtsen</p> - -<p>Jeg har sjekket saken med distribusjonssjef for tv, Arild Hellgren -(som var teknologidirektør da bakkenettet ble satt opp). NRK v/ -Hellgren hadde møte med MPEG LA sammen med den europeiske -kringkastingsunionen EBU før bakkenettet for TV ble satt opp -(igangsatt høsten 2007). I dette møtet ble det avklart at NRK/EBU ikke -trengte noen patentavtale for h.264 i forbindelse med oppsett av -bakkenettet eller bruk av MPEG4 h.264 som kompresjonsalgoritme fordi -tjenesten «in full»(nor: helt) var betalt av utsendelseselskapene og -ikke av forbrukerne.</p> - -<p><a href="http://www.nrk.no/oppdrag/digitalt-bakkenett-1.3214555">http://www.nrk.no/oppdrag/digitalt-bakkenett-1.3214555</a></p> - -<p>Det er også klart slått fast at selskaper som leverer video basert -på MPEG4 h.264 til sluttbrukere på nett, heller ikke påkrevd noen -patentavtale – så lenge de leverer slike tjenester uten betaling fra -sluttbrukere.</p> - -<a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100825006629/en/MPEG-LA%E2%80%99s-AVC-License-Charge-Royalties-Internet#.VWb2ws_774Y">http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100825006629/en/MPEG-LA%E2%80%99s-AVC-License-Charge-Royalties-Internet#.VWb2ws_774Y</a> - -<p>“MPEG LA announced today that its AVC Patent Portfolio License will -continue not to charge royalties for Internet Video that is free to -end users (known as “Internet Broadcast AVC Video”) during the entire -life of this License. MPEG LA previously announced it would not charge -royalties for such video through December 31, 2015 (see -<a href="http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/226/n-10-02-02.pdf">http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/226/n-10-02-02.pdf</a>), -and today’s announcement makes clear that royalties will continue not -to be charged for such video beyond that time. Products and services -other than Internet Broadcast AVC Video continue to be -royalty-bearing.”</p> - -<p>Vi har derfor ikke noe behov for å vurdere noen patentavtale med -MPEG LA.</p> - -<p>Understreker for øvrig at NRK ikke er låst til MPEG4 – h.264 som -utsendelsesformat – og at vi har brukt og bruker flere andre -alternativer i våre tjenester. Ulike «devicer» har ofte behov for -forskjellige løsninger – og NRK har forsøkt å levere med best mulig -kvalitet /økonomi /stabilitet avhengig av -plattform. Produksjonsformater i NRK spenner for øvrig over en rekke -forskjellige formater – hvor MPEG4 bare er en av disse. Når NRK kjøper -teknisk utstyr er betaling for kodekstøtte ofte en del av -anskaffelsesprisen for denne maskinvaren (enten dette er spesialiserte -enkodere eller forskjellige typer produksjonsutstyr).</p> - -<p>Vennlig hilsen -<br>Geir Børdalen</p> - -<p>________________________________________ -<br>Geir Børdalen -<br>Investeringsansvarlig NRK / Hovedprosjektleder - Origo -<br>Avdeling for utvikling, innovasjon, investering og eiendom -<br>NRK medietjenester -<br>Sentralbord: +47 23 04 70 00 -<br>Post: NRK, AUTV (RBM5), Pb. 8500 Majorstuen, 0340 Oslo -<br>nrk.no +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>Note, this request and all answers will be published on the +Internet.</p> </blockquote></p> -<p>Et godt og grundig svar, som var informativt om hvordan NRK tenker -rundt patentavtale med MPEG LA, men heller ikke helt besvarte det jeg -lurte på, så jeg sendte epostoppfølging samme dag.</p> +<p>The answer came quickly from Benjamin J. Myers, Licensing Associate +with the MPEG LA:</p> <p><blockquote> -<p>[Geir Børdalen] -<br>> Hei Petter Reinholdtsen</p> - -<p>Hei, og takk for raskt svar. Er min henvendelse journalført slik -at den dukker opp i NRKs postjournal?</p> - -<p>Svaret ditt var meget nyttig, og jeg forstår ut fra det du skriver -at avklaringen med MPEG LA rundt H.264-distribusjon via bakkenettet -gjelder alle TV-kanaler i Norge. Hvilke saksnummer fikk dokumenter -som ble opprettet i forbindelse med det omtalte møtet NRK v/Hellgren -og EBU hadde med MPEG LA (dvs. referater, avtaler, etc), -f.eks. dokumentet der formuleringen "in full" som du omtaler -finnes?<p> - -<p>Men det er et par ting jeg fortsatt ikke forstår. Det ene er -hvorfor NRKs forståelse av hva "Internet Broadcast AVC Video" dekker -ser ut til å avvike fra det som presenteres i -<a href="http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/avc/Documents/avcweb.pdf">lysark -fra MPEG LA</a> i mai, der MPEG LA på lysark med overskriften -"AVC/H.264 License Terms Participation Fees" og undertittel "Where -remuneration is from other sources" skriver "Internet Broadcast AVC -Video (not title-by-title, not subscription) – no royalty for life of -the AVC Patent Portfolio License".</p> - -<p>Her leser jeg MPEG LA dithen at det kun er kringkasting uten -abonnement via Internet som er dekket at vilkårne omtalt i -pressemeldingen, mens jeg forstår deg dithen at NRK mener NRKs -nettsider som også har enkeltfilmer og innslag (som jeg forstår dekket -av formuleringen "title-by-title") dekkes av "Internet Broadcast AVC -Video" fra MPEG LA. Hva baserer dere denne tolkningen på? Jeg har -ikke sett noe skriftlig fra MPEG LA som støtter NRKs tolkning, og -lurer på om dere har andre kilder enn den pressemeldingen fra 5 år -tilbake, der NRKS forståelse av hva "Internet Broadcast AVC Video" -dekker er beskrevet?</p> - -<p>Det andre er at eposten din ikke nevnte spørsmålet mitt om -bruksvilkårene til videoredigeringsverktøyene som NRK bruker. Disse -har som tidligere nevnt krav om at de kun skal brukes til private og -ikke-kommersielle formål med mindre en har avtale med MPEG LA, og uten -avtale med MPEG LA kan det jo virke som om NRK bruker verktøyene i -strid med bruksvilkårene. Hva gjør at disse bruksvilkårene ikke -gjelder for NRK?</p> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>For your reference, I have attached +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-07-07-mpegla.pdf">a +.pdf copy of the AVC License</a>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> </blockquote></p> -<p>Noen minutter senere får jeg foreløpig siste svar i -føljetongen:</p> +<p>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:</p> <p><blockquote> -<p>Hei igjen</p> +<p>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: -<p>Vårt dokumentarkiv har fått en kopi (journalføringsnr kan jeg -dessverre ikke gi deg).<p> - -<p>> Svaret ditt var meget nyttig, og jeg forstår ut fra det du -<br>> skriver at avklaringen med MPEG LA rundt H.264-distribusjon via -<br>> bakkenettet gjelder alle TV-kanaler i Norge.</p> +<p><blockquote> + 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. +</blockquote></p> -<p>Svar: Kan ikke svare for andre enn for NRK/EBU - og for bakkenettet -i Norge er det kun NRK som er et lisensbasert selskap. Kan ikke gi noe -svar på saksnr på dokumenter eller ytterligere informasjon da jeg selv -ikke var del i dette.</p> +<p>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?</p> +</blockquote></p> -<p>> Men det er et par ting jeg fortsatt ikke forstår. ...</p> +<p>According to the answer, MPEG LA believe those using such tools for +non-personal or commercial use need a license with them:</p> -<p>Svar: Kan ikke gå ytterligere inn i dette fra min side og mitt -fagfelt som er produksjon/publisering og systemstrukturene bak -disse. For øvrig ligger det etter vår formening ingen begrensninger -for NRK i mulighetene til publisering mht til kodek i -produksjonssystemer. Som tidligere skrevet mener vi at NRK ikke -trenger noen avtale med MPEG LA og støtter oss til det vi allerede har -kommunisert i forrige epost.</p> +<p><blockquote> -<p>Mvh -<br>Geir Børdalen</p> +<p>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:</p> + +<p>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</p> + +<p>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).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Finally, I note that our AVC License provides worldwide coverage in +countries that have AVC Patent Portfolio Patents, including +Norway.</p> + +<p>I hope this clarification is helpful. If I may be of any further +assistance, just let me know.</p> </blockquote></p> -<p>Det syntes vanskelig å komme videre når NRK ikke ønsker å gå inn i -problemstillingen rundt bruksvilkårene til videoredigeringsverktøyene -NRK bruker, så jeg sendte takk for svarene og avsluttet utvekslingen -så langt:</p> +<p>The mentioning of Norwegian patents made me a bit confused, so I +asked for more information:</p> <p><blockquote> -<p>Tusen takk for rask respons, og oppklarende forklaring om hvordan -NRK tenker rundt MPEG LA.</p> - -<p>Jeg vil høre med NRK-arkivet for å se om de kan spore opp de -omtalte dokumentene. Jeg setter pris på om du kan dele titler, dato -eller annen informasjon som kan gjøre det enklere for arkivet å finne -dem.</p> - -<p>Når det gjelder hvordan bruksvilkårene til -videoredigeringsverktøyene skal tolkes, så skal jeg høre med MPEG LA -og produsentene av verktøyene for å forsøke å få klarhet i hva de -mener er rikgig rettstilstand.</p> + +<p>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 &lt;URL: +<a href="http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/PatentList.aspx">http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/PatentList.aspx</a> +&gt; 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?</p> + </blockquote></p> -<p>Jeg ble litt klokere, men fortsatt er det uklart for meg hva som er -grunnlaget til NRK for å se bort fra bruksvilkår i -videoredigeringsprogramvare som krever MPEG LA-avtale til alt annet -enn privat og ikke-kommersiell bruk.</p> - - - - - Blir det virkelig krav om fingeravtrykk i nasjonale ID-kort? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Blir_det_virkelig_krav_om_fingeravtrykk_i_nasjonale_ID_kort_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Blir_det_virkelig_krav_om_fingeravtrykk_i_nasjonale_ID_kort_.html - Tue, 12 May 2015 11:30:00 +0200 - <p>Noen finner det vanskelig å tro at Stortinget faktisk har vedtatt å -kreve at alle norske borgerne må avgi fingeravtrykk til politiet for å -fungere i samfunnet. Jeg er blitt spurt hva som er grunnlaget for -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Norwegian_citizens_now_required_by_law_to_give_their_fingerprint_to_the_police.html">min -påstand i forrige bloggpost</a> om at det nå blir krav om å avgi -fingeravtrykk til politiet for å fungere som borger i Norge. De som -spør klarer ikke lese det ut fra det som er vedtatt. Her er en liten -oppsummering om hva jeg baserer det på. Det sies ikke direkte i -hverken proposisjon, innstilling eller vedtak, men fremgår når en ser -på indirekte formuleringer.</p> - -<p>I -<a href="https://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dokumenter/prop.-66-l-2014-2015/id2399703/">stortingsproposisjon -66</a>, avsnitt 6.3.5 (Avgivelse av biometriske personopplysninger) -står det<p> +<p>Again, the quick answer explained how to read the list of patents +in that list:</p> <p><blockquote> - <p>Departementet foreslår at både ansiktsfoto og fingeravtrykk skal - kunne opptas og lagres som identifikasjonsdata i de nasjonale - ID-kortene, på samme måte som i passene. Lovforslaget er derfor - utformet i tråd med passloven § 6 annet ledd, som fastslår at det - til bruk for senere verifisering eller kontroll av passinnehaverens - identitet kan innhentes og lagres i passet biometrisk - personinformasjon i form av ansiktsfoto og fingeravtrykk (to - fingre). Dagens ordning med lagring av ansiktsfoto og fingeravtrykk - i et kontaktløst smartkort i passet er basert på internasjonale - standarder. Fingeravtrykkene i nasjonalt ID-kort vil bli beskyttet - på samme måte som fingeravtrykkene i passene.</p> - - <p>[...]</p> - - <p>For norske forhold understreker departementet at innføring av - nasjonale ID-kort sammen med innføring av nye systemer for sikrere - utstedelse og kontroll av pass og relaterte dokumenter gir mulighet - til å utforme ordningen slik at den best mulig møter utfordringene - forbundet med identitetskriminalitet. Det tilsier at fingeravtrykk - opptas og lagres i alle nasjonale ID-kort.</p> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> </blockquote></p> -<p>Departementet sier altså at sin anbefaling er at fingeravtrykk skal -opptas og lagres i alle nasjonale ID-kort. Det skrives som om det -blir valgfritt, på samme måten som det skrives passloven, der det i -loven sier at det kan -«<a href="https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1997-06-19-82#§6">innhentes -og lagres i passet biometrisk personinformasjon i form av ansiktsfoto -og fingeravtrykk (to fingre)</a>». Men på tross av bruken av «kan» i -passloven er det innført krav om å avgi fingeravtrykk for å få et pass -i Norge. Proposisjonen sier i tillegg i del 1 (Proposisjonens -hovedinnhold) at ID-kortene skal være like pålitelig som pass og ha -samme sikkerhetsnivå som pass. Departementet foreslår altså at -ID-kortene skal gis etter samme regler som for pass.</p> - -<p>Formuleringene fra hovedinnholdet i proposisjonen er videreført i -<a href="https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Publikasjoner/Innstillinger/Stortinget/2014-2015/inns-201415-243/?lvl=0">innstillingen -fra stortingskomiteen</a>, der det konkret står «De foreslåtte reglene -vil gi befolkningen tilbud om et offentlig utstedt identitetsbevis som -vil være like pålitelig som passet, og mer praktisk å bruke som -legitimasjon» og «Det nasjonale ID-kortet skal også holde samme -sikkerhetsnivå som passet». Komiteen har altså ingen kommentarer -eller innsigelser til dette forslaget, og gjorde i debatten da saken -ble vedtatt det klart at dette var en god sak og at en enstemmig -komité var glad for resultatet. Stortinget har dermed stilt seg helt -og fullt bak departementets forslag.</p> - -<p>For meg er det åpenbart når en leser proposisjonen at «like -pålitelig» og «samme sikkerhetsnivå» vil bli tolket av departementet -som «med samme biometrisk informasjon som i passene», og departementet -forklarer i tillegg i proposisjonen at de har tenkt at -fingeravtrykkene «vil bli beskyttet på samme måte som fingeravtrykkene -i passene». Jeg ser det dermed som åpenbart at den samme -tvangsinnhentingen av fingeravtrykk som gjelder for pass vil bli -viderført til de nasjonale ID-kortene.</p> - -<p>Det eneste som kan endre dette er massive protester fra -befolkningen på at folk som ikke er mistenkt for noe kriminelt skal -tvinges til å gi fingeravtrykket til politiet for å f.eks. kunne få -bankkonto eller stemme ved valg. Det kunne få departementet til å -snu. Det tror jeg ikke vil skje.</p> +<p>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?</p> - Norwegian citizens now required by law to give their fingerprint to the police - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Norwegian_citizens_now_required_by_law_to_give_their_fingerprint_to_the_police.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Norwegian_citizens_now_required_by_law_to_give_their_fingerprint_to_the_police.html - Sun, 10 May 2015 16:00:00 +0200 - <p>5 days ago, the Norwegian Parliament decided, unanimously, that all -citizens of Norway, no matter if they are suspected of something -criminal or not, are -<a href="https://www.holderdeord.no/votes/1430838871e">required to -give fingerprints to the police</a> (vote details from Holder de -ord). The law make it sound like it will be optional, but in a few -years there will be no option any more. The ID will be required to -vote, to get a bank account, a bank card, to change address on the -post office, to receive an electronic ID or to get a drivers license -and many other tasks required to function in Norway. The banks plan -to stop providing their own ID on the bank cards when this new -national ID is introduced, and the national road authorities plan to -change the drivers license to no longer be usable as identity cards. -In effect, to function as a citizen in Norway a national ID card will -be required, and to get it one need to provide the fingerprints to -the police.</p> - -<p>In addition to handing the fingerprint to the police (which -promised to not make a copy of the fingerprint image at that point in -time, but say nothing about doing it later), a picture of the -fingerprint will be stored on the RFID chip, along with a picture of -the face and other information about the person. Some of the -information will be encrypted, but the encryption will be the same -system as currently used in the passports. The codes to decrypt will -be available to a lot of government offices and their suppliers around -the globe, but for those that do not know anyone in those circles it -is good to know that -<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/nov/17/news.homeaffairs">the -encryption is already broken</a>. And they -<a href="http://www.networkworld.com/article/2215057/wireless/bad-guys-could-read-rfid-passports-at-217-feet--maybe-a-lot-more.html">can -be read from 70 meters away</a>. This can be mitigated a bit by -keeping it in a Faraday cage (metal box or metal wire container), but -one will be required to take it out of there often enough to expose -ones private and personal information to a lot of people that have no -business getting access to that information.</p> - -<p>The new Norwegian national IDs are a vehicle for identity theft, -and I feel sorry for us all having politicians accepting such invasion -of privacy without any objections. So are the Norwegian passports, -but it has been possible to function in Norway without those so far. -That option is going away with the passing of the new law. In this, I -envy the Germans, because for them it is optional how much biometric -information is stored in their national ID.</p> - -<p>And if forced collection of fingerprints was not bad enough, the -information collected in the national ID card register can be handed -over to foreign intelligence services and police authorities, "when -extradition is not considered disproportionate".</p> - -<p>Update 2015-05-12: For those unable to believe that the Parliament -really could make such decision, I wrote -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Blir_det_virkelig_krav_om_fingeravtrykk_i_nasjonale_ID_kort_.html">a -summary of the sources I have</a> for concluding the way I do -(Norwegian Only, as the sources are all in Norwegian).</p> + New laptop - some more clues and ideas based on feedback + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_laptop___some_more_clues_and_ideas_based_on_feedback.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_laptop___some_more_clues_and_ideas_based_on_feedback.html + Sun, 5 Jul 2015 21:40:00 +0200 + <p>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 <a href="http://www.francecrans.com/">FrancEcrans</a>, but it +might present a language barrier as I do not understand French.</p> + +<p>One tip I got was to use the +<a href="https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=nb">Skinflint</a> 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. + +<p>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 +<a href="http://www.corsac.net/X250/">Corsac.net</a>. 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.</p> + +<p>I have also gotten a few vendor proposals, one was +<a href="http://pro-star.com">Pro-Star</a>, another was +<a href="http://shop.gluglug.org.uk/product/libreboot-x200/">Libreboot</a>. +The latter look very attractive to me.</p> + +<p>Again, thank you all for the very useful feedback. It help a lot +as I keep looking for a replacement.</p> + +<p>Update 2015-07-06: I was recommended to check out the +<a href="">lapstore.de</a> web shop for used laptops. They got several +different +<a href="http://www.lapstore.de/f.php/shop/lapstore/f/411/lang/x/kw/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X_Serie/">old +thinkpad X models</a>, and provide one year warranty.</p> - What would it cost to store all phone calls in Norway? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_would_it_cost_to_store_all_phone_calls_in_Norway_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_would_it_cost_to_store_all_phone_calls_in_Norway_.html - Fri, 1 May 2015 19:30:00 +0200 - <p>Many years ago, a friend of mine calculated how much it would cost -to store the sound of all phone calls in Norway, and came up with the -cost of around 20 million NOK (2.4 mill EUR) for all the calls in a -year. I got curious and wondered what the same calculation would look -like today. To do so one need an idea of how much data storage is -needed for each minute of sound, how many minutes all the calls in -Norway sums up to, and the cost of data storage.</p> - -<p>The 2005 numbers are from -<a href="http://www.digi.no/analyser/2005/10/04/vi-prater-stadig-mindre-i-roret">digi.no</a>, -the 2012 numbers are from -<a href="http://www.nkom.no/aktuelt/nyheter/fortsatt-vekst-i-det-norske-ekommarkedet">a -NKOM report</a>, and I got the 2013 numbers after asking NKOM via -email. I was told the numbers for 2014 will be presented May 20th, -and decided not to wait for those, as I doubt they will be very -different from the numbers from 2013.</p> - -<p>The amount of data storage per minute sound depend on the wanted -quality, and for phone calls it is generally believed that 8 Kbit/s is -enough. See for example a -<a href="http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/voice/voice-quality/7934-bwidth-consume.html#topic1">summary -on voice quality from Cisco</a> for some alternatives. 8 Kbit/s is 60 -Kbytes/min, and this can be multiplied with the number of call minutes -to get the storage requirements.</p> - -<p>Storage prices varies a lot, depending on speed, backup strategies, -availability requirements etc. But a simple way to calculate can be -to use the price of a TiB-disk (around 1000 NOK / 120 EUR) and double -it to take space, power and redundancy into account. It could be much -higher with high speed and good redundancy requirements.</p> - -<p>But back to the question, What would it cost to store all phone -calls in Norway? Not much. Here is a small table showing the -estimated cost, which is within the budget constraint of most medium -and large organisations:</p> - -<table border="1"> -<tr><th>Year</th><th>Call minutes</th><th>Size</th><th>Price in NOK / EUR</th></tr> -<tr><td>2005</td><td align="right">24 000 000 000</td><td align="right">1.3 PiB</td><td align="right">3 mill / 358 000</td></tr> -<tr><td>2012</td><td align="right">18 000 000 000</td><td align="right">1.0 PiB</td><td align="right">2.2 mill / 262 000</td></tr> -<tr><td>2013</td><td align="right">17 000 000 000</td><td align="right">950 TiB</td><td align="right">2.1 mill / 250 000</td></tr> -</table> - -<p>This is the cost of buying the storage. Maintenance need to be -taken into account too, but calculating that is left as an exercise -for the reader. But it is obvious to me from those numbers that -recording the sound of all phone calls in Norway is not going to be -stopped because it is too expensive. I wonder if someone already is -collecting the data?</p> + Time to find a new laptop, as the old one is broken after only two years + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_to_find_a_new_laptop__as_the_old_one_is_broken_after_only_two_years.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_to_find_a_new_laptop__as_the_old_one_is_broken_after_only_two_years.html + Fri, 3 Jul 2015 07:10:00 +0200 + <p>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.</p> + +<p>My requirements have not really changed since I bought it, and is +still as +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html">I +described them in 2013</a>. The last time I bought a laptop, I had +good help from +<a href="http://www.prisjakt.no/category.php?k=353">prisjakt.no</a> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Update 2015-07-23: I got a suggestion to check out the FSF +<a href="http://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/respects-your-freedom">list +of endorsed hardware</a>, which is useful background information.</p> - First Jessie based Debian Edu beta release - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Jessie_based_Debian_Edu_beta_release.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Jessie_based_Debian_Edu_beta_release.html - Sun, 26 Apr 2015 14:10:00 +0200 - <p>I am happy to report that the Debian Edu team sent out -<a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2015/04/msg00000.html">this -announcement today</a>:</p> - -<pre> -the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project is pleased to announce the first -*beta* release of Debian Edu "Jessie" 8.0+edu0~b1, which for the first -time is composed entirely of packages from the current Debian stable -release, Debian 8 "Jessie". - -(As most reading this will know, Debian "Jessie" hasn't actually been -released by now. The release is still in progress but should finish -later today ;) - -We expect to make a final release of Debian Edu "Jessie" in the coming -weeks, timed with the first point release of Debian Jessie. Upgrades -from this beta release of Debian Edu Jessie to the final release will -be possible and encouraged! - -Please report feedback to debian-edu@lists.debian.org and/or submit -bugs: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs - -Debian Edu - sometimes also known as "Skolelinux" - is a complete -operating system for schools, universities and other -organisations. Through its pre- prepared installation profiles -administrators can install servers, workstations and laptops which -will work in harmony on the school network. With Debian Edu, the -teachers themselves or their technical support staff can roll out a -complete multi-user, multi-machine study environment within hours or -days. - -Debian Edu is already in use at several hundred schools all over the -world, particularly in Germany, Spain and Norway. Installations come -with hundreds of applications pre-installed, plus the whole Debian -archive of thousands of compatible packages within easy reach. + MakerCon Nordic videos now available on Frikanalen + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MakerCon_Nordic_videos_now_available_on_Frikanalen.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MakerCon_Nordic_videos_now_available_on_Frikanalen.html + Thu, 2 Jul 2015 14:10:00 +0200 + <p>Last oktober I was involved on behalf of +<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a> with recording the talks at +<a href="http://www.makercon.no/">MakerCon Nordic</a>, a conference for +the Maker movement. Since then it has been the plan to publish the +recordings on <a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a>, 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 +<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MakerConNordic/">available on +Youtube too</a>.</p> + +<p>This is the list of talks available at the moment. Visit the +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/video/?q=makercon">Frikanalen video +pages</a> to view them.</p> -For those who want to give Debian Edu Jessie a try, download and -installation instructions are available, including detailed -instructions in the manual 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! - -== Where to download == - -A multi-architecture CD / usbstick image (649 MiB) for network booting -can be downloaded at the following locations: - - http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-CD.iso - rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-CD.iso . - -The SHA1SUM of this image is: 54a524d16246cddd8d2cfd6ea52f2dd78c47ee0a +<ul> -Alternatively an extended DVD / usbstick image (4.9 GiB) is also -available, with more software included (saving additional download -time): + <li>Evolutionary algorithms as a design tool - from art + to robotics (Kyrre Glette)</li> - http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-USB.iso - rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-USB.iso + <li>Make and break (Hans Gerhard Meier)</li> -The SHA1SUM of this image is: fb1f1504a490c077a48653898f9d6a461cb3c636 + <li>Making a one year school course for young makers + (Olav Helland)</li> -Sources are available from the Debian archive, see -http://ftp.debian.org/debian-cd/8.0.0/source/ for some download -options. + <li>Innovation Inspiration - IPR Databases as a Source of + Inspiration (Hege Langlo)</li> -== Debian Edu Jessie manual in seven languages == + <li>Making a toy for makers (Erik Torstensson)</li> -Please see https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/ for -the English version of the Debian Edu jessie manual. + <li>How to make 3D printer electronics (Elias Bakken)</li> -This manual has been fully translated to German, French, Italian, -Danish, Dutch and Norwegian Bokmål. A partly translated version exists -for Spanish. See http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/ for -online version of the translated manual. + <li>Hovering Clouds: Looking at online tool offerings for Product + Design and 3D Printing (William Kempton)</li> -More information about Debian 8 "Jessie" itself is provided in the -release notes and the installation manual: -- http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes -- http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual + <li>Travelling maker stories (Øyvind Nydal Dahl)</li> + <li>Making the first Maker Faire in Sweden (Nils Olander)</li> -== Errata / known problems == + <li>Breaking the mold: Printing 1000’s of parts (Espen Sivertsen)</li> - It takes up to 15 minutes for a changed hostname to be updated via - DHCP (#780461). + <li>Ultimaker — and open source 3D printing (Erik de Bruijn)</li> - The hostname script fails to update LTSP server hostname (#783087). + <li>Autodesk’s 3D Printing Platform: Sparking innovation (Hilde + Sevens)</li> -Workaround: run update-hostname-from-ip on the client to update the -hostname immediately. + <li>How Making is Changing the World – and How You Can Too! + (Jennifer Turliuk)</li> -Check https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie for a possibly -more current and complete list. + <li>Open-Source Adventuring: OpenROV, OpenExplorer and the Future of + Connected Exploration (David Lang)</li> -== Some more details about Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~b1 Codename Jessie released 2015-04-25 == + <li>Making in Norway (Haakon Karlsen Jr., Graham Hayward and Jens + Dyvik)</li> -=== Software updates === + <li>The Impact of the Maker Movement (Mike Senese)</li> -Everything which is new in Debian 8 Jessie, e.g.: +</ul> - * Linux kernel 3.16.7-ctk9; for the i386 architecture, support for - i486 processors has been dropped; oldest supported ones: i586 (like - Intel Pentium and AMD K5). +<p>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 +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Measuring_and_adjusting_the_loudness_of_a_TV_channel_using_bs1770gain.html">package +bs1770gain for Debian</a>. Now this is in place and it became a lot +easier to publish NUUG videos on Frikanalen.</p> + + + + + Hvem fører Medietilsynet tilsyn med? + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hvem_f_rer_Medietilsynet_tilsyn_med_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hvem_f_rer_Medietilsynet_tilsyn_med_.html + Sun, 28 Jun 2015 23:20:00 +0200 + <p>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 +<a href="http://opencorporates.com">OpenCorporates</a>, 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.</p> + +<p>Men jeg er jo involvert i +<a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a>, 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:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Hei. Finnes det en oversikt over enhetene som Mediatilsynet fører +tilsyn med som åpne data? Jeg lette etter den på +&lt;URL:<a href="http://data.norge.no/">http://data.norge.no/</a>&gt; og +&lt;URL:<a href="http://hotell.difi.no/">http://hotell.difi.no/</a>&gt; uten å +finne noe der, og fant heller ikke noe under +&lt;URL:<a href="http://www.medietilsynet.no/">http://www.medietilsynet.no/</a>&gt;.</p> + +<p>Jeg tenker på alle som har fått kringkastingskonsesjon og alle som +er omtalt under +&lt;URL:<a href="http://www.medietilsynet.no/mediebildet/">http://www.medietilsynet.no/mediebildet/</a>&gt;.</p> + +<p>Jeg skulle gjerne hatt dette maskinlesbart, og inkludert +organisasjonsnummer og hva slags forhold mediatilsynet har til +organisasjonene. Tanken er å importere det i +&lt;URL:<a href="https://opencorporates.com/">https://opencorporates.com/</a>&gt; for analyse, så det bør ikke ha +bruksbegresninger som gjør dette umulig.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>To dager senere fikk jeg svar, med de datasettene de hadde +tilgjengelig. Svaret fra Hanne Sekkelsten hos Medietilsynet var +informativt og imøtekommende.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Vi viser til din e-post av 22. juni, der du ber om å få tilsendt oversikter +over aktører Medietilsynet fører tilsyn med.</p> + +<p>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: +<a href="http://www.medietilsynet.no/mediebransjen/bildeprogramloven/">http://www.medietilsynet.no/mediebransjen/bildeprogramloven/</a> +. 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.</p> + +<p>Vedlagt følger: - * Desktop environments KDE Plasma Workspaces 4.11.13, GNOME 3.14, - Xfce 4.12, LXDE 0.5.6 - * new optional desktop environment: MATE 1.8 - * KDE Plasma Workspaces is installed by default; to choose one of - the others see the manual. - * the browsers Iceweasel 31 ESR and Chromium 41 - * 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 14.12 - * Music creator Rosegarden 14.02 - * Image editor Gimp 2.8.14 - * Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.13.1 - * golearn 0.9 - * tuxpaint 0.9.22 - * New version of debian-installer from Debian Jessie. - * Debian Jessie includes about 43000 packages available for installation. - * More information about Debian 8 Jessie is provided in its release - notes and the installation manual, see the link above. +<ul> -=== Installation changes === + <li>Konsesjoner - lokalradio FM pr. 31.12.2014 [<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-06-28-medietilsynsdata/Konsesjoner_lokalradio_fm_felles_31.12.2014.pdf">PDF (original)</a>]</li> - Installations done via PXE now also install firmware automatically - for the hardware present. + <li>Konsesjoner - lokalfjernsyn i det digitale bakkenettet for fjernsyn, pr. mars 2015 [<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-06-28-medietilsynsdata/Lokalfjernsyn_DTT_konsesjoner_mars_2015.docx">DOCX (original)</a>, +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-06-28-medietilsynsdata/Lokalfjernsyn_DTT_konsesjoner_mars_2015.pdf">PDF</a>]</li> -=== Fixed bugs === + <li>Konsesjoner - DAB-radio, status mars 2015 [<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-06-28-medietilsynsdata/Konsesjonaernummer_DAB.xps">XPS (original)</a>, +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-06-28-medietilsynsdata/Konsesjonaernummer_DAB.pdf">PDF</a>]</li> -A number of bugs have been fixed in this release; the most noticeable -from a user perspective: + <li>Registreringspliktige kringkastere - status mars 2015: [<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-06-28-medietilsynsdata/Registreringspliktige_kringkastere_register_-_aktive.xps">XPS (original)</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-06-28-medietilsynsdata/Registreringspliktige_kringkastere_register_-_aktive.pdf">PDF</a>] - * Inserting incorrect DNS information in Gosa will no longer break - DNS completely, but instead stop DNS updates until the incorrect - information is corrected (710362) + <ul> + <li>Kabelsendt fjernsyn + <li>Satellittsendt fjernsyn + <li>Nett-tv + <li>Kabelsendt radio + <li>Satellittsendt radio + <li>Nett-radio + </ul></li> +</ul> - * shutdown-at-night now shuts the system down if gdm3 is used (775608). +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Med hilsen</p> + +<p>Hanne Nistad Sekkelsten +<br>Seniorrådgiver | Senior Legal Adviser +<br>Medietilsynet | Norwegian Media Authority +<br>A: Nygata 4, NO-1607 Fredrikstad +<br>T: [telefonnummer fjernet] +<br>E: [adresse fjernet] | W: www.medietilsynet.no +</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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 +<a href="http://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2013-04-05-959">Forskrift +om IT-standarder i offentlig forvaltning</a> 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.</p> + + + + + Graphing the Norwegian company ownership structure + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Graphing_the_Norwegian_company_ownership_structure.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Graphing_the_Norwegian_company_ownership_structure.html + Mon, 15 Jun 2015 14:00:00 +0200 + <p>It is a bit work to figure out the ownership structure of companies +in Norway. The information is publicly available, but one need to +recursively look up ownership for all owners to figure out the complete +ownership graph of a given set of companies. To save me the work in +the future, I wrote a script to do this automatically, outputting the +ownership structure using the Graphviz/dotty format. The data source +is web scraping from <a href="http://www.proff.no/">Proff</a>, because +I failed to find a useful source directly from the official keepers of +the ownership data, <a href="http://www.brreg.no/">Brønnøysundsregistrene</a>.</p> + +<p>To get an ownership graph for a set of companies, fetch +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/brreg-norway-ownership-graph">the code from git</a> and run it using the organisation number. I'm +using the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet as an example here, as its +ownership structure is very simple:</p> -=== Sugar desktop removed === +<pre> +% time ./bin/eierskap-dotty 958033540 > dagbladet.dot -As the Sugar desktop was removed from Debian Jessie, it is also not -available in Debian Edu jessie. +real 0m2.841s +user 0m0.184s +sys 0m0.036s +% +</pre> +<p>The script accept several organisation numbers on the command line, +allowing a cluster of companies to be graphed in the same image. The +resulting dot file for the example above look like this. The edges +are labeled with the ownership percentage, and the nodes uses the +organisation number as their name and the name as the label:</p> -== About Debian Edu / Skolelinux == +<pre> +digraph ownership { +rankdir = LR; +"Aller Holding A/s" -> "910119877" [label="100%"] +"910119877" -> "998689015" [label="100%"] +"998689015" -> "958033540" [label="99%"] +"974530600" -> "958033540" [label="1%"] +"958033540" [label="AS DAGBLADET"] +"998689015" [label="Berner Media Holding AS"] +"974530600" [label="Dagbladets Stiftelse"] +"910119877" [label="Aller Media AS"] +} +</pre> -Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based on -Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely -configured school network. Directly 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 and more are available from the Debian archive, and schools -can choose between KDE, GNOME, LXDE, Xfce and MATE desktop -environment. +<p>To view the ownership graph, run "<tt>dotty dagbladet.dot</tt>" or +convert it to a PNG using "<tt>dot -T png dagbladet.dot > +dagbladet.png</tt>". The result can be seen below:</p> -== About Debian == +<img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-06-15-ownership-graphs-norway-dagbladet.png" width="80%"> -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. +<p>Note that I suspect the "Aller Holding A/S" entry to be incorrect +data in the official ownership register, as that name is not +registered in the official company register for Norway. The ownership +register is sensitive to typos and there seem to be no strict checking +of the ownership links.</p> -== Thanks == +<p>Let me know if you improve the script or find better data sources. +The code is licensed according to GPL 2 or newer.</p> -Thanks to everyone making Debian and Debian Edu / Skolelinux happen! -You rock. -</pre> - - - - - Debian Edu interview: Shirish Agarwal - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Shirish_Agarwal.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Shirish_Agarwal.html - Wed, 15 Apr 2015 09:20:00 +0200 - <p>It was a surprise to me to learn that project to create a complete -computer system for schools I've involved in, -<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>, was -being used in India. But apparently it is, and I managed to get an -interview with one of the friends of the project there, Shirish -Agarwal.</p> - -<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> - -<p>My name is Shirish Agarwal. Based out of the educational and -historical city of Pune, from the western state of Maharashtra, India. -My bread comes from giving training, giving policy tips, -installations on free software to mom and pop shops in different -fields from Desktop publishing to retail shops as well as work with -few software start-ups as well.</p> - -<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu -project?</strong></p> - -<p>It started innocently enough. I have been using Debian for a few -years and in one local minidebconf / debutsav I was asked if there was -anything for schools or education. I had worked / played with free -educational softwares such as Gcompris and Stellarium for my many -nieces and nephews so researched and found Debian Edu or Skolelinux as -it was known then. Since then I have started using the various -education meta-packages provided by the project.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>It's closest I have seen where a package full of educational -software are packed, which are free and open (both literally and -figuratively). Even if I take the simplest software which is -gcompris, the number of activities therein are amazing. Another one of -the softwares that I have liked for a long time is stellarium. Even -pysycache is cool except for couple of issues I encountered -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/781841">#781841</a> and -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/781842">#781842</a>.</p> - -<p>I prefer software installed on the system over web based solutions, -as a web site can disappear any time but the software on disk has the -possibility of a larger life span. Of course with both it's more a -question if it has enough users who make it fun or sustainable or both -for the developer per-se.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>I do see that the Debian Edu team seems to be short-handed and I -think more efforts should be made to make it popular and ask and take -help from people and the larger community wherever possible.</p> - -<p>I don't see any disadvantage to use Skolelinux apart from the fact -that most apps. are generic which is good or bad how you see it. -However, saying that I do acknowledge the fact that the canvas is -pretty big and there are lot of interesting ideas that could be done -but for reasons not known not done or if done I don't know about them. -Let me share some of the ideas (these are more upstream based but -still) I have had for a long time :</p> - -<p>1. Classical maths question of two trains in opposing directions -each running @x kmph/mph at y distance, when they will meet and how -far would each travel and similar questions like these. - -<p>The computer is a fantastic system where questions like these can -be drawn, animated and the methodology and answers teased out in -interactive manner. While sites such as the -<a href="http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.two.trains.html">Ask -Dr. Math FAQ on The Two Trains problem</a> (as an example or point of -inspiration) can be used there is lot more that can be done. I dunno -if there is a free software which does something like this. The idea -being a blend of objects + animation + interaction which does -this. The whole interaction could be gamified with points or sounds or -colourful celebration whenever the user gets even part of the question -or/and methodology right. That would help reinforce good behaviour. -This understanding could be used to share/showcase everything from how -the first wheel came to be, to evolution to how astronomy started, -psychics and everything in-between.</p> - -<p>One specific idea in the train part was having the Linux mascot on -one train and the BSD or GNU mascot on the other train and they -meeting somewhere in-between. Characters from blender movies could -also be used.</p> - -<p>2. Loads of crossword-puzzles with reference to subjects: We have -enormous data sets in Wikipedia and Wikitionary. I don't think it -should be a big job to design crossword puzzles. Using categories and -sub-categories it should be doable to have Q&A single word answers -from the existing data-sets. What would make it easy or hard could be -the length of the word + existence of many or few vowels depending on -the user's input.</p> - -<p>3. Jigsaw puzzles - We already have a great software called -palapeli with number of slicers making it pretty interesting. What -needs to be done is to download large number of public domain and -copyleft images, tease and use IPTC tags to categorise them into -nature, history etc. and let it loose. This could turn to be really -huge collection of images. One source could be taken from -commons.wikimedia.org, others could be huge collection of royalty-free -stock photos. Potential is immense.</p> - -<p>Apart from this, free software suffers in two directions, we lag -both in development (of using new features per-se) and maintenance a -lot. This is more so in educational software as these applications -need to be timely and the opportunity cost of missing deadlines is -immense. If we are able to solve issues of funding for development and -maintenance of such software I don't see any big difficulties. I know -of few start-ups in and around India who would love to develop and -maintain such software if funding issues could be solved.</p> - -<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> - -<p>That would be huge list. Some of the softwares are obviously apt, -aptitude, debdelta, leafpad, the shell of course (zsh nowadays), -quassel for IRC. In games I use shisen-sho while card-games are evenly -between kpat and Aiselriot. In desktops it's a tie between -gnome-flashback and mate.</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 it should first start with using specific FOSS apps. in -whatever environment they are. If it's MS-Windows or Mac so be it. -Once they are habitual with the apps. and there is buy-in from the -school management then it could be installed anywhere. Most of the -people now understand the concept of a repository because of the -various online stores so it isn't hard to convince on that front.</p> - -<p>What is harder is having enough people with technical skills and -passion to service them. If you get buy-in from one or two teachers -then ideas like above could also be asked to be done as a project as -well.</p> - -<p>I think where we fall short more than anything is in marketing. For -instance, Debian has this whole range of fonts in its archive but -there isn't even a page where all those different fonts in the La -Ipsum format could be tried out for newcomers.</p> - -<p>One of the issues faced constantly in installations is with updates -and upgrades. People have this myth that each update and upgrade -means the user interface will / has to change. I have seen this -innumerable times. That perhaps is one of the reasons which browsers -like Iceweasel / Firefox change user interfaces so much, not because -it might be needed or be functional but because people believe that -changed user interfaces are better. This, can easily be pointed with -the user interfaces changed with almost every MS-Windows and Mac OS -releases.</p> - -<p>The problems with Debian Edu for deployment are many. The biggest -is the huge gap between what is taught in schools and what Debian Edu -is aimed at. - -<p>Me and my friends did teach on week-ends in a government school for -around 2 years, and -<a href="https://flossexperiences.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/sharings/">gathered -some experience</a> there. Some of the things we learnt/discovered -there was :</p> - -<ol> - - <li>Most of the teachers are very territorial about their subjects - and they do not want you to teach anything out of the - portion/syllabus given.</li> - - <li>They want any activity on the system in accordance to whatever - is in the syllabus.</li> - - <li>There are huge barriers both with the English language and at - times with objects or whatever. An example, let's say in gcompris - you have objects falling down and you have to name them and let's - say the falling object is a hat or a fedora hat, this would not be - as recognizable as say a - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puneri_Pagadi">Puneri - Pagdi</a> so there is need to inject local objects, words wherever - possible. Especially for word-games there are so many hindi words - which have become part of english vocabulary (for instance in - parley), those could be made into a hinglish collection or - something but that is something for upstream to do.</li> - -</ol> - - - - - I'm going to the Open Source Developers' Conference Nordic 2015! - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_m_going_to_the_Open_Source_Developers__Conference_Nordic_2015_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_m_going_to_the_Open_Source_Developers__Conference_Nordic_2015_.html - Tue, 7 Apr 2015 10:30:00 +0200 - <p>I am happy to let you all know that I'm going to the <a -href="http://act.osdc.no/osdc2015no/">Open Source Developers' -Conference Nordic 2015</a>!</p> - -<p>It take place Friday 8th to Sunday 10th of May in Oslo next to -where I work, and I finally got around to submitting -<a href="http://act.osdc.no/osdc2015no/talk/6192">a talk proposal for -it</a> (dead link for most people until the talk is accepted). As -part of my involvement with the -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group member -association</a> I have been slightly involved in the planning of this -conference for a while now, with a focus on organising a Civic Hacking -Hackathon with our friends -over at <a href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a> and -<a href="http://www.holderdeord.no/">Holder de ord</a>. This part is -named the 'My Society' track in the program. There is still space for -more talks and participants. I hope to see you there.</p> - -<p>Check out <a href="http://act.osdc.no/osdc2015no/talks">the talks -submitted and accepted so far</a>.</p> - - - - - Proof reading the Norwegian translation of Free Culture by Lessig - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Proof_reading_the_Norwegian_translation_of_Free_Culture_by_Lessig.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Proof_reading_the_Norwegian_translation_of_Free_Culture_by_Lessig.html - Sat, 4 Apr 2015 09:30:00 +0200 - <p>During eastern I had some time to continue working on the Norwegian -<a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> version of the 2004 book -<a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig. -At the moment I am proof reading the finished text, looking for typos, -inconsistent wordings and sentences that do not flow as they should. -I'm more than two thirds done with the text, and welcome others to -check the text up to chapter 13. The current status is available on the -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a> -project pages. You can also check out the -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a>, -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a> -and HTML version available in the -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/tree/master/archive">archive -directory</a>.</p> - -<p>Please report typos, bugs and improvements to the github project if -you find any.</p> - - - - - Frikanalen, Norwegian TV channel for technical topics - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikanalen__Norwegian_TV_channel_for_technical_topics.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikanalen__Norwegian_TV_channel_for_technical_topics.html - Mon, 9 Mar 2015 11:10:00 +0100 - <p>The <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group</a>, -where I am a member, and where people interested in free software, -open standards and UNIX like operating systems like Linux and the BSDs -come together, record our monthly technical presentations on video. -The purpose is to document the talks and spread them to a wider -audience. For this, the the Norwegian nationwide open channel -<a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a> is a useful venue. -Since a few days ago, when I figured out the -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/api/">REST API</a> to program the -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/guide/">channel time schedule</a>, -the channel has been filled with NUUG talks, related recordings and -some Creative Commons licensed TED talks (from archive.org). I fill -all "leftover bits" on the channel with content from NUUG, which at -the moment is almost 17 of 24 hours every day.</p> - -<p>The list of NUUG videos -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/organization/82">uploaded so far</a> -include things like a -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/625090">one hour talk by John -Perry Barlow when he visited Oslo</a>, a presentation of -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/624275">Haiku, the BeOS -re-implementation</a>, the -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/624493">history of FiksGataMi, -the Norwegian version of FixMyStreet</a>, the good old -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/623566">Warriors of the net -video</A> and many others.</p> - -<p>We have a large backlog of NUUG talks not yet uploaded to -Frikanalen, and plan to upload every useful bit to the channel to -spread the word there. I also hope to find useful recordings from the -Chaos Computer Club and Debian conferences and spread them on the -channel as well. But this require locating the videos and their meta -information (title, description, license, etc), and preparing the -recordings for broadcast, and I have not yet had the spare time to -focus on this. Perhaps you want to help. Please join us on IRC, -<a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/%23nuug">#nuug on irc.freenode.net</a> -if you want to help make this happen.</p> - -<p>But as I said, already the channel is already almost exclusively -filled with technical topics, and if you want to learn something new -today, check out the <a href="http://www.frikanalen.tv/se">Ogg Theora -web stream</a> or use one of the other ways to get access to the -channel. Unfortunately the Ogg Theora recoding for distribution still -do not properly sync the video and sound. It is generated by recoding -a internal MPEG transport stream with MPEG4 coded video (ie H.264) to -Ogg Theora / Vorbis, and we have not been able to find a way that -produces acceptable quality. Help needed, please get in touch if you -know how to fix it using free software.</p> - - - - - The Citizenfour documentary on the Snowden confirmations to Norway - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Citizenfour_documentary_on_the_Snowden_confirmations_to_Norway.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Citizenfour_documentary_on_the_Snowden_confirmations_to_Norway.html - Sat, 28 Feb 2015 22:10:00 +0100 - <p>Today I was happy to learn that the documentary -<a href="https://citizenfourfilm.com/">Citizenfour</a> by -<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Poitras">Laura Poitras</a> -finally will show up in Norway. According to the magazine -<a href="http://montages.no/">Montages</a>, a deal has finally been -made for -<a href="http://montages.no/nyheter/snowden-dokumentaren-citizenfour-far-norsk-kinodistribusjon/">Cinema -distribution in Norway</a> and the movie will have its premiere soon. -This is great news. As part of my involvement with -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">the Norwegian Unix User Group</a>, me and -a friend have -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Dokumentar_om_Snowdenbekreftelsene_til_Norge_.shtml">tried -to get the movie to Norway</a> ourselves, but obviously -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Dokumentar_om_Snowdenbekreftelsene_endelig_til_Norge_.shtml">we -were too late</a> and Tor Fosse beat us to it. I am happy he did, as -the movie will make its way to the public and we do not have to make -it happen ourselves. -<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiGwAvd5mvM">The trailer</a> -can be seen on youtube, if you are curious what kind of film this -is.</p> - -<p>The whistle blower Edward Snowden really deserve political asylum -here in Norway, but I am afraid he would not be safe.</p> +<p>Update 2015-06-15: Since the initial post I've been told that +"<a href="http://www.proff.dk/firma/carl-allers-etablissement-aktieselskab/københavn-v/hovedkontorer/13624518-3/">Aller +Holding A/S</a>" is a Danish company, which explain why it did not +have a Norwegian organisation number. I've also been told that there +is a <a href="http://www.brreg.no/automatiske/webservices/">web +services API available</a> from Brønnøysundsregistrene, for those +willing to accept the terms or pay the price.</p>