X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/b2c75b135ddd9dc450e82036ebf37807edef2b67..7cb10bba70a818afdb7f72b97c9a05045722462d:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index 76e3ef5a99..fe6b589dae 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -6,6 +6,162 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + UsingQR - "Electronic" paper invoices using JSON and QR codes + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/UsingQR____Electronic__paper_invoices_using_JSON_and_QR_codes.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/UsingQR____Electronic__paper_invoices_using_JSON_and_QR_codes.html + Sat, 19 Mar 2016 09:40:00 +0100 + <p>Back in 2013 I proposed +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_Electronic__paper_invoices___using_vCard_in_a_QR_code.html">a +way to make paper and PDF invoices easier to process electronically by +adding a QR code with the key information about the invoice</a>. I +suggested using vCard field definition, to get some standard format +for name and address, but any format would work. I did not do +anything about the proposal, but hoped someone one day would make +something like it. It would make it possible to efficiently send +machine readable invoices directly between seller and buyer.</p> + +<p>This was the background when I came across a proposal and +specification from the web based accounting and invoicing supplier +<a href="http://www.visma.com/">Visma</a> in Sweden called +<a href="http://usingqr.com/">UsingQR</a>. Their PDF invoices contain +a QR code with the key information of the invoice in JSON format. +This is the typical content of a QR code following the UsingQR +specification (based on a real world example, some numbers replaced to +get a more bogus entry). I've reformatted the JSON to make it easier +to read. Normally this is all on one long line:</p> + +<p><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2016-03-19-qr-invoice.png" align="right"><pre> +{ + "vh":500.00, + "vm":0, + "vl":0, + "uqr":1, + "tp":1, + "nme":"Din Leverandør", + "cc":"NO", + "cid":"997912345 MVA", + "iref":"12300001", + "idt":"20151022", + "ddt":"20151105", + "due":2500.0000, + "cur":"NOK", + "pt":"BBAN", + "acc":"17202612345", + "bc":"BIENNOK1", + "adr":"0313 OSLO" +} +</pre></p> + +</p>The interpretation of the fields can be found in the +<a href="http://usingqr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/UsingQR_specification1.pdf">format +specification</a> (revision 2 from june 2014). The format seem to +have most of the information needed to handle accounting and payment +of invoices, at least the fields I have needed so far here in +Norway.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the site and document do not mention anything about +the patent, trademark and copyright status of the format and the +specification. Because of this, I asked the people behind it back in +November to clarify. Ann-Christine Savlid (ann-christine.savlid (at) +visma.com) replied that Visma had not applied for patent or trademark +protection for this format, and that there were no copyright based +usage limitations for the format. I urged her to make sure this was +explicitly written on the web pages and in the specification, but +unfortunately this has not happened yet. So I guess if there is +submarine patents, hidden trademarks or a will to sue for copyright +infringements, those starting to use the UsingQR format might be at +risk, but if this happen there is some legal defense in the fact that +the people behind the format claimed it was safe to do so. At least +with patents, there is always +<a href="http://www.paperspecs.com/paper-news/beware-the-qr-code-patent-trap/">a +chance of getting sued...</a></p> + +<p>I also asked if they planned to maintain the format in an +independent standard organization to give others more confidence that +they would participate in the standardization process on equal terms +with Visma, but they had no immediate plans for this. Their plan was +to work with banks to try to get more users of the format, and +evaluate the way forward if the format proved to be popular. I hope +they conclude that using an open standard organisation like +<a href="http://www.ietf.org/">IETF</a> is the correct place to +maintain such specification.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2016-03-20</strong>: Via Twitter I became aware of +<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11319492">some comments +about this blog post</a> that had several useful links and references to +similar systems. In the Czech republic, the Czech Banking Association +standard #26, with short name SPAYD, uses QR codes with payment +information. More information is available from the Wikipedia page on +<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Payment_Descriptor">Short +Payment Descriptor</a>. And in Germany, there is a system named +<a href="http://www.bezahlcode.de/">BezahlCode</a>, +(<a href="http://www.bezahlcode.de/wp-content/uploads/BezahlCode_TechDok.pdf">specification +v1.8 2013-12-05 available as PDF</a>), which uses QR codes with +URL-like formatting using "bank:" as the URI schema/protocol to +provide the payment information. There is also the +<a href="http://www.ferd-net.de/front_content.php?idcat=231">ZUGFeRD</a> +file format that perhaps could be transfered using QR codes, but I am +not sure if it is done already. Last, in Bolivia there are reports +that tax information since november 2014 need to be printed in QR +format on invoices. I have not been able to track down a +specification for this format, because of my limited language skill +sets.</p> + + + + + Making battery measurements a little easier in Debian + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Making_battery_measurements_a_little_easier_in_Debian.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Making_battery_measurements_a_little_easier_in_Debian.html + Tue, 15 Mar 2016 15:00:00 +0100 + <p>Back in September, I blogged about +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_life_and_death_of_a_laptop_battery.html">the +system I wrote to collect statistics about my laptop battery</a>, and +how it showed the decay and death of this battery (now replaced). I +created a simple deb package to handle the collection and graphing, +but did not want to upload it to Debian as there were already +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/battery-stats">a battery-stats +package in Debian</a> that should do the same thing, and I did not see +a point of uploading a competing package when battery-stats could be +fixed instead. I reported a few bugs about its non-function, and +hoped someone would step in and fix it. But no-one did.</p> + +<p>I got tired of waiting a few days ago, and took matters in my own +hands. The end result is that I am now the new upstream developer of +battery stats (<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/battery-stats">available from github</a>) and part of the team maintaining +battery-stats in Debian, and the package in Debian unstable is finally +able to collect battery status using the <tt>/sys/class/power_supply/</tt> +information provided by the Linux kernel. If you install the +battery-stats package from unstable now, you will be able to get a +graph of the current battery fill level, to get some idea about the +status of the battery. The source package build and work just fine in +Debian testing and stable (and probably oldstable too, but I have not +tested). The default graph you get for that system look like this:</p> + +<p align="center"><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2016-03-15-battery-stats-graph-example.png" width="70%" align="center"></p> + +<p>My plans for the future is to merge my old scripts into the +battery-stats package, as my old scripts collected a lot more details +about the battery. The scripts are merged into the upstream +battery-stats git repository already, but I am not convinced they work +yet, as I changed a lot of paths along the way. Will have to test a +bit more before I make a new release.</p> + +<p>I will also consider changing the file format slightly, as I +suspect the way I combine several values into one field might make it +impossible to know the type of the value when using it for processing +and graphing.</p> + +<p>If you would like I would like to keep an close eye on your laptop +battery, check out the battery-stats package in +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/battery-stats">Debian</a> and +on +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/battery-stats">github</a>. +I would love some help to improve the system further.</p> + + + Creating, updating and checking debian/copyright semi-automatically http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Creating__updating_and_checking_debian_copyright_semi_automatically.html @@ -57,7 +213,7 @@ blog post from 2015</a>. To generate using cme, use the 'update dpkg-copyright' option: <p><pre> -cme update dpkg-copyright -quiet +cme update dpkg-copyright </pre></p> <p>This will create or update debian/copyright. The cme tool seem to @@ -86,6 +242,23 @@ planet.debian.org.</p> <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2016-02-20</strong>: I got a tip from Mike Gabriel +on how to use licensecheck and cdbs to create a draft copyright file + +<p><pre> +licensecheck --copyright -r `find * -type f` | \ + /usr/lib/cdbs/licensecheck2dep5 > debian/copyright.auto +</pre></p> + +<p>He mentioned that he normally check the generated file into the +version control system to make it easier to discover license and +copyright changes in the upstream source. I will try to do the same +with my packages in the future.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2016-02-21</strong>: The cme author recommended +against using -quiet for new users, so I removed it from the proposed +command line.</p> @@ -289,7 +462,7 @@ done in /etc/.</p> <blockquote><pre> apt install apt-transport-tor -sed -i 's% http://ftp.debian.org/%tor+http://vwakviie2ienjx6t.onion/%' /etc/apt/sources.list +sed -i 's% http://ftp.debian.org/% tor+http://vwakviie2ienjx6t.onion/%' /etc/apt/sources.list sed -i 's% http% tor+http%' /etc/apt/sources.list </pre></blockquote> @@ -596,151 +769,5 @@ hva slags problemer vi ser med dagens opphavsrettsregime.</p> - - The GNU General Public License is not magic pixie dust - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_GNU_General_Public_License_is_not_magic_pixie_dust.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_GNU_General_Public_License_is_not_magic_pixie_dust.html - Mon, 30 Nov 2015 09:55:00 +0100 - <p>A blog post from my fellow Debian developer Paul Wise titled -"<a href="http://bonedaddy.net/pabs3/log/2015/11/27/sfc-supporter/">The -GPL is not magic pixie dust</a>" explain the importance of making sure -the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GPL</a> is enforced. -I quote the blog post from Paul in full here with his permission:<p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/"><img src="https://sfconservancy.org/img/supporter-badge.png" width="194" height="90" alt="Become a Software Freedom Conservancy Supporter!" align="right" border="0" /></a></p> - -<blockquote> -The GPL is not magic pixie dust. It does not work by itself.<br/> - -The first step is to choose a -<a href="https://copyleft.org/">copyleft</a> license for your -code.<br/> - -The next step is, when someone fails to follow that copyleft license, -<b>it must be enforced</b><br/> - -and its a simple fact of our modern society that such type of -work<br/> - -is incredibly expensive to do and incredibly difficult to do. -</blockquote> - -<p><small>-- <a href="http://ebb.org/bkuhn/">Bradley Kuhn</a>, in -<a href="http://faif.us/" title="Free as in Freedom">FaiF</a> -<a href="http://faif.us/cast/2015/nov/24/0x57/">episode -0x57</a></small></p> - -<p>As the Debian Website -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/794116">used</a> -<a href="https://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/webwml/webwml/english/intro/free.wml?r1=1.24&amp;r2=1.25">to</a> -imply, public domain and permissively licensed software can lead to -the production of more proprietary software as people discover useful -software, extend it and or incorporate it into their hardware or -software products. Copyleft licenses such as the GNU GPL were created -to close off this avenue to the production of proprietary software but -such licenses are not enough. With the ongoing adoption of Free -Software by individuals and groups, inevitably the community's -expectations of license compliance are violated, usually out of -ignorance of the way Free Software works, but not always. As Karen -and Bradley explained in <a href="http://faif.us/" title="Free as in -Freedom">FaiF</a> -<a href="http://faif.us/cast/2015/nov/24/0x57/">episode 0x57</a>, -copyleft is nothing if no-one is willing and able to stand up in court -to protect it. The reality of today's world is that legal -representation is expensive, difficult and time consuming. With -<a href="http://gpl-violations.org/">gpl-violations.org</a> in hiatus -<a href="http://gpl-violations.org/news/20151027-homepage-recovers/">until</a> -some time in 2016, the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/">Software -Freedom Conservancy</a> (a tax-exempt charity) is the major defender -of the Linux project, Debian and other groups against GPL violations. -In March the SFC supported a -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/">lawsuit -by Christoph Hellwig</a> against VMware for refusing to -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/vmware-lawsuit-faq.html">comply -with the GPL</a> in relation to their use of parts of the Linux -kernel. Since then two of their sponsors pulled corporate funding and -conferences -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/nov/24/faif-carols-fundraiser/">blocked -or cancelled their talks</a>. As a result they have decided to rely -less on corporate funding and more on the broad community of -individuals who support Free Software and copyleft. So the SFC has -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/nov/23/2015fundraiser/">launched</a> -a <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">campaign</a> to create -a community of folks who stand up for copyleft and the GPL by -supporting their work on promoting and supporting copyleft and Free -Software.</p> - -<p>If you support Free Software, -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/nov/26/like-what-I-do/">like</a> -what the SFC do, agree with their -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/principles.html">compliance -principles</a>, are happy about their -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">successes</a> in 2015, -work on a project that is an SFC -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/members/current/">member</a> and or -just want to stand up for copyleft, please join -<a href="https://identi.ca/cwebber/image/JQGPA4qbTyyp3-MY8QpvuA">Christopher -Allan Webber</a>, -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/nov/24/faif-carols-fundraiser/">Carol -Smith</a>, -<a href="http://www.jonobacon.org/2015/11/25/supporting-software-freedom-conservancy/">Jono -Bacon</a>, myself and -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/sponsors/#supporters">others</a> in -becoming a -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">supporter</a>. For the -next week your donation will be -<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/nov/27/black-friday/">matched</a> -by an anonymous donor. Please also consider asking your employer to -match your donation or become a sponsor of SFC. Don't forget to -spread the word about your support for SFC via email, your blog and or -social media accounts.</p> - -</blockquote> - -<p>I agree with Paul on this topic and just signed up as a Supporter -of Software Freedom Conservancy myself. Perhaps you should be a -supporter too?</p> - - - - - PGP key transition statement for key EE4E02F9 - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/PGP_key_transition_statement_for_key_EE4E02F9.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/PGP_key_transition_statement_for_key_EE4E02F9.html - Tue, 17 Nov 2015 10:50:00 +0100 - <p>I've needed a new OpenPGP key for a while, but have not had time to -set it up properly. I wanted to generate it offline and have it -available on <a href="http://shop.kernelconcepts.de/#openpgp">a OpenPGP -smart card</a> for daily use, and learning how to do it and finding -time to sit down with an offline machine almost took forever. But -finally I've been able to complete the process, and have now moved -from my old GPG key to a new GPG key. See -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2015-11-17-new-gpg-key-transition.txt">the -full transition statement, signed with both my old and new key</a> for -the details. This is my new key:</p> - -<pre> -pub 3936R/<a href="http://pgp.cs.uu.nl/stats/111D6B29EE4E02F9.html">111D6B29EE4E02F9</a> 2015-11-03 [expires: 2019-11-14] - Key fingerprint = 3AC7 B2E3 ACA5 DF87 78F1 D827 111D 6B29 EE4E 02F9 -uid Petter Reinholdtsen &lt;pere@hungry.com&gt; -uid Petter Reinholdtsen &lt;pere@debian.org&gt; -sub 4096R/87BAFB0E 2015-11-03 [expires: 2019-11-02] -sub 4096R/F91E6DE9 2015-11-03 [expires: 2019-11-02] -sub 4096R/A0439BAB 2015-11-03 [expires: 2019-11-02] -</pre> - -<p>The key can be downloaded from the OpenPGP key servers, signed by -my old key.</p> - -<p>If you signed my old key -(<a href="http://pgp.cs.uu.nl/stats/DB4CCC4B2A30D729.html">DB4CCC4B2A30D729</a>), -I'd very much appreciate a signature on my new key, details and -instructions in the transition statement. I m happy to reciprocate if -you have a similarly signed transition statement to present.</p> - - -