X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/d8a2becd29eca31a55e7772e3ad2b514450d7295..21c8b6463fd65b6e35f2c9be2730113447f9dfd0:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index 8b02f0a9f6..56fdd99b06 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,43 +20,137 @@
-
Welcome to the world, Isenkram!
-
22nd January 2013
-

Yesterday, I -asked -for testers for my prototype for making Debian better at handling -pluggable hardware devices, which I -set -out to create earlier this month. Several valuable testers showed -up, and caused me to really want to to open up the development to more -people. But before I did this, I want to come up with a sensible name -for this project. Today I finally decided on a new name, and I have -renamed the project from hw-support-handler to this new name. In the -process, I moved the source to git and made it available as a -collab-maint -repository in Debian. The new name? It is Isenkram. -To fetch and build the latest version of the source, use

- -
-git clone git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/isenkram.git
-cd isenkram && git-buildpackage
-
- -

I have not yet adjusted all files to use the new name yet. If you -want to hack on the source or improve the package, please go ahead. -But please talk to me first on IRC or via email before you do major -changes, to make sure we do not step on each others toes. :)

- -

If you wonder what 'isenkram' is, it is a Norwegian word for iron -stuff, typically meaning tools, nails, screws, etc. Typical hardware -stuff, in other words. I've been told it is the Norwegian variant of -the German word eisenkram, for those that are familiar with that -word.

+
First beta release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy
+
27th July 2013
+

The first wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:

+ +

New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b0 released +2013-07-27

+ +

These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~b0, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

+ +

About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

+ +

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. Immediately after installation a school server running all +services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users +and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting +environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of +the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be +installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP +database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home +directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The +desktop contains +more +than 60 educational software packages and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.

+ +

This is the fifth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.

+ +

ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the +versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta +release.

+ +

Software updates

+ +
    + +
  • Switched roaming workstation profiles from wicd to network-manager + for network configuration, as wicd didn't work any more.
    • +
  • Changed version numbers of patched gosa and libpam-mklocaluser + packages to make sure our locally patched versions will be replaced + by the official packages when they are released from Debian. Those + installing alpha version need to reinstall or manually downgrade gosa + and libpam-mklocaluser.
    • +
  • Added bluetooth tools to the default desktop (bluedevil, blueman).
    • +
  • Added tools for sharing the desktop on KDE (krdc, krfb).
    • +
  • Added valgrind to the default installation for easier debugging of + crash bugs.
    • + +
+ +

Other changes

+ +
    + +
  • Fixed artwork package to work with gnome, no longer break + desktop=gnome installations.
    • +
  • Adjusted installer to now work when forced to use a proxy with the + netinst CD.
    • +
  • Fixed code detecting and setting/loading hardware specific + setup/firmware to work more robust out of the box.
    • +
  • Adjusted Kerberos setup to detect realm and server settings at + install time instead of dynamically at run time. This avoid a crash + with krb5-auth-dialog on diskless workstations without a DNS name.
    • +
  • Worked around misfeature in network-manager not calling the dhclient + exit hooks, causing automatic proxy configuration and automatic host + name setting at run time to work again.
    • +
  • Fixed feature setting the default Iceweasel start page from URL + fetched from LDAP, to allow schools to set the global default by + updating the dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no LDAP object.
    • +
  • Changed default host name on all networked machines to be unique + (generated from MAC or reverse DNS) after boot.
    • +
  • Adjusted partition sizes to make sure they are big enough.
    • + +
+ +

Known issues

+ +
    + +
  • Grub is missing the new artwork.
    • +
  • KDE fail to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to + not use the http proxy as it should.
    • +
  • Chromium also fail to use the proxy.
    • + +
+ +

Where to get it

+ +

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

+ + + +

The MD5SUM of this image is: 55d5de9765b6dccd5d9ec33cf1a07109 +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 996a1d9517740e4d627d100de2d12b23dd545a3f

+ +

To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

+ + + +

The MD5SUM of this image is: d8f0818c51a78d357de794066f289f69 +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 49185ca354e8d0543240423746924f76a6cee733

+ + +

How to report bugs

+ +

http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: debian edu, english.
@@ -64,73 +158,107 @@ word.

-
First prototype ready making hardware easier to use in Debian
-
21st January 2013
-

Early this month I set out to try to -improve -the Debian support for pluggable hardware devices. Now my -prototype is working, and it is ready for a larger audience. To test -it, fetch the -source -from the Debian Edu subversion repository, build and install the -package. You might have to log out and in again activate the -autostart script.

- -

The design is simple:

+
How to fix a Thinkpad X230 with a broken 180 GB SSD disk
+
17th July 2013
+

Today I switched to +my +new laptop. I've previously written about the problems I had with +my new Thinkpad X230, which was delivered with an +180 +GB Intel SSD disk with Lenovo firmware that did not handle +sustained writes. My hardware supplier have been very forthcoming in +trying to find a solution, and after first trying with another +identical 180 GB disks they decided to send me a 256 GB Samsung SSD +disk instead to fix it once and for all. The Samsung disk survived +the installation of Debian with encrypted disks (filling the disk with +random data during installation killed the first two), and I thus +decided to trust it with my data. I have installed it as a Debian Edu +Wheezy roaming workstation hooked up with my Debian Edu Squeeze main +server at home using Kerberos and LDAP, and will use it as my work +station from now on.

+ +

As this is a solid state disk with no moving parts, I believe the +Debian Wheezy default installation need to be tuned a bit to increase +performance and increase life time of the disk. The Linux kernel and +user space applications do not yet adjust automatically to such +environment. To make it easier for my self, I created a draft Debian +package ssd-setup to handle this tuning. The +source +for the ssd-setup package is available from collab-maint, and it +is set up to adjust the setup of the machine by just installing the +package. If there is any non-SSD disk in the machine, the package +will refuse to install, as I did not try to write any logic to sort +file systems in SSD and non-SSD file systems.

+ +

I consider the package a draft, as I am a bit unsure how to best +set up Debian Wheezy with an SSD. It is adjusted to my use case, +where I set up the machine with one large encrypted partition (in +addition to /boot), put LVM on top of this and set up partitions on +top of this again. See the README file in the package source for the +references I used to pick the settings. At the moment these +parameters are tuned:

    -
  • Add desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ causing a program -hw-support-handlerd to start when the user log in.
    • +
  • Set up cryptsetup to pass TRIM commands to the physical disk + (adding discard to /etc/crypttab)
    • + +
  • Set up LVM to pass on TRIM commands to the underlying device (in + this case a cryptsetup partition) by changing issue_discards from + 0 to 1 in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf.
    • -
  • This program listen for kernel events about new hardware (directly -from the kernel like udev does), not using HAL dbus events as I -initially did.
    • +
  • Set relatime as a file system option for ext3 and ext4 file + systems.
    • -
  • When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware modalias in -the APT database, a database -available -via HTTP and a database available as part of the package.
    • +
  • Tell swap to use TRIM commands by adding 'discard' to + /etc/fstab.
    • -
  • If a package is mapped to the hardware in question, the package -isn't installed yet and this is the first time the hardware was -plugged in, show a desktop notification suggesting to install the -package or packages.
    • +
  • Change I/O scheduler from cfq to deadline using a udev rule.
    • -
  • If the user click on the 'install package now' button, ask -aptdaemon via the PackageKit API to install the requrired package.
    • +
  • Run fstrim on every ext3 and ext4 file system every night (from + cron.daily).
    • -
  • aptdaemon ask for root password or sudo password, and install the -package while showing progress information in a window.
    • +
  • Adjust sysctl values vm.swappiness to 1 and vm.vfs_cache_pressure + to 50 to reduce the kernel eagerness to swap out processes.
-

I still need to come up with a better name for the system. Here -are some screen shots showing the prototype in action. First the -notification, then the password request, and finally the request to -approve all the dependencies. Sorry for the Norwegian Bokmål GUI.

- -

-
-
-
-

- -

The prototype still need to be improved with longer timeouts, but -is already useful. The database of hardware to package mappings also -need more work. It is currently compatible with the Ubuntu way of -storing such information in the package control file, but could be -changed to use other formats instead or in addition to the current -method. I've dropped the use of discover for this mapping, as the -modalias approach is more flexible and easier to use on Linux as long -as the Linux kernel expose its modalias strings directly.

- -

Update 2013-01-21 16:50: Due to popular demand, -here is the command required to check out and build the source: Use -'svn checkout -svn://svn.debian.org/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/; cd -hw-support-handler; debuild'. If you lack debuild, install the -devscripts package.

+

During installation, I cancelled the part where the installer fill +the disk with random data, as this would kill the SSD performance for +little gain. My goal with the encrypted file system is to ensure +those stealing my laptop end up with a brick and not a working +computer. I have no hope in keeping the really resourceful people +from getting the data on the disk (see +XKCD #538 for an explanation why). +Thus I concluded that adding the discard option to crypttab is the +right thing to do.

+ +

I considered using the noop I/O scheduler, as several recommended +it for SSD, but others recommended deadline and a benchmark I found +indicated that deadline might be better for interactive use.

+ +

I also considered using the 'discard' file system option for ext3 +and ext4, but read that it would give a performance hit ever time a +file is removed, and thought it best to that that slowdown once a day +instead of during my work.

+ +

My package do not set up tmpfs on /var/run, /var/lock and /tmp, as +this is already done by Debian Edu.

+ +

I have not yet started on the user space tuning. I expect +iceweasel need some tuning, and perhaps other applications too, but +have not yet had time to investigate those parts.

+ +

The package should work on Ubuntu too, but I have not yet tested it +there.

+ +

As for the answer to the question in the title of this blog post, +as far as I know, the only solution I know about is to replace the +disk. It might be possible to flash it with Intel firmware instead of +the Lenovo firmware. But I have not tried and did not want to do so +without approval from Lenovo as I wanted to keep the warranty on the +disk until a solution was found and they wanted the broken disks +back.

@@ -143,56 +271,49 @@ devscripts package.

-
Thank you Thinkpad X41, for your long and trustworthy service
-
19th January 2013
-

This Christmas my trusty old laptop died. It died quietly and -suddenly in bed. With a quiet whimper, it went completely quiet and -black. The power button was no longer able to turn it on. It was a -IBM Thinkpad X41, and the best laptop I ever had. Better than both -Thinkpads X30, X31, X40, X60, X61 and X61S. Far better than the -Compaq I had before that. Now I need to find a replacement. To keep -going during Christmas, I moved the one year old SSD disk to my old -X40 where it fitted (only one I had left that could use it), but it is -not a durable solution. - -

My laptop needs are fairly modest. This is my wishlist from when I -got a new one more than 10 years ago. It still holds true.:)

- -
    - -
  • Lightweight (around 1 kg) and small volume (preferably smaller - than A4).
    • -
  • Robust, it will be in my backpack every day.
    • -
  • Three button mouse and a mouse pin instead of touch pad.
    • -
  • Long battery life time. Preferable a week.
    • -
  • Internal WIFI network card.
    • -
  • Internal Twisted Pair network card.
    • -
  • Some USB slots (2-3 is plenty)
    • -
  • Good keyboard - similar to the Thinkpad.
    • -
  • Video resolution at least 1024x768, with size around 12" (A4 paper -size).
    • -
  • Hardware supported by Debian Stable, ie the default kernel and - X.org packages.
    • -
  • Quiet, preferably fan free (or at least not using the fan most of - the time). - -
- -

You will notice that there are no RAM and CPU requirements in the -list. The reason is simply that the specifications on laptops the -last 10-15 years have been sufficient for my needs, and I have to look -at other features to choose my laptop. But are there still made as -robust laptops as my X41? The Thinkpad X60/X61 proved to be less -robust, and Thinkpads seem to be heading in the wrong direction since -Lenovo took over. But I've been told that X220 and X1 Carbon might -still be useful.

- -

Perhaps I should rethink my needs, and look for a pad with an -external keyboard? I'll have to check the -Linux Laptops site for -well-supported laptops, or perhaps just buy one preinstalled from one -of the vendors listed on the Linux -Pre-loaded site.

+
Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB with Lenovo firmware still lock up from sustained writes
+
10th July 2013
+

A few days ago, I wrote about +the +problems I experienced with my new X230 and its SSD disk, which +was dying during installation because it is unable to cope with +sustained write. My supplier is in contact with +Lenovo, and they wanted to send a +replacement disk to try to fix the problem. They decided to send an +identical model, so my hopes for a permanent fix was slim.

+ +

Anyway, today I got the replacement disk and tried to install +Debian Edu Wheezy with encrypted disk on it. The new disk have the +same firmware version as the original. This time my hope raised +slightly as the installation progressed, as the original disk used to +die after 4-7% of the disk was written to, while this time it kept +going past 10%, 20%, 40% and even past 50%. But around 60%, the disk +died again and I was back on square one. I still do not have a new +laptop with a disk I can trust. I can not live with a disk that might +lock up when I download a new +Debian Edu / Skolelinux ISO or +other large files. I look forward to hearing from my supplier with +the next proposal from Lenovo.

+ +

The original disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNME35X1TR, ISN: CVCV321407HB180EGN, SA: G57560302, FW: +LF1i, 29MAY2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40002756C4, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.

+ +

The replacement disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNDE34N0L0, ISN: CVCV315306RK180EGN, SA: G57560-302, FW: +LF1i, 22APR2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40000AB69E, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.

+ +

The only difference is in the first number (serial number?), ISN, +SA, date and WNPP values. Mentioning all the details here in case +someone is able to use the information to find a way to identify the +failing disk among working ones (if any such working disk actually +exist).

@@ -205,75 +326,26 @@ Pre-loaded site.

-
How to find a browser plugin supporting a given MIME type
-
18th January 2013
-

Some times I try to figure out which Iceweasel browser plugin to -install to get support for a given MIME type. Thanks to -specifications -done by Ubuntu and Mozilla, it is possible to do this in Debian. -Unfortunately, not very many packages provide the needed meta -information, Anyway, here is a small script to look up all browser -plugin packages announcing ther MIME support using this specification:

- -
-#!/usr/bin/python
-import sys
-import apt
-def pkgs_handling_mimetype(mimetype):
-    cache = apt.Cache()
-    cache.open(None)
-    thepkgs = []
-    for pkg in cache:
-        version = pkg.candidate
-        if version is None:
-            version = pkg.installed
-        if version is None:
-            continue
-        record = version.record
-        if not record.has_key('Npp-MimeType'):
-            continue
-        mime_types = record['Npp-MimeType'].split(',')
-        for t in mime_types:
-            t = t.rstrip().strip()
-            if t == mimetype:
-                thepkgs.append(pkg.name)
-    return thepkgs
-mimetype = "audio/ogg"
-if 1 < len(sys.argv):
-    mimetype = sys.argv[1]
-print "Browser plugin packages supporting %s:" % mimetype
-for pkg in pkgs_handling_mimetype(mimetype):
-    print "  %s" %pkg
-
- -

It can be used like this to look up a given MIME type:

- -
-% ./apt-find-browserplug-for-mimetype 
-Browser plugin packages supporting audio/ogg:
-  gecko-mediaplayer
-% ./apt-find-browserplug-for-mimetype application/x-shockwave-flash
-Browser plugin packages supporting application/x-shockwave-flash:
-  browser-plugin-gnash
-%
-
- -

In Ubuntu this mechanism is combined with support in the browser -itself to query for plugins and propose to install the needed -packages. It would be great if Debian supported such feature too. Is -anyone working on adding it?

- -

Update 2013-01-18 14:20: The Debian BTS -request for icweasel support for this feature is -#484010 from 2008 (and -#698426 from today). Lack -of manpower and wish for a different design is the reason thus feature -is not yet in iceweasel from Debian.

+
July 13th: Debian/Ubuntu BSP and Skolelinux/Debian Edu developer gathering in Oslo
+
9th July 2013
+

The upcoming Saturday, 2013-07-13, we are organising a combined +Debian Edu developer gathering and Debian and Ubuntu bug squashing +party in Oslo. It is organised by the +member assosiation NUUG and +the Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project together with the hack space +Bitraf.

+ +

It starts 10:00 and continue until late evening. Everyone is +welcome, and there is no fee to participate. There is on the other +hand limited space, and only room for 30 people. Please put your name +on the event +wiki page if you plan to join us.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: debian, debian edu, english, nuug.
@@ -281,115 +353,74 @@ is not yet in iceweasel from Debian.

-
What is the most supported MIME type in Debian?
-
16th January 2013
-

The DEP-11 -proposal to add AppStream information to the Debian archive, is a -proposal to make it possible for a Desktop application to propose to -the user some package to install to gain support for a given MIME -type, font, library etc. that is currently missing. With such -mechanism in place, it would be possible for the desktop to -automatically propose and install leocad if some LDraw file is -downloaded by the browser.

- -

To get some idea about the current content of the archive, I decided -to write a simple program to extract all .desktop files from the -Debian archive and look up the claimed MIME support there. The result -can be found on the -Skolelinux FTP -site. Using the collected information, it become possible to -answer the question in the title. Here are the 20 most supported MIME -types in Debian stable (Squeeze), testing (Wheezy) and unstable (Sid). -The complete list is available from the link above.

- -

Debian Stable:

- -
-  count MIME type
-  ----- -----------------------
-     32 text/plain
-     30 audio/mpeg
-     29 image/png
-     28 image/jpeg
-     27 application/ogg
-     26 audio/x-mp3
-     25 image/tiff
-     25 image/gif
-     22 image/bmp
-     22 audio/x-wav
-     20 audio/x-flac
-     19 audio/x-mpegurl
-     18 video/x-ms-asf
-     18 audio/x-musepack
-     18 audio/x-mpeg
-     18 application/x-ogg
-     17 video/mpeg
-     17 audio/x-scpls
-     17 audio/ogg
-     16 video/x-ms-wmv
-
- -

Debian Testing:

- -
-  count MIME type
-  ----- -----------------------
-     33 text/plain
-     32 image/png
-     32 image/jpeg
-     29 audio/mpeg
-     27 image/gif
-     26 image/tiff
-     26 application/ogg
-     25 audio/x-mp3
-     22 image/bmp
-     21 audio/x-wav
-     19 audio/x-mpegurl
-     19 audio/x-mpeg
-     18 video/mpeg
-     18 audio/x-scpls
-     18 audio/x-flac
-     18 application/x-ogg
-     17 video/x-ms-asf
-     17 text/html
-     17 audio/x-musepack
-     16 image/x-xbitmap
-
- -

Debian Unstable:

- -
-  count MIME type
-  ----- -----------------------
-     31 text/plain
-     31 image/png
-     31 image/jpeg
-     29 audio/mpeg
-     28 application/ogg
-     27 image/gif
-     26 image/tiff
-     26 audio/x-mp3
-     23 audio/x-wav
-     22 image/bmp
-     21 audio/x-flac
-     20 audio/x-mpegurl
-     19 audio/x-mpeg
-     18 video/x-ms-asf
-     18 video/mpeg
-     18 audio/x-scpls
-     18 application/x-ogg
-     17 audio/x-musepack
-     16 video/x-ms-wmv
-     16 video/x-msvideo
-
- -

I am told that PackageKit can provide an API to access the kind of -information mentioned in DEP-11. I have not yet had time to look at -it, but hope the PackageKit people in Debian are on top of these -issues.

- -

Update 2013-01-16 13:35: Updated numbers after -discovering a typo in my script.

+
The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230?
+
5th July 2013
+

Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a +replacement +for my trusty old Thinkpad X41. Unfortunately I did not have much +time to spend on it, and it took a while to find a model I believe +will do the job, but two days ago the replacement finally arrived. I +ended up picking a +Thinkpad X230 +with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu Wheezy as +a roaming workstation, and it seemed to work flawlessly. But my +second installation with encrypted disk was not as successful. More +on that below.

+ +

I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most +important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never +listed in the feature list. But I did get good help from the search +feature at Prisjakt, which +allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other +requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks according +to that search interface, so I had to drop specifying the number of +disks from my search parameters. I also asked around among friends to +get their impression on keyboards and robustness.

+ +

So the new laptop arrived, and it is quite a lot wider than the +X41. I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is +significantly wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my +hand a lot more to reach the edges. But the key response is fairly +good and the individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope +I will get used to it. My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really +needed a new laptop now. :)

+ +

Turning off the touch pad was simple. All it took was a quick +visit to the BIOS during boot it disable it.

+ +

But there is a fatal problem with the laptop. The 180 GB SSD disk +lock up during load. And this happen when installing Debian Wheezy +with encrypted disk, while the disk is being filled with random data. +I also tested to install Ubuntu Raring, and it happen there too if I +reenable the code to fill the disk with random data (it is disabled by +default in Ubuntu). And the bug with is already known. It was +reported to Debian as BTS +report #691427 2012-10-25 (journal commit I/O error on brand-new +Thinkpad T430s ext4 on lvm on SSD). It is also reported to the Linux +kernel developers as +Kernel bugzilla +report #51861 2012-12-20 (Intel SSD 520 stops working under load +(SSDSC2BW180A3L in Lenovo ThinkPad T430s)). It is also reported on the +Lenovo forums, both for +T430 +2012-11-10 and for +X230 +03-20-2013. The problem do not only affect installation. The +reports state that the disk lock up during use if many writes are done +on the disk, so it is much no use to work around the installation +problem and end up with a computer that can lock up at any moment. +There is even a +small C program +available that will lock up the hard drive after running a few +minutes by writing to a file.

+ +

I've contacted my supplier and asked how to handle this, and after +contacting PCHELP Norway (request 01D1FDP) which handle support +requests for Lenovo, his first suggestion was to upgrade the disk +firmware. Unfortunately there is no newer firmware available from +Lenovo, as my disk already have the most recent one (version LF1i). I +hope to hear more from him today and hope the problem can be +fixed. :)

@@ -402,114 +433,34 @@ discovering a typo in my script.

-
Using modalias info to find packages handling my hardware
-
15th January 2013
-

Yesterday, I wrote about the -modalias -values provided by the Linux kernel following my hope for -better -dongle support in Debian. Using this knowledge, I have tested how -modalias values attached to package names can be used to map packages -to hardware. This allow the system to look up and suggest relevant -packages when I plug in some new hardware into my machine, and replace -discover and discover-data as the database used to map hardware to -packages.

- -

I create a modaliases file with entries like the following, -containing package name, kernel module name (if relevant, otherwise -the package name) and globs matching the relevant hardware -modalias.

- -

-Package: package-name -
Modaliases: module(modaliasglob, modaliasglob, modaliasglob)

-

- -

It is fairly trivial to write code to find the relevant packages -for a given modalias value using this file.

- -

An entry like this would suggest the video and picture application -cheese for many USB web cameras (interface bus class 0E01):

- -

-Package: cheese -
Modaliases: cheese(usb:v*p*d*dc*dsc*dp*ic0Eisc01ip*)

-

- -

An entry like this would suggest the pcmciautils package when a -CardBus bridge (bus class 0607) PCI device is present:

- -

-Package: pcmciautils -
Modaliases: pcmciautils(pci:v*d*sv*sd*bc06sc07i*) -

- -

An entry like this would suggest the package colorhug-client when -plugging in a ColorHug with USB IDs 04D8:F8DA:

- -

-Package: colorhug-client -
Modaliases: colorhug-client(usb:v04D8pF8DAd*)

-

- -

I believe the format is compatible with the format of the Packages -file in the Debian archive. Ubuntu already uses their Packages file -to store their mappings from packages to hardware.

- -

By adding a XB-Modaliases: header in debian/control, any .deb can -announce the hardware it support in a way my prototype understand. -This allow those publishing packages in an APT source outside the -Debian archive as well as those backporting packages to make sure the -hardware mapping are included in the package meta information. I've -tested such header in the pymissile package, and its modalias mapping -is working as it should with my prototype. It even made it to Ubuntu -Raring.

- -

To test if it was possible to look up supported hardware using only -the shell tools available in the Debian installer, I wrote a shell -implementation of the lookup code. The idea is to create files for -each modalias and let the shell do the matching. Please check out and -try the -hw-support-lookup -shell script. It run without any extra dependencies and fetch the -hardware mappings from the Debian archive and the subversion -repository where I currently work on my prototype.

- -

When I use it on a machine with a yubikey inserted, it suggest to -install yubikey-personalization:

- -

-% ./hw-support-lookup -
yubikey-personalization -
% -

- -

When I run it on my Thinkpad X40 with a PCMCIA/CardBus slot, it -propose to install the pcmciautils package:

- -

-% ./hw-support-lookup -
pcmciautils -
% -

- -

If you know of any hardware-package mapping that should be added to -my -database, please tell me about it.

- -

It could be possible to generate several of the mappings between -packages and hardware. One source would be to look at packages with -kernel modules, ie packages with *.ko files in /lib/modules/, and -extract their modalias information. Another would be to look at -packages with udev rules, ie packages with files in -/lib/udev/rules.d/, and extract their vendor/model information to -generate a modalias matching rule. I have not tested any of these to -see if it work.

- -

If you want to help implementing a system to let us propose what -packages to install when new hardware is plugged into a Debian -machine, please send me an email or talk to me on -#debian-devel.

+
The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230
+
4th July 2013
+

Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a replacement for my +trusty old Thinkpad X41. Unfortunately I did not have much time to +spend on it, but today the replacement finally arrived. I ended up +picking a Thinkpad +X230 with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu +Wheezy as a roaming workstation, and it worked flawlessly. As I write +this, it is installing what I hope will be a more final installation, +with a encrypted hard drive to ensure any dope head stealing it end up +with an expencive door stop.

+ +

I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most +important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never +listed in the feature list. But I did get good help from the search +feature at Prisjakt, which +allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other +requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks, so I had +to drop number of disks from my search parameters.

+ +

I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is significantly +wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my hand a lot more +to reach the edges. But the key response is fairly good and the +individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope I will get +used to it. My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really needed a +new laptop now. :)

+ +

I look forward to figuring out how to turn off the touch pad.

@@ -522,260 +473,115 @@ machine, please send me an email or talk to me on
-
Modalias strings - a practical way to map "stuff" to hardware
-
14th January 2013
-

While looking into how to look up Debian packages based on hardware -information, to find the packages that support a given piece of -hardware, I refreshed my memory regarding modalias values, and decided -to document the details. Here are my findings so far, also available -in -the -Debian Edu subversion repository: - -

Modalias decoded

- -

This document try to explain what the different types of modalias -values stands for. It is in part based on information from -<URL: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Modalias >, -<URL: http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/how-to-assign-usb-driver-to-device >, -<URL: http://code.metager.de/source/history/linux/stable/scripts/mod/file2alias.c > and -<URL: http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/dmidecode/dmidecode.c?root=dmidecode&view=markup >. - -

The modalias entries for a given Linux machine can be found using -this shell script:

- -
-find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u
-
- -

The supported modalias globs for a given kernel module can be found -using modinfo:

- -
-% /sbin/modinfo psmouse | grep alias:
-alias:          serio:ty05pr*id*ex*
-alias:          serio:ty01pr*id*ex*
-%
-
- -

PCI subtype

- -

A typical PCI entry can look like this. This is an Intel Host -Bridge memory controller:

- -

-pci:v00008086d00002770sv00001028sd000001ADbc06sc00i00 -

- -

This represent these values:

- -
- v   00008086  (vendor)
- d   00002770  (device)
- sv  00001028  (subvendor)
- sd  000001AD  (subdevice)
- bc  06        (bus class)
- sc  00        (bus subclass)
- i   00        (interface)
-
- -

The vendor/device values are the same values outputted from 'lspci --n' as 8086:2770. The bus class/subclass is also shown by lspci as -0600. The 0600 class is a host bridge. Other useful bus values are -0300 (VGA compatible card) and 0200 (Ethernet controller).

- -

Not sure how to figure out the interface value, nor what it -means.

- -

USB subtype

- -

Some typical USB entries can look like this. This is an internal -USB hub in a laptop:

- -

-usb:v1D6Bp0001d0206dc09dsc00dp00ic09isc00ip00 -

- -

Here is the values included in this alias:

- -
- v    1D6B  (device vendor)
- p    0001  (device product)
- d    0206  (bcddevice)
- dc     09  (device class)
- dsc    00  (device subclass)
- dp     00  (device protocol)
- ic     09  (interface class)
- isc    00  (interface subclass)
- ip     00  (interface protocol)
-
- -

The 0900 device class/subclass means hub. Some times the relevant -class is in the interface class section. For a simple USB web camera, -these alias entries show up:

- -

-usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc01ip00 -
usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc02ip00 -
usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc01ip00 -
usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc02ip00 -

- -

Interface class 0E01 is video control, 0E02 is video streaming (aka -camera), 0101 is audio control device and 0102 is audio streaming (aka -microphone). Thus this is a camera with microphone included.

- -

ACPI subtype

- -

The ACPI type is used for several non-PCI/USB stuff. This is an IR -receiver in a Thinkpad X40:

- -

-acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511: -

- -

The values between the colons are IDs.

- -

DMI subtype

- -

The DMI table contain lots of information about the computer case -and model. This is an entry for a IBM Thinkpad X40, fetched from -/sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/modalias:

- -

-dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1UETB6WW(1.66):bd06/15/2005:svnIBM:pn2371H4G:pvrThinkPadX40:rvnIBM:rn2371H4G:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable: -

- -

The values present are

- -
- bvn  IBM            (BIOS vendor)
- bvr  1UETB6WW(1.66) (BIOS version)
- bd   06/15/2005     (BIOS date)
- svn  IBM            (system vendor)
- pn   2371H4G        (product name)
- pvr  ThinkPadX40    (product version)
- rvn  IBM            (board vendor)
- rn   2371H4G        (board name)
- rvr  NotAvailable   (board version)
- cvn  IBM            (chassis vendor)
- ct   10             (chassis type)
- cvr  NotAvailable   (chassis version)
-
- -

The chassis type 10 is Notebook. Other interesting values can be -found in the dmidecode source:

- -
-  3 Desktop
-  4 Low Profile Desktop
-  5 Pizza Box
-  6 Mini Tower
-  7 Tower
-  8 Portable
-  9 Laptop
- 10 Notebook
- 11 Hand Held
- 12 Docking Station
- 13 All In One
- 14 Sub Notebook
- 15 Space-saving
- 16 Lunch Box
- 17 Main Server Chassis
- 18 Expansion Chassis
- 19 Sub Chassis
- 20 Bus Expansion Chassis
- 21 Peripheral Chassis
- 22 RAID Chassis
- 23 Rack Mount Chassis
- 24 Sealed-case PC
- 25 Multi-system
- 26 CompactPCI
- 27 AdvancedTCA
- 28 Blade
- 29 Blade Enclosing
-
- -

The chassis type values are not always accurately set in the DMI -table. For example my home server is a tower, but the DMI modalias -claim it is a desktop.

- -

SerIO subtype

- -

This type is used for PS/2 mouse plugs. One example is from my -test machine:

- -

-serio:ty01pr00id00ex00 -

- -

The values present are

- -
-  ty  01  (type)
-  pr  00  (prototype)
-  id  00  (id)
-  ex  00  (extra)
-
- -

This type is supported by the psmouse driver. I am not sure what -the valid values are.

- -

Other subtypes

- -

There are heaps of other modalias subtypes according to -file2alias.c. There is the rest of the list from that source: amba, -ap, bcma, ccw, css, eisa, hid, i2c, ieee1394, input, ipack, isapnp, -mdio, of, parisc, pcmcia, platform, scsi, sdio, spi, ssb, vio, virtio, -vmbus, x86cpu and zorro. I did not spend time documenting all of -these, as they do not seem relevant for my intended use with mapping -hardware to packages when new stuff is inserted during run time.

- -

Looking up kernel modules using modalias values

- -

To check which kernel modules provide support for a given modalias, -one can use the following shell script:

- -
-  for id in $(find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u); do \
-    echo "$id" ; \
-    /sbin/modprobe --show-depends "$id"|sed 's/^/  /' ; \
-  done
-
- -

The output can look like this (only the first few entries as the -list is very long on my test machine):

- -
-  acpi:ACPI0003:
-    insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/acpi/ac.ko 
-  acpi:device:
-  FATAL: Module acpi:device: not found.
-  acpi:IBM0068:
-    insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/char/nvram.ko 
-    insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/leds/led-class.ko 
-    insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/net/rfkill/rfkill.ko 
-    insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/thinkpad_acpi.ko 
-  acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511:
-    insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/lib/crc-ccitt.ko 
-    insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/net/irda/irda.ko 
-    insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/net/irda/nsc-ircc.ko 
-  [...]
-
- -

If you want to help implementing a system to let us propose what -packages to install when new hardware is plugged into a Debian -machine, please send me an email or talk to me on -#debian-devel.

- -

Update 2013-01-15: Rewrite "cat $(find ...)" to -"find ... -print0 | xargs -0 cat" to make sure it handle directories -in /sys/ with space in them.

+
Fourth alpha release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy
+
3rd July 2013
+

The fourth wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:

+ +

New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~alpha3 released +2013-07-03

+ +

These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~alpha3, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

+ +

About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

+ +

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. Immediately after installation a school server running all +services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users +and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting +environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of +the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be +installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP +database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home +directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The +desktop contains +more +than 60 educational software packages and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.

+ +

This is the fourth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.

+ +

Software updates

+
    +
  • Dropped ispell dictionaries from our default installation.
    • +
  • Dropped menu-xdg from the KDE desktop option, to drop the Debian + submenu. It was not included with Gnome, LXDE or Xfce, so this + brings KDE in line with the others.
    • +
  • Dropped xdrawchem, xjig and xsok from our default installation as + they don't have a desktop menu entry and thus won't show up in the + menu now that menu-xdg was removed.
    • +
  • Removed the killer system to kill left behind processes on + multi-user machines, as it was no longer able to understand when a + X display was in use and killed the processes of the active users + too.
    • +
  • Dropped the golearn (from goplay) package as the debtags in wheezy + are too few to make the package useful.
    • +
+

Other changes

+
    +
  • Updated artwork matching http://wiki.debian.org/DebianArt/Themes/Joy +
  • Multi-arch i386/amd64 USB stick ISO available.
    • +
  • Got rid of ispell/wordlist related debconf questions that showed + up for some language options.
    • +
  • Switched to using http.debian.net as APT source by default.
    • +
  • Fixed proxy configuration on Main Server installations.
    • +
  • Changed LTSP setup to ask dpkg to use force-unsafe-io the same way + d-i is doing it.
    • +
  • Made sure root and user passwords were not left behind in the + debconf database after installation on Main Server installations.
    • +
  • Made Roaming Workstation dynamic setup more robust and added draft + script setup-ad-client to hook a Roaming Workstation up to a + Active Directory server instead of a Debian Edu Main Server.
    • +
  • Update system to install needed firmware packages during + installation, to work properly in Wheezy.
    • +
  • Update system to handle hardware quirks (debian-edu-hwsetup).
    • +
  • Corrected PXE installation setup to properly pass selected desktop + and keymap settings to PXE installation clients.
    • +
  • LTSP diskless workstations use sshfs by default, allowing them to + work without adding them to DNS and NIS netgroups for NFS access.
    • +
+

Known issues

+
    +
  • No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) + available yet (698840).
    • +
  • Artwork not enabled for all desktops.
    • +
+

Where to get it

+ +

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

+ + +

The MD5SUM of this image is: 2b161a99d2a848c376d8d04e3854e30c +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 498922e9c508c0a7ee9dbe1dfe5bf830d779c3c8

+ +

To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

+ + +

The MD5SUM of this image is: 25e808e403a4c15dbef1d13c37d572ac +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 15ecfc93eb6b4f453b7eb0bc04b6a279262d9721

+ +

How to report bugs

+ +

http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: debian edu, english.
@@ -783,31 +589,70 @@ in /sys/ with space in them.

-
Moved the pymissile Debian packaging to collab-maint
-
10th January 2013
-

As part of my investigation on how to improve the support in Debian -for hardware dongles, I dug up my old Mark and Spencer USB Rocket -Launcher and updated the Debian package -pymissile to make -sure udev will fix the device permissions when it is plugged in. I -also added a "Modaliases" header to test it in the Debian archive and -hopefully make the package be proposed by jockey in Ubuntu when a user -plug in his rocket launcher. In the process I moved the source to a -git repository under collab-maint, to make it easier for any DD to -contribute. Upstream -is not very active, but the software still work for me even after five -years of relative silence. The new git repository is not listed in -the uploaded package yet, because I want to test the other changes a -bit more before I upload the new version. If you want to check out -the new version with a .desktop file included, visit the -gitweb -view or use "git clone -git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/pymissile.git".

+
Automatically locate and install required firmware packages on Debian (Isenkram 0.4)
+
25th June 2013
+

It annoys me when the computer fail to do automatically what it is +perfectly capable of, and I have to do it manually to get things +working. One such task is to find out what firmware packages are +needed to get the hardware on my computer working. Most often this +affect the wifi card, but some times it even affect the RAID +controller or the ethernet card. Today I pushed version 0.4 of the +Isenkram package +including a new script isenkram-autoinstall-firmware handling the +process of asking all the loaded kernel modules what firmware files +they want, find debian packages providing these files and install the +debian packages. Here is a test run on my laptop:

+ +

+# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware 
+info: kernel drivers requested extra firmware: ipw2200-bss.fw ipw2200-ibss.fw ipw2200-sniffer.fw
+info: fetching http://http.debian.net/debian/dists/squeeze/Contents-i386.gz
+info: locating packages with the requested firmware files
+info: Updating APT sources after adding non-free APT source
+info: trying to install firmware-ipw2x00
+firmware-ipw2x00
+firmware-ipw2x00
+Preconfiguring packages ...
+Selecting previously deselected package firmware-ipw2x00.
+(Reading database ... 259727 files and directories currently installed.)
+Unpacking firmware-ipw2x00 (from .../firmware-ipw2x00_0.28+squeeze1_all.deb) ...
+Setting up firmware-ipw2x00 (0.28+squeeze1) ...
+# 
+

+ +

When all the requested firmware is present, a simple message is +printed instead:

+ +

+# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware 
+info: did not find any firmware files requested by loaded kernel modules.  exiting
+# 
+

+ +

It could use some polish, but it is already working well and saving +me some time when setting up new machines. :)

+ +

So, how does it work? It look at the set of currently loaded +kernel modules, and look up each one of them using modinfo, to find +the firmware files listed in the module meta-information. Next, it +download the Contents file from a nearby APT mirror, and search for +the firmware files in this file to locate the package with the +requested firmware file. If the package is in the non-free section, a +non-free APT source is added and the package is installed using +apt-get install. The end result is a slightly better working +machine.

+ +

I hope someone find time to implement a more polished version of +this script as part of the hw-detect debian-installer module, to +finally fix BTS report +#655507. There really is no need to insert USB sticks with +firmware during a PXE install when the packages already are available +from the nearby Debian mirror.

- Tags: debian, english, robot. + Tags: debian, english, isenkram.
@@ -815,98 +660,50 @@ git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/pymissile.git".

-
Lets make hardware dongles easier to use in Debian
-
9th January 2013
-

One thing that annoys me with Debian and Linux distributions in -general, is that there is a great package management system with the -ability to automatically install software packages by downloading them -from the distribution mirrors, but no way to get it to automatically -install the packages I need to use the hardware I plug into my -machine. Even if the package to use it is easily available from the -Linux distribution. When I plug in a LEGO Mindstorms NXT, it could -suggest to automatically install the python-nxt, nbc and t2n packages -I need to talk to it. When I plug in a Yubikey, it could propose the -yubikey-personalization package. The information required to do this -is available, but no-one have pulled all the pieces together.

- -

Some years ago, I proposed to -use -the discover subsystem to implement this. The idea is fairly -simple: - -

    - -
  • Add a desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ pointing to a program - starting when a user log in.
    • - -
  • Set this program up to listen for kernel events emitted when new - hardware is inserted into the computer.
    • - -
  • When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware ID in a - database mapping to packages, and take note of any non-installed - packages.
    • - -
  • Show a message to the user proposing to install the discovered - package, and make it easy to install it.
    • - -
- -

I am not sure what the best way to implement this is, but my -initial idea was to use dbus events to discover new hardware, the -discover database to find packages and -PackageKit to install -packages.

- -

Yesterday, I found time to try to implement this idea, and the -draft package is now checked into -the -Debian Edu subversion repository. In the process, I updated the -discover-data -package to map the USB ids of LEGO Mindstorms and Yubikey devices to -the relevant packages in Debian, and uploaded a new version -2.2013.01.09 to unstable. I also discovered that the current -discover -package in Debian no longer discovered any USB devices, because -/proc/bus/usb/devices is no longer present. I ported it to use -libusb as a fall back option to get it working. The fixed package -version 2.1.2-6 is now in experimental (didn't upload it to unstable -because of the freeze).

- -

With this prototype in place, I can insert my Yubikey, and get this -desktop notification to show up (only once, the first time it is -inserted):

- -

- -

For this prototype to be really useful, some way to automatically -install the proposed packages by pressing the "Please install -program(s)" button should to be implemented.

- -

If this idea seem useful to you, and you want to help make it -happen, please help me update the discover-data database with mappings -from hardware to Debian packages. Check if 'discover-pkginstall -l' -list the package you would like to have installed when a given -hardware device is inserted into your computer, and report bugs using -reportbug if it isn't. Or, if you know of a better way to provide -such mapping, please let me know.

- -

This prototype need more work, and there are several questions that -should be considered before it is ready for production use. Is dbus -the correct way to detect new hardware? At the moment I look for HAL -dbus events on the system bus, because that is the events I could see -on my Debian Squeeze KDE desktop. Are there better events to use? -How should the user be notified? Is the desktop notification -mechanism the best option, or should the background daemon raise a -popup instead? How should packages be installed? When should they -not be installed?

- -

If you want to help getting such feature implemented in Debian, -please send me an email. :)

+
The value of a good distro wide test suite...
+
22nd June 2013
+

In the Debian Edu / +Skolelinux project, we include a post-installation test suite, +which check that services are running, working, and return the +expected results. It runs automatically just after the first boot on +test installations (using test ISOs), but not on production +installations (using non-test ISOs). It test that the LDAP service is +operating, Kerberos is responding, DNS is replying, file systems are +online resizable, etc, etc. And it check that the PXE service is +configured, which is the topic of this post.

+ +

The last week I've fixed the DVD and USB stick ISOs for our Debian +Edu Wheezy release. These ISOs are supposed to be able to install a +complete system without any Internet connection, but for that to +happen all the needed packages need to be on them. Thanks to our test +suite, I discovered that we had forgotten to adjust our PXE setup to +cope with the new names and paths used by the netboot d-i packages. +When Internet connectivity was available, the installer fall back to +using wget to fetch d-i boot images, but when offline it require +working packages to get it working. And the packages changed name +from debian-installer-6.0-netboot-$arch to +debian-installer-7.0-netboot-$arch, we no longer pulled in the +packages during installation. Without our test suite, I suspect we +would never have discovered this before release. Now it is fixed +right after we got the ISOs operational.

+ +

Another by-product of the test suite is that we can ask system +administrators with problems getting Debian Edu to work, to run the +test suite using /usr/sbin/debian-edu-test-install and see if +any errors are detected. This usually pinpoint the subsystem causing +the problem.

+ +

If you want to help us help kids learn how to share and create, +please join us on +#debian-edu on +irc.debian.org and the +debian-edu@ mailing +list.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: debian edu, english.
@@ -914,27 +711,143 @@ please send me an email. :)

-
New IRC channel for LEGO designers using Debian
-
2nd January 2013
-

During Christmas, I have worked a bit on the Debian support for -LEGO Mindstorm -NXT. My son and I have played a bit with my NXT set, and I -discovered I had to build all the tools myself because none were -already in Debian Squeeze. If Debian support for LEGO is something -you care about, please join me on the IRC channel -#debian-lego (server -irc.debian.org). There is a lot that could be done to improve the -Debian support for LEGO designers. For example both CAD software -and Mindstorm compilers are missing. :)

- -

Update 2012-01-03: A -project page -including links to Lego related packages is now available.

+
Debian Edu interview: Victor Nițu
+
17th June 2013
+

The Debian Edu and +Skolelinux distribution have users and contributors all around the +globe. And a while back, an enterprising young man showed up on +our IRC channel +#debian-edu and started asking questions about how Debian Edu +worked. We answered as good as we could, and even convinced him to +help us with translations. And today I managed to get an interview +with him, to learn more about him.

+ +

Who are you, and how do you spend your days?

+ +

I'm a 25 year old free software enthusiast, living in Romania, +which is also my country of origin. Back in 2009, at a New Year's Eve +party, I had a very nice beer discussion with a +friend, when we realized we have no organised Debian community in our +country. A few days later, we put together the infrastructure for such +community and even gathered a nice Debian-ish crowd. Since then, I +began my quest as a free software hacker and activist and I am +constantly trying to cover as much ground as possible on that +field.

+ +

A few years ago I founded a small web development company, which +provided me the flexible schedule I needed so much for my +activities. For the last 13 months, I have been the Technical Director +of Fundația Ceata, which is a free +software activist organisation endorsed by the FSF and the FSFE, and +the only one we have in our country.

+ +

How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu +project?

+ +

The idea of participating in the Debian Edu project was a surprise +even to me, since I never used it before I began getting involved in +it. This year I had a great opportunity to deliver a talk on +educational software, and I knew immediately where to look. It was a +love at first sight, since I was previously involved with some of the +technologies the project incorporates, and I rapidly found a lot of +ways to contribute.

+ +

My first contributions consisted in translating the installer and +configuration dialogs, then I found some bugs to squash (I still +haven't fixed them yet though), and I even got my eyes on some other +areas where I can prove myself helpful. Since the appetite for free +software in my country is pretty low, I'll be happy to be the first +one around here advocating for the project's adoption in educational +environments, and maybe even get my hands dirty in creating a flavour +for our own needs. I am not used to make very advanced plannings, so +from now on, time will tell what I'll be doing next, but I think I +have a pretty consistent starting point.

+ +

What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian +Edu?

+ +

Not a long time ago, I was in the position of configuring and +maintaining a LDAP server on some Debian derivative, and I must say it +took me a while. A long time ago, I was maintaining a bigger +Samba-powered infrastructure, and I must say I spent quite a lot of +time on it. I have similar stories about many of the services included +with Skolelinux, and the main advantage I see about it is the +out-of-the box availability of them, making it quite competitive when +it comes to managing a school's network, for example.

+ +

Of course, there is more to say about Skolelinux than the +availability of the software included, its flexibility in various +scenarios is something I can't wait to experiment "into the wild" (I +only played with virtual machines so far). And I am sure there is a +lot more I haven't discovered yet about it, being so new within the +project.

+ +

What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?

+ +

As usual, when it comes to Debian Blends, I see as the biggest +disadvantage the lack of a numerous team dedicated to the +project. Every day I see the same names in the changelogs, and I have +a constantly fear of the bus factor in this story. I'd like to see +Debian Edu advertised more as an entry point into the Debian +ecosystem, especially amongst newcomers and students. IMHO there are a +lot low-hanging fruits in terms of bug squashing, and enough +opportunities to get the feeling of the Debian Project's dynamics. Not +to mention it's a very fun blend to work on!

+ +

Derived from the previous statement, is the delay in catching up +with the main Debian release and documentation. This is common though +to all blends and derivatives, but it's an issue we can all work +on.

+ +

Which free software do you use daily?

+ +

I can hardly imagine myself spending a day without Vim, since my +daily routine covers writing code and hacking configuration files. I +am a fan of the Awesome window manager (but I also like the +Enlightenment project a lot!), +Claws Mail due to its ease of +use and very configurable behaviour. Recently I fell in love with +Redshift, which helps me +get through the night without headaches. Of course, there is much more +stuff in this bag, but I'll need a blog on my own for doing this!

+ +

Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?

+ +

Well, on this field, I cannot do much more than experiment right +now. So, being far from having a recipe for success, I can only assume +that:

+ +
    + +
  • schools would like to get rid of proprietary software
    • + +
  • students will love the openness of the system, and will want to + experiment with it - maybe we need to harvest the native curiosity + of teenagers more?
    • + +
  • there is no "right one" when it comes to strategies, but it would + be useful to have some success stories published somewhere, so + other can get some inspiration from them (I know I'd promote + them!)
    • + +
  • more active promotion - talks, conferences, even small school + lectures can do magical things if they encounter at least one + person interested. Who knows who that person might be? ;-)
    • + +
+ +

I also see some problems in getting Skolelinux into schools; for +example, in our country we have a great deal of corruption issues, so +it might be hard(er) to fight against proprietary solutions. Also, +people who relied on commercial software for all their lives, would be +very hard to convert against their will.

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