A few days ago, during a discussion in -EFN about interesting books to read -about copyright and the data retention directive, a suggestion to read -the 1968 short story Kodémus by -Tore à ge Bringsværd -came up. The text was only available in old paper books, and thus not -easily available for current and future generations. Some of the -people participating in the discussion contacted the author, and -reported back 2013-03-19 that the author was OK with releasing the -short story using a Creative -Commons license. The text was quickly scanned and OCR-ed, and we -were ready to start on the editing and typesetting.
- -As I already had some experience formatting text in my project to -provide a Norwegian version of the Free Culture book by Lawrence -Lessig, I chipped in and set up a -DocBook processing framework to -generate PDF, HTML and EPUB version of the short story. The tools to -transform DocBook to different formats are already in my Linux -distribution of choice, Debian, so -all I had to do was to use the -dblatex, -dbtoepub -and xmlto tools to do the -conversion. After a few days, we decided to replace dblatex with -xsltproc/fop (aka -docbook-xsl), -to get the copyright information to show up in the PDF and to get a -nicer <variablelist> typesetting, but that is just a minor -technical detail.
- -There were a few challenges, of course. We want to typeset the -short story to look like the original, and that require fairly good -control over the layout. The original short story have three -parts/scenes separated by a single horizontally centred star (*), and -the paragraphs do not contain only flowing text, but dialogs and text -that started on a new line in the middle of the paragraph.
- -I initially solved the first challenge by using a paragraph with a -single star in it, ie <para>*</para>, but it made sure a -placeholder indicated where the scene shifted. This did not look too -good without the centring. The next approach was to create a new -preprocessor directive <?newscene?>, mapping to "<hr/>" -for HTML and "<fo:block text-align="center"><fo:leader -leader-pattern="rule" rule-thickness="0.5pt"/></fo:block>" -for FO/PDF output (did not try to implement this in dblatex, as we had -switched at this time). The HTML XSL file looked like this:
- -- --<?xml version='1.0'?> -<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'> - <xsl:template match="processing-instruction('newscene')"> - <hr/> - </xsl:template> -</xsl:stylesheet> -
And the FO/PDF XSL file looked like this:
- -- --<?xml version='1.0'?> -<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'> - <xsl:template match="processing-instruction('newscene')"> - <fo:block text-align="center"> - <fo:leader leader-pattern="rule" rule-thickness="0.5pt"/> - </fo:block> - </xsl:template> -</xsl:stylesheet> -
Finally, I came across the <bridgehead> tag, which seem to be -a good fit for the task at hand, and I replaced <?newscene?> -with <bridgehead>*</bridgehead>. It isn't centred, but we -can fix it with some XSL rule if the current visual layout isn't -enough.
- -I did not find a good DocBook compliant way to solve the -linebreak/paragraph challenge, so I ended up creating a new processor -directive <?linebreak?>, mapping to <br/> in HTML, and -<fo:block/> in FO/PDF. I suspect there are better ways to do -this, and welcome ideas and patches on github. The HTML XSL file now -look like this:
- -- --<?xml version='1.0'?> -<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'> - <xsl:template match="processing-instruction('linebreak)"> - <br/> - </xsl:template> -</xsl:stylesheet> -
And the FO/PDF XSL file looked like this:
- -- --<?xml version='1.0'?> -<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0' - xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"> - <xsl:template match="processing-instruction('linebreak)"> - <fo:block/> - </xsl:template> -</xsl:stylesheet> -
One unsolved challenge is our wish to expose different ISBN numbers -per publication format, while keeping all of them in some conditional -structure in the DocBook source. No idea how to do this, so we ended -up listing all the ISBN numbers next to their format in the colophon -page.
- -If you want to check out the finished result, check out the -source repository at -github -(future/new/official -repository). We expect it to be ready and announced in a few -days.
+The last few days I came across a few good causes that should get +wider attention. I recommend signing and donating to each one of +these. :)
+ +Via Debian +Project News for 2013-10-14 I came across the Outreach Program for +Women program which is a Google Summer of Code like initiative to get +more women involved in free software. One debian sponsor has offered +to match any donation done to Debian +earmarked for this initiative. I donated a few minutes ago, and +hope you will to. :)
+ +And the Electronic Frontier Foundation just announced plans to +create video +documentaries about the excessive spying on every Internet user that +take place these days, and their need to fund the work. I've already +donated. Are you next?
+ +For my Norwegian audience, the organisation Studentenes og +Akademikernes Internasjonale Hjelpefond is collecting signatures for a +statement under the heading +Bloggers United for Open +Access for those of us asking for more focus on open access in the +Norwegian government. So far 499 signatures. I hope you will sign it +too.
I -siste -høring om -referansekatalogen -for IT-standarder i offentlig sektor, med høringsfrist 2012-09-30 -(DIFI-sak 2012/498), ble det foreslått å fjerne ODF som obligatorisk -standard når en publiserte dokumenter som skulle kunne redigeres -videre av mottaker. NUUG og andre protesterte på forslaget, som er et -langt steg tilbake når det gjelder å sikre like rettigheter for alle -når en kommuniserer med det offentlige. For noen dager siden ble jeg -oppmerksom på at Direktoratet for forvaltning og IKT (DIFI) og -Fornyings-,administrasjons- og kirkedepartementet (FAD) har -konkludert, og oversendt forslag til regjeringen i saken. FADs -dokument -2012/2168-8, -«Utkast til endring av standardiseringsforskriften» datert 2013-02-06 -har følgende triste oppsummering fra høringen i saken:
- --Det kom noen innvendinger på forslaget om å fjerne ODF som -obligatorisk standard for redigerbare dokumenter. Innvendingene har -ikke blitt ilagt avgjørende vekt. -- -
Ved å fjerne ODF som obligatorisk format ved publisering av -redigerbare dokumenter setter en Norge tiår tilbake. Det som vil skje -er at offentlige etater går tilbake til kun å publisere dokumenter på -et av de mange formatene til Microsoft Office, og alle som ikke -aksepterer bruksvilkårene til Microsoft eller ikke har råd til å bruke -penger på å få tilgang til Microsoft Office må igjen basere seg på -verktøy fra utviklerne som er avhengig av å reversutvikle disse -formatene. I og med at ISO-spesifikasjonen for OOXML ikke komplett og -korrekt spesifiserer formatene til MS Office (men er nyttige å titte i -når en reversutvikler), er en tilbake til en situasjon der en ikke har -en -fri og åpen standard å forholde seg til, men i stedet må springe -etter Microsoft. Alle andre leverandører enn Microsoft vil dermed ha -en seriøs ulempe. Det er som å fjerne krav om bruk av meter som -måleenhet, og heretter aksepterer alle måleenheter som like gyldige, -når en vet at den mest brukte enheten vil være armlengden til Steve -Ballmer slik Microsoft måler den.
- -Jeg er ikke sikker på om forslaget er vedtatt av regjeringen ennå. -Kristian Bergem hos DIFI nevnte på et møte forrige tirsdag at han -trodde det var vedtatt i statsråd 8. mars, men jeg har ikke klart å -finne en skriftlig kilde på regjeringen.no som bekrefter dette. -Kanskje det ennå ikke er for sent...
- -Jeg ba i forrige uke om innsyn i dokument 6, 7 og 8 i FAD-saken, og -har i dag fått innsyn i dokument 7 og 8. Ble nektet innsyn i -dokumentet med tittelen «Oppsummering av høring om endringer i -forskrift om IT-standarder i offentlig forvaltning» med hjemmel i -off. lovens §15.1, så det er vanskelig å vite hvordan argumentene fra -høringen ble mottatt og forstått av saksbehandleren hos DIFI. Lurer -på hvordan jeg kan klage på at jeg ikke fikk se oppsummeringen. Fikk -tre PDFer tilsendt fra FAD, -Endring av underversjon i EHF, -Bakgrunnsnotat knyttet til versjon av EHF standarden i Forskrift om IT-standarder i offentlig sektor og -Utkast til endring av standardiseringsforskriften, hvis du vil ta en titt.
+ +Wireless mesh networks are self organising and self healing +networks that can be used to connect computers across small and large +areas, depending on the radio technology used. Normal wifi equipment +can be used to create home made radio networks, and there are several +successful examples like +Freifunk and +Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network +(see +wikipedia +for a large list) around the globe. To give you an idea how it +work, check out the nice overview of the Kiel Freifunk community which +can be seen from their +dynamically +updated node graph and map, where one can see how the mesh nodes +automatically handle routing and recover from nodes disappearing. +There is also a small community mesh network group in Oslo, Norway, +and that is the main topic of this blog post.
+ +I've wanted to check out mesh networks for a while now, and hoped +to do it as part of my involvement with the NUUG member organisation community, and +my recent involvement in +the Freedombox project +finally lead me to give mesh networks some priority, as I suspect a +Freedombox should use mesh networks to connect neighbours and family +when possible, given that most communication between people are +between those nearby (as shown for example by research on Facebook +communication patterns). It also allow people to communicate without +any central hub to tap into for those that want to listen in on the +private communication of citizens, which have become more and more +important over the years.
+ +So far I have only been able to find one group of people in Oslo +working on community mesh networks, over at the hack space +Hackeriet at Husmania. They seem to +have started with some Freifunk based effort using OLSR, called +the Oslo +Freifunk project, but that effort is now dead and the people +behind it have moved on to a batman-adv based system called +meshfx. Unfortunately the wiki +site for the Oslo Freifunk project is no longer possible to update to +reflect this fact, so the old project page can't be updated to point to +the new project. A while back, the people at Hackeriet invited people +from the Freifunk community to Oslo to talk about mesh networks. I +came across this video where Hans Jørgen Lysglimt interview the +speakers about this talk (from +youtube):
+ + + +I mentioned OLSR and batman-adv, which are mesh routing protocols. +There are heaps of different protocols, and I am still struggling to +figure out which one would be "best" for some definitions of best, but +given that the community mesh group in Oslo is so small, I believe it +is best to hook up with the existing one instead of trying to create a +completely different setup, and thus I have decided to focus on +batman-adv for now. It sure help me to know that the very cool +Serval project in Australia +is using batman-adv as their meshing technology when it create a self +organizing and self healing telephony system for disaster areas and +less industrialized communities. Check out this cool video presenting +that project (from +youtube):
+ + + +According to the wikipedia page on +Wireless +mesh network there are around 70 competing schemes for routing +packets across mesh networks, and OLSR, B.A.T.M.A.N. and +B.A.T.M.A.N. advanced are protocols used by several free software +based community mesh networks.
+ +The batman-adv protocol is a bit special, as it provide layer 2 +(as in ethernet ) routing, allowing ipv4 and ipv6 to work on the same +network. One way to think about it is that it provide a mesh based +vlan you can bridge to or handle like any other vlan connected to your +computer. The required drivers are already in the Linux kernel at +least since Debian Wheezy, and it is fairly easy to set up. A +good +introduction is available from the Open Mesh project. These are +the key settings needed to join the Oslo meshfx network:
+ +Setting | Value |
---|---|
Protocol / kernel module | batman-adv |
ESSID | meshfx@hackeriet | Channel / Frequency | 11 / 2462 | +Cell ID | 02:BA:00:00:00:01 | +
The reason for setting ad-hoc wifi Cell ID is to work around bugs +in firmware used in wifi card and wifi drivers. (See a nice post from +VillageTelco about +"Information +about cell-id splitting, stuck beacons, and failed IBSS merges! +for details.) When these settings are activated and you have some +other mesh node nearby, your computer will be connected to the mesh +network and can communicate with any mesh node that is connected to +any of the nodes in your network of nodes. :)
+ +My initial plan was to reuse my old Linksys WRT54GL as a mesh node, +but that seem to be very hard, as I have not been able to locate a +firmware supporting batman-adv. If anyone know how to use that old +wifi access point with batman-adv these days, please let me know.
+ +If you find this project interesting and want to join, please join +us on IRC, either channel +#oslohackerspace +or #nuug on +irc.freenode.net.
+ +While investigating mesh networks in Oslo, I came across an old +research paper from the university of Stavanger and Telenor Research +and Innovation called +The +reliability of wireless backhaul mesh networks and elsewhere +learned that Telenor have been experimenting with mesh networks at +Grünerløkka in Oslo. So mesh networks are also interesting for +commercial companies, even though Telenor discovered that it was hard +to figure out a good business plan for mesh networking and as far as I +know have closed down the experiment. Perhaps Telenor or others would +be interested in a cooperation?
+ +Update 2013-10-12: I was just +told +by the Serval project developers that they no longer use +batman-adv (but are compatible with it), but their own crypto based +mesh system.
Via -twitter -I just discovered that Pcwizz have -done a video -review on Youtube of Skolelinux -/ Debian Edu version 6. He installed the standalone profile and -the video show a walk-through of of the menu content, demonstration of -a few programs and his view of our distribution.
- -There is also some really nice quotes (transcribed by me, might -have heard wrong). While looking thought the Graphics menu:
- --"Basically everything you ever need in a school environment." -- -
And as a general evaluation of the entire distribution:
- --"So, yeah, a bit bloated. It kept all the Debian stuff in there, just -to keep it nice and GNU. So, I do not want to go on about it, but -lets give it 7 out of 10. I am not going to use it. That is because -I am not deploying a school network. There may be some mythical -feature to help you deploy Skolelinux on a school network." -- -
To bad he did not test the server profile, and discovered the PXE -installation option. It make it possible to install only the main -server from CD, and the rest of the machines via the net, and might be -considered the mythical feature he talk about. :)
- -While looking through the menus, there is also this funny comment -about the part of the K menu generated from the Debian menu subsystem: - -
-"[The K menu] have a special Debian section for software that no-one -is going to look at, because it contain lots of junky stuff that you -actually don't need in the education distribution, but have just been -included because it isn't stripped out for some reason." -- -
I guess it is yet another argument for merging the Debian menu and -Gnome/KDE desktop menu entries into -one -consistent menu system instead of two incomplete and partly -inconsistent menu systems.
- -The entire video is available below for those accepting iframe -embedding:
- - + +The other day I was pleased and surprised to discover that Marcelo +Salvador had published a +video on +Youtube showing how to install the standalone Debian Edu / +Skolelinux profile. This is the profile intended for use at home or +on laptops that should not be integrated into the provided network +services (no central home directory, no Kerberos / LDAP directory etc, +in other word a single user machine). The result is 11 minutes long, +and show some user applications (seem to be rather randomly picked). +Missed a few of my favorites like celestia, planets and chromium +showing the Zygote Body 3D model +of the human body, but I guess he did not know about those or find +other programs more interesting. :) And the video do not show the +advantages I believe is one of the most valuable featuers in Debian +Edu, its central school server making it possible to run hundreds of +computers without hard drives by installing one central +LTSP server.
+ +Anyway, check out the video, embedded below and linked to above:
+ + + +Are there other nice videos demonstrating Skolelinux? Please let +me know. :)