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.
+ +Here is a call for help from the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project. +We have two problems blocking the release of the Wheezy version we +hope to get released soon. The two problems require some with PHP +skills, and we seem to lack anyone with both time and PHP skills in +the project: + +
-
+
+
- It is impossible to log into the slbackup web interface + (slbackup-php) using the root user and password. This is + BTS report #700257. + This used to work, but stopped working some time since Squeeze. + Perhaps some obsolete PHP feature was used? + +
- It is not possible to "mass import" user lists in Gosa, neither + using ldif nor using CSV files. The feature was disabled after a + major rewrite of Gosa, and need to be ported to the new system. + This is BTS report + #698840. + +
If you can help us, please join us on IRC
+(
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.
+ +It has been a while since my last English +Debian Edu and Skolelinux +interview last November. But the developers and translators are still +pulling along to get the Wheezy based release out the door, and this +time I managed to get an interview from one of the French translators +in the project, Cédric Boutillier.
+ +Who are you, and how do you spend your days?
+ +I am 34 year old. I live near Paris, France. I am an assistant +professor in probability theory. I spend my daytime teaching +mathematics at the university and doing fundamental research in +probability in connexion with combinatorics and statistical physics.
+ +I have been involved in the Debian project for a couple of years +and became Debian Developer a few months ago. I am working on Ruby +packaging, publicity and translation.
+ +How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu +project?
+ +I came to the Debian Edu project after a call for translation of +the +Debian Edu manual for the release of Debian Edu Squeeze. Since +then, I have been working on updating the French translation of the +manual. + +
I had the opportunity to make an installation of Debian Edu in a +virtual machine when I was preparing localised version of some screen +shots for the manual. I was amazed to see it worked out of the box and +how comprehensive the list of software installed by default was.
+ +What amazed me was the complete network infrastructure directly +ready to use, which can and the nice administration interface provided +by GOsa². What pleased +me also was the fact that among the software installed by default, +there were many "traditional" educative software to learn languages, +to count, to program... but also software to develop creativity and +artistic skills with music (Ardour, +Audacity) and +movies/animation (I was especially thinking of +Stopmotion).
+ +I am following the development of Debian Edu and am hanging out on +#debian-edu. +Unfortunately, I don't much time to get more involved in this +beautiful project.
+ +What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?
+ +For me, the main advantages of Skolelinux/Debian Edu are its +community of experts and its precise documentation, as well as the +fact that it provides a solution ready to use.
+ +I would add also the fact that it is based on the rock solid Debian +distribution, which ensures stability and provides a huge collection +of educational free software.
+ +What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?
+ +Maybe the lack of manpower to do lobbying on the +project. Sometimes, people who need to take decisions concerning IT do +not have all the elements to evaluate properly free software +solutions. The fact that support by a company may be difficult to find +is probably a problem if the school does not have IT personnel.
+ +One can find support from a company by looking at +the +wiki dokumentation, where some countries already have a number of +companies providing support for Debian Edu, like Germany or +Norway. This list is easy to find readily from the manual. However, +for other countries, like France, the list is empty. I guess that +consultants proposing support for Debian would be able to provide some +support for Debian Edu as well.
+ +Which free software do you use daily?
+ +I am using the KDE Plasma Desktop. But the pieces of software I use +most runs in a terminal: Mutt and OfflineIMAP for emails, latex for +scientific documents, mpd for music. VIM is my editor of choice. I am +also using the mathematical software +Scilab and +Sage (built from +source as not completely packaged for Debian, yet). + +
Do you have any suggestions for teachers interested in +using the free software in Debian to teach mathematics and +statistics?
+ +I do not have any "nice" recommendations for statistics. At our +university, we use both R and +Scilab to teach statistics and probabilistic simulations. For +geometry, there are nice programs:
+ +-
+
+
- drgeo and +kig to do +constructions in planar geometry + +
- kali +to discover symmetry groups (the so-called wallpapers and frieze +groups), although the interface looks a bit old. + +
I like also +cantor, which +provides a uniform interface to SciLab, Sage, +Octave, etc...
+ +Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?
+ +My suggestions would be to
+ +-
+
+
- advertise the reduction of costs when free software is used. + +
- communicate about the quality of free software projects, using + well known examples like Firefox, ThunderBird and + OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice. + +
- advertise the living and strong community around the project. + +
- show that it is not more difficult to use than any other + system. + +
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.
+ +Jeg jobber til daglig ved Universitetet +i Oslo, en institusjon som lenge har vektlagt verdien av åpne +standarder og fri programvare. Men noe har endret seg, og for en +liten stund tilbake annonserte USIT at dagens fungerende e-postsystemet +basert på fri programvare skulle byttes ut med Microsoft Exchange og +at Microsoft Outlook skulle bli den best fungerende men antagelig ikke +eneste støttede e-postklienten. Annonseringen har ført til flere +protester og en +underskriftskampanje, initiert av Diana Santos, der så langt 253 +personer har signert. Prosjektet +NIKE (Ny integrert +kalender/e-post) ble initiert for å se på mulige løsninger med +utgangspunkt i at en kombinert epost/kalenderløsning var påkrevd, og +prosjektet +NIKE-implementasjon +er igang med å rulle ut MS Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo.
+ +For kun kort tid siden ble det annonsert at det blir et åpent møte +med ledelsen hos universitetet i Oslo med disse planene som tema:
+ +Tid: Onsdag 2013-06-05 kl. 10:00
+
Sted: 9. etasje i Lucy Smiths hus (admin-bygget)
Det kan være en god plass å stille opp hvis en som meg ikke tror +valget av Microsoft Exchange som sentral epostinfrastruktur er et +heldig valg for Norges ledende forskningsuniversitet, men at en er mer +tjent med å selv +beholde +kontrollen over egen infrastruktur.
+ +Saken har ført til endel presseoppslag så langt. Her er de jeg har +fått med meg:
+ +-
+
+
- 2013-05-29 + Forsvarer + nytt IT-system - Universitas + +
- 2013-05-23 + UiO + innfører nytt epost- og kalenderverktøy - Uniforum + + +
- 2013-05-22 + Protestgruppe + vil stanse IT-system - Universitas + + +
- 2013-05-15 + UiO + må ha kontroll over sitt eget epostsystem - Uniforum + +
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.
+ +Included in Debian Edu / +Skolelinux, there are quite a lot of educational software. +Created to help teachers teach, and pupils learn. We have tried to +tag them all using debtags use::learning and role::program, and using +the debtags I was happy to be able to create a collage of the +educational software packages installed by default, sorted by the +debtag field. Here it is. Click on a image to learn more about the +program.
+ + + +field::arts
+ + +field::astronomy
+ + +field::biology:structural
+ + +field::chemistry
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[viewmol]
+
+
field::electronics
+
+
+[gpsim]
+
field::geography
+ + +field::linguistics
+ + +field::mathematics
+
+
+
+
+
+[geomview]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
field::physics
+ + +field::TODO
+ + +In total, 61 applications. 3 of them lacked screen shots on +screenshot.debian.net. If +you know of some packages we should install by default, please let us +know on IRC, #debian-edu +on irc.debian.org, or our +mailing list +debian-edu@.
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".
+ +Two days ago, I asked +how +I could install Linux on a Packard Bell EasyNote LV computer +preinstalled with Windows 8. I found a solution, but am horrified +with the obstacles put in the way of Linux users on a laptop with UEFI +and Windows 8.
+ +I never found out if the cause of my problems were the use of UEFI +secure booting or fast boot. I suspect fast boot was the problem, +causing the firmware to boot directly from HD without considering any +key presses and alternative devices, but do not know UEFI settings +enough to tell.
+ +There is no way to install Linux on the machine in question without +opening the box and disconnecting the hard drive! This is as far as I +can tell, the only way to get access to the firmware setup menu +without accepting the Windows 8 license agreement. I am told (and +found description on how to) that it is possible to configure the +firmware setup once booted into Windows 8. But as I believe the terms +of that agreement are completely unacceptable, accepting the license +was never an alternative. I do not enter agreements I do not intend +to follow.
+ +I feared I had to return the laptops and ask for a refund, and +waste many hours on this, but luckily there was a way to get it to +work. But I would not recommend it to anyone planning to run Linux on +it, and I have become sceptical to Windows 8 certified laptops. Is +this the way Linux will be forced out of the market place, by making +it close to impossible for "normal" users to install Linux without +accepting the Microsoft Windows license terms? Or at least not +without risking to loose the warranty?
+ +I've updated the +Linux Laptop +wiki page for Packard Bell EasyNote LV, to ensure the next person +do not have to struggle as much as I did to get Linux into the +machine.
+ +Thanks to Bob Rosbag, Florian Weimer, Philipp Kern, Ben Hutching, +Michael Tokarev and others for feedback and ideas.
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. :)
+ +I've run into quite a problem the last few days. I bought three +new laptops for my parents and a few others. I bought Packard Bell +Easynote LV to run Kubuntu on and use as their home computer. But I +am completely unable to figure out how to install Linux on it. The +computer is preinstalled with Windows 8, and I suspect it uses UEFI +instead of a BIOS to boot.
+ +The problem is that I am unable to get it to PXE boot, and unable +to get it to boot the Linux installer from my USB stick. I have yet +to try the DVD install, and still hope it will work. when I turn on +the computer, there is no information on what buttons to press to get +the normal boot menu. I expect to get some boot menu to select PXE or +USB stick booting. When booting, it first ask for the language to +use, then for some regional settings, and finally if I will accept the +Windows 8 terms of use. As these terms are completely unacceptable to +me, I have no other choice but to turn off the computer and try again +to get it to boot the Linux installer.
+ +I have gathered my findings so far on a Linlap page about the +Packard Bell +EasyNote LV model. If you have any idea how to get Linux +installed on this machine, please get in touch or update that wiki +page. If I can't find a way to install Linux, I will have to return +the laptop to the seller and find another machine for my parents.
+ +I wonder, is this the way Linux will be forced out of the market +using UEFI and "secure boot" by making it impossible to install Linux +on new Laptops?