X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/e3fa21ea975bf039f5984f729e4bb55d04f2854d..781565b4015eb9f474a91f74091ff6ce5a99f128:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index 31520daedc..e788da2c9f 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -7,874 +7,541 @@ - Welcome to the world, Isenkram! - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html - Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:00:00 +0100 - <p>Yesterday, I -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">asked -for testers</a> for my prototype for making Debian better at handling -pluggable hardware devices, which I -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">set -out to create</a> 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 -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/isenkram.git">collab-maint</a> -repository in Debian. The new name? It is <strong>Isenkram</strong>. -To fetch and build the latest version of the source, use</p> - -<pre> -git clone git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/isenkram.git -cd isenkram && git-buildpackage -us -uc -</pre> - -<p>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. :)</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><strong>Update 2013-01-26</strong>: Added -us -us to build -instructions, to avoid confusing people with an error from the signing -process.</p> + Frikanalen - Complete TV station organised using the web + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikanalen___Complete_TV_station_organised_using_the_web.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikanalen___Complete_TV_station_organised_using_the_web.html + Sun, 3 Mar 2013 07:15:00 +0100 + <p>Do you want to set up your own TV station, schedule videos and +broadcast them on the air? Using free software? With video on demand +support using +<a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">free and +open standards</a>? Included a web based video stream as well? And +administrate it all in your web browser from anywhere in the world? A +few years now the Norwegian public access TV-channel +<a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a> have been building a +system to do just this. The source code for the solution is licensed +using the GNU LGPL, and +<a href="http://github.com/Frikanalen">available from github</a>.</p> + +<p>The idea is simple. You upload a video file over the web, and +attach meta information to the file. You select a time slot in the +program schedule, and when the time come it is played on the air and +in the web stream. It is also made available in a video on demand +solution for anyone to see it also outside its scheduled time. All +you need to run a TV station - using your web browser.</p> + +<p>There are several parts to this web based solution. I'll mention +the three most important ones. The first part is the database of +videos and the schedule. This is written in Django and include a REST +API. The current database is SQLite, but the plan is to migrate it to +PostgreSQL. At the moment this system can be tested on +<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/">beta.frikanalen.tv</a>. The +second part is the video playout, taking the schedule information from +the database and providing a video stream to broadcast. This is done +using <a href="http://www.casparcg.com/">CasparCG from SVT</a> and +<a href="http://www.mltframework.org/">Media Lovin' Toolkit</a>. Video +signal distribution is handled using +<a href="http://www.ob-encoder.com/">Open Broadcast Encoder</a>. The +third part is the converter, handling the transformation of uploaded +video files to a format useful for broadcasting, streaming and video +on demand. It is still very much work in progress, so it is not yet +decided what it will end up using. Note that the source of the latter +two parts are not yet pushed to github. The lead author want to clean +them up a bit more first.</p> + +<p>The development is coordinated on the +<a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/%23frikanalen">#frikanalen IRC +channel</a> (irc.freenode.net), and discussed on +<a href="http://lists.nuug.no/mailman/listinfo/frikanalen">the +frikanalen mailing list</a>. The lead developer is Benjamin Bruheim +(phed on IRC). Anyone is welcome to participate in the +development.</p> - First prototype ready making hardware easier to use in Debian - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html - Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:00:00 +0100 - <p>Early this month I set out to try to -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">improve -the Debian support for pluggable hardware devices</a>. Now my -prototype is working, and it is ready for a larger audience. To test -it, fetch the -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">source -from the Debian Edu subversion repository</a>, build and install the -package. You might have to log out and in again activate the -autostart script.</p> - -<p>The design is simple:</p> - -<ul> - -<li>Add desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ causing a program -hw-support-handlerd to start when the user log in.</li> - -<li>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.</li> - -<li>When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware modalias in -the APT database, a database -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/modaliases?view=markup">available -via HTTP</a> and a database available as part of the package.</li> - -<li>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.</li> - -<li>If the user click on the 'install package now' button, ask -aptdaemon via the PackageKit API to install the requrired package.</li> - -<li>aptdaemon ask for root password or sudo password, and install the -package while showing progress information in a window.</li> - -</ul> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-1-notification.png"> -<br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-2-password.png"> -<br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-3-dependencies.png"> -<br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-4-installing.png"> -<br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-5-installing-details.png" width="70%"></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><strong>Update 2013-01-21 16:50</strong>: Due to popular demand, -here is the command required to check out and build the source: Use -'<tt>svn checkout -svn://svn.debian.org/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/; cd -hw-support-handler; debuild</tt>'. If you lack debuild, install the -devscripts package.</p> - -<p><strong>Update 2013-01-23 12:00</strong>: The project is now -renamed to Isenkram and the source moved from the Debian Edu -subversion repository to a Debian collab-maint git repository. See -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html">build -instructions</a> for details.</p> + Dr. Richard Stallman, founder of Free Software Foundation, give a talk in Oslo March 1st 2013 + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dr__Richard_Stallman__founder_of_Free_Software_Foundation__give_a_talk_in_Oslo_March_1st_2013.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dr__Richard_Stallman__founder_of_Free_Software_Foundation__give_a_talk_in_Oslo_March_1st_2013.html + Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:20:00 +0100 + <p>Dr. <a href="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard Stallman</a>, +founder of <a href="http://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a>, +is giving <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20130301-rms/">a +talk in Oslo March 1st 2013 17:00 to 19:00</a>. The event is public +and organised by <a href="">Norwegian Unix Users Group (NUUG)</a> +(where I am the chair of the board) and +<a href="http://www.friprog.no/">The Norwegian Open Source Competence +Center</a>. The title of the talk is «The Free Software Movement and +GNU», with this description: + +<p><blockquote> +The Free Software Movement campaigns for computer users' freedom to +cooperate and control their own computing. The Free Software Movement +developed the GNU operating system, typically used together with the +kernel Linux, specifically to make these freedoms possible. +</blockquote></p> + +<p>The meeting is open for everyone. Due to space limitations, the +doors opens for NUUG members at 16:15, and everyone else at 16:45. I +am really curious how many will show up. See +<a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20130301-rms/">the event +page</a> for the location details.</p> - Thank you Thinkpad X41, for your long and trustworthy service - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html - Sat, 19 Jan 2013 09:20:00 +0100 - <p>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. - -<p>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.:)</p> - -<ul> - -<li>Lightweight (around 1 kg) and small volume (preferably smaller - than A4).</li> -<li>Robust, it will be in my backpack every day.</li> -<li>Three button mouse and a mouse pin instead of touch pad.</li> -<li>Long battery life time. Preferable a week.</li> -<li>Internal WIFI network card.</li> -<li>Internal Twisted Pair network card.</li> -<li>Some USB slots (2-3 is plenty)</li> -<li>Good keyboard - similar to the Thinkpad.</li> -<li>Video resolution at least 1024x768, with size around 12" (A4 paper -size).</li> -<li>Hardware supported by Debian Stable, ie the default kernel and - X.org packages.</li> -<li>Quiet, preferably fan free (or at least not using the fan most of - the time). - -</ul> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Perhaps I should rethink my needs, and look for a pad with an -external keyboard? I'll have to check the -<a href="http://www.linux-laptop.net/">Linux Laptops site</a> for -well-supported laptops, or perhaps just buy one preinstalled from one -of the vendors listed on the <a href="http://linuxpreloaded.com/">Linux -Pre-loaded site</a>.</p> + Skolelinux-intervju: Helge Tore Høyland + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux_intervju__Helge_Tore_H_yland.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux_intervju__Helge_Tore_H_yland.html + Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:10:00 +0100 + <p>Etter en lang pause og travle uker har jeg endelig klart å få +samlet et nytt intervju med en av folkene i +<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a>-miljøet. +Denne gang er det Helge Tore Høyland, en mangeårig bidragsyter på +epostlistene og ellers i prosjektet.</p> + +<p><strong>Hvem er du, og hva driver du med til daglig?</strong></p> + +<p>Eg er IT-konsulent/teknikker hjå eit firma i Steinkjer med navn +<a href="http://unoit.no/">Uno IT</a>. Uno IT er eit lite firma som +drifter nettverk og maskiner for små og mellomstore firma +Steinkjer-området. Per dags dato er me 2 ansatte. Min faglege bakgrunn +er Fagbrev som it-teknikker, samt nokre fag innen nettverk- og +server-drift frå HiST og NTNU. Dagleg arbeid består i oppsett av nye +maskiner og hjelp til sluttbrukere, samt oppsett og vedlikehold av eit +vidt spekter av fagsystemer ute hjå kunder. Erfaring med Skolelinux +har eg hatt i forbindelse med drifting av +<a href="http://www.bjorkly.no/">Bjørkly skule</a>, ein privat +grunnskule i Namsos-området. I dag har skulen 65 elever, 15 lærere, 1 +hovedserver og ca 60 klienter som kjører halvtjukt. Eg har bygd og +driftet systemet sidan summaren 2006.</p> + +<p><strong>Hvordan kom du i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet?</strong></p> + +<p>Eg kom i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet via ein artikkel i eit +fagblad, som eg ikkje lenger hugsar namnet på. I og med at eg allereie +hadde pusla med nettverk for ein annan skule, fatta eg straks +interesse for prosjektet.</p> + +<p><strong>Hva er fordelene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?</strong></p> + +<p>Fordelane med Skolelinux er sentralisert administrasjon og svært +mange gode verktøy «ut av boksen». Veldig kjekt å kunne drifte 60 +klientar med berre å «bry» seg med ein server. Levetid for systemets +hardware er og ein veldig fin effekt. I tillegg kjem fordelar som økt +sikkerhet og mindre lisenskostnader. Etter min erfaring er det og +mykje mindre driftskostnader med eit slikt system enn konkurrerande +system, pga enkelhet med sentralisert administrasjon. På grunn av at +Skolelinux er basert på Debian er det òg svært stabilt.</p> + +<p><strong>Hva er ulempene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?</strong></p> + +<p>Ulemper er mangel på vilje til å følge standarer ute i markedet, +som fører til mangel på støtte til nokre mykje brukte ting. Flash og +Java er typiske eksempel. Sidan Debian satsar på stabilitet framfor å +ha nyeste pakke av eit program, kan ein i nokre tilfeller kome borti +at program vert «for gamle». Det er spesielt nettlesaren som er +utsett. Mangel på vilje til å utvikle pedagogisk programvare, i Noreg, +for «alle» platformer fører òg til noko hovudbry.</p> + +<p><strong>Hvilken fri programvare bruker du til daglig?</strong></p> + +<p>Til dagleg bruker eg svært mange forskjellige «fri programvare» +program. Firefox, Thunderbird, Freecommander, ImgBurn, Clonezilla, +OCS inventory, Icinga, Skolelinux, SystemRescueCD og mykje meir.</p> + +<p><strong>Hvilken strategi tror du er den rette å bruke for å få +skoler til å ta i bruk fri programvare?</strong></p> + +<p>Strategisk må ein fokusere på at sluttbruker eigentleg ikkje er så +fokusert på at det er fri programvare men at det skal «berre fungere». +Gjer det enkelt å bruker og ikkje minst å administrere. For Skolelinux +sin del må ein få eit betre fokus på overganger. Utbytting av servere +må gå meir automatisk, import og eksport av brukerbase og maskinbase +med meir må kunne gå enkelt og oppgradering til neste versjon må bli +mykje meir automatisk og gjennomtesta. Ein må unngå at ein må sette +opp frå start når ein byter ut ein server eller oppgraderer til neste +versjon. For å få Skolelinux til å bli eit betre alternativ for skular +må ein ha fokus på nettlesaren. Denne må bli «up to date» og støtte +dei protokollar og tillegg som vert brukt av forlag med meir. Etter +kvart som meir og meir blir flytta ut i «skya» vert dette viktigare og +viktigare. Ein kunne ynskje og jobbe for at forlag med fleire tar i +bruk opne standarer, men inntil det skjer, må systemet kunne brukast +mot desse fagsystema.</p> + +<p>For meg har prosjektet med Skolelinux vore ein svært artig og +lærerik prosess. Miljøet rundt er ikkje enormt stort, dog stort nok, +men det er svært hjelpevillig og engasjert.</p> - How to find a browser plugin supporting a given MIME type - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_find_a_browser_plugin_supporting_a_given_MIME_type.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_find_a_browser_plugin_supporting_a_given_MIME_type.html - Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:40:00 +0100 - <p>Some times I try to figure out which Iceweasel browser plugin to -install to get support for a given MIME type. Thanks to -<a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MozillaTeam/Plugins">specifications -done by Ubuntu</a> 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:</p> - -<pre> -#!/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 -</pre> - -<p>It can be used like this to look up a given MIME type:</p> - -<pre> -% ./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 -% -</pre> - -<p>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?</p> - -<p><strong>Update 2013-01-18 14:20</strong>: The Debian BTS -request for icweasel support for this feature is -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/484010">#484010</a> from 2008 (and -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/698426">#698426</a> from today). Lack -of manpower and wish for a different design is the reason thus feature -is not yet in iceweasel from Debian.</p> + Frikart - Free Garmin maps for European countries based on OpenStreetmap + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikart___Free_Garmin_maps_for_European_countries_based_on_OpenStreetmap.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikart___Free_Garmin_maps_for_European_countries_based_on_OpenStreetmap.html + Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:30:00 +0100 + <p>If you, like me, want an updated a map for your Garmin GPS, there is +now a great source of free maps available from +<a href="http://www.frikart.no/garmin/index.html">Frikart</a>. To +download a map, just click on the country you are interested in, and +download the map type you want. There are 8 different maps available, +using different colours and data selection. Pick one of Roadmap, Topo +Summer, Topo Winter, Roadmap II, Topo Summer II, Topo Winter II, +"Trails - overlay map" and "Cross country - overlay map" (see the web +page for descriptions).</p> + +<p>The maps are updated weekly, so if you find something wrong in the +map you can just edit the +<a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetmap</a> map source +(anyone can contribute) and fetch a fixed map a week later. :)</p> - What is the most supported MIME type in Debian? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_.html - Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:10:00 +0100 - <p>The <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/AppStreamDebianProposal">DEP-11 -proposal to add AppStream information to the Debian archive</a>, 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/pub/AppStreamTest">Skolelinux FTP -site</a>. 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.</p> - -<p><strong>Debian Stable:</strong></p> - -<pre> - 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 -</pre> - -<p><strong>Debian Testing:</strong></p> - -<pre> - 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 -</pre> - -<p><strong>Debian Unstable:</strong></p> - -<pre> - 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 -</pre> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><strong>Update 2013-01-16 13:35</strong>: Updated numbers after -discovering a typo in my script.</p> + "Electronic" paper invoices - using vCard in a QR code + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_Electronic__paper_invoices___using_vCard_in_a_QR_code.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_Electronic__paper_invoices___using_vCard_in_a_QR_code.html + Tue, 12 Feb 2013 10:30:00 +0100 + <p>Here in Norway, electronic invoices are spreading, and the +<a href="http://www.anskaffelser.no/e-handel/faktura">solution promoted +by the Norwegian government</a> require that invoices are sent through +one of the approved facilitators, and it is not possible to send +electronic invoices without an agreement with one of these +facilitators. This seem like a needless limitation to be able to +transfer invoice information between buyers and sellers. My preferred +solution would be to just transfer the invoice information directly +between seller and buyer, for example using SMTP, or some HTTP based +protocol like REST or SOAP. But this might also be overkill, as the +"electronic" information can be transferred using paper invoices too, +using a simple bar code. My bar code encoding of choice would be QR +codes, as this encoding can be read by any smart phone out there. The +content of the code could be anything, but I would go with +<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCard">the vCard format</a>, as +it too is supported by a lot of computer equipment these days.</p> + +<p>The vCard format support extentions, and the invoice specific +information can be included using such extentions. For example an +invoice from SLX Debian Labs (picked because we +<a href="http://www.linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/donations.html">ask +for donations to the Debian Edu project</a> and thus have bank account +information publicly available) for NOK 1000.00 could have these extra +fields:</p> + +<p><pre> +X-INVOICE-NUMBER:1 +X-INVOICE-AMOUNT:NOK1000.00 +X-INVOICE-KID:123412341234 +X-INVOICE-MSG:Donation to Debian Edu +X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER:16040884339 +X-BANK-IBAN-NUMBER:NO8516040884339 +X-BANK-SWIFT-NUMBER:DNBANOKKXXX +</pre></p> + +<p>The X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER field was proposed in a stackoverflow +answer regarding +<a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10045664/storing-bank-account-in-vcard-file">how +to put bank account information into a vCard</a>. For payments in +Norway, either X-INVOICE-KID (payment ID) or X-INVOICE-MSG could be +used to pass on information to the seller when paying the invoice.</p> + +<p>The complete vCard could look like this:</p> + +<p><pre> +BEGIN:VCARD +VERSION:2.1 +ORG:SLX Debian Labs Foundation +ADR;WORK:;;Gunnar Schjelderups vei 29D;OSLO;;0485;Norway +URL;WORK:http://www.linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/ +EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:sdl-styret@rt.nuug.no +REV:20130212T095000Z +X-INVOICE-NUMBER:1 +X-INVOICE-AMOUNT:NOK1000.00 +X-INVOICE-MSG:Donation to Debian Edu +X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER:16040884339 +X-BANK-IBAN-NUMBER:NO8516040884339 +X-BANK-SWIFT-NUMBER:DNBANOKKXXX +END:VCARD +</pre></p> + +<p>The resulting QR code created using +<a href="http://fukuchi.org/works/qrencode/">qrencode</a> would look +like this, and should be readable (and thus checkable) by any smart +phone, or for example the <a href="http://zbar.sourceforge.net/">zbar +bar code reader</a> and feed right into the approval and accounting +system.</p> + +<p><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-02-12-qr-invoice.png"></p> + +<p>The extension fields will most likely not show up in any normal +vCard reader, so those parts would have to go directly into a system +handling invoices. I am a bit unsure how vCards without name parts +are handled, but a simple test indicate that this work just fine.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2013-02-12 11:30</strong>: Added KID to the proposal +based on feedback from Sturle Sunde.</p> - Using modalias info to find packages handling my hardware - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_modalias_info_to_find_packages_handling_my_hardware.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_modalias_info_to_find_packages_handling_my_hardware.html - Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:00:00 +0100 - <p>Yesterday, I wrote about the -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html">modalias -values provided by the Linux kernel</a> following my hope for -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">better -dongle support in Debian</a>. 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><blockquote> -Package: package-name -<br>Modaliases: module(modaliasglob, modaliasglob, modaliasglob)</p> -</blockquote></p> - -<p>It is fairly trivial to write code to find the relevant packages -for a given modalias value using this file.</p> - -<p>An entry like this would suggest the video and picture application -cheese for many USB web cameras (interface bus class 0E01):</p> - -<p><blockquote> -Package: cheese -<br>Modaliases: cheese(usb:v*p*d*dc*dsc*dp*ic0Eisc01ip*)</p> -</blockquote></p> - -<p>An entry like this would suggest the pcmciautils package when a -CardBus bridge (bus class 0607) PCI device is present:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -Package: pcmciautils -<br>Modaliases: pcmciautils(pci:v*d*sv*sd*bc06sc07i*) -</blockquote></p> - -<p>An entry like this would suggest the package colorhug-client when -plugging in a ColorHug with USB IDs 04D8:F8DA:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -Package: colorhug-client -<br>Modaliases: colorhug-client(usb:v04D8pF8DAd*)</p> -</blockquote></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/hw-support-lookup?view=co">hw-support-lookup</a> -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.</p> - -<p>When I use it on a machine with a yubikey inserted, it suggest to -install yubikey-personalization:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -% ./hw-support-lookup -<br>yubikey-personalization -<br>% -</blockquote></p> - -<p>When I run it on my Thinkpad X40 with a PCMCIA/CardBus slot, it -propose to install the pcmciautils package:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -% ./hw-support-lookup -<br>pcmciautils -<br>% -</blockquote></p> - -<p>If you know of any hardware-package mapping that should be added to -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/modaliases?view=co">my -database</a>, please tell me about it.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-devel">#debian-devel</a>.</p> + Litt statistikk over offentlige anbud annonsert via Doffin siden 2008 + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Litt_statistikk_over_offentlige_anbud_annonsert_via_Doffin_siden_2008.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Litt_statistikk_over_offentlige_anbud_annonsert_via_Doffin_siden_2008.html + Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:40:00 +0100 + <p>For et halvt år siden +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/SQL_database_med_anbud_publisert_p__Doffin.html">satte +jeg opp et system for å lage en database</a> med informasjon om +offentlige anbud fra <a href="http://www.doffin.no/">Doffin</a> ved +<a href="https://scraperwiki.com/scrapers/norwegian-doffin/">hjelp av +Scraperwiki</a>. Nå er databasen så vidt jeg kan se komplett, med +data helt tilbake til 2008. Her er litt statistikk over +<a href="https://api.scraperwiki.com/api/1.0/datastore/sqlite?format=htmltable&name=norwegian-doffin&query=select%20strftime(%22%25Y-%25m%22%2C%20publishdate)%20as%20publishmonth%2C%20count(*)%20from%20%60swdata%60%20group%20by%20publishmonth%20order%20by%20publishmonth%20desc">antall +anbud publisert hver måned</a>:</p> + +<p><table border="1"> +<tr> <th>Publiseringsmåned</th> <th>Antall</th> </tr> +<tr> <td>2013-01</td> <td>1015</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-12</td> <td>756</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-11</td> <td>979</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-10</td> <td>1093</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-09</td> <td>1023</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-08</td> <td>951</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-07</td> <td>1103</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-06</td> <td>1334</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-05</td> <td>1435</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-04</td> <td>1169</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-03</td> <td>1573</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-02</td> <td>1335</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012-01</td> <td>1147</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-12</td> <td>1045</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-11</td> <td>1114</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-10</td> <td>1230</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-09</td> <td>1165</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-08</td> <td>966</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-07</td> <td>1148</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-06</td> <td>1410</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-05</td> <td>1536</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-04</td> <td>1350</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-03</td> <td>1574</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-02</td> <td>1370</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011-01</td> <td>1049</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-12</td> <td>992</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-11</td> <td>1089</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-10</td> <td>1110</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-09</td> <td>1132</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-08</td> <td>883</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-07</td> <td>1126</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-06</td> <td>1440</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-05</td> <td>1236</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-04</td> <td>1249</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-03</td> <td>1556</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-02</td> <td>1256</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010-01</td> <td>1140</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-12</td> <td>1013</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-11</td> <td>1220</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-10</td> <td>1320</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-09</td> <td>1294</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-08</td> <td>953</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-07</td> <td>1162</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-06</td> <td>1605</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-05</td> <td>1568</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-04</td> <td>1522</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-03</td> <td>1599</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-02</td> <td>1376</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009-01</td> <td>1080</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2008-12</td> <td>1028</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2008-11</td> <td>949</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2008-10</td> <td>1047</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2008-09</td> <td>965</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2008-08</td> <td>725</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2008-07</td> <td>1015</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2008-06</td> <td>1304</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2008-05</td> <td>323</td> </tr> +</table></p> + +<p>Her er tilsvarende +<a href="https://api.scraperwiki.com/api/1.0/datastore/sqlite?format=htmltable&name=norwegian-doffin&query=select%20strftime(%22%25Y%22%2C%20publishdate)%20as%20publishyear%2C%20count(*)%20from%20%60swdata%60%20group%20by%20publishyear%20order%20by%20publishyear%20desc">tall +per år</a>, som viser en liten nedgang i antall anbud:</p> + +<table border="1"> +<tr> <th>Publiseringsår</th> <th>Antall</th> </tr> +<tr> <td>2012</td> <td>13898</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2011</td> <td>14957</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2010</td> <td>14209</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2009</td> <td>15712</td> </tr> +<tr> <td>2008</td> <td>7356</td> </tr> +</table></p> + +<p>Jeg droppet den ufullstendige måneden og året fra tabellen. Se +lenken for oppdaterte tall.</p> - Modalias strings - a practical way to map "stuff" to hardware - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html - Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:20:00 +0100 - <p>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 -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">the -Debian Edu subversion repository</a>: - -<p><strong>Modalias decoded</strong></p> - -<p>This document try to explain what the different types of modalias -values stands for. It is in part based on information from -&lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Modalias">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Modalias</a> &gt;, -&lt;URL: <a href="http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/how-to-assign-usb-driver-to-device">http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/how-to-assign-usb-driver-to-device</a> &gt;, -&lt;URL: <a href="http://code.metager.de/source/history/linux/stable/scripts/mod/file2alias.c">http://code.metager.de/source/history/linux/stable/scripts/mod/file2alias.c</a> &gt; and -&lt;URL: <a href="http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/dmidecode/dmidecode.c?root=dmidecode&view=markup">http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/dmidecode/dmidecode.c?root=dmidecode&view=markup</a> &gt;. - -<p>The modalias entries for a given Linux machine can be found using -this shell script:</p> - -<pre> -find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u -</pre> - -<p>The supported modalias globs for a given kernel module can be found -using modinfo:</p> - -<pre> -% /sbin/modinfo psmouse | grep alias: -alias: serio:ty05pr*id*ex* -alias: serio:ty01pr*id*ex* -% -</pre> - -<p><strong>PCI subtype</strong></p> - -<p>A typical PCI entry can look like this. This is an Intel Host -Bridge memory controller:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -pci:v00008086d00002770sv00001028sd000001ADbc06sc00i00 -</blockquote></p> - -<p>This represent these values:</p> - -<pre> - v 00008086 (vendor) - d 00002770 (device) - sv 00001028 (subvendor) - sd 000001AD (subdevice) - bc 06 (bus class) - sc 00 (bus subclass) - i 00 (interface) -</pre> - -<p>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).</p> - -<p>Not sure how to figure out the interface value, nor what it -means.</p> - -<p><strong>USB subtype</strong></p> - -<p>Some typical USB entries can look like this. This is an internal -USB hub in a laptop:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -usb:v1D6Bp0001d0206dc09dsc00dp00ic09isc00ip00 -</blockquote></p> - -<p>Here is the values included in this alias:</p> - -<pre> - 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) -</pre> - -<p>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:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc01ip00 -<br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc02ip00 -<br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc01ip00 -<br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc02ip00 -</blockquote></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><strong>ACPI subtype</strong></p> - -<p>The ACPI type is used for several non-PCI/USB stuff. This is an IR -receiver in a Thinkpad X40:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511: -</blockquote></p> - -<p>The values between the colons are IDs.</p> - -<p><strong>DMI subtype</strong></p> - -<p>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:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1UETB6WW(1.66):bd06/15/2005:svnIBM:pn2371H4G:pvrThinkPadX40:rvnIBM:rn2371H4G:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable: -</blockquote></p> - -<p>The values present are</p> - -<pre> - 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) -</pre> - -<p>The chassis type 10 is Notebook. Other interesting values can be -found in the dmidecode source:</p> - -<pre> - 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 -</pre> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><strong>SerIO subtype</strong></p> - -<p>This type is used for PS/2 mouse plugs. One example is from my -test machine:</p> - -<p><blockquote> -serio:ty01pr00id00ex00 -</blockquote></p> - -<p>The values present are</p> - -<pre> - ty 01 (type) - pr 00 (prototype) - id 00 (id) - ex 00 (extra) -</pre> - -<p>This type is supported by the psmouse driver. I am not sure what -the valid values are.</p> - -<p><strong>Other subtypes</strong></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><strong>Looking up kernel modules using modalias values</strong></p> - -<p>To check which kernel modules provide support for a given modalias, -one can use the following shell script:</p> - -<pre> - for id in $(find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u); do \ - echo "$id" ; \ - /sbin/modprobe --show-depends "$id"|sed 's/^/ /' ; \ - done -</pre> - -<p>The output can look like this (only the first few entries as the -list is very long on my test machine):</p> - -<pre> - 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 - [...] -</pre> - -<p>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 -<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-devel">#debian-devel</a>.</p> - -<p><strong>Update 2013-01-15:</strong> Rewrite "cat $(find ...)" to -"find ... -print0 | xargs -0 cat" to make sure it handle directories -in /sys/ with space in them.</p> + Sleep until morning - home automation for the kids + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sleep_until_morning___home_automation_for_the_kids.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sleep_until_morning___home_automation_for_the_kids.html + Sun, 10 Feb 2013 12:50:00 +0100 + <p><img align="left" style="margin-right:25px;" src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-02-10-morning-light.jpeg"></p> + +<p>With kids in the house, one challenge is getting them to sleep +during the night and wake up when it is morning. I mean, when I +believe it is morning, and not two hours earlier. In our household we +have decided that 07:00 is the turning point, but getting the kids to +sleep until 07:00 is a small challenge every day. They have adapted +quite well, and rarely wake up at 05:00 any more, but some times wake +up at times like 05:50, 06:15, 06:30 or 06:45, and it is hard to put +the awake one to bed again without disturbing and waking the rest. +And I understand perfectly well that they fail to sleep until 07:00 +some times, as there is no way for them to know if it is before or +after the magic moment without coming and asking us parents.</p> + +<p>But yesterday I came up with a method to solve this problem. It +involve home automation. A few years ago I bought a +<a href="http://www.telldus.se/products/tellstick">Tellstick</a> and RF +switches at the local <a href="http://www.clasohlson.com/">Clas +Ohlson</a> shop, allowing me to control lights and other electrical +gadgets using my Linux server. When I moved from the old flat to a +small house, I put away all this equipment as most of the lighting in +the house was not using wall sockets and thus not easy to connect to +the gadgets I had. But recently I bought a +<a href="http://www.telldus.se/products/tellstick_net">Tellstick +Net</a> to be able to read sensor input as well as control power +sockets. I want to control ovens in the basement to avoid the pipes +to freeze, and monitor the humidity to detect flooding. The default +setup for Tellstick Net is to be controlled by the vendor web service, +which to me is a security problem, but it is also possible to build +ones own +<a href="http://developer.telldus.com/blog/2012/03/02/help-us-develop-local-access-using-tellstick-net-build-your-own-firmware">firmware +with local access</A> instead of being controlled by a Swedish +company, thanks to the release of the GPL licensed firmware source +code. I plan to get that running before I let it control anything +important. But while working on this, one idea to make it easier for +the kids came to me yesterday. We can set up a night light controlled +by the computer, and turn it automatically on at 07:00. The kids can +then check the light in the morning to know if they are supposed to +get up or not. They joined me in setting everything up, and I +repeated the concept several times before bed times to make sure they +remembered to check the light before getting up in the morning.</p> + +<p>We tested it this morning, and all the kids stayed in bed until +after 07:00, and every one of them commented on the fact that the +"morning light" was turned on and signalled that the morning had +arrived. So this look like a success, and I am excited to see how +this develops the next few days. :) I really hope this can allow us +all to sleep a bit longer in the morning.</p> + +<p>A nice advantage of this setup is that we can remote control when +to tell the kids to get up. We do not have to wait until 07:00, and +can also delay it if we want to.</p> - Moved the pymissile Debian packaging to collab-maint - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Moved_the_pymissile_Debian_packaging_to_collab_maint.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Moved_the_pymissile_Debian_packaging_to_collab_maint.html - Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:40:00 +0100 - <p>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 -<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/pymissile">pymissile</a> 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. <a href="http://code.google.com/p/pymissile/">Upstream</a> -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 -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/pymissile.git">gitweb -view</a> or use "<tt>git clone -git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/pymissile.git</tt>".</p> + Hva stemte hver stortingsrepresentant i voteringene om datalagringsdirektivet? + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hva_stemte_hver_stortingsrepresentant_i_voteringene_om_datalagringsdirektivet_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hva_stemte_hver_stortingsrepresentant_i_voteringene_om_datalagringsdirektivet_.html + Sat, 9 Feb 2013 18:10:00 +0100 + <p>Nytt stortingsvalg er på trappene, og folket får igjen mulighet til +å påvirke sammensetningen i vår lovgivende forsamling. Da er det +relevant å vite hvilke representanter og partier som har støttet +innføringen av brev- og besøkskontroll av hele den norske +befolkningen, det vil si datalagringsdirektivet.</p> + +<p>Hvis du vil vite hva hver enkelt stortingsrepresentant har stemt i +stortingsvoteringene om datalagringsdirektivet, så har nettstedet til +<a href="http://www.holderdeord.no/">Holder De Ord</a> den (så vidt jeg +vet) eneste komplette oversikten på sin temaside om +<a href="http://beta.holderdeord.no/issues/innfore-datalagringsdirektivet">innføringen +av datalagringsdirektivet</a>. Den har detaljene fra de 11 relevante +forslagene som har vært fremmet så lagt. De har vært votert over +2011-04-04, 2011-04-11, 2012-06-11, 2012-10-05 og 2012-12-06.</p> + +<p>Hvis du lurer på hva som er problemet med datalagringsdirektivet, +anbefaler jeg å lese <a href="http://www.uhuru.biz/?cat=84">artiklene +fra Jon Wessel-Aas</a> om temaet, samt informasjon fra foreningen +<a href="http://www.digitaltpersonvern.no/">Digitalt +Personvern</a>.</p> - Lets make hardware dongles easier to use in Debian - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html - Wed, 9 Jan 2013 15:40:00 +0100 - <p>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.</p> - -<p>Some years ago, I proposed to -<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg01206.html">use -the discover subsystem to implement this</a>. The idea is fairly -simple: - -<ul> - -<li>Add a desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ pointing to a program - starting when a user log in.</li> - -<li>Set this program up to listen for kernel events emitted when new - hardware is inserted into the computer.</li> - -<li>When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware ID in a - database mapping to packages, and take note of any non-installed - packages.</li> - -<li>Show a message to the user proposing to install the discovered - package, and make it easy to install it.</li> - -</ul> - -<p>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 -<a href="http://www.packagekit.org/">PackageKit</a> to install -packages.</p> - -<p>Yesterday, I found time to try to implement this idea, and the -draft package is now checked into -<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">the -Debian Edu subversion repository</a>. In the process, I updated the -<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/discover-data.html">discover-data</a> -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 -<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/discover.html">discover</a> -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).</p> - -<p>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):</p> - -<p align="center"><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-09-hw-autoinstall.png"></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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?</p> - -<p>If you want to help getting such feature implemented in Debian, -please send me an email. :)</p> + Økt overvåkning applauderes igjen av Arbeiderpartiet, Høyre og Fremskrittspartiet + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_kt_overv_kning_applauderes_igjen_av_Arbeiderpartiet__H_yre_og_Fremskrittspartiet.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_kt_overv_kning_applauderes_igjen_av_Arbeiderpartiet__H_yre_og_Fremskrittspartiet.html + Mon, 4 Feb 2013 00:30:00 +0100 + <p>Jeg ser med gru at Arbeiderpartiet, Høyre og Fremskrittspartiet +<a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/Positive-til-mer-smuglerovervaking-7110348.html">applauderer +tollvesenets forslag</a> om å øke overvåkningen i Norge nok et hakk. +Det er ikke så rart, da de som uttaler seg jo også har støttet +innføringen av datalagringsdirektivet eller i hvert fall ikke veldig +aktivt har motarbeidet det. Innføringen av datalagringsdirektivet er +en lovendring som innebærer brev og besøkskontroll for hele +befolkningen.</p> + +<p><a href="http://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Saker/Sak/?p=48717">Datalagringsdirektivet</a> +har vært oppe til votering i stortinget tre ganger så langt. Det ble +<a href="http://svartelisten.org/">vedtatt første gang 2011-04-04</a> +og +<a href="https://github.com/holderdeord/hdo-folketingparser/blob/master/data/votering-2011-04-11.xml">andre +gang 2011-04-11</a> (lovendringer voteres to ganger), og forslag om å +stoppe loven ble +<a href="http://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Saker/Sak/Voteringsoversikt/?p=53844&dnid=1">nedstemt +2012-12-06</a> (se også +<a href="http://beta.holderdeord.no/issues/innfore-datalagringsdirektivet">oversikt fra Holder De +Ord</a>).</p> + +<p>Jan Bøhler i Arbeiderpartiet stemte for å innføre +datalagringsdirektivet i lovverket i første votering, var ikke +tilstede i andre votering og støttet loven i tredje votering. André +Oktay Dahl i Høyre var ikke til stede i første og andre votering men +støttet loven i tredje votering. Ulf Leirstein i Fremskrittspartiet +stemte mot loven i første votering men var ikke til stede i andre og +tredje votering.</p> + +<p>Hvis du lurer på hva som er problemet med datalagringsdirektivet, +anbefaler jeg å lese <a href="http://www.uhuru.biz/?cat=84">artiklene +fra Jon Wessel-Aas</a> om temaet, samt informasjon fra foreningen +<a href="http://www.digitaltpersonvern.no/">Digitalt +Personvern</a>.</p> + +<p><strong>Oppdatering 2013-03-09</strong>: Endret lenke til Holder De +Ord, som har byttet mange lenker i forbindelse med import av +voteringsdata for 2010-2011.</p> - New IRC channel for LEGO designers using Debian - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_IRC_channel_for_LEGO_designers_using_Debian.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_IRC_channel_for_LEGO_designers_using_Debian.html - Wed, 2 Jan 2013 15:40:00 +0100 - <p>During Christmas, I have worked a bit on the Debian support for -<a href="http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx">LEGO Mindstorm -NXT</a>. 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 -<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-lego">#debian-lego</a> (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. :)</p> - -<p>Update 2012-01-03: A -<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LegoDesigners">project page</a> -including links to Lego related packages is now available.</p> + Bitcoin GUI now available from Debian/unstable (and Ubuntu/raring) + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Bitcoin_GUI_now_available_from_Debian_unstable__and_Ubuntu_raring_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Bitcoin_GUI_now_available_from_Debian_unstable__and_Ubuntu_raring_.html + Sat, 2 Feb 2013 09:00:00 +0100 + <p>My +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_backport_bitcoin_qt_version_0_7_2_2_to_Debian_Squeeze.html">last +bitcoin related blog post</a> mentioned that the new +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/bitcoin">bitcoin package</a> for +Debian was waiting in NEW. It was accepted by the Debian ftp-masters +2013-01-19, and have been available in unstable since then. It was +automatically copied to Ubuntu, and is available in their Raring +version too.</p> + +<p>But there is a strange problem with the build that block this new +version from being available on the i386 and kfreebsd-i386 +architectures. For some strange reason, the autobuilders in Debian +for these architectures fail to run the test suite on these +architectures (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/672524">BTS #672524</a>). +We are so far unable to reproduce it when building it manually, and +no-one have been able to propose a fix. If you got an idea what is +failing, please let us know via the BTS.</p> + +<p>One feature that is annoying me with of the bitcoin client, because +I often run low on disk space, is the fact that the client will exit +if it run short on space (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/696715">BTS +#696715</a>). So make sure you have enough disk space when you run +it. :)</p> + +<p>As usual, if you use bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>