X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/e3fa21ea975bf039f5984f729e4bb55d04f2854d..e62b881fb68b18f94fbf22a7c3eb4fd16aeac50d:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index d9f01eb429..70ec190e90 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,47 +20,38 @@
-
Welcome to the world, Isenkram!
-
22nd January 2013
-

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

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

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

- -

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

- -

Update 2013-01-26: Added -us -us to build -instructions, to avoid confusing people with an error from the signing -process.

+
Is there a PHP expert in the building? Debian Edu need help!
+
5th June 2013
+

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: + +

    + +
  1. 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?
    2. + +
  2. 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.
    3. + +
+ +

If you can help us, please join us on IRC +(#debian-edu on +irc.debian.org) and provide patches via the BTS.

- Tags: debian, english, isenkram. + Tags: debian edu, english.
@@ -68,84 +59,145 @@ process.

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

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

- -

The design is simple:

+
Debian Edu interview: Cédric Boutillier
+
4th June 2013
+

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:

    -
  • Add desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ causing a program -hw-support-handlerd to start when the user log in.
    • +
  • drgeo and +kig to do +constructions in planar geometry -
  • 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.
    • +
  • kali +to discover symmetry groups (the so-called wallpapers and frieze +groups), although the interface looks a bit old.
    • -
  • When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware modalias in -the APT database, a database -available -via HTTP and a database available as part of the package.
    • +
+ +

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?

-
  • 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.
    • +

    My suggestions would be to

    -
  • If the user click on the 'install package now' button, ask -aptdaemon via the PackageKit API to install the requrired package.
    • +
      -
    • aptdaemon ask for root password or sudo password, and install the -package while showing progress information in a window.
      • +
    • 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.
    • -

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

    - -

    -
    -
    -
    -

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

    Update 2013-01-23 12:00: 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 -build -instructions for details.

    +
  • advertise the living and strong community around the project.
    • + +
  • show that it is not more difficult to use than any other + system.
    • + +
    - Tags: debian, english, isenkram. + Tags: debian edu, english, intervju.
    @@ -153,61 +205,69 @@ instructions for details.

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

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

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

    +
    Åpent møte på onsdag om bruken av Microsoft Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo
    +
    3rd June 2013
    +

    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:

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

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

    - -

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

    +
    - Tags: debian, english. + Tags: norsk, standard.
    @@ -215,75 +275,142 @@ Pre-loaded site.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    - -

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

    +
    Educational applications included in Debian Edu / Skolelinux (the screenshot collection :-)
    +
    1st June 2013
    +

    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

    +

    +audacity +childsplay +denemo +freebirth +gcompris +gimp +hydrogen +lilypond +lmms +rosegarden +scribus +solfege +stopmotion +tuxpaint +

    + +

    field::astronomy

    +

    +celestia-gnome +gpredict +kstars +planets +stellarium +xplanet +

    + +

    field::biology:structural

    +

    +pymol +

    + +

    field::chemistry

    +

    +atomix +chemtool +easychem +gchempaint +gdis +ghemical +gperiodic +kalzium +pymol +[viewmol] +xdrawchem +

    + +

    field::electronics

    +

    +gcompris +[gpsim] +

    + +

    field::geography

    +

    +kgeography +marble +xplanet +

    + +

    field::linguistics

    +

    +gcompris +kanagram +khangman +klettres +parley +

    + +

    field::mathematics

    +

    +childsplay +drgeo +gcompris +geogebra +[geomview] +grace +graphmonkey +graphthing +kalgebra +kbruch +kig +kmplot +mathwar +rocs +scratch +tuxmath +xabacus +

    + +

    field::physics

    +

    +gcompris +step +

    + +

    field::TODO

    +

    +blinken +cgoban +childsplay +gcompris +gnuchess +gnugo +gtans +ktouch +librecad +scratch +

    + +

    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@.

    - Tags: debian, english. + Tags: debian edu, english.
    @@ -291,115 +418,48 @@ is not yet in iceweasel from Debian.

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

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

    - -

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

    - -

    Debian Stable:

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

    Debian Testing:

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

    Debian Unstable:

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

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

    - -

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

    +
    How to install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8
    +
    27th May 2013
    +

    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.

    @@ -412,119 +472,41 @@ discovering a typo in my script.

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

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    -

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    -

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    -

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    +
    How can I install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8?
    +
    25th May 2013
    +

    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?

    - Tags: debian, english, isenkram. + Tags: debian, english.
    @@ -532,260 +514,127 @@ machine, please send me an email or talk to me on
    -
    Modalias strings - a practical way to map "stuff" to hardware
    -
    14th January 2013
    -

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

    Modalias decoded

    - -

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

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

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

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

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

    PCI subtype

    - -

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

    - -

    -pci:v00008086d00002770sv00001028sd000001ADbc06sc00i00 -

    - -

    This represent these values:

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

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

    - -

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

    - -

    USB subtype

    - -

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

    - -

    -usb:v1D6Bp0001d0206dc09dsc00dp00ic09isc00ip00 -

    - -

    Here is the values included in this alias:

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

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

    ACPI subtype

    - -

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

    - -

    -acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511: -

    - -

    The values between the colons are IDs.

    - -

    DMI subtype

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

    The values present are

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

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

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

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

    - -

    SerIO subtype

    - -

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

    - -

    -serio:ty01pr00id00ex00 -

    - -

    The values present are

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

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

    - -

    Other subtypes

    - -

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

    - -

    Looking up kernel modules using modalias values

    - -

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

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

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

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

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

    - -

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

    +
    Skolelinux-intervju: Nirosan Thiyagalingam
    +
    24th May 2013
    +

    En ting +Skolelinux-prosjektet har +hatt mye glede av er studentprosjekter. F.eks. er +stillbildeanimasjonssystemet +Stopmotion resultat av et studentprosjekt i Skolelinux. De siste +månedene har en ivrig student veiledet av Marius Kotsbak i +FRiSK testet hva en +kan få til med en datamaskin til NOK 400,- (antagelig 1700,- med +skjerm, tastatur og mus) når det brukes i Skolelinux. Jeg spurte han +om et intervju.

    + +

    Hvem er du, og hva driver du med til daglig?

    + +

    Jeg heter Nirosan Thiyagalingam. Jeg er 24 år og studerer +dataingeniør studiet ved Høgskolen i Sør Trøndelag. Interessen for +data har siden ung alder vært tilstede og jeg har i tillegg alltid +vært glad i å lære nye ting. Med teknologi som endres svært hurtig er +det alltid noe nytt å lære. Noe som igjen har gjort det svært +interessant å følge med på utviklingen. Jeg valgte dataingeniør +studiet grunnet ønske om å lære enda mer om programmering og utvikling +av store systemer.

    + +

    Hvordan kom du i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet?

    + +

    Skolelinux prosjektet hørte jeg først om i media. Men det var først +når jeg skulle velge bacheloroppgave at jeg fattet mer interesse for +prosjektet. Et enkelt søk på nettet førte meg til skolelinux sine +hjemmesider. Informasjonen jeg fant der gjorde meg enda nysgjerrig og +jeg valgte derfor en oppgave som gikk ut på å få en +Raspberry PI. Altså en +ultra-billig datamaskin til å kjøre Debian Edu på lik linje med +vanlige datamaskiner. I løpet av prosjektet ble det gjort mye +forskning på nettet. Det var mye jeg måtte forstå rundt hvordan +operativsystemet Linux fungerte før jeg kunne angripe +problemet. Prøvde først å finne ut hvordan man kunne transformere en +vanlig installasjon av Skolelinux til Raspberry PI, men dette var +altfor vanskelig å jeg endte opp med mer spørsmål enn svar. Det ble +videre opprettet kontakt med Skolelinux utviklere på IRC der jeg fikk +diskutert hvilken retning jeg burde gå for å få til en fullverdig +løsning. Det ble bestemt at jeg skulle gå for å først installere +Raspian. Dette er et +operativsystem basert på Debian spesiallaget for Raspberry Pi sin +maskinvare. Nå som Debian var installert på datamaskinen gjenstod det +å installere de nødvendige Skolelinux pakkene for å få til et +fullverdig system. Disse pakkene ble installert manuelt i første +omgang, men ble senere installert automatisk via et script som Petter +Reinholdtsen laget. Dette scriptet er så enkel å bruke at man er i +gang med installasjonen i løpet av bare 5 minutter. Ikke nok med det, +alt skjer helt automatisk. Alt i alt er jeg veldig fornøyd med +resultatet av installasjonsprosessen. Raspberry Pi er en veldig svak +maskin og det merkes godt når man har installert Skolelinux på +den. Video og 3D-rendering fungerer utrolig dårlig, men nettsurfing og +kontorprogrammer fungerer godt. Det kan derfor konkluderes med at +datamaskinen er egnet for enkle oppgaver. + +

    Jeg syns det er viktig påpeke at dette kun er startfasen av en slik +løsning. På markedet finnes det nå maskiner som har bedre hardware enn +Raspberry Pi. Det er store muligheter for at man kan klare å +installere Skolelinux på disse også, og da forsvinner nok mest +sannsynlig ytelsesproblemene med Video og 3D rendering også.

    + +

    Det ble også prøvd med en løsning som gjorde at Raspberry Pi +fungerte som en tynnklient. Denne løsningen hadde langt bedre ytelse +med tanke på hastighet og brukeropplevelse. Men også her var video og +3D rendering dårlig. Det ble brukt en liten Linux distribusjon kalt +BerryTerminal for å få til +dette.

    + +

    Hva er fordelene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

    + +

    Fordelen med Skolelinux er mange. At det er gratis er en stor +fordel, men at det er så mange som er med på å utvikle det og +vedlikeholde det er en enda større fordel. Allerede før jeg startet +med prosjektet så jeg mange fordeler, og når jeg nærmet meg sluttfasen +så jeg langt flere. At prosjektet skulle inneha en så høy kvalitet +hadde jeg aldri trodd. En vanlig Skolelinux installasjon har de +nødvendige programmene og funksjonen som både små og store skoler i +tillegg til organisasjoner kan klare seg med. At prosjektet tilbyr en +så komplett løsning er en kjempefordel. Installasjonen er knirkefri +og det er svært enkelt å installere og komme i gang.

    + +

    Hva er ulempene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

    + +

    Ulempene jeg ser med prosjektet er ryddigheten av websidene. Selv +om websidene er enkle og konsise er det allikevel ikke appellerende i +like stor grad som for eksempel +Ubuntu sine sider. Deres side +tilbyr, i tillegg til godt design og presentasjon, en nettbasert +emulator av deres operativsystem. Dette er en stor fordel slik jeg ser +det. Bortsett fra dette ser jeg absolutt ingen ulemper med +Skolelinux-prosjektet.

    + +

    Hvilken fri programvare bruker du til daglig?

    + +

    Til daglig er jeg en flittig bruker av det åpne media +sentersystemet XBMC. Det enorme +samfunnet rundt dette prosjektet har gjort dette til et program som +dekker alles behov. Man kan tilpasse det akkurat slik man vil både med +tanke på utseende og funksjoner ved installere plug-ins eller +scripts.

    + +

    Hvilken strategi tror du er den rette å bruke for å få +skoler til å ta i bruk fri programvare?

    + +

    Strategien som burde brukes sett fra mine øyne er +markedsføring. Jeg er sikker på at om flere skoler fikk et lite innsyn +i hvor bra Skolelinux er så ville de ikke nølt med å gå over fra noe +annet som koster de store summer. At skolelinux til de grader tilbyr +en så komplett løsning bure komme frem. Enten via reklamekampanjer +eller ved å sende ut folk til skoler for så å la skolenettverk +ansvarlige få teste ut hvordan Skolelinux fungerer i praksis. Om det +i tillegg ble utviklet gode websider og en emulator for å la brukere +prøve operativsystemet ville nok dette ha styrket inntrykket +betraktelig.

    - Tags: debian, english, isenkram. + Tags: debian edu, intervju, norsk.
    @@ -793,31 +642,77 @@ in /sys/ with space in them.

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

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

    +
    How to transform a Debian based system to a Debian Edu installation
    +
    17th May 2013
    +

    Debian Edu / Skolelinux is +an operating system based on Debian intended for use in schools. It +contain a turn-key solution for the computer network provided to +pupils in the primary schools. It provide both the central server, +network boot servers and desktop environments with heaps of +educational software. The project was founded almost 12 years ago, +2001-07-02. If you want to support the project, which is in need for +cash to fund developer gatherings and other project related activity, +please +donate some money. + +

    A topic that come up again and again on the Debian Edu mailing +lists and elsewhere, is the question on how to transform a Debian or +Ubuntu installation into a Debian Edu installation. It isn't very +hard, and last week I wrote a script to replicate the steps done by +the Debian Edu installer.

    + +

    The script, +debian-edu-bless +in the debian-edu-config package, will go through these six steps and +transform an existing Debian Wheezy or Ubuntu (untested) installation +into a Debian Edu Workstation:

    + +
      + +
    1. Add skolelinux related APT sources.
      2. +
    2. Create /etc/debian-edu/config with the wanted configuration.
      3. +
    3. Install debian-edu-install to load preseeding values and pull in + our configuration.
      4. +
    4. Preseed debconf database with profile setup in + /etc/debian-edu/config, and run tasksel to install packages + according to the profile specified in the config above, + overriding some of the Debian automation machinery.
      5. +
    5. Run debian-edu-cfengine-D installation to configure everything + that could not be done using preseeding.
      6. +
    6. Ask for a reboot to enable all the configuration changes.
      7. + +
    + +

    There are some steps in the Debian Edu installation that can not be +replicated like this. Disk partitioning and LVM setup, for example. +So this script just assume there is enough disk space to install all +the needed packages.

    + +

    The script was created to help a Debian Edu student working on +setting up Raspberry Pi as a +Debian Edu client, and using it he can take the existing +Raspbian installation and +transform it into a fully functioning Debian Edu Workstation (or +Roaming Workstation, or whatever :).

    + +

    The default setting in the script is to create a KDE Workstation. +If a LXDE based Roaming workstation is wanted instead, modify the +PROFILE and DESKTOP values at the top to look like this instead:

    + +

    +PROFILE="Roaming-Workstation"
+DESKTOP="lxde"
+

    + +

    The script could even become useful to set up Debian Edu servers in +the cloud, by starting with a virtual Debian installation at some +virtual hosting service and setting up all the services on first +boot.

    - Tags: debian, english, robot. + Tags: debian, debian edu, english.
    @@ -825,98 +720,106 @@ git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/pymissile.git".

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

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

    - -

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

    Second alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy
    +
    14th May 2013
    +

    The Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project is making great progress and made its second Wheezy based +release today. This is the release announcement:

    + +

    New features for Debian Edu 7.0.0 alpha1 released +2013-05-14

    + +

    This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu +alpha1, based on Debian with +codename "Wheezy".

    + +

    About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

    + +

    Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based +on Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely +configured school network. Immediatly after installation a school +server running all services needed for a school network is set up just +waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable +Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after +initial installation of the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all +other machines can be installed via the network.

    + +

    This is the first test release based on Wheezy (which currently is +not released yet). Basically this is an updated and slightly improved +version compared to the Squeeze release.

    + +

    Software updates

    +
      +
    • Install freemind (0.9.0) by default, and stop installing vym by + default.
      • +
    • Install chromium (26.0.1410.43) by default.
      • +
    • Install goplay (0.5-1.1) to make golearn available by default.
      • +
    • Updated support for Japanese input methods, now based on + ibus-anthy.
      • +
    +

    Other changes

      -
    • Add a desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ pointing to a program - starting when a user log in.
      • +
    • Switched default file system from ext3 to ext4 for speed and + reliability improvements.
      • +
    • Got rid of unwanted winbind daemon and PAM setup activated because + of 706434.
      • +
    • Extended and improved the testsuite tests to detect more possible + problems.
      • +
    • Corrected proxy handling to not set http_proxy to a bogus + direct:// URL.
      • +
    • Corrected proxy setup for diskless workstations.
      • +
    • Corrected PXE setup to use our updated udebs during installation.
      • +
    • Made installation handling of low entropy level more robust.
      • +
    • Create larger partitions for Roaming workstations and Thin client + servers, to make room for all the software installed.
      • +
    • Fix bug in Roaming workstation PAM setup, making it impossible to + log in (706753).
      • +
    -
  • Set this program up to listen for kernel events emitted when new - hardware is inserted into the computer.
    • +

    Known issues

    +
      -
    • When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware ID in a - database mapping to packages, and take note of any non-installed - packages.
      • +
    • IP resolution for the local hostname give useless IPv6 address + (705900). Only install + libnss-myhostname on roaming workstations until it is fixed.
      • +
    • DVD images are not yet ready.
      • +
    • No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) + available yet (698840).
      • +
    • Missing artwork for the KDE desktop (and probably a few others).
      • +
    • KDE Debian submenu lacks icons.
      • +
    • LXDE menu lacks entry for changing GOsa password + (website). Installing gosa-desktop will be an option.
      • +
    • Backup configuration via web interface is impossible due to + password submission problem + (700257).
      • -
    • Show a message to the user proposing to install the discovered - package, and make it easy to install it.
      • +
    + +

    Where to get it

    + +

    To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

    + -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    - -

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

    +

    The MD5SUM of this image is: 685ed76c1aa8e44b12d3fde21faf450b

    + +

    The SHA1SUM of this image is: 6c874de157024da13e115bab29c068080a11ec4c

    + +

    How to report bugs

    + +

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

    - Tags: debian, english, isenkram. + Tags: debian edu, english.
    @@ -924,22 +827,42 @@ please send me an email. :)

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

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

    - -

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

    +
    Debian, the Linux distribution of choice for LEGO designers?
    +
    11th May 2013
    +

    In January, +I +announced a new IRC +channel #debian-lego, for those of us in the Debian and Linux +community interested in LEGO, the +marvellous construction system from Denmark. We also created +a wiki page to have +a place to take notes and write down our plans and hopes. And several +people showed up to help. I was very happy to see the effect of my +call. Since the small start, we have a debtags tag +hardware::hobby:lego +tag for LEGO related packages, and now count 10 packages related to +LEGO and Mindstorms:

    + +

    + + + + + + + + + + +
    brickosalternative OS for LEGO Mindstorms RCX. Supports development in C/C++
    leocadvirtual brick CAD software
    libnxtutility library for talking to the LEGO Mindstorms NX
    lnpddaemon for LNP communication with BrickOS
    nbccompiler for LEGO Mindstorms NXT bricks
    nqcNot Quite C compiler for LEGO Mindstorms RCX
    python-nxtpython driver/interface/wrapper for the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot
    python-nxt-filersimple GUI to manage files on a LEGO Mindstorms NXT
    scratcheasy to use programming environment for ages 8 and up
    t2nsimple command-line tool for Lego NXT

    + +

    Some of these are available in Wheezy, and all but one are +currently available in Jessie/testing. leocad is so far only +available in experimental.

    + +

    If you care about LEGO in Debian, please join us on IRC and help +adding the rest of the great free software tools available on Linux +for LEGO designers.

    @@ -964,6 +887,16 @@ including links to Lego related packages is now available.

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    • @@ -1201,7 +1134,7 @@ including links to Lego related packages is now available.

    - Created by Chronicle v4.4 + Created by Chronicle v4.6