X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/ebfb53b51b789a038b3157fc273aaf96559b76c4..358356cb3b7e8202c3284503f772fbab7ed66323:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index 04de9f8ae5..e1c4c188d3 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -7,799 +7,770 @@ - Norwegian citizens now required by law to give their fingerprint to the police - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Norwegian_citizens_now_required_by_law_to_give_their_fingerprint_to_the_police.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Norwegian_citizens_now_required_by_law_to_give_their_fingerprint_to_the_police.html - Sun, 10 May 2015 16:00:00 +0200 - <p>5 days ago, the Norwegian Parliament decided, unanimously, that all -citizens of Norway, no matter if they are suspected of something -criminal or not, are -<a href="https://www.holderdeord.no/votes/1430838871e">required to -give fingerprints to the police</a> (vote details from Holder de -ord). The law make it sound like it will be optional, but in a few -years there will be no option any more. The ID will be required to -vote, to get a bank account, a bank card, to change address on the -post office, to receive an electronic ID or to get a drivers license -and many other tasks required to function in Norway. The banks plan -to stop providing their own ID on the bank cards when this new -national ID is introduced, and the national road authorities plan to -change the drivers license to no longer be usable as identity cards. -In effect, to function as a citizen in Norway a national ID card will -be required, and to get it one need to provide the fingerprints to -the police.</p> - -<p>In addition to handing the fingerprint to the police (which -promised to not make a copy of the fingerprint image at that point in -time, but say nothing about doing it later), a picture of the finger -print will be stored on the RFID chip, along with a picture of the -face and other information about the person. Some of the information -will be encrypted, but the encryption will be the same system as -currently used in the passports. The codes to decrypt will be -available to a lot of government offices and their suppliers around -the globe, but for those that do now know anyone in those circles it -is good to know that -<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/nov/17/news.homeaffairs">the -encryption is already broken</a>. And they -<a href="http://www.networkworld.com/article/2215057/wireless/bad-guys-could-read-rfid-passports-at-217-feet--maybe-a-lot-more.html">can -be read from 70 meters away</a>. This can be mitigated a bit by -keeping it in a Faraday cage (metal box or metal wire container), but -one will be required to take it out of there often enough to expose -ones private and personal information to a lot of people that have no -business getting access to that information.</p> - -<p>The new Norwegian national IDs are a vehicle for identity theft, -and I feel sorry for us all having politicians accepting such invasion -of privacy without any objections. So are the Norwegian passports, -but it has been possible to function in Norway without those so far. -That option is going away with the passing of the new law. In this, I -envy the Germans, because for them it is optional how much biometric -information is stored in their national ID.</p> - -<p>And if forced collection of fingerprints was not bad enough, the -information collected in the national ID card register can be handed -over to foreign intelligence services and police authorities, "when -extradition is not considered disproportionate".</p> + Making battery measurements a little easier in Debian + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Making_battery_measurements_a_little_easier_in_Debian.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Making_battery_measurements_a_little_easier_in_Debian.html + Tue, 15 Mar 2016 15:00:00 +0100 + <p>Back in September, I blogged about +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_life_and_death_of_a_laptop_battery.html">the +system I wrote to collect statistics about my laptop battery</a>, and +how it showed the decay and death of this battery (now replaced). I +created a simple deb package to handle the collection and graphing, +but did not want to upload it to Debian as there were already +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/battery-stats">a battery-stats +package in Debian</a> that should do the same thing, and I did not see +a point of uploading a competing package when battery-stats could be +fixed instead. I reported a few bugs about its non-function, and +hoped someone would step in and fix it. But no-one did.</p> + +<p>I got tired of waiting a few days ago, and took matters in my own +hands. The end result is that I am now the new upstream developer of +battery stats (<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/battery-stats">available from github</a>) and part of the team maintaining +battery-stats in Debian, and the package in Debian unstable is finally +able to collect battery status using the <tt>/sys/class/power_supply/</tt> +information provided by the Linux kernel. If you install the +battery-stats package from unstable now, you will be able to get a +graph of the current battery fill level, to get some idea about the +status of the battery. The source package build and work just fine in +Debian testing and stable (and probably oldstable too, but I have not +tested). The default graph you get for that system look like this:</p> + +<p align="center"><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2016-03-15-battery-stats-graph-example.png" width="70%" align="center"></p> + +<p>My plans for the future is to merge my old scripts into the +battery-stats package, as my old scripts collected a lot more details +about the battery. The scripts are merged into the upstream +battery-stats git repository already, but I am not convinced they work +yet, as I changed a lot of paths along the way. Will have to test a +bit more before I make a new release.</p> + +<p>I will also consider changing the file format slightly, as I +suspect the way I combine several values into one field might make it +impossible to know the type of the value when using it for processing +and graphing.</p> + +<p>If you would like I would like to keep an close eye on your laptop +battery, check out the battery-stats package in +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/battery-stats">Debian</a> and +on +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/battery-stats">github</a>. +I would love some help to improve the system further.</p> - What would it cost to store all phone calls in Norway? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_would_it_cost_to_store_all_phone_calls_in_Norway_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_would_it_cost_to_store_all_phone_calls_in_Norway_.html - Fri, 1 May 2015 19:30:00 +0200 - <p>Many years ago, a friend of mine calculated how much it would cost -to store the sound of all phone calls in Norway, and came up with the -cost of around 20 million NOK (2.4 mill EUR) for all the calls in a -year. I got curious and wondered what the same calculation would look -like today. To do so one need an idea of how much data storage is -needed for each minute of sound, how many minutes all the calls in -Norway sums up to, and the cost of data storage.</p> - -<p>The 2005 numbers are from -<a href="http://www.digi.no/analyser/2005/10/04/vi-prater-stadig-mindre-i-roret">digi.no</a>, -the 2012 numbers are from -<a href="http://www.nkom.no/aktuelt/nyheter/fortsatt-vekst-i-det-norske-ekommarkedet">a -NKOM report</a>, and I got the 2013 numbers after asking NKOM via -email. I was told the numbers for 2014 will be presented May 20th, -and decided not to wait for those, as I doubt they will be very -different from the numbers from 2013.</p> - -<p>The amount of data storage per minute sound depend on the wanted -quality, and for phone calls it is generally believed that 8 Kbit/s is -enough. See for example a -<a href="http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/voice/voice-quality/7934-bwidth-consume.html#topic1">summary -on voice quality from Cisco</a> for some alternatives. 8 Kbit/s is 60 -Kbytes/min, and this can be multiplied with the number of call minutes -to get the storage requirements.</p> - -<p>Storage prices varies a lot, depending on speed, backup strategies, -availability requirements etc. But a simple way to calculate can be -to use the price of a TiB-disk (around 1000 NOK / 120 EUR) and double -it to take space, power and redundancy into account. It could be much -higher with high speed and good redundancy requirements.</p> - -<p>But back to the question, What would it cost to store all phone -calls in Norway? Not much. Here is a small table showing the -estimated cost, which is within the budget constraint of most medium -and large organisations:</p> - -<table border="1"> -<tr><th>Year</th><th>Call minutes</th><th>Size</th><th>Price in NOK / EUR</th></tr> -<tr><td>2005</td><td align="right">24 000 000 000</td><td align="right">1.3 PiB</td><td align="right">3 mill / 358 000</td></tr> -<tr><td>2012</td><td align="right">18 000 000 000</td><td align="right">1.0 PiB</td><td align="right">2.2 mill / 262 000</td></tr> -<tr><td>2013</td><td align="right">17 000 000 000</td><td align="right">950 TiB</td><td align="right">2.1 mill / 250 000</td></tr> -</table> - -<p>This is the cost of buying the storage. Maintenance need to be -taken into account too, but calculating that is left as an exercise -for the reader. But it is obvious to me from those numbers that -recording the sound of all phone calls in Norway is not going to be -stopped because it is too expensive. I wonder if someone already is -collecting the data?</p> + Creating, updating and checking debian/copyright semi-automatically + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Creating__updating_and_checking_debian_copyright_semi_automatically.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Creating__updating_and_checking_debian_copyright_semi_automatically.html + Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:00:00 +0100 + <p>Making packages for Debian requires quite a lot of attention to +details. And one of the details is the content of the +debian/copyright file, which should list all relevant licenses used by +the code in the package in question, preferably in +<a href="https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/">machine +readable DEP5 format</a>.</p> + +<p>For large packages with lots of contributors it is hard to write +and update this file manually, and if you get some detail wrong, the +package is normally rejected by the ftpmasters. So getting it right +the first time around get the package into Debian faster, and save +both you and the ftpmasters some work.. Today, while trying to figure +out what was wrong with +<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=686447">the +zfsonlinux copyright file</a>, I decided to spend some time on +figuring out the options for doing this job automatically, or at least +semi-automatically.</p> + +<p>Lucikly, there are at least two tools available for generating the +file based on the code in the source package, +<tt><a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/debmake">debmake</a></tt> +and <tt><a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/cme">cme</a></tt>. I'm +not sure which one of them came first, but both seem to be able to +create a sensible draft file. As far as I can tell, none of them can +be trusted to get the result just right, so the content need to be +polished a bit before the file is OK to upload. I found the debmake +option in +<a href="http://goofying-with-debian.blogspot.com/2014/07/debmake-checking-source-against-dep-5.html">a +blog posts from 2014</a>. + +<p>To generate using debmake, use the -cc option: + +<p><pre> +debmake -cc > debian/copyright +</pre></p> + +<p>Note there are some problems with python and non-ASCII names, so +this might not be the best option.</p> + +<p>The cme option is based on a config parsing library, and I found +this approach in +<a href="https://ddumont.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/improving-creation-of-debian-copyright-file/">a +blog post from 2015</a>. To generate using cme, use the 'update +dpkg-copyright' option: + +<p><pre> +cme update dpkg-copyright +</pre></p> + +<p>This will create or update debian/copyright. The cme tool seem to +handle UTF-8 names better than debmake.</p> + +<p>When the copyright file is created, I would also like some help to +check if the file is correct. For this I found two good options, +<tt>debmake -k</tt> and <tt>license-reconcile</tt>. The former seem +to focus on license types and file matching, and is able to detect +ineffective blocks in the copyright file. The latter reports missing +copyright holders and years, but was confused by inconsistent license +names (like CDDL vs. CDDL-1.0). I suspect it is good to use both and +fix all issues reported by them before uploading. But I do not know +if the tools and the ftpmasters agree on what is important to fix in a +copyright file, so the package might still be rejected.</p> + +<p>The devscripts tool <tt>licensecheck</tt> deserve mentioning. It +will read through the source and try to find all copyright statements. +It is not comparing the result to the content of debian/copyright, but +can be useful when verifying the content of the copyright file.</p> + +<p>Are you aware of better tools in Debian to create and update +debian/copyright file. Please let me know, or blog about it on +planet.debian.org.</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">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2016-02-20</strong>: I got a tip from Mike Gabriel +on how to use licensecheck and cdbs to create a draft copyright file + +<p><pre> +licensecheck --copyright -r `find * -type f` | \ + /usr/lib/cdbs/licensecheck2dep5 > debian/copyright.auto +</pre></p> + +<p>He mentioned that he normally check the generated file into the +version control system to make it easier to discover license and +copyright changes in the upstream source. I will try to do the same +with my packages in the future.</p> + +<p><strong>Update 2016-02-21</strong>: The cme author recommended +against using -quiet for new users, so I removed it from the proposed +command line.</p> - First Jessie based Debian Edu beta release - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Jessie_based_Debian_Edu_beta_release.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_Jessie_based_Debian_Edu_beta_release.html - Sun, 26 Apr 2015 14:10:00 +0200 - <p>I am happy to report that the Debian Edu team sent out -<a href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2015/04/msg00000.html">this -announcement today</a>:</p> + Using appstream in Debian to locate packages with firmware and mime type support + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_appstream_in_Debian_to_locate_packages_with_firmware_and_mime_type_support.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_appstream_in_Debian_to_locate_packages_with_firmware_and_mime_type_support.html + Thu, 4 Feb 2016 16:40:00 +0100 + <p>The <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DEP-11">appstream system</a> +is taking shape in Debian, and one provided feature is a very +convenient way to tell you which package to install to make a given +firmware file available when the kernel is looking for it. This can +be done using apt-file too, but that is for someone else to blog +about. :)</p> + +<p>Here is a small recipe to find the package with a given firmware +file, in this example I am looking for ctfw-3.2.3.0.bin, randomly +picked from the set of firmware announced using appstream in Debian +unstable. In general you would be looking for the firmware requested +by the kernel during kernel module loading. To find the package +providing the example file, do like this:</p> -<pre> -the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project is pleased to announce the first -*beta* release of Debian Edu "Jessie" 8.0+edu0~b1, which for the first -time is composed entirely of packages from the current Debian stable -release, Debian 8 "Jessie". - -(As most reading this will know, Debian "Jessie" hasn't actually been -released by now. The release is still in progress but should finish -later today ;) - -We expect to make a final release of Debian Edu "Jessie" in the coming -weeks, timed with the first point release of Debian Jessie. Upgrades -from this beta release of Debian Edu Jessie to the final release will -be possible and encouraged! - -Please report feedback to debian-edu@lists.debian.org and/or submit -bugs: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs - -Debian Edu - sometimes also known as "Skolelinux" - is a complete -operating system for schools, universities and other -organisations. Through its pre- prepared installation profiles -administrators can install servers, workstations and laptops which -will work in harmony on the school network. With Debian Edu, the -teachers themselves or their technical support staff can roll out a -complete multi-user, multi-machine study environment within hours or -days. - -Debian Edu is already in use at several hundred schools all over the -world, particularly in Germany, Spain and Norway. Installations come -with hundreds of applications pre-installed, plus the whole Debian -archive of thousands of compatible packages within easy reach. - -For those who want to give Debian Edu Jessie a try, download and -installation instructions are available, including detailed -instructions in the manual explaining the first steps, such as setting -up a network or adding users. Please note that the password for the -user your prompted for during installation must have a length of at -least 5 characters! - -== Where to download == - -A multi-architecture CD / usbstick image (649 MiB) for network booting -can be downloaded at the following locations: - - http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-CD.iso - rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-CD.iso . - -The SHA1SUM of this image is: 54a524d16246cddd8d2cfd6ea52f2dd78c47ee0a - -Alternatively an extended DVD / usbstick image (4.9 GiB) is also -available, with more software included (saving additional download -time): - - http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-USB.iso - rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~b1-USB.iso - -The SHA1SUM of this image is: fb1f1504a490c077a48653898f9d6a461cb3c636 - -Sources are available from the Debian archive, see -http://ftp.debian.org/debian-cd/8.0.0/source/ for some download -options. - -== Debian Edu Jessie manual in seven languages == - -Please see https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/ for -the English version of the Debian Edu jessie manual. - -This manual has been fully translated to German, French, Italian, -Danish, Dutch and Norwegian Bokmål. A partly translated version exists -for Spanish. See http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/ for -online version of the translated manual. - -More information about Debian 8 "Jessie" itself is provided in the -release notes and the installation manual: -- http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes -- http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual - - -== Errata / known problems == - - It takes up to 15 minutes for a changed hostname to be updated via - DHCP (#780461). - - The hostname script fails to update LTSP server hostname (#783087). - -Workaround: run update-hostname-from-ip on the client to update the -hostname immediately. - -Check https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie for a possibly -more current and complete list. - -== Some more details about Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~b1 Codename Jessie released 2015-04-25 == - -=== Software updates === - -Everything which is new in Debian 8 Jessie, e.g.: - - * Linux kernel 3.16.7-ctk9; for the i386 architecture, support for - i486 processors has been dropped; oldest supported ones: i586 (like - Intel Pentium and AMD K5). - - * Desktop environments KDE Plasma Workspaces 4.11.13, GNOME 3.14, - Xfce 4.12, LXDE 0.5.6 - * new optional desktop environment: MATE 1.8 - * KDE Plasma Workspaces is installed by default; to choose one of - the others see the manual. - * the browsers Iceweasel 31 ESR and Chromium 41 - * LibreOffice 4.3.3 - * GOsa 2.7.4 - * LTSP 5.5.4 - * CUPS print system 1.7.5 - * new boot framework: systemd - * Educational toolbox GCompris 14.12 - * Music creator Rosegarden 14.02 - * Image editor Gimp 2.8.14 - * Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.13.1 - * golearn 0.9 - * tuxpaint 0.9.22 - * New version of debian-installer from Debian Jessie. - * Debian Jessie includes about 43000 packages available for installation. - * More information about Debian 8 Jessie is provided in its release - notes and the installation manual, see the link above. - -=== Installation changes === - - Installations done via PXE now also install firmware automatically - for the hardware present. - -=== Fixed bugs === - -A number of bugs have been fixed in this release; the most noticeable -from a user perspective: - - * Inserting incorrect DNS information in Gosa will no longer break - DNS completely, but instead stop DNS updates until the incorrect - information is corrected (710362) - - * shutdown-at-night now shuts the system down if gdm3 is used (775608). - -=== Sugar desktop removed === - -As the Sugar desktop was removed from Debian Jessie, it is also not -available in Debian Edu jessie. - - -== About Debian Edu / 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. Directly 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 or USB stick all other -machines can be installed via the network. The provided school server -provides LDAP database and Kerberos authentication service, -centralized home directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other -services. The desktop contains more than 60 educational software -packages and more are available from the Debian archive, and schools -can choose between KDE, GNOME, LXDE, Xfce and MATE desktop -environment. +<blockquote><pre> +% apt install appstream +[...] +% apt update +[...] +% appstreamcli what-provides firmware:runtime ctfw-3.2.3.0.bin | \ + awk '/Package:/ {print $2}' +firmware-qlogic +% +</pre></blockquote> -== About Debian == +<p>See <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/AppStream/Guidelines">the +appstream wiki</a> page to learn how to embed the package metadata in +a way appstream can use.</p> -The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly -free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of -the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of -volunteers from all over the world work together to create and -maintain Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a -huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the universal -operating system. +<p>This same approach can be used to find any package supporting a +given MIME type. This is very useful when you get a file you do not +know how to handle. First find the mime type using <tt>file +--mime-type</tt>, and next look up the package providing support for +it. Lets say you got an SVG file. Its MIME type is image/svg+xml, +and you can find all packages handling this type like this:</p> -== Thanks == +<blockquote><pre> +% apt install appstream +[...] +% apt update +[...] +% appstreamcli what-provides mimetype image/svg+xml | \ + awk '/Package:/ {print $2}' +bkchem +phototonic +inkscape +shutter +tetzle +geeqie +xia +pinta +gthumb +karbon +comix +mirage +viewnior +postr +ristretto +kolourpaint4 +eog +eom +gimagereader +midori +% +</pre></blockquote> -Thanks to everyone making Debian and Debian Edu / Skolelinux happen! -You rock. -</pre> - - - - - Debian Edu interview: Shirish Agarwal - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Shirish_Agarwal.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Shirish_Agarwal.html - Wed, 15 Apr 2015 09:20:00 +0200 - <p>It was a surprise to me to learn that project to create a complete -computer system for schools I've involved in, -<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a>, was -being used in India. But apparently it is, and I managed to get an -interview with one of the friends of the project there, Shirish -Agarwal.</p> - -<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> - -<p>My name is Shirish Agarwal. Based out of the educational and -historical city of Pune, from the western state of Maharashtra, India. -My bread comes from giving training, giving policy tips, -installations on free software to mom and pop shops in different -fields from Desktop publishing to retail shops as well as work with -few software start-ups as well.</p> - -<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu -project?</strong></p> - -<p>It started innocently enough. I have been using Debian for a few -years and in one local minidebconf / debutsav I was asked if there was -anything for schools or education. I had worked / played with free -educational softwares such as Gcompris and Stellarium for my many -nieces and nephews so researched and found Debian Edu or Skolelinux as -it was known then. Since then I have started using the various -education meta-packages provided by the project.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>It's closest I have seen where a package full of educational -software are packed, which are free and open (both literally and -figuratively). Even if I take the simplest software which is -gcompris, the number of activities therein are amazing. Another one of -the softwares that I have liked for a long time is stellarium. Even -pysycache is cool except for couple of issues I encountered -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/781841">#781841</a> and -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/781842">#781842</a>.</p> - -<p>I prefer software installed on the system over web based solutions, -as a web site can disappear any time but the software on disk has the -possibility of a larger life span. Of course with both it's more a -question if it has enough users who make it fun or sustainable or both -for the developer per-se.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>I do see that the Debian Edu team seems to be short-handed and I -think more efforts should be made to make it popular and ask and take -help from people and the larger community wherever possible.</p> - -<p>I don't see any disadvantage to use Skolelinux apart from the fact -that most apps. are generic which is good or bad how you see it. -However, saying that I do acknowledge the fact that the canvas is -pretty big and there are lot of interesting ideas that could be done -but for reasons not known not done or if done I don't know about them. -Let me share some of the ideas (these are more upstream based but -still) I have had for a long time :</p> - -<p>1. Classical maths question of two trains in opposing directions -each running @x kmph/mph at y distance, when they will meet and how -far would each travel and similar questions like these. - -<p>The computer is a fantastic system where questions like these can -be drawn, animated and the methodology and answers teased out in -interactive manner. While sites such as the -<a href="http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.two.trains.html">Ask -Dr. Math FAQ on The Two Trains problem</a> (as an example or point of -inspiration) can be used there is lot more that can be done. I dunno -if there is a free software which does something like this. The idea -being a blend of objects + animation + interaction which does -this. The whole interaction could be gamified with points or sounds or -colourful celebration whenever the user gets even part of the question -or/and methodology right. That would help reinforce good behaviour. -This understanding could be used to share/showcase everything from how -the first wheel came to be, to evolution to how astronomy started, -psychics and everything in-between.</p> - -<p>One specific idea in the train part was having the Linux mascot on -one train and the BSD or GNU mascot on the other train and they -meeting somewhere in-between. Characters from blender movies could -also be used.</p> - -<p>2. Loads of crossword-puzzles with reference to subjects: We have -enormous data sets in Wikipedia and Wikitionary. I don't think it -should be a big job to design crossword puzzles. Using categories and -sub-categories it should be doable to have Q&A single word answers -from the existing data-sets. What would make it easy or hard could be -the length of the word + existence of many or few vowels depending on -the user's input.</p> - -<p>3. Jigsaw puzzles - We already have a great software called -palapeli with number of slicers making it pretty interesting. What -needs to be done is to download large number of public domain and -copyleft images, tease and use IPTC tags to categorise them into -nature, history etc. and let it loose. This could turn to be really -huge collection of images. One source could be taken from -commons.wikimedia.org, others could be huge collection of royalty-free -stock photos. Potential is immense.</p> - -<p>Apart from this, free software suffers in two directions, we lag -both in development (of using new features per-se) and maintenance a -lot. This is more so in educational software as these applications -need to be timely and the opportunity cost of missing deadlines is -immense. If we are able to solve issues of funding for development and -maintenance of such software I don't see any big difficulties. I know -of few start-ups in and around India who would love to develop and -maintain such software if funding issues could be solved.</p> - -<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> - -<p>That would be huge list. Some of the softwares are obviously apt, -aptitude, debdelta, leafpad, the shell of course (zsh nowadays), -quassel for IRC. In games I use shisen-sho while card-games are evenly -between kpat and Aiselriot. In desktops it's a tie between -gnome-flashback and mate.</p> - -<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to -get schools to use free software?</strong></p> - -<p>I think it should first start with using specific FOSS apps. in -whatever environment they are. If it's MS-Windows or Mac so be it. -Once they are habitual with the apps. and there is buy-in from the -school management then it could be installed anywhere. Most of the -people now understand the concept of a repository because of the -various online stores so it isn't hard to convince on that front.</p> - -<p>What is harder is having enough people with technical skills and -passion to service them. If you get buy-in from one or two teachers -then ideas like above could also be asked to be done as a project as -well.</p> - -<p>I think where we fall short more than anything is in marketing. For -instance, Debian has this whole range of fonts in its archive but -there isn't even a page where all those different fonts in the La -Ipsum format could be tried out for newcomers.</p> - -<p>One of the issues faced constantly in installations is with updates -and upgrades. People have this myth that each update and upgrade -means the user interface will / has to change. I have seen this -innumerable times. That perhaps is one of the reasons which browsers -like Iceweasel / Firefox change user interfaces so much, not because -it might be needed or be functional but because people believe that -changed user interfaces are better. This, can easily be pointed with -the user interfaces changed with almost every MS-Windows and Mac OS -releases.</p> - -<p>The problems with Debian Edu for deployment are many. The biggest -is the huge gap between what is taught in schools and what Debian Edu -is aimed at. - -<p>Me and my friends did teach on week-ends in a government school for -around 2 years, and -<a href="https://flossexperiences.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/sharings/">gathered -some experience</a> there. Some of the things we learnt/discovered -there was :</p> - -<ol> - - <li>Most of the teachers are very territorial about their subjects - and they do not want you to teach anything out of the - portion/syllabus given.</li> - - <li>They want any activity on the system in accordance to whatever - is in the syllabus.</li> - - <li>There are huge barriers both with the English language and at - times with objects or whatever. An example, let's say in gcompris - you have objects falling down and you have to name them and let's - say the falling object is a hat or a fedora hat, this would not be - as recognizable as say a - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puneri_Pagadi">Puneri - Pagdi</a> so there is need to inject local objects, words wherever - possible. Especially for word-games there are so many hindi words - which have become part of english vocabulary (for instance in - parley), those could be made into a hinglish collection or - something but that is something for upstream to do.</li> - -</ol> +<p>I believe the MIME types are fetched from the desktop file for +packages providing appstream metadata.</p> - I'm going to the Open Source Developers' Conference Nordic 2015! - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_m_going_to_the_Open_Source_Developers__Conference_Nordic_2015_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/I_m_going_to_the_Open_Source_Developers__Conference_Nordic_2015_.html - Tue, 7 Apr 2015 10:30:00 +0200 - <p>I am happy to let you all know that I'm going to the <a -href="http://act.osdc.no/osdc2015no/">Open Source Developers' -Conference Nordic 2015</a>!</p> - -<p>It take place Friday 8th to Sunday 10th of May in Oslo next to -where I work, and I finally got around to submitting -<a href="http://act.osdc.no/osdc2015no/talk/6192">a talk proposal for -it</a> (dead link for most people until the talk is accepted). As -part of my involvement with the -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group member -association</a> I have been slightly involved in the planning of this -conference for a while now, with a focus on organising a Civic Hacking -Hackathon with our friends -over at <a href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a> and -<a href="http://www.holderdeord.no/">Holder de ord</a>. This part is -named the 'My Society' track in the program. There is still space for -more talks and participants. I hope to see you there.</p> - -<p>Check out <a href="http://act.osdc.no/osdc2015no/talks">the talks -submitted and accepted so far</a>.</p> + Creepy, visualise geotagged social media information - nice free software + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Creepy__visualise_geotagged_social_media_information___nice_free_software.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Creepy__visualise_geotagged_social_media_information___nice_free_software.html + Sun, 24 Jan 2016 10:50:00 +0100 + <p>Most people seem not to realise that every time they walk around +with the computerised radio beacon known as a mobile phone their +position is tracked by the phone company and often stored for a long +time (like every time a SMS is received or sent). And if their +computerised radio beacon is capable of running programs (often called +mobile apps) downloaded from the Internet, these programs are often +also capable of tracking their location (if the app requested access +during installation). And when these programs send out information to +central collection points, the location is often included, unless +extra care is taken to not send the location. The provided +information is used by several entities, for good and bad (what is +good and bad, depend on your point of view). What is certain, is that +the private sphere and the right to free movement is challenged and +perhaps even eradicated for those announcing their location this way, +when they share their whereabouts with private and public +entities.</p> + +<p align="center"><img width="70%" src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2016-01-24-nice-creepy-desktop-window.png"></p> + +<p>The phone company logs provide a register of locations to check out +when one want to figure out what the tracked person was doing. It is +unavailable for most of us, but provided to selected government +officials, company staff, those illegally buying information from +unfaithful servants and crackers stealing the information. But the +public information can be collected and analysed, and a free software +tool to do so is called +<a href="http://www.geocreepy.com/">Creepy or Cree.py</a>. I +discovered it when I read +<a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/Slik-kan-du-bli-overvaket-pa-Twitter-og-Instagram-uten-a-ane-det-7787884.html">an +article about Creepy</a> in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten i +November 2014, and decided to check if it was available in Debian. +The python program was in Debian, but +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/creepy">the version in +Debian</a> was completely broken and practically unmaintained. I +uploaded a new version which did not work quite right, but did not +have time to fix it then. This Christmas I decided to finally try to +get Creepy operational in Debian. Now a fixed version is available in +Debian unstable and testing, and almost all Debian specific patches +are now included +<a href="https://github.com/jkakavas/creepy">upstream</a>.</p> + +<p>The Creepy program visualises geolocation information fetched from +Twitter, Instagram, Flickr and Google+, and allow one to get a +complete picture of every social media message posted recently in a +given area, or track the movement of a given individual across all +these services. Earlier it was possible to use the search API of at +least some of these services without identifying oneself, but these +days it is impossible. This mean that to use Creepy, you need to +configure it to log in as yourself on these services, and provide +information to them about your search interests. This should be taken +into account when using Creepy, as it will also share information +about yourself with the services.</p> + +<p>The picture above show the twitter messages sent from (or at least +geotagged with a position from) the city centre of Oslo, the capital +of Norway. One useful way to use Creepy is to first look at +information tagged with an area of interest, and next look at all the +information provided by one or more individuals who was in the area. +I tested it by checking out which celebrity provide their location in +twitter messages by checkout out who sent twitter messages near a +Norwegian TV station, and next could track their position over time, +making it possible to locate their home and work place, among other +things. A similar technique have been +<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/does-this-soldiers-instagram-account-prove-russia-is-covertl">used +to locate Russian soldiers in Ukraine</a>, and it is both a powerful +tool to discover lying governments, and a useful tool to help people +understand the value of the private information they provide to the +public.</p> + +<p>The package is not trivial to backport to Debian Stable/Jessie, as +it depend on several python modules currently missing in Jessie (at +least python-instagram, python-flickrapi and +python-requests-toolbelt).</p> + +<p>(I have uploaded +<a href="https://screenshots.debian.net/package/creepy">the image to +screenshots.debian.net</a> and licensed it under the same terms as the +Creepy program in Debian.)</p> - Proof reading the Norwegian translation of Free Culture by Lessig - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Proof_reading_the_Norwegian_translation_of_Free_Culture_by_Lessig.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Proof_reading_the_Norwegian_translation_of_Free_Culture_by_Lessig.html - Sat, 4 Apr 2015 09:30:00 +0200 - <p>During eastern I had some time to continue working on the Norwegian -<a href="http://www.docbook.org/">docbook</a> version of the 2004 book -<a href="http://free-culture.cc/">Free Culture</a> by Lawrence Lessig. -At the moment I am proof reading the finished text, looking for typos, -inconsistent wordings and sentences that do not flow as they should. -I'm more than two thirds done with the text, and welcome others to -check the text up to chapter 13. The current status is available on the -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a> -project pages. You can also check out the -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a>, -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a> -and HTML version available in the -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/tree/master/archive">archive -directory</a>.</p> - -<p>Please report typos, bugs and improvements to the github project if -you find any.</p> + Always download Debian packages using Tor - the simple recipe + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Always_download_Debian_packages_using_Tor___the_simple_recipe.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Always_download_Debian_packages_using_Tor___the_simple_recipe.html + Fri, 15 Jan 2016 00:30:00 +0100 + <p>During his DebConf15 keynote, Jacob Appelbaum +<a href="https://summit.debconf.org/debconf15/meeting/331/what-is-to-be-done/">observed +that those listening on the Internet lines would have good reason to +believe a computer have a given security hole</a> if it download a +security fix from a Debian mirror. This is a good reason to always +use encrypted connections to the Debian mirror, to make sure those +listening do not know which IP address to attack. In August, Richard +Hartmann observed that encryption was not enough, when it was possible +to interfere download size to security patches or the fact that +download took place shortly after a security fix was released, and +<a href="http://richardhartmann.de/blog/posts/2015/08/24-Tor-enabled_Debian_mirror/">proposed +to always use Tor to download packages from the Debian mirror</a>. He +was not the first to propose this, as the +<tt><a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/apt-transport-tor">apt-transport-tor</a></tt> +package by Tim Retout already existed to make it easy to convince apt +to use <a href="https://www.torproject.org/">Tor</a>, but I was not +aware of that package when I read the blog post from Richard.</p> + +<p>Richard discussed the idea with Peter Palfrader, one of the Debian +sysadmins, and he set up a Tor hidden service on one of the central +Debian mirrors using the address vwakviie2ienjx6t.onion, thus making +it possible to download packages directly between two tor nodes, +making sure the network traffic always were encrypted.</p> + +<p>Here is a short recipe for enabling this on your machine, by +installing <tt>apt-transport-tor</tt> and replacing http and https +urls with tor+http and tor+https, and using the hidden service instead +of the official Debian mirror site. I recommend installing +<tt>etckeeper</tt> before you start to have a history of the changes +done in /etc/.</p> + +<blockquote><pre> +apt install apt-transport-tor +sed -i 's% http://ftp.debian.org/% tor+http://vwakviie2ienjx6t.onion/%' /etc/apt/sources.list +sed -i 's% http% tor+http%' /etc/apt/sources.list +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>If you have more sources listed in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/, run +the sed commands for these too. The sed command is assuming your are +using the ftp.debian.org Debian mirror. Adjust the command (or just +edit the file manually) to match your mirror.</p> + +<p>This work in Debian Jessie and later. Note that tools like +<tt>apt-file</tt> only recently started using the apt transport +system, and do not work with these tor+http URLs. For +<tt>apt-file</tt> you need the version currently in experimental, +which need a recent apt version currently only in unstable. So if you +need a working <tt>apt-file</tt>, this is not for you.</p> + +<p>Another advantage from this change is that your machine will start +using Tor regularly and at fairly random intervals (every time you +update the package lists or upgrade or install a new package), thus +masking other Tor traffic done from the same machine. Using Tor will +become normal for the machine in question.</p> + +<p>On <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">Freedombox</a>, APT +is set up by default to use <tt>apt-transport-tor</tt> when Tor is +enabled. It would be great if it was the default on any Debian +system.</p> - Frikanalen, Norwegian TV channel for technical topics - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikanalen__Norwegian_TV_channel_for_technical_topics.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Frikanalen__Norwegian_TV_channel_for_technical_topics.html - Mon, 9 Mar 2015 11:10:00 +0100 - <p>The <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group</a>, -where I am a member, and where people interested in free software, -open standards and UNIX like operating systems like Linux and the BSDs -come together, record our monthly technical presentations on video. -The purpose is to document the talks and spread them to a wider -audience. For this, the the Norwegian nationwide open channel -<a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a> is a useful venue. -Since a few days ago, when I figured out the -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.no/api/">REST API</a> to program the -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/guide/">channel time schedule</a>, -the channel has been filled with NUUG talks, related recordings and -some Creative Commons licensed TED talks (from archive.org). I fill -all "leftover bits" on the channel with content from NUUG, which at -the moment is almost 17 of 24 hours every day.</p> - -<p>The list of NUUG videos -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/organization/82">uploaded so far</a> -include things like a -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/625090">one hour talk by John -Perry Barlow when he visited Oslo</a>, a presentation of -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/624275">Haiku, the BeOS -re-implementation</a>, the -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/624493">history of FiksGataMi, -the Norwegian version of FixMyStreet</a>, the good old -<a href="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/623566">Warriors of the net -video</A> and many others.</p> - -<p>We have a large backlog of NUUG talks not yet uploaded to -Frikanalen, and plan to upload every useful bit to the channel to -spread the word there. I also hope to find useful recordings from the -Chaos Computer Club and Debian conferences and spread them on the -channel as well. But this require locating the videos and their meta -information (title, description, license, etc), and preparing the -recordings for broadcast, and I have not yet had the spare time to -focus on this. Perhaps you want to help. Please join us on IRC, -<a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/%23nuug">#nuug on irc.freenode.net</a> -if you want to help make this happen.</p> - -<p>But as I said, already the channel is already almost exclusively -filled with technical topics, and if you want to learn something new -today, check out the <a href="http://www.frikanalen.tv/se">Ogg Theora -web stream</a> or use one of the other ways to get access to the -channel. Unfortunately the Ogg Theora recoding for distribution still -do not properly sync the video and sound. It is generated by recoding -a internal MPEG transport stream with MPEG4 coded video (ie H.264) to -Ogg Theora / Vorbis, and we have not been able to find a way that -produces acceptable quality. Help needed, please get in touch if you -know how to fix it using free software.</p> + Nedlasting fra NRK, som Matroska med undertekster + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Nedlasting_fra_NRK__som_Matroska_med_undertekster.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Nedlasting_fra_NRK__som_Matroska_med_undertekster.html + Sat, 2 Jan 2016 13:50:00 +0100 + <p>Det kommer stadig nye løsninger for å ta lagre unna innslag fra NRK +for å se på det senere. For en stund tilbake kom jeg over et script +nrkopptak laget av Ingvar Hagelund. Han fjernet riktignok sitt script +etter forespørsel fra Erik Bolstad i NRK, men noen tok heldigvis og +gjorde det <a href="https://github.com/liangqi/nrkopptak">tilgjengelig +via github</a>.</p> + +<p>Scriptet kan lagre som MPEG4 eller Matroska, og bake inn +undertekster i fila på et vis som blant annet VLC forstår. For å +bruke scriptet, kopier ned git-arkivet og kjør</p> + +<p><pre> +nrkopptak/bin/nrk-opptak k <ahref="https://tv.nrk.no/serie/bmi-turne/MUHH45000115/sesong-1/episode-1">https://tv.nrk.no/serie/bmi-turne/MUHH45000115/sesong-1/episode-1</a> +</pre></p> + +<p>URL-eksemplet er dagens toppsak på tv.nrk.no. Argument 'k' ber +scriptet laste ned og lagre som Matroska. Det finnes en rekke andre +muligheter for valg av kvalitet og format.</p> + +<p>Jeg foretrekker dette scriptet fremfor youtube-dl, som +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Hvordan_enkelt_laste_ned_filmer_fra_NRK_med_den__nye__l_sningen.html"> +nevnt i 2014 støtter NRK</a> og en rekke andre videokilder, på grunn +av at nrkopptak samler undertekster og video i en enkelt fil, hvilket +gjør håndtering enklere på disk.</p> - The Citizenfour documentary on the Snowden confirmations to Norway - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Citizenfour_documentary_on_the_Snowden_confirmations_to_Norway.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Citizenfour_documentary_on_the_Snowden_confirmations_to_Norway.html - Sat, 28 Feb 2015 22:10:00 +0100 - <p>Today I was happy to learn that the documentary -<a href="https://citizenfourfilm.com/">Citizenfour</a> by -<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Poitras">Laura Poitras</a> -finally will show up in Norway. According to the magazine -<a href="http://montages.no/">Montages</a>, a deal has finally been -made for -<a href="http://montages.no/nyheter/snowden-dokumentaren-citizenfour-far-norsk-kinodistribusjon/">Cinema -distribution in Norway</a> and the movie will have its premiere soon. -This is great news. As part of my involvement with -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">the Norwegian Unix User Group</a>, me and -a friend have -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Dokumentar_om_Snowdenbekreftelsene_til_Norge_.shtml">tried -to get the movie to Norway</a> ourselves, but obviously -<a href="http://www.nuug.no/news/Dokumentar_om_Snowdenbekreftelsene_endelig_til_Norge_.shtml">we -were too late</a> and Tor Fosse beat us to it. I am happy he did, as -the movie will make its way to the public and we do not have to make -it happen ourselves. -<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiGwAvd5mvM">The trailer</a> -can be seen on youtube, if you are curious what kind of film this -is.</p> - -<p>The whistle blower Edward Snowden really deserve political asylum -here in Norway, but I am afraid he would not be safe.</p> + OpenALPR, find car license plates in video streams - nice free software + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/OpenALPR__find_car_license_plates_in_video_streams___nice_free_software.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/OpenALPR__find_car_license_plates_in_video_streams___nice_free_software.html + Wed, 23 Dec 2015 01:00:00 +0100 + <p>When I was a kid, we used to collect "car numbers", as we used to +call the car license plate numbers in those days. I would write the +numbers down in my little book and compare notes with the other kids +to see how many region codes we had seen and if we had seen some +exotic or special region codes and numbers. It was a fun game to pass +time, as we kids have plenty of it.</p> + +<p>A few days I came across +<a href="https://github.com/openalpr/openalpr">the OpenALPR +project</a>, a free software project to automatically discover and +report license plates in images and video streams, and provide the +"car numbers" in a machine readable format. I've been looking for +such system for a while now, because I believe it is a bad idea that the +<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recognition">automatic +number plate recognition</a> tool only is available in the hands of +the powerful, and want it to be available also for the powerless to +even the score when it comes to surveillance and sousveillance. I +discovered the developer +<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/747509">wanted to get the tool into +Debian</a>, and as I too wanted it to be in Debian, I volunteered to +help him get it into shape to get the package uploaded into the Debian +archive.</p> + +<p>Today we finally managed to get the package into shape and uploaded +it into Debian, where it currently +<a href="https://ftp-master.debian.org//new/openalpr_2.2.1-1.html">waits +in the NEW queue</a> for review by the Debian ftpmasters.</p> + +<p>I guess you are wondering why on earth such tool would be useful +for the common folks, ie those not running a large government +surveillance system? Well, I plan to put it in a computer on my bike +and in my car, tracking the cars nearby and allowing me to be notified +when number plates on my watch list are discovered. Another use case +was suggested by a friend of mine, who wanted to set it up at his home +to open the car port automatically when it discovered the plate on his +car. When I mentioned it perhaps was a bit foolhardy to allow anyone +capable of placing his license plate number of a piece of cardboard to +open his car port, men replied that it was always unlocked anyway. I +guess for such use case it make sense. I am sure there are other use +cases too, for those with imagination and a vision.</p> + +<p>If you want to build your own version of the Debian package, check +out the upstream git source and symlink ./distros/debian to ./debian/ +before running "debuild" to build the source. Or wait a bit until the +package show up in unstable.</p> - The Norwegian open channel Frikanalen - 24x7 on the Internet - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Norwegian_open_channel_Frikanalen___24x7_on_the_Internet.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Norwegian_open_channel_Frikanalen___24x7_on_the_Internet.html - Wed, 25 Feb 2015 09:10:00 +0100 - <p>The Norwegian nationwide open channel -<a href="http://www.frikanalen.no/">Frikanalen</a> is still going -strong. It allow everyone to send the video they want on national -television. It is a TV station administrated completely using a web -browser, running only <ahref="https://github.com/Frikanalen">Free -Software</a>, providing <ahref="http://beta.frikanalen.tv/api">a REST -api</a> for administrators and members, and with distribution on the -national DVB-T distribution network RiksTV. But only between 12:00 -and 17:30 Norwegian time. This has finally changed, after many years -with limited distribution. A few weeks ago, we set up a Ogg Theora -stream via icecast to allow everyone with Internet access to check out -the channel the rest of the day. This is presented on -<a href="http://www.frikanalen.tv/se">the Frikanalen web site now</a>. And -since a few days ago, the channel is also available -via <a href="https://www.uninett.no/iptv-tilgang">multicast on -UNINETT</a>, available for those using IPTV TVs and set-top boxes in -the Norwegian National Research and Education network.</p> - -<p>If you want to see what is on the channel, point your media player -to one of these sources. The first should work with most players and -browsers, while as far as I know, the multicast UDP stream only work -with VLC.</p> - -<ul> - <li><a href="http://video.nuug.no/frikanalen.ogv">http://video.nuug.no/frikanalen.ogv</a></li> - <li>udp://@224.17.43.129:1234</li> -</ul> - -<p>The Ogg Theora / icecast stream is not working well, as the video -and audio is slightly out of sync. We have not been able to figure -out how to fix it. It is generated by recoding a internal MPEG -transport stream with MPEG4 coded video (ie H.264) to Ogg Theora / -Vorbis, and the result is less then stellar. If you have ideas how to -fix it, please let us know on frikanalen (at) nuug.no. We currently -use this with ffmpeg2theora 0.29:</p> + Using appstream with isenkram to install hardware related packages in Debian + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_appstream_with_isenkram_to_install_hardware_related_packages_in_Debian.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_appstream_with_isenkram_to_install_hardware_related_packages_in_Debian.html + Sun, 20 Dec 2015 12:20:00 +0100 + <p>Around three years ago, I created +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">the isenkram +system</a> to get a more practical solution in Debian for handing +hardware related packages. A GUI system in the isenkram package will +present a pop-up dialog when some hardware dongle supported by +relevant packages in Debian is inserted into the machine. The same +lookup mechanism to detect packages is available as command line +tools in the isenkram-cli package. In addition to mapping hardware, +it will also map kernel firmware files to packages and make it easy to +install needed firmware packages automatically. The key for this +system to work is a good way to map hardware to packages, in other +words, allow packages to announce what hardware they will work +with.</p> + +<p>I started by providing data files in the isenkram source, and +adding code to download the latest version of these data files at run +time, to ensure every user had the most up to date mapping available. +I also added support for storing the mapping in the Packages file in +the apt repositories, but did not push this approach because while I +was trying to figure out how to best store hardware/package mappings, +<a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/software/appstream/docs/">the +appstream system</a> was announced. I got in touch and suggested to +add the hardware mapping into that data set to be able to use +appstream as a data source, and this was accepted at least for the +Debian version of appstream.</p> + +<p>A few days ago using appstream in Debian for this became possible, +and today I uploaded a new version 0.20 of isenkram adding support for +appstream as a data source for mapping hardware to packages. The only +package so far using appstream to announce its hardware support is my +pymissile package. I got help from Matthias Klumpp with figuring out +how do add the required +<a href="https://appstream.debian.org/html/sid/main/metainfo/pymissile.html">metadata +in pymissile</a>. I added a file debian/pymissile.metainfo.xml with +this content:</p> <blockquote><pre> -./ffmpeg2theora.linux &lt;OBE_gemini_URL.ts&gt; -F 25 -x 720 -y 405 \ - --deinterlace --inputfps 25 -c 1 -H 48000 --keyint 8 --buf-delay 100 \ - --nosync -V 700 -o - | oggfwd video.nuug.no 8000 &lt;pw&gt; /frikanalen.ogv +&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt; +&lt;component&gt; + &lt;id&gt;pymissile&lt;/id&gt; + &lt;metadata_license&gt;MIT&lt;/metadata_license&gt; + &lt;name&gt;pymissile&lt;/name&gt; + &lt;summary&gt;Control original Striker USB Missile Launcher&lt;/summary&gt; + &lt;description&gt; + &lt;p&gt; + Pymissile provides a curses interface to control an original + Marks and Spencer / Striker USB Missile Launcher, as well as a + motion control script to allow a webcamera to control the + launcher. + &lt;/p&gt; + &lt;/description&gt; + &lt;provides&gt; + &lt;modalias&gt;usb:v1130p0202d*&lt;/modalias&gt; + &lt;/provides&gt; +&lt;/component&gt; </pre></blockquote> -<p>If you get the multicast UDP stream working, please let me know, as -I am curious how far the multicast stream reach. It do not make it to -my home network, nor any other commercially available network in -Norway that I am aware of.</p> +<p>The key for isenkram is the component/provides/modalias value, +which is a glob style match rule for hardware specific strings +(modalias strings) provided by the Linux kernel. In this case, it +will map to all USB devices with vendor code 1130 and product code +0202.</p> + +<p>Note, it is important that the license of all the metadata files +are compatible to have permissions to aggregate them into archive wide +appstream files. Matthias suggested to use MIT or BSD licenses for +these files. A challenge is figuring out a good id for the data, as +it is supposed to be globally unique and shared across distributions +(in other words, best to coordinate with upstream what to use). But +it can be changed later or, so we went with the package name as +upstream for this project is dormant.</p> + +<p>To get the metadata file installed in the correct location for the +mirror update scripts to pick it up and include its content the +appstream data source, the file must be installed in the binary +package under /usr/share/appdata/. I did this by adding the following +line to debian/pymissile.install:</p> + +<blockquote><pre> +debian/pymissile.metainfo.xml usr/share/appdata +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>With that in place, the command line tool isenkram-lookup will list +all packages useful on the current computer automatically, and the GUI +pop-up handler will propose to install the package not already +installed if a hardware dongle is inserted into the machine in +question.</p> + +<p>Details of the modalias field in appstream is available from the +<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DEP-11">DEP-11</a> proposal.</p> + +<p>To locate the modalias values of all hardware present in a machine, +try running this command on the command line:</p> + +<blockquote><pre> +cat $(find /sys/devices/|grep modalias) +</pre></blockquote> + +<p>To learn more about the isenkram system, please check out +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram/">my +blog posts tagged isenkram</a>.</p> + + + + + Bokhandeldistribusjon av boken Fri kultur av Lawrence Lessig + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Bokhandeldistribusjon_av_boken_Fri_kultur_av_Lawrence_Lessig.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Bokhandeldistribusjon_av_boken_Fri_kultur_av_Lawrence_Lessig.html + Mon, 14 Dec 2015 12:10:00 +0100 + <p><strong>Besøk +<a href="https://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/fri-kultur/paperback/product-22441576.html">lulu.com</a> +eller +<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fri-kultur-Norwegian-Lawrence-Lessig/dp/8269018236/">Amazon</a> +for å kjøpe boken på papir, eller last ned ebook som +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf">PDF</a>, +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub">ePub</a> +eller +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/archive/freeculture.nb.mobi">MOBI</a> +fra +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/">github</a>.</strong></p> + +<p>Jeg ble gledelig overrasket i dag da jeg oppdaget at boken jeg har +gitt ut +<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fri-kultur-Norwegian-Lawrence-Lessig/dp/8269018236/">hadde +dukket opp i Amazon</a>. Jeg hadde trodd det skulle ta lenger tid, da +jeg fikk beskjed om at det skulle ta seks til åtte uker. +Amazonoppføringen er et resultat av at jeg for noen uker siden +diskuterte prissetting og håndtering av profitt med forfatteren. Det +måtte avklares da bruksvilkårene til boken har krav om +ikke-kommersiell bruk. Vi ble enige om at overskuddet fra salg av +boken skal sendes til +<a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons-stiftelsen</a>. +Med det på plass kunne jeg be +<a href="https://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/fri-kultur/paperback/product-22441576.html">lulu.com</a> +om å gi boken «utvidet» distribusjon. Årsaken til at +bokhandeldistribusjon var litt utfordrende er at bokhandlere krever +mulighet for profitt på bøkene de selger (selvfølgelig), og dermed +måtte de få lov til å selge til høyere pris enn lulu.com. I tillegg +er det krav om samme pris på lulu.com og i bokhandlene, dermed blir +prisen økt også hos lulu.com. Hva skulle jeg gjøre med den profitten +uten å bryte med klausulen om ikkekommersiell? Løsningen var å gi +bort profitten til CC-stiftelsen. Prisen på boken ble nesten +tredoblet, til $19.99 (ca. 160,-) pluss frakt, men synligheten øker +betraktelig når den kan finnes i katalogene til store nettbokhandlere. +Det betyr at hvis du allerede har kjøpt boken har du fått den veldig +billig, og kjøper du den nå, får du den fortsatt billig samt donerer i +tillegg noen tiere til fremme av Creative Commons.</p> + +<p>Mens jeg var i gang med å titte etter informasjon om boken +oppdaget jeg at den også var dukket opp på +<a href="https://books.google.no/books?id=uKUGCwAAQBAJ">Google +Books</a>, der en kan lese den på web. PDF-utgaven har ennå ikke +dukket opp hos <a href="https://www.nb.no/">Nasjonalbiblioteket</a>, +men det regner jeg med kommer på plass i løpet av noen uker. Boken er +heller ikke dukket opp hos +<a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/">Barnes & Noble</a> ennå, men +jeg antar det bare er et tidsspørsmål før dette er på plass.</p> + +<p>Boken er dessverre ikke tilgjengelig fra norske bokhandlere, og +kommer neppe til å bli det med det første. Årsaken er at for å få det +til måtte jeg personlig håndtere bestilling av bøker, hvilket jeg ikke +er interessert i å bruke tid på. Jeg kunne betalt ca 2000,- til +<a href="http://www.bokbasen.no/">den norske bokbasen</a>, en felles +database over bøker tilgjengelig for norske bokhandlere, for å få en +oppføring der, men da måtte jeg tatt imot bestillinger på epost og +sendt ut bøker selv. Det ville krevd at jeg var klar til å +sende ut bøker på kort varsel, dvs. holdt meg med ekstra bøker, +konvolutter og frimerker. Bokbasen har visst ikke opplegg for å be +bokhandlene bestille direkte via web, så jeg droppet oppføring der. +Jeg har spurt Haugen bok og Tronsmo direkte på epost om de er +interessert i å ta inn boken i sin bestillingskatalog, men ikke fått +svar, så jeg antar de ikke er interessert. Derimot har jeg fått en +hyggelig henvendelse fra Biblioteksentralen som fortalte at de har +lagt den inn i sin database slik at deres bibliotekskunder enkelt kan +bestille den via dem.</p> + +<p>Boken er i følge +<a href="http://bibsys-almaprimo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=BIBSYS_ILS71518423420002201&indx=1&recIds=BIBSYS_ILS71518423420002201&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&dscnt=0&tab=library_catalogue&dstmp=1448543801124&vl(freeText0)=fri%20kultur&vid=UBO&mode=Basic">Bibsys/Oria</a> +og bokdatabasen til +<a href="https://www.deich.folkebibl.no/cgi-bin/websok?tnr=1819617">Deichmanske</a> +tilgjengelig fra flere biblioteker allerede, og alle eksemplarer er +visst allerede utlånt med ventetid. Det synes jeg er veldig gledelig +å se. Jeg håper mange kommer til å lese boken. Jeg tror den er +spesielt egnet for foreldre og bekjente av oss nerder for å forklare +hva slags problemer vi ser med dagens opphavsrettsregime.</p> - En enklere Osloskolehverdag med automatisk sjekk av Fronter - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/En_enklere_Osloskolehverdag_med_automatisk_sjekk_av_Fronter.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/En_enklere_Osloskolehverdag_med_automatisk_sjekk_av_Fronter.html - Thu, 12 Feb 2015 10:30:00 +0100 - <p>En stund nå har jeg vært nødt til å forholde meg til -<a href="https://fronter.com/osloskoler/">Fronter</a>, en nettløsning -Osloskolen bruker for kontakt mellom hjem og skole. Løsningen -imponerer ikke, og det er lagt opp til at vi foreldre skal logge inn -regelmessig for å se om noe har endret seg. Idéen om å la folk stikke -innom nettsider for å se om det har skjedd endringer er så idiotisk at -jeg har lett etter et alternativ. Fronterløsningen har en innebygget -løsning der en kan abonnere på forsiden (som viser en oppsummering av -det en har tilgang til), og få tilsendt en kopi hver natt, men det -fjerner jo bare behovet for å stikke innom, ikke den idiotiske ideen -om at folk skal huske hvordan nettsiden så ut sist og oppdage hva som -er endret.</p> - -<p>For å gjøre livet enklere har jeg derfor brukt litt tid på å lage -et program som kobler seg opp og sjekker etter endringer automatisk, -slik at jeg kan få beskjed fra datamaskinen når noe endrer seg i -stedet for å forsøke å finne ut av det selv. I går ble scriptet -brukbart, og jeg er dermed klar til å dele det med deg.</p> - -<p>Jeg startet med å skrive programmet i Python, og hadde en versjon -som logget inn og hentet ned enkeltsider fra Fronter. Men -Fronter-websidene suger golfballer gjennom en hageslange, med -uleselig HTML, flere nivåer av iframes og en struktur på innholdet som -er svært vanskelig å finne ut av, så jeg ga til slutt opp lxml-parsing -med Python og forsøkte meg med WWW::Mechanize for Perl som jeg kjente -fra før. I ettertid har jeg oppdaget at WWW:Mechanize også finnes for -Python, så jeg kunne antagelig droppet språkbyttet. Men da jeg -oppdaget det hadde jeg kommet så langt med Perl-utgaven, så jeg hoppet -ikke tilbake.</p> - -<p>For å logge inn i Fronter besøker en enten skolens websider eller -den sentrale innloggingsiden <tt>https://fronter.com/osloskoler/</tt>. -Perl-koden for å logge inn ser slik ut:</p> - -<pre> -my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new(); -$mech->get('https://fronter.com/osloskoler/'); -$mech->submit_form(fields => { - username => $username, - password => $password, -} ); -</pre> - -<p>Neste steg er å få oversikt over hvilke «rom» en har tilgang til. -På vår skole er det rom for skolen, biblioteket, elevrådet, -aktivitetsskolen og klasser der en har unger, og dette vil være -forskjellig fra person til person. Etter å ha romstert rundt i -Fronter-grensesnittet endel kom jeg over en grei HTML-side med -oversikt over rommene, -<tt>https://fronter.com/osloskoler/adm/projects.phtml?mode=displayRoomchooser</tt>, -så jeg bruker denne til å hente ut romoversikt med rom-ID.</p> - -<pre> -my %room; -$mech->get('https://fronter.com/osloskoler/adm/projects.phtml?mode=displayRoomchooser'); -for my $link ($mech->links()) { - my $url = $link->url(); - if ($url =~ m%/links/list_files.phtml\?edit=(\d+)$%) { - $room{$link->text()} = $1; - } -} -</pre> - -<p>Når en har rom-ID kan en slå opp websiden for rommet, som starter -på -<tt>https://fronter.com/osloskoler/contentframeset.phtml?goto_prjid=$ROMID</tt> -(der $ROMID byttes ut med rom-ID-tallet). Det gir en side med -iframes, og en må tre nivåer ned i iframes før en får tak i -HTML-informasjonen som vises frem når en ser på det aktuelle rommet. -Her ga jeg opp den robuste parsingen og hardkodet endel URL-er som i -stedet bør spores opp maskinelt. HTML-informasjonen som vises lagres -i en fil etter at økt- og innloggings-nøkkel er fjernet og deretter -bruker jeg <tt>lynx --dump --nolist</tt> for å hente ut en tekstlig -utgave av websiden. Denne tekstlige utgaven sammenlignes med forrige -versjon og oversikt over endringer kan så sendes ut på egnet vis.</p> - -<p>Jeg valgte å bruke git til å holde rede på endringer, så jeg -sjekker inn HTML og tekst-utgaver i git og bruker git til å vise frem -endringene i tekstutgavene. Programvaren for å gjøre dette er testet -på Debian GNU/Linux og kan -<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/fronter-scraper-oslo">lastes -ned fra github</a>.</p> - -<p>For å bruke dette selv, kjør følgende kommandoer på din -Debian-maskin (forutsetter sudo-tilgang for installasjon av -programvare):</p> - -<pre> -sudo apt-get install git lynx-cur libio-prompter-perl libwww-mechanize-perl \ - libconfig-inifiles-perl -git clone https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/fronter-scraper-oslo -cd fronter-scraper-oslo -./update-git -</pre> - -<p>Det gjenstår endel, men systemet er allerede nyttig for meg. Jeg -ønsker at systemet også skal laste ned PDF-er og slikt som er lagt ut -for nedlasting på sidene, slik at f.eks. ukeplaner kommer inn i -git-arkivet mitt automatisk og jeg får automatisk beskjed når ny -ukeplan er lagt ut. Kanskje du kan bidra med å få det på plass, eller -kanskje du har andre ting du vil fikse? Jeg tar gjerne imot endringer -og forbedringer. Det er mye som kan gjøres bedre, og scriptet er ikke -veldig robust mot endringer hos nettsidene til Fronter. Jeg regner -dermed med at det vil trengs oppdateringer jevnlig etter hvert som -Fronter-løsningen endrer seg.</p> + The GNU General Public License is not magic pixie dust + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_GNU_General_Public_License_is_not_magic_pixie_dust.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_GNU_General_Public_License_is_not_magic_pixie_dust.html + Mon, 30 Nov 2015 09:55:00 +0100 + <p>A blog post from my fellow Debian developer Paul Wise titled +"<a href="http://bonedaddy.net/pabs3/log/2015/11/27/sfc-supporter/">The +GPL is not magic pixie dust</a>" explain the importance of making sure +the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GPL</a> is enforced. +I quote the blog post from Paul in full here with his permission:<p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/"><img src="https://sfconservancy.org/img/supporter-badge.png" width="194" height="90" alt="Become a Software Freedom Conservancy Supporter!" align="right" border="0" /></a></p> + +<blockquote> +The GPL is not magic pixie dust. It does not work by itself.<br/> + +The first step is to choose a +<a href="https://copyleft.org/">copyleft</a> license for your +code.<br/> + +The next step is, when someone fails to follow that copyleft license, +<b>it must be enforced</b><br/> + +and its a simple fact of our modern society that such type of +work<br/> + +is incredibly expensive to do and incredibly difficult to do. +</blockquote> + +<p><small>-- <a href="http://ebb.org/bkuhn/">Bradley Kuhn</a>, in +<a href="http://faif.us/" title="Free as in Freedom">FaiF</a> +<a href="http://faif.us/cast/2015/nov/24/0x57/">episode +0x57</a></small></p> + +<p>As the Debian Website +<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/794116">used</a> +<a href="https://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/webwml/webwml/english/intro/free.wml?r1=1.24&amp;r2=1.25">to</a> +imply, public domain and permissively licensed software can lead to +the production of more proprietary software as people discover useful +software, extend it and or incorporate it into their hardware or +software products. Copyleft licenses such as the GNU GPL were created +to close off this avenue to the production of proprietary software but +such licenses are not enough. With the ongoing adoption of Free +Software by individuals and groups, inevitably the community's +expectations of license compliance are violated, usually out of +ignorance of the way Free Software works, but not always. As Karen +and Bradley explained in <a href="http://faif.us/" title="Free as in +Freedom">FaiF</a> +<a href="http://faif.us/cast/2015/nov/24/0x57/">episode 0x57</a>, +copyleft is nothing if no-one is willing and able to stand up in court +to protect it. The reality of today's world is that legal +representation is expensive, difficult and time consuming. With +<a href="http://gpl-violations.org/">gpl-violations.org</a> in hiatus +<a href="http://gpl-violations.org/news/20151027-homepage-recovers/">until</a> +some time in 2016, the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/">Software +Freedom Conservancy</a> (a tax-exempt charity) is the major defender +of the Linux project, Debian and other groups against GPL violations. +In March the SFC supported a +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/">lawsuit +by Christoph Hellwig</a> against VMware for refusing to +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/vmware-lawsuit-faq.html">comply +with the GPL</a> in relation to their use of parts of the Linux +kernel. Since then two of their sponsors pulled corporate funding and +conferences +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/nov/24/faif-carols-fundraiser/">blocked +or cancelled their talks</a>. As a result they have decided to rely +less on corporate funding and more on the broad community of +individuals who support Free Software and copyleft. So the SFC has +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/nov/23/2015fundraiser/">launched</a> +a <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">campaign</a> to create +a community of folks who stand up for copyleft and the GPL by +supporting their work on promoting and supporting copyleft and Free +Software.</p> + +<p>If you support Free Software, +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/nov/26/like-what-I-do/">like</a> +what the SFC do, agree with their +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/linux-compliance/principles.html">compliance +principles</a>, are happy about their +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">successes</a> in 2015, +work on a project that is an SFC +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/members/current/">member</a> and or +just want to stand up for copyleft, please join +<a href="https://identi.ca/cwebber/image/JQGPA4qbTyyp3-MY8QpvuA">Christopher +Allan Webber</a>, +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2015/nov/24/faif-carols-fundraiser/">Carol +Smith</a>, +<a href="http://www.jonobacon.org/2015/11/25/supporting-software-freedom-conservancy/">Jono +Bacon</a>, myself and +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/sponsors/#supporters">others</a> in +becoming a +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">supporter</a>. For the +next week your donation will be +<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/nov/27/black-friday/">matched</a> +by an anonymous donor. Please also consider asking your employer to +match your donation or become a sponsor of SFC. Don't forget to +spread the word about your support for SFC via email, your blog and or +social media accounts.</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>I agree with Paul on this topic and just signed up as a Supporter +of Software Freedom Conservancy myself. Perhaps you should be a +supporter too?</p>