X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/ed5802d0bfb705e6c621ddccda0a53c725aa83a2..1a61a65f98e142155ea20c7a346739b629d5511f:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index 6e528c0b9f..2d752b9efb 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -6,6 +6,760 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + Recipe to test the Freedombox project on amd64 or Raspberry Pi + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Recipe_to_test_the_Freedombox_project_on_amd64_or_Raspberry_Pi.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Recipe_to_test_the_Freedombox_project_on_amd64_or_Raspberry_Pi.html + Tue, 10 Sep 2013 14:20:00 +0200 + <p>I was introduced to the +<a href="http://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/">Freedombox project</a> +in 2010, when Eben Moglen presented his vision about serving the need +of non-technical people to keep their personal information private and +within the legal protection of their own homes. The idea is to give +people back the power over their network and machines, and return +Internet back to its intended peer-to-peer architecture. Instead of +depending on a central service, the Freedombox will give everyone +control over their own basic infrastructure.</p> + +<p>I've intended to join the effort since then, but other tasks have +taken priority. But this summers nasty news about the misuse of trust +and privilege exercised by the "western" intelligence gathering +communities increased my eagerness to contribute to a point where I +actually started working on the project a while back.</p> + +<p>The <a href="https://alioth.debian.org/projects/freedombox/">initial +Debian initiative</a> based on the vision from Eben Moglen, is to +create a simple and cheap Debian based appliance that anyone can hook +up in their home and get access to secure and private services and +communication. The initial deployment platform have been the +<a href="http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-dreamplugdetails.aspx">Dreamplug</a>, +which is a piece of hardware I do not own. So to be able to test what +the current Freedombox setup, I had to come up with a way to install +it on some hardware I do got access to. I have rewritten the +<a href="https://github.com/NickDaly/freedom-maker">freedom-maker</a> +image build framework to use .deb packages instead of only copying +setup into the boot images, and thanks to this rewrite I am able to +set up any machine supported by Debian Wheezy as a Freedombox, using +the previously mentioned deb (and a few support debs for packages +missing in Debian).</p> + +<p>The current Freedombox setup consist of a set of bootstrapping +scripts +(<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/freedombox-setup">freedombox-setup</a>), +and a administrative web interface +(<a href="https://github.com/NickDaly/Plinth">plinth</a> + exmachina + +withsqlite), as well as a privacy enhancing proxy based on +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/privoxy">privoxy</a> +(freedombox-privoxy). There is also a web/javascript based XMPP +client (<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/jwchat">jwchat</a>) +trying (unsuccessfully so far) to talk to the XMPP server +(<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/ejabberd">ejabberd</a>). The +web interface is pluggable, and the goal is to use it to enable OpenID +services, mesh network connectivity, use of TOR, etc, etc. Not much of +this is really working yet, see +<a href="https://github.com/NickDaly/freedombox-todos/blob/master/TODO">the +project TODO</a> for links to GIT repositories. Most of the code is +on github at the moment. The HTTP proxy is operational out of the +box, and the admin web interface can be used to add/remove plinth +users. I've not been able to do anything else with it so far, but +know there are several branches spread around github and other places +with lots of half baked features.</p> + +<p>Anyway, if you want to have a look at the current stat, the +following recipes should work to give you a test machine to poke +at.</p> + +<p><strong>Debian Wheezy amd64</strong></p> + +<ol> + +<li>Fetch normal Debian Wheezy installation ISO.</li> +<li>Boot from it, either as CD or USB stick.</li> +<li><p>Press [tab] on the boot prompt and add this as a boot argument +to the Debian installer:<p> +<pre>url=<a href="http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-wheezy.dat">http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-wheezy.dat</a></pre></li> + +<li>Answer the few language/region/password questions and pick disk to +install on.</li> + +<li>When the installation is finished and the machine have rebooted a +few times, your Freedombox is ready for testing.</li> + +</ol> + +<p><strong>Raspberry Pi Raspbian</strong></p> + +<ol> + +<li>Fetch a Raspbian SD card image, create SD card.</li> +<li>Boot from SD card, extend file system to fill the card completely.</li> +<li><p>Log in and add this to /etc/sources.list:</p> +<pre> +deb <a href="http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/">http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox</a> wheezy main +</pre></li> +<li><p>Run this as root:</p> +<pre> +wget -O - http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/BE1A583D.asc | \ + apt-key add - +apt-get update +apt-get install freedombox-setup +/usr/lib/freedombox/setup +</pre></li> +<li>Reboot into your freshly created Freedombox.</li> + +</ol> + +<p>You can test it on other architectures too, but because the +freedombox-privoxy package is binary, it will only work as intended on +the architectures where I have had time to build the binary and put it +in my APT repository. But do not let this stop you. It is only a +short "<tt>apt-get source -b freedombox-privoxy</tt>" away. :)</p> + +<p>Note that by default Freedombox is a DHCP server on the +192.168.1.0/24 subnet, so if this is your subnet be careful and turn +off the DHCP server by running "<tt>update-rc.d isc-dhcp-server +disable</tt>" as root.</p> + +<p>Please let me know if this work for you, or if you have any +problems. We gather on the IRC channel +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org:6667/%23freedombox">#freedombox</a> on +irc.debian.org and the +<a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss">project +mailing list</a>.</p> + +<p>Once you get your freedombox operational, you can visit +<tt>http://your-host-name:8001/</tt> to see the state of the plint +welcome screen (dead end - do not be surprised if you are unable to +get past it), and next visit <tt>http://your-host-name:8001/help/</tt> +to look at the rest of plinth. The default user is 'admin' and the +default password is 'secret'.</p> + + + + + Datalagringsdirektivet gjør at Oslo Høyre og Arbeiderparti ikke får min stemme i år + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Datalagringsdirektivet_gj_r_at_Oslo_H_yre_og_Arbeiderparti_ikke_f_r_min_stemme_i__r.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Datalagringsdirektivet_gj_r_at_Oslo_H_yre_og_Arbeiderparti_ikke_f_r_min_stemme_i__r.html + Sun, 8 Sep 2013 20:40:00 +0200 + <p>I 2011 raderte et stortingsflertall bestående av Høyre og +Arbeiderpartiet vekk en betydelig del av privatsfæren til det norske +folk. Det ble vedtatt at det skulle registreres og lagres i et halvt +år hvor alle som bærer på en mobiltelefon befinner seg, hvem de +snakker med og hvor lenge de snakket sammen. Det skal også +registreres hvem de sendte SMS-meldinger til, hvem en har sendt epost +til, og hvilke nett-tjenere en besøkte. Saken er kjent som +<a href="http://beta.holderdeord.no/issues/innfore-datalagringsdirektivet">Datalagringsdirektivet +(DLD)</a>, og innebærer at alle innbyggerne og andre innenfor Norges +grenser overvåkes døgnet rundt. Det ble i praksis innført brev og +besøkskontroll av hele befolkningen. Rapporter fra de landene som +allerede har innført slik total lagring av borgernes +kommunikasjonsmønstre forteller at det ikke hjelper i +kriminalitetsbekjempelsen. Den norske prislappen blir mange hundre +millioner, uten at det ser ut til å bidra positivt til politiets +arbeide. Jeg synes flere hundre millioner i stedet burde vært brukt +på noe som kan dokumenteres å ha effekt i kriminalitetsbekjempelsen. +Se mer på +<a href="http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datalagringsdirektivet">Wikipedia</a> +og <a href="http://www.uhuru.biz/?cat=84">Jon Wessel-Aas</a>.</p> + +<p>Hva er problemet, tenkter du kanskje? Et åpenbart problem er at +medienes kildevern i praksis blir radert ut. Den innsamlede +informasjonen gjør det mulig å finne ut hvem som har snakket med +journalister på telefon, SMS og epost, og hvem som har vært i nærheten +av journalister så sant begge bar med seg en telefon. Et annet er at +advokatvernet blir sterkt redusert, der politiet kan finne ut hvem +som har snakket med en advokat når, eller vært i møter en med advokat. +Et tredje er at svært personlig informasjon kan avledes fra hvilke +nettsteder en har besøkt. Har en besøkt hivnorge.no, +swingersnorge.com eller andre sider som kan brukes til avlede +interesser som hører til privatsfæren, vil denne informasjonen være +tilgjengelig takket være datalagringsdirektivet.</p> + +<p>De fleste partiene var mot, kun to partier stemte for. Høyre og +Arbeiderpartiet. Og både Høyre og Arbeiderpartiet i Oslo har +DLD-forkjempere på toppen av sine lister (har ikke sjekket de andre +fylkene). Det er dermed helt uaktuelt for meg å stemme på disse +partiene. Her er oversikten over partienes valglister i Oslo, med +informasjon om hvem som stemte hva i første DLD-votering i Stortinget, +basert på informasjon fra mine venner i +<a href="http://beta.holderdeord.no/votes/1301946411e">Holder de +Ord</a> samt <a href="http://data.stortinget.no/">data.stortinget.no</a>. +Først ut er stortingslista fra Høyre for Oslo:</p> + +<style type="text/css"> +.for {background-color:#F5A9A9;} +.mot {background-color:#A9F5BC;} +.ukjent { } +</style> + +<table> +<tr><th>#</th><th>Navn, fødselsår og valgkrets</th><th>Stemme/kommentar</th></tr> + +<tr class="for"><td>1.</td> +<td>Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide (1976), Gamle Oslo</td> +<td>Stemte for DLD</td></tr> + +<tr class="mot"><td>2.</td> +<td>Nikolai Astrup (1978), Frogner</td> +<td>Stemte mot DLD</td></tr> + +<tr class="mot"><td>3.</td> +<td>Michael Tetzschner (1954), Vestre Aker</td> +<td>Stemte mot DLD</td> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>4.</td> +<td>Kristin Vinje (1963), Nordre Aker</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>5.</td> +<td>Mudassar Hussain Kapur (1976), Nordstrand</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>6.</td> +<td>Stefan Magnus B. Heggelund (1984), Grünerløkka</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>7.</td> +<td>Heidi Nordby Lunde (1973), Grünerløkka</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>8.</td> +<td>Frode Helgerud (1950), Frogner</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>9.</td> +<td>Afshan Rafiq (1975), Stovner</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>10.</td> +<td>Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg (1936), Frogner</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>11.</td> +<td>Camilla Strandskog (1984) St.Hanshaugen</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>12.</td> +<td>John Christian Elden (1967), Ullern</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>13.</td> +<td>Berit Solli (1972), Alna</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>14.</td> +<td>Ola Kvisgaard (1963), Frogner</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>15.</td> +<td>James Stove Lorentzen (1957), Vestre Aker</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>16.</td> +<td>Gülsüm Koc (1987), Stovner</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>17.</td> +<td>Jon Ole Whist (1976), Grünerløkka</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>18.</td> +<td>Maren Eline Malthe-Sørenssen (1971), Vestre Aker</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>19.</td> +<td>Ståle Hagen (1968), Søndre Nordstrand</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>20.</td> +<td>Kjell Omdal Erichsen (1978), Sagene</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>21.</td> +<td>Saida R. Begum (1987), Grünerløkka</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>22.</td> +<td>Torkel Brekke (1970), Nordre Aker</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>23.</td> +<td>Sverre K. Seeberg (1950), Vestre Aker</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>24.</td> +<td>Julie Margrethe Brodtkorb (1974), Ullern</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td>25.</td> +<td>Fabian Stang (1955), Frogner</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +</table> + +<p>Deretter har vi stortingslista fra Arbeiderpartiet for Oslo:</p> + +<table> + +<tr><th>#</th><th>Navn, fødselsår og valgkrets</th><th>Stemme/kommentar</th></tr> + +<tr class="for"><td>1.</td> +<td>Jens Stoltenberg (1959), Frogner</td> +<td>Ikke til stede i Stortinget, leder av regjeringen som fremmet forslaget</td></tr> + +<tr class="for"><td>2.</td> +<td>Hadia Tajik (1983), Grünerløkka</td> +<td>Stemte for DLD</td></tr> + +<tr class="for"><td> 3.</td> +<td>Jonas Gahr Støre (1960), Vestre Aker</td> +<td>Ikke til stede i Stortinget, medlem av regjeringen som fremmet forslaget</td></tr> + +<tr class="for"><td> 4.</td> +<td>Marianne Marthinsen (1980), Grünerløkka</td> +<td>Stemte for DLD</td></tr> + +<tr class="for"><td> 5.</td> +<td>Jan Bøhler (1952), Alna</td> +<td>Stemte for DLD</td></tr> + +<tr class="for"><td> 6.</td> +<td>Marit Nybakk (1947), Frogner</td> +<td>Stemte for DLD</td></tr> + +<tr class="for"><td> 7.</td> +<td>Truls Wickholm (1978), Sagene</td> +<td>Stemte for DLD</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 8.</td> +<td>Prableen Kaur (1993), Grorud</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 9.</td> +<td>Vegard Grøslie Wennesland (1983), St.Hanshaugen</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 10.</td> +<td>Inger Helene Vaaten (1975), Grorud</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 11.</td> +<td>Ivar Leveraas (1939), Alna</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 12.</td> +<td>Grete Haugdal (1971), Gamle Oslo</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 13.</td> +<td>Olav Tønsberg (1948), Alna</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 14.</td> +<td>Khamshajiny Gunaratnam (1988), Grorud</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 15.</td> +<td>Fredrik Mellem (1969), Sagene</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 16.</td> +<td>Brit Axelsen (1945), Stovner</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 17.</td> +<td>Dag Bayegan-Harlem (1977), Ullern</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 18.</td> +<td>Kristin Sandaker (1963), Østeinsjø</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 19.</td> +<td>Bashe Musse (1965), Grünerløkka</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 20.</td> +<td>Torunn Kanutte Husvik (1983), St. Hanshaugen</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 21.</td> +<td>Steinar Andersen (1947), Nordstrand</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 22.</td> +<td>Anne Cathrine Berger (1972), Sagene</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 23.</td> +<td>Khalid Mahmood (1959), Østensjø</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 24.</td> +<td>Munir Jaber (1990), Alna</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +<tr class="ukjent"><td> 25.</td> +<td>Libe Solberg Rieber-Mohn (1965), Frogner</td> +<td>Ikke til stede</td></tr> + +</table> + +<p>Hvilket parti får så min stemme i år. Jeg tror det blir +<a href="http://piratpartiet.no/">Piratpartiet</a>. Hvis de kan bidra +til at det kommer noen inn på Stortinget med teknisk peiling, så får +kanskje ikke overvåkningsgalskapen like fritt spillerom som det har +hatt så langt.</p> + + + + + + Second beta release (beta 1) of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Second_beta_release__beta_1__of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Second_beta_release__beta_1__of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + Thu, 22 Aug 2013 09:30:00 +0200 + <p>The second wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today, slightly delayed because of some bugs in the initial Windows +integration fixes . This is the release announcement:</p> + +<p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b1 released 2013-08-22</strong></p> + +<p>These are the release notes for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~b1, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p> + +<p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as +Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an +out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school +network. Immediately 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 +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more +than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.</p> + +<p>This is the sixth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically this +is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the Squeeze +release.</p> + +<p>ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the +versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta +release. Both alpha and beta0 based installations should reinstall or +deal with gosa.conf manually; there are two options: (1) Keep +gosa.conf and edit this file as outlined +<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/2013/08/msg00127.html">on +the mailing list</a>. (2) Accept the new version of gosa.conf and +replace both contained admin password placeholders with the password +hashes found in the old one (backup copy!). In both cases every user +need to change their their password to make sure a password is set for +CIFS access to their home directory.</p> + +<p><strong>Software updates</strong></p> + +<ul> + +<li>Added ssh askpass packages to default installation, to ensure ssh + work also without a attached tty.</li> +<li>Add the command-not-found package to the default installation to + make it easier to figure out where to find missing command line + tools. Please note, that the command 'update-command-not-found' + has to be run as root to actually make it useful (internet access + required).</li> + +</ul> + +<p><strong>Other changes</strong></p> + +<ul> + +<li>Adjusted the USB stick ISO image build to include every tool +needed for desktop=xfce installations.</li> +<li>Adjust thin-client-server task to work when installing from USB +stick ISO image.</li> +<li>Made new grub artwork (changed png from indexed to RGB format).</li> +<li>Minor cleanup in the CUPS setup.</li> +<li>Make sure that bootstrapping of the Samba domain really happens + during installation of the main server and adjust SID handling to + cope with this.</li> +<li>Make Samba passwords changeable (again) via GOsa².</li> +<li>Fix generation of LM and NT password hashes via GOsa² to avoid + empty password hashes.</li> +<li>Adapted Samba machine domain joining to latest change in the + smbldap-tools Perl package, fixing bugs blocking Windows machines + from joining the Samba domain.</li> + +</ul> + +<p><strong>Known issues</strong></p> + +<ul> + +<li>KDE fails to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to + not use the http proxy as it should.</li> +<li>Chromium also fails to use the proxy when using the KDE desktop + (using the KDE configuration).</li> + +</ul> + +<p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p> + +<p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p> + +<ul> + +<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso</a></li> + +<li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso</a></li> + +<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-CD.iso .</li> + +</ul> + +<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 1e357f80b55e703523f2254adde6d78b +<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 7157f9be5fd27c7694d713c6ecfed61c3edda3b2</p> + +<p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use</p> + +<ul> + +<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso</a></li> +<li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso</a></li> +<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b1-USB.iso .</li> + +</ul> + +<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 7a8408ead59cf7e3cef25afb6e91590b +<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: f1817c031f02790d5edb3bfa0dcf8451088ad119</p> + + +<p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a> + + + + + Intel 180 SSD disk with Lenovo firmware can not use Intel firmware + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_180_SSD_disk_with_Lenovo_firmware_can_not_use_Intel_firmware.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_180_SSD_disk_with_Lenovo_firmware_can_not_use_Intel_firmware.html + Sun, 18 Aug 2013 14:00:00 +0200 + <p>Earlier, I reported about +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_fix_a_Thinkpad_X230_with_a_broken_180_GB_SSD_disk.html">my +problems using an Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB disk</a>. Friday I was +told by IBM that the original disk should be thrown away. And as +there no longer was a problem if I bricked the firmware, I decided +today to try to install Intel firmware to replace the Lenovo firmware +currently on the disk.</p> + +<p>I searched the Intel site for firmware, and found +<a href="https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3472&DwnldID=18363&ProductFamily=Solid-State+Drives+and+Caching&ProductLine=Intel%c2%ae+High+Performance+Solid-State+Drive&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+SSD+520+Series+(180GB%2c+2.5in+SATA+6Gb%2fs%2c+25nm%2c+MLC)&lang=eng">issdfut_2.0.4.iso</a> +(aka Intel SATA Solid-State Drive Firmware Update Tool) which +according to the site should contain the latest firmware for SSD +disks. I inserted the broken disk in one of my spare laptops and +booted the ISO from a USB stick. The disk was recognized, but the +program claimed the newest firmware already were installed and refused +to insert any Intel firmware. So no change, and the disk is still +unable to handle write load. :( I guess the only way to get them +working would be if Lenovo releases new firmware. No idea how likely +that is. Anyway, just blogging about this test for completeness. I +got a working Samsung disk, and see no point in spending more time on +the broken disks.</p> + + + + + 90 percent done with the Norwegian draft translation of Free Culture + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/90_percent_done_with_the_Norwegian_draft_translation_of_Free_Culture.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/90_percent_done_with_the_Norwegian_draft_translation_of_Free_Culture.html + Fri, 2 Aug 2013 10:40:00 +0200 + <p>It has been a while since my last update. Since last summer, I +have worked on a 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, +to get a Norwegian text explaining the problems with the copyright +law. Yesterday, I finally broken the 90% mark, when counting the +number of strings to translate. Due to real life constraints, I have +not had time to work on it since March, but when the summer broke out, +I found time to work on it again. Still lots of work left, but the +first draft is nearing completion. I created a graph to show the +progress of the translation:</p> + +<p><img width="80%" align="center" src="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/raw/master/progress.png"></p> + +<p>When the first draft is done, the translated text need to be +proof read, and the remaining formatting problems with images and SVG +drawings need to be fixed. There are probably also some index entries +missing that need to be added. This can be done by comparing the +index entries listed in the SiSU version of the book, or comparing the +English docbook version with the paper version. Last, the colophon +page with ISBN numbers etc need to be wrapped up before the release is +done. I should also figure out how to get correct Norwegian sorting +of the index pages. All docbook tools I have tried so far (xmlto, +docbook-xsl, dblatex) get the order of symbols and the special +Norwegian letters ÆØÅ wrong.</p> + +<p>There is still need for translators and people with docbook +knowledge, to be able to get a good looking book (I still struggle +with dblatex, xmlto and docbook-xsl) as well as to do the draft +translation and proof reading. And I would like the figures to be +redrawn as SVGs to make it easy to translate them. Any SVG master +around? There are also some legal terms that are unfamiliar to me. +If you want to help, please get in touch with me, and check out the +project files currently available from +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig">github</a>.</p> + +<p>If you are curious what the translated book currently look like, +the updated +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.pdf?raw=true">PDF</a> +and +<a href="https://github.com/petterreinholdtsen/free-culture-lessig/blob/master/archive/freeculture.nb.epub?raw=true">EPUB</a> +are published on github. The HTML version is published as well, but +github hand it out with MIME type text/plain, confusing browsers, so I +saw no point in linking to that version.</p> + + + + + First beta release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_beta_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_beta_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + Sat, 27 Jul 2013 20:30:00 +0200 + <p>The first wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:</p> + +<p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b0 released +2013-07-27</strong></p> + +<p>These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~b0, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p> + +<p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as +Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an +out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school +network. Immediately 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. 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 +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more +than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.</p> + +<p>This is the fifth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.</p> + +<p>ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the +versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta +release.</p> + +<p><strong>Software updates</strong></p> + +<ul> + +<li>Switched roaming workstation profiles from wicd to network-manager + for network configuration, as wicd didn't work any more.</li> +<li>Changed version numbers of patched gosa and libpam-mklocaluser + packages to make sure our locally patched versions will be replaced + by the official packages when they are released from Debian. Those + installing alpha version need to reinstall or manually downgrade gosa + and libpam-mklocaluser.</li> +<li>Added bluetooth tools to the default desktop (bluedevil, blueman).</li> +<li>Added tools for sharing the desktop on KDE (krdc, krfb).</li> +<li>Added valgrind to the default installation for easier debugging of + crash bugs.</li> + +</ul> + +<p><strong>Other changes</strong></p> + +<ul> + +<li>Fixed artwork package to work with gnome, no longer break + desktop=gnome installations.</li> +<li>Adjusted installer to now work when forced to use a proxy with the + netinst CD.</li> +<li>Fixed code detecting and setting/loading hardware specific + setup/firmware to work more robust out of the box.</li> +<li>Adjusted Kerberos setup to detect realm and server settings at + install time instead of dynamically at run time. This avoid a crash + with krb5-auth-dialog on diskless workstations without a DNS name.</li> +<li>Worked around misfeature in network-manager not calling the dhclient + exit hooks, causing automatic proxy configuration and automatic host + name setting at run time to work again.</li> +<li>Fixed feature setting the default Iceweasel start page from URL + fetched from LDAP, to allow schools to set the global default by + updating the dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no LDAP object.</li> +<li>Changed default host name on all networked machines to be unique + (generated from MAC or reverse DNS) after boot.</li> +<li>Adjusted partition sizes to make sure they are big enough.</li> + +</ul> + +<p><strong>Known issues</strong></p> + +<ul> + +<li>Grub is missing the new artwork.</li> +<li>KDE fail to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to + not use the http proxy as it should.</li> +<li>Chromium also fail to use the proxy.</li> + +</ul> + +<p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p> + +<p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p> + +<ul> + +<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso</a></li> + +<li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso</a></li> + +<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-CD.iso .</li> + +</ul> + +<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 55d5de9765b6dccd5d9ec33cf1a07109 +<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 996a1d9517740e4d627d100de2d12b23dd545a3f</p> + +<p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use</p> + +<ul> + +<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso</a></li> +<li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso</a></li> +<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b0-USB.iso .</li> + +</ul> + +<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: d8f0818c51a78d357de794066f289f69 +<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 49185ca354e8d0543240423746924f76a6cee733</p> + + +<p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a> + + + How to fix a Thinkpad X230 with a broken 180 GB SSD disk http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_fix_a_Thinkpad_X230_with_a_broken_180_GB_SSD_disk.html @@ -104,11 +858,12 @@ have not yet had time to investigate those parts.</p> there.</p> <p>As for the answer to the question in the title of this blog post, -as far as I know, the only solution is to replace the disk. It might -be possible to flash it with Intel firmware instead of the Lenovo -firmware. But I have not tried and did not want to do so without -approval from Lenovo as I wanted to keep the warranty on the disk -until a solution was found and they wanted the broken disks back.</p> +as far as I know, the only solution I know about is to replace the +disk. It might be possible to flash it with Intel firmware instead of +the Lenovo firmware. But I have not tried and did not want to do so +without approval from Lenovo as I wanted to keep the warranty on the +disk until a solution was found and they wanted the broken disks +back.</p> @@ -256,523 +1011,5 @@ fixed. :)</p> - - The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230 - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230.html - Thu, 4 Jul 2013 09:20:00 +0200 - <p>Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a replacement for my -trusty old Thinkpad X41. Unfortunately I did not have much time to -spend on it, but today the replacement finally arrived. I ended up -picking a <a href="http://www.linlap.com/lenovo_thinkpad_x230">Thinkpad -X230</a> with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu -Wheezy as a roaming workstation, and it worked flawlessly. As I write -this, it is installing what I hope will be a more final installation, -with a encrypted hard drive to ensure any dope head stealing it end up -with an expencive door stop.</p> - -<p>I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most -important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never -listed in the feature list. But I did get good help from the search -feature at <ahref="http://www.prisjakt.no/">Prisjakt</a>, which -allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other -requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks, so I had -to drop number of disks from my search parameters.</p> - -<p>I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is significantly -wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my hand a lot more -to reach the edges. But the key response is fairly good and the -individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope I will get -used to it. My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really needed a -new laptop now. :)</p> - -<p>I look forward to figuring out how to turn off the touch pad.</p> - - - - - Fourth alpha release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fourth_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fourth_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html - Wed, 3 Jul 2013 14:00:00 +0200 - <p>The fourth wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up -today. This is the release announcement:</p> - -<p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~alpha3 released -2013-07-03</strong></p> - -<p>These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux -7.1+edu0~alpha3, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p> - -<p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p> - -<p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as -Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an -out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school -network. Immediately 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. 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 -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more -than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from -the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE -and Xfce desktop environment.</p> - -<p>This is the fourth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically -this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the -Squeeze release.</p> - -<p><strong>Software updates</strong></p> -<ul> - <li>Dropped ispell dictionaries from our default installation.</li> - <li>Dropped menu-xdg from the KDE desktop option, to drop the Debian - submenu. It was not included with Gnome, LXDE or Xfce, so this - brings KDE in line with the others.</li> - <li>Dropped xdrawchem, xjig and xsok from our default installation as - they don't have a desktop menu entry and thus won't show up in the - menu now that menu-xdg was removed.</li> - <li>Removed the killer system to kill left behind processes on - multi-user machines, as it was no longer able to understand when a - X display was in use and killed the processes of the active users - too.</li> - <li>Dropped the golearn (from goplay) package as the debtags in wheezy - are too few to make the package useful.</li> -</ul> -<p><strong>Other changes</strong></p> -<ul> - <li>Updated artwork matching http://wiki.debian.org/DebianArt/Themes/Joy - <li>Multi-arch i386/amd64 USB stick ISO available.</li> - <li>Got rid of ispell/wordlist related debconf questions that showed - up for some language options.</li> - <li>Switched to using http.debian.net as APT source by default.</li> - <li>Fixed proxy configuration on Main Server installations.</li> - <li>Changed LTSP setup to ask dpkg to use force-unsafe-io the same way - d-i is doing it.</li> - <li>Made sure root and user passwords were not left behind in the - debconf database after installation on Main Server installations.</li> - <li>Made Roaming Workstation dynamic setup more robust and added draft - script setup-ad-client to hook a Roaming Workstation up to a - Active Directory server instead of a Debian Edu Main Server.</li> - <li>Update system to install needed firmware packages during - installation, to work properly in Wheezy.</li> - <li>Update system to handle hardware quirks (debian-edu-hwsetup).</li> - <li>Corrected PXE installation setup to properly pass selected desktop - and keymap settings to PXE installation clients.</li> - <li>LTSP diskless workstations use sshfs by default, allowing them to - work without adding them to DNS and NIS netgroups for NFS access.</li> -</ul> -<p><strong>Known issues</strong></p> -<ul> - <li>No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) - available yet (698840).</li> - <li>Artwork not enabled for all desktops.</li> -</ul> -<p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p> - -<p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p> -<ul> - <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso</a></li> - <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso</a></li> - <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso .</li> -</ul> - -<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 2b161a99d2a848c376d8d04e3854e30c -<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 498922e9c508c0a7ee9dbe1dfe5bf830d779c3c8</p> - -<p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use</p> -<ul> - <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso</a></li> - <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso</a></li> - <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso .</li> -</ul> - -<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 25e808e403a4c15dbef1d13c37d572ac -<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 15ecfc93eb6b4f453b7eb0bc04b6a279262d9721</p> - -<p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p> - -<p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a></p> - - - - - Automatically locate and install required firmware packages on Debian (Isenkram 0.4) - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_locate_and_install_required_firmware_packages_on_Debian__Isenkram_0_4_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_locate_and_install_required_firmware_packages_on_Debian__Isenkram_0_4_.html - Tue, 25 Jun 2013 11:50:00 +0200 - <p>It annoys me when the computer fail to do automatically what it is -perfectly capable of, and I have to do it manually to get things -working. One such task is to find out what firmware packages are -needed to get the hardware on my computer working. Most often this -affect the wifi card, but some times it even affect the RAID -controller or the ethernet card. Today I pushed version 0.4 of the -<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">Isenkram package</a> -including a new script isenkram-autoinstall-firmware handling the -process of asking all the loaded kernel modules what firmware files -they want, find debian packages providing these files and install the -debian packages. Here is a test run on my laptop:</p> - -<p><pre> -# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware -info: kernel drivers requested extra firmware: ipw2200-bss.fw ipw2200-ibss.fw ipw2200-sniffer.fw -info: fetching http://http.debian.net/debian/dists/squeeze/Contents-i386.gz -info: locating packages with the requested firmware files -info: Updating APT sources after adding non-free APT source -info: trying to install firmware-ipw2x00 -firmware-ipw2x00 -firmware-ipw2x00 -Preconfiguring packages ... -Selecting previously deselected package firmware-ipw2x00. -(Reading database ... 259727 files and directories currently installed.) -Unpacking firmware-ipw2x00 (from .../firmware-ipw2x00_0.28+squeeze1_all.deb) ... -Setting up firmware-ipw2x00 (0.28+squeeze1) ... -# -</pre></p> - -<p>When all the requested firmware is present, a simple message is -printed instead:</p> - -<p><pre> -# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware -info: did not find any firmware files requested by loaded kernel modules. exiting -# -</pre></p> - -<p>It could use some polish, but it is already working well and saving -me some time when setting up new machines. :)</p> - -<p>So, how does it work? It look at the set of currently loaded -kernel modules, and look up each one of them using modinfo, to find -the firmware files listed in the module meta-information. Next, it -download the Contents file from a nearby APT mirror, and search for -the firmware files in this file to locate the package with the -requested firmware file. If the package is in the non-free section, a -non-free APT source is added and the package is installed using -<tt>apt-get install</tt>. The end result is a slightly better working -machine.</p> - -<p>I hope someone find time to implement a more polished version of -this script as part of the hw-detect debian-installer module, to -finally fix <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/655507">BTS report -#655507</a>. There really is no need to insert USB sticks with -firmware during a PXE install when the packages already are available -from the nearby Debian mirror.</p> - - - - - The value of a good distro wide test suite... - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_value_of_a_good_distro_wide_test_suite___.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_value_of_a_good_distro_wide_test_suite___.html - Sat, 22 Jun 2013 07:00:00 +0200 - <p>In the <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / -Skolelinux</a> project, we include a post-installation test suite, -which check that services are running, working, and return the -expected results. It runs automatically just after the first boot on -test installations (using test ISOs), but not on production -installations (using non-test ISOs). It test that the LDAP service is -operating, Kerberos is responding, DNS is replying, file systems are -online resizable, etc, etc. And it check that the PXE service is -configured, which is the topic of this post.</p> - -<p>The last week I've fixed the DVD and USB stick ISOs for our Debian -Edu Wheezy release. These ISOs are supposed to be able to install a -complete system without any Internet connection, but for that to -happen all the needed packages need to be on them. Thanks to our test -suite, I discovered that we had forgotten to adjust our PXE setup to -cope with the new names and paths used by the netboot d-i packages. -When Internet connectivity was available, the installer fall back to -using wget to fetch d-i boot images, but when offline it require -working packages to get it working. And ad the packages changed name -from debian-installer-6.0-netboot-$arch to -debian-installer-7.0-netboot-$arch, we no longer pulled in the -packages during installation. Without our test suite, I suspect we -would never have discovered this before release. Now it is fixed -right after we got the ISOs operational.</p> - -<p>Another by-product of the test suite is that we can ask system -administrators with problems getting Debian Edu to work, to run the -test suite using <tt>/usr/sbin/debian-edu-test-install</tt> and see if -any errors are detected. This usually pinpoint the subsystem causing -the problem.</p> - -<p>If you want to help us help kids learn how to share and create, -please join us on -<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu on -irc.debian.org</a> and the -<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/">debian-edu@</a> mailing -list.</p> - - - - - Debian Edu interview: Victor Nițu - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Victor_Ni_u.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Victor_Ni_u.html - Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:50:00 +0200 - <p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and -Skolelinux</a> distribution have users and contributors all around the -globe. And a while back, an enterprising young man showed up on -<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">our IRC channel -#debian-edu</a> and started asking questions about how Debian Edu -worked. We answered as good as we could, and even convinced him to -help us with translations. And today I managed to get an interview -with him, to learn more about him.</p> - -<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> - -<p>I'm a 25 year old free software enthusiast, living in Romania, -which is also my country of origin. Back in 2009, at a New Year's Eve -party, I had a very nice <strike>beer</strike> discussion with a -friend, when we realized we have no organised Debian community in our -country. A few days later, we put together the infrastructure for such -community and even gathered a nice Debian-ish crowd. Since then, I -began my quest as a free software hacker and activist and I am -constantly trying to cover as much ground as possible on that -field.</p> - -<p>A few years ago I founded a small web development company, which -provided me the flexible schedule I needed so much for my -activities. For the last 13 months, I have been the Technical Director -of <a href="http://ceata.org/">Fundația Ceata</a>, which is a free -software activist organisation endorsed by the FSF and the FSFE, and -the only one we have in our country.</p> - -<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu -project?</strong></p> - -<p>The idea of participating in the Debian Edu project was a surprise -even to me, since I never used it before I began getting involved in -it. This year I had a great opportunity to deliver a talk on -educational software, and I knew immediately where to look. It was a -love at first sight, since I was previously involved with some of the -technologies the project incorporates, and I rapidly found a lot of -ways to contribute.</p> - -<p>My first contributions consisted in translating the installer and -configuration dialogs, then I found some bugs to squash (I still -haven't fixed them yet though), and I even got my eyes on some other -areas where I can prove myself helpful. Since the appetite for free -software in my country is pretty low, I'll be happy to be the first -one around here advocating for the project's adoption in educational -environments, and maybe even get my hands dirty in creating a flavour -for our own needs. I am not used to make very advanced plannings, so -from now on, time will tell what I'll be doing next, but I think I -have a pretty consistent starting point.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>Not a long time ago, I was in the position of configuring and -maintaining a LDAP server on some Debian derivative, and I must say it -took me a while. A long time ago, I was maintaining a bigger -Samba-powered infrastructure, and I must say I spent quite a lot of -time on it. I have similar stories about many of the services included -with Skolelinux, and the main advantage I see about it is the -out-of-the box availability of them, making it quite competitive when -it comes to managing a school's network, for example.</p> - -<p>Of course, there is more to say about Skolelinux than the -availability of the software included, its flexibility in various -scenarios is something I can't wait to experiment "into the wild" (I -only played with virtual machines so far). And I am sure there is a -lot more I haven't discovered yet about it, being so new within the -project.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>As usual, when it comes to Debian Blends, I see as the biggest -disadvantage the lack of a numerous team dedicated to the -project. Every day I see the same names in the changelogs, and I have -a constantly fear of the bus factor in this story. I'd like to see -Debian Edu advertised more as an entry point into the Debian -ecosystem, especially amongst newcomers and students. IMHO there are a -lot low-hanging fruits in terms of bug squashing, and enough -opportunities to get the feeling of the Debian Project's dynamics. Not -to mention it's a very fun blend to work on!</p> - -<p>Derived from the previous statement, is the delay in catching up -with the main Debian release and documentation. This is common though -to all blends and derivatives, but it's an issue we can all work -on.</p> - -<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> - -<p>I can hardly imagine myself spending a day without Vim, since my -daily routine covers writing code and hacking configuration files. I -am a fan of the Awesome window manager (but I also like the -Enlightenment project a lot!), -<a href="http://www.claws-mail.org/‎">Claws Mail</a> due to its ease of -use and very configurable behaviour. Recently I fell in love with -<a href="https://launchpad.net/redshift">Redshift</a>, which helps me -get through the night without headaches. Of course, there is much more -stuff in this bag, but I'll need a blog on my own for doing this!</p> - -<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to -get schools to use free software?</strong></p> - -<p>Well, on this field, I cannot do much more than experiment right -now. So, being far from having a recipe for success, I can only assume -that:</p> - -<ul> - -<li>schools would like to get rid of proprietary software</li> - -<li>students will love the openness of the system, and will want to - experiment with it - maybe we need to harvest the native curiosity - of teenagers more?</li> - -<li>there is no "right one" when it comes to strategies, but it would - be useful to have some success stories published somewhere, so - other can get some inspiration from them (I know I'd promote - them!)</li> - -<li>more active promotion - talks, conferences, even small school - lectures can do magical things if they encounter at least one - person interested. Who knows who that person might be? ;-)</li> - -</ul> - -<p>I also see some problems in getting Skolelinux into schools; for -example, in our country we have a great deal of corruption issues, so -it might be hard(er) to fight against proprietary solutions. Also, -people who relied on commercial software for all their lives, would be -very hard to convert against their will.</p> - - - - - Debian Edu interview: Jonathan Carter - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Jonathan_Carter.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Jonathan_Carter.html - Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:50:00 +0200 - <p>There is a certain cross-over between the -<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux -project</a> and <a href="http://www.edubuntu.org/">the Edubuntu -project</a>, and for example the LTSP packages in Debian are a joint -effort between the projects. One person with a foot in both camps is -Jonathan Carter, which I am now happy to present to you.</p> - -<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> - -<p>I'm a South-African free software geek who lives in Cape Town. My -days vary quite a bit since I'm involved in too many things. As I'm -getting older I'm learning how to focus a bit more :)</p> - -<p>I'm also an Edubuntu contributor and I love when there are -opportunities for the Edubuntu and Debian Edu projects to benefit from -each other.</p> - -<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu -project?</strong></p> - -<p>I've been somewhat familiar with the project before, but I think my -first direct exposure to the project was when I met Petter -[Reinholdtsen] and Knut [Yrvin] at the Edubuntu summit in 2005 in -London. They provided great feedback that helped the bootstrapping of -Edubuntu. Back then Edubuntu (and even Ubuntu) was still very new and -it was great getting input from people who have been around longer. I -was also still very excitable and said yes to everything and to this -day I have a big todo list backlog that I'm catching up with. I think -over the years the relationship between Edubuntu and Debian-Edu has -been gradually improving, although I think there's a lot that we could -still improve on in terms of working together on packages. I'm sure -we'll get there one day.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>Debian itself already has so many advantages. I could go on about -it for pages, but in essence I love that it's a very honest project -that puts its users first with no hidden agendas and also produces -very high quality work.</p> - -<p>I think the advantage of Debian Edu is that it makes many common -set-up tasks simpler so that administrators can get up and running -with a lot less effort and frustration. At the same time I think it -helps to standardise installations in schools so that it's easier for -community members and commercial suppliers to support.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>I had to re-type this one a few times because I'm trying to -separate "disadvantages" from "areas that need improvement" (which is -what I originally rambled on about)</p> - -<p>The biggest disadvantage I can think of is lack of manpower. The -project could do so much more if there were more good contributors. I -think some of the problems are external too. Free software and free -content in education is a no-brainer but it takes some time to catch -on. When you've been working with the same proprietary eco-system for -years and have gotten used to it, it can be hard to adjust to some -concepts in the free software world. It would be nice if there were -more Debian Edu consultants across the world. I'd love to be one -myself but I'm already so over-committed that it's just not possible -currently.</p> - -<p>I think the best short-term solution to that large-scale problem is -for schools to be pro-active and share their experiences and grow -their skills in-house. I'm often saddened to see how much money -educational institutions spend on 3rd party solutions that they don't -have access to after the service has ended and they could've gotten so -much more value otherwise by being more self-sustainable and -autonomous.</p> - -<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> - -<p>My main laptop dual-boots between Debian and Windows 7. I was -Windows free for years but started dual-booting again last year for -some games which help me focus and relax (Starcraft II in -particular). Gaming support on Linux is improving in leaps and bounds -so I suppose I'll soon be able to regain that disk space :)</p> - -<p>Besides that I rely on Icedove, Chromium, Terminator, Byobu, irssi, -git, Tomboy, KVM, VLC and LibreOffice. Recently I've been torn on -which desktop environment I like and I'm taking some refuge in Xfce -while I figure that out. I like tools that keep things simple. I enjoy -Python and shell scripting. I went to an Arduino workshop recently and -it was awesome seeing how easy and simple the IDE software was to get -up and running in Debian compared to the users running Windows and OS -X.</p> - -<p>I also use mc which some people frown upon slightly. I got used to -using Norton Commander in the early 90's and it stuck (I think the -people who sneer at it is just jealous that they don't know how to use -it :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 trying to force it is unproductive. I also think that in -many cases it's appropriate for schools to use non-free systems and I -don't think that there's any particular moral or ethical problem with -that.</p> - -<p>I do think though that free software can already solve so so many -problems in educational institutions and it's just a shame not taking -advantage of that.</p> - -<p>I also think that some curricula need serious review. For example, -some areas of the world rely heavily on very specific versions of MS -Office, teaching students to parrot menu items instead of learning the -general concepts. I think that's very unproductive because firstly, MS -Office's interface changes drastically every few years and on top of -that it also locks in a generation to a product that might not be the -best solution for them.</p> - -<p>To answer your question, I believe that the right strategy is to -educate and inform, giving someone the information they require to -make a decision that would work for them.</p> - - -