Today, after many years of hard work from many people, +ZFS for Linux finally entered +Debian. The package status can be seen on +the package tracker +for zfs-linux. and +the +team status page. If you want to help out, please join us. +The +source code is available via git on Alioth. It would also be +great if you could help out with +the dkms package, as +it is an important piece of the puzzle to get ZFS working.
+Where I set out to figure out which multimedia player in +Debian claim support for most file formats.
+ +A few years ago, I had a look at the media support for Browser +plugins in Debian, to get an idea which plugins to include in Debian +Edu. I created a script to extract the set of supported MIME types +for each plugin, and used this to find out which multimedia browser +plugin supported most file formats / media types. +The +result can still be seen on the Debian wiki, even though it have +not been updated for a while. But browser plugins are less relevant +these days, so I thought it was time to look at standalone +players.
+ +A few days ago I was tired of VLC not being listed as a viable +player when I wanted to play videos from the Norwegian National +Broadcasting Company, and decided to investigate why. The cause is a +missing MIME type in the VLC +desktop file. In the process I wrote a script to compare the set +of MIME types announced in the desktop file and the browser plugin, +only to discover that there is quite a large difference between the +two for VLC. This discovery made me dig up the script I used to +compare browser plugins, and adjust it to compare desktop files +instead, to try to figure out which multimedia player in Debian +support most file formats.
+ +The result can be seen on the Debian Wiki, as +a +table listing all MIME types supported by one of the packages included +in the table, with the package supporting most MIME types being +listed first in the table.
+ +The best multimedia player in Debian? It is totem, followed by +parole, kplayer, mpv, vlc, smplayer mplayer-gui gnome-mpv and +kmplayer. Time for the other players to update their announced MIME +support? +The machine is a complete ARM-based PC with micro HDMI, SATA, USB +plugs and many others connectors, and include a full keyboard and a 5" +LCD touch screen. The 6000mAh battery is claimed to provide a whole +day of battery life time, but I have not seen any independent tests +confirming this. The vendor is still collecting preorders, and the +last I heard last night was that 22 more orders were needed before +production started.
+ +As far as I know, this is the first handheld preinstalled with +Debian. Please let me know if you know of any others. Is it the +first computer being sold with Debian preinstalled?
+It is days like today I am really happy to be a member of +the Norwegian Unix User group, a +member association for those of us believing in free software, open +standards and unix-like operating systems. NUUG announced today it +will +try +to bring the seizure of the DNS domain popcorn-time.no as +unlawful, to stand up for the principle that writing about a +controversial topic is not infringing copyrights, and censuring web +pages by hijacking DNS domain should be decided by the courts, not the +police. The DNS domain was seized by the Norwegian National Authority +for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime +a month ago. I hope this bring more paying members to NUUG to give +the association the financial muscle needed to bring this case as far +as it must go to stop this kind of DNS hijacking.
+I dag tok jeg mot til meg og pakket sammen en ny versjon av den +frie norske stavekontrollen, ca. tre og et halvt år etter forrige +gang. Resultatet kan lastes ned fra +no.speling.org-prosjeksiden, både +som kildekodepakke og som "pack"-fil som kanskje fortsatt kan brukes +av OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice. Byggesystemet trenger oppussing, men i +denne omgang hadde jeg bare tid til å fikse byggefeil forårsaket av +endringer i GNU grep. De øvrige endringene var gjort tidligere i +påvente av en ny utgave.
+ +Her er det som er nytt (fra NEWS-fila i +kildekodepakken):
+ +Release 2.2 (2016-04-15)
+ +I first got to know I.F. Stone when I came across an article by Jon +Schwarz on The Intercept +about +his extraordinary contribution to investigative journalism in +USA. The article is about a new documentary in two parts +(part one is 12 minutes and +part two is 30 minutes), and +I found both truly fascinating. It is amazing what he was able to +find by digging up public sources and government papers. He +documented lots of government abuse and cover ups, and I find +his weekly news letters +inspiring to read even today.
+ ++All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed. ++ +
- I. F. Stone +
His starting point was that reporters should not assume governments +and corporations are telling the truth, but verify all their claims as +much as possible. I wonder how many Norwegian reporters can be said +to follow the principles of I. F. Stone. They are definitely in short +supply. If you, like me half a year ago, have never heard of him, +check him out.
+I'm happy to report that +the +French paperback edition of +my +project to translate the Free +Culture book by Lawrence Lessig is now available for sale on +Lulu.com. Once I have formally verified my proof reading copy, which +should be in the mail, the paperback edition should be available in +book stores like Amazon and Barnes & Noble too.
+ +This French edition, Culture Libre, is the work of the +dblatex developer Benoît +Guillon, who created the PO file from the initial translation +available from +the Wikilivres +wiki pages and completed and corrected the translation to match +the original docbook edition my project is using, as well as +coordinated the proof reading of the final result. I believe the end +result look great, but I am biased and do not read French. In +addition to the paperback edition, the book is available in PDF, EPUB +and Mobi format from the github project page linked to above.
+ +When enabling book store distribution on Lulu.com, I had to nearly +triple the price to allow the book stores some profit. I also had to +accept that I will get some revenue when a book is sold via Lulu.com. +But because of the non-commercial clause in the book license +(CC-BY-NC), this might be a problem. To bypass the problem I +discussed how to handle the revenue with the author, and we agreed +that the revenue for these editions go to the +Creative Commons non-profit +Corporation who handle donations to the Creative Commons project. +So far they have earned around USD 70 on sales of the +English +and +Norwegian +Bokmål editions, according to Lulu.com. They will get the revenue +for the French edition too. Their revenue is higher if you buy the +book directly from Lulu.com instead of via a book store, so I +recommend you buy directly from Lulu.com.
+ +Perhaps you would like to get the book published in your language? +The translation is done using a web based translator service, so the +technical bar to enter is fairly low. Get in touch if you would like +to make this happen.
+Two years ago, I had -a -look at trusted timestamping options available, and among -other things noted a still open -bug in the tsget script -included in openssl that made it harder than necessary to use openssl -as a trusted timestamping client. A few days ago I was told -the Norwegian government office DIFI is -close to releasing their own trusted timestamp service, and in the -process I was happy to learn about a replacement for the tsget script -using only curl:
- --openssl ts -query -data "/etc/shells" -cert -sha256 -no_nonce \ - | curl -s -H "Content-Type: application/timestamp-query" \ - --data-binary "@-" http://zeitstempel.dfn.de > etc-shells.tsr -openssl ts -reply -text -in etc-shells.tsr -- -
This produces a binary timestamp file (etc-shells.tsr) which can be -used to verify that the content of the file /etc/shell with the -calculated sha256 hash existed at the point in time when the request -was made. The last command extract the content of the etc-shells.tsr -in human readable form. The idea behind such timestamp is to be able -to prove using cryptography that the content of a file have not -changed since the file was stamped.
- -To verify that the file on disk match the public key signature in -the timestamp file, run the following commands. It make sure you have -the required certificate for the trusted timestamp service available -and use it to compare the file content with the timestamp. In -production, one should of course use a better method to verify the -service certificate.
- --wget -O ca-cert.txt https://pki.pca.dfn.de/global-services-ca/pub/cacert/chain.txt -openssl ts -verify -data /etc/shells -in etc-shells.tsr -CAfile ca-cert.txt -text -- -
Wikipedia have a lot more information about -trusted -Timestamping and -linked -timestamping, and there are several trusted timestamping services -around, both as commercial services and as free and public services. -Among the latter is -the -zeitstempel.dfn.de service mentioned above and -freetsa.org service linked to from the -wikipedia web site. I believe the DIFI service should show up on -https://tsa.difi.no, but it is not available to the public at the -moment. I hope this will change when it is into production. The -RFC 3161 trusted -timestamping protocol standard is even implemented in LibreOffice, -Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat, making it possible to verify when -a document was created.
- -I would find it useful to be able to use such trusted timestamp -service to make it possible to verify that my stored syslog files have -not been tampered with. This is not a new idea. I found one example -implemented on the Endian network appliances where -the -configuration of such feature was described in 2012.
- -But I could not find any free implementation of such feature when I -searched, so I decided to try to -build -a prototype named syslog-trusted-timestamp. My idea is to -generate a timestamp of the old log files after they are rotated, and -store the timestamp in the new log file just after rotation. This -will form a chain that would make it possible to see if any old log -files are tampered with. But syslog is bad at handling kilobytes of -binary data, so I decided to base64 encode the timestamp and add an ID -and line sequence numbers to the base64 data to make it possible to -reassemble the timestamp file again. To use it, simply run it like -this: - -
-syslog-trusted-timestamp /path/to/list-of-log-files -- -
This will send a timestamp from one or more timestamp services (not -yet decided nor implemented) for each listed file to the syslog using -logger(1). To verify the timestamp, the same program is used with the ---verify option:
- --syslog-trusted-timestamp --verify /path/to/log-file /path/to/log-with-timestamp -- -
The verification step is not yet well designed. The current -implementation depend on the file path being unique and unchanging, -and this is not a solid assumption. It also uses process number as -timestamp ID, and this is bound to create ID collisions. I hope to -have time to come up with a better way to handle timestamp IDs and -verification later.
- -Please check out -the -prototype for syslog-trusted-timestamp on github and send -suggestions and improvement, or let me know if there already exist a -similar system for timestamping logs already to allow me to join -forces with others with the same interest.
- -As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my -activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address -15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.
-Since this morning, the battery-stats package in Debian include an -extended collector that will collect the complete battery history for -later processing and graphing. The original collector store the -battery level as percentage of last full level, while the new -collector also record battery vendor, model, serial number, design -full level, last full level and current battery level. This make it -possible to predict the lifetime of the battery as well as visualise -the energy flow when the battery is charging or discharging.
- -The new tools are available in /usr/share/battery-stats/ -in the version 0.5.1 package in unstable. Get the new battery level graph -and lifetime prediction by running: - -
-/usr/share/battery-stats/battery-stats-graph /var/log/battery-stats.csv -- -
Or select the 'Battery Level Graph' from your application menu.
- -The flow in/out of the battery can be seen by running (no menu -entry yet):
- --/usr/share/battery-stats/battery-stats-graph-flow -- -
I'm not quite happy with the way the data is visualised, at least -when there are few data points. The graphs look a bit better with a -few years of data.
- -A while back one important feature I use in the battery stats -collector broke in Debian. The scripts in -/usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/ were no longer executed. I -suspect it happened when Jessie started using systemd, but I do not -know. The issue is reported as -bug #818649 against -pm-utils. I managed to work around it by adding an udev rule to call -the collector script every time the power connector is connected and -disconnected. With this fix in place it was finally time to make a -new release of the package, and get it into Debian.
- -If you are interested in how your laptop battery is doing, please -check out the -battery-stats -in Debian unstable, or rebuild it on Jessie to get it working on -Debian stable. :) The upstream source is available from -github. -As always, patches are very welcome.
-Back in 2013 I proposed -a -way to make paper and PDF invoices easier to process electronically by -adding a QR code with the key information about the invoice. I -suggested using vCard field definition, to get some standard format -for name and address, but any format would work. I did not do -anything about the proposal, but hoped someone one day would make -something like it. It would make it possible to efficiently send -machine readable invoices directly between seller and buyer.
- -This was the background when I came across a proposal and -specification from the web based accounting and invoicing supplier -Visma in Sweden called -UsingQR. Their PDF invoices contain -a QR code with the key information of the invoice in JSON format. -This is the typical content of a QR code following the UsingQR -specification (based on a real world example, some numbers replaced to -get a more bogus entry). I've reformatted the JSON to make it easier -to read. Normally this is all on one long line:
- -
-{
- "vh":500.00,
- "vm":0,
- "vl":0,
- "uqr":1,
- "tp":1,
- "nme":"Din Leverandør",
- "cc":"NO",
- "cid":"997912345 MVA",
- "iref":"12300001",
- "idt":"20151022",
- "ddt":"20151105",
- "due":2500.0000,
- "cur":"NOK",
- "pt":"BBAN",
- "acc":"17202612345",
- "bc":"BIENNOK1",
- "adr":"0313 OSLO"
-}
-
-
-The interpretation of the fields can be found in the
-format
-specification (revision 2 from june 2014). The format seem to
-have most of the information needed to handle accounting and payment
-of invoices, at least the fields I have needed so far here in
-Norway.
-
-Unfortunately, the site and document do not mention anything about -the patent, trademark and copyright status of the format and the -specification. Because of this, I asked the people behind it back in -November to clarify. Ann-Christine Savlid (ann-christine.savlid (at) -visma.com) replied that Visma had not applied for patent or trademark -protection for this format, and that there were no copyright based -usage limitations for the format. I urged her to make sure this was -explicitly written on the web pages and in the specification, but -unfortunately this has not happened yet. So I guess if there is -submarine patents, hidden trademarks or a will to sue for copyright -infringements, those starting to use the UsingQR format might be at -risk, but if this happen there is some legal defense in the fact that -the people behind the format claimed it was safe to do so. At least -with patents, there is always -a -chance of getting sued...
- -I also asked if they planned to maintain the format in an -independent standard organization to give others more confidence that -they would participate in the standardization process on equal terms -with Visma, but they had no immediate plans for this. Their plan was -to work with banks to try to get more users of the format, and -evaluate the way forward if the format proved to be popular. I hope -they conclude that using an open standard organisation like -IETF is the correct place to -maintain such specification.
- -Update 2016-03-20: Via Twitter I became aware of -some comments -about this blog post that had several useful links and references to -similar systems. In the Czech republic, the Czech Banking Association -standard #26, with short name SPAYD, uses QR codes with payment -information. More information is available from the Wikipedia page on -Short -Payment Descriptor. And in Germany, there is a system named -BezahlCode, -(specification -v1.8 2013-12-05 available as PDF), which uses QR codes with -URL-like formatting using "bank:" as the URI schema/protocol to -provide the payment information. There is also the -ZUGFeRD -file format that perhaps could be transfered using QR codes, but I am -not sure if it is done already. Last, in Bolivia there are reports -that tax information since november 2014 need to be printed in QR -format on invoices. I have not been able to track down a -specification for this format, because of my limited language skill -sets.
-Back in September, I blogged about -the -system I wrote to collect statistics about my laptop battery, 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 battery-stats -package in Debian 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.
- -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 (available from github) 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 /sys/class/power_supply/ -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:
- -
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.
- -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.
- -If you would like I would like to keep an close eye on your laptop -battery, check out the battery-stats package in -Debian and -on -github. -I would love some help to improve the system further.
-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 -machine -readable DEP5 format.
- -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 -the -zfsonlinux copyright file, I decided to spend some time on -figuring out the options for doing this job automatically, or at least -semi-automatically.
- -Lucikly, there are at least two tools available for generating the -file based on the code in the source package, -debmake -and cme. 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 -blog posts from 2014. - -
To generate using debmake, use the -cc option: - -
-debmake -cc > debian/copyright -- -
Note there are some problems with python and non-ASCII names, so -this might not be the best option.
- -The cme option is based on a config parsing library, and I found -this approach in -a -blog post from 2015. To generate using cme, use the 'update -dpkg-copyright' option: - -
-cme update dpkg-copyright -- -
This will create or update debian/copyright. The cme tool seem to -handle UTF-8 names better than debmake.
- -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, -debmake -k and license-reconcile. 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.
- -The devscripts tool licensecheck 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.
- -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.
- -As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my -activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address -15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.
- -Update 2016-02-20: I got a tip from Mike Gabriel -on how to use licensecheck and cdbs to create a draft copyright file - -
-licensecheck --copyright -r `find * -type f` | \ - /usr/lib/cdbs/licensecheck2dep5 > debian/copyright.auto -- -
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.
- -Update 2016-02-21: The cme author recommended -against using -quiet for new users, so I removed it from the proposed -command line.
-The appstream system -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. :)
- -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:
- -
-% apt install appstream
-[...]
-% apt update
-[...]
-% appstreamcli what-provides firmware:runtime ctfw-3.2.3.0.bin | \
- awk '/Package:/ {print $2}'
-firmware-qlogic
-%
-See the -appstream wiki page to learn how to embed the package metadata in -a way appstream can use.
- -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 file ---mime-type, 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:
- -
-% 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
-%
-I believe the MIME types are fetched from the desktop file for -packages providing appstream metadata.
-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.
- -
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 -Creepy or Cree.py. I -discovered it when I read -an -article about Creepy 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 -the version in -Debian 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 -upstream.
- -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.
- -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 -used -to locate Russian soldiers in Ukraine, 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.
- -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).
- -(I have uploaded -the image to -screenshots.debian.net and licensed it under the same terms as the -Creepy program in Debian.)
-