X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/f3fd9ba77396f15e7e6f707f0cd1ed02b927ef74..1f159d8c8620e22e9a182facd8041fdfab082a22:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index b76c657b07..0a0e425aab 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -19,6 +19,544 @@ +
+
Second beta release (beta 1) of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy
+
22nd August 2013
+

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:

+ +

New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b1 released 2013-08-22

+ +

These are the release notes for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~b1, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

+ +

About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

+ +

Debian Edu, also known as +Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an +out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school +network. 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 +more +than 60 educational software packages and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.

+ +

This is the sixth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically this +is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the Squeeze +release.

+ +

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 +on +the mailing list. (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.

+ +

Software updates

+ + + +

Other changes

+ + + +

Known issues

+ + + +

Where to get it

+ +

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

+ + + +

The MD5SUM of this image is: 1e357f80b55e703523f2254adde6d78b +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 7157f9be5fd27c7694d713c6ecfed61c3edda3b2

+ +

To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

+ + + +

The MD5SUM of this image is: 7a8408ead59cf7e3cef25afb6e91590b +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: f1817c031f02790d5edb3bfa0dcf8451088ad119

+ + +

How to report bugs

+ +

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

+
+ + + Tags: debian edu, english. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
Intel 180 SSD disk with Lenovo firmware can not use Intel firmware
+
18th August 2013
+

Earlier, I reported about +my +problems using an Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB disk. 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.

+ +

I searched the Intel site for firmware, and found +issdfut_2.0.4.iso +(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.

+
+
+ + + Tags: debian, english. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
90 percent done with the Norwegian draft translation of Free Culture
+
2nd August 2013
+

It has been a while since my last update. Since last summer, I +have worked on a Norwegian +docbook version of the 2004 book +Free Culture 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:

+ +

+ +

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.

+ +

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 +github.

+ +

If you are curious what the translated book currently look like, +the updated +PDF +and +EPUB +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.

+
+
+ + + Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
First beta release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy
+
27th July 2013
+

The first wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:

+ +

New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b0 released +2013-07-27

+ +

These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~b0, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

+ +

About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

+ +

Debian Edu, also known as +Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an +out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school +network. 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 +more +than 60 educational software packages and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.

+ +

This is the fifth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.

+ +

ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the +versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta +release.

+ +

Software updates

+ + + +

Other changes

+ + + +

Known issues

+ + + +

Where to get it

+ +

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

+ + + +

The MD5SUM of this image is: 55d5de9765b6dccd5d9ec33cf1a07109 +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 996a1d9517740e4d627d100de2d12b23dd545a3f

+ +

To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

+ + + +

The MD5SUM of this image is: d8f0818c51a78d357de794066f289f69 +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 49185ca354e8d0543240423746924f76a6cee733

+ + +

How to report bugs

+ +

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

+
+ + + Tags: debian edu, english. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
How to fix a Thinkpad X230 with a broken 180 GB SSD disk
+
17th July 2013
+

Today I switched to +my +new laptop. I've previously written about the problems I had with +my new Thinkpad X230, which was delivered with an +180 +GB Intel SSD disk with Lenovo firmware that did not handle +sustained writes. My hardware supplier have been very forthcoming in +trying to find a solution, and after first trying with another +identical 180 GB disks they decided to send me a 256 GB Samsung SSD +disk instead to fix it once and for all. The Samsung disk survived +the installation of Debian with encrypted disks (filling the disk with +random data during installation killed the first two), and I thus +decided to trust it with my data. I have installed it as a Debian Edu +Wheezy roaming workstation hooked up with my Debian Edu Squeeze main +server at home using Kerberos and LDAP, and will use it as my work +station from now on.

+ +

As this is a solid state disk with no moving parts, I believe the +Debian Wheezy default installation need to be tuned a bit to increase +performance and increase life time of the disk. The Linux kernel and +user space applications do not yet adjust automatically to such +environment. To make it easier for my self, I created a draft Debian +package ssd-setup to handle this tuning. The +source +for the ssd-setup package is available from collab-maint, and it +is set up to adjust the setup of the machine by just installing the +package. If there is any non-SSD disk in the machine, the package +will refuse to install, as I did not try to write any logic to sort +file systems in SSD and non-SSD file systems.

+ +

I consider the package a draft, as I am a bit unsure how to best +set up Debian Wheezy with an SSD. It is adjusted to my use case, +where I set up the machine with one large encrypted partition (in +addition to /boot), put LVM on top of this and set up partitions on +top of this again. See the README file in the package source for the +references I used to pick the settings. At the moment these +parameters are tuned:

+ + + +

During installation, I cancelled the part where the installer fill +the disk with random data, as this would kill the SSD performance for +little gain. My goal with the encrypted file system is to ensure +those stealing my laptop end up with a brick and not a working +computer. I have no hope in keeping the really resourceful people +from getting the data on the disk (see +XKCD #538 for an explanation why). +Thus I concluded that adding the discard option to crypttab is the +right thing to do.

+ +

I considered using the noop I/O scheduler, as several recommended +it for SSD, but others recommended deadline and a benchmark I found +indicated that deadline might be better for interactive use.

+ +

I also considered using the 'discard' file system option for ext3 +and ext4, but read that it would give a performance hit ever time a +file is removed, and thought it best to that that slowdown once a day +instead of during my work.

+ +

My package do not set up tmpfs on /var/run, /var/lock and /tmp, as +this is already done by Debian Edu.

+ +

I have not yet started on the user space tuning. I expect +iceweasel need some tuning, and perhaps other applications too, but +have not yet had time to investigate those parts.

+ +

The package should work on Ubuntu too, but I have not yet tested it +there.

+ +

As for the answer to the question in the title of this blog post, +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.

+
+
+ + + Tags: debian, english. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB with Lenovo firmware still lock up from sustained writes
+
10th July 2013
+

A few days ago, I wrote about +the +problems I experienced with my new X230 and its SSD disk, which +was dying during installation because it is unable to cope with +sustained write. My supplier is in contact with +Lenovo, and they wanted to send a +replacement disk to try to fix the problem. They decided to send an +identical model, so my hopes for a permanent fix was slim.

+ +

Anyway, today I got the replacement disk and tried to install +Debian Edu Wheezy with encrypted disk on it. The new disk have the +same firmware version as the original. This time my hope raised +slightly as the installation progressed, as the original disk used to +die after 4-7% of the disk was written to, while this time it kept +going past 10%, 20%, 40% and even past 50%. But around 60%, the disk +died again and I was back on square one. I still do not have a new +laptop with a disk I can trust. I can not live with a disk that might +lock up when I download a new +Debian Edu / Skolelinux ISO or +other large files. I look forward to hearing from my supplier with +the next proposal from Lenovo.

+ +

The original disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNME35X1TR, ISN: CVCV321407HB180EGN, SA: G57560302, FW: +LF1i, 29MAY2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40002756C4, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.

+ +

The replacement disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNDE34N0L0, ISN: CVCV315306RK180EGN, SA: G57560-302, FW: +LF1i, 22APR2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40000AB69E, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.

+ +

The only difference is in the first number (serial number?), ISN, +SA, date and WNPP values. Mentioning all the details here in case +someone is able to use the information to find a way to identify the +failing disk among working ones (if any such working disk actually +exist).

+
+
+ + + Tags: debian, english. + + +
+
+
+
July 13th: Debian/Ubuntu BSP and Skolelinux/Debian Edu developer gathering in Oslo
9th July 2013
@@ -33,7 +571,7 @@ Bitraf.

It starts 10:00 and continue until late evening. Everyone is welcome, and there is no fee to participate. There is on the other hand limited space, and only room for 30 people. Please put your name -on the even +on the event wiki page if you plan to join us.

@@ -282,639 +820,6 @@ Squeeze release.

-
-
Automatically locate and install required firmware packages on Debian (Isenkram 0.4)
-
25th June 2013
-

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 -Isenkram package -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:

- -

-# 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) ...
-# 
-

- -

When all the requested firmware is present, a simple message is -printed instead:

- -

-# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware 
-info: did not find any firmware files requested by loaded kernel modules.  exiting
-# 
-

- -

It could use some polish, but it is already working well and saving -me some time when setting up new machines. :)

- -

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 -apt-get install. The end result is a slightly better working -machine.

- -

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 BTS report -#655507. 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.

-
-
- - - Tags: debian, english, isenkram. - - -
-
-
- -
-
The value of a good distro wide test suite...
-
22nd June 2013
-

In the Debian Edu / -Skolelinux 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.

- -

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.

- -

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 /usr/sbin/debian-edu-test-install and see if -any errors are detected. This usually pinpoint the subsystem causing -the problem.

- -

If you want to help us help kids learn how to share and create, -please join us on -#debian-edu on -irc.debian.org and the -debian-edu@ mailing -list.

-
-
- - - Tags: debian edu, english. - - -
-
-
- -
-
Debian Edu interview: Victor Nițu
-
17th June 2013
-

The Debian Edu and -Skolelinux distribution have users and contributors all around the -globe. And a while back, an enterprising young man showed up on -our IRC channel -#debian-edu 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.

- -

Who are you, and how do you spend your days?

- -

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 beer 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.

- -

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 Fundația Ceata, which is a free -software activist organisation endorsed by the FSF and the FSFE, and -the only one we have in our country.

- -

How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu -project?

- -

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.

- -

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.

- -

What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian -Edu?

- -

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.

- -

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.

- -

What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?

- -

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!

- -

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.

- -

Which free software do you use daily?

- -

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!), -Claws Mail due to its ease of -use and very configurable behaviour. Recently I fell in love with -Redshift, 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!

- -

Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to -get schools to use free software?

- -

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:

- - - -

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.

-
-
- - - Tags: debian edu, english, intervju. - - -
-
-
- -
-
Debian Edu interview: Jonathan Carter
-
12th June 2013
-

There is a certain cross-over between the -Debian Edu / Skolelinux -project and the Edubuntu -project, 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.

- -

Who are you, and how do you spend your days?

- -

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 :)

- -

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.

- -

How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu -project?

- -

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.

- -

What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?

- -

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.

- -

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.

- -

What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?

- -

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)

- -

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.

- -

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.

- -

Which free software do you use daily?

- -

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 :)

- -

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.

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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) - -

Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to -get schools to use free software?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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- - - Tags: debian edu, english, intervju. - - -
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Fixing the Linux black screen of death on machines with Intel HD video
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11th June 2013
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When installing RedHat, Fedora, Debian and Ubuntu on some machines, -the screen just turn black when Linux boot, either during installation -or on first boot from the hard disk. I've seen it once in a while the -last few years, but only recently understood the cause. I've seen it -on HP laptops, and on my latest acquaintance the Packard Bell laptop. -The reason seem to be in the wiring of some laptops. The system to -control the screen background light is inverted, so when Linux try to -turn the brightness fully on, it end up turning it off instead. I do -not know which Linux drivers are affected, but this post is about the -i915 driver used by the -Packard Bell -EasyNote LV, Thinkpad X40 and many other laptops.

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The problem can be worked around two ways. Either by adding -i915.invert_brightness=1 as a kernel option, or by adding a file in -/etc/modprobe.d/ to tell modprobe to add the invert_brightness=1 -option when it load the i915 kernel module. On Debian and Ubuntu, it -can be done by running these commands as root:

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-echo options i915 invert_brightness=1 | tee /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf
-update-initramfs -u -k all
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Since March 2012 there is -a -mechanism in the Linux kernel to tell the i915 driver which -hardware have this problem, and get the driver to invert the -brightness setting automatically. To use it, one need to add a row in -the -intel_quirks array in the driver source -drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c (look for "static -struct intel_quirk intel_quirks"), specifying the PCI device -number (vendor number 8086 is assumed) and subdevice vendor and device -number.

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My Packard Bell EasyNote LV got this output from lspci --vvnn for the video card in question:

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-00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation \
-    3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0156] \
-    (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
- Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0688]
- Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- \
-    ParErr- Stepping- SE RR- FastB2B- DisINTx+
- Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- \
-    SERR-  [disabled]
- Capabilities: 
- Kernel driver in use: i915
-

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The resulting intel_quirks entry would then look like this:

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-struct intel_quirk intel_quirks[] = {
-       ...
-        /* Packard Bell EasyNote LV11HC needs invert brightness quirk */
-	{ 0x0156, 0x1025, 0x0688, quirk_invert_brightness },
-       ...
-}
-

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According to the kernel module instructions (as seen using -modinfo i915), information about hardware needing the -invert_brightness flag should be sent to the -dri-devel -(at) lists.freedesktop.org mailing list to reach the kernel -developers. But my email about the laptop sent 2013-06-03 have not -yet shown up in -the -web archive for the mailing list, so I suspect they do not accept -emails from non-subscribers. Because of this, I sent my patch also to -the Debian bug tracking system instead as -BTS report #710938, to make -sure the patch is not lost.

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Unfortunately, it is not enough to fix the kernel to get Laptops -with this problem working properly with Linux. If you use Gnome, your -worries should be over at this point. But if you use KDE, there is -something in KDE ignoring the invert_brightness setting and turning on -the screen during login. I've reported it to Debian as -BTS report #711237, and -have no idea yet how to figure out exactly what subsystem is doing -this. Perhaps you can help? Perhaps you know what the Gnome -developers did to handle this, and this can give a clue to the KDE -developers? Or you know where in KDE the screen brightness is changed -during login? If so, please update the BTS report (or get in touch if -you do not know how to update BTS).

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- - - Tags: debian, english. - - -
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Third alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy
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10th June 2013
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The third wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up -today. This is the release announcement:

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New features for Debian Edu 7.0.0 alpha2 released -2013-06-10

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This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu -alpha2, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

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About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

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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. 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 -more -than 60 educational software packages and more are available from -the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE -and Xfce desktop environment.

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This is the third test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically -this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the -Squeeze release.

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Software updates

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Other changes

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Known issues

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Where to get it

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To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

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The MD5SUM of this image is: 27bbcace407743382f3c42c08dbe8178 -
The SHA1SUM of this image is: e35f7d7908566cd3075375b3721fa10ee420d419

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How to report bugs

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

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- - - Tags: debian edu, english. - - -
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