X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/fe9949c91e2deb4a70a8801b72e147f82883c4a0..14fb4053faf8143a66beec3c20fc517c075b0582:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index 0d95f349e6..814fafb5b5 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,166 +20,79 @@
-
Til frikanalens støttespillere - fra styret i Frikanalen
-
13th March 2013
-

Min venn Erik Vold har på vegne av styret i -Frikanalen sendt ut -følgende -epost til alle kanalens medlemmer og støttespillere, i et forsøk -på å redde kanalen etter at kulturdepartementet kuttet all -finansiering i fjor høst. Jeg fikk meldingen som -NUUG-styremedlem, og mener den -trenger et større publikum. Jeg gjengir den derfor i sin helhet, -inkludert lenken til budsjett og regnskapsutkast, etter -avtale -med Erik.

- -

-

Til Frikanalens støttespillere

- -

Frivillighetens TV kanal har med minimal støtte avviklet daglige -sendinger siden 2009 og til tross for at statsstøtten uteble i år, er -vi nå i full gang med å utvikle et nytt TV system som foreningen selv -vil eie. Departementet fikk dessverre ikke med seg at nettet vil -berike TV sendingen fremfor å gjøre den overflødig. De har nå overlatt -finansieringen av videre drift til frivilligheten og vi håper derfor -på deres hjelp til å søke om midler. På kjøpet får dere langt flere -muligheter til å nå ut med deres budskap og med utbyggingen av Hybrid -TV (nett på TV) kan vi sammen motbevise departementets påstand.

- -

Kostnaden med denne utviklingen er svært lav ettersom de fleste -programmererne jobber gratis og alt er basert på åpen kildekode der -man deler hverandres bidrag til kringkastingsorienterte systemer. I -samarbeid med flere europeiske kanaler i EBU (SVT, BBC, NRK, ZDF, ARD, -France Televisions etc) ønsker vi å bygge opp et nettverk for delt -support og åpen kildekode der Frikanalen er den eneste sandkassen hvor -ny teknologi kan testes på luft. Riks TV åpner for annonsering av -nettinnhold relatert til det du ser på TV (streamevents i HbbTV) -allerede i sommer. Med støtte fra Media Netwerk som drifter Frikanalen -samt Sofia Digital som stiller med Hybrid TV server er vi & NRK sikret -en sentral rolle i utprøvingen. Det vil da bli mulig og streame -direkte til Riks TV sine nye mottakere (og nye IDTV'er) i HD samt at -TV'n kan annonsere en link til deres organisasjonssider, med -oppdaterte nyheter (RSS feeds), relaterte videoer etc., under -avviklingen av deres innslag.

- -

Vi tror sendingene på den nye nettstyrte TV-kanalen vil bli rikere enn -på den kommersielle plattformen vi har vært på så langt. Brukerne vil -nå få en tettere integrasjon med sosiale medier samt at innholdet -etterhvert kommer ut på Hybrid TV og mobile enheter. Teknisk ansvarlig -i Frikanalen, Erik Vold, er sentral i utviklingen av streamingdelen -for tv.nrk.no (årets produkt i PC World) og erfaringen NRK har gjort -på mobile enheter kan videreføres til oss. Det er heller ingen tvil om -at Hybrid TV vil bli en suksess også i Norge. Erik sitter i Nordig som -har vedtatt en felles standard for de nordiske kringkasterne basert på -HbbTV. Denne standarden bruker web-protokoller som gjør det like -enkelt og billig å utvikle tjenester for Hybrid TV som å lage en -nettside. Samtlige nye TV apparater solgt i Norden vil ha støtte for -HbbTV og med det tror vi oppslutningen vil bli like stor som ellers i -Europa (Tyskland og Frankrike tredoblet antall HbbTV-brukere i -fjor). Vi forventer også mye d rahjelp fra disse foregangslandene. Vår -utvikler Tore Sinding Bekkedal er i skriv ende stund på en HbbTV -workshop med EBU-medlemmer hos IRT i München der han på vegne av NRK -og Frikanalen tester og utvikler ny stremingteknologi (MPEG- DASH) for -mobile enheter og hybrid TV.

- -

Frikanalen har forøvrig flyttet inn i nye kostnadsfrie lokaler på -Chateau Neuf. Med massiv hjelp fra frivillige og utstyr fra NRK får -vi der en flerkameraregi i egnede lokaler. Dette åpner for debatter, -konserter, events og mye spennende innhold i samarbeid med Student -TV'ene.

- -

Med hjelp fra NUUG har også streamingdelen av systemet fått plass på -Uninett (Forskningsparken) og dermed er vi på Norges beste -internettlinjer. Vi åpner med dette for live mottak fra samtlige -medlemmer og på sikt kan vi tilby HD på hybrid TV og PC / MAC / mobil.

- -

Avvikling på luft skjer allerede med egenutviklede løsninger i åpen -kildekode (playout og live-koding). Det er også mulig å se første -byggetrinn med programoversikt og videoer på nett, men foreløpig kun -for nettleserne Opera, Chrome og Firefox: -http://beta.frikanalen.tv/guide/ -og -http://beta.frikanalen.tv/video/. Kom -gjerne med ønsker og tilbakemeldinger til vår hovedutvikler Benjamin -Bruheim: grolgh (at) gmail.com

- -

Med en tettere tilknytning til Akademia og NRK, er det god grunn til å -tro at utviklingen vil skyte fart og at vi raskere kommer ut med -dagsaktuelt innhold.

- -

Vi sender i dag på Riks TV og Altibox, men ikke lenger på TV8. Det er -viktig for våre brukere igjen å komme ut på Get og Canal Digital, -dermed er det svært heldig at vi nå har formidlingsplikt på kabel. Til -tross for at det tar noe tid å få nye avtaler på plass, med frivillig -juridisk bistand, vil vi sannsynligvis komme bedre ut i andre enden -også her. Formidlingsplikten gjelder samtlige kabeldistribusjoner i -Norge, ikke bare de regionene TV8 hadde avtale med.

- -

Om alt dette skal se dagens lys er vi avhengig av en -grunnfinansiering. Deres medlemsavgifter er i så måte et svært viktig -bidrag som vi er veldig takknemlige for. Vi ser oss likevel nødt til -å be dere om å delta i arbeidet med å dekke de resterende -driftskostnader. Frikanalen sin arbeidskapasitet er betydelig redusert -etter at foreningen ikke lenger kunne finansiere en daglig leder, men -allmøtet kan åpne for at flere bidrar til inntjening (Ekstraordinær -generalforsamling foreslo å tillate sponsorplakater på sendeflaten og -deler av disse inntektene kan tilfalle kanalen). Håper alle -medlemmene kan hjelpe oss med å skrive søknader og skaffe sponsorer, -eller i det minste komme med gode forslag til inntjening. Det er ikke -mye som skal til for å klare videre drift, kun 0,5 mill. pr år.

- -

Med en støtte som tilsvarer en norsk kortfilm vil vi kunne redde -sendearkivet for flere tusen videoer bygget opp av frivilligheten -gjennom 5 år og vi dobler kapasiteten for å ta imot nye (De som -leverer HD vil for øvrig kunne få HD på nett, mobil og hybrid TV).

- -

Vi vil også kunne videreføre konsesjonen på Riks TV og realisere en -formidlingsplikt på kabel som har en årlig verdi på ca. 5 millioner -kroner (når over 2/3 av Norges befolkning).

- -

Uten støtte står verdens eneste nasjonale nettstyrte åpne TV kanal i -fare for å forsvinne. En konkursbegjæring vil gjøre at utstyrsparken -går til advokatsalærer i behandling av boet og kreditorene vil ikke -kunne få dekket sine krav. Det mener vi ikke bare er urett ovenfor -långiverne, men det er urett mot alle de som har bidratt med å bygge -opp frivillighetens eneste sendearkiv og ikke minst alle de som i dag -jobber frivillig med å videreutvikle TV-systemet.

- -

Håper dere i likhet med styret ser verdien i videre drift og kan melde -tilbake innen årsmøtet (Kontaktinformasjon til styret og frivillige -utviklere er i kopifeltet).

- -

Vennligst fyll ut det blå feltet i regnearket under med det dere tror -er mulig å få inn. Det dere skriver her er ikke bindende, men gir -styret en indikasjon på om videre drift er mulig. Det blir tatt -stilling til av generalforsamlingen medio mars. Setter derfor pris på -om alle kan bidra med forslag til støtte eller antatte verdier fra -søknad/spons innen det.

- -

Forhåpentligvis når vi også ønsket budsjett på 1 mill. pr år. Med det -kan vi nedbetale gjelden raskere og sørge for en bedre -tilgjengelighet, samt raskere utvikling:

- -

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AouVL_e9_H1QdDgyX01kbElvcWI0UjFQbVNGbFIyUmc&usp=sharing#gid=0

- -

Med vennlig hilsen -
Styret i Frikanalen

-

- -

Jeg håper noen av mine lesere med dette ser verdien av Frikanalen -og melder seg inn for å sende sine videoer ut på TV til RiksTV og -Altibox-seerne. Det haster. Årsmøtet i foreningen Frikanalen skal -straks avholdes, og innen den tid må en redningsplan være på plass. -NUUG bidrar allerede litt ved å organisere utviklersamlinger og -finansiere litt mat og drikke til de frivillige som stiller opp på -dugnadsbasis for å utvikle den tekniske løsningen. Det er ikke nok -til å redde kanalen, men gir et lite steg i riktig retning.

+ +
5th July 2013
+

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, and it took a while to find a model I believe +will do the job, but two days ago the replacement finally arrived. I +ended up picking a +Thinkpad X230 +with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu Wheezy as +a roaming workstation, and it seemed to work flawlessly. But my +second installation with encrypted disk was not as successful. More +on that below.

+ +

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 Prisjakt, which +allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other +requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks according +to that search interface, so I had to drop specifying the number of +disks from my search parameters. I also asked around among friends to +get their impression on keyboards and robustness.

+ +

So the new laptop arrived, and it is quite a lot wider than the +X41. 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. :)

+ +

Turning off the touch pad was simple. All it took was a quick +visit to the BIOS during boot it disable it.

+ +

But there is a fatal problem with the laptop. The 180 GB SSD disk +lock up during load. And this happen when installing Debian Wheezy +with encrypted disk, while the disk is being filled with random data. +I also tested to install Ubuntu Raring, and it happen there too if I +reenable the code to fill the disk with random data (it is disabled by +default in Ubuntu). And the bug with is already known. It was +reported to Debian as BTS +report #691427 2012-10-25 (journal commit I/O error on brand-new +Thinkpad T430s ext4 on lvm on SSD). It is also reported to the Linux +kernel developers as +Kernel bugzilla +report #51861 2012-12-20 (Intel SSD 520 stops working under load +(SSDSC2BW180A3L in Lenovo ThinkPad T430s)). It is also reported on the +Lenovo forums, both for +T430 +2012-11-10 and for +X230 +03-20-2013. The problem do not only affect installation. The +reports state that the disk lock up during use if many writes are done +on the disk, so it is much no use to work around the installation +problem and end up with a computer that can lock up at any moment. +There is even a +small C program +available that will lock up the hard drive after running a few +minutes by writing to a file.

+ +

I've contacted my supplier and asked how to handle this, and after +contacting PCHELP Norway (request 01D1FDP) which handle support +requests for Lenovo, his first suggestion was to upgrade the disk +firmware. Unfortunately there is no newer firmware available from +Lenovo, as my disk already have the most recent one (version LF1i). I +hope to hear more from him today and hope the problem can be +fixed. :)

- Tags: frikanalen, norsk, nuug, video. + Tags: debian, english.
@@ -187,40 +100,115 @@ til å redde kanalen, men gir et lite steg i riktig retning.

- -
10th March 2013
-

Om noen år skal mine barn antagelig begynne på skolen i Oslo. Der -skal de blant annet lære seg å verdsette og håndheve sine egne grenser -og beskytte sin personlige integritet og privatsfære. Det blir ikke -enkelt når ledelsen i Osloskolen med vitende og vilje legger opp til å -krenke elevenes privatsfære ved å la politiet ransake elevene med -narkohund i klasserommet. Jon Wessel-Aas har publisert noen -interessante kommentarer om hvorfor dette er ulovlig. - +

+
3rd July 2013
+

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

+ +

New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~alpha3 released +2013-07-03

+ +

These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~alpha3, 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 fourth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.

+ +

Software updates

+
    +
  • Dropped ispell dictionaries from our default installation.
  • +
  • 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.
  • +
  • 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.
  • +
  • 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.
  • +
  • Dropped the golearn (from goplay) package as the debtags in wheezy + are too few to make the package useful.
  • +
+

Other changes

    +
  • Updated artwork matching http://wiki.debian.org/DebianArt/Themes/Joy +
  • Multi-arch i386/amd64 USB stick ISO available.
  • +
  • Got rid of ispell/wordlist related debconf questions that showed + up for some language options.
  • +
  • Switched to using http.debian.net as APT source by default.
  • +
  • Fixed proxy configuration on Main Server installations.
  • +
  • Changed LTSP setup to ask dpkg to use force-unsafe-io the same way + d-i is doing it.
  • +
  • Made sure root and user passwords were not left behind in the + debconf database after installation on Main Server installations.
  • +
  • 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.
  • +
  • Update system to install needed firmware packages during + installation, to work properly in Wheezy.
  • +
  • Update system to handle hardware quirks (debian-edu-hwsetup).
  • +
  • Corrected PXE installation setup to properly pass selected desktop + and keymap settings to PXE installation clients.
  • +
  • LTSP diskless workstations use sshfs by default, allowing them to + work without adding them to DNS and NIS netgroups for NFS access.
  • +
+

Known issues

+
    +
  • No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) + available yet (698840).
  • +
  • Artwork not enabled for all desktops.
  • +
+

Where to get it

-
  • Bruk av narkohund i - klasserom – fra vondt til verre (2013-03-09)
  • +

    To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

    + -
  • Ulovlig og - menneskerettsstridig bruk av narkohund i klasserom - (2012-03-12)
  • +

    The MD5SUM of this image is: 2b161a99d2a848c376d8d04e3854e30c +
    The SHA1SUM of this image is: 498922e9c508c0a7ee9dbe1dfe5bf830d779c3c8

    +

    To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

    + -

    Jeg er veldig glad for at han bidrar med argumenter og forklaringer -vi foreldre kan ta med oss når vi skal protestere på og få en slutt på -denne forkastelige praksisen. Narkotikaproblemet må adresseres på -andre måter som ikke krenker barn og ungdoms integritet. Jeg ønsker -ikke at mine barn skal læres opp til å akseptere radering av -privatlivets fred, men heller at de skal læres opp til å sloss imot -den innføringen av stadig mer totalitær overvåkning som har pågått -over mange år i Norge.

    +

    The MD5SUM of this image is: 25e808e403a4c15dbef1d13c37d572ac +
    The SHA1SUM of this image is: 15ecfc93eb6b4f453b7eb0bc04b6a279262d9721

    + +

    How to report bugs

    + +

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

    - Tags: norsk, personvern. + Tags: debian edu, english.
    @@ -228,102 +216,70 @@ over mange år i Norge.

    - -
    8th March 2013
    -

    Last Sunday, 2013-03-03,, Holger Levsen announced the first update -of Skolelinux / Debian Edu -based on Debian Squeeze. This is the first update since -the -initial release 2012-03-11. This is the -release -announcement email from Holger:

    - -

    Hi,

    - -

    it's my pleasure to announce the immediate availability of Debian -Edu 6.0.7+r1 ("Debian Edu Squeeze").

    - -

    Debian Edu 6.0.7+r1 is an incremental update to Debian Edu -6.0.4+r0, containing all the changes between Debian 6.0.4 and 6.0.7 as -well Debian Edu specific bugfixes and enhancements. See below (in this -mail) for the full list of (edu) changes. Please see -http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311 -for more information on "Debian Edu Squeeze".

    - -

    Images are available for download at -http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/

    - -

    md5sums: -
    1fe79eb4f0f9ae1c58fc318e26cc1e2e debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-CD.iso -
    a6ddd924a8bd9a1b5ca122e8fe1c34ec debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-DVD.iso -
    ac6c72cd7925ccec51bfbf58e2a7c69c debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-source-DVD.iso

    - -

    sha1sums: -
    a4b58233b672a99c7df8dc24fb6de3327654a5c3 debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-CD.iso -
    9b524915e0ff2aa793f13d93123e5bd2bab2dbaa debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-DVD.iso -
    43997614893fc5e9e59ad6ce066b05d07fd836fa debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-source-DVD.iso

    - -

    These images are suitable for amd64+i386.

    - -

    Changes for Debian Edu 6.0.7+r1 Codename "Squeeze", released -2013-03-03:

    + +
    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:

    -
      -
    • sitesummary was updated from 0.1.3 to 0.1.8 -
        -
      • Make Nagios configuration more robust and efficient
      • -
      • Comply with 3.X kernel
      • -
    • -
    • debian-edu-doc from 1.4~20120310~6.0.4+r0 to 1.4~20130228~6.0.7+r1 -
        -
      • Minor updates from the wiki
      • -
      • Danish translation now complete
      • -
    • -
    • debian-edu-config from 1.453 to 1.455 -
        -
      • Fix /etc/hosts for LTSP diskless workstations. Closes: #699880
      • -
      • Make ltsp_local_mount script work for multiple devices.
      • -
      • Correct Kerberos user policy: don't expire password after 2 days. - Closes: #664596
      • -
      • Handle '#' characters in the root or first users password. - Closes: #664976
      • -
      • Fixes for gosa-sync: -
          -
        • Don't fail if password contains "
        • -
        • Don't disclose new password string in syslog
        • -
      • -
      • Fixes for gosa-create: -
          -
        • Invalidate libnss cache before applying changes
        • -
        • Multiple failures during mass user import into GOsa²
        • -
        • gosa-netgroups plugin: don't erase entries of attribute type - "memberNisNetgroup". Closes: #687256
        • -
        • First user now uses the same Kerberos policy as all other users
        • -
      • -
      • Add Danish web page
      • -
      -
    • debian-edu-install from 1.528 to 1.530 -
        -
      • Improve preseeding support and documentation
      • -
    • -
    - -

    End-user documentation in English is available at -http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze/ -- translations to French, Italian, Danish and German are available in -the debian-edu-doc package. (Other languages could use your help!)

    +

    +# 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:

    -

    If you want to contribute to Debian Edu, please join our -mailinglist -debian-edu@lists.debian.org! -

    +

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

    -

    I am very happy to see the fruits of a year of hard work. :)

    +

    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 edu, english. + Tags: debian, english, isenkram.
    @@ -331,58 +287,50 @@ mailinglist
    - -
    3rd March 2013
    -

    Do you want to set up your own TV station, schedule videos and -broadcast them on the air? Using free software? With video on demand -support using -free and -open standards? Included a web based video stream as well? And -administrate it all in your web browser from anywhere in the world? A -few years now the Norwegian public access TV-channel -Frikanalen have been building a -system to do just this. The source code for the solution is licensed -using the GNU LGPL, and -available from github.

    - -

    The idea is simple. You upload a video file over the web, and -attach meta information to the file. You select a time slot in the -program schedule, and when the time come it is played on the air and -in the web stream. It is also made available in a video on demand -solution for anyone to see it also outside its scheduled time. All -you need to run a TV station - using your web browser.

    - -

    There are several parts to this web based solution. I'll mention -the three most important ones. The first part is the database of -videos and the schedule. This is written in Django and include a REST -API. The current database is SQLite, but the plan is to migrate it to -PostgreSQL. At the moment this system can be tested on -beta.frikanalen.tv. The -second part is the video playout, taking the schedule information from -the database and providing a video stream to broadcast. This is done -using CasparCG from SVT and -Media Lovin' Toolkit. Video -signal distribution is handled using -Open Broadcast Encoder. The -third part is the converter, handling the transformation of uploaded -video files to a format useful for broadcasting, streaming and video -on demand. It is still very much work in progress, so it is not yet -decided what it will end up using. Note that the source of the latter -two parts are not yet pushed to github. The lead author want to clean -them up a bit more first.

    - -

    The development is coordinated on the -#frikanalen IRC -channel (irc.freenode.net), and discussed on -the -frikanalen mailing list. The lead developer is Benjamin Bruheim -(phed on IRC). Anyone is welcome to participate in the -development.

    + +
    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: english, frikanalen, nuug, video. + Tags: debian edu, english.
    @@ -390,35 +338,143 @@ development.

    - -
    27th February 2013
    -

    Dr. Richard Stallman, -founder of Free Software Foundation, -is giving a -talk in Oslo March 1st 2013 17:00 to 19:00. The event is public -and organised by Norwegian Unix Users Group (NUUG) -(where I am the chair of the board) and -The Norwegian Open Source Competence -Center. The title of the talk is «The Free Software Movement and -GNU», with this description: - -

    -The Free Software Movement campaigns for computer users' freedom to -cooperate and control their own computing. The Free Software Movement -developed the GNU operating system, typically used together with the -kernel Linux, specifically to make these freedoms possible. -

    - -

    The meeting is open for everyone. Due to space limitations, the -doors opens for NUUG members at 16:15, and everyone else at 16:45. I -am really curious how many will show up. See -the event -page for the location details.

    + +
    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:

    + +
      + +
    • schools would like to get rid of proprietary software
    • + +
    • 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?
    • + +
    • 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!)
    • + +
    • 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? ;-)
    • + +
    + +

    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.

    @@ -426,91 +482,131 @@ page for the location details.

    - -
    22nd February 2013
    -

    Etter en lang pause og travle uker har jeg endelig klart å få -samlet et nytt intervju med en av folkene i -Skolelinux-miljøet. -Denne gang er det Helge Tore Høyland, en mangeårig bidragsyter på -epostlistene og ellers i prosjektet.

    - -

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

    - -

    Eg er IT-konsulent/teknikker hjå eit firma i Steinkjer med navn -Uno IT. Uno IT er eit lite firma som -drifter nettverk og maskiner for små og mellomstore firma -Steinkjer-området. Per dags dato er me 2 ansatte. Min faglege bakgrunn -er Fagbrev som it-teknikker, samt nokre fag innen nettverk- og -server-drift frå HiST og NTNU. Dagleg arbeid består i oppsett av nye -maskiner og hjelp til sluttbrukere, samt oppsett og vedlikehold av eit -vidt spekter av fagsystemer ute hjå kunder. Erfaring med Skolelinux -har eg hatt i forbindelse med drifting av -Bjørkly skule, ein privat -grunnskule i Namsos-området. I dag har skulen 65 elever, 15 lærere, 1 -hovedserver og ca 60 klienter som kjører halvtjukt. Eg har bygd og -driftet systemet sidan summaren 2006.

    - -

    Hvordan kom du i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet?

    - -

    Eg kom i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet via ein artikkel i eit -fagblad, som eg ikkje lenger hugsar namnet på. I og med at eg allereie -hadde pusla med nettverk for ein annan skule, fatta eg straks -interesse for prosjektet.

    - -

    Hva er fordelene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

    - -

    Fordelane med Skolelinux er sentralisert administrasjon og svært -mange gode verktøy «ut av boksen». Veldig kjekt å kunne drifte 60 -klientar med berre å «bry» seg med ein server. Levetid for systemets -hardware er og ein veldig fin effekt. I tillegg kjem fordelar som økt -sikkerhet og mindre lisenskostnader. Etter min erfaring er det og -mykje mindre driftskostnader med eit slikt system enn konkurrerande -system, pga enkelhet med sentralisert administrasjon. På grunn av at -Skolelinux er basert på Debian er det òg svært stabilt.

    - -

    Hva er ulempene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

    - -

    Ulemper er mangel på vilje til å følge standarer ute i markedet, -som fører til mangel på støtte til nokre mykje brukte ting. Flash og -Java er typiske eksempel. Sidan Debian satsar på stabilitet framfor å -ha nyeste pakke av eit program, kan ein i nokre tilfeller kome borti -at program vert «for gamle». Det er spesielt nettlesaren som er -utsett. Mangel på vilje til å utvikle pedagogisk programvare, i Noreg, -for «alle» platformer fører òg til noko hovudbry.

    - -

    Hvilken fri programvare bruker du til daglig?

    - -

    Til dagleg bruker eg svært mange forskjellige «fri programvare» -program. Firefox, Thunderbird, Freecommander, ImgBurn, Clonezilla, -OCS inventory, Icinga, Skolelinux, SystemRescueCD og mykje meir.

    - -

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

    - -

    Strategisk må ein fokusere på at sluttbruker eigentleg ikkje er så -fokusert på at det er fri programvare men at det skal «berre fungere». -Gjer det enkelt å bruker og ikkje minst å administrere. For Skolelinux -sin del må ein få eit betre fokus på overganger. Utbytting av servere -må gå meir automatisk, import og eksport av brukerbase og maskinbase -med meir må kunne gå enkelt og oppgradering til neste versjon må bli -mykje meir automatisk og gjennomtesta. Ein må unngå at ein må sette -opp frå start når ein byter ut ein server eller oppgraderer til neste -versjon. For å få Skolelinux til å bli eit betre alternativ for skular -må ein ha fokus på nettlesaren. Denne må bli «up to date» og støtte -dei protokollar og tillegg som vert brukt av forlag med meir. Etter -kvart som meir og meir blir flytta ut i «skya» vert dette viktigare og -viktigare. Ein kunne ynskje og jobbe for at forlag med fleire tar i -bruk opne standarer, men inntil det skjer, må systemet kunne brukast -mot desse fagsystema.

    - -

    For meg har prosjektet med Skolelinux vore ein svært artig og -lærerik prosess. Miljøet rundt er ikkje enormt stort, dog stort nok, -men det er svært hjelpevillig og engasjert.

    + +
    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.

    + +

    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?

    + +

    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.

    + +

    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.

    + +

    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.

    + +

    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.

    @@ -518,27 +614,108 @@ men det er svært hjelpevillig og engasjert.

    - -
    15th February 2013
    -

    If you, like me, want an updated a map for your Garmin GPS, there is -now a great source of free maps available from -Frikart. To -download a map, just click on the country you are interested in, and -download the map type you want. There are 8 different maps available, -using different colours and data selection. Pick one of Roadmap, Topo -Summer, Topo Winter, Roadmap II, Topo Summer II, Topo Winter II, -"Trails - overlay map" and "Cross country - overlay map" (see the web -page for descriptions).

    - -

    The maps are updated weekly, so if you find something wrong in the -map you can just edit the -OpenStreetmap map source -(anyone can contribute) and fetch a fixed map a week later. :)

    + +
    11th June 2013
    +

    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.

    + +

    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:

    + +
    +echo options i915 invert_brightness=1 | tee /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf
    +update-initramfs -u -k all
    +
    + +

    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.

    + +

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

    + +

    +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
    +

    + +

    The resulting intel_quirks entry would then look like this:

    + +

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

    + +

    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.

    + +

    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).

    - Tags: english, kart. + Tags: debian, english.
    @@ -546,90 +723,125 @@ map you can just edit the
    - -
    12th February 2013
    -

    Here in Norway, electronic invoices are spreading, and the -solution promoted -by the Norwegian government require that invoices are sent through -one of the approved facilitators, and it is not possible to send -electronic invoices without an agreement with one of these -facilitators. This seem like a needless limitation to be able to -transfer invoice information between buyers and sellers. My preferred -solution would be to just transfer the invoice information directly -between seller and buyer, for example using SMTP, or some HTTP based -protocol like REST or SOAP. But this might also be overkill, as the -"electronic" information can be transferred using paper invoices too, -using a simple bar code. My bar code encoding of choice would be QR -codes, as this encoding can be read by any smart phone out there. The -content of the code could be anything, but I would go with -the vCard format, as -it too is supported by a lot of computer equipment these days.

    - -

    The vCard format support extentions, and the invoice specific -information can be included using such extentions. For example an -invoice from SLX Debian Labs (picked because we -ask -for donations to the Debian Edu project and thus have bank account -information publicly available) for NOK 1000.00 could have these extra -fields:

    + +
    10th June 2013
    +

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

    + +

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

    + +

    This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu +alpha2, 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 third test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.

    + +

    Software updates

    -

    -X-INVOICE-NUMBER:1
    -X-INVOICE-AMOUNT:NOK1000.00
    -X-INVOICE-KID:123412341234
    -X-INVOICE-MSG:Donation to Debian Edu
    -X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER:16040884339
    -X-BANK-IBAN-NUMBER:NO8516040884339
    -X-BANK-SWIFT-NUMBER:DNBANOKKXXX
    -

    +
      -

      The X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER field was proposed in a stackoverflow -answer regarding -how -to put bank account information into a vCard. For payments in -Norway, either X-INVOICE-KID (payment ID) or X-INVOICE-MSG could be -used to pass on information to the seller when paying the invoice.

      +
    • Iceweasel was updated from 10 to 17. (DSA 2699-1) +
    • Updated libxv (DSA-2674), libxvmc (DSA-2675), libxfixes (DSA-2676), libxrender (DSA-2677), mesa (DSA-2678), xserver-xorg-video-openchrome (DSA-2679), libxt (DSA-2680), libxcursor (DSA-2681), libxext (DSA-2682), libxi (DSA-2683), libxrandr (DSA-2684), libxp (DSA-2685), libxcb (DSA-2686), libfs (DSA-2687), libxres (DSA-2688), libxtst (DSA-2689), libxxf86dga (DSA-2690), libxinerama (DSA-2691), libxxf86vm (DSA-2692), libx11 (DSA-2693), chromium-browser (DSA-2695), gnutls26 (DSA-2697), wireshark (DSA-2700), krb5 (DSA-2701), telepathy-gabble (DSA-2702) and subversion (DSA-2703). +
    • Switched xrdp on thin client servers to use tightvncserver instead of xvnc4. +
    • Now install software oscilloscope xoscope by default. +
    • Now install music tools gtick, lingot and pianobooster by default. -

      The complete vCard could look like this:

      +
    -

    -BEGIN:VCARD
    -VERSION:2.1
    -ORG:SLX Debian Labs Foundation
    -ADR;WORK:;;Gunnar Schjelderups vei 29D;OSLO;;0485;Norway
    -URL;WORK:http://www.linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/
    -EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:sdl-styret@rt.nuug.no
    -REV:20130212T095000Z
    -X-INVOICE-NUMBER:1
    -X-INVOICE-AMOUNT:NOK1000.00
    -X-INVOICE-MSG:Donation to Debian Edu
    -X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER:16040884339
    -X-BANK-IBAN-NUMBER:NO8516040884339
    -X-BANK-SWIFT-NUMBER:DNBANOKKXXX
    -END:VCARD
    -

    +

    Other changes

    + +
      -

      The resulting QR code created using -qrencode would look -like this, and should be readable (and thus checkable) by any smart -phone, or for example the zbar -bar code reader and feed right into the approval and accounting -system.

      +
    • The subnet-change script is now able to change all files needing a change on the main-server when changing the IP network used. +
    • Updated translation of the installation. +
    • New Romanian translation. +
    • Fix security problem causing root and first user password to no longer show up in /var/cache/debconf/templates.dat. +
    • Fix roaming workstation setup (Closed in libpam-mklocaluser/0.8, libpam-mklocaluser/0.8~deb7u1: #706753: libpam-mklocaluser: Fail to create local user during first login). +
    • Made roaming workstation setup more robust in non-Debian Edu environments. +
    • New script debian-edu-bless to transform a Debian installation to a Debian Edu profile. +
    • Adjust Iceweasel setup to improve performance when $HOME is on NFS. +
    • More testsuite tests. +
    • Make automatic proxy configuration more robust. +
    • Adjust GOsa² GUI configuration. -

      +
    • Update thin client and diskless workstation setup to work with +LTSP in Wheezy.
    • -

      The extension fields will most likely not show up in any normal -vCard reader, so those parts would have to go directly into a system -handling invoices. I am a bit unsure how vCards without name parts -are handled, but a simple test indicate that this work just fine.

      +
    • Diskless workstations now run out of the box -- no need to set +them up with GOsa².
    • -

      Update 2013-02-12 11:30: Added KID to the proposal -based on feedback from Sturle Sunde.

      +
    • Update IMAP server setup.
    • + +
    • Fix login into Skolelinux Backup Tool (Closed in +slbackup-php/0.4.4-1: #700257: slbackup-php: Fails to submit correctly +entered password).
    • + +
    + +

    Known issues

    + +
      + +
    • DVD binary and source images are not yet ready.
    • + +
    • No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) +available yet (Open in gosa/2.7.4-4: #698840: gosa-plugin-ldapmanager: +missing import feature).
    • + +
    • Missing artwork for the KDE desktop (and probably a few others).
    • + +
    • KDE Debian submenu lacks icons (Closed: #502192: menu-xdg: invents +own icon names instead of using existing). This will remain +unfixed.
    • + +
    + +

    Where to get it

    + +

    To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

    + + + +

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

    + +

    How to report bugs

    + +

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

    - Tags: english, standard. + Tags: debian edu, english.
    @@ -637,99 +849,38 @@ based on feedback from Sturle Sunde.

    - -
    11th February 2013
    -

    For et halvt år siden -satte -jeg opp et system for å lage en database med informasjon om -offentlige anbud fra Doffin ved -hjelp av -Scraperwiki. Nå er databasen så vidt jeg kan se komplett, med -data helt tilbake til 2008. Her er litt statistikk over -antall -anbud publisert hver måned:

    - -

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
    Publiseringsmåned Antall
    2013-01 1015
    2012-12 756
    2012-11 979
    2012-10 1093
    2012-09 1023
    2012-08 951
    2012-07 1103
    2012-06 1334
    2012-05 1435
    2012-04 1169
    2012-03 1573
    2012-02 1335
    2012-01 1147
    2011-12 1045
    2011-11 1114
    2011-10 1230
    2011-09 1165
    2011-08 966
    2011-07 1148
    2011-06 1410
    2011-05 1536
    2011-04 1350
    2011-03 1574
    2011-02 1370
    2011-01 1049
    2010-12 992
    2010-11 1089
    2010-10 1110
    2010-09 1132
    2010-08 883
    2010-07 1126
    2010-06 1440
    2010-05 1236
    2010-04 1249
    2010-03 1556
    2010-02 1256
    2010-01 1140
    2009-12 1013
    2009-11 1220
    2009-10 1320
    2009-09 1294
    2009-08 953
    2009-07 1162
    2009-06 1605
    2009-05 1568
    2009-04 1522
    2009-03 1599
    2009-02 1376
    2009-01 1080
    2008-12 1028
    2008-11 949
    2008-10 1047
    2008-09 965
    2008-08 725
    2008-07 1015
    2008-06 1304
    2008-05 323

    - -

    Her er tilsvarende -tall -per år, som viser en liten nedgang i antall anbud:

    - - - - - - - - -
    Publiseringsår Antall
    2012 13898
    2011 14957
    2010 14209
    2009 15712
    2008 7356

    - -

    Jeg droppet den ufullstendige måneden og året fra tabellen. Se -lenken for oppdaterte tall.

    + +
    5th June 2013
    +

    Here is a call for help from the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project. +We have two problems blocking the release of the Wheezy version we +hope to get released soon. The two problems require some with PHP +skills, and we seem to lack anyone with both time and PHP skills in +the project: + +

      + +
    1. It is impossible to log into the slbackup web interface + (slbackup-php) using the root user and password. This is + BTS report #700257. + This used to work, but stopped working some time since Squeeze. + Perhaps some obsolete PHP feature was used?
    2. + +
    3. It is not possible to "mass import" user lists in Gosa, neither + using ldif nor using CSV files. The feature was disabled after a + major rewrite of Gosa, and need to be ported to the new system. + This is BTS report + #698840.
    4. + +
    + +

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

    @@ -737,65 +888,145 @@ lenken for oppdaterte tall.

    - -
    10th February 2013
    -

    - -

    With kids in the house, one challenge is getting them to sleep -during the night and wake up when it is morning. I mean, when I -believe it is morning, and not two hours earlier. In our household we -have decided that 07:00 is the turning point, but getting the kids to -sleep until 07:00 is a small challenge every day. They have adapted -quite well, and rarely wake up at 05:00 any more, but some times wake -up at times like 05:50, 06:15, 06:30 or 06:45, and it is hard to put -the awake one to bed again without disturbing and waking the rest. -And I understand perfectly well that they fail to sleep until 07:00 -some times, as there is no way for them to know if it is before or -after the magic moment without coming and asking us parents.

    - -

    But yesterday I came up with a method to solve this problem. It -involve home automation. A few years ago I bought a -Tellstick and RF -switches at the local Clas -Ohlson shop, allowing me to control lights and other electrical -gadgets using my Linux server. When I moved from the old flat to a -small house, I put away all this equipment as most of the lighting in -the house was not using wall sockets and thus not easy to connect to -the gadgets I had. But recently I bought a -Tellstick -Net to be able to read sensor input as well as control power -sockets. I want to control ovens in the basement to avoid the pipes -to freeze, and monitor the humidity to detect flooding. The default -setup for Tellstick Net is to be controlled by the vendor web service, -which to me is a security problem, but it is also possible to build -ones own -firmware -with local access instead of being controlled by a Swedish -company, thanks to the release of the GPL licensed firmware source -code. I plan to get that running before I let it control anything -important. But while working on this, one idea to make it easier for -the kids came to me yesterday. We can set up a night light controlled -by the computer, and turn it automatically on at 07:00. The kids can -then check the light in the morning to know if they are supposed to -get up or not. They joined me in setting everything up, and I -repeated the concept several times before bed times to make sure they -remembered to check the light before getting up in the morning.

    - -

    We tested it this morning, and all the kids stayed in bed until -after 07:00, and every one of them commented on the fact that the -"morning light" was turned on and signalled that the morning had -arrived. So this look like a success, and I am excited to see how -this develops the next few days. :) I really hope this can allow us -all to sleep a bit longer in the morning.

    - -

    A nice advantage of this setup is that we can remote control when -to tell the kids to get up. We do not have to wait until 07:00, and -can also delay it if we want to.

    + +
    4th June 2013
    +

    It has been a while since my last English +Debian Edu and Skolelinux +interview last November. But the developers and translators are still +pulling along to get the Wheezy based release out the door, and this +time I managed to get an interview from one of the French translators +in the project, Cédric Boutillier.

    + +

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

    + +

    I am 34 year old. I live near Paris, France. I am an assistant +professor in probability theory. I spend my daytime teaching +mathematics at the university and doing fundamental research in +probability in connexion with combinatorics and statistical physics.

    + +

    I have been involved in the Debian project for a couple of years +and became Debian Developer a few months ago. I am working on Ruby +packaging, publicity and translation.

    + +

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

    + +

    I came to the Debian Edu project after a call for translation of +the +Debian Edu manual for the release of Debian Edu Squeeze. Since +then, I have been working on updating the French translation of the +manual. + +

    I had the opportunity to make an installation of Debian Edu in a +virtual machine when I was preparing localised version of some screen +shots for the manual. I was amazed to see it worked out of the box and +how comprehensive the list of software installed by default was.

    + +

    What amazed me was the complete network infrastructure directly +ready to use, which can and the nice administration interface provided +by GOsa². What pleased +me also was the fact that among the software installed by default, +there were many "traditional" educative software to learn languages, +to count, to program... but also software to develop creativity and +artistic skills with music (Ardour, +Audacity) and +movies/animation (I was especially thinking of +Stopmotion).

    + +

    I am following the development of Debian Edu and am hanging out on +#debian-edu. +Unfortunately, I don't much time to get more involved in this +beautiful project.

    + +

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

    + +

    For me, the main advantages of Skolelinux/Debian Edu are its +community of experts and its precise documentation, as well as the +fact that it provides a solution ready to use.

    + +

    I would add also the fact that it is based on the rock solid Debian +distribution, which ensures stability and provides a huge collection +of educational free software.

    + +

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

    + +

    Maybe the lack of manpower to do lobbying on the +project. Sometimes, people who need to take decisions concerning IT do +not have all the elements to evaluate properly free software +solutions. The fact that support by a company may be difficult to find +is probably a problem if the school does not have IT personnel.

    + +

    One can find support from a company by looking at +the +wiki dokumentation, where some countries already have a number of +companies providing support for Debian Edu, like Germany or +Norway. This list is easy to find readily from the manual. However, +for other countries, like France, the list is empty. I guess that +consultants proposing support for Debian would be able to provide some +support for Debian Edu as well.

    + +

    Which free software do you use daily?

    + +

    I am using the KDE Plasma Desktop. But the pieces of software I use +most runs in a terminal: Mutt and OfflineIMAP for emails, latex for +scientific documents, mpd for music. VIM is my editor of choice. I am +also using the mathematical software +Scilab and +Sage (built from +source as not completely packaged for Debian, yet). + +

    Do you have any suggestions for teachers interested in +using the free software in Debian to teach mathematics and +statistics?

    + +

    I do not have any "nice" recommendations for statistics. At our +university, we use both R and +Scilab to teach statistics and probabilistic simulations. For +geometry, there are nice programs:

    + +
      + +
    • drgeo and +kig to do +constructions in planar geometry + +
    • kali +to discover symmetry groups (the so-called wallpapers and frieze +groups), although the interface looks a bit old.
    • + +
    + +

    I like also +cantor, which +provides a uniform interface to SciLab, Sage, +Octave, etc...

    + +

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

    + +

    My suggestions would be to

    + +
      + +
    • advertise the reduction of costs when free software is used.
    • + +
    • communicate about the quality of free software projects, using + well known examples like Firefox, ThunderBird and + OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice.
    • + +
    • advertise the living and strong community around the project.
    • + +
    • show that it is not more difficult to use than any other + system.
    • + +
    - Tags: english. + Tags: debian edu, english, intervju.
    @@ -817,7 +1048,15 @@ can also delay it if we want to.

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  • @@ -961,35 +1200,35 @@ can also delay it if we want to.

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