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.
+ +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:
+ +-
+
+
- Set up cryptsetup to pass TRIM commands to the physical disk + (adding discard to /etc/crypttab) + +
- Set up LVM to pass on TRIM commands to the underlying device (in + this case a cryptsetup partition) by changing issue_discards from + 0 to 1 in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf. + +
- Set relatime as a file system option for ext3 and ext4 file + systems. + +
- Tell swap to use TRIM commands by adding 'discard' to + /etc/fstab. + +
- Change I/O scheduler from cfq to deadline using a udev rule. + +
- Run fstrim on every ext3 and ext4 file system every night (from + cron.daily). + +
- Adjust sysctl values vm.swappiness to 1 and vm.vfs_cache_pressure + to 50 to reduce the kernel eagerness to swap out processes. + +
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.
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.
+ +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).
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. :)
+ +The upcoming Saturday, 2013-07-13, we are organising a combined +Debian Edu developer gathering and Debian and Ubuntu bug squashing +party in Oslo. It is organised by the +member assosiation NUUG and +the Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project together with the hack space +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 event +wiki page if you plan to join us.
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:
- --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.
- -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 -- -
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 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.
- -Update 2013-02-12 11:30: Added KID to the proposal -based on feedback from Sturle Sunde.
+ +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. :)
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.
+ +Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a replacement for my +trusty old Thinkpad X41. Unfortunately I did not have much time to +spend on it, but today the replacement finally arrived. I ended up +picking a Thinkpad +X230 with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu +Wheezy as a roaming workstation, and it worked flawlessly. As I write +this, it is installing what I hope will be a more final installation, +with a encrypted hard drive to ensure any dope head stealing it end up +with an expencive door stop.
+ +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
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. :)
+ +I look forward to figuring out how to turn off the touch pad.
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.
+ +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
+ +To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use
+-
+
- ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso +
- http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso +
- rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso . +
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
+-
+
- ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso +
- http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso +
- rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso . +
The MD5SUM of this image is: 25e808e403a4c15dbef1d13c37d572ac
+
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 15ecfc93eb6b4f453b7eb0bc04b6a279262d9721
How to report bugs
+ +Nytt stortingsvalg er på trappene, og folket får igjen mulighet til -å påvirke sammensetningen i vår lovgivende forsamling. Da er det -relevant å vite hvilke representanter og partier som har støttet -innføringen av brev- og besøkskontroll av hele den norske -befolkningen, det vil si datalagringsdirektivet.
- -Hvis du vil vite hva hver enkelt stortingsrepresentant har stemt i -stortingsvoteringene om datalagringsdirektivet, så har nettstedet til -Holder De Ord den (så vidt jeg -vet) eneste komplette oversikten på sin temaside om -innføringen -av datalagringsdirektivet. Den har detaljene fra de 11 relevante -forslagene som har vært fremmet så lagt. De har vært votert over -2011-04-04, 2011-04-11, 2012-06-11, 2012-10-05 og 2012-12-06.
- -Hvis du lurer på hva som er problemet med datalagringsdirektivet, -anbefaler jeg å lese artiklene -fra Jon Wessel-Aas om temaet, samt informasjon fra foreningen -Digitalt -Personvern.
+ +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.
Jeg ser med gru at Arbeiderpartiet, Høyre og Fremskrittspartiet -applauderer -tollvesenets forslag om å øke overvåkningen i Norge nok et hakk. -Det er ikke så rart, da de som uttaler seg jo også har støttet -innføringen av datalagringsdirektivet eller i hvert fall ikke veldig -aktivt har motarbeidet det. Innføringen av datalagringsdirektivet er -en lovendring som innebærer brev og besøkskontroll for hele -befolkningen.
- -Datalagringsdirektivet -har vært oppe til votering i stortinget tre ganger så langt. Det ble -vedtatt første gang 2011-04-04 -og -andre -gang 2011-04-11 (lovendringer voteres to ganger), og forslag om å -stoppe loven ble -nedstemt -2012-12-06 (se også -oversikt fra Holder De -Ord).
- -Jan Bøhler i Arbeiderpartiet stemte for å innføre -datalagringsdirektivet i lovverket i første votering, var ikke -tilstede i andre votering og støttet loven i tredje votering. André -Oktay Dahl i Høyre var ikke til stede i første og andre votering men -støttet loven i tredje votering. Ulf Leirstein i Fremskrittspartiet -stemte mot loven i første votering men var ikke til stede i andre og -tredje votering.
- -Hvis du lurer på hva som er problemet med datalagringsdirektivet, -anbefaler jeg å lese artiklene -fra Jon Wessel-Aas om temaet, samt informasjon fra foreningen -Digitalt -Personvern.
- -Oppdatering 2013-03-09: Endret lenke til Holder De -Ord, som har byttet mange lenker i forbindelse med import av -voteringsdata for 2010-2011.
+ +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.
My -last -bitcoin related blog post mentioned that the new -bitcoin package for -Debian was waiting in NEW. It was accepted by the Debian ftp-masters -2013-01-19, and have been available in unstable since then. It was -automatically copied to Ubuntu, and is available in their Raring -version too.
- -But there is a strange problem with the build that block this new -version from being available on the i386 and kfreebsd-i386 -architectures. For some strange reason, the autobuilders in Debian -for these architectures fail to run the test suite on these -architectures (BTS #672524). -We are so far unable to reproduce it when building it manually, and -no-one have been able to propose a fix. If you got an idea what is -failing, please let us know via the BTS.
- -One feature that is annoying me with of the bitcoin client, because -I often run low on disk space, is the fact that the client will exit -if it run short on space (BTS -#696715). So make sure you have enough disk space when you run -it. :)
- -As usual, if you use bitcoin and want to show your support of my -activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address -15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.
+ +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 FundaÈia 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.
Yesterday, I -asked -for testers for my prototype for making Debian better at handling -pluggable hardware devices, which I -set -out to create earlier this month. Several valuable testers showed -up, and caused me to really want to to open up the development to more -people. But before I did this, I want to come up with a sensible name -for this project. Today I finally decided on a new name, and I have -renamed the project from hw-support-handler to this new name. In the -process, I moved the source to git and made it available as a -collab-maint -repository in Debian. The new name? It is Isenkram. -To fetch and build the latest version of the source, use
- --git clone http://anonscm.debian.org/git/collab-maint/isenkram.git -cd isenkram && git-buildpackage -us -uc -- -
I have not yet adjusted all files to use the new name yet. If you -want to hack on the source or improve the package, please go ahead. -But please talk to me first on IRC or via email before you do major -changes, to make sure we do not step on each others toes. :)
- -If you wonder what 'isenkram' is, it is a Norwegian word for iron -stuff, typically meaning tools, nails, screws, etc. Typical hardware -stuff, in other words. I've been told it is the Norwegian variant of -the German word eisenkram, for those that are familiar with that -word.
- -Update 2013-01-26: Added -us -us to build -instructions, to avoid confusing people with an error from the signing -process.
- -Update 2013-01-27: Switch to HTTP URL for the git -clone argument to avoid the need for authentication.
+ +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.