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        <channel>
                <title>Petter Reinholdtsen - Entries from January 2025</title>
                <description>Entries from January 2025</description>
                <link>http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/</link>

        
        <item>
                <title>121 packages in Debian mapped to hardware for automatic recommendation</title>
                <link>http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/121_packages_in_Debian_mapped_to_hardware_for_automatic_recommendation.html</link>        
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/121_packages_in_Debian_mapped_to_hardware_for_automatic_recommendation.html</guid>
                <pubDate>Sun, 19 Jan 2025 12:40:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;For some years now, I have been working on a automatic hardware
based package recommendation system for Debian and other Linux
distributions.  The isenkram system I started on back in 2013 now
consist of two subsystems, one locating firmware files using the
information provided by apt-file, and one matching hardware to
packages using information provided by AppStream.  The former is very
similar to the mechanism implemented in debian-installer to pick the
right firmware packages to install. This post is about the latter
system.  Thanks to steady progress and good help from both other
Debian and upstream developers, I am happy to report that
&lt;a href=&quot;https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/isenkram&quot;&gt;the Isenkram
system&lt;/a&gt; now are able to recommend 121 packages using information
provided via
&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Distributions/AppStream/&quot;&gt;AppStream&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The mapping is done using modalias information provided by the
kernel, the same information used by udev when creating device files,
and the kernel when deciding which kernel modules to load.  To get all
the modalias identifiers relevant for your machine, you can run the
following command on the command line:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;pre&gt;
find /sys/devices -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 sort -u
&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The modalias identifiers can look something like this:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;pre&gt;
acpi:PNP0000
cpu:type:x86,ven0000fam0006mod003F:feature:,0000,0001,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,0009,000B,000C,000D,000E,000F,0010,0011,0013,0015,0016,0017,0018,0019,001A,001B,001C,001D,001F,002B,0034,003A,003B,003D,0068,006B,006C,006D,006F,0070,0072,0074,0075,0076,0078,0079,007C,0080,0081,0082,0083,0084,0085,0086,0087,0088,0089,008B,008C,008D,008E,008F,0091,0092,0093,0094,0095,0096,0097,0098,0099,009A,009B,009C,009D,009E,00C0,00C5,00E1,00E3,00EB,00ED,00F0,00F1,00F3,00F5,00F6,00F9,00FA,00FB,00FD,00FF,0100,0101,0102,0103,0111,0120,0121,0123,0125,0127,0128,0129,012A,012C,012D,0140,0160,0161,0165,016C,017B,01C0,01C1,01C2,01C4,01C5,01C6,01F9,024A,025A,025B,025C,025F,0282
dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr2.18.1:bd08/14/2023:br2.18:svnDellInc.:pnPowerEdgeR730:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0H21J3:rvrA09:cvnDellInc.:ct23:cvr:skuSKU=NotProvided
pci:v00008086d00008D3Bsv00001028sd00000600bc07sc80i00
platform:serial8250
scsi:t-0x05
usb:v413CpA001d0000dc09dsc00dp00ic09isc00ip00in00
&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The entries above are a selection of the complete set available on
a Dell PowerEdge R730 machine I have access to, to give an idea about
the various styles of hardware identifiers presented in the modalias
format.  When looking up relevant packages in a Debian Testing
installation on the same R730, I get this list of packages
proposed:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;pre&gt;
% sudo isenkram-lookup
firmware-bnx2x
firmware-nvidia-graphics
firmware-qlogic
megactl
wsl
%
&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The list consist of firmware packages requested by kernel modules,
as well packages with program to get the status from the RAID
controller and to maintain the LAN console.  When the edac-utils
package providing tools to check the ECC RAM status will enter testing
in a few days, it will also show up as a proposal from isenkram.  In
addition, once the mfiutil package we uploaded in October get past the
NEW processing, it will also propose a tool to configure the RAID
controller.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Another example is the trusty old Lenovo Thinkpad X230, which have
hardware handled by several packages in the archive.  This is running
on Debian Stable:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;pre&gt;
% isenkram-lookup 
beignet-opencl-icd
bluez
cheese
ethtool
firmware-iwlwifi
firmware-misc-nonfree
fprintd
fprintd-demo
gkrellm-thinkbat
hdapsd
libpam-fprintd
pidgin-blinklight
thinkfan
tlp
tp-smapi-dkms
tpb
%
&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Here there proposal consist of software to handle the camera,
bluetooth, network card, wifi card, GPU, fan, fingerprint reader and
acceleration sensor on the machine.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Here is the complete set of packages currently providing hardware
mapping via AppStream in Debian Unstable: air-quality-sensor,
alsa-firmware-loaders, antpm, array-info, avarice, avrdude,
bmusb-v4l2proxy, brltty, calibre, colorhug-client, concordance-common,
consolekit, dahdi-firmware-nonfree, dahdi-linux, edac-utils,
eegdev-plugins-free, ekeyd, elogind, firmware-amd-graphics,
firmware-ath9k-htc, firmware-atheros, firmware-b43-installer,
firmware-b43legacy-installer, firmware-bnx2, firmware-bnx2x,
firmware-brcm80211, firmware-carl9170, firmware-cavium,
firmware-intel-graphics, firmware-intel-misc, firmware-ipw2x00,
firmware-ivtv, firmware-iwlwifi, firmware-libertas,
firmware-linux-free, firmware-mediatek, firmware-misc-nonfree,
firmware-myricom, firmware-netronome, firmware-netxen,
firmware-nvidia-graphics, firmware-qcom-soc, firmware-qlogic,
firmware-realtek, firmware-ti-connectivity, fpga-icestorm, g810-led,
galileo, garmin-forerunner-tools, gkrellm-thinkbat, goldencheetah,
gpsman, gpstrans, gqrx-sdr, i8kutils, imsprog, ledger-wallets-udev,
libairspy0, libam7xxx0.1, libbladerf2, libgphoto2-6t64,
libhamlib-utils, libm2k0.9.0, libmirisdr4, libnxt, libopenxr1-monado,
libosmosdr0, librem5-flash-image, librtlsdr0, libticables2-8,
libx52pro0, libykpers-1-1, libyubikey-udev, limesuite,
linuxcnc-uspace, lomoco, madwimax, media-player-info, megactl, mixxx,
mkgmap, msi-keyboard, mu-editor, mustang-plug, nbc, nitrokey-app, nqc,
ola, openfpgaloader, openocd, openrazer-driver-dkms, pcmciautils,
pcscd, pidgin-blinklight, ponyprog, printer-driver-splix,
python-yubico-tools, python3-btchip, qlcplus, rosegarden, scdaemon,
sispmctl, solaar, spectools, sunxi-tools, t2n, thinkfan, tlp,
tp-smapi-dkms, trezor, tucnak, ubertooth, usbrelay, uuu, viking,
w1retap, wsl, xawtv, xinput-calibrator, xserver-xorg-input-wacom and
xtrx-dkms.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In addition to these, there are several
&lt;a href=&quot;https://udd.debian.org/cgi-bin/bts-usertags.cgi?user=pere%40hungry.com&amp;tag=appstream-modalias&quot;&gt;with
patches pending in the Debian bug tracking system&lt;/a&gt;, and even more
where no-one wrote patches yet.  Good candiates for the latter are
packages
&lt;a href=&quot;https://udd.debian.org/lintian-tag.cgi?tag=appstream-metadata-missing-modalias-provide&quot;&gt;with
udev rules but no AppStream hardware information&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The isenkram system consist of two packages, isenkram-cli with the
command line tools, and isenkram with a GUI background process.  The
latter will listen for dbus events from udev emitted when new hardware
become available (like when inserting a USB dongle or discovering a
new bluetooth device), look up the modalias entry for this piece of
hardware in AppStream (and a hard coded list of mappings from isenkram
- currently working hard to move this list to AppStream), and pop up a
dialog proposing to install any not already installed packages
supporting this hardware.  It work very well today when inserting the
LEGO Mindstorms RCX, NXT and EV3 controllers. :) If you want to make
sure more hardware related packages get recommended, please help out
fixing the remaining packages in Debian to provide AppStream metadata
with hardware mappings.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my
activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&quot;&gt;15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        </item>
        
        <item>
                <title>What is the most supported MIME type in Debian in 2025?</title>
                <link>http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_in_2025_.html</link>        
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_in_2025_.html</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 18 Jan 2025 10:30:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_in_2018_.html&quot;&gt;Seven&lt;/a&gt;
and
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_.html&quot;&gt;twelve&lt;/a&gt;
years ago, I measured what the most supported MIME type in Debian
was&lt;/a&gt;, first by analysing the desktop files in all packages in the
archive, then by analysing the DEP-11 AppStream data set.  I guess it
is time to repeat the measurement, only for unstable as last time:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Debian Unstable:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;pre&gt;
  count MIME type
  ----- -----------------------
     63 image/png
     63 image/jpeg
     57 image/tiff
     54 image/gif
     51 image/bmp
     50 audio/mpeg
     48 text/plain
     42 audio/x-mp3
     40 application/ogg
     39 audio/x-wav
     39 audio/x-flac
     36 audio/x-vorbis+ogg
     35 audio/x-mpeg
     34 audio/x-mpegurl
     34 audio/ogg
     33 application/x-ogg
     32 audio/mp4
     31 audio/x-scpls
     31 application/pdf
     29 audio/x-ms-wma
&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The list was created like this using a sid chroot:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;pre&gt;
cat /var/lib/apt/lists/*sid*_dep11_Components-amd64.yml.gz | \
  zcat | awk &#39;/^  - \S+\/\S+$/ {print $2 }&#39; | sort | \
  uniq -c | sort -nr | head -20
&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;p&gt;It is nice to see that the same number of packages now support PNG
and JPEG.  Last time JPEG had more support than PNG.  Most of the MIME
types are known to me, but the &#39;audio/x-scpls&#39; one I have no idea what
represent, except it being an audio format.  To find the packages
claiming support for this format, the appstreamcli command from the
appstream package can be used:

&lt;pre&gt;
% appstreamcli what-provides mediatype audio/x-scpls | grep Package: | sort -u
Package: alsaplayer-common
Package: amarok
Package: audacious
Package: brasero
Package: celluloid
Package: clapper
Package: clementine
Package: cynthiune.app
Package: elisa
Package: gtranscribe
Package: kaffeine
Package: kmplayer
Package: kylin-burner
Package: lollypop
Package: mediaconch-gui
Package: mediainfo-gui
Package: mplayer-gui
Package: mpv
Package: mystiq
Package: parlatype
Package: parole
Package: pragha
Package: qmmp
Package: rhythmbox
Package: sayonara
Package: shotcut
Package: smplayer
Package: soundconverter
Package: strawberry
Package: syncplay
Package: vlc
%
&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Look like several video and auto tools understand the format.
Similarly one can check out the number of packages supporting the STL
format commonly used for 3D printing:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;pre&gt;
% appstreamcli what-provides mediatype model/stl | grep Package: | sort -u
Package: cura
Package: freecad
Package: open3d-viewer
%
&lt;/pre&gt;

&lt;p&gt;How strange the
&lt;a href=&quot;https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/slic3r&quot;&gt;slic3r&lt;/a&gt; and
&lt;a href=&quot;https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/slic3r-prusa&quot;&gt;prusa-slicer&lt;/a&gt;
packages do not support STL.  Perhaps just missing package metadata?
Luckily the amount of package metadata in Debian is getting better,
and hopefully this way of locating relevant packages for any file
format will be the preferred one soon.

&lt;p&gt;As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my
activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&quot;&gt;15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        </item>
        
        <item>
                <title>The 2025 LinuxCNC Norwegian developer gathering</title>
                <link>http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/The_2025_LinuxCNC_Norwegian_developer_gathering.html</link>        
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/The_2025_LinuxCNC_Norwegian_developer_gathering.html</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 11 Jan 2025 14:30:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://linuxcnc.org/&quot;&gt;The LinuxCNC project&lt;/a&gt; is
trotting along.  And I believe this great software system for
numerical control of machines such as milling machines, lathes, plasma
cutters, routers, cutting machines, robots and hexapods, would do even
better with more in-person developer gatherings, so we plan to
organise such gathering this summer too.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This year we would like to invite to a small LinuxCNC and free
software fabrication workshop/gathering in Norway this summer for the
weekend starting July 4th 2025.  New this year is the slightly larger
scope, and we invite people also outside the LinuxCNC community to
join.  As earlier, we suggest to organize it as an
&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference&quot;&gt;unconference&lt;/a&gt;,
where the participants create the program upon arrival.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The location is a metal workshop 15 minutes drive away from to the
Gardermoen airport (OSL), where there is a lot of space and a hotel only
5 minutes away by car. We plan to fire up the barbeque in the evenings.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Please let us know if you would like to join.  We track the list of
participants on &lt;a href=&quot;https://pad.efn.no/p/linuxcnc-2025-norway&quot;&gt;a
simple pad&lt;/a&gt;, please add yourself there if you are interested in joining.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nuugfoundation.no/&quot;&gt;The NUUG Foundation&lt;/a&gt; has on
our request offered to handle any money involved with this gathering,
in other words holding any sponsor funds and paying any bills.
NUUG Foundation is a spinnoff from the NUUG member organisation here
in Norway with long ties to the free software and open standards
communities.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As usual we hope to find sponsors to pay for food, lodging and travel.&lt;/p&gt;
 
&lt;p&gt;As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my
activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&quot;&gt;15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        </item>
        
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