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  13  <h1>
  14      <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/">Petter Reinholdtsen</a>
  15
  16  </h1>
  17
  18 </div>
  19
  20
  21     <h3>Entries tagged "debian".</h3>
  22
  23     <div class="entry">
  24       <div class="title">
  25         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8.html">How to install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8</a>
  26       </div>
  27       <div class="date">
  28         27th May 2013
  29       </div>
  30       <div class="body">
  31         <p>Two days ago, I asked
  32 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_can_I_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8_.html">how
  33 I could install Linux on a Packard Bell EasyNote LV computer
  34 preinstalled with Windows 8</a>.  I found a solution, but am horrified
  35 with the obstacles put in the way of Linux users on a laptop with UEFI
  36 and Windows 8.</p>
  37
  38 <p>I never found out if the cause of my problems were the use of UEFI
  39 secure booting or fast boot.  I suspect fast boot was the problem,
  40 causing the firmware to boot directly from HD without considering any
  41 key presses and alternative devices, but do not know UEFI settings
  42 enough to tell.</p>
  43
  44 <p>There is no way to install Linux on the machine in question without
  45 opening the box and disconnecting the hard drive!  This is as far as I
  46 can tell, the only way to get access to the firmware setup menu
  47 without accepting the Windows 8 license agreement.  I am told (and
  48 found description on how to) that it is possible to configure the
  49 firmware setup once booted into Windows 8.  But as I believe the terms
  50 of that agreement are completely unacceptable, accepting the license
  51 was never an alternative.  I do not enter agreements I do not intend
  52 to follow.</p>
  53
  54 <p>I feared I had to return the laptops and ask for a refund, and
  55 waste many hours on this, but luckily there was a way to get it to
  56 work.  But I would not recommend it to anyone planning to run Linux on
  57 it, and I have become sceptical to Windows 8 certified laptops.  Is
  58 this the way Linux will be forced out of the market place, by making
  59 it close to impossible for "normal" users to install Linux without
  60 accepting the Microsoft Windows license terms?  Or at least not
  61 without risking to loose the warranty?</p>
  62
  63 <p>I've updated the
  64 <a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Linux Laptop
  65 wiki page for Packard Bell EasyNote LV</a>, to ensure the next person
  66 do not have to struggle as much as I did to get Linux into the
  67 machine.</p>
  68
  69 <p>Thanks to Bob Rosbag, Florian Weimer, Philipp Kern, Ben Hutching,
  70 Michael Tokarev and others for feedback and ideas.</p>
  71
  72       </div>
  73       <div class="tags">
  74
  75
  76         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
  77
  78
  79       </div>
  80     </div>
  81     <div class="padding"></div>
  82
  83     <div class="entry">
  84       <div class="title">
  85         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_can_I_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8_.html">How can I install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8?</a>
  86       </div>
  87       <div class="date">
  88         25th May 2013
  89       </div>
  90       <div class="body">
  91         <p>I've run into quite a problem the last few days.  I bought three
  92 new laptops for my parents and a few others.  I bought Packard Bell
  93 Easynote LV to run Kubuntu on and use as their home computer.  But I
  94 am completely unable to figure out how to install Linux on it.  The
  95 computer is preinstalled with Windows 8, and I suspect it uses UEFI
  96 instead of a BIOS to boot.</p>
  97
  98 <p>The problem is that I am unable to get it to PXE boot, and unable
  99 to get it to boot the Linux installer from my USB stick.  I have yet
 100 to try the DVD install, and still hope it will work.  when I turn on
 101 the computer, there is no information on what buttons to press to get
 102 the normal boot menu.  I expect to get some boot menu to select PXE or
 103 USB stick booting.  When booting, it first ask for the language to
 104 use, then for some regional settings, and finally if I will accept the
 105 Windows 8 terms of use.  As these terms are completely unacceptable to
 106 me, I have no other choice but to turn off the computer and try again
 107 to get it to boot the Linux installer.</p>
 108
 109 <p>I have gathered my findings so far on a Linlap page about the
 110 <a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Packard Bell
 111 EasyNote LV</a> model.  If you have any idea how to get Linux
 112 installed on this machine, please get in touch or update that wiki
 113 page.  If I can't find a way to install Linux, I will have to return
 114 the laptop to the seller and find another machine for my parents.</p>
 115
 116 <p>I wonder, is this the way Linux will be forced out of the market
 117 using UEFI and "secure boot" by making it impossible to install Linux
 118 on new Laptops?</p>
 119
 120       </div>
 121       <div class="tags">
 122
 123
 124         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
 125
 126
 127       </div>
 128     </div>
 129     <div class="padding"></div>
 130
 131     <div class="entry">
 132       <div class="title">
 133         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_transform_a_Debian_based_system_to_a_Debian_Edu_installation.html">How to transform a Debian based system to a Debian Edu installation</a>
 134       </div>
 135       <div class="date">
 136         17th May 2013
 137       </div>
 138       <div class="body">
 139         <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> is
 140 an operating system based on Debian intended for use in schools.  It
 141 contain a turn-key solution for the computer network provided to
 142 pupils in the primary schools.  It provide both the central server,
 143 network boot servers and desktop environments with heaps of
 144 educational software.  The project was founded almost 12 years ago,
 145 2001-07-02.  If you want to support the project, which is in need for
 146 cash to fund developer gatherings and other project related activity,
 147 <a href="http://www.linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/donations.html">please
 148 donate some money</a>.
 149
 150 <p>A topic that come up again and again on the Debian Edu mailing
 151 lists and elsewhere, is the question on how to transform a Debian or
 152 Ubuntu installation into a Debian Edu installation.  It isn't very
 153 hard, and last week I wrote a script to replicate the steps done by
 154 the Debian Edu installer.</p>
 155
 156 <p>The script,
 157 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/branches/wheezy/debian-edu-config/share/debian-edu-config/tools/debian-edu-bless?view=markup">debian-edu-bless<a/>
 158 in the debian-edu-config package, will go through these six steps and
 159 transform an existing Debian Wheezy or Ubuntu (untested) installation
 160 into a Debian Edu Workstation:</p>
 161
 162 <ol>
 163
 164 <li>Add skolelinux related APT sources.</li>
 165 <li>Create /etc/debian-edu/config with the wanted configuration.</li>
 166 <li>Install debian-edu-install to load preseeding values and pull in
 167     our configuration.</li>
 168 <li>Preseed debconf database with profile setup in
 169     /etc/debian-edu/config, and run tasksel to install packages
 170     according to the profile specified in the config above,
 171     overriding some of the Debian automation machinery.</li>
 172 <li>Run debian-edu-cfengine-D installation to configure everything
 173     that could not be done using preseeding.</li>
 174 <li>Ask for a reboot to enable all the configuration changes.</li>
 175
 176 </ol>
 177
 178 <p>There are some steps in the Debian Edu installation that can not be
 179 replicated like this.  Disk partitioning and LVM setup, for example.
 180 So this script just assume there is enough disk space to install all
 181 the needed packages.</p>
 182
 183 <p>The script was created to help a Debian Edu student working on
 184 setting up <a href="http://www.raspberrypi.org">Raspberry Pi</a> as a
 185 Debian Edu client, and using it he can take the existing
 186 <a href="http://www.raspbian.org/FrontPage‎">Raspbian</a> installation and
 187 transform it into a fully functioning Debian Edu Workstation (or
 188 Roaming Workstation, or whatever :).</p>
 189
 190 <p>The default setting in the script is to create a KDE Workstation.
 191 If a LXDE based Roaming workstation is wanted instead, modify the
 192 PROFILE and DESKTOP values at the top to look like this instead:</p>
 193
 194 <p><pre>
 195 PROFILE="Roaming-Workstation"
 196 DESKTOP="lxde"
 197 </pre></p>
 198
 199 <p>The script could even become useful to set up Debian Edu servers in
 200 the cloud, by starting with a virtual Debian installation at some
 201 virtual hosting service and setting up all the services on first
 202 boot.</p>
 203
 204       </div>
 205       <div class="tags">
 206
 207
 208         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
 209
 210
 211       </div>
 212     </div>
 213     <div class="padding"></div>
 214
 215     <div class="entry">
 216       <div class="title">
 217         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian__the_Linux_distribution_of_choice_for_LEGO_designers_.html">Debian, the Linux distribution of choice for LEGO designers?</a>
 218       </div>
 219       <div class="date">
 220         11th May 2013
 221       </div>
 222       <div class="body">
 223         <P>In January,
 224 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_IRC_channel_for_LEGO_designers_using_Debian.html">I
 225 announced a</a> new <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-lego">IRC
 226 channel #debian-lego</a>, for those of us in the Debian and Linux
 227 community interested in <a href="http://www.lego.com/">LEGO</a>, the
 228 marvellous construction system from Denmark.  We also created
 229 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LegoDesigners">a wiki page</a> to have
 230 a place to take notes and write down our plans and hopes.  And several
 231 people showed up to help.  I was very happy to see the effect of my
 232 call.  Since the small start, we have a debtags tag
 233 <a href="http://debtags.debian.net/search/bytag?wl=hardware::hobby:lego">hardware::hobby:lego</a>
 234 tag for LEGO related packages, and now count 10 packages related to
 235 LEGO and <a href="http://mindstorms.lego.com/">Mindstorms</a>:</p>
 236
 237 <p><table>
 238 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/brickos">brickos</a></td><td>alternative OS for LEGO Mindstorms RCX. Supports development in C/C++</td></tr>
 239 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/leocad">leocad</a></td><td>virtual brick CAD software</td></tr>
 240 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/libnxt">libnxt</a></td><td>utility library for talking to the LEGO Mindstorms NX</td></tr>
 241 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/lnpd">lnpd</a></td><td>daemon for LNP communication with BrickOS</td></tr>
 242 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/nbc">nbc</a></td><td>compiler for LEGO Mindstorms NXT bricks</td></tr>
 243 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/nqc">nqc</a></td><td>Not Quite C compiler for LEGO Mindstorms RCX</td></tr>
 244 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/python-nxt">python-nxt</a></td><td>python driver/interface/wrapper for the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot</td></tr>
 245 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/python-nxt-filer">python-nxt-filer</a></td><td>simple GUI to manage files on a LEGO Mindstorms NXT</td></tr>
 246 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/scratch">scratch</a></td><td>easy to use programming environment for ages 8 and up</td></tr>
 247 <tr><td><a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/t2n">t2n</a></td><td>simple command-line tool for Lego NXT</td></tr>
 248 </table></p>
 249
 250 <p>Some of these are available in Wheezy, and all but one are
 251 currently available in Jessie/testing.  leocad is so far only
 252 available in experimental.</p>
 253
 254 <p>If you care about LEGO in Debian, please join us on IRC and help
 255 adding the rest of the great free software tools available on Linux
 256 for LEGO designers.</p>
 257
 258       </div>
 259       <div class="tags">
 260
 261
 262         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>.
 263
 264
 265       </div>
 266     </div>
 267     <div class="padding"></div>
 268
 269     <div class="entry">
 270       <div class="title">
 271         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Wheezy_is_out___and_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_should_soon_follow___newinwheezy.html">Debian Wheezy is out - and Debian Edu / Skolelinux should soon follow! #newinwheezy</a>
 272       </div>
 273       <div class="date">
 274          5th May 2013
 275       </div>
 276       <div class="body">
 277         <p>When I woke up this morning, I was very happy to see that the
 278 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2013/20130504">release announcement
 279 for Debian Wheezy</a> was waiting in my mail box.  This is a great
 280 Debian release, and I expect to move my machines at home over to it fairly
 281 soon.</p>
 282
 283 <p>The new debian release contain heaps of new stuff, and one program
 284 in particular make me very happy to see included.  The
 285 <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/">Scratch</a> program, made famous by
 286 the <a href="http://www.code.org/">Teach kids code</a> movement, is
 287 included for the first time.  Alongside similar programs like
 288 <a href="http://edu.kde.org/kturtle/">kturtle</a> and
 289 <a href="http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/Turtle_Art">turtleart</a>,
 290 it allow for visual programming where syntax errors can not happen,
 291 and a friendly programming environment for learning to control the
 292 computer.  Scratch will also be included in the next release of Debian
 293 Edu.</a>
 294
 295 <p>And now that Wheezy is wrapped up, we can wrap up the next Debian
 296 Edu/Skolelinux release too.  The
 297 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/2013/04/msg00132.html">first
 298 alpha release</a> went out last week, and the next should soon
 299 follow.<p>
 300
 301       </div>
 302       <div class="tags">
 303
 304
 305         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
 306
 307
 308       </div>
 309     </div>
 310     <div class="padding"></div>
 311
 312     <div class="entry">
 313       <div class="title">
 314         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Isenkram_0_2_finally_in_the_Debian_archive.html">Isenkram 0.2 finally in the Debian archive</a>
 315       </div>
 316       <div class="date">
 317          3rd April 2013
 318       </div>
 319       <div class="body">
 320         <p>Today the <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">Isenkram
 321 package</a> finally made it into the archive, after lingering in NEW
 322 for many months.  I uploaded it to the Debian experimental suite
 323 2013-01-27, and today it was accepted into the archive.</p>
 324
 325 <p>Isenkram is a system for suggesting to users what packages to
 326 install to work with a pluggable hardware device.  The suggestion pop
 327 up when the device is plugged in.  For example if a Lego Mindstorm NXT
 328 is inserted, it will suggest to install the program needed to program
 329 the NXT controller.  Give it a go, and report bugs and suggestions to
 330 BTS. :)</p>
 331
 332       </div>
 333       <div class="tags">
 334
 335
 336         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
 337
 338
 339       </div>
 340     </div>
 341     <div class="padding"></div>
 342
 343     <div class="entry">
 344       <div class="title">
 345         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Bitcoin_GUI_now_available_from_Debian_unstable__and_Ubuntu_raring_.html">Bitcoin GUI now available from Debian/unstable (and Ubuntu/raring)</a>
 346       </div>
 347       <div class="date">
 348          2nd February 2013
 349       </div>
 350       <div class="body">
 351         <p>My
 352 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_backport_bitcoin_qt_version_0_7_2_2_to_Debian_Squeeze.html">last
 353 bitcoin related blog post</a> mentioned that the new
 354 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/bitcoin">bitcoin package</a> for
 355 Debian was waiting in NEW.  It was accepted by the Debian ftp-masters
 356 2013-01-19, and have been available in unstable since then.  It was
 357 automatically copied to Ubuntu, and is available in their Raring
 358 version too.</p>
 359
 360 <p>But there is a strange problem with the build that block this new
 361 version from being available on the i386 and kfreebsd-i386
 362 architectures.  For some strange reason, the autobuilders in Debian
 363 for these architectures fail to run the test suite on these
 364 architectures (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/672524">BTS #672524</a>).
 365 We are so far unable to reproduce it when building it manually, and
 366 no-one have been able to propose a fix.  If you got an idea what is
 367 failing, please let us know via the BTS.</p>
 368
 369 <p>One feature that is annoying me with of the bitcoin client, because
 370 I often run low on disk space, is the fact that the client will exit
 371 if it run short on space (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/696715">BTS
 372 #696715</a>).  So make sure you have enough disk space when you run
 373 it. :)</p>
 374
 375 <p>As usual, if you use bitcoin and want to show your support of my
 376 activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
 377 <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
 378
 379       </div>
 380       <div class="tags">
 381
 382
 383         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
 384
 385
 386       </div>
 387     </div>
 388     <div class="padding"></div>
 389
 390     <div class="entry">
 391       <div class="title">
 392         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html">Welcome to the world, Isenkram!</a>
 393       </div>
 394       <div class="date">
 395         22nd January 2013
 396       </div>
 397       <div class="body">
 398         <p>Yesterday, I
 399 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">asked
 400 for testers</a> for my prototype for making Debian better at handling
 401 pluggable hardware devices, which I
 402 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">set
 403 out to create</a> earlier this month.  Several valuable testers showed
 404 up, and caused me to really want to to open up the development to more
 405 people.  But before I did this, I want to come up with a sensible name
 406 for this project.  Today I finally decided on a new name, and I have
 407 renamed the project from hw-support-handler to this new name.  In the
 408 process, I moved the source to git and made it available as a
 409 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/isenkram.git">collab-maint</a>
 410 repository in Debian.  The new name?  It is <strong>Isenkram</strong>.
 411 To fetch and build the latest version of the source, use</p>
 412
 413 <pre>
 414 git clone http://anonscm.debian.org/git/collab-maint/isenkram.git
 415 cd isenkram && git-buildpackage -us -uc
 416 </pre>
 417
 418 <p>I have not yet adjusted all files to use the new name yet.  If you
 419 want to hack on the source or improve the package, please go ahead.
 420 But please talk to me first on IRC or via email before you do major
 421 changes, to make sure we do not step on each others toes. :)</p>
 422
 423 <p>If you wonder what 'isenkram' is, it is a Norwegian word for iron
 424 stuff, typically meaning tools, nails, screws, etc.  Typical hardware
 425 stuff, in other words.  I've been told it is the Norwegian variant of
 426 the German word eisenkram, for those that are familiar with that
 427 word.</p>
 428
 429 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-26</strong>: Added -us -us to build
 430 instructions, to avoid confusing people with an error from the signing
 431 process.</p>
 432
 433 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-27</strong>: Switch to HTTP URL for the git
 434 clone argument to avoid the need for authentication.</p>
 435
 436       </div>
 437       <div class="tags">
 438
 439
 440         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
 441
 442
 443       </div>
 444     </div>
 445     <div class="padding"></div>
 446
 447     <div class="entry">
 448       <div class="title">
 449         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_prototype_ready_making_hardware_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">First prototype ready making hardware easier to use in Debian</a>
 450       </div>
 451       <div class="date">
 452         21st January 2013
 453       </div>
 454       <div class="body">
 455         <p>Early this month I set out to try to
 456 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">improve
 457 the Debian support for pluggable hardware devices</a>.  Now my
 458 prototype is working, and it is ready for a larger audience.  To test
 459 it, fetch the
 460 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">source
 461 from the Debian Edu subversion repository</a>, build and install the
 462 package.  You might have to log out and in again activate the
 463 autostart script.</p>
 464
 465 <p>The design is simple:</p>
 466
 467 <ul>
 468
 469 <li>Add desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ causing a program
 470 hw-support-handlerd to start when the user log in.</li>
 471
 472 <li>This program listen for kernel events about new hardware (directly
 473 from the kernel like udev does), not using HAL dbus events as I
 474 initially did.</li>
 475
 476 <li>When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware modalias in
 477 the APT database, a database
 478 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/modaliases?view=markup">available
 479 via HTTP</a> and a database available as part of the package.</li>
 480
 481 <li>If a package is mapped to the hardware in question, the package
 482 isn't installed yet and this is the first time the hardware was
 483 plugged in, show a desktop notification suggesting to install the
 484 package or packages.</li>
 485
 486 <li>If the user click on the 'install package now' button, ask
 487 aptdaemon via the PackageKit API to install the requrired package.</li>
 488
 489 <li>aptdaemon ask for root password or sudo password, and install the
 490 package while showing progress information in a window.</li>
 491
 492 </ul>
 493
 494 <p>I still need to come up with a better name for the system.  Here
 495 are some screen shots showing the prototype in action.  First the
 496 notification, then the password request, and finally the request to
 497 approve all the dependencies.  Sorry for the Norwegian Bokmål GUI.</p>
 498
 499 <p><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-1-notification.png">
 500 <br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-2-password.png">
 501 <br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-3-dependencies.png">
 502 <br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-4-installing.png">
 503 <br><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-21-hw-support-5-installing-details.png" width="70%"></p>
 504
 505 <p>The prototype still need to be improved with longer timeouts, but
 506 is already useful.  The database of hardware to package mappings also
 507 need more work.  It is currently compatible with the Ubuntu way of
 508 storing such information in the package control file, but could be
 509 changed to use other formats instead or in addition to the current
 510 method.  I've dropped the use of discover for this mapping, as the
 511 modalias approach is more flexible and easier to use on Linux as long
 512 as the Linux kernel expose its modalias strings directly.</p>
 513
 514 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-21 16:50</strong>: Due to popular demand,
 515 here is the command required to check out and build the source: Use
 516 '<tt>svn checkout
 517 svn://svn.debian.org/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/; cd
 518 hw-support-handler; debuild</tt>'.  If you lack debuild, install the
 519 devscripts package.</p>
 520
 521 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-23 12:00</strong>: The project is now
 522 renamed to Isenkram and the source moved from the Debian Edu
 523 subversion repository to a Debian collab-maint git repository.  See
 524 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Welcome_to_the_world__Isenkram_.html">build
 525 instructions</a> for details.</p>
 526
 527       </div>
 528       <div class="tags">
 529
 530
 531         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
 532
 533
 534       </div>
 535     </div>
 536     <div class="padding"></div>
 537
 538     <div class="entry">
 539       <div class="title">
 540         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html">Thank you Thinkpad X41, for your long and trustworthy service</a>
 541       </div>
 542       <div class="date">
 543         19th January 2013
 544       </div>
 545       <div class="body">
 546         <p>This Christmas my trusty old laptop died.  It died quietly and
 547 suddenly in bed.  With a quiet whimper, it went completely quiet and
 548 black.  The power button was no longer able to turn it on.  It was a
 549 IBM Thinkpad X41, and the best laptop I ever had.  Better than both
 550 Thinkpads X30, X31, X40, X60, X61 and X61S.  Far better than the
 551 Compaq I had before that.  Now I need to find a replacement.  To keep
 552 going during Christmas, I moved the one year old SSD disk to my old
 553 X40 where it fitted (only one I had left that could use it), but it is
 554 not a durable solution.
 555
 556 <p>My laptop needs are fairly modest.  This is my wishlist from when I
 557 got a new one more than 10 years ago.  It still holds true.:)</p>
 558
 559 <ul>
 560
 561 <li>Lightweight (around 1 kg) and small volume (preferably smaller
 562   than A4).</li>
 563 <li>Robust, it will be in my backpack every day.</li>
 564 <li>Three button mouse and a mouse pin instead of touch pad.</li>
 565 <li>Long battery life time.  Preferable a week.</li>
 566 <li>Internal WIFI network card.</li>
 567 <li>Internal Twisted Pair network card.</li>
 568 <li>Some USB slots (2-3 is plenty)</li>
 569 <li>Good keyboard - similar to the Thinkpad.</li>
 570 <li>Video resolution at least 1024x768, with size around 12" (A4 paper
 571 size).</li>
 572 <li>Hardware supported by Debian Stable, ie the default kernel and
 573   X.org packages.</li>
 574 <li>Quiet, preferably fan free (or at least not using the fan most of
 575   the time).
 576
 577 </ul>
 578
 579 <p>You will notice that there are no RAM and CPU requirements in the
 580 list.  The reason is simply that the specifications on laptops the
 581 last 10-15 years have been sufficient for my needs, and I have to look
 582 at other features to choose my laptop.  But are there still made as
 583 robust laptops as my X41?  The Thinkpad X60/X61 proved to be less
 584 robust, and Thinkpads seem to be heading in the wrong direction since
 585 Lenovo took over.  But I've been told that X220 and X1 Carbon might
 586 still be useful.</p>
 587
 588 <p>Perhaps I should rethink my needs, and look for a pad with an
 589 external keyboard?  I'll have to check the
 590 <a href="http://www.linux-laptop.net/">Linux Laptops site</a> for
 591 well-supported laptops, or perhaps just buy one preinstalled from one
 592 of the vendors listed on the <a href="http://linuxpreloaded.com/">Linux
 593 Pre-loaded site</a>.</p>
 594
 595       </div>
 596       <div class="tags">
 597
 598
 599         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
 600
 601
 602       </div>
 603     </div>
 604     <div class="padding"></div>
 605
 606     <div class="entry">
 607       <div class="title">
 608         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_find_a_browser_plugin_supporting_a_given_MIME_type.html">How to find a browser plugin supporting a given MIME type</a>
 609       </div>
 610       <div class="date">
 611         18th January 2013
 612       </div>
 613       <div class="body">
 614         <p>Some times I try to figure out which Iceweasel browser plugin to
 615 install to get support for a given MIME type.  Thanks to
 616 <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MozillaTeam/Plugins">specifications
 617 done by Ubuntu</a> and Mozilla, it is possible to do this in Debian.
 618 Unfortunately, not very many packages provide the needed meta
 619 information, Anyway, here is a small script to look up all browser
 620 plugin packages announcing ther MIME support using this specification:</p>
 621
 622 <pre>
 623 #!/usr/bin/python
 624 import sys
 625 import apt
 626 def pkgs_handling_mimetype(mimetype):
 627     cache = apt.Cache()
 628     cache.open(None)
 629     thepkgs = []
 630     for pkg in cache:
 631         version = pkg.candidate
 632         if version is None:
 633             version = pkg.installed
 634         if version is None:
 635             continue
 636         record = version.record
 637         if not record.has_key('Npp-MimeType'):
 638             continue
 639         mime_types = record['Npp-MimeType'].split(',')
 640         for t in mime_types:
 641             t = t.rstrip().strip()
 642             if t == mimetype:
 643                 thepkgs.append(pkg.name)
 644     return thepkgs
 645 mimetype = "audio/ogg"
 646 if 1 < len(sys.argv):
 647     mimetype = sys.argv[1]
 648 print "Browser plugin packages supporting %s:" % mimetype
 649 for pkg in pkgs_handling_mimetype(mimetype):
 650     print "  %s" %pkg
 651 </pre>
 652
 653 <p>It can be used like this to look up a given MIME type:</p>
 654
 655 <pre>
 656 % ./apt-find-browserplug-for-mimetype
 657 Browser plugin packages supporting audio/ogg:
 658   gecko-mediaplayer
 659 % ./apt-find-browserplug-for-mimetype application/x-shockwave-flash
 660 Browser plugin packages supporting application/x-shockwave-flash:
 661   browser-plugin-gnash
 662 %
 663 </pre>
 664
 665 <p>In Ubuntu this mechanism is combined with support in the browser
 666 itself to query for plugins and propose to install the needed
 667 packages.  It would be great if Debian supported such feature too.  Is
 668 anyone working on adding it?</p>
 669
 670 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-18 14:20</strong>: The Debian BTS
 671 request for icweasel support for this feature is
 672 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/484010">#484010</a> from 2008 (and
 673 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/698426">#698426</a> from today).  Lack
 674 of manpower and wish for a different design is the reason thus feature
 675 is not yet in iceweasel from Debian.</p>
 676
 677       </div>
 678       <div class="tags">
 679
 680
 681         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
 682
 683
 684       </div>
 685     </div>
 686     <div class="padding"></div>
 687
 688     <div class="entry">
 689       <div class="title">
 690         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_the_most_supported_MIME_type_in_Debian_.html">What is the most supported MIME type in Debian?</a>
 691       </div>
 692       <div class="date">
 693         16th January 2013
 694       </div>
 695       <div class="body">
 696         <p>The <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/AppStreamDebianProposal">DEP-11
 697 proposal to add AppStream information to the Debian archive</a>, is a
 698 proposal to make it possible for a Desktop application to propose to
 699 the user some package to install to gain support for a given MIME
 700 type, font, library etc. that is currently missing.  With such
 701 mechanism in place, it would be possible for the desktop to
 702 automatically propose and install leocad if some LDraw file is
 703 downloaded by the browser.</p>
 704
 705 <p>To get some idea about the current content of the archive, I decided
 706 to write a simple program to extract all .desktop files from the
 707 Debian archive and look up the claimed MIME support there.  The result
 708 can be found on the
 709 <a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/pub/AppStreamTest">Skolelinux FTP
 710 site</a>.  Using the collected information, it become possible to
 711 answer the question in the title.  Here are the 20 most supported MIME
 712 types in Debian stable (Squeeze), testing (Wheezy) and unstable (Sid).
 713 The complete list is available from the link above.</p>
 714
 715 <p><strong>Debian Stable:</strong></p>
 716
 717 <pre>
 718   count MIME type
 719   ----- -----------------------
 720      32 text/plain
 721      30 audio/mpeg
 722      29 image/png
 723      28 image/jpeg
 724      27 application/ogg
 725      26 audio/x-mp3
 726      25 image/tiff
 727      25 image/gif
 728      22 image/bmp
 729      22 audio/x-wav
 730      20 audio/x-flac
 731      19 audio/x-mpegurl
 732      18 video/x-ms-asf
 733      18 audio/x-musepack
 734      18 audio/x-mpeg
 735      18 application/x-ogg
 736      17 video/mpeg
 737      17 audio/x-scpls
 738      17 audio/ogg
 739      16 video/x-ms-wmv
 740 </pre>
 741
 742 <p><strong>Debian Testing:</strong></p>
 743
 744 <pre>
 745   count MIME type
 746   ----- -----------------------
 747      33 text/plain
 748      32 image/png
 749      32 image/jpeg
 750      29 audio/mpeg
 751      27 image/gif
 752      26 image/tiff
 753      26 application/ogg
 754      25 audio/x-mp3
 755      22 image/bmp
 756      21 audio/x-wav
 757      19 audio/x-mpegurl
 758      19 audio/x-mpeg
 759      18 video/mpeg
 760      18 audio/x-scpls
 761      18 audio/x-flac
 762      18 application/x-ogg
 763      17 video/x-ms-asf
 764      17 text/html
 765      17 audio/x-musepack
 766      16 image/x-xbitmap
 767 </pre>
 768
 769 <p><strong>Debian Unstable:</strong></p>
 770
 771 <pre>
 772   count MIME type
 773   ----- -----------------------
 774      31 text/plain
 775      31 image/png
 776      31 image/jpeg
 777      29 audio/mpeg
 778      28 application/ogg
 779      27 image/gif
 780      26 image/tiff
 781      26 audio/x-mp3
 782      23 audio/x-wav
 783      22 image/bmp
 784      21 audio/x-flac
 785      20 audio/x-mpegurl
 786      19 audio/x-mpeg
 787      18 video/x-ms-asf
 788      18 video/mpeg
 789      18 audio/x-scpls
 790      18 application/x-ogg
 791      17 audio/x-musepack
 792      16 video/x-ms-wmv
 793      16 video/x-msvideo
 794 </pre>
 795
 796 <p>I am told that PackageKit can provide an API to access the kind of
 797 information mentioned in DEP-11.  I have not yet had time to look at
 798 it, but hope the PackageKit people in Debian are on top of these
 799 issues.</p>
 800
 801 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-16 13:35</strong>: Updated numbers after
 802 discovering a typo in my script.</p>
 803
 804       </div>
 805       <div class="tags">
 806
 807
 808         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
 809
 810
 811       </div>
 812     </div>
 813     <div class="padding"></div>
 814
 815     <div class="entry">
 816       <div class="title">
 817         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_modalias_info_to_find_packages_handling_my_hardware.html">Using modalias info to find packages handling my hardware</a>
 818       </div>
 819       <div class="date">
 820         15th January 2013
 821       </div>
 822       <div class="body">
 823         <p>Yesterday, I wrote about the
 824 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html">modalias
 825 values provided by the Linux kernel</a> following my hope for
 826 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">better
 827 dongle support in Debian</a>.  Using this knowledge, I have tested how
 828 modalias values attached to package names can be used to map packages
 829 to hardware.  This allow the system to look up and suggest relevant
 830 packages when I plug in some new hardware into my machine, and replace
 831 discover and discover-data as the database used to map hardware to
 832 packages.</p>
 833
 834 <p>I create a modaliases file with entries like the following,
 835 containing package name, kernel module name (if relevant, otherwise
 836 the package name) and globs matching the relevant hardware
 837 modalias.</p>
 838
 839 <p><blockquote>
 840 Package: package-name
 841 <br>Modaliases: module(modaliasglob, modaliasglob, modaliasglob)</p>
 842 </blockquote></p>
 843
 844 <p>It is fairly trivial to write code to find the relevant packages
 845 for a given modalias value using this file.</p>
 846
 847 <p>An entry like this would suggest the video and picture application
 848 cheese for many USB web cameras (interface bus class 0E01):</p>
 849
 850 <p><blockquote>
 851 Package: cheese
 852 <br>Modaliases: cheese(usb:v*p*d*dc*dsc*dp*ic0Eisc01ip*)</p>
 853 </blockquote></p>
 854
 855 <p>An entry like this would suggest the pcmciautils package when a
 856 CardBus bridge (bus class 0607) PCI device is present:</p>
 857
 858 <p><blockquote>
 859 Package: pcmciautils
 860 <br>Modaliases: pcmciautils(pci:v*d*sv*sd*bc06sc07i*)
 861 </blockquote></p>
 862
 863 <p>An entry like this would suggest the package colorhug-client when
 864 plugging in a ColorHug with USB IDs 04D8:F8DA:</p>
 865
 866 <p><blockquote>
 867 Package: colorhug-client
 868 <br>Modaliases: colorhug-client(usb:v04D8pF8DAd*)</p>
 869 </blockquote></p>
 870
 871 <p>I believe the format is compatible with the format of the Packages
 872 file in the Debian archive.  Ubuntu already uses their Packages file
 873 to store their mappings from packages to hardware.</p>
 874
 875 <p>By adding a XB-Modaliases: header in debian/control, any .deb can
 876 announce the hardware it support in a way my prototype understand.
 877 This allow those publishing packages in an APT source outside the
 878 Debian archive as well as those backporting packages to make sure the
 879 hardware mapping are included in the package meta information.  I've
 880 tested such header in the pymissile package, and its modalias mapping
 881 is working as it should with my prototype.  It even made it to Ubuntu
 882 Raring.</p>
 883
 884 <p>To test if it was possible to look up supported hardware using only
 885 the shell tools available in the Debian installer, I wrote a shell
 886 implementation of the lookup code.  The idea is to create files for
 887 each modalias and let the shell do the matching.  Please check out and
 888 try the
 889 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/hw-support-lookup?view=co">hw-support-lookup</a>
 890 shell script.  It run without any extra dependencies and fetch the
 891 hardware mappings from the Debian archive and the subversion
 892 repository where I currently work on my prototype.</p>
 893
 894 <p>When I use it on a machine with a yubikey inserted, it suggest to
 895 install yubikey-personalization:</p>
 896
 897 <p><blockquote>
 898 % ./hw-support-lookup
 899 <br>yubikey-personalization
 900 <br>%
 901 </blockquote></p>
 902
 903 <p>When I run it on my Thinkpad X40 with a PCMCIA/CardBus slot, it
 904 propose to install the pcmciautils package:</p>
 905
 906 <p><blockquote>
 907 % ./hw-support-lookup
 908 <br>pcmciautils
 909 <br>%
 910 </blockquote></p>
 911
 912 <p>If you know of any hardware-package mapping that should be added to
 913 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/modaliases?view=co">my
 914 database</a>, please tell me about it.</p>
 915
 916 <p>It could be possible to generate several of the mappings between
 917 packages and hardware.  One source would be to look at packages with
 918 kernel modules, ie packages with *.ko files in /lib/modules/, and
 919 extract their modalias information.  Another would be to look at
 920 packages with udev rules, ie packages with files in
 921 /lib/udev/rules.d/, and extract their vendor/model information to
 922 generate a modalias matching rule.  I have not tested any of these to
 923 see if it work.</p>
 924
 925 <p>If you want to help implementing a system to let us propose what
 926 packages to install when new hardware is plugged into a Debian
 927 machine, please send me an email or talk to me on
 928 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-devel">#debian-devel</a>.</p>
 929
 930       </div>
 931       <div class="tags">
 932
 933
 934         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
 935
 936
 937       </div>
 938     </div>
 939     <div class="padding"></div>
 940
 941     <div class="entry">
 942       <div class="title">
 943         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Modalias_strings___a_practical_way_to_map__stuff__to_hardware.html">Modalias strings - a practical way to map "stuff" to hardware</a>
 944       </div>
 945       <div class="date">
 946         14th January 2013
 947       </div>
 948       <div class="body">
 949         <p>While looking into how to look up Debian packages based on hardware
 950 information, to find the packages that support a given piece of
 951 hardware, I refreshed my memory regarding modalias values, and decided
 952 to document the details.  Here are my findings so far, also available
 953 in
 954 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">the
 955 Debian Edu subversion repository</a>:
 956
 957 <p><strong>Modalias decoded</strong></p>
 958
 959 <p>This document try to explain what the different types of modalias
 960 values stands for.  It is in part based on information from
 961 &lt;URL: <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Modalias">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Modalias</a> &gt;,
 962 &lt;URL: <a href="http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/how-to-assign-usb-driver-to-device">http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/how-to-assign-usb-driver-to-device</a> &gt;,
 963 &lt;URL: <a href="http://code.metager.de/source/history/linux/stable/scripts/mod/file2alias.c">http://code.metager.de/source/history/linux/stable/scripts/mod/file2alias.c</a> &gt; and
 964 &lt;URL: <a href="http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/dmidecode/dmidecode.c?root=dmidecode&view=markup">http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/dmidecode/dmidecode.c?root=dmidecode&view=markup</a> &gt;.
 965
 966 <p>The modalias entries for a given Linux machine can be found using
 967 this shell script:</p>
 968
 969 <pre>
 970 find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u
 971 </pre>
 972
 973 <p>The supported modalias globs for a given kernel module can be found
 974 using modinfo:</p>
 975
 976 <pre>
 977 % /sbin/modinfo psmouse | grep alias:
 978 alias:          serio:ty05pr*id*ex*
 979 alias:          serio:ty01pr*id*ex*
 980 %
 981 </pre>
 982
 983 <p><strong>PCI subtype</strong></p>
 984
 985 <p>A typical PCI entry can look like this.  This is an Intel Host
 986 Bridge memory controller:</p>
 987
 988 <p><blockquote>
 989 pci:v00008086d00002770sv00001028sd000001ADbc06sc00i00
 990 </blockquote></p>
 991
 992 <p>This represent these values:</p>
 993
 994 <pre>
 995  v   00008086  (vendor)
 996  d   00002770  (device)
 997  sv  00001028  (subvendor)
 998  sd  000001AD  (subdevice)
 999  bc  06        (bus class)
1000  sc  00        (bus subclass)
1001  i   00        (interface)
1002 </pre>
1003
1004 <p>The vendor/device values are the same values outputted from 'lspci
1005 -n' as 8086:2770.  The bus class/subclass is also shown by lspci as
1006 0600.  The 0600 class is a host bridge.  Other useful bus values are
1007 0300 (VGA compatible card) and 0200 (Ethernet controller).</p>
1008
1009 <p>Not sure how to figure out the interface value, nor what it
1010 means.</p>
1011
1012 <p><strong>USB subtype</strong></p>
1013
1014 <p>Some typical USB entries can look like this.  This is an internal
1015 USB hub in a laptop:</p>
1016
1017 <p><blockquote>
1018 usb:v1D6Bp0001d0206dc09dsc00dp00ic09isc00ip00
1019 </blockquote></p>
1020
1021 <p>Here is the values included in this alias:</p>
1022
1023 <pre>
1024  v    1D6B  (device vendor)
1025  p    0001  (device product)
1026  d    0206  (bcddevice)
1027  dc     09  (device class)
1028  dsc    00  (device subclass)
1029  dp     00  (device protocol)
1030  ic     09  (interface class)
1031  isc    00  (interface subclass)
1032  ip     00  (interface protocol)
1033 </pre>
1034
1035 <p>The 0900 device class/subclass means hub.  Some times the relevant
1036 class is in the interface class section.  For a simple USB web camera,
1037 these alias entries show up:</p>
1038
1039 <p><blockquote>
1040 usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc01ip00
1041 <br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic01isc02ip00
1042 <br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc01ip00
1043 <br>usb:v0AC8p3420d5000dcEFdsc02dp01ic0Eisc02ip00
1044 </blockquote></p>
1045
1046 <p>Interface class 0E01 is video control, 0E02 is video streaming (aka
1047 camera), 0101 is audio control device and 0102 is audio streaming (aka
1048 microphone).  Thus this is a camera with microphone included.</p>
1049
1050 <p><strong>ACPI subtype</strong></p>
1051
1052 <p>The ACPI type is used for several non-PCI/USB stuff.  This is an IR
1053 receiver in a Thinkpad X40:</p>
1054
1055 <p><blockquote>
1056 acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511:
1057 </blockquote></p>
1058
1059 <p>The values between the colons are IDs.</p>
1060
1061 <p><strong>DMI subtype</strong></p>
1062
1063 <p>The DMI table contain lots of information about the computer case
1064 and model.  This is an entry for a IBM Thinkpad X40, fetched from
1065 /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/modalias:</p>
1066
1067 <p><blockquote>
1068 dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1UETB6WW(1.66):bd06/15/2005:svnIBM:pn2371H4G:pvrThinkPadX40:rvnIBM:rn2371H4G:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
1069 </blockquote></p>
1070
1071 <p>The values present are</p>
1072
1073 <pre>
1074  bvn  IBM            (BIOS vendor)
1075  bvr  1UETB6WW(1.66) (BIOS version)
1076  bd   06/15/2005     (BIOS date)
1077  svn  IBM            (system vendor)
1078  pn   2371H4G        (product name)
1079  pvr  ThinkPadX40    (product version)
1080  rvn  IBM            (board vendor)
1081  rn   2371H4G        (board name)
1082  rvr  NotAvailable   (board version)
1083  cvn  IBM            (chassis vendor)
1084  ct   10             (chassis type)
1085  cvr  NotAvailable   (chassis version)
1086 </pre>
1087
1088 <p>The chassis type 10 is Notebook.  Other interesting values can be
1089 found in the dmidecode source:</p>
1090
1091 <pre>
1092   3 Desktop
1093   4 Low Profile Desktop
1094   5 Pizza Box
1095   6 Mini Tower
1096   7 Tower
1097   8 Portable
1098   9 Laptop
1099  10 Notebook
1100  11 Hand Held
1101  12 Docking Station
1102  13 All In One
1103  14 Sub Notebook
1104  15 Space-saving
1105  16 Lunch Box
1106  17 Main Server Chassis
1107  18 Expansion Chassis
1108  19 Sub Chassis
1109  20 Bus Expansion Chassis
1110  21 Peripheral Chassis
1111  22 RAID Chassis
1112  23 Rack Mount Chassis
1113  24 Sealed-case PC
1114  25 Multi-system
1115  26 CompactPCI
1116  27 AdvancedTCA
1117  28 Blade
1118  29 Blade Enclosing
1119 </pre>
1120
1121 <p>The chassis type values are not always accurately set in the DMI
1122 table.  For example my home server is a tower, but the DMI modalias
1123 claim it is a desktop.</p>
1124
1125 <p><strong>SerIO subtype</strong></p>
1126
1127 <p>This type is used for PS/2 mouse plugs.  One example is from my
1128 test machine:</p>
1129
1130 <p><blockquote>
1131 serio:ty01pr00id00ex00
1132 </blockquote></p>
1133
1134 <p>The values present are</p>
1135
1136 <pre>
1137   ty  01  (type)
1138   pr  00  (prototype)
1139   id  00  (id)
1140   ex  00  (extra)
1141 </pre>
1142
1143 <p>This type is supported by the psmouse driver.  I am not sure what
1144 the valid values are.</p>
1145
1146 <p><strong>Other subtypes</strong></p>
1147
1148 <p>There are heaps of other modalias subtypes according to
1149 file2alias.c.  There is the rest of the list from that source: amba,
1150 ap, bcma, ccw, css, eisa, hid, i2c, ieee1394, input, ipack, isapnp,
1151 mdio, of, parisc, pcmcia, platform, scsi, sdio, spi, ssb, vio, virtio,
1152 vmbus, x86cpu and zorro.  I did not spend time documenting all of
1153 these, as they do not seem relevant for my intended use with mapping
1154 hardware to packages when new stuff is inserted during run time.</p>
1155
1156 <p><strong>Looking up kernel modules using modalias values</strong></p>
1157
1158 <p>To check which kernel modules provide support for a given modalias,
1159 one can use the following shell script:</p>
1160
1161 <pre>
1162   for id in $(find /sys -name modalias -print0 | xargs -0 cat | sort -u); do \
1163     echo "$id" ; \
1164     /sbin/modprobe --show-depends "$id"|sed 's/^/  /' ; \
1165   done
1166 </pre>
1167
1168 <p>The output can look like this (only the first few entries as the
1169 list is very long on my test machine):</p>
1170
1171 <pre>
1172   acpi:ACPI0003:
1173     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/acpi/ac.ko
1174   acpi:device:
1175   FATAL: Module acpi:device: not found.
1176   acpi:IBM0068:
1177     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/char/nvram.ko
1178     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/leds/led-class.ko
1179     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/net/rfkill/rfkill.ko
1180     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/thinkpad_acpi.ko
1181   acpi:IBM0071:PNP0511:
1182     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/lib/crc-ccitt.ko
1183     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/net/irda/irda.ko
1184     insmod /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/kernel/drivers/net/irda/nsc-ircc.ko
1185   [...]
1186 </pre>
1187
1188 <p>If you want to help implementing a system to let us propose what
1189 packages to install when new hardware is plugged into a Debian
1190 machine, please send me an email or talk to me on
1191 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-devel">#debian-devel</a>.</p>
1192
1193 <p><strong>Update 2013-01-15:</strong> Rewrite "cat $(find ...)" to
1194 "find ... -print0 | xargs -0 cat" to make sure it handle directories
1195 in /sys/ with space in them.</p>
1196
1197       </div>
1198       <div class="tags">
1199
1200
1201         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
1202
1203
1204       </div>
1205     </div>
1206     <div class="padding"></div>
1207
1208     <div class="entry">
1209       <div class="title">
1210         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Moved_the_pymissile_Debian_packaging_to_collab_maint.html">Moved the pymissile Debian packaging to collab-maint</a>
1211       </div>
1212       <div class="date">
1213         10th January 2013
1214       </div>
1215       <div class="body">
1216         <p>As part of my investigation on how to improve the support in Debian
1217 for hardware dongles, I dug up my old Mark and Spencer USB Rocket
1218 Launcher and updated the Debian package
1219 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/pymissile">pymissile</a> to make
1220 sure udev will fix the device permissions when it is plugged in.  I
1221 also added a "Modaliases" header to test it in the Debian archive and
1222 hopefully make the package be proposed by jockey in Ubuntu when a user
1223 plug in his rocket launcher.  In the process I moved the source to a
1224 git repository under collab-maint, to make it easier for any DD to
1225 contribute.  <a href="http://code.google.com/p/pymissile/">Upstream</a>
1226 is not very active, but the software still work for me even after five
1227 years of relative silence.  The new git repository is not listed in
1228 the uploaded package yet, because I want to test the other changes a
1229 bit more before I upload the new version.  If you want to check out
1230 the new version with a .desktop file included, visit the
1231 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/pymissile.git">gitweb
1232 view</a> or use "<tt>git clone
1233 git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/pymissile.git</tt>".</p>
1234
1235       </div>
1236       <div class="tags">
1237
1238
1239         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>.
1240
1241
1242       </div>
1243     </div>
1244     <div class="padding"></div>
1245
1246     <div class="entry">
1247       <div class="title">
1248         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lets_make_hardware_dongles_easier_to_use_in_Debian.html">Lets make hardware dongles easier to use in Debian</a>
1249       </div>
1250       <div class="date">
1251          9th January 2013
1252       </div>
1253       <div class="body">
1254         <p>One thing that annoys me with Debian and Linux distributions in
1255 general, is that there is a great package management system with the
1256 ability to automatically install software packages by downloading them
1257 from the distribution mirrors, but no way to get it to automatically
1258 install the packages I need to use the hardware I plug into my
1259 machine.  Even if the package to use it is easily available from the
1260 Linux distribution.  When I plug in a LEGO Mindstorms NXT, it could
1261 suggest to automatically install the python-nxt, nbc and t2n packages
1262 I need to talk to it.  When I plug in a Yubikey, it could propose the
1263 yubikey-personalization package.  The information required to do this
1264 is available, but no-one have pulled all the pieces together.</p>
1265
1266 <p>Some years ago, I proposed to
1267 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg01206.html">use
1268 the discover subsystem to implement this</a>.  The idea is fairly
1269 simple:
1270
1271 <ul>
1272
1273 <li>Add a desktop entry in /usr/share/autostart/ pointing to a program
1274   starting when a user log in.</li>
1275
1276 <li>Set this program up to listen for kernel events emitted when new
1277   hardware is inserted into the computer.</li>
1278
1279 <li>When new hardware is inserted, look up the hardware ID in a
1280   database mapping to packages, and take note of any non-installed
1281   packages.</li>
1282
1283 <li>Show a message to the user proposing to install the discovered
1284   package, and make it easy to install it.</li>
1285
1286 </ul>
1287
1288 <p>I am not sure what the best way to implement this is, but my
1289 initial idea was to use dbus events to discover new hardware, the
1290 discover database to find packages and
1291 <a href="http://www.packagekit.org/">PackageKit</a> to install
1292 packages.</p>
1293
1294 <p>Yesterday, I found time to try to implement this idea, and the
1295 draft package is now checked into
1296 <a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/viewvc/debian-edu/trunk/src/hw-support-handler/">the
1297 Debian Edu subversion repository</a>.  In the process, I updated the
1298 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/discover-data.html">discover-data</a>
1299 package to map the USB ids of LEGO Mindstorms and Yubikey devices to
1300 the relevant packages in Debian, and uploaded a new version
1301 2.2013.01.09 to unstable.  I also discovered that the current
1302 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/d/discover.html">discover</a>
1303 package in Debian no longer discovered any USB devices, because
1304 /proc/bus/usb/devices is no longer present.  I ported it to use
1305 libusb as a fall back option to get it working.  The fixed package
1306 version 2.1.2-6 is now in experimental (didn't upload it to unstable
1307 because of the freeze).</p>
1308
1309 <p>With this prototype in place, I can insert my Yubikey, and get this
1310 desktop notification to show up (only once, the first time it is
1311 inserted):</p>
1312
1313 <p align="center"><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-01-09-hw-autoinstall.png"></p>
1314
1315 <p>For this prototype to be really useful, some way to automatically
1316 install the proposed packages by pressing the "Please install
1317 program(s)" button should to be implemented.</p>
1318
1319 <p>If this idea seem useful to you, and you want to help make it
1320 happen, please help me update the discover-data database with mappings
1321 from hardware to Debian packages.  Check if 'discover-pkginstall -l'
1322 list the package you would like to have installed when a given
1323 hardware device is inserted into your computer, and report bugs using
1324 reportbug if it isn't.  Or, if you know of a better way to provide
1325 such mapping, please let me know.</p>
1326
1327 <p>This prototype need more work, and there are several questions that
1328 should be considered before it is ready for production use.  Is dbus
1329 the correct way to detect new hardware?  At the moment I look for HAL
1330 dbus events on the system bus, because that is the events I could see
1331 on my Debian Squeeze KDE desktop.  Are there better events to use?
1332 How should the user be notified?  Is the desktop notification
1333 mechanism the best option, or should the background daemon raise a
1334 popup instead?  How should packages be installed?  When should they
1335 not be installed?</p>
1336
1337 <p>If you want to help getting such feature implemented in Debian,
1338 please send me an email. :)</p>
1339
1340       </div>
1341       <div class="tags">
1342
1343
1344         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram</a>.
1345
1346
1347       </div>
1348     </div>
1349     <div class="padding"></div>
1350
1351     <div class="entry">
1352       <div class="title">
1353         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_IRC_channel_for_LEGO_designers_using_Debian.html">New IRC channel for LEGO designers using Debian</a>
1354       </div>
1355       <div class="date">
1356          2nd January 2013
1357       </div>
1358       <div class="body">
1359         <p>During Christmas, I have worked a bit on the Debian support for
1360 <a href="http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx">LEGO Mindstorm
1361 NXT</a>.  My son and I have played a bit with my NXT set, and I
1362 discovered I had to build all the tools myself because none were
1363 already in Debian Squeeze.  If Debian support for LEGO is something
1364 you care about, please join me on the IRC channel
1365 <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-lego">#debian-lego</a> (server
1366 irc.debian.org).  There is a lot that could be done to improve the
1367 Debian support for LEGO designers.  For example both CAD software
1368 and Mindstorm compilers are missing. :)</p>
1369
1370 <p>Update 2012-01-03: A
1371 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LegoDesigners">project page</a>
1372 including links to Lego related packages is now available.</p>
1373
1374       </div>
1375       <div class="tags">
1376
1377
1378         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot</a>.
1379
1380
1381       </div>
1382     </div>
1383     <div class="padding"></div>
1384
1385     <div class="entry">
1386       <div class="title">
1387         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_backport_bitcoin_qt_version_0_7_2_2_to_Debian_Squeeze.html">How to backport bitcoin-qt version 0.7.2-2 to Debian Squeeze</a>
1388       </div>
1389       <div class="date">
1390         25th December 2012
1391       </div>
1392       <div class="body">
1393         <p>Let me start by wishing you all marry Christmas and a happy new
1394 year!  I hope next year will prove to be a good year.</p>
1395
1396 <p><a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">Bitcoin</a>, the digital
1397 decentralised "currency" that allow people to transfer bitcoins
1398 between each other with minimal overhead, is a very interesting
1399 experiment.  And as I wrote a few days ago, the bitcoin situation in
1400 <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> is about to improve a bit.
1401 The <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/bitcoin">new debian source
1402 package</a> (version 0.7.2-2) was uploaded yesterday, and is waiting
1403 in <a href="http://ftp-master.debian.org/new.html">the NEW queue</A>
1404 for one of the ftpmasters to approve the new bitcoin-qt package
1405 name.</p>
1406
1407 <p>And thanks to the great work of Jonas and the rest of the bitcoin
1408 team in Debian, you can easily test the package in Debian Squeeze
1409 using the following steps to get a set of working packages:</p>
1410
1411 <blockquote><pre>
1412 git clone git://git.debian.org/git/collab-maint/bitcoin
1413 cd bitcoin
1414 DEB_MAINTAINER_MODE=1 DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=noupnp fakeroot debian/rules clean
1415 DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=noupnp git-buildpackage --git-ignore-new
1416 </pre></blockquote>
1417
1418 <p>You might have to install some build dependencies as well.  The
1419 list of commands should give you two packages, bitcoind and
1420 bitcoin-qt, ready for use in a Squeeze environment.  Note that the
1421 client will download the complete set of bitcoin "blocks", which need
1422 around 5.6 GiB of data on my machine at the moment.  Make sure your
1423 ~/.bitcoin/ directory have lots of spare room if you want to download
1424 all the blocks.  The client will warn if the disk is getting full, so
1425 there is not really a problem if you got too little room, but you will
1426 not be able to get all the features out of the client.</p>
1427
1428 <p>As usual, if you use bitcoin and want to show your support of my
1429 activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
1430 <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
1431
1432       </div>
1433       <div class="tags">
1434
1435
1436         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1437
1438
1439       </div>
1440     </div>
1441     <div class="padding"></div>
1442
1443     <div class="entry">
1444       <div class="title">
1445         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_word_on_bitcoin_support_in_Debian.html">A word on bitcoin support in Debian</a>
1446       </div>
1447       <div class="date">
1448         21st December 2012
1449       </div>
1450       <div class="body">
1451         <p>It has been a while since I wrote about
1452 <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">bitcoin</a>, the decentralised
1453 peer-to-peer based crypto-currency, and the reason is simply that I
1454 have been busy elsewhere.  But two days ago, I started looking at the
1455 state of <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/bitcoin">bitcoin in
1456 Debian</a> again to try to recover my old bitcoin wallet.  The package
1457 is now maintained by a
1458 <a href="https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pkg-bitcoin/">team of
1459 people</a>, and the grunt work had already been done by this team.  We
1460 owe a huge thank you to all these team members. :)
1461 But I was sad to discover that the bitcoin client is missing in
1462 Wheezy.  It is only available in Sid (and an outdated client from
1463 backports).  The client had several RC bugs registered in BTS blocking
1464 it from entering testing.  To try to help the team and improve the
1465 situation, I spent some time providing patches and triaging the bug
1466 reports.  I also had a look at the bitcoin package available from Matt
1467 Corallo in a
1468 <a href="https://launchpad.net/~bitcoin/+archive/bitcoin">PPA for
1469 Ubuntu</a>, and moved the useful pieces from that version into the
1470 Debian package.</p>
1471
1472 <p>After checking with the main package maintainer Jonas Smedegaard on
1473 IRC, I pushed several patches into the collab-maint git repository to
1474 improve the package.  It now contains fixes for the RC issues (not from
1475 me, but fixed by Scott Howard), build rules for a Qt GUI client
1476 package, konqueror support for the bitcoin: URI and bash completion
1477 setup.  As I work on Debian Squeeze, I also created
1478 <a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-bitcoin-devel/Week-of-Mon-20121217/000041.html">a
1479 patch to backport</a> the latest version.  Jonas is going to look at
1480 it and try to integrate it into the git repository before uploading a
1481 new version to unstable.
1482
1483 <p>I would very much like bitcoin to succeed, to get rid of the
1484 centralized control currently exercised in the monetary system.  I
1485 find it completely unacceptable that the USA government is collecting
1486 transaction data for almost all international money transfers (most are done in USD and transaction logs shipped to the spooks), and
1487 that the major credit card companies can block legal money
1488 transactions to Wikileaks.  But for bitcoin to succeed, more people
1489 need to use bitcoins, and more people need to accept bitcoins when
1490 they sell products and services.  Improving the bitcoin support in
1491 Debian is a small step in the right direction, but not enough.
1492 Unfortunately the user experience when browsing the web and wanting to
1493 pay with bitcoin is still not very good.  The bitcoin: URI is a step
1494 in the right direction, but need to work in most or every browser in
1495 use.  Also the bitcoin-qt client is too heavy to fire up to do a
1496 quick transaction.  I believe there are other clients available, but
1497 have not tested them.</p>
1498
1499 <p>My
1500 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Now_accepting_bitcoins___anonymous_and_distributed_p2p_crypto_money.html">experiment
1501 with bitcoins</a> showed that at least some of my readers use bitcoin.
1502 I received 20.15 BTC so far on the address I provided in my blog two
1503 years ago, as can be
1504 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">seen
1505 on the blockexplorer service</a>.  Thank you everyone for your
1506 donation.  The blockexplorer service demonstrates quite well that
1507 bitcoin is not quite anonymous and untracked. :) I wonder if the
1508 number of users have gone up since then.  If you use bitcoin and want
1509 to show your support of my activity, please send Bitcoin donations to
1510 the same address as last time,
1511 <b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
1512
1513       </div>
1514       <div class="tags">
1515
1516
1517         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1518
1519
1520       </div>
1521     </div>
1522     <div class="padding"></div>
1523
1524     <div class="entry">
1525       <div class="title">
1526         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Git_repository_for_song_book_for_Computer_Scientists.html">Git repository for song book for Computer Scientists</a>
1527       </div>
1528       <div class="date">
1529          7th September 2012
1530       </div>
1531       <div class="body">
1532         <p>As I
1533 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Song_book_for_Computer_Scientists.html">mentioned
1534 this summer</a>, I have created a Computer Science song book a few
1535 years ago, and today I finally found time to create a public
1536 <a href="https://gitorious.org/pere-cs-songbook/pere-cs-songbook">Gitorious
1537 repository for the project</a>.</p>
1538
1539 <p>If you want to help out, please clone the source and submit patches
1540 to the HTML version.  To generate the PDF and PostScript version,
1541 please use prince XML, or let me know about a useful free software
1542 processor capable of creating a good looking PDF from the HTML.</p>
1543
1544 <p>Want to sing?  You can still find the song book in HTML, PDF and
1545 PostScript formats at
1546 <a href="http://www.hungry.com/~pere/cs-songbook/">Petter's Computer
1547 Science Songbook</a>.</p>
1548
1549       </div>
1550       <div class="tags">
1551
1552
1553         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>.
1554
1555
1556       </div>
1557     </div>
1558     <div class="padding"></div>
1559
1560     <div class="entry">
1561       <div class="title">
1562         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Gratulerer_med_19__rsdagen__Debian_.html">Gratulerer med 19-årsdagen, Debian!</a>
1563       </div>
1564       <div class="date">
1565         16th August 2012
1566       </div>
1567       <div class="body">
1568         <p>I dag fyller
1569 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120813">Debian-prosjektet 19
1570 år</a>.  Jeg har fulgt det de siste 12 årene, og er veldig glad for å kunne
1571 si gratulerer med dagen, Debian!</p>
1572
1573       </div>
1574       <div class="tags">
1575
1576
1577         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk</a>.
1578
1579
1580       </div>
1581     </div>
1582     <div class="padding"></div>
1583
1584     <div class="entry">
1585       <div class="title">
1586         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Song_book_for_Computer_Scientists.html">Song book for Computer Scientists</a>
1587       </div>
1588       <div class="date">
1589         24th June 2012
1590       </div>
1591       <div class="body">
1592         <p>Many years ago, while studying Computer Science at the
1593 <a href="http://www.uit.no/">University of Tromsø</a>, I started
1594 collecting computer related songs for use at parties.  The original
1595 version was written in LaTeX, but a few years ago I got help from
1596 Håkon W. Lie, one of the inventors of W3C CSS, to convert it to HTML
1597 while keeping the ability to create a nice book in PDF format.  I have
1598 not had time to maintain the book for a while now, and guess I should
1599 put it up on some public version control repository where others can
1600 help me extend and update the book.  If anyone is volunteering to help
1601 me with this, send me an email.  Also let me know if there are songs
1602 missing in my book.</p>
1603
1604 <p>I have not mentioned the book on my blog so far, and it occured to
1605 me today that I really should let all my readers share the joys of
1606 singing out load about programming, computers and computer networks.
1607 Especially now that <a href="http://debconf12.debconf.org/">Debconf
1608 12</a> is about to start (and I am not going).  Want to sing?  Check
1609 out <a href="http://www.hungry.com/~pere/cs-songbook/">Petter's
1610 Computer Science Songbook</a>.
1611
1612       </div>
1613       <div class="tags">
1614
1615
1616         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>.
1617
1618
1619       </div>
1620     </div>
1621     <div class="padding"></div>
1622
1623     <div class="entry">
1624       <div class="title">
1625         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_upgrading_server_firmware_on_Dell_PowerEdge.html">Automatically upgrading server firmware on Dell PowerEdge</a>
1626       </div>
1627       <div class="date">
1628         21st November 2011
1629       </div>
1630       <div class="body">
1631         <p>At work we have heaps of servers.  I believe the total count is
1632 around 1000 at the moment.  To be able to get help from the vendors
1633 when something go wrong, we want to keep the firmware on the servers
1634 up to date.  If the firmware isn't the latest and greatest, the
1635 vendors typically refuse to start debugging any problems until the
1636 firmware is upgraded.  So before every reboot, we want to upgrade the
1637 firmware, and we would really like everyone handling servers at the
1638 university to do this themselves when they plan to reboot a machine.
1639 For that to happen we at the unix server admin group need to provide
1640 the tools to do so.</p>
1641
1642 <p>To make firmware upgrading easier, I am working on a script to
1643 fetch and install the latest firmware for the servers we got.  Most of
1644 our hardware are from Dell and HP, so I have focused on these servers
1645 so far.  This blog post is about the Dell part.</P>
1646
1647 <p>On the Dell FTP site I was lucky enough to find
1648 <a href="ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/catalog/Catalog.xml.gz">an XML file</a>
1649 with firmware information for all 11th generation servers, listing
1650 which firmware should be used on a given model and where on the FTP
1651 site I can find it.  Using a simple perl XML parser I can then
1652 download the shell scripts Dell provides to do firmware upgrades from
1653 within Linux and reboot when all the firmware is primed and ready to
1654 be activated on the first reboot.</p>
1655
1656 <p>This is the Dell related fragment of the perl code I am working on.
1657 Are there anyone working on similar tools for firmware upgrading all
1658 servers at a site?  Please get in touch and lets share resources.</p>
1659
1660 <p><pre>
1661 #!/usr/bin/perl
1662 use strict;
1663 use warnings;
1664 use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
1665 BEGIN {
1666     # Install needed RHEL packages if missing
1667     my %rhelmodules = (
1668         'XML::Simple' => 'perl-XML-Simple',
1669         );
1670     for my $module (keys %rhelmodules) {
1671         eval "use $module;";
1672         if ($@) {
1673             my $pkg = $rhelmodules{$module};
1674             system("yum install -y $pkg");
1675             eval "use $module;";
1676         }
1677     }
1678 }
1679 my $errorsto = 'pere@hungry.com';
1680
1681 upgrade_dell();
1682
1683 exit 0;
1684
1685 sub run_firmware_script {
1686     my ($opts, $script) = @_;
1687     unless ($script) {
1688         print STDERR "fail: missing script name\n";
1689         exit 1
1690     }
1691     print STDERR "Running $script\n\n";
1692
1693     if (0 == system("sh $script $opts")) { # FIXME correct exit code handling
1694         print STDERR "success: firmware script ran succcessfully\n";
1695     } else {
1696         print STDERR "fail: firmware script returned error\n";
1697     }
1698 }
1699
1700 sub run_firmware_scripts {
1701     my ($opts, @dirs) = @_;
1702     # Run firmware packages
1703     for my $dir (@dirs) {
1704         print STDERR "info: Running scripts in $dir\n";
1705         opendir(my $dh, $dir) or die "Unable to open directory $dir: $!";
1706         while (my $s = readdir $dh) {
1707             next if $s =~ m/^\.\.?/;
1708             run_firmware_script($opts, "$dir/$s");
1709         }
1710         closedir $dh;
1711     }
1712 }
1713
1714 sub download {
1715     my $url = shift;
1716     print STDERR "info: Downloading $url\n";
1717     system("wget --quiet \"$url\"");
1718 }
1719
1720 sub upgrade_dell {
1721     my @dirs;
1722     my $product = `dmidecode -s system-product-name`;
1723     chomp $product;
1724
1725     if ($product =~ m/PowerEdge/) {
1726
1727         # on RHEL, these pacakges are needed by the firwmare upgrade scripts
1728         system('yum install -y compat-libstdc++-33.i686 libstdc++.i686 libxml2.i686 procmail');
1729
1730         my $tmpdir = tempdir(
1731             CLEANUP => 1
1732             );
1733         chdir($tmpdir);
1734         fetch_dell_fw('catalog/Catalog.xml.gz');
1735         system('gunzip Catalog.xml.gz');
1736         my @paths = fetch_dell_fw_list('Catalog.xml');
1737         # -q is quiet, disabling interactivity and reducing console output
1738         my $fwopts = "-q";
1739         if (@paths) {
1740             for my $url (@paths) {
1741                 fetch_dell_fw($url);
1742             }
1743             run_firmware_scripts($fwopts, $tmpdir);
1744         } else {
1745             print STDERR "error: Unsupported Dell model '$product'.\n";
1746             print STDERR "error: Please report to $errorsto.\n";
1747         }
1748         chdir('/');
1749     } else {
1750         print STDERR "error: Unsupported Dell model '$product'.\n";
1751         print STDERR "error: Please report to $errorsto.\n";
1752     }
1753 }
1754
1755 sub fetch_dell_fw {
1756     my $path = shift;
1757     my $url = "ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/$path";
1758     download($url);
1759 }
1760
1761 # Using ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/catalog/Catalog.xml.gz, figure out which
1762 # firmware packages to download from Dell.  Only work for Linux
1763 # machines and 11th generation Dell servers.
1764 sub fetch_dell_fw_list {
1765     my $filename = shift;
1766
1767     my $product = `dmidecode -s system-product-name`;
1768     chomp $product;
1769     my ($mybrand, $mymodel) = split(/\s+/, $product);
1770
1771     print STDERR "Finding firmware bundles for $mybrand $mymodel\n";
1772
1773     my $xml = XMLin($filename);
1774     my @paths;
1775     for my $bundle (@{$xml->{SoftwareBundle}}) {
1776         my $brand = $bundle->{TargetSystems}->{Brand}->{Display}->{content};
1777         my $model = $bundle->{TargetSystems}->{Brand}->{Model}->{Display}->{content};
1778         my $oscode;
1779         if ("ARRAY" eq ref $bundle->{TargetOSes}->{OperatingSystem}) {
1780             $oscode = $bundle->{TargetOSes}->{OperatingSystem}[0]->{osCode};
1781         } else {
1782             $oscode = $bundle->{TargetOSes}->{OperatingSystem}->{osCode};
1783         }
1784         if ($mybrand eq $brand && $mymodel eq $model && "LIN" eq $oscode)
1785         {
1786             @paths = map { $_->{path} } @{$bundle->{Contents}->{Package}};
1787         }
1788     }
1789     for my $component (@{$xml->{SoftwareComponent}}) {
1790         my $componenttype = $component->{ComponentType}->{value};
1791
1792         # Drop application packages, only firmware and BIOS
1793         next if 'APAC' eq $componenttype;
1794
1795         my $cpath = $component->{path};
1796         for my $path (@paths) {
1797             if ($cpath =~ m%/$path$%) {
1798                 push(@paths, $cpath);
1799             }
1800         }
1801     }
1802     return @paths;
1803 }
1804 </pre>
1805
1806 <p>The code is only tested on RedHat Enterprise Linux, but I suspect
1807 it could work on other platforms with some tweaking.  Anyone know a
1808 index like Catalog.xml is available from HP for HP servers?  At the
1809 moment I maintain a similar list manually and it is quickly getting
1810 outdated.</p>
1811
1812       </div>
1813       <div class="tags">
1814
1815
1816         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1817
1818
1819       </div>
1820     </div>
1821     <div class="padding"></div>
1822
1823     <div class="entry">
1824       <div class="title">
1825         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_is_booting_into_runlevel_1_different_from_single_user_boots_.html">How is booting into runlevel 1 different from single user boots?</a>
1826       </div>
1827       <div class="date">
1828          4th August 2011
1829       </div>
1830       <div class="body">
1831         <p>Wouter Verhelst have some
1832 <a href="http://grep.be/blog/en/retorts/pere_kubuntu_boot">interesting
1833 comments and opinions</a> on my blog post on
1834 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_should_start_from__etc_rcS_d__in_Debian____almost_nothing.html">the
1835 need to clean up /etc/rcS.d/ in Debian</a> and my blog post about
1836 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_missing_in_the_Debian_desktop__or_why_my_parents_use_Kubuntu.html">the
1837 default KDE desktop in Debian</a>.  I only have time to address one
1838 small piece of his comment now, and though it best to address the
1839 misunderstanding he bring forward:</p>
1840
1841 <p><blockquote>
1842 Currently, a system admin has four options: [...] boot to a
1843 single-user system (by adding 'single' to the kernel command line;
1844 this runs rcS and rc1 scripts)
1845 </blockquote></p>
1846
1847 <p>This make me believe Wouter believe booting into single user mode
1848 and booting into runlevel 1 is the same.  I am not surprised he
1849 believe this, because it would make sense and is a quite sensible
1850 thing to believe.  But because the boot in Debian is slightly broken,
1851 runlevel 1 do not work properly and it isn't the same as single user
1852 mode.  I'll try to explain what is actually happing, but it is a bit
1853 hard to explain.</p>
1854
1855 <p>Single user mode is defined like this in /etc/inittab:
1856 "<tt>~~:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin</tt>".  This means the only thing that is
1857 executed in single user mode is sulogin.  Single user mode is a boot
1858 state "between" the runlevels, and when booting into single user mode,
1859 only the scripts in /etc/rcS.d/ are executed before the init process
1860 enters the single user state.  When switching to runlevel 1, the state
1861 is in fact not ending in runlevel 1, but it passes through runlevel 1
1862 and end up in the single user mode (see /etc/rc1.d/S03single, which
1863 runs "init -t1 S" to switch to single user mode at the end of runlevel
1864 1.  It is confusing that the 'S' (single user) init mode is not the
1865 mode enabled by /etc/rcS.d/ (which is more like the initial boot
1866 mode).</p>
1867
1868 <p>This summary might make it clearer.  When booting for the first
1869 time into single user mode, the following commands are executed:
1870 "<tt>/etc/init.d/rc S; /sbin/sulogin</tt>".  When booting into
1871 runlevel 1, the following commands are executed: "<tt>/etc/init.d/rc
1872 S; /etc/init.d/rc 1; /sbin/sulogin</tt>".  A problem show up when
1873 trying to continue after visiting single user mode.  Not all services
1874 are started again as they should, causing the machine to end up in an
1875 unpredicatble state.  This is why Debian admins recommend rebooting
1876 after visiting single user mode.</p>
1877
1878 <p>A similar problem with runlevel 1 is caused by the amount of
1879 scripts executed from /etc/rcS.d/.  When switching from say runlevel 2
1880 to runlevel 1, the services started from /etc/rcS.d/ are not properly
1881 stopped when passing through the scripts in /etc/rc1.d/, and not
1882 started again when switching away from runlevel 1 to the runlevels
1883 2-5.  I believe the problem is best fixed by moving all the scripts
1884 out of /etc/rcS.d/ that are not <strong>required</strong> to get a
1885 functioning single user mode during boot.</p>
1886
1887 <p>I have spent several years investigating the Debian boot system,
1888 and discovered this problem a few years ago.  I suspect it originates
1889 from when sysvinit was introduced into Debian, a long time ago.</p>
1890
1891       </div>
1892       <div class="tags">
1893
1894
1895         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1896
1897
1898       </div>
1899     </div>
1900     <div class="padding"></div>
1901
1902     <div class="entry">
1903       <div class="title">
1904         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_should_start_from__etc_rcS_d__in_Debian____almost_nothing.html">What should start from /etc/rcS.d/ in Debian? - almost nothing</a>
1905       </div>
1906       <div class="date">
1907         30th July 2011
1908       </div>
1909       <div class="body">
1910         <p>In the Debian boot system, several packages include scripts that
1911 are started from /etc/rcS.d/.  In fact, there is a bite more of them
1912 than make sense, and this causes a few problems.  What kind of
1913 problems, you might ask.  There are at least two problems.  The first
1914 is that it is not possible to recover a machine after switching to
1915 runlevel 1.  One need to actually reboot to get the machine back to
1916 the expected state.  The other is that single user boot will sometimes
1917 run into problems because some of the subsystems are activated before
1918 the root login is presented, causing problems when trying to recover a
1919 machine from a problem in that subsystem.  A minor additional point is
1920 that moving more scripts out of rcS.d/ and into the other rc#.d/
1921 directories will increase the amount of scripts that can run in
1922 parallel during boot, and thus decrease the boot time.</p>
1923
1924 <p>So, which scripts should start from rcS.d/.  In short, only the
1925 scripts that _have_ to execute before the root login prompt is
1926 presented during a single user boot should go there.  Everything else
1927 should go into the numeric runlevels.  This means things like
1928 lm-sensors, fuse and x11-common should not run from rcS.d, but from
1929 the numeric runlevels.  Today in Debian, there are around 115 init.d
1930 scripts that are started from rcS.d/, and most of them should be moved
1931 out.  Do your package have one of them?  Please help us make single
1932 user and runlevel 1 better by moving it.</p>
1933
1934 <p>Scripts setting up the screen, keyboard, system partitions
1935 etc. should still be started from rcS.d/, but there is for example no
1936 need to have the network enabled before the single user login prompt
1937 is presented.</p>
1938
1939 <p>As always, things are not so easy to fix as they sound.  To keep
1940 Debian systems working while scripts migrate and during upgrades, the
1941 scripts need to be moved from rcS.d/ to rc2.d/ in reverse dependency
1942 order, ie the scripts that nothing in rcS.d/ depend on can be moved,
1943 and the next ones can only be moved when their dependencies have been
1944 moved first.  This migration must be done sequentially while we ensure
1945 that the package system upgrade packages in the right order to keep
1946 the system state correct.  This will require some coordination when it
1947 comes to network related packages, but most of the packages with
1948 scripts that should migrate do not have anything in rcS.d/ depending
1949 on them.  Some packages have already been updated, like the sudo
1950 package, while others are still left to do.  I wish I had time to work
1951 on this myself, but real live constrains make it unlikely that I will
1952 find time to push this forward.</p>
1953
1954       </div>
1955       <div class="tags">
1956
1957
1958         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
1959
1960
1961       </div>
1962     </div>
1963     <div class="padding"></div>
1964
1965     <div class="entry">
1966       <div class="title">
1967         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_is_missing_in_the_Debian_desktop__or_why_my_parents_use_Kubuntu.html">What is missing in the Debian desktop, or why my parents use Kubuntu</a>
1968       </div>
1969       <div class="date">
1970         29th July 2011
1971       </div>
1972       <div class="body">
1973         <p>While at Debconf11, I have several times during discussions
1974 mentioned the issues I believe should be improved in Debian for its
1975 desktop to be useful for more people.  The use case for this is my
1976 parents, which are currently running Kubuntu which solve the
1977 issues.</p>
1978
1979 <p>I suspect these four missing features are not very hard to
1980 implement.  After all, they are present in Ubuntu, so if we wanted to
1981 do this in Debian we would have a source.</p>
1982
1983 <ol>
1984
1985 <li><strong>Simple GUI based upgrade of packages.</strong> When there
1986 are new packages available for upgrades, a icon in the KDE status bar
1987 indicate this, and clicking on it will activate the simple upgrade
1988 tool to handle it.  I have no problem guiding both of my parents
1989 through the process over the phone.  If a kernel reboot is required,
1990 this too is indicated by the status bars and the upgrade tool.  Last
1991 time I checked, nothing with the same features was working in KDE in
1992 Debian.</li>
1993
1994 <li><strong>Simple handling of missing Firefox browser
1995 plugins.</strong> When the browser encounter a MIME type it do not
1996 currently have a handler for, it will ask the user if the system
1997 should search for a package that would add support for this MIME type,
1998 and if the user say yes, the APT sources will be searched for packages
1999 advertising the MIME type in their control file (visible in the
2000 Packages file in the APT archive).  If one or more packages are found,
2001 it is a simple click of the mouse to add support for the missing mime
2002 type.  If the package require the user to accept some non-free
2003 license, this is explained to the user.  The entire process make it
2004 more clear to the user why something do not work in the browser, and
2005 make the chances higher for the user to blame the web page authors and
2006 not the browser for any missing features.</li>
2007
2008 <li><strong>Simple handling of missing multimedia codec/format
2009 handlers.</strong> When the media players encounter a format or codec
2010 it is not supporting, a dialog pop up asking the user if the system
2011 should search for a package that would add support for it.  This
2012 happen with things like MP3, Windows Media or H.264.  The selection
2013 and installation procedure is very similar to the Firefox browser
2014 plugin handling.  This is as far as I know implemented using a
2015 gstreamer hook.  The end result is that the user easily get access to
2016 the codecs that are present from the APT archives available, while
2017 explaining more on why a given format is unsupported by Ubuntu.</li>
2018
2019 <li><strong>Better browser handling of some MIME types.</strong> When
2020 displaying a text/plain file in my Debian browser, it will propose to
2021 start emacs to show it.  If I remember correctly, when doing the same
2022 in Kunbutu it show the file as a text file in the browser.  At least I
2023 know Opera will show text files within the browser.  I much prefer the
2024 latter behaviour.</li>
2025
2026 </ol>
2027
2028 <p>There are other nice features as well, like the simplified suite
2029 upgrader, but given that I am the one mostly doing the dist-upgrade,
2030 it do not matter much.</p>
2031
2032 <p>I really hope we could get these features in place for the next
2033 Debian release.  It would require the coordinated effort of several
2034 maintainers, but would make the end user experience a lot better.</p>
2035
2036       </div>
2037       <div class="tags">
2038
2039
2040         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
2041
2042
2043       </div>
2044     </div>
2045     <div class="padding"></div>
2046
2047     <div class="entry">
2048       <div class="title">
2049         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Perl_modules_used_by_FixMyStreet_which_are_missing_in_Debian_Squeeze.html">Perl modules used by FixMyStreet which are missing in Debian/Squeeze</a>
2050       </div>
2051       <div class="date">
2052         26th July 2011
2053       </div>
2054       <div class="body">
2055         <p>The Norwegian <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</A>
2056 site is build on Debian/Squeeze, and this platform was chosen because
2057 I am most familiar with Debian (being a Debian Developer for around 10
2058 years) because it is the latest stable Debian release which should get
2059 security support for a few years.</p>
2060
2061 <p>The web service is written in Perl, and depend on some perl modules
2062 that are missing in Debian at the moment.  It would be great if these
2063 modules were added to the Debian archive, allowing anyone to set up
2064 their own <a href="http://www.fixmystreet.com">FixMyStreet</a> clone
2065 in their own country using only Debian packages.  The list of modules
2066 missing in Debian/Squeeze isn't very long, and I hope the perl group
2067 will find time to package the 12 modules Catalyst::Plugin::SmartURI,
2068 Catalyst::Plugin::Unicode::Encoding, Catalyst::View::TT, Devel::Hide,
2069 Sort::Key, Statistics::Distributions, Template::Plugin::Comma,
2070 Template::Plugin::DateTime::Format, Term::Size::Any, Term::Size::Perl,
2071 URI::SmartURI and Web::Scraper to make the maintenance of FixMyStreet
2072 easier in the future.</p>
2073
2074 <p>Thanks to the great tools in Debian, getting the missing modules
2075 installed on my server was a simple call to 'cpan2deb Module::Name'
2076 and 'dpkg -i' to install the resulting package.  But this leave me
2077 with the responsibility of tracking security problems, which I really
2078 do not have time for.</p>
2079
2080       </div>
2081       <div class="tags">
2082
2083
2084         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami</a>.
2085
2086
2087       </div>
2088     </div>
2089     <div class="padding"></div>
2090
2091     <div class="entry">
2092       <div class="title">
2093         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_Norwegian_FixMyStreet_have_kept_me_busy_the_last_few_weeks.html">A Norwegian FixMyStreet have kept me busy the last few weeks</a>
2094       </div>
2095       <div class="date">
2096          3rd April 2011
2097       </div>
2098       <div class="body">
2099         <p>Here is a small update for my English readers.  Most of my blog
2100 posts have been in Norwegian the last few weeks, so here is a short
2101 update in English.</p>
2102
2103 <p>The kids still keep me too busy to get much free software work
2104 done, but I did manage to organise a project to get a Norwegian port
2105 of the British service
2106 <a href="http://www.fixmystreet.com/">FixMyStreet</a> up and running,
2107 and it has been running for a month now.  The entire project has been
2108 organised by me and two others.  Around Christmas we gathered sponsors
2109 to fund the development work.  In January I drafted a contract with
2110 <a href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a> on what to develop,
2111 and in February the development took place.  Most of it involved
2112 converting the source to use GPS coordinates instead of British
2113 easting/northing, and the resulting code should be a lot easier to get
2114 running in any country by now.  The Norwegian
2115 <a href="http://www.fiksgatami.no/">FiksGataMi</a> is using
2116 <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetmap</a> as the map
2117 source and the source for administrative borders in Norway, and
2118 support for this had to be added/fixed.</p>
2119
2120 <p>The Norwegian version went live March 3th, and we spent the weekend
2121 polishing the system before we announced it March 7th.  The system is
2122 running on a KVM instance of Debian/Squeeze, and has seen almost 3000
2123 problem reports in a few weeks.  Soon we hope to announce the Android
2124 and iPhone versions making it even easier to report problems with the
2125 public infrastructure.</p>
2126
2127 <p>Perhaps something to consider for those of you in countries without
2128 such service?</p>
2129
2130       </div>
2131       <div class="tags">
2132
2133
2134         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart</a>.
2135
2136
2137       </div>
2138     </div>
2139     <div class="padding"></div>
2140
2141     <div class="entry">
2142       <div class="title">
2143         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_NVD_and_CPE_to_track_CVEs_in_locally_maintained_software.html">Using NVD and CPE to track CVEs in locally maintained software</a>
2144       </div>
2145       <div class="date">
2146         28th January 2011
2147       </div>
2148       <div class="body">
2149         <p>The last few days I have looked at ways to track open security
2150 issues here at my work with the University of Oslo.  My idea is that
2151 it should be possible to use the information about security issues
2152 available on the Internet, and check our locally
2153 maintained/distributed software against this information.  It should
2154 allow us to verify that no known security issues are forgotten.  The
2155 CVE database listing vulnerabilities seem like a great central point,
2156 and by using the package lists from Debian mapped to CVEs provided by
2157 the testing security team, I believed it should be possible to figure
2158 out which security holes were present in our free software
2159 collection.</p>
2160
2161 <p>After reading up on the topic, it became obvious that the first
2162 building block is to be able to name software packages in a unique and
2163 consistent way across data sources.  I considered several ways to do
2164 this, for example coming up with my own naming scheme like using URLs
2165 to project home pages or URLs to the Freshmeat entries, or using some
2166 existing naming scheme.  And it seem like I am not the first one to
2167 come across this problem, as MITRE already proposed and implemented a
2168 solution.  Enter the <a href="http://cpe.mitre.org/index.html">Common
2169 Platform Enumeration</a> dictionary, a vocabulary for referring to
2170 software, hardware and other platform components.  The CPE ids are
2171 mapped to CVEs in the <a href="http://web.nvd.nist.gov/">National
2172 Vulnerability Database</a>, allowing me to look up know security
2173 issues for any CPE name.  With this in place, all I need to do is to
2174 locate the CPE id for the software packages we use at the university.
2175 This is fairly trivial (I google for 'cve cpe $package' and check the
2176 NVD entry if a CVE for the package exist).</p>
2177
2178 <p>To give you an example.  The GNU gzip source package have the CPE
2179 name cpe:/a:gnu:gzip.  If the old version 1.3.3 was the package to
2180 check out, one could look up
2181 <a href="http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/search?cpe=cpe%3A%2Fa%3Agnu%3Agzip:1.3.3">cpe:/a:gnu:gzip:1.3.3
2182 in NVD</a> and get a list of 6 security holes with public CVE entries.
2183 The most recent one is
2184 <a href="http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2010-0001">CVE-2010-0001</a>,
2185 and at the bottom of the NVD page for this vulnerability the complete
2186 list of affected versions is provided.</p>
2187
2188 <p>The NVD database of CVEs is also available as a XML dump, allowing
2189 for offline processing of issues.  Using this dump, I've written a
2190 small script taking a list of CPEs as input and list all CVEs
2191 affecting the packages represented by these CPEs.  One give it CPEs
2192 with version numbers as specified above and get a list of open
2193 security issues out.</p>
2194
2195 <p>Of course for this approach to be useful, the quality of the NVD
2196 information need to be high.  For that to happen, I believe as many as
2197 possible need to use and contribute to the NVD database.  I notice
2198 RHEL is providing
2199 <a href="https://www.redhat.com/security/data/metrics/rhsamapcpe.txt">a
2200 map from CVE to CPE</a>, indicating that they are using the CPE
2201 information.  I'm not aware of Debian and Ubuntu doing the same.</p>
2202
2203 <p>To get an idea about the quality for free software, I spent some
2204 time making it possible to compare the CVE database from Debian with
2205 the CVE database in NVD.  The result look fairly good, but there are
2206 some inconsistencies in NVD (same software package having several
2207 CPEs), and some inaccuracies (NVD not mentioning buggy packages that
2208 Debian believe are affected by a CVE).  Hope to find time to improve
2209 the quality of NVD, but that require being able to get in touch with
2210 someone maintaining it.  So far my three emails with questions and
2211 corrections have not seen any reply, but I hope contact can be
2212 established soon.</p>
2213
2214 <p>An interesting application for CPEs is cross platform package
2215 mapping.  It would be useful to know which packages in for example
2216 RHEL, OpenSuSe and Mandriva are missing from Debian and Ubuntu, and
2217 this would be trivial if all linux distributions provided CPE entries
2218 for their packages.</p>
2219
2220       </div>
2221       <div class="tags">
2222
2223
2224         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
2225
2226
2227       </div>
2228     </div>
2229     <div class="padding"></div>
2230
2231     <div class="entry">
2232       <div class="title">
2233         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Which_module_is_loaded_for_a_given_PCI_and_USB_device_.html">Which module is loaded for a given PCI and USB device?</a>
2234       </div>
2235       <div class="date">
2236         23rd January 2011
2237       </div>
2238       <div class="body">
2239         <p>In the
2240 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/discover-data">discover-data</a>
2241 package in Debian, there is a script to report useful information
2242 about the running hardware for use when people report missing
2243 information.  One part of this script that I find very useful when
2244 debugging hardware problems, is the part mapping loaded kernel module
2245 to the PCI device it claims.  It allow me to quickly see if the kernel
2246 module I expect is driving the hardware I am struggling with.  To see
2247 the output, make sure discover-data is installed and run
2248 <tt>/usr/share/bug/discover-data 3>&1</tt>.  The relevant output on
2249 one of my machines like this:</p>
2250
2251 <pre>
2252 loaded modules:
2253 10de:03eb i2c_nforce2
2254 10de:03f1 ohci_hcd
2255 10de:03f2 ehci_hcd
2256 10de:03f0 snd_hda_intel
2257 10de:03ec pata_amd
2258 10de:03f6 sata_nv
2259 1022:1103 k8temp
2260 109e:036e bttv
2261 109e:0878 snd_bt87x
2262 11ab:4364 sky2
2263 </pre>
2264
2265 <p>The code in question look like this, slightly modified for
2266 readability and to drop the output to file descriptor 3:</p>
2267
2268 <pre>
2269 if [ -d /sys/bus/pci/devices/ ] ; then
2270     echo loaded pci modules:
2271     (
2272         cd /sys/bus/pci/devices/
2273         for address in * ; do
2274             if [ -d "$address/driver/module" ] ; then
2275                 module=`cd $address/driver/module ; pwd -P | xargs basename`
2276                 if grep -q "^$module " /proc/modules ; then
2277                     address=$(echo $address |sed s/0000://)
2278                     id=`lspci -n -s $address | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $3}'`
2279                     echo "$id $module"
2280                 fi
2281             fi
2282         done
2283     )
2284     echo
2285 fi
2286 </pre>
2287
2288 <p>Similar code could be used to extract USB device module
2289 mappings:</p>
2290
2291 <pre>
2292 if [ -d /sys/bus/usb/devices/ ] ; then
2293     echo loaded usb modules:
2294     (
2295         cd /sys/bus/usb/devices/
2296         for address in * ; do
2297             if [ -d "$address/driver/module" ] ; then
2298                 module=`cd $address/driver/module ; pwd -P | xargs basename`
2299                 if grep -q "^$module " /proc/modules ; then
2300                     address=$(echo $address |sed s/0000://)
2301                     id=$(lsusb -s $address | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $6}')
2302                     if [ "$id" ] ; then
2303                         echo "$id $module"
2304                     fi
2305                 fi
2306             fi
2307         done
2308     )
2309     echo
2310 fi
2311 </pre>
2312
2313 <p>This might perhaps be something to include in other tools as
2314 well.</p>
2315
2316       </div>
2317       <div class="tags">
2318
2319
2320         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
2321
2322
2323       </div>
2324     </div>
2325     <div class="padding"></div>
2326
2327     <div class="entry">
2328       <div class="title">
2329         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_test_if_a_laptop_is_working_with_Linux.html">How to test if a laptop is working with Linux</a>
2330       </div>
2331       <div class="date">
2332         22nd December 2010
2333       </div>
2334       <div class="body">
2335         <p>The last few days I have spent at work here at the <a
2336 href="http://www.uio.no/">University of Oslo</a> testing if the new
2337 batch of computers will work with Linux.  Every year for the last few
2338 years the university have organised shared bid of a few thousand
2339 computers, and this year HP won the bid.  Two different desktops and
2340 five different laptops are on the list this year.  We in the UNIX
2341 group want to know which one of these computers work well with RHEL
2342 and Ubuntu, the two Linux distributions we currently handle at the
2343 university.</p>
2344
2345 <p>My test method is simple, and I share it here to get feedback and
2346 perhaps inspire others to test hardware as well.  To test, I PXE
2347 install the OS version of choice, and log in as my normal user and run
2348 a few applications and plug in selected pieces of hardware.  When
2349 something fail, I make a note about this in the test matrix and move
2350 on.  If I have some spare time I try to report the bug to the OS
2351 vendor, but as I only have the machines for a short time, I rarely
2352 have the time to do this for all the problems I find.</p>
2353
2354 <p>Anyway, to get to the point of this post.  Here is the simple tests
2355 I perform on a new model.</p>
2356
2357 <ul>
2358
2359 <li>Is PXE installation working?  I'm testing with RHEL6, Ubuntu Lucid
2360 and Ubuntu Maverik at the moment.  If I feel like it, I also test with
2361 RHEL5 and Debian Edu/Squeeze.</li>
2362
2363 <li>Is X.org working?  If the graphical login screen show up after
2364 installation, X.org is working.</li>
2365
2366 <li>Is hardware accelerated OpenGL working?  Running glxgears (in
2367 package mesa-utils on Ubuntu) and writing down the frames per second
2368 reported by the program.</li>
2369
2370 <li>Is sound working?  With Gnome and KDE, a sound is played when
2371 logging in, and if I can hear this the test is successful.  If there
2372 are several audio exits on the machine, I try them all and check if
2373 the Gnome/KDE audio mixer can control where to send the sound.  I
2374 normally test this by playing
2375 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20101012-chef/ ">a HTML5
2376 video</a> in Firefox/Iceweasel.</li>
2377
2378 <li>Is the USB subsystem working?  I test this by plugging in a USB
2379 memory stick and see if Gnome/KDE notices this.</li>
2380
2381 <li>Is the CD/DVD player working?  I test this by inserting any CD/DVD
2382 I have lying around, and see if Gnome/KDE notices this.</li>
2383
2384 <li>Is any built in camera working?  Test using cheese, and see if a
2385 picture from the v4l device show up.</li>
2386
2387 <li>Is bluetooth working?  Use the Gnome/KDE browsing tool to see if
2388 any bluetooth devices are discovered.  In my office, I normally see a
2389 few.</li>
2390
2391 <li>For laptops, is the SD or Compaq Flash reader working.  I have
2392 memory modules lying around, and stick them in and see if Gnome/KDE
2393 notice this.</li>
2394
2395 <li>For laptops, is suspend/hibernate working?  I'm testing if the
2396 special button work, and if the laptop continue to work after
2397 resume.</li>
2398
2399 <li>For laptops, is the extra buttons working, like audio level,
2400 adjusting background light, switching on/off external video output,
2401 switching on/off wifi, bluetooth, etc?  The set of buttons differ from
2402 laptop to laptop, so I just write down which are working and which are
2403 not.</li>
2404
2405 <li>Some laptops have smart card readers, finger print readers,
2406 acceleration sensors etc.  I rarely test these, as I do not know how
2407 to quickly test if they are working or not, so I only document their
2408 existence.</li>
2409
2410 </ul>
2411
2412 <p>By now I suspect you are really curious what the test results are
2413 for the HP machines I am testing.  I'm not done yet, so I will report
2414 the test results later.  For now I can report that HP 8100 Elite work
2415 fine, and hibernation fail with HP EliteBook 8440p on Ubuntu Lucid,
2416 and audio fail on RHEL6.  Ubuntu Maverik worked with 8440p.  As you
2417 can see, I have most machines left to test.  One interesting
2418 observation is that Ubuntu Lucid has almost twice the frame rate than
2419 RHEL6 with glxgears.  No idea why.</p>
2420
2421       </div>
2422       <div class="tags">
2423
2424
2425         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
2426
2427
2428       </div>
2429     </div>
2430     <div class="padding"></div>
2431
2432     <div class="entry">
2433       <div class="title">
2434         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Some_thoughts_on_BitCoins.html">Some thoughts on BitCoins</a>
2435       </div>
2436       <div class="date">
2437         11th December 2010
2438       </div>
2439       <div class="body">
2440         <p>As I continue to explore
2441 <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">BitCoin</a>, I've starting to wonder
2442 what properties the system have, and how it will be affected by laws
2443 and regulations here in Norway.  Here are some random notes.</p>
2444
2445 <p>One interesting thing to note is that since the transactions are
2446 verified using a peer to peer network, all details about a transaction
2447 is known to everyone.  This means that if a BitCoin address has been
2448 published like I did with mine in my initial post about BitCoin, it is
2449 possible for everyone to see how many BitCoins have been transfered to
2450 that address.  There is even a web service to look at the details for
2451 all transactions.  There I can see that my address
2452 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a>
2453 have received 16.06 Bitcoin, the
2454 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/1LfdGnGuWkpSJgbQySxxCWhv8MHqvwst3">1LfdGnGuWkpSJgbQySxxCWhv8MHqvwst3</a>
2455 address of Simon Phipps have received 181.97 BitCoin and the address
2456 <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/address/1MCwBbhNGp5hRm5rC1Aims2YFRe2SXPYKt">1MCwBbhNGp5hRm5rC1Aims2YFRe2SXPYKt</A>
2457 of EFF have received 2447.38 BitCoins so far.  Thank you to each and
2458 every one of you that donated bitcoins to support my activity. The
2459 fact that anyone can see how much money was transfered to a given
2460 address make it more obvious why the BitCoin community recommend to
2461 generate and hand out a new address for each transaction.  I'm told
2462 there is no way to track which addresses belong to a given person or
2463 organisation without the person or organisation revealing it
2464 themselves, as Simon, EFF and I have done.</p>
2465
2466 <p>In Norway, and in most other countries, there are laws and
2467 regulations limiting how much money one can transfer across the border
2468 without declaring it.  There are money laundering, tax and accounting
2469 laws and regulations I would expect to apply to the use of BitCoin.
2470 If the Skolelinux foundation
2471 (<a href="http://linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/donations.html">SLX
2472 Debian Labs</a>) were to accept donations in BitCoin in addition to
2473 normal bank transfers like EFF is doing, how should this be accounted?
2474 Given that it is impossible to know if money can cross the border or
2475 not, should everything or nothing be declared?  What exchange rate
2476 should be used when calculating taxes?  Would receivers have to pay
2477 income tax if the foundation were to pay Skolelinux contributors in
2478 BitCoin?  I have no idea, but it would be interesting to know.</p>
2479
2480 <p>For a currency to be useful and successful, it must be trusted and
2481 accepted by a lot of users.  It must be possible to get easy access to
2482 the currency (as a wage or using currency exchanges), and it must be
2483 easy to spend it.  At the moment BitCoin seem fairly easy to get
2484 access to, but there are very few places to spend it.  I am not really
2485 a regular user of any of the vendor types currently accepting BitCoin,
2486 so I wonder when my kind of shop would start accepting BitCoins.  I
2487 would like to buy electronics, travels and subway tickets, not herbs
2488 and books. :) The currency is young, and this will improve over time
2489 if it become popular, but I suspect regular banks will start to lobby
2490 to get BitCoin declared illegal if it become popular.  I'm sure they
2491 will claim it is helping fund terrorism and money laundering (which
2492 probably would be true, as is any currency in existence), but I
2493 believe the problems should be solved elsewhere and not by blaming
2494 currencies.</p>
2495
2496 <p>The process of creating new BitCoins is called mining, and it is
2497 CPU intensive process that depend on a bit of luck as well (as one is
2498 competing against all the other miners currently spending CPU cycles
2499 to see which one get the next lump of cash).  The "winner" get 50
2500 BitCoin when this happen.  Yesterday I came across the obvious way to
2501 join forces to increase ones changes of getting at least some coins,
2502 by coordinating the work on mining BitCoins across several machines
2503 and people, and sharing the result if one is lucky and get the 50
2504 BitCoins.  Check out
2505 <a href="http://www.bluishcoder.co.nz/bitcoin-pool/">BitCoin Pool</a>
2506 if this sounds interesting.  I have not had time to try to set up a
2507 machine to participate there yet, but have seen that running on ones
2508 own for a few days have not yield any BitCoins througth mining
2509 yet.</p>
2510
2511 <p>Update 2010-12-15: Found an <a
2512 href="http://inertia.posterous.com/reply-to-the-underground-economist-why-bitcoi">interesting
2513 criticism</a> of bitcoin.  Not quite sure how valid it is, but thought
2514 it was interesting to read.  The arguments presented seem to be
2515 equally valid for gold, which was used as a currency for many years.</p>
2516
2517       </div>
2518       <div class="tags">
2519
2520
2521         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
2522
2523
2524       </div>
2525     </div>
2526     <div class="padding"></div>
2527
2528     <div class="entry">
2529       <div class="title">
2530         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Now_accepting_bitcoins___anonymous_and_distributed_p2p_crypto_money.html">Now accepting bitcoins - anonymous and distributed p2p crypto-money</a>
2531       </div>
2532       <div class="date">
2533         10th December 2010
2534       </div>
2535       <div class="body">
2536         <p>With this weeks lawless
2537 <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/06/wikileaks/index.html">governmental
2538 attacks</a> on Wikileak and
2539 <a href="http://www.salon.com/technology/dan_gillmor/2010/12/06/war_on_speech">free
2540 speech</a>, it has become obvious that PayPal, visa and mastercard can
2541 not be trusted to handle money transactions.
2542 A blog post from
2543 <a href="http://webmink.com/2010/12/06/now-accepting-bitcoin/">Simon
2544 Phipps on bitcoin</a> reminded me about a project that a friend of
2545 mine mentioned earlier.  I decided to follow Simon's example, and get
2546 involved with <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">BitCoin</a>.  I got
2547 some help from my friend to get it all running, and he even handed me
2548 some bitcoins to get started.  I even donated a few bitcoins to Simon
2549 for helping me remember BitCoin.</p>
2550
2551 <p>So, what is bitcoins, you probably wonder?  It is a digital
2552 crypto-currency, decentralised and handled using peer-to-peer
2553 networks.  It allows anonymous transactions and prohibits central
2554 control over the transactions, making it impossible for governments
2555 and companies alike to block donations and other transactions.  The
2556 source is free software, and while the key dependency wxWidgets 2.9
2557 for the graphical user interface is missing in Debian, the command
2558 line client builds just fine.  Hopefully Jonas
2559 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/578157">will get the package into
2560 Debian</a> soon.</p>
2561
2562 <p>Bitcoins can be converted to other currencies, like USD and EUR.
2563 There are <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/trade">companies accepting
2564 bitcoins</a> when selling services and goods, and there are even
2565 currency "stock" markets where the exchange rate is decided.  There
2566 are not many users so far, but the concept seems promising.  If you
2567 want to get started and lack a friend with any bitcoins to spare,
2568 you can even get
2569 <a href="https://freebitcoins.appspot.com/">some for free</a> (0.05
2570 bitcoin at the time of writing).  Use
2571 <a href="http://www.bitcoinwatch.com/">BitcoinWatch</a> to keep an eye
2572 on the current exchange rates.</p>
2573
2574 <p>As an experiment, I have decided to set up bitcoind on one of my
2575 machines.  If you want to support my activity, please send Bitcoin
2576 donations to the address
2577 <b>15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</b>.  Thank you!</p>
2578
2579       </div>
2580       <div class="tags">
2581
2582
2583         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
2584
2585
2586       </div>
2587     </div>
2588     <div class="padding"></div>
2589
2590     <div class="entry">
2591       <div class="title">
2592         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_isn_t_Debian_Edu_using_VLC_.html">Why isn't Debian Edu using VLC?</a>
2593       </div>
2594       <div class="date">
2595         27th November 2010
2596       </div>
2597       <div class="body">
2598         <p>In the latest issue of Linux Journal, the readers choices were
2599 presented, and the winner among the multimedia player were VLC.
2600 Personally, I like VLC, and it is my player of choice when I first try
2601 to play a video file or stream.  Only if VLC fail will I drag out
2602 gmplayer to see if it can do better.  The reason is mostly the failure
2603 model and trust.  When VLC fail, it normally pop up a error message
2604 reporting the problem.  When mplayer fail, it normally segfault or
2605 just hangs.  The latter failure mode drain my trust in the program.<p>
2606
2607 <p>But even if VLC is my player of choice, we have choosen to use
2608 mplayer in <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian
2609 Edu/Skolelinux</a>.  The reason is simple.  We need a good browser
2610 plugin to play web videos seamlessly, and the VLC browser plugin is
2611 not very good.  For example, it lack in-line control buttons, so there
2612 is no way for the user to pause the video.  Also, when I
2613 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/BrowserMultimedia">last
2614 tested the browser plugins</a> available in Debian, the VLC plugin
2615 failed on several video pages where mplayer based plugins worked.  If
2616 the browser plugin for VLC was as good as the gecko-mediaplayer
2617 package (which uses mplayer), we would switch.</P>
2618
2619 <p>While VLC is a good player, its user interface is slightly
2620 annoying.  The most annoying feature is its inconsistent use of
2621 keyboard shortcuts.  When the player is in full screen mode, its
2622 shortcuts are different from when it is playing the video in a window.
2623 For example, space only work as pause when in full screen mode.  I
2624 wish it had consisten shortcuts and that space also would work when in
2625 window mode.  Another nice shortcut in gmplayer is [enter] to restart
2626 the current video.  It is very nice when playing short videos from the
2627 web and want to restart it when new people arrive to have a look at
2628 what is going on.</p>
2629
2630       </div>
2631       <div class="tags">
2632
2633
2634         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
2635
2636
2637       </div>
2638     </div>
2639     <div class="padding"></div>
2640
2641     <div class="entry">
2642       <div class="title">
2643         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades_of_the_Gnome_and_KDE_desktop__now_with_apt_get_autoremove.html">Lenny->Squeeze upgrades of the Gnome and KDE desktop, now with apt-get autoremove</a>
2644       </div>
2645       <div class="date">
2646         22nd November 2010
2647       </div>
2648       <div class="body">
2649         <p>Michael Biebl suggested to me on IRC, that I changed my automated
2650 upgrade testing of the
2651 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">Lenny
2652 Gnome and KDE Desktop</a> to do <tt>apt-get autoremove</tt> when using apt-get.
2653 This seem like a very good idea, so I adjusted by test scripts and
2654 can now present the updated result from today:</p>
2655
2656 <p>This is for Gnome:</p>
2657
2658 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
2659
2660 <blockquote><p>
2661   apache2.2-bin
2662   aptdaemon
2663   baobab
2664   binfmt-support
2665   browser-plugin-gnash
2666   cheese-common
2667   cli-common
2668   cups-pk-helper
2669   dmz-cursor-theme
2670   empathy
2671   empathy-common
2672   freedesktop-sound-theme
2673   freeglut3
2674   gconf-defaults-service
2675   gdm-themes
2676   gedit-plugins
2677   geoclue
2678   geoclue-hostip
2679   geoclue-localnet
2680   geoclue-manual
2681   geoclue-yahoo
2682   gnash
2683   gnash-common
2684   gnome
2685   gnome-backgrounds
2686   gnome-cards-data
2687   gnome-codec-install
2688   gnome-core
2689   gnome-desktop-environment
2690   gnome-disk-utility
2691   gnome-screenshot
2692   gnome-search-tool
2693   gnome-session-canberra
2694   gnome-system-log
2695   gnome-themes-extras
2696   gnome-themes-more
2697   gnome-user-share
2698   gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3
2699   gstreamer0.10-tools
2700   gtk2-engines
2701   gtk2-engines-pixbuf
2702   gtk2-engines-smooth
2703   hamster-applet
2704   libapache2-mod-dnssd
2705   libapr1
2706   libaprutil1
2707   libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3
2708   libaprutil1-ldap
2709   libart2.0-cil
2710   libboost-date-time1.42.0
2711   libboost-python1.42.0
2712   libboost-thread1.42.0
2713   libchamplain-0.4-0
2714   libchamplain-gtk-0.4-0
2715   libcheese-gtk18
2716   libclutter-gtk-0.10-0
2717   libcryptui0
2718   libdiscid0
2719   libelf1
2720   libepc-1.0-2
2721   libepc-common
2722   libepc-ui-1.0-2
2723   libfreerdp-plugins-standard
2724   libfreerdp0
2725   libgconf2.0-cil
2726   libgdata-common
2727   libgdata7
2728   libgdu-gtk0
2729   libgee2
2730   libgeoclue0
2731   libgexiv2-0
2732   libgif4
2733   libglade2.0-cil
2734   libglib2.0-cil
2735   libgmime2.4-cil
2736   libgnome-vfs2.0-cil
2737   libgnome2.24-cil
2738   libgnomepanel2.24-cil
2739   libgpod-common
2740   libgpod4
2741   libgtk2.0-cil
2742   libgtkglext1
2743   libgtksourceview2.0-common
2744   libmono-addins-gui0.2-cil
2745   libmono-addins0.2-cil
2746   libmono-cairo2.0-cil
2747   libmono-corlib2.0-cil
2748   libmono-i18n-west2.0-cil
2749   libmono-posix2.0-cil
2750   libmono-security2.0-cil
2751   libmono-sharpzip2.84-cil
2752   libmono-system2.0-cil
2753   libmtp8
2754   libmusicbrainz3-6
2755   libndesk-dbus-glib1.0-cil
2756   libndesk-dbus1.0-cil
2757   libopal3.6.8
2758   libpolkit-gtk-1-0
2759   libpt2.6.7
2760   libpython2.6
2761   librpm1
2762   librpmio1
2763   libsdl1.2debian
2764   libsrtp0
2765   libssh-4
2766   libtelepathy-farsight0
2767   libtelepathy-glib0
2768   libtidy-0.99-0
2769   media-player-info
2770   mesa-utils
2771   mono-2.0-gac
2772   mono-gac
2773   mono-runtime
2774   nautilus-sendto
2775   nautilus-sendto-empathy
2776   p7zip-full
2777   pkg-config
2778   python-aptdaemon
2779   python-aptdaemon-gtk
2780   python-axiom
2781   python-beautifulsoup
2782   python-bugbuddy
2783   python-clientform
2784   python-coherence
2785   python-configobj
2786   python-crypto
2787   python-cupshelpers
2788   python-elementtree
2789   python-epsilon
2790   python-evolution
2791   python-feedparser
2792   python-gdata
2793   python-gdbm
2794   python-gst0.10
2795   python-gtkglext1
2796   python-gtksourceview2
2797   python-httplib2
2798   python-louie
2799   python-mako
2800   python-markupsafe
2801   python-mechanize
2802   python-nevow
2803   python-notify
2804   python-opengl
2805   python-openssl
2806   python-pam
2807   python-pkg-resources
2808   python-pyasn1
2809   python-pysqlite2
2810   python-rdflib
2811   python-serial
2812   python-tagpy
2813   python-twisted-bin
2814   python-twisted-conch
2815   python-twisted-core
2816   python-twisted-web
2817   python-utidylib
2818   python-webkit
2819   python-xdg
2820   python-zope.interface
2821   remmina
2822   remmina-plugin-data
2823   remmina-plugin-rdp
2824   remmina-plugin-vnc
2825   rhythmbox-plugin-cdrecorder
2826   rhythmbox-plugins
2827   rpm-common
2828   rpm2cpio
2829   seahorse-plugins
2830   shotwell
2831   software-center
2832   system-config-printer-udev
2833   telepathy-gabble
2834   telepathy-mission-control-5
2835   telepathy-salut
2836   tomboy
2837   totem
2838   totem-coherence
2839   totem-mozilla
2840   totem-plugins
2841   transmission-common
2842   xdg-user-dirs
2843   xdg-user-dirs-gtk
2844   xserver-xephyr
2845 </p></blockquote>
2846
2847 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
2848
2849 <blockquote><p>
2850   cheese
2851   ekiga
2852   eog
2853   epiphany-extensions
2854   evolution-exchange
2855   fast-user-switch-applet
2856   file-roller
2857   gcalctool
2858   gconf-editor
2859   gdm
2860   gedit
2861   gedit-common
2862   gnome-games
2863   gnome-games-data
2864   gnome-nettool
2865   gnome-system-tools
2866   gnome-themes
2867   gnuchess
2868   gucharmap
2869   guile-1.8-libs
2870   libavahi-ui0
2871   libdmx1
2872   libgalago3
2873   libgtk-vnc-1.0-0
2874   libgtksourceview2.0-0
2875   liblircclient0
2876   libsdl1.2debian-alsa
2877   libspeexdsp1
2878   libsvga1
2879   rhythmbox
2880   seahorse
2881   sound-juicer
2882   system-config-printer
2883   totem-common
2884   transmission-gtk
2885   vinagre
2886   vino
2887 </p></blockquote>
2888
2889 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
2890
2891 <blockquote><p>
2892   gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
2893 </p></blockquote>
2894
2895 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
2896
2897 <blockquote><p>
2898 [nothing]
2899 </p></blockquote>
2900
2901 <p>This is for KDE:</p>
2902
2903 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
2904
2905 <blockquote><p>
2906   ksmserver
2907 </p></blockquote>
2908
2909 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
2910
2911 <blockquote><p>
2912   kwin
2913   network-manager-kde
2914 </p></blockquote>
2915
2916 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
2917
2918 <blockquote><p>
2919   arts
2920   dolphin
2921   freespacenotifier
2922   google-gadgets-gst
2923   google-gadgets-xul
2924   kappfinder
2925   kcalc
2926   kcharselect
2927   kde-core
2928   kde-plasma-desktop
2929   kde-standard
2930   kde-window-manager
2931   kdeartwork
2932   kdeartwork-emoticons
2933   kdeartwork-style
2934   kdeartwork-theme-icon
2935   kdebase
2936   kdebase-apps
2937   kdebase-workspace
2938   kdebase-workspace-bin
2939   kdebase-workspace-data
2940   kdeeject
2941   kdelibs
2942   kdeplasma-addons
2943   kdeutils
2944   kdewallpapers
2945   kdf
2946   kfloppy
2947   kgpg
2948   khelpcenter4
2949   kinfocenter
2950   konq-plugins-l10n
2951   konqueror-nsplugins
2952   kscreensaver
2953   kscreensaver-xsavers
2954   ktimer
2955   kwrite
2956   libgle3
2957   libkde4-ruby1.8
2958   libkonq5
2959   libkonq5-templates
2960   libnetpbm10
2961   libplasma-ruby
2962   libplasma-ruby1.8
2963   libqt4-ruby1.8
2964   marble-data
2965   marble-plugins
2966   netpbm
2967   nuvola-icon-theme
2968   plasma-dataengines-workspace
2969   plasma-desktop
2970   plasma-desktopthemes-artwork
2971   plasma-runners-addons
2972   plasma-scriptengine-googlegadgets
2973   plasma-scriptengine-python
2974   plasma-scriptengine-qedje
2975   plasma-scriptengine-ruby
2976   plasma-scriptengine-webkit
2977   plasma-scriptengines
2978   plasma-wallpapers-addons
2979   plasma-widget-folderview
2980   plasma-widget-networkmanagement
2981   ruby
2982   sweeper
2983   update-notifier-kde
2984   xscreensaver-data-extra
2985   xscreensaver-gl
2986   xscreensaver-gl-extra
2987   xscreensaver-screensaver-bsod
2988 </p></blockquote>
2989
2990 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
2991
2992 <blockquote><p>
2993   ark
2994   google-gadgets-common
2995   google-gadgets-qt
2996   htdig
2997   kate
2998   kdebase-bin
2999   kdebase-data
3000   kdepasswd
3001   kfind
3002   klipper
3003   konq-plugins
3004   konqueror
3005   ksysguard
3006   ksysguardd
3007   libarchive1
3008   libcln6
3009   libeet1
3010   libeina-svn-06
3011   libggadget-1.0-0b
3012   libggadget-qt-1.0-0b
3013   libgps19
3014   libkdecorations4
3015   libkephal4
3016   libkonq4
3017   libkonqsidebarplugin4a
3018   libkscreensaver5
3019   libksgrd4
3020   libksignalplotter4
3021   libkunitconversion4
3022   libkwineffects1a
3023   libmarblewidget4
3024   libntrack-qt4-1
3025   libntrack0
3026   libplasma-geolocation-interface4
3027   libplasmaclock4a
3028   libplasmagenericshell4
3029   libprocesscore4a
3030   libprocessui4a
3031   libqalculate5
3032   libqedje0a
3033   libqtruby4shared2
3034   libqzion0a
3035   libruby1.8
3036   libscim8c2a
3037   libsmokekdecore4-3
3038   libsmokekdeui4-3
3039   libsmokekfile3
3040   libsmokekhtml3
3041   libsmokekio3
3042   libsmokeknewstuff2-3
3043   libsmokeknewstuff3-3
3044   libsmokekparts3
3045   libsmokektexteditor3
3046   libsmokekutils3
3047   libsmokenepomuk3
3048   libsmokephonon3
3049   libsmokeplasma3
3050   libsmokeqtcore4-3
3051   libsmokeqtdbus4-3
3052   libsmokeqtgui4-3
3053   libsmokeqtnetwork4-3
3054   libsmokeqtopengl4-3
3055   libsmokeqtscript4-3
3056   libsmokeqtsql4-3
3057   libsmokeqtsvg4-3
3058   libsmokeqttest4-3
3059   libsmokeqtuitools4-3
3060   libsmokeqtwebkit4-3
3061   libsmokeqtxml4-3
3062   libsmokesolid3
3063   libsmokesoprano3
3064   libtaskmanager4a
3065   libtidy-0.99-0
3066   libweather-ion4a
3067   libxklavier16
3068   libxxf86misc1
3069   okteta
3070   oxygencursors
3071   plasma-dataengines-addons
3072   plasma-scriptengine-superkaramba
3073   plasma-widget-lancelot
3074   plasma-widgets-addons
3075   plasma-widgets-workspace
3076   polkit-kde-1
3077   ruby1.8
3078   systemsettings
3079   update-notifier-common
3080 </p></blockquote>
3081
3082 <p>Running apt-get autoremove made the results using apt-get and
3083 aptitude a bit more similar, but there are still quite a lott of
3084 differences.  I have no idea what packages should be installed after
3085 the upgrade, but hope those that do can have a look.</p>
3086
3087       </div>
3088       <div class="tags">
3089
3090
3091         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
3092
3093
3094       </div>
3095     </div>
3096     <div class="padding"></div>
3097
3098     <div class="entry">
3099       <div class="title">
3100         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Migrating_Xen_virtual_machines_using_LVM_to_KVM_using_disk_images.html">Migrating Xen virtual machines using LVM to KVM using disk images</a>
3101       </div>
3102       <div class="date">
3103         22nd November 2010
3104       </div>
3105       <div class="body">
3106         <p>Most of the computers in use by the
3107 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu/Skolelinux project</a>
3108 are virtual machines.  And they have been Xen machines running on a
3109 fairly old IBM eserver xseries 345 machine, and we wanted to migrate
3110 them to KVM on a newer Dell PowerEdge 2950 host machine.  This was a
3111 bit harder that it could have been, because we set up the Xen virtual
3112 machines to get the virtual partitions from LVM, which as far as I
3113 know is not supported by KVM.  So to migrate, we had to convert
3114 several LVM logical volumes to partitions on a virtual disk file.</p>
3115
3116 <p>I found
3117 <a href="http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com.au/articles/35011-Six-steps-for-migrating-Xen-virtual-machines-to-KVM">a
3118 nice recipe</a> to do this, and wrote the following script to do the
3119 migration.  It uses qemu-img from the qemu package to make the disk
3120 image, parted to partition it, losetup and kpartx to present the disk
3121 image partions as devices, and dd to copy the data.  I NFS mounted the
3122 new servers storage area on the old server to do the migration.</p>
3123
3124 <pre>
3125 #!/bin/sh
3126
3127 # Based on
3128 # http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com.au/articles/35011-Six-steps-for-migrating-Xen-virtual-machines-to-KVM
3129
3130 set -e
3131 set -x
3132
3133 if [ -z "$1" ] ; then
3134     echo "Usage: $0 &lt;hostname&gt;"
3135     exit 1
3136 else
3137     host="$1"
3138 fi
3139
3140 if [ ! -e /dev/vg_data/$host-disk ] ; then
3141     echo "error: unable to find LVM volume for $host"
3142     exit 1
3143 fi
3144
3145 # Partitions need to be a bit bigger than the LVM LVs.  not sure why.
3146 disksize=$( lvs --units m | grep $host-disk | awk '{sum = sum + $4} END { print int(sum * 1.05) }')
3147 swapsize=$( lvs --units m | grep $host-swap | awk '{sum = sum + $4} END { print int(sum * 1.05) }')
3148 totalsize=$(( ( $disksize + $swapsize ) ))
3149
3150 img=$host.img
3151 #dd if=/dev/zero of=$img bs=1M count=$(( $disksize + $swapsize ))
3152 qemu-img create $img ${totalsize}MMaking room on the Debian Edu/Sqeeze DVD
3153
3154 parted $img mklabel msdos
3155 parted $img mkpart primary linux-swap 0 $disksize
3156 parted $img mkpart primary ext2 $disksize $totalsize
3157 parted $img set 1 boot on
3158
3159 modprobe dm-mod
3160 losetup /dev/loop0 $img
3161 kpartx -a /dev/loop0
3162
3163 dd if=/dev/vg_data/$host-disk of=/dev/mapper/loop0p1 bs=1M
3164 fsck.ext3 -f /dev/mapper/loop0p1 || true
3165 mkswap /dev/mapper/loop0p2
3166
3167 kpartx -d /dev/loop0
3168 losetup -d /dev/loop0
3169 </pre>
3170
3171 <p>The script is perhaps so simple that it is not copyrightable, but
3172 if it is, it is licenced using GPL v2 or later at your discretion.</p>
3173
3174 <p>After doing this, I booted a Debian CD in rescue mode in KVM with
3175 the new disk image attached, installed grub-pc and linux-image-686 and
3176 set up grub to boot from the disk image.  After this, the KVM machines
3177 seem to work just fine.</p>
3178
3179       </div>
3180       <div class="tags">
3181
3182
3183         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
3184
3185
3186       </div>
3187     </div>
3188     <div class="padding"></div>
3189
3190     <div class="entry">
3191       <div class="title">
3192         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__apt_vs_aptitude_with_the_Gnome_and_KDE_desktop.html">Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, apt vs aptitude with the Gnome and KDE desktop</a>
3193       </div>
3194       <div class="date">
3195         20th November 2010
3196       </div>
3197       <div class="body">
3198         <p>I'm still running upgrade testing of the
3199 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">Lenny
3200 Gnome and KDE Desktop</a>, but have not had time to spend on reporting the
3201 status.  Here is a short update based on a test I ran 20101118.</p>
3202
3203 <p>I still do not know what a correct migration should look like, so I
3204 report any differences between apt and aptitude and hope someone else
3205 can see if anything should be changed.</p>
3206
3207 <p>This is for Gnome:</p>
3208
3209 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
3210
3211 <blockquote><p>
3212   apache2.2-bin aptdaemon at-spi baobab binfmt-support
3213   browser-plugin-gnash cheese-common cli-common cpp-4.3 cups-pk-helper
3214   dmz-cursor-theme empathy empathy-common finger
3215   freedesktop-sound-theme freeglut3 gconf-defaults-service gdm-themes
3216   gedit-plugins geoclue geoclue-hostip geoclue-localnet geoclue-manual
3217   geoclue-yahoo gnash gnash-common gnome gnome-backgrounds
3218   gnome-cards-data gnome-codec-install gnome-core
3219   gnome-desktop-environment gnome-disk-utility gnome-screenshot
3220   gnome-search-tool gnome-session-canberra gnome-spell
3221   gnome-system-log gnome-themes-extras gnome-themes-more
3222   gnome-user-share gs-common gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3
3223   gstreamer0.10-tools gtk2-engines gtk2-engines-pixbuf
3224   gtk2-engines-smooth hal-info hamster-applet libapache2-mod-dnssd
3225   libapr1 libaprutil1 libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3 libaprutil1-ldap
3226   libart2.0-cil libatspi1.0-0 libboost-date-time1.42.0
3227   libboost-python1.42.0 libboost-thread1.42.0 libchamplain-0.4-0
3228   libchamplain-gtk-0.4-0 libcheese-gtk18 libclutter-gtk-0.10-0
3229   libcryptui0 libcupsys2 libdiscid0 libeel2-data libelf1 libepc-1.0-2
3230   libepc-common libepc-ui-1.0-2 libfreerdp-plugins-standard
3231   libfreerdp0 libgail-common libgconf2.0-cil libgdata-common libgdata7
3232   libgdl-1-common libgdu-gtk0 libgee2 libgeoclue0 libgexiv2-0 libgif4
3233   libglade2.0-cil libglib2.0-cil libgmime2.4-cil libgnome-vfs2.0-cil
3234   libgnome2.24-cil libgnomepanel2.24-cil libgnomeprint2.2-data
3235   libgnomeprintui2.2-common libgnomevfs2-bin libgpod-common libgpod4
3236   libgtk2.0-cil libgtkglext1 libgtksourceview-common
3237   libgtksourceview2.0-common libmono-addins-gui0.2-cil
3238   libmono-addins0.2-cil libmono-cairo2.0-cil libmono-corlib2.0-cil
3239   libmono-i18n-west2.0-cil libmono-posix2.0-cil
3240   libmono-security2.0-cil libmono-sharpzip2.84-cil
3241   libmono-system2.0-cil libmtp8 libmusicbrainz3-6
3242   libndesk-dbus-glib1.0-cil libndesk-dbus1.0-cil libopal3.6.8
3243   libpolkit-gtk-1-0 libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa
3244   libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libpt2.6.7 libpython2.6 librpm1 librpmio1
3245   libsdl1.2debian libservlet2.4-java libsrtp0 libssh-4
3246   libtelepathy-farsight0 libtelepathy-glib0 libtidy-0.99-0
3247   libxalan2-java libxerces2-java media-player-info mesa-utils
3248   mono-2.0-gac mono-gac mono-runtime nautilus-sendto
3249   nautilus-sendto-empathy openoffice.org-writer2latex
3250   openssl-blacklist p7zip p7zip-full pkg-config python-4suite-xml
3251   python-aptdaemon python-aptdaemon-gtk python-axiom
3252   python-beautifulsoup python-bugbuddy python-clientform
3253   python-coherence python-configobj python-crypto python-cupshelpers
3254   python-cupsutils python-eggtrayicon python-elementtree
3255   python-epsilon python-evolution python-feedparser python-gdata
3256   python-gdbm python-gst0.10 python-gtkglext1 python-gtkmozembed
3257   python-gtksourceview2 python-httplib2 python-louie python-mako
3258   python-markupsafe python-mechanize python-nevow python-notify
3259   python-opengl python-openssl python-pam python-pkg-resources
3260   python-pyasn1 python-pysqlite2 python-rdflib python-serial
3261   python-tagpy python-twisted-bin python-twisted-conch
3262   python-twisted-core python-twisted-web python-utidylib python-webkit
3263   python-xdg python-zope.interface remmina remmina-plugin-data
3264   remmina-plugin-rdp remmina-plugin-vnc rhythmbox-plugin-cdrecorder
3265   rhythmbox-plugins rpm-common rpm2cpio seahorse-plugins shotwell
3266   software-center svgalibg1 system-config-printer-udev
3267   telepathy-gabble telepathy-mission-control-5 telepathy-salut tomboy
3268   totem totem-coherence totem-mozilla totem-plugins
3269   transmission-common xdg-user-dirs xdg-user-dirs-gtk xserver-xephyr
3270   zip
3271 </p></blockquote>
3272
3273 Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude
3274
3275 <blockquote><p>
3276   arj bluez-utils cheese dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop ekiga eog
3277   epiphany-extensions epiphany-gecko evolution-exchange
3278   fast-user-switch-applet file-roller gcalctool gconf-editor gdm gedit
3279   gedit-common gnome-app-install gnome-games gnome-games-data
3280   gnome-nettool gnome-system-tools gnome-themes gnome-utils
3281   gnome-vfs-obexftp gnome-volume-manager gnuchess gucharmap
3282   guile-1.8-libs hal libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5
3283   libavahi-ui0 libbind9-50 libbluetooth2 libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7
3284   libcucul0 libcurl3 libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdmx1 libdvdread3
3285   libedata-cal1.2-6 libedataserver1.2-9 libeel2-2.20 libepc-1.0-1
3286   libepc-ui-1.0-1 libexchange-storage1.2-3 libfaad0 libgadu3
3287   libgalago3 libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libggz2 libggzcore9
3288   libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 libgnome-desktop-2
3289   libgnome-pilot2 libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomeprint2.2-0
3290   libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtk-vnc-1.0-0
3291   libgtkhtml2-0 libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgtksourceview2.0-0
3292   libgucharmap6 libhesiod0 libicu38 libisccc50 libisccfg50 libiw29
3293   libjaxp1.3-java-gcj libkpathsea4 liblircclient0 libltdl3 liblwres50
3294   libmagick++10 libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmozjs1d libmpfr1ldbl libmtp7
3295   libmysqlclient15off libnautilus-burn4 libneon27 libnm-glib0
3296   libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 libosp5 libparted1.8-10 libpisock9
3297   libpisync1 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 libpt-1.10.10 libraw1394-8
3298   libsdl1.2debian-alsa libsensors3 libsexy2 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8
3299   libspeexdsp1 libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libsvga1
3300   libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 libtotem-plparser10 libtrackerclient0
3301   libvoikko1 libxalan2-java-gcj libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12
3302   libxtrap6 libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 mysql-common rhythmbox seahorse
3303   sound-juicer swfdec-gnome system-config-printer totem-common
3304   totem-gstreamer transmission-gtk vinagre vino w3c-dtd-xhtml wodim
3305 </p></blockquote>
3306
3307 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
3308
3309 <blockquote><p>
3310   gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
3311 </p></blockquote>
3312
3313 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
3314
3315 <blockquote><p>
3316 [nothing]
3317 </p></blockquote>
3318
3319 <p>This is for KDE:</p>
3320
3321 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
3322
3323 <blockquote><p>
3324   autopoint bomber bovo cantor cantor-backend-kalgebra cpp-4.3 dcoprss
3325   edict espeak espeak-data eyesapplet fifteenapplet finger gettext
3326   ghostscript-x git gnome-audio gnugo granatier gs-common
3327   gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio indi kaddressbook-plugins kalgebra
3328   kalzium-data kanjidic kapman kate-plugins kblocks kbreakout kbstate
3329   kde-icons-mono kdeaccessibility kdeaddons-kfile-plugins
3330   kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdeartwork-misc kdeartwork-theme-window
3331   kdeedu kdeedu-data kdeedu-kvtml-data kdegames kdegames-card-data
3332   kdegames-mahjongg-data kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelirc
3333   kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdenetwork-kfile-plugins
3334   kdepim-kfile-plugins kdepim-kio-plugins kdessh kdetoys kdewebdev
3335   kdiamond kdnssd kfilereplace kfourinline kgeography-data kigo
3336   killbots kiriki klettres-data kmoon kmrml knewsticker-scripts
3337   kollision kpf krosspython ksirk ksmserver ksquares kstars-data
3338   ksudoku kubrick kweather libasound2-plugins libboost-python1.42.0
3339   libcfitsio3 libconvert-binhex-perl libcrypt-ssleay-perl libdb4.6++
3340   libdjvulibre-text libdotconf1.0 liberror-perl libespeak1
3341   libfinance-quote-perl libgail-common libgsl0ldbl libhtml-parser-perl
3342   libhtml-tableextract-perl libhtml-tagset-perl libhtml-tree-perl
3343   libio-stringy-perl libkdeedu4 libkdegames5 libkiten4 libkpathsea5
3344   libkrossui4 libmailtools-perl libmime-tools-perl
3345   libnews-nntpclient-perl libopenbabel3 libportaudio2 libpulse-browse0
3346   libservlet2.4-java libspeechd2 libtiff-tools libtimedate-perl
3347   libunistring0 liburi-perl libwww-perl libxalan2-java libxerces2-java
3348   lirc luatex marble networkstatus noatun-plugins
3349   openoffice.org-writer2latex palapeli palapeli-data parley
3350   parley-data poster psutils pulseaudio pulseaudio-esound-compat
3351   pulseaudio-module-x11 pulseaudio-utils quanta-data rocs rsync
3352   speech-dispatcher step svgalibg1 texlive-binaries texlive-luatex
3353   ttf-sazanami-gothic
3354 </p></blockquote>
3355
3356 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
3357
3358 <blockquote><p>
3359   amor artsbuilder atlantik atlantikdesigner blinken bluez-utils cvs
3360   dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop imlib-base imlib11 kalzium kanagram kandy
3361   kasteroids katomic kbackgammon kbattleship kblackbox kbounce kbruch
3362   kcron kdat kdemultimedia-kappfinder-data kdeprint kdict kdvi kedit
3363   keduca kenolaba kfax kfaxview kfouleggs kgeography kghostview
3364   kgoldrunner khangman khexedit kiconedit kig kimagemapeditor
3365   kitchensync kiten kjumpingcube klatin klettres klickety klines
3366   klinkstatus kmag kmahjongg kmailcvt kmenuedit kmid kmilo kmines
3367   kmousetool kmouth kmplot knetwalk kodo kolf kommander konquest kooka
3368   kpager kpat kpdf kpercentage kpilot kpoker kpovmodeler krec
3369   kregexpeditor kreversi ksame ksayit kshisen ksig ksim ksirc ksirtet
3370   ksmiletris ksnake ksokoban kspaceduel kstars ksvg ksysv kteatime
3371   ktip ktnef ktouch ktron kttsd ktuberling kturtle ktux kuickshow
3372   kverbos kview kviewshell kvoctrain kwifimanager kwin kwin4 kwordquiz
3373   kworldclock kxsldbg libakode2 libarts1-akode libarts1-audiofile
3374   libarts1-mpeglib libarts1-xine libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
3375   libavahi-core5 libavc1394-0 libbind9-50 libbluetooth2
3376   libboost-python1.34.1 libcucul0 libcurl3 libcvsservice0
3377   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdjvulibre21 libdvdread3 libfaad0 libfreebob0
3378   libgd2-noxpm libgraphviz4 libgsmme1c2a libgtkhtml2-0 libicu38
3379   libiec61883-0 libindex0 libisccc50 libisccfg50 libiw29
3380   libjaxp1.3-java-gcj libk3b3 libkcal2b libkcddb1 libkdeedu3
3381   libkdegames1 libkdepim1a libkgantt0 libkleopatra1 libkmime2
3382   libkpathsea4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1
3383   libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 libltdl3 liblwres50 libmagick10
3384   libmimelib1c2a libmodplug0c2 libmozjs1d libmpcdec3 libmpfr1ldbl
3385   libneon27 libnm-util0 libopensync0 libpisock9 libpoppler-glib3
3386   libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler3 libraw1394-8 librss1 libsensors3
3387   libsmbios2 libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90
3388   libtalloc1 libxalan2-java-gcj libxerces2-java-gcj libxtrap6 lskat
3389   mpeglib network-manager-kde noatun pmount tex-common texlive-base
3390   texlive-common texlive-doc-base texlive-fonts-recommended tidy
3391   ttf-dustin ttf-kochi-gothic ttf-sjfonts
3392 </p></blockquote>
3393
3394 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
3395
3396 <blockquote><p>
3397   dolphin kde-core kde-plasma-desktop kde-standard kde-window-manager
3398   kdeartwork kdebase kdebase-apps kdebase-workspace
3399   kdebase-workspace-bin kdebase-workspace-data kdeutils kscreensaver
3400   kscreensaver-xsavers libgle3 libkonq5 libkonq5-templates libnetpbm10
3401   netpbm plasma-widget-folderview plasma-widget-networkmanagement
3402   xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-gl xscreensaver-gl-extra
3403   xscreensaver-screensaver-bsod
3404 </p></blockquote>
3405
3406 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
3407
3408 <blockquote><p>
3409   kdebase-bin konq-plugins konqueror
3410 </p></blockquote>
3411
3412       </div>
3413       <div class="tags">
3414
3415
3416         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
3417
3418
3419       </div>
3420     </div>
3421     <div class="padding"></div>
3422
3423     <div class="entry">
3424       <div class="title">
3425         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Gnash_buildbot_slave_and_Debian_kfreebsd.html">Gnash buildbot slave and Debian kfreebsd</a>
3426       </div>
3427       <div class="date">
3428         20th November 2010
3429       </div>
3430       <div class="body">
3431         <p>Answering
3432 <a href="http://www.listware.net/201011/gnash-dev/67431-gnash-dev-buildbot-looking-for-slaves.html">the
3433 call from the Gnash project</a> for
3434 <a href="http://www.gnashdev.org:8010">buildbot</a> slaves to test the
3435 current source, I have set up a virtual KVM machine on the Debian
3436 Edu/Skolelinux virtualization host to test the git source on
3437 Debian/Squeeze.  I hope this can help the developers in getting new
3438 releases out more often.</p>
3439
3440 <p>As the developers want less main-stream build platforms tested to,
3441 I have considered setting up a <a
3442 href="http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu/">Debian/kfreebsd</a>
3443 machine as well.  I have also considered using the kfreebsd
3444 architecture in Debian as a file server in NUUG to get access to the 5
3445 TB zfs volume we currently use to store DV video.  Because of this, I
3446 finally got around to do a test installation of Debian/Squeeze with
3447 kfreebsd.  Installation went fairly smooth, thought I noticed some
3448 visual glitches in the cdebconf dialogs (black cursor left on the
3449 screen at random locations).  Have not gotten very far with the
3450 testing.  Noticed cfdisk did not work, but fdisk did so it was not a
3451 fatal problem.  Have to spend some more time on it to see if it is
3452 useful as a file server for NUUG.  Will try to find time to set up a
3453 gnash buildbot slave on the Debian Edu/Skolelinux this weekend.</p>
3454
3455       </div>
3456       <div class="tags">
3457
3458
3459         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
3460
3461
3462       </div>
3463     </div>
3464     <div class="padding"></div>
3465
3466     <div class="entry">
3467       <div class="title">
3468         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_in_3D.html">Debian in 3D</a>
3469       </div>
3470       <div class="date">
3471          9th November 2010
3472       </div>
3473       <div class="body">
3474         <p><img src="http://thingiverse-production.s3.amazonaws.com/renders/23/e0/c4/f9/2b/debswagtdose_preview_medium.jpg"></p>
3475
3476 <p>3D printing is just great.  I just came across this Debian logo in
3477 3D linked in from
3478 <a href="http://blog.thingiverse.com/2010/11/09/participatory-branding/">the
3479 thingiverse blog</a>.</p>
3480
3481       </div>
3482       <div class="tags">
3483
3484
3485         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
3486
3487
3488       </div>
3489     </div>
3490     <div class="padding"></div>
3491
3492     <div class="entry">
3493       <div class="title">
3494         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Software_updates_2010_10_24.html">Software updates 2010-10-24</a>
3495       </div>
3496       <div class="date">
3497         24th October 2010
3498       </div>
3499       <div class="body">
3500         <p>Some updates.</p>
3501
3502 <p>My <a href="http://pledgebank.com/gnash-avm2">gnash pledge</a> to
3503 raise money for the project is going well.  The lower limit of 10
3504 signers was reached in 24 hours, and so far 13 people have signed it.
3505 More signers and more funding is most welcome, and I am really curious
3506 how far we can get before the time limit of December 24 is reached.
3507 :)</p>
3508
3509 <p>On the #gnash IRC channel on irc.freenode.net, I was just tipped
3510 about what appear to be a great code coverage tool capable of
3511 generating code coverage stats without any changes to the source code.
3512 It is called
3513 <a href="http://simonkagstrom.github.com/kcov/index.html">kcov</a>,
3514 and can be used using <tt>kcov &lt;directory&gt; &lt;binary&gt;</tt>.
3515 It is missing in Debian, but the git source built just fine in Squeeze
3516 after I installed libelf-dev, libdwarf-dev, pkg-config and
3517 libglib2.0-dev.  Failed to build in Lenny, but suspect that is
3518 solvable.  I hope kcov make it into Debian soon.</p>
3519
3520 <p>Finally found time to wrap up the release notes for <a
3521 href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu-announce/2010/10/msg00002.html">a
3522 new alpha release of Debian Edu</a>, and just published the second
3523 alpha test release of the Squeeze based Debian Edu /
3524 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a>
3525 release.  Give it a try if you need a complete linux solution for your
3526 school, including central infrastructure server, workstations, thin
3527 client servers and diskless workstations.  A nice touch added
3528 yesterday is RDP support on the thin client servers, for windows
3529 clients to get a Linux desktop on request.</p>
3530
3531       </div>
3532       <div class="tags">
3533
3534
3535         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>.
3536
3537
3538       </div>
3539     </div>
3540     <div class="padding"></div>
3541
3542     <div class="entry">
3543       <div class="title">
3544         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Some_notes_on_Flash_in_Debian_and_Debian_Edu.html">Some notes on Flash in Debian and Debian Edu</a>
3545       </div>
3546       <div class="date">
3547          4th September 2010
3548       </div>
3549       <div class="body">
3550         <p>In the <a href="http://popcon.debian.org/unknown/by_vote">Debian
3551 popularity-contest numbers</a>, the adobe-flashplugin package the
3552 second most popular used package that is missing in Debian.  The sixth
3553 most popular is flashplayer-mozilla.  This is a clear indication that
3554 working flash is important for Debian users.  Around 10 percent of the
3555 users submitting data to popcon.debian.org have this package
3556 installed.</p>
3557
3558 <p>In the report written by Lars Risan in August 2008
3559 («<a href="http://wiki.skolelinux.no/Dokumentasjon/Rapporter?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=Skolelinux_i_bruk_rapport_1.0.pdf">Skolelinux
3560 i bruk – Rapport for Hurum kommune, Universitetet i Agder og
3561 stiftelsen SLX Debian Labs</a>»), one of the most important problems
3562 schools experienced with <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian
3563 Edu/Skolelinux</a> was the lack of working Flash.  A lot of educational
3564 web sites require Flash to work, and lacking working Flash support in
3565 the web browser and the problems with installing it was perceived as a
3566 good reason to stay with Windows.</p>
3567
3568 <p>I once saw a funny and sad comment in a web forum, where Linux was
3569 said to be the retarded cousin that did not really understand
3570 everything you told him but could work fairly well.  This was a
3571 comment regarding the problems Linux have with proprietary formats and
3572 non-standard web pages, and is sad because it exposes a fairly common
3573 understanding of whose fault it is if web pages that only work in for
3574 example Internet Explorer 6 fail to work on Firefox, and funny because
3575 it explain very well how annoying it is for users when Linux
3576 distributions do not work with the documents they receive or the web
3577 pages they want to visit.</p>
3578
3579 <p>This is part of the reason why I believe it is important for Debian
3580 and Debian Edu to have a well working Flash implementation in the
3581 distribution, to get at least popular sites as Youtube and Google
3582 Video to working out of the box.  For Squeeze, Debian have the chance
3583 to include the latest version of Gnash that will make this happen, as
3584 the new release 0.8.8 was published a few weeks ago and is resting in
3585 unstable.  The new version work with more sites that version 0.8.7.
3586 The Gnash maintainers have asked for a freeze exception, but the
3587 release team have not had time to reply to it yet.  I hope they agree
3588 with me that Flash is important for the Debian desktop users, and thus
3589 accept the new package into Squeeze.</p>
3590
3591       </div>
3592       <div class="tags">
3593
3594
3595         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
3596
3597
3598       </div>
3599     </div>
3600     <div class="padding"></div>
3601
3602     <div class="entry">
3603       <div class="title">
3604         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Circular_package_dependencies_harms_apt_recovery.html">Circular package dependencies harms apt recovery</a>
3605       </div>
3606       <div class="date">
3607         27th July 2010
3608       </div>
3609       <div class="body">
3610         <p>I discovered this while doing
3611 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">automated
3612 testing of upgrades from Debian Lenny to Squeeze</a>.  A few packages
3613 in Debian still got circular dependencies, and it is often claimed
3614 that apt and aptitude should be able to handle this just fine, but
3615 some times these dependency loops causes apt to fail.</p>
3616
3617 <p>An example is from todays
3618 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing//test-20100727-lenny-squeeze-kde-aptitude.txt">upgrade
3619 of KDE using aptitude</a>.  In it, a bug in kdebase-workspace-data
3620 causes perl-modules to fail to upgrade.  The cause is simple.  If a
3621 package fail to unpack, then only part of packages with the circular
3622 dependency might end up being unpacked when unpacking aborts, and the
3623 ones already unpacked will fail to configure in the recovery phase
3624 because its dependencies are unavailable.</p>
3625
3626 <p>In this log, the problem manifest itself with this error:</p>
3627
3628 <blockquote><pre>
3629 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of perl-modules:
3630  perl-modules depends on perl (>= 5.10.1-1); however:
3631   Version of perl on system is 5.10.0-19lenny2.
3632 dpkg: error processing perl-modules (--configure):
3633  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
3634 </pre></blockquote>
3635
3636 <p>The perl/perl-modules circular dependency is already
3637 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/527917">reported as a bug</a>, and will
3638 hopefully be solved as soon as possible, but it is not the only one,
3639 and each one of these loops in the dependency tree can cause similar
3640 failures.  Of course, they only occur when there are bugs in other
3641 packages causing the unpacking to fail, but it is rather nasty when
3642 the failure of one package causes the problem to become worse because
3643 of dependency loops.</p>
3644
3645 <p>Thanks to
3646 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/06/msg00116.html">the
3647 tireless effort by Bill Allombert</a>, the number of circular
3648 dependencies
3649 <a href="http://debian.semistable.com/debgraph.out.html">left in Debian
3650 is dropping</a>, and perhaps it will reach zero one day. :)</p>
3651
3652 <p>Todays testing also exposed a bug in
3653 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/590605">update-notifier</a> and
3654 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/590604">different behaviour</a> between
3655 apt-get and aptitude, the latter possibly caused by some circular
3656 dependency.  Reported both to BTS to try to get someone to look at
3657 it.</p>
3658
3659       </div>
3660       <div class="tags">
3661
3662
3663         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
3664
3665
3666       </div>
3667     </div>
3668     <div class="padding"></div>
3669
3670     <div class="entry">
3671       <div class="title">
3672         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/What_are_they_searching_for___PowerDNS_and_ISC_DHCP_in_LDAP.html">What are they searching for - PowerDNS and ISC DHCP in LDAP</a>
3673       </div>
3674       <div class="date">
3675         17th July 2010
3676       </div>
3677       <div class="body">
3678         <p>This is a
3679 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">followup</a>
3680 on my
3681 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_a_change_to_LDAP_schemas_allowing_DNS_and_DHCP_info_to_be_combined_into_one_object.html">previous
3682 work</a> on
3683 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Combining_PowerDNS_and_ISC_DHCP_LDAP_objects.html">merging
3684 all</a> the computer related LDAP objects in Debian Edu.</p>
3685
3686 <p>As a step to try to see if it possible to merge the DNS and DHCP
3687 LDAP objects, I have had a look at how the packages pdns-backend-ldap
3688 and dhcp3-server-ldap in Debian use the LDAP server.  The two
3689 implementations are quite different in how they use LDAP.</p>
3690
3691 To get this information, I started slapd with debugging enabled and
3692 dumped the debug output to a file to get the LDAP searches performed
3693 on a Debian Edu main-server.  Here is a summary.
3694
3695 <p><strong>powerdns</strong></p>
3696
3697 <a href="http://www.linuxnetworks.de/doc/index.php/PowerDNS_LDAP_Backend">Clues
3698 on how to</a> set up PowerDNS to use a LDAP backend is available on
3699 the web.
3700
3701 <p>PowerDNS have two modes of operation using LDAP as its backend.
3702 One "strict" mode where the forward and reverse DNS lookups are done
3703 using the same LDAP objects, and a "tree" mode where the forward and
3704 reverse entries are in two different subtrees in LDAP with a structure
3705 based on the DNS names, as in tjener.intern and
3706 2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa.</p>
3707
3708 <p>In tree mode, the server is set up to use a LDAP subtree as its
3709 base, and uses a "base" scoped search for the DNS name by adding
3710 "dc=tjener,dc=intern," to the base with a filter for
3711 "(associateddomain=tjener.intern)" for the forward entry and
3712 "dc=2,dc=2,dc=0,dc=10,dc=in-addr,dc=arpa," with a filter for
3713 "(associateddomain=2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa)" for the reverse entry.  For
3714 forward entries, it is looking for attributes named dnsttl, arecord,
3715 nsrecord, cnamerecord, soarecord, ptrrecord, hinforecord, mxrecord,
3716 txtrecord, rprecord, afsdbrecord, keyrecord, aaaarecord, locrecord,
3717 srvrecord, naptrrecord, kxrecord, certrecord, dsrecord, sshfprecord,
3718 ipseckeyrecord, rrsigrecord, nsecrecord, dnskeyrecord, dhcidrecord,
3719 spfrecord and modifytimestamp.  For reverse entries it is looking for
3720 the attributes dnsttl, arecord, nsrecord, cnamerecord, soarecord,
3721 ptrrecord, hinforecord, mxrecord, txtrecord, rprecord, aaaarecord,
3722 locrecord, srvrecord, naptrrecord and modifytimestamp.  The equivalent
3723 ldapsearch commands could look like this:</p>
3724
3725 <blockquote><pre>
3726 ldapsearch -h ldap \
3727   -b dc=tjener,dc=intern,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no \
3728   -s base -x '(associateddomain=tjener.intern)' dNSTTL aRecord nSRecord \
3729   cNAMERecord sOARecord pTRRecord hInfoRecord mXRecord tXTRecord \
3730   rPRecord aFSDBRecord KeyRecord aAAARecord lOCRecord sRVRecord \
3731   nAPTRRecord kXRecord certRecord dSRecord sSHFPRecord iPSecKeyRecord \
3732   rRSIGRecord nSECRecord dNSKeyRecord dHCIDRecord sPFRecord modifyTimestamp
3733
3734 ldapsearch -h ldap \
3735   -b dc=2,dc=2,dc=0,dc=10,dc=in-addr,dc=arpa,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no \
3736   -s base -x '(associateddomain=2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa)'
3737   dnsttl, arecord, nsrecord, cnamerecord soarecord ptrrecord \
3738   hinforecord mxrecord txtrecord rprecord aaaarecord locrecord \
3739   srvrecord naptrrecord modifytimestamp
3740 </pre></blockquote>
3741
3742 <p>In Debian Edu/Lenny, the PowerDNS tree mode is used with
3743 ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no as the base, and these are two
3744 example LDAP objects used there.  In addition to these objects, the
3745 parent objects all th way up to ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3746 also exist.</p>
3747
3748 <blockquote><pre>
3749 dn: dc=tjener,dc=intern,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3750 objectclass: top
3751 objectclass: dnsdomain
3752 objectclass: domainrelatedobject
3753 dc: tjener
3754 arecord: 10.0.2.2
3755 associateddomain: tjener.intern
3756
3757 dn: dc=2,dc=2,dc=0,dc=10,dc=in-addr,dc=arpa,ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3758 objectclass: top
3759 objectclass: dnsdomain2
3760 objectclass: domainrelatedobject
3761 dc: 2
3762 ptrrecord: tjener.intern
3763 associateddomain: 2.2.0.10.in-addr.arpa
3764 </pre></blockquote>
3765
3766 <p>In strict mode, the server behaves differently.  When looking for
3767 forward DNS entries, it is doing a "subtree" scoped search with the
3768 same base as in the tree mode for a object with filter
3769 "(associateddomain=tjener.intern)" and requests the attributes dnsttl,
3770 arecord, nsrecord, cnamerecord, soarecord, ptrrecord, hinforecord,
3771 mxrecord, txtrecord, rprecord, aaaarecord, locrecord, srvrecord,
3772 naptrrecord and modifytimestamp.  For reverse entires it also do a
3773 subtree scoped search but this time the filter is "(arecord=10.0.2.2)"
3774 and the requested attributes are associateddomain, dnsttl and
3775 modifytimestamp.  In short, in strict mode the objects with ptrrecord
3776 go away, and the arecord attribute in the forward object is used
3777 instead.</p>
3778
3779 <p>The forward and reverse searches can be simulated using ldapsearch
3780 like this:</p>
3781
3782 <blockquote><pre>
3783 ldapsearch -h ldap -b ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no -s sub -x \
3784   '(associateddomain=tjener.intern)' dNSTTL aRecord nSRecord \
3785   cNAMERecord sOARecord pTRRecord hInfoRecord mXRecord tXTRecord \
3786   rPRecord aFSDBRecord KeyRecord aAAARecord lOCRecord sRVRecord \
3787   nAPTRRecord kXRecord certRecord dSRecord sSHFPRecord iPSecKeyRecord \
3788   rRSIGRecord nSECRecord dNSKeyRecord dHCIDRecord sPFRecord modifyTimestamp
3789
3790 ldapsearch -h ldap -b ou=hosts,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no -s sub -x \
3791   '(arecord=10.0.2.2)' associateddomain dnsttl modifytimestamp
3792 </pre></blockquote>
3793
3794 <p>In addition to the forward and reverse searches , there is also a
3795 search for SOA records, which behave similar to the forward and
3796 reverse lookups.</p>
3797
3798 <p>A thing to note with the PowerDNS behaviour is that it do not
3799 specify any objectclass names, and instead look for the attributes it
3800 need to generate a DNS reply.  This make it able to work with any
3801 objectclass that provide the needed attributes.</p>
3802
3803 <p>The attributes are normally provided in the cosine (RFC 1274) and
3804 dnsdomain2 schemas.  The latter is used for reverse entries like
3805 ptrrecord and recent DNS additions like aaaarecord and srvrecord.</p>
3806
3807 <p>In Debian Edu, we have created DNS objects using the object classes
3808 dcobject (for dc), dnsdomain or dnsdomain2 (structural, for the DNS
3809 attributes) and domainrelatedobject (for associatedDomain).  The use
3810 of structural object classes make it impossible to combine these
3811 classes with the object classes used by DHCP.</p>
3812
3813 <p>There are other schemas that could be used too, for example the
3814 dnszone structural object class used by Gosa and bind-sdb for the DNS
3815 attributes combined with the domainrelatedobject object class, but in
3816 this case some unused attributes would have to be included as well
3817 (zonename and relativedomainname).</p>
3818
3819 <p>My proposal for Debian Edu would be to switch PowerDNS to strict
3820 mode and not use any of the existing objectclasses (dnsdomain,
3821 dnsdomain2 and dnszone) when one want to combine the DNS information
3822 with DHCP information, and instead create a auxiliary object class
3823 defined something like this (using the attributes defined for
3824 dnsdomain and dnsdomain2 or dnszone):</p>
3825
3826 <blockquote><pre>
3827 objectclass ( some-oid NAME 'dnsDomainAux'
3828     SUP top
3829     AUXILIARY
3830     MAY ( ARecord $ MDRecord $ MXRecord $ NSRecord $ SOARecord $ CNAMERecord $
3831           DNSTTL $ DNSClass $ PTRRecord $ HINFORecord $ MINFORecord $
3832           TXTRecord $ SIGRecord $ KEYRecord $ AAAARecord $ LOCRecord $
3833           NXTRecord $ SRVRecord $ NAPTRRecord $ KXRecord $ CERTRecord $
3834           A6Record $ DNAMERecord
3835     ))
3836 </pre></blockquote>
3837
3838 <p>This will allow any object to become a DNS entry when combined with
3839 the domainrelatedobject object class, and allow any entity to include
3840 all the attributes PowerDNS wants.  I've sent an email to the PowerDNS
3841 developers asking for their view on this schema and if they are
3842 interested in providing such schema with PowerDNS, and I hope my
3843 message will be accepted into their mailing list soon.</p>
3844
3845 <p><strong>ISC dhcp</strong></p>
3846
3847 <p>The DHCP server searches for specific objectclass and requests all
3848 the object attributes, and then uses the attributes it want.  This
3849 make it harder to figure out exactly what attributes are used, but
3850 thanks to the working example in Debian Edu I can at least get an idea
3851 what is needed without having to read the source code.</p>
3852
3853 <p>In the DHCP server configuration, the LDAP base to use and the
3854 search filter to use to locate the correct dhcpServer entity is
3855 stored.  These are the relevant entries from
3856 /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf:</p>
3857
3858 <blockquote><pre>
3859 ldap-base-dn "dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no";
3860 ldap-dhcp-server-cn "dhcp";
3861 </pre></blockquote>
3862
3863 <p>The DHCP server uses this information to nest all the DHCP
3864 configuration it need.  The cn "dhcp" is located using the given LDAP
3865 base and the filter "(&(objectClass=dhcpServer)(cn=dhcp))".  The
3866 search result is this entry:</p>
3867
3868 <blockquote><pre>
3869 dn: cn=dhcp,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3870 cn: dhcp
3871 objectClass: top
3872 objectClass: dhcpServer
3873 dhcpServiceDN: cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3874 </pre></blockquote>
3875
3876 <p>The content of the dhcpServiceDN attribute is next used to locate the
3877 subtree with DHCP configuration.  The DHCP configuration subtree base
3878 is located using a base scope search with base "cn=DHCP
3879 Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no" and filter
3880 "(&(objectClass=dhcpService)(|(dhcpPrimaryDN=cn=dhcp,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no)(dhcpSecondaryDN=cn=dhcp,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no)))".
3881 The search result is this entry:</p>
3882
3883 <blockquote><pre>
3884 dn: cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3885 cn: DHCP Config
3886 objectClass: top
3887 objectClass: dhcpService
3888 objectClass: dhcpOptions
3889 dhcpPrimaryDN: cn=dhcp, dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3890 dhcpStatements: ddns-update-style none
3891 dhcpStatements: authoritative
3892 dhcpOption: smtp-server code 69 = array of ip-address
3893 dhcpOption: www-server code 72 = array of ip-address
3894 dhcpOption: wpad-url code 252 = text
3895 </pre></blockquote>
3896
3897 <p>Next, the entire subtree is processed, one level at the time.  When
3898 all the DHCP configuration is loaded, it is ready to receive requests.
3899 The subtree in Debian Edu contain objects with object classes
3900 top/dhcpService/dhcpOptions, top/dhcpSharedNetwork/dhcpOptions,
3901 top/dhcpSubnet, top/dhcpGroup and top/dhcpHost.  These provide options
3902 and information about netmasks, dynamic range etc.  Leaving out the
3903 details here because it is not relevant for the focus of my
3904 investigation, which is to see if it is possible to merge dns and dhcp
3905 related computer objects.</p>
3906
3907 <p>When a DHCP request come in, LDAP is searched for the MAC address
3908 of the client (00:00:00:00:00:00 in this example), using a subtree
3909 scoped search with "cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no" as
3910 the base and "(&(objectClass=dhcpHost)(dhcpHWAddress=ethernet
3911 00:00:00:00:00:00))" as the filter.  This is what a host object look
3912 like:</p>
3913
3914 <blockquote><pre>
3915 dn: cn=hostname,cn=group1,cn=THINCLIENTS,cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3916 cn: hostname
3917 objectClass: top
3918 objectClass: dhcpHost
3919 dhcpHWAddress: ethernet 00:00:00:00:00:00
3920 dhcpStatements: fixed-address hostname
3921 </pre></blockquote>
3922
3923 <p>There is less flexiblity in the way LDAP searches are done here.
3924 The object classes need to have fixed names, and the configuration
3925 need to be stored in a fairly specific LDAP structure.  On the
3926 positive side, the invidiual dhcpHost entires can be anywhere without
3927 the DN pointed to by the dhcpServer entries.  The latter should make
3928 it possible to group all host entries in a subtree next to the
3929 configuration entries, and this subtree can also be shared with the
3930 DNS server if the schema proposed above is combined with the dhcpHost
3931 structural object class.
3932
3933 <p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
3934
3935 <p>The PowerDNS implementation seem to be very flexible when it come
3936 to which LDAP schemas to use.  While its "tree" mode is rigid when it
3937 come to the the LDAP structure, the "strict" mode is very flexible,
3938 allowing DNS objects to be stored anywhere under the base cn specified
3939 in the configuration.</p>
3940
3941 <p>The DHCP implementation on the other hand is very inflexible, both
3942 regarding which LDAP schemas to use and which LDAP structure to use.
3943 I guess one could implement ones own schema, as long as the
3944 objectclasses and attributes have the names used, but this do not
3945 really help when the DHCP subtree need to have a fairly fixed
3946 structure.</p>
3947
3948 <p>Based on the observed behaviour, I suspect a LDAP structure like
3949 this might work for Debian Edu:</p>
3950
3951 <blockquote><pre>
3952 ou=services
3953   cn=machine-info (dhcpService) - dhcpServiceDN points here
3954     cn=dhcp (dhcpServer)
3955     cn=dhcp-internal (dhcpSharedNetwork/dhcpOptions)
3956       cn=10.0.2.0 (dhcpSubnet)
3957         cn=group1 (dhcpGroup/dhcpOptions)
3958     cn=dhcp-thinclients (dhcpSharedNetwork/dhcpOptions)
3959       cn=192.168.0.0 (dhcpSubnet)
3960         cn=group1 (dhcpGroup/dhcpOptions)
3961     ou=machines - PowerDNS base points here
3962       cn=hostname (dhcpHost/domainrelatedobject/dnsDomainAux)
3963 </pre></blockquote>
3964
3965 <P>This is not tested yet.  If the DHCP server require the dhcpHost
3966 entries to be in the dhcpGroup subtrees, the entries can be stored
3967 there instead of a common machines subtree, and the PowerDNS base
3968 would have to be moved one level up to the machine-info subtree.</p>
3969
3970 <p>The combined object under the machines subtree would look something
3971 like this:</p>
3972
3973 <blockquote><pre>
3974 dn: dc=hostname,ou=machines,cn=machine-info,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
3975 dc: hostname
3976 objectClass: top
3977 objectClass: dhcpHost
3978 objectclass: domainrelatedobject
3979 objectclass: dnsDomainAux
3980 associateddomain: hostname.intern
3981 arecord: 10.11.12.13
3982 dhcpHWAddress: ethernet 00:00:00:00:00:00
3983 dhcpStatements: fixed-address hostname.intern
3984 </pre></blockquote>
3985
3986 </p>One could even add the LTSP configuration associated with a given
3987 machine, as long as the required attributes are available in a
3988 auxiliary object class.</p>
3989
3990       </div>
3991       <div class="tags">
3992
3993
3994         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
3995
3996
3997       </div>
3998     </div>
3999     <div class="padding"></div>
4000
4001     <div class="entry">
4002       <div class="title">
4003         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Combining_PowerDNS_and_ISC_DHCP_LDAP_objects.html">Combining PowerDNS and ISC DHCP LDAP objects</a>
4004       </div>
4005       <div class="date">
4006         14th July 2010
4007       </div>
4008       <div class="body">
4009         <p>For a while now, I have wanted to find a way to change the DNS and
4010 DHCP services in Debian Edu to use the same LDAP objects for a given
4011 computer, to avoid the possibility of having a inconsistent state for
4012 a computer in LDAP (as in DHCP but no DNS entry or the other way
4013 around) and make it easier to add computers to LDAP.</p>
4014
4015 <p>I've looked at how powerdns and dhcpd is using LDAP, and using this
4016 information finally found a solution that seem to work.</p>
4017
4018 <p>The old setup required three LDAP objects for a given computer.
4019 One forward DNS entry, one reverse DNS entry and one DHCP entry.  If
4020 we switch powerdns to use its strict LDAP method (ldap-method=strict
4021 in pdns-debian-edu.conf), the forward and reverse DNS entries are
4022 merged into one while making it impossible to transfer the reverse map
4023 to a slave DNS server.</p>
4024
4025 <p>If we also replace the object class used to get the DNS related
4026 attributes to one allowing these attributes to be combined with the
4027 dhcphost object class, we can merge the DNS and DHCP entries into one.
4028 I've written such object class in the dnsdomainaux.schema file (need
4029 proper OIDs, but that is a minor issue), and tested the setup.  It
4030 seem to work.</p>
4031
4032 <p>With this test setup in place, we can get away with one LDAP object
4033 for both DNS and DHCP, and even the LTSP configuration I suggested in
4034 an earlier email.  The combined LDAP object will look something like
4035 this:</p>
4036
4037 <blockquote><pre>
4038   dn: cn=hostname,cn=group1,cn=THINCLIENTS,cn=DHCP Config,dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
4039   cn: hostname
4040   objectClass: dhcphost
4041   objectclass: domainrelatedobject
4042   objectclass: dnsdomainaux
4043   associateddomain: hostname.intern
4044   arecord: 10.11.12.13
4045   dhcphwaddress: ethernet 00:00:00:00:00:00
4046   dhcpstatements: fixed-address hostname
4047   ldapconfigsound: Y
4048 </pre></blockquote>
4049
4050 <p>The DNS server uses the associateddomain and arecord entries, while
4051 the DHCP server uses the dhcphwaddress and dhcpstatements entries
4052 before asking DNS to resolve the fixed-adddress.  LTSP will use
4053 dhcphwaddress or associateddomain and the ldapconfig* attributes.</p>
4054
4055 <p>I am not yet sure if I can get the DHCP server to look for its
4056 dhcphost in a different location, to allow us to put the objects
4057 outside the "DHCP Config" subtree, but hope to figure out a way to do
4058 that.  If I can't figure out a way to do that, we can still get rid of
4059 the hosts subtree and move all its content into the DHCP Config tree
4060 (which probably should be renamed to be more related to the new
4061 content.  I suspect cn=dnsdhcp,ou=services or something like that
4062 might be a good place to put it.</p>
4063
4064 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
4065 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
4066
4067       </div>
4068       <div class="tags">
4069
4070
4071         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
4072
4073
4074       </div>
4075     </div>
4076     <div class="padding"></div>
4077
4078     <div class="entry">
4079       <div class="title">
4080         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_storing_LTSP_configuration_in_LDAP.html">Idea for storing LTSP configuration in LDAP</a>
4081       </div>
4082       <div class="date">
4083         11th July 2010
4084       </div>
4085       <div class="body">
4086         <p>Vagrant mentioned on IRC today that ltsp_config now support
4087 sourcing files from /usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ on the thin
4088 clients, and that this can be used to fetch configuration from LDAP if
4089 Debian Edu choose to store configuration there.</p>
4090
4091 <p>Armed with this information, I got inspired and wrote a test module
4092 to get configuration from LDAP.  The idea is to look up the MAC
4093 address of the client in LDAP, and look for attributes on the form
4094 ltspconfigsetting=value, and use this to export SETTING=value to the
4095 LTSP clients.</p>
4096
4097 <p>The goal is to be able to store the LTSP configuration attributes
4098 in a "computer" LDAP object used by both DNS and DHCP, and thus
4099 allowing us to store all information about a computer in one place.</p>
4100
4101 <p>This is a untested draft implementation, and I welcome feedback on
4102 this approach.  A real LDAP schema for the ltspClientAux objectclass
4103 need to be written.  Comments, suggestions, etc?</p>
4104
4105 <blockquote><pre>
4106 # Store in /opt/ltsp/$arch/usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ldap-config
4107 #
4108 # Fetch LTSP client settings from LDAP based on MAC address
4109 #
4110 # Uses ethernet address as stored in the dhcpHost objectclass using
4111 # the dhcpHWAddress attribute or ethernet address stored in the
4112 # ieee802Device objectclass with the macAddress attribute.
4113 #
4114 # This module is written to be schema agnostic, and only depend on the
4115 # existence of attribute names.
4116 #
4117 # The LTSP configuration variables are saved directly using a
4118 # ltspConfig prefix and uppercasing the rest of the attribute name.
4119 # To set the SERVER variable, set the ltspConfigServer attribute.
4120 #
4121 # Some LDAP schema should be created with all the relevant
4122 # configuration settings.  Something like this should work:
4123 #
4124 # objectclass ( 1.1.2.2 NAME 'ltspClientAux'
4125 #     SUP top
4126 #     AUXILIARY
4127 #     MAY ( ltspConfigServer $ ltsConfigSound $ ... )
4128
4129 LDAPSERVER=$(debian-edu-ldapserver)
4130 if [ "$LDAPSERVER" ] ; then
4131     LDAPBASE=$(debian-edu-ldapserver -b)
4132     for MAC in $(LANG=C ifconfig |grep -i hwaddr| awk '{print $5}'|sort -u) ; do
4133         filter="(|(dhcpHWAddress=ethernet $MAC)(macAddress=$MAC))"
4134         ldapsearch -h "$LDAPSERVER" -b "$LDAPBASE" -v -x "$filter" | \
4135             grep '^ltspConfig' | while read attr value ; do
4136             # Remove prefix and convert to upper case
4137             attr=$(echo $attr | sed 's/^ltspConfig//i' | tr a-z A-Z)
4138             # bass value on to clients
4139             eval "$attr=$value; export $attr"
4140         done
4141     done
4142 fi
4143 </pre></blockquote>
4144
4145 <p>I'm not sure this shell construction will work, because I suspect
4146 the while block might end up in a subshell causing the variables set
4147 there to not show up in ltsp-config, but if that is the case I am sure
4148 the code can be restructured to make sure the variables are passed on.
4149 I expect that can be solved with some testing. :)</p>
4150
4151 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
4152 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
4153
4154 <p>Update 2010-07-17: I am aware of another effort to store LTSP
4155 configuration in LDAP that was created around year 2000 by
4156 <a href="http://www.pcxperience.com/thinclient/documentation/ldap.html">PC
4157 Xperience, Inc., 2000</a>.  I found its
4158 <a href="http://people.redhat.com/alikins/ltsp/ldap/">files</a> on a
4159 personal home page over at redhat.com.</p>
4160
4161       </div>
4162       <div class="tags">
4163
4164
4165         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
4166
4167
4168       </div>
4169     </div>
4170     <div class="padding"></div>
4171
4172     <div class="entry">
4173       <div class="title">
4174         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/jXplorer__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">jXplorer, a very nice LDAP GUI</a>
4175       </div>
4176       <div class="date">
4177          9th July 2010
4178       </div>
4179       <div class="body">
4180         <p>Since
4181 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">my
4182 last post</a> about available LDAP tools in Debian, I was told about a
4183 LDAP GUI that is even better than luma.  The java application
4184 <a href="http://jxplorer.org/">jXplorer</a> is claimed to be capable of
4185 moving LDAP objects and subtrees using drag-and-drop, and can
4186 authenticate using Kerberos.  I have only tested the Kerberos
4187 authentication, but do not have a LDAP setup allowing me to rewrite
4188 LDAP with my test user yet.  It is
4189 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/j/jxplorer.html">available in
4190 Debian</a> testing and unstable at the moment.  The only problem I
4191 have with it is how it handle errors.  If something go wrong, its
4192 non-intuitive behaviour require me to go through some query work list
4193 and remove the failing query.  Nothing big, but very annoying.</p>
4194
4195       </div>
4196       <div class="tags">
4197
4198
4199         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
4200
4201
4202       </div>
4203     </div>
4204     <div class="padding"></div>
4205
4206     <div class="entry">
4207       <div class="title">
4208         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__apt_vs_aptitude_with_the_Gnome_desktop.html">Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, apt vs aptitude with the Gnome desktop</a>
4209       </div>
4210       <div class="date">
4211          3rd July 2010
4212       </div>
4213       <div class="body">
4214         <p>Here is a short update on my <a
4215 href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">my
4216 Debian Lenny->Squeeze upgrade testing</a>.  Here is a summary of the
4217 difference for Gnome when it is upgraded by apt-get and aptitude.  I'm
4218 not reporting the status for KDE, because the upgrade crashes when
4219 aptitude try because of missing conflicts
4220 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584861">#584861</a> and
4221 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/585716">#585716</a>).</p>
4222
4223 <p>At the end of the upgrade test script, dpkg -l is executed to get a
4224 complete list of the installed packages.  Based on this I see these
4225 differences when I did a test run today.  As usual, I do not really
4226 know what the correct set of packages would be, but thought it best to
4227 publish the difference.</p>
4228
4229 <p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
4230
4231 <blockquote><p>
4232   at-spi cpp-4.3 finger gnome-spell gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
4233   libatspi1.0-0 libcupsys2 libeel2-data libgail-common libgdl-1-common
4234   libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-common libgnomevfs2-bin
4235   libgtksourceview-common libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa
4236   libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libservlet2.4-java libxalan2-java
4237   libxerces2-java openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip
4238   python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gtkhtml2
4239   python-gtkmozembed svgalibg1 xserver-xephyr zip
4240 </p></blockquote>
4241
4242 <p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
4243
4244 <blockquote><p>
4245   bluez-utils dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop epiphany-gecko
4246   gnome-app-install gnome-mount gnome-vfs-obexftp gnome-volume-manager
4247   libao2 libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libbind9-50
4248   libbluetooth2 libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcurl3
4249   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedata-cal1.2-6 libedataserver1.2-9
4250   libeel2-2.20 libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libexchange-storage1.2-3
4251   libfaad0 libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libggz2 libggzcore9
4252   libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 libgnome-desktop-2
4253   libgnome-pilot2 libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomeprint2.2-0
4254   libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0
4255   libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6 libhesiod0 libicu38 libisccc50
4256   libisccfg50 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 liblwres50 libmagick++10
4257   libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off libnautilus-burn4
4258   libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 libosp5
4259   libparted1.8-10 libpisock9 libpisync1 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3
4260   libpt-1.10.10 libraw1394-8 libsensors3 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8
4261   libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1
4262   libtotem-plparser10 libtrackerclient0 libvoikko1 libxalan2-java-gcj
4263   libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6 libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3
4264   mysql-common swfdec-gnome totem-gstreamer wodim
4265 </p></blockquote>
4266
4267 <p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
4268
4269 <blockquote><p>
4270   gnome gnome-desktop-environment hamster-applet python-gnomeapplet
4271   python-gnomekeyring python-wnck rhythmbox-plugins xorg
4272   xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
4273   xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
4274   xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-video-all
4275   xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark xserver-xorg-video-ati
4276   xserver-xorg-video-chips xserver-xorg-video-cirrus
4277   xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
4278   xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
4279   xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-mach64
4280   xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
4281   xserver-xorg-video-nouveau xserver-xorg-video-nv
4282   xserver-xorg-video-r128 xserver-xorg-video-radeon
4283   xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd xserver-xorg-video-rendition
4284   xserver-xorg-video-s3 xserver-xorg-video-s3virge
4285   xserver-xorg-video-savage xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion
4286   xserver-xorg-video-sis xserver-xorg-video-sisusb
4287   xserver-xorg-video-tdfx xserver-xorg-video-tga
4288   xserver-xorg-video-trident xserver-xorg-video-tseng
4289   xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vmware
4290   xserver-xorg-video-voodoo
4291 </p></blockquote>
4292
4293 <p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
4294
4295 <blockquote><p>
4296   deskbar-applet xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core
4297   xserver-xorg-input-wacom xserver-xorg-video-intel
4298   xserver-xorg-video-openchrome
4299 </p></blockquote>
4300
4301 <p>I was told on IRC that the xorg-xserver package was
4302 <a href="http://git.debian.org/?p=pkg-xorg/xserver/xorg-server.git;a=commit;h=9c8080d06c457932d3bfec021c69ac000aa60120">changed
4303 in git</a> today to try to get apt-get to not remove xorg completely.
4304 No idea when it hits Squeeze, but when it does I hope it will reduce
4305 the difference somewhat.
4306
4307       </div>
4308       <div class="tags">
4309
4310
4311         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
4312
4313
4314       </div>
4315     </div>
4316     <div class="padding"></div>
4317
4318     <div class="entry">
4319       <div class="title">
4320         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">LUMA, a very nice LDAP GUI</a>
4321       </div>
4322       <div class="date">
4323         28th June 2010
4324       </div>
4325       <div class="body">
4326         <p>The last few days I have been looking into the status of the LDAP
4327 directory in Debian Edu, and in the process I started to miss a GUI
4328 tool to browse the LDAP tree.  The only one I was able to find in
4329 Debian/Squeeze and Lenny is
4330 <a href="http://luma.sourceforge.net/">LUMA</a>, which has proved to
4331 be a great tool to get a overview of the current LDAP directory
4332 populated by default in Skolelinux.  Thanks to it, I have been able to
4333 find empty and obsolete subtrees, misplaced objects and duplicate
4334 objects.  It will be installed by default in Debian/Squeeze.  If you
4335 are working with LDAP, give it a go. :)</p>
4336
4337 <p>I did notice one problem with it I have not had time to report to
4338 the BTS yet.  There is no .desktop file in the package, so the tool do
4339 not show up in the Gnome and KDE menus, but only deep down in in the
4340 Debian submenu in KDE.  I hope that can be fixed before Squeeze is
4341 released.</p>
4342
4343 <p>I have not yet been able to get it to modify the tree yet.  I would
4344 like to move objects and remove subtrees directly in the GUI, but have
4345 not found a way to do that with LUMA yet.  So in the mean time, I use
4346 <a href="http://www.lichteblau.com/ldapvi/">ldapvi</a> for that.</p>
4347
4348 <p>If you have tips on other GUI tools for LDAP that might be useful
4349 in Debian Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
4350
4351 <p>Update 2010-06-29: Ross Reedstrom tipped us about the
4352 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/g/gq.html">gq</a> package as a
4353 useful GUI alternative.  It seem like a good tool, but is unmaintained
4354 in Debian and got a RC bug keeping it out of Squeeze.  Unless that
4355 changes, it will not be an option for Debian Edu based on Squeeze.</p>
4356
4357       </div>
4358       <div class="tags">
4359
4360
4361         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
4362
4363
4364       </div>
4365     </div>
4366     <div class="padding"></div>
4367
4368     <div class="entry">
4369       <div class="title">
4370         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_a_change_to_LDAP_schemas_allowing_DNS_and_DHCP_info_to_be_combined_into_one_object.html">Idea for a change to LDAP schemas allowing DNS and DHCP info to be combined into one object</a>
4371       </div>
4372       <div class="date">
4373         24th June 2010
4374       </div>
4375       <div class="body">
4376         <p>A while back, I
4377 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">complained
4378 about the fact</a> that it is not possible with the provided schemas
4379 for storing DNS and DHCP information in LDAP to combine the two sets
4380 of information into one LDAP object representing a computer.</p>
4381
4382 <p>In the mean time, I discovered that a simple fix would be to make
4383 the dhcpHost object class auxiliary, to allow it to be combined with
4384 the dNSDomain object class, and thus forming one object for one
4385 computer when storing both DHCP and DNS information in LDAP.</p>
4386
4387 <p>If I understand this correctly, it is not safe to do this change
4388 without also changing the assigned number for the object class, and I
4389 do not know enough about LDAP schema design to do that properly for
4390 Debian Edu.</p>
4391
4392 <p>Anyway, for future reference, this is how I believe we could change
4393 the
4394 <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dhc-ldap-schema-00">DHCP
4395 schema</a> to solve at least part of the problem with the LDAP schemas
4396 available today from IETF.</p>
4397
4398 <pre>
4399 --- dhcp.schema    (revision 65192)
4400 +++ dhcp.schema    (working copy)
4401 @@ -376,7 +376,7 @@
4402  objectclass ( 2.16.840.1.113719.1.203.6.6
4403         NAME 'dhcpHost'
4404         DESC 'This represents information about a particular client'
4405 -       SUP top
4406 +       SUP top AUXILIARY
4407         MUST cn
4408         MAY  (dhcpLeaseDN $ dhcpHWAddress $ dhcpOptionsDN $ dhcpStatements $ dhcpComments $ dhcpOption)
4409         X-NDS_CONTAINMENT ('dhcpService' 'dhcpSubnet' 'dhcpGroup') )
4410 </pre>
4411
4412 <p>I very much welcome clues on how to do this properly for Debian
4413 Edu/Squeeze.  We provide the DHCP schema in our debian-edu-config
4414 package, and should thus be free to rewrite it as we see fit.</p>
4415
4416 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
4417 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
4418
4419       </div>
4420       <div class="tags">
4421
4422
4423         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
4424
4425
4426       </div>
4427     </div>
4428     <div class="padding"></div>
4429
4430     <div class="entry">
4431       <div class="title">
4432         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Calling_tasksel_like_the_installer__while_still_getting_useful_output.html">Calling tasksel like the installer, while still getting useful output</a>
4433       </div>
4434       <div class="date">
4435         16th June 2010
4436       </div>
4437       <div class="body">
4438         <p>A few times I have had the need to simulate the way tasksel
4439 installs packages during the normal debian-installer run.  Until now,
4440 I have ended up letting tasksel do the work, with the annoying problem
4441 of not getting any feedback at all when something fails (like a
4442 conffile question from dpkg or a download that fails), using code like
4443 this:
4444
4445 <blockquote><pre>
4446 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
4447 tasksel --new-install
4448 </pre></blockquote>
4449
4450 This would invoke tasksel, let its automatic task selection pick the
4451 tasks to install, and continue to install the requested tasks without
4452 any output what so ever.
4453
4454 Recently I revisited this problem while working on the automatic
4455 package upgrade testing, because tasksel would some times hang without
4456 any useful feedback, and I want to see what is going on when it
4457 happen.  Then it occured to me, I can parse the output from tasksel
4458 when asked to run in test mode, and use that aptitude command line
4459 printed by tasksel then to simulate the tasksel run.  I ended up using
4460 code like this:
4461
4462 <blockquote><pre>
4463 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
4464 cmd="$(in_target tasksel -t --new-install | sed 's/debconf-apt-progress -- //')"
4465 $cmd
4466 </pre></blockquote>
4467
4468 <p>The content of $cmd is typically something like "<tt>aptitude -q
4469 --without-recommends -o APT::Install-Recommends=no -y install
4470 ~t^desktop$ ~t^gnome-desktop$ ~t^laptop$ ~pstandard ~prequired
4471 ~pimportant</tt>", which will install the gnome desktop task, the
4472 laptop task and all packages with priority standard , required and
4473 important, just like tasksel would have done it during
4474 installation.</p>
4475
4476 <p>A better approach is probably to extend tasksel to be able to
4477 install packages without using debconf-apt-progress, for use cases
4478 like this.</p>
4479
4480       </div>
4481       <div class="tags">
4482
4483
4484         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
4485
4486
4487       </div>
4488     </div>
4489     <div class="padding"></div>
4490
4491     <div class="entry">
4492       <div class="title">
4493         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__removals_by_apt_and_aptitude.html">Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, removals by apt and aptitude</a>
4494       </div>
4495       <div class="date">
4496         13th June 2010
4497       </div>
4498       <div class="body">
4499         <p>My
4500 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">testing
4501 of Debian upgrades</a> from Lenny to Squeeze continues, and I've
4502 finally made the upgrade logs available from
4503 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/debian-upgrade-testing/</a>.
4504 I am now testing dist-upgrade of Gnome and KDE in a chroot using both
4505 apt and aptitude, and found their differences interesting.  This time
4506 I will only focus on their removal plans.</p>
4507
4508 <p>After installing a Gnome desktop and the laptop task, apt-get wants
4509 to remove 72 packages when dist-upgrading from Lenny to Squeeze.  The
4510 surprising part is that it want to remove xorg and all
4511 xserver-xorg-video* drivers.  Clearly not a good choice, but I am not
4512 sure why.  When asking aptitude to do the same, it want to remove 129
4513 packages, but most of them are library packages I suspect are no
4514 longer needed.  Both of them want to remove bluetooth packages, which
4515 I do not know.  Perhaps these bluetooth packages are obsolete?</p>
4516
4517 <p>For KDE, apt-get want to remove 82 packages, among them kdebase
4518 which seem like a bad idea and xorg the same way as with Gnome. Asking
4519 aptitude for the same, it wants to remove 192 packages, none which are
4520 too surprising.</p>
4521
4522 <p>I guess the removal of xorg during upgrades should be investigated
4523 and avoided, and perhaps others as well.  Here are the complete list
4524 of planned removals.  The complete logs is available from the URL
4525 above.  Note if you want to repeat these tests, that the upgrade test
4526 for kde+apt-get hung in the tasksel setup because of dpkg asking
4527 conffile questions.  No idea why.  I worked around it by using
4528 '<tt>echo >> /proc/<em>pidofdpkg</em>/fd/0</tt>' to tell dpkg to
4529 continue.</p>
4530
4531 <p><b>apt-get gnome 72</b>
4532 <br>bluez-gnome cupsddk-drivers deskbar-applet gnome
4533   gnome-desktop-environment gnome-network-admin gtkhtml3.14
4534   iceweasel-gnome-support libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libgdl-1-0
4535   libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libmetacity0 libslab0 libxcb-xlib0
4536   nautilus-cd-burner python-gnome2-desktop python-gnome2-extras
4537   serpentine swfdec-mozilla update-manager xorg xserver-xorg
4538   xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
4539   xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
4540   xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom
4541   xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark
4542   xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips
4543   xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix
4544   xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
4545   xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
4546   xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt
4547   xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64
4548   xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
4549   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv
4550   xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128
4551   xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd
4552   xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3
4553   xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage
4554   xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis
4555   xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
4556   xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident
4557   xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l
4558   xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga
4559   xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9
4560   xulrunner-1.9-gnome-support</p>
4561
4562 <p><b>aptitude gnome 129</b>
4563
4564 <br>bluez-gnome bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers dhcdbd
4565   djvulibre-desktop finger gnome-app-install gnome-mount
4566   gnome-network-admin gnome-spell gnome-vfs-obexftp
4567   gnome-volume-manager gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs gtkhtml3.14 libao2
4568   libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2
4569   libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcupsys2 libcurl3 libdatrie0
4570   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedataserver1.2-9 libeel2-2.20
4571   libeel2-data libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libfaad0 libgail-common
4572   libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libgdl-1-0 libgdl-1-common
4573   libggz2 libggzcore9 libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0
4574   libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomekbd2 libgnomekbdui2 libgnomeprint2.2-0
4575   libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgnomeprintui2.2-common
4576   libgnomevfs2-bin libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0
4577   libgtksourceview-common libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6
4578   libhesiod0 libicu38 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 libmagick++10
4579   libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmetacity0 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off
4580   libnautilus-burn4 libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2
4581   libosp5 libparted1.8-10 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3 libpt-1.10.10
4582   libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libraw1394-8
4583   libsensors3 libslab0 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8 libssh2-1
4584   libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1 libtotem-plparser10
4585   libtrackerclient0 libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0
4586   libxerces2-java libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6
4587   libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3 mysql-common nautilus-cd-burner
4588   openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip
4589   python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gnome2-desktop
4590   python-gnome2-extras python-gtkhtml2 python-gtkmozembed
4591   python-numeric python-sexy serpentine svgalibg1 swfdec-gnome
4592   swfdec-mozilla totem-gstreamer update-manager wodim
4593   xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt
4594   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga
4595   zip</p>
4596
4597 <p><b>apt-get kde 82</b>
4598
4599 <br>cupsddk-drivers karm kaudiocreator kcoloredit kcontrol kde kde-core
4600   kdeaddons kdeartwork kdebase kdebase-bin kdebase-bin-kde3
4601   kdebase-kio-plugins kdesktop kdeutils khelpcenter kicker
4602   kicker-applets knewsticker kolourpaint konq-plugins konqueror korn
4603   kpersonalizer kscreensaver ksplash libavcodec51 libdatrie0 libkiten1
4604   libxcb-xlib0 quanta superkaramba texlive-base-bin xorg xserver-xorg
4605   xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
4606   xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
4607   xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom
4608   xserver-xorg-video-all xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark
4609   xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips
4610   xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-cyrix
4611   xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
4612   xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
4613   xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-imstt
4614   xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64
4615   xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
4616   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-nv
4617   xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-r128
4618   xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd
4619   xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3
4620   xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage
4621   xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis
4622   xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
4623   xserver-xorg-video-tga xserver-xorg-video-trident
4624   xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-v4l
4625   xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vga
4626   xserver-xorg-video-vmware xserver-xorg-video-voodoo xulrunner-1.9</p>
4627
4628 <p><b>aptitude kde 192</b>
4629 <br>bluez-utils cpp-4.3 cupsddk-drivers cvs dcoprss dhcdbd
4630   djvulibre-desktop dosfstools eyesapplet fifteenapplet finger gettext
4631   ghostscript-x imlib-base imlib11 indi kandy karm kasteroids
4632   kaudiocreator kbackgammon kbstate kcoloredit kcontrol kcron kdat
4633   kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdeartwork-misc kdeartwork-theme-window
4634   kdebase-bin-kde3 kdebase-kio-plugins kdeedu-data
4635   kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelirc kdemultimedia-kappfinder-data
4636   kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdenetwork-kfile-plugins
4637   kdepim-kfile-plugins kdepim-kio-plugins kdeprint kdesktop kdessh
4638   kdict kdnssd kdvi kedit keduca kenolaba kfax kfaxview kfouleggs
4639   kghostview khelpcenter khexedit kiconedit kitchensync klatin
4640   klickety kmailcvt kmenuedit kmid kmilo kmoon kmrml kodo kolourpaint
4641   kooka korn kpager kpdf kpercentage kpf kpilot kpoker kpovmodeler
4642   krec kregexpeditor ksayit ksim ksirc ksirtet ksmiletris ksmserver
4643   ksnake ksokoban ksplash ksvg ksysv ktip ktnef kuickshow kverbos
4644   kview kviewshell kvoctrain kwifimanager kwin kwin4 kworldclock
4645   kxsldbg libakode2 libao2 libarts1-akode libarts1-audiofile
4646   libarts1-mpeglib libarts1-xine libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
4647   libavahi-core5 libavc1394-0 libavcodec51 libbluetooth2
4648   libboost-python1.34.1 libcucul0 libcurl3 libcvsservice0 libdatrie0
4649   libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdjvulibre21 libdvdread3 libfaad0 libfreebob0
4650   libgail-common libgd2-noxpm libgraphviz4 libgsmme1c2a libgtkhtml2-0
4651   libicu38 libiec61883-0 libindex0 libiw29 libk3b3 libkcal2b libkcddb1
4652   libkdeedu3 libkdepim1a libkgantt0 libkiten1 libkleopatra1 libkmime2
4653   libkpathsea4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1
4654   libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 libltdl3 libmagick10 libmimelib1c2a
4655   libmozjs1d libmpcdec3 libneon27 libnm-util0 libopensync0 libpisock9
4656   libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler3 libraw1394-8 libsmbios2
4657   libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libtalloc1 libtiff-tools
4658   libxalan2-java libxalan2-java-gcj libxcb-xlib0 libxerces2-java
4659   libxerces2-java-gcj libxtrap6 mpeglib networkstatus
4660   openoffice.org-writer2latex pmount poster psutils quanta quanta-data
4661   superkaramba svgalibg1 tex-common texlive-base texlive-base-bin
4662   texlive-common texlive-doc-base texlive-fonts-recommended
4663   xserver-xorg-video-cyrix xserver-xorg-video-imstt
4664   xserver-xorg-video-nsc xserver-xorg-video-v4l xserver-xorg-video-vga
4665   xulrunner-1.9</p>
4666
4667
4668       </div>
4669       <div class="tags">
4670
4671
4672         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
4673
4674
4675       </div>
4676     </div>
4677     <div class="padding"></div>
4678
4679     <div class="entry">
4680       <div class="title">
4681         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">Automatic upgrade testing from Lenny to Squeeze</a>
4682       </div>
4683       <div class="date">
4684         11th June 2010
4685       </div>
4686       <div class="body">
4687         <p>The last few days I have done some upgrade testing in Debian, to
4688 see if the upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze will go smoothly.  A few bugs
4689 have been discovered and reported in the process
4690 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/585410">#585410</a> in nagios3-cgi,
4691 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584879">#584879</a> already fixed in
4692 enscript and <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584861">#584861</a> in
4693 kdebase-workspace-data), and to get a more regular testing going on, I
4694 am working on a script to automate the test.</p>
4695
4696 <p>The idea is to create a Lenny chroot and use tasksel to install a
4697 Gnome or KDE desktop installation inside the chroot before upgrading
4698 it.  To ensure no services are started in the chroot, a policy-rc.d
4699 script is inserted.  To make sure tasksel believe it is to install a
4700 desktop on a laptop, the tasksel tests are replaced in the chroot
4701 (only acceptable because this is a throw-away chroot).</p>
4702
4703 <p>A naive upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze using aptitude dist-upgrade
4704 currently always fail because udev refuses to upgrade with the kernel
4705 in Lenny, so to avoid that problem the file /etc/udev/kernel-upgrade
4706 is created.  The bug report
4707 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/566000">#566000</a> make me suspect
4708 this problem do not trigger in a chroot, but I touch the file anyway
4709 to make sure the upgrade go well.  Testing on virtual and real
4710 hardware have failed me because of udev so far, and creating this file
4711 do the trick in such settings anyway.  This is a
4712 <a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/debian-26/failed-dist-upgrade-due-to-udev-config_sysfs_deprecated-nonsense-804130/">known
4713 issue</a> and the current udev behaviour is intended by the udev
4714 maintainer because he lack the resources to rewrite udev to keep
4715 working with old kernels or something like that.  I really wish the
4716 udev upstream would keep udev backwards compatible, to avoid such
4717 upgrade problem, but given that they fail to do so, I guess
4718 documenting the way out of this mess is the best option we got for
4719 Debian Squeeze.</p>
4720
4721 <p>Anyway, back to the task at hand, testing upgrades.  This test
4722 script, which I call <tt>upgrade-test</tt> for now, is doing the
4723 trick:</p>
4724
4725 <blockquote><pre>
4726 #!/bin/sh
4727 set -ex
4728
4729 if [ "$1" ] ; then
4730     desktop=$1
4731 else
4732     desktop=gnome
4733 fi
4734
4735 from=lenny
4736 to=squeeze
4737
4738 exec &lt; /dev/null
4739 unset LANG
4740 mirror=http://ftp.skolelinux.org/debian
4741 tmpdir=chroot-$from-upgrade-$to-$desktop
4742 fuser -mv .
4743 debootstrap $from $tmpdir $mirror
4744 chroot $tmpdir aptitude update
4745 cat > $tmpdir/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d &lt;&lt;EOF
4746 #!/bin/sh
4747 exit 101
4748 EOF
4749 chmod a+rx $tmpdir/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
4750 exit_cleanup() {
4751     umount $tmpdir/proc
4752 }
4753 mount -t proc proc $tmpdir/proc
4754 # Make sure proc is unmounted also on failure
4755 trap exit_cleanup EXIT INT
4756
4757 chroot $tmpdir aptitude -y install debconf-utils
4758
4759 # Make sure tasksel autoselection trigger.  It need the test scripts
4760 # to return the correct answers.
4761 echo tasksel tasksel/desktop multiselect $desktop | \
4762     chroot $tmpdir debconf-set-selections
4763
4764 # Include the desktop and laptop task
4765 for test in desktop laptop ; do
4766     echo > $tmpdir/usr/lib/tasksel/tests/$test &lt;&lt;EOF
4767 #!/bin/sh
4768 exit 2
4769 EOF
4770     chmod a+rx $tmpdir/usr/lib/tasksel/tests/$test
4771 done
4772
4773 DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
4774 DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical
4775 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND DEBIAN_PRIORITY
4776 chroot $tmpdir tasksel --new-install
4777
4778 echo deb $mirror $to main > $tmpdir/etc/apt/sources.list
4779 chroot $tmpdir aptitude update
4780 touch $tmpdir/etc/udev/kernel-upgrade
4781 chroot $tmpdir aptitude -y dist-upgrade
4782 fuser -mv
4783 </pre></blockquote>
4784
4785 <p>I suspect it would be useful to test upgrades with both apt-get and
4786 with aptitude, but I have not had time to look at how they behave
4787 differently so far.  I hope to get a cron job running to do the test
4788 regularly and post the result on the web.  The Gnome upgrade currently
4789 work, while the KDE upgrade fail because of the bug in
4790 kdebase-workspace-data</p>
4791
4792 <p>I am not quite sure what kind of extract from the huge upgrade logs
4793 (KDE 167 KiB, Gnome 516 KiB) it make sense to include in this blog
4794 post, so I will refrain from trying.  I can report that for Gnome,
4795 aptitude report 760 packages upgraded, 448 newly installed, 129 to
4796 remove and 1 not upgraded and 1024MB need to be downloaded while for
4797 KDE the same numbers are 702 packages upgraded, 507 newly installed,
4798 193 to remove and 0 not upgraded and 1117MB need to be downloaded</p>
4799
4800 <p>I am very happy to notice that the Gnome desktop + laptop upgrade
4801 is able to migrate to dependency based boot sequencing and parallel
4802 booting without a hitch.  Was unsure if there were still bugs with
4803 packages failing to clean up their obsolete init.d script during
4804 upgrades, and no such problem seem to affect the Gnome desktop+laptop
4805 packages.</p>
4806
4807       </div>
4808       <div class="tags">
4809
4810
4811         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
4812
4813
4814       </div>
4815     </div>
4816     <div class="padding"></div>
4817
4818     <div class="entry">
4819       <div class="title">
4820         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Upstart_or_sysvinit___as_init_d_scripts_see_it.html">Upstart or sysvinit - as init.d scripts see it</a>
4821       </div>
4822       <div class="date">
4823          6th June 2010
4824       </div>
4825       <div class="body">
4826         <p>If Debian is to migrate to upstart on Linux, I expect some init.d
4827 scripts to migrate (some of) their operations to upstart job while
4828 keeping the init.d for hurd and kfreebsd.  The packages with such
4829 needs will need a way to get their init.d scripts to behave
4830 differently when used with sysvinit and with upstart.  Because of
4831 this, I had a look at the environment variables set when a init.d
4832 script is running under upstart, and when it is not.</p>
4833
4834 <p>With upstart, I notice these environment variables are set when a
4835 script is started from rcS.d/ (ignoring some irrelevant ones like
4836 COLUMNS):</p>
4837
4838 <blockquote><pre>
4839 DEFAULT_RUNLEVEL=2
4840 previous=N
4841 PREVLEVEL=
4842 RUNLEVEL=
4843 runlevel=S
4844 UPSTART_EVENTS=startup
4845 UPSTART_INSTANCE=
4846 UPSTART_JOB=rc-sysinit
4847 </pre></blockquote>
4848
4849 <p>With sysvinit, these environment variables are set for the same
4850 script.</p>
4851
4852 <blockquote><pre>
4853 INIT_VERSION=sysvinit-2.88
4854 previous=N
4855 PREVLEVEL=N
4856 RUNLEVEL=S
4857 runlevel=S
4858 </pre></blockquote>
4859
4860 <p>The RUNLEVEL and PREVLEVEL environment variables passed on from
4861 sysvinit are not set by upstart.  Not sure if it is intentional or not
4862 to not be compatible with sysvinit in this regard.</p>
4863
4864 <p>For scripts needing to behave differently when upstart is used,
4865 looking for the UPSTART_JOB environment variable seem to be a good
4866 choice.</p>
4867
4868       </div>
4869       <div class="tags">
4870
4871
4872         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
4873
4874
4875       </div>
4876     </div>
4877     <div class="padding"></div>
4878
4879     <div class="entry">
4880       <div class="title">
4881         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/A_manual_for_standards_wars___.html">A manual for standards wars...</a>
4882       </div>
4883       <div class="date">
4884          6th June 2010
4885       </div>
4886       <div class="body">
4887         <p>Via the
4888 <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/robweir/antic-atom/~3/QzU4RgoAGMg/weekly-links-10.html">blog
4889 of Rob Weir</a> I came across the very interesting essay named
4890 <a href="http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/shapiro/wars.pdf">The Art of
4891 Standards Wars</a> (PDF 25 pages).  I recommend it for everyone
4892 following the standards wars of today.</p>
4893
4894       </div>
4895       <div class="tags">
4896
4897
4898         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
4899
4900
4901       </div>
4902     </div>
4903     <div class="padding"></div>
4904
4905     <div class="entry">
4906       <div class="title">
4907         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sitesummary_tip__Listing_computer_hardware_models_used_at_site.html">Sitesummary tip: Listing computer hardware models used at site</a>
4908       </div>
4909       <div class="date">
4910          3rd June 2010
4911       </div>
4912       <div class="body">
4913         <p>When using sitesummary at a site to track machines, it is possible
4914 to get a list of the machine types in use thanks to the DMI
4915 information extracted from each machine.  The script to do so is
4916 included in the sitesummary package, and here is example output from
4917 the Skolelinux build servers:</p>
4918
4919 <blockquote><pre>
4920 maintainer:~# /usr/lib/sitesummary/hardware-model-summary
4921   vendor                    count
4922   Dell Computer Corporation     1
4923     PowerEdge 1750              1
4924   IBM                           1
4925     eserver xSeries 345 -[8670M1X]-     1
4926   Intel                         2
4927   [no-dmi-info]                 3
4928 maintainer:~#
4929 </pre></blockquote>
4930
4931 <p>The quality of the report depend on the quality of the DMI tables
4932 provided in each machine.  Here there are Intel machines without model
4933 information listed with Intel as vendor and no model, and virtual Xen
4934 machines listed as [no-dmi-info].  One can add -l as a command line
4935 option to list the individual machines.</p>
4936
4937 <p>A larger list is
4938 <a href="http://narvikskolen.no/sitesummary/">available from the the
4939 city of Narvik</a>, which uses Skolelinux on all their shools and also
4940 provide the basic sitesummary report publicly.  In their report there
4941 are ~1400 machines. I know they use both Ubuntu and Skolelinux on
4942 their machines, and as sitesummary is available in both distributions,
4943 it is trivial to get all of them to report to the same central
4944 collector.</p>
4945
4946       </div>
4947       <div class="tags">
4948
4949
4950         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary</a>.
4951
4952
4953       </div>
4954     </div>
4955     <div class="padding"></div>
4956
4957     <div class="entry">
4958       <div class="title">
4959         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/KDM_fail_at_boot_with_NVidia_cards___and_no_one_try_to_fix_it_.html">KDM fail at boot with NVidia cards - and no one try to fix it?</a>
4960       </div>
4961       <div class="date">
4962          1st June 2010
4963       </div>
4964       <div class="body">
4965         <p>It is strange to watch how a bug in Debian causing KDM to fail to
4966 start at boot when an NVidia video card is used is handled.  The
4967 problem seem to be that the nvidia X.org driver uses a long time to
4968 initialize, and this duration is longer than kdm is configured to
4969 wait.</p>
4970
4971 <p>I came across two bugs related to this issue,
4972 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/583312">#583312</a> initially filed
4973 against initscripts and passed on to nvidia-glx when it became obvious
4974 that the nvidia drivers were involved, and
4975 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/524751">#524751</a> initially filed against
4976 kdm and passed on to src:nvidia-graphics-drivers for unknown reasons.</p>
4977
4978 <p>To me, it seem that no-one is interested in actually solving the
4979 problem nvidia video card owners experience and make sure the Debian
4980 distribution work out of the box for these users.  The nvidia driver
4981 maintainers expect kdm to be set up to wait longer, while kdm expect
4982 the nvidia driver maintainers to fix the driver to start faster, and
4983 while they wait for each other I guess the users end up switching to a
4984 distribution that work for them.  I have no idea what the solution is,
4985 but I am pretty sure that waiting for each other is not it.</p>
4986
4987 <p>I wonder why we end up handling bugs this way.</p>
4988
4989       </div>
4990       <div class="tags">
4991
4992
4993         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
4994
4995
4996       </div>
4997     </div>
4998     <div class="padding"></div>
4999
5000     <div class="entry">
5001       <div class="title">
5002         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Parallellized_boot_seem_to_hold_up_well_in_Debian_testing.html">Parallellized boot seem to hold up well in Debian/testing</a>
5003       </div>
5004       <div class="date">
5005         27th May 2010
5006       </div>
5007       <div class="body">
5008         <p>A few days ago, parallel booting was enabled in Debian/testing.
5009 The feature seem to hold up pretty well, but three fairly serious
5010 issues are known and should be solved:
5011
5012 <p><ul>
5013
5014 <li>The wicd package seen to
5015 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/508289">break NFS mounting</a> and
5016 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/581586">network setup</a> when
5017 parallel booting is enabled.  No idea why, but the wicd maintainer
5018 seem to be on the case.</li>
5019
5020 <li>The nvidia X driver seem to
5021 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/583312">have a race condition</a>
5022 triggered more easily when parallel booting is in effect.  The
5023 maintainer is on the case.</li>
5024
5025 <li>The sysv-rc package fail to properly enable dependency based boot
5026 sequencing (the shutdown is broken) when old file-rc users
5027 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/575080">try to switch back</a> to
5028 sysv-rc.  One way to solve it would be for file-rc to create
5029 /etc/init.d/.legacy-bootordering, and another is to try to make
5030 sysv-rc more robust.  Will investigate some more and probably upload a
5031 workaround in sysv-rc to help those trying to move from file-rc to
5032 sysv-rc get a working shutdown.</li>
5033
5034 </ul></p>
5035
5036 <p>All in all not many surprising issues, and all of them seem
5037 solvable before Squeeze is released.  In addition to these there are
5038 some packages with bugs in their dependencies and run level settings,
5039 which I expect will be fixed in a reasonable time span.</p>
5040
5041 <p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to
5042 the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at
5043 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the
5044 list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p>
5045
5046 <p>Update: Correct bug number to file-rc issue.</p>
5047
5048       </div>
5049       <div class="tags">
5050
5051
5052         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
5053
5054
5055       </div>
5056     </div>
5057     <div class="padding"></div>
5058
5059     <div class="entry">
5060       <div class="title">
5061         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/More_flexible_firmware_handling_in_debian_installer.html">More flexible firmware handling in debian-installer</a>
5062       </div>
5063       <div class="date">
5064         22nd May 2010
5065       </div>
5066       <div class="body">
5067         <p>After a long break from debian-installer development, I finally
5068 found time today to return to the project.  Having to spend less time
5069 working dependency based boot in debian, as it is almost complete now,
5070 definitely helped freeing some time.</p>
5071
5072 <p>A while back, I ran into a problem while working on Debian Edu.  We
5073 include some firmware packages on the Debian Edu CDs, those needed to
5074 get disk and network controllers working.  Without having these
5075 firmware packages available during installation, it is impossible to
5076 install Debian Edu on the given machine, and because our target group
5077 are non-technical people, asking them to provide firmware packages on
5078 an external medium is a support pain.  Initially, I expected it to be
5079 enough to include the firmware packages on the CD to get
5080 debian-installer to find and use them.  This proved to be wrong.
5081 Next, I hoped it was enough to symlink the relevant firmware packages
5082 to some useful location on the CD (tried /cdrom/ and
5083 /cdrom/firmware/).  This also proved to not work, and at this point I
5084 found time to look at the debian-installer code to figure out what was
5085 going to work.</p>
5086
5087 <p>The firmware loading code is in the hw-detect package, and a closer
5088 look revealed that it would only look for firmware packages outside
5089 the installation media, so the CD was never checked for firmware
5090 packages.  It would only check USB sticks, floppies and other
5091 "external" media devices.  Today I changed it to also look in the
5092 /cdrom/firmware/ directory on the mounted CD or DVD, which should
5093 solve the problem I ran into with Debian edu.  I also changed it to
5094 look in /firmware/, to make sure the installer also find firmware
5095 provided in the initrd when booting the installer via PXE, to allow us
5096 to provide the same feature in the PXE setup included in Debian
5097 Edu.</p>
5098
5099 <p>To make sure firmware deb packages with a license questions are not
5100 activated without asking if the license is accepted, I extended
5101 hw-detect to look for preinst scripts in the firmware packages, and
5102 run these before activating the firmware during installation.  The
5103 license question is asked using debconf in the preinst, so this should
5104 solve the issue for the firmware packages I have looked at so far.</p>
5105
5106 <p>If you want to discuss the details of these features, please
5107 contact us on debian-boot@lists.debian.org.</p>
5108
5109       </div>
5110       <div class="tags">
5111
5112
5113         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
5114
5115
5116       </div>
5117     </div>
5118     <div class="padding"></div>
5119
5120     <div class="entry">
5121       <div class="title">
5122         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Parallellized_boot_is_now_the_default_in_Debian_unstable.html">Parallellized boot is now the default in Debian/unstable</a>
5123       </div>
5124       <div class="date">
5125         14th May 2010
5126       </div>
5127       <div class="body">
5128         <p>Since this evening, parallel booting is the default in
5129 Debian/unstable for machines using dependency based boot sequencing.
5130 Apparently the testing of concurrent booting has been wider than
5131 expected, if I am to believe the
5132 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg00122.html">input
5133 on debian-devel@</a>, and I concluded a few days ago to move forward
5134 with the feature this weekend, to give us some time to detect any
5135 remaining problems before Squeeze is frozen.  If serious problems are
5136 detected, it is simple to change the default back to sequential boot.
5137 The upload of the new sysvinit package also activate a new upstream
5138 version.</p>
5139
5140 More information about
5141 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts/DependencyBasedBoot">dependency
5142 based boot sequencing</a> is available from the Debian wiki.  It is
5143 currently possible to disable parallel booting when one run into
5144 problems caused by it, by adding this line to /etc/default/rcS:</p>
5145
5146 <blockquote><pre>
5147 CONCURRENCY=none
5148 </pre></blockquote>
5149
5150 <p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to
5151 the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at
5152 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the
5153 list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p>
5154
5155       </div>
5156       <div class="tags">
5157
5158
5159         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
5160
5161
5162       </div>
5163     </div>
5164     <div class="padding"></div>
5165
5166     <div class="entry">
5167       <div class="title">
5168         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Sitesummary_tip__Listing_MAC_address_of_all_clients.html">Sitesummary tip: Listing MAC address of all clients</a>
5169       </div>
5170       <div class="date">
5171         14th May 2010
5172       </div>
5173       <div class="body">
5174         <p>In the recent Debian Edu versions, the
5175 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/SiteSummary">sitesummary
5176 system</a> is used to keep track of the machines in the school
5177 network.  Each machine will automatically report its status to the
5178 central server after boot and once per night.  The network setup is
5179 also reported, and using this information it is possible to get the
5180 MAC address of all network interfaces in the machines.  This is useful
5181 to update the DHCP configuration.</p>
5182
5183 <p>To give some idea how to use sitesummary, here is a one-liner to
5184 ist all MAC addresses of all machines reporting to sitesummary.  Run
5185 this on the collector host:</p>
5186
5187 <blockquote><pre>
5188 perl -MSiteSummary -e 'for_all_hosts(sub { print join(" ", get_macaddresses(shift)), "\n"; });'
5189 </pre></blockquote>
5190
5191 <p>This will list all MAC addresses assosiated with all machine, one
5192 line per machine and with space between the MAC addresses.</p>
5193
5194 <p>To allow system administrators easier job at adding static DHCP
5195 addresses for hosts, it would be possible to extend this to fetch
5196 machine information from sitesummary and update the DHCP and DNS
5197 tables in LDAP using this information.  Such tool is unfortunately not
5198 written yet.</p>
5199
5200       </div>
5201       <div class="tags">
5202
5203
5204         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary</a>.
5205
5206
5207       </div>
5208     </div>
5209     <div class="padding"></div>
5210
5211     <div class="entry">
5212       <div class="title">
5213         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/systemd__an_interesting_alternative_to_upstart.html">systemd, an interesting alternative to upstart</a>
5214       </div>
5215       <div class="date">
5216         13th May 2010
5217       </div>
5218       <div class="body">
5219         <p>The last few days a new boot system called
5220 <a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd">systemd</a>
5221 has been
5222 <a href="http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/systemd.html">introduced</a>
5223
5224 to the free software world.  I have not yet had time to play around
5225 with it, but it seem to be a very interesting alternative to
5226 <a href="http://upstart.ubuntu.com/">upstart</a>, and might prove to be
5227 a good alternative for Debian when we are able to switch to an event
5228 based boot system.  Tollef is
5229 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/580814">in the process</a> of getting
5230 systemd into Debian, and I look forward to seeing how well it work.  I
5231 like the fact that systemd handles init.d scripts with dependency
5232 information natively, allowing them to run in parallel where upstart
5233 at the moment do not.</p>
5234
5235 <p>Unfortunately do systemd have the same problem as upstart regarding
5236 platform support.  It only work on recent Linux kernels, and also need
5237 some new kernel features enabled to function properly.  This means
5238 kFreeBSD and Hurd ports of Debian will need a port or a different boot
5239 system.  Not sure how that will be handled if systemd proves to be the
5240 way forward.</p>
5241
5242 <p>In the mean time, based on the
5243 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/05/msg00122.html">input
5244 on debian-devel@</a> regarding parallel booting in Debian, I have
5245 decided to enable full parallel booting as the default in Debian as
5246 soon as possible (probably this weekend or early next week), to see if
5247 there are any remaining serious bugs in the init.d dependencies.  A
5248 new version of the sysvinit package implementing this change is
5249 already in experimental.  If all go well, Squeeze will be released
5250 with parallel booting enabled by default.</p>
5251
5252       </div>
5253       <div class="tags">
5254
5255
5256         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
5257
5258
5259       </div>
5260     </div>
5261     <div class="padding"></div>
5262
5263     <div class="entry">
5264       <div class="title">
5265         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Parallellizing_the_boot_in_Debian_Squeeze___ready_for_wider_testing.html">Parallellizing the boot in Debian Squeeze - ready for wider testing</a>
5266       </div>
5267       <div class="date">
5268          6th May 2010
5269       </div>
5270       <div class="body">
5271         <p>These days, the init.d script dependencies in Squeeze are quite
5272 complete, so complete that it is actually possible to run all the
5273 init.d scripts in parallell based on these dependencies.  If you want
5274 to test your Squeeze system, make sure
5275 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts/DependencyBasedBoot">dependency
5276 based boot sequencing</a> is enabled, and add this line to
5277 /etc/default/rcS:</p>
5278
5279 <blockquote><pre>
5280 CONCURRENCY=makefile
5281 </pre></blockquote>
5282
5283 <p>That is it.  It will cause sysv-rc to use the startpar tool to run
5284 scripts in parallel using the dependency information stored in
5285 /etc/init.d/.depend.boot, /etc/init.d/.depend.start and
5286 /etc/init.d/.depend.stop to order the scripts.  Startpar is configured
5287 to try to start the kdm and gdm scripts as early as possible, and will
5288 start the facilities required by kdm or gdm as early as possible to
5289 make this happen.</p>
5290
5291 <p>Give it a try, and see if you like the result.  If some services
5292 fail to start properly, it is most likely because they have incomplete
5293 init.d script dependencies in their startup script (or some of their
5294 dependent scripts have incomplete dependencies).  Report bugs and get
5295 the package maintainers to fix it. :)</p>
5296
5297 <p>Running scripts in parallel could be the default in Debian when we
5298 manage to get the init.d script dependencies complete and correct.  I
5299 expect we will get there in Squeeze+1, if we get manage to test and
5300 fix the remaining issues.</p>
5301
5302 <p>If you report any problems with dependencies in init.d scripts to
5303 the BTS, please usertag the report to get it to show up at
5304 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=initscripts-ng-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org">the
5305 list of usertagged bugs related to this</a>.</p>
5306
5307       </div>
5308       <div class="tags">
5309
5310
5311         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
5312
5313
5314       </div>
5315     </div>
5316     <div class="padding"></div>
5317
5318     <div class="entry">
5319       <div class="title">
5320         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_has_switched_to_dependency_based_boot_sequencing.html">Debian has switched to dependency based boot sequencing</a>
5321       </div>
5322       <div class="date">
5323         27th July 2009
5324       </div>
5325       <div class="body">
5326         <p>Since this evening, with the upload of sysvinit version 2.87dsf-2,
5327 and the upload of insserv version 1.12.0-10 yesterday, Debian unstable
5328 have been migrated to using dependency based boot sequencing.  This
5329 conclude work me and others have been doing for the last three days.
5330 It feels great to see this finally part of the default Debian
5331 installation.  Now we just need to weed out the last few problems that
5332 are bound to show up, to get everything ready for Squeeze.</p>
5333
5334 <p>The next step is migrating /sbin/init from sysvinit to upstart, and
5335 fixing the more fundamental problem of handing the event based
5336 non-predictable kernel in the early boot.</p>
5337
5338       </div>
5339       <div class="tags">
5340
5341
5342         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
5343
5344
5345       </div>
5346     </div>
5347     <div class="padding"></div>
5348
5349     <div class="entry">
5350       <div class="title">
5351         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Taking_over_sysvinit_development.html">Taking over sysvinit development</a>
5352       </div>
5353       <div class="date">
5354         22nd July 2009
5355       </div>
5356       <div class="body">
5357         <p>After several years of frustration with the lack of activity from
5358 the existing sysvinit upstream developer, I decided a few weeks ago to
5359 take over the package and become the new upstream.  The number of
5360 patches to track for the Debian package was becoming a burden, and the
5361 lack of synchronization between the distribution made it hard to keep
5362 the package up to date.</p>
5363
5364 <p>On the new sysvinit team is the SuSe maintainer Dr. Werner Fink,
5365 and my Debian co-maintainer Kel Modderman.  About 10 days ago, I made
5366 a new upstream tarball with version number 2.87dsf (for Debian, SuSe
5367 and Fedora), based on the patches currently in use in these
5368 distributions.  We Debian maintainers plan to move to this tarball as
5369 the new upstream as soon as we find time to do the merge.  Since the
5370 new tarball was created, we agreed with Werner at SuSe to make a new
5371 upstream project at <a href="http://savannah.nongnu.org/">Savannah</a>, and continue
5372 development there.  The project is registered and currently waiting
5373 for approval by the Savannah administrators, and as soon as it is
5374 approved, we will import the old versions from svn and continue
5375 working on the future release.</p>
5376
5377 <p>It is a bit ironic that this is done now, when some of the involved
5378 distributions are moving to upstart as a syvinit replacement.</p>
5379
5380       </div>
5381       <div class="tags">
5382
5383
5384         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
5385
5386
5387       </div>
5388     </div>
5389     <div class="padding"></div>
5390
5391     <div class="entry">
5392       <div class="title">
5393         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_boots_quicker_and_quicker.html">Debian boots quicker and quicker</a>
5394       </div>
5395       <div class="date">
5396         24th June 2009
5397       </div>
5398       <div class="body">
5399         <p>I spent Monday and tuesday this week in London with a lot of the
5400 people involved in the boot system on Debian and Ubuntu, to see if we
5401 could find more ways to speed up the boot system.  This was an Ubuntu
5402 funded
5403 <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FoundationsTeam/BootPerformance/DebianUbuntuSprint">developer
5404 gathering</a>. It was quite productive.  We also discussed the future
5405 of boot systems, and ways to handle the increasing number of boot
5406 issues introduced by the Linux kernel becoming more and more
5407 asynchronous and event base.  The Ubuntu approach using udev and
5408 upstart might be a good way forward.  Time will show.</p>
5409
5410 <p>Anyway, there are a few ways at the moment to speed up the boot
5411 process in Debian.  All of these should be applied to get a quick
5412 boot:</p>
5413
5414 <ul>
5415
5416 <li>Use dash as /bin/sh.</li>
5417
5418 <li>Disable the init.d/hwclock*.sh scripts and make sure the hardware
5419    clock is in UTC.</li>
5420
5421 <li>Install and activate the insserv package to enable
5422    <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts/DependencyBasedBoot">dependency
5423    based boot sequencing</a>, and enable concurrent booting.</li>
5424
5425 </ul>
5426
5427 These points are based on the Google summer of code work done by
5428 <a href="http://initscripts-ng.alioth.debian.org/soc2006-bootsystem/">Carlos
5429 Villegas</a>.
5430
5431 <p>Support for makefile-style concurrency during boot was uploaded to
5432 unstable yesterday.  When we tested it, we were able to cut 6 seconds
5433 from the boot sequence.  It depend on very correct dependency
5434 declaration in all init.d scripts, so I expect us to find edge cases
5435 where the dependences in some scripts are slightly wrong when we start
5436 using this.</p>
5437
5438 <p>On our IRC channel for this effort, #pkg-sysvinit, a new idea was
5439 introduced by Raphael Geissert today, one that could affect the
5440 startup speed as well.  Instead of starting some scripts concurrently
5441 from rcS.d/ and another set of scripts from rc2.d/, it would be
5442 possible to run a of them in the same process.  A quick way to test
5443 this would be to enable insserv and run 'mv /etc/rc2.d/S* /etc/rcS.d/;
5444 insserv'.  Will need to test if that work. :)</p>
5445
5446       </div>
5447       <div class="tags">
5448
5449
5450         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
5451
5452
5453       </div>
5454     </div>
5455     <div class="padding"></div>
5456
5457     <div class="entry">
5458       <div class="title">
5459         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/BSAs_p_stander_om_piratkopiering_m_ter_motstand.html">BSAs påstander om piratkopiering møter motstand</a>
5460       </div>
5461       <div class="date">
5462         17th May 2009
5463       </div>
5464       <div class="body">
5465         <p>Hvert år de siste årene har BSA, lobbyfronten til de store
5466 programvareselskapene som Microsoft og Apple, publisert en rapport der
5467 de gjetter på hvor mye piratkopiering påfører i tapte inntekter i
5468 ulike land rundt om i verden.  Resultatene er tendensiøse.  For noen
5469 dager siden kom
5470 <a href="http://global.bsa.org/globalpiracy2008/studies/globalpiracy2008.pdf">siste
5471 rapport</a>, og det er flere kritiske kommentarer publisert de siste
5472 dagene.  Et spesielt interessant kommentar fra Sverige,
5473 <a href="http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.229795/bsa-hoftade-sverigesiffror">BSA
5474 höftade Sverigesiffror</a>, oppsummeres slik:</p>
5475
5476 <blockquote>
5477 I sin senaste rapport slår BSA fast att 25 procent av all mjukvara i
5478 Sverige är piratkopierad. Det utan att ha pratat med ett enda svenskt
5479 företag. "Man bör nog kanske inte se de här siffrorna som helt
5480 exakta", säger BSAs Sverigechef John Hugosson.
5481 </blockquote>
5482
5483 <p>Mon tro om de er like metodiske når de gjetter på andelen piratkopiering i Norge?  To andre kommentarer er <a
5484 href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/comment/2242134/bsa-piracy-figures-shot-reality">BSA
5485 piracy figures need a shot of reality</a> og <a
5486 href="http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3958/125/">Does The WIPO
5487 Copyright Treaty Work?</a></p>
5488
5489 <p>Fant lenkene via <a
5490 href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/17/1632242">oppslag
5491 på Slashdot</a>.</p>
5492
5493       </div>
5494       <div class="tags">
5495
5496
5497         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bsa">bsa</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern</a>.
5498
5499
5500       </div>
5501     </div>
5502     <div class="padding"></div>
5503
5504     <div class="entry">
5505       <div class="title">
5506         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/IDG_mener_linux_i_servermarkedet_vil_vokse_med_21__i_2009.html">IDG mener linux i servermarkedet vil vokse med 21% i 2009</a>
5507       </div>
5508       <div class="date">
5509          7th May 2009
5510       </div>
5511       <div class="body">
5512         <p>Kom over
5513 <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10216873-16.html">interessante
5514 tall</a> fra IDG om utviklingen av linuxservermarkedet.  Fikk meg til
5515 å tenke på antall tjenermaskiner ved Universitetet i Oslo der jeg
5516 jobber til daglig.  En rask opptelling forteller meg at vi har 490
5517 (61%) fysiske unix-tjener (mest linux men også noen solaris) og 196
5518 (25%) windowstjenere, samt 112 (14%) virtuelle unix-tjenere.  Med den
5519 bakgrunnskunnskapen kan jeg godt tro at IDG er inne på noe.</p>
5520
5521       </div>
5522       <div class="tags">
5523
5524
5525         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
5526
5527
5528       </div>
5529     </div>
5530     <div class="padding"></div>
5531
5532     <div class="entry">
5533       <div class="title">
5534         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Kryptert_harddisk___naturligvis.html">Kryptert harddisk - naturligvis</a>
5535       </div>
5536       <div class="date">
5537          2nd May 2009
5538       </div>
5539       <div class="body">
5540         <p><a href="http://www.dagensit.no/trender/article1658676.ece">Dagens
5541 IT melder</a> at Intel hevder at det er dyrt å miste en datamaskin,
5542 når en tar tap av arbeidstid, fortrolige dokumenter,
5543 personopplysninger og alt annet det innebærer.  Det er ingen tvil om
5544 at det er en kostbar affære å miste sin datamaskin, og det er årsaken
5545 til at jeg har kryptert harddisken på både kontormaskinen og min
5546 bærbare.  Begge inneholder personopplysninger jeg ikke ønsker skal
5547 komme på avveie, den første informasjon relatert til jobben min ved
5548 Universitetet i Oslo, og den andre relatert til blant annet
5549 foreningsarbeide.  Kryptering av diskene gjør at det er lite
5550 sannsynlig at dophoder som kan finne på å rappe maskinene får noe ut
5551 av dem.  Maskinene låses automatisk etter noen minutter uten bruk,
5552 og en reboot vil gjøre at de ber om passord før de vil starte opp.
5553 Jeg bruker Debian på begge maskinene, og installasjonssystemet der
5554 gjør det trivielt å sette opp krypterte disker.  Jeg har LVM på toppen
5555 av krypterte partisjoner, slik at alt av datapartisjoner er kryptert.
5556 Jeg anbefaler alle å kryptere diskene på sine bærbare.  Kostnaden når
5557 det er gjort slik jeg gjør det er minimale, og gevinstene er
5558 betydelige.  En bør dog passe på passordet.  Hvis det går tapt, må
5559 maskinen reinstalleres og alt er tapt.</p>
5560
5561 <p>Krypteringen vil ikke stoppe kompetente angripere som f.eks. kjøler
5562 ned minnebrikkene før maskinen rebootes med programvare for å hente ut
5563 krypteringsnøklene.  Kostnaden med å forsvare seg mot slike angripere
5564 er for min del høyere enn gevinsten.  Jeg tror oddsene for at
5565 f.eks. etteretningsorganisasjoner har glede av å titte på mine
5566 maskiner er minimale, og ulempene jeg ville oppnå ved å forsøke å
5567 gjøre det vanskeligere for angripere med kompetanse og ressurser er
5568 betydelige.</p>
5569
5570       </div>
5571       <div class="tags">
5572
5573
5574         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet</a>.
5575
5576
5577       </div>
5578     </div>
5579     <div class="padding"></div>
5580
5581     <div class="entry">
5582       <div class="title">
5583         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Two_projects_that_have_improved_the_quality_of_free_software_a_lot.html">Two projects that have improved the quality of free software a lot</a>
5584       </div>
5585       <div class="date">
5586          2nd May 2009
5587       </div>
5588       <div class="body">
5589         <p>There are two software projects that have had huge influence on the
5590 quality of free software, and I wanted to mention both in case someone
5591 do not yet know them.</p>
5592
5593 <p>The first one is <a href="http://valgrind.org/">valgrind</a>, a
5594 tool to detect and expose errors in the memory handling of programs.
5595 It is easy to use, all one need to do is to run 'valgrind program',
5596 and it will report any problems on stdout.  It is even better if the
5597 program include debug information.  With debug information, it is able
5598 to report the source file name and line number where the problem
5599 occurs.  It can report things like 'reading past memory block in file
5600 X line N, the memory block was allocated in file Y, line M', and
5601 'using uninitialised value in control logic'.  This tool has made it
5602 trivial to investigate reproducible crash bugs in programs, and have
5603 reduced the number of this kind of bugs in free software a lot.
5604
5605 <p>The second one is
5606 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverity">Coverity</a> which is
5607 a source code checker.  It is able to process the source of a program
5608 and find problems in the logic without running the program.  It
5609 started out as the Stanford Checker and became well known when it was
5610 used to find bugs in the Linux kernel.  It is now a commercial tool
5611 and the company behind it is running
5612 <a href="http://www.scan.coverity.com/">a community service</a> for the
5613 free software community, where a lot of free software projects get
5614 their source checked for free.  Several thousand defects have been
5615 found and fixed so far.  It can find errors like 'lock L taken in file
5616 X line N is never released if exiting in line M', or 'the code in file
5617 Y lines O to P can never be executed'.  The projects included in the
5618 community service project have managed to get rid of a lot of
5619 reliability problems thanks to Coverity.</p>
5620
5621 <p>I believe tools like this, that are able to automatically find
5622 errors in the source, are vital to improve the quality of software and
5623 make sure we can get rid of the crashing and failing software we are
5624 surrounded by today.</p>
5625
5626       </div>
5627       <div class="tags">
5628
5629
5630         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>.
5631
5632
5633       </div>
5634     </div>
5635     <div class="padding"></div>
5636
5637     <div class="entry">
5638       <div class="title">
5639         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/No_patch_is_not_better_than_a_useless_patch.html">No patch is not better than a useless patch</a>
5640       </div>
5641       <div class="date">
5642         28th April 2009
5643       </div>
5644       <div class="body">
5645         <p>Julien Blache
5646 <a href="http://blog.technologeek.org/2009/04/12/214">claim that no
5647 patch is better than a useless patch</a>.  I completely disagree, as a
5648 patch allow one to discuss a concrete and proposed solution, and also
5649 prove that the issue at hand is important enough for someone to spent
5650 time on fixing it.  No patch do not provide any of these positive
5651 properties.</p>
5652
5653       </div>
5654       <div class="tags">
5655
5656
5657         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
5658
5659
5660       </div>
5661     </div>
5662     <div class="padding"></div>
5663
5664     <div class="entry">
5665       <div class="title">
5666         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Standardize_on_protocols_and_formats__not_vendors_and_applications.html">Standardize on protocols and formats, not vendors and applications</a>
5667       </div>
5668       <div class="date">
5669         30th March 2009
5670       </div>
5671       <div class="body">
5672         <p>Where I work at the University of Oslo, one decision stand out as a
5673 very good one to form a long lived computer infrastructure.  It is the
5674 simple one, lost by many in todays computer industry: Standardize on
5675 open network protocols and open exchange/storage formats, not applications.
5676 Applications come and go, while protocols and files tend to stay, and
5677 thus one want to make it easy to change application and vendor, while
5678 avoiding conversion costs and locking users to a specific platform or
5679 application.</p>
5680
5681 <p>This approach make it possible to replace the client applications
5682 independently of the server applications.  One can even allow users to
5683 use several different applications as long as they handle the selected
5684 protocol and format.  In the normal case, only one client application
5685 is recommended and users only get help if they choose to use this
5686 application, but those that want to deviate from the easy path are not
5687 blocked from doing so.</p>
5688
5689 <p>It also allow us to replace the server side without forcing the
5690 users to replace their applications, and thus allow us to select the
5691 best server implementation at any moment, when scale and resouce
5692 requirements change.</p>
5693
5694 <p>I strongly recommend standardizing - on open network protocols and
5695 open formats, but I would never recommend standardizing on a single
5696 application that do not use open network protocol or open formats.</p>
5697
5698       </div>
5699       <div class="tags">
5700
5701
5702         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>.
5703
5704
5705       </div>
5706     </div>
5707     <div class="padding"></div>
5708
5709     <div class="entry">
5710       <div class="title">
5711         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Returning_from_Skolelinux_developer_gathering.html">Returning from Skolelinux developer gathering</a>
5712       </div>
5713       <div class="date">
5714         29th March 2009
5715       </div>
5716       <div class="body">
5717         <p>I'm sitting on the train going home from this weekends Debian
5718 Edu/Skolelinux development gathering.  I got a bit done tuning the
5719 desktop, and looked into the dynamic service location protocol
5720 implementation avahi.  It look like it could be useful for us.  Almost
5721 30 people participated, and I believe it was a great environment to
5722 get to know the Skolelinux system.  Walter Bender, involved in the
5723 development of the Sugar educational platform, presented his stuff and
5724 also helped me improve my OLPC installation.  He also showed me that
5725 his Turtle Art application can be used in standalone mode, and we
5726 agreed that I would help getting it packaged for Debian.  As a
5727 standalone application it would be great for Debian Edu.  We also
5728 tried to get the video conferencing working with two OLPCs, but that
5729 proved to be too hard for us.  The application seem to need more work
5730 before it is ready for me.  I look forward to getting home and relax
5731 now. :)</p>
5732
5733       </div>
5734       <div class="tags">
5735
5736
5737         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
5738
5739
5740       </div>
5741     </div>
5742     <div class="padding"></div>
5743
5744     <div class="entry">
5745       <div class="title">
5746         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">Time for new  LDAP schemas replacing RFC 2307?</a>
5747       </div>
5748       <div class="date">
5749         29th March 2009
5750       </div>
5751       <div class="body">
5752         <p>The state of standardized LDAP schemas on Linux is far from
5753 optimal.  There is RFC 2307 documenting one way to store NIS maps in
5754 LDAP, and a modified version of this normally called RFC 2307bis, with
5755 some modifications to be compatible with Active Directory.  The RFC
5756 specification handle the content of a lot of system databases, but do
5757 not handle DNS zones and DHCP configuration.</p>
5758
5759 <p>In <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu/Skolelinux</a>,
5760 we would like to store information about users, SMB clients/hosts,
5761 filegroups, netgroups (users and hosts), DHCP and DNS configuration,
5762 and LTSP configuration in LDAP.  These objects have a lot in common,
5763 but with the current LDAP schemas it is not possible to have one
5764 object per entity.  For example, one need to have at least three LDAP
5765 objects for a given computer, one with the SMB related stuff, one with
5766 DNS information and another with DHCP information.  The schemas
5767 provided for DNS and DHCP are impossible to combine into one LDAP
5768 object.  In addition, it is impossible to implement quick queries for
5769 netgroup membership, because of the way NIS triples are implemented.
5770 It just do not scale.  I believe it is time for a few RFC
5771 specifications to cleam up this mess.</p>
5772
5773 <p>I would like to have one LDAP object representing each computer in
5774 the network, and this object can then keep the SMB (ie host key), DHCP
5775 (mac address/name) and DNS (name/IP address) settings in one place.
5776 It need to be efficently stored to make sure it scale well.</p>
5777
5778 <p>I would also like to have a quick way to map from a user or
5779 computer and to the net group this user or computer is a member.</p>
5780
5781 <p>Active Directory have done a better job than unix heads like myself
5782 in this regard, and the unix side need to catch up.  Time to start a
5783 new IETF work group?</p>
5784
5785       </div>
5786       <div class="tags">
5787
5788
5789         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.
5790
5791
5792       </div>
5793     </div>
5794     <div class="padding"></div>
5795
5796     <div class="entry">
5797       <div class="title">
5798         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Endelig_er_Debian_Lenny_gitt_ut.html">Endelig er Debian Lenny gitt ut</a>
5799       </div>
5800       <div class="date">
5801         15th February 2009
5802       </div>
5803       <div class="body">
5804         <p>Endelig er <a href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>
5805 <a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2009/20090214">Lenny</a> gitt ut.
5806 Et langt steg videre for Debian-prosjektet, og en rekke nye
5807 programpakker blir nå tilgjengelig for de av oss som bruker den
5808 stabile utgaven av Debian.  Neste steg er nå å få
5809 <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a> /
5810 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/">Debian Edu</a> ferdig
5811 oppdatert for den nye utgaven, slik at en oppdatert versjon kan
5812 slippes løs på skolene.  Takk til alle debian-utviklerne som har
5813 gjort dette mulig.  Endelig er f.eks. fungerende avhengighetsstyrt
5814 bootsekvens tilgjengelig i stabil utgave, vha pakken
5815 <tt>insserv</tt>.</p>
5816
5817       </div>
5818       <div class="tags">
5819
5820
5821         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk</a>.
5822
5823
5824       </div>
5825     </div>
5826     <div class="padding"></div>
5827
5828     <div class="entry">
5829       <div class="title">
5830         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Devcamp_brought_us_closer_to_the_Lenny_based_Debian_Edu_release.html">Devcamp brought us closer to the Lenny based Debian Edu release</a>
5831       </div>
5832       <div class="date">
5833          7th December 2008
5834       </div>
5835       <div class="body">
5836         <p>This weekend we had a small developer gathering for Debian Edu in
5837 Oslo.  Most of Saturday was used for the general assemly for the
5838 member organization, but the rest of the weekend I used to tune the
5839 LTSP installation.  LTSP now work out of the box on the 10-network.
5840 Acer Aspire One proved to be a very nice thin client, with both
5841 screen, mouse and keybard in a small box.  Was working on getting the
5842 diskless workstation setup configured out of the box, but did not
5843 finish it before the weekend was up.</p>
5844
5845 <p>Did not find time to look at the 4 VGA cards in one box we got from
5846 the Brazilian group, so that will have to wait for the next
5847 development gathering.  Would love to have the Debian Edu installer
5848 automatically detect and configure a multiseat setup when it find one
5849 of these cards.</p>
5850
5851       </div>
5852       <div class="tags">
5853
5854
5855         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ltsp">ltsp</a>.
5856
5857
5858       </div>
5859     </div>
5860     <div class="padding"></div>
5861
5862     <div class="entry">
5863       <div class="title">
5864         <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_sorry_state_of_multimedia_browser_plugins_in_Debian.html">The sorry state of multimedia browser plugins in Debian</a>
5865       </div>
5866       <div class="date">
5867         25th November 2008
5868       </div>
5869       <div class="body">
5870         <p>Recently I have spent some time evaluating the multimedia browser
5871 plugins available in Debian Lenny, to see which one we should use by
5872 default in Debian Edu.  We need an embedded video playing plugin with
5873 control buttons to pause or stop the video, and capable of streaming
5874 all the multimedia content available on the web.  The test results and
5875 notes are available on
5876 <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/BrowserMultimedia">the
5877 Debian wiki</a>.  I was surprised how few of the plugins are able to
5878 fill this need.  My personal video player favorite, VLC, has a really
5879 bad plugin which fail on a lot of the test pages.  A lot of the MIME
5880 types I would expect to work with any free software player (like
5881 video/ogg), just do not work.  And simple formats like the
5882 audio/x-mplegurl format (m3u playlists), just isn't supported by the
5883 totem and vlc plugins.  I hope the situation will improve soon.  No
5884 wonder sites use the proprietary Adobe flash to play video.</p>
5885
5886 <p>For Lenny, we seem to end up with the mplayer plugin.  It seem to
5887 be the only one fitting our needs. :/</p>
5888
5889       </div>
5890       <div class="tags">
5891
5892
5893         Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web</a>.
5894
5895
5896       </div>
5897     </div>
5898     <div class="padding"></div>
5899
5900     <p style="text-align: right;"><a href="debian.rss"><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/xml.gif" alt="RSS Feed" width="36" height="14" /></a></p>
5901     <div id="sidebar">
5902
5903
5904
5905 <h2>Archive</h2>
5906 <ul>
5907
5908 <li>2013
5909 <ul>
5910
5911 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/01/">January (11)</a></li>
5912
5913 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/02/">February (9)</a></li>
5914
5915 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/03/">March (9)</a></li>
5916
5917 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/04/">April (6)</a></li>
5918
5919 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/05/">May (9)</a></li>
5920
5921 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/06/">June (3)</a></li>
5922
5923 </ul></li>
5924
5925 <li>2012
5926 <ul>
5927
5928 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/01/">January (7)</a></li>
5929
5930 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/02/">February (10)</a></li>
5931
5932 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/03/">March (17)</a></li>
5933
5934 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/04/">April (12)</a></li>
5935
5936 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/05/">May (12)</a></li>
5937
5938 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/06/">June (20)</a></li>
5939
5940 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/07/">July (17)</a></li>
5941
5942 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/08/">August (6)</a></li>
5943
5944 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/09/">September (9)</a></li>
5945
5946 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/10/">October (17)</a></li>
5947
5948 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/11/">November (10)</a></li>
5949
5950 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/12/">December (7)</a></li>
5951
5952 </ul></li>
5953
5954 <li>2011
5955 <ul>
5956
5957 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/01/">January (16)</a></li>
5958
5959 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/02/">February (6)</a></li>
5960
5961 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/03/">March (6)</a></li>
5962
5963 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/04/">April (7)</a></li>
5964
5965 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/05/">May (3)</a></li>
5966
5967 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/06/">June (2)</a></li>
5968
5969 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/07/">July (7)</a></li>
5970
5971 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/08/">August (6)</a></li>
5972
5973 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/09/">September (4)</a></li>
5974
5975 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/10/">October (2)</a></li>
5976
5977 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/11/">November (3)</a></li>
5978
5979 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/12/">December (1)</a></li>
5980
5981 </ul></li>
5982
5983 <li>2010
5984 <ul>
5985
5986 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/01/">January (2)</a></li>
5987
5988 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/02/">February (1)</a></li>
5989
5990 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/03/">March (3)</a></li>
5991
5992 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/04/">April (3)</a></li>
5993
5994 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/05/">May (9)</a></li>
5995
5996 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/06/">June (14)</a></li>
5997
5998 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/07/">July (12)</a></li>
5999
6000 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/08/">August (13)</a></li>
6001
6002 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/09/">September (7)</a></li>
6003
6004 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/10/">October (9)</a></li>
6005
6006 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/11/">November (13)</a></li>
6007
6008 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/12/">December (12)</a></li>
6009
6010 </ul></li>
6011
6012 <li>2009
6013 <ul>
6014
6015 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/01/">January (8)</a></li>
6016
6017 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/02/">February (8)</a></li>
6018
6019 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/03/">March (12)</a></li>
6020
6021 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/04/">April (10)</a></li>
6022
6023 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/05/">May (9)</a></li>
6024
6025 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/06/">June (3)</a></li>
6026
6027 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/07/">July (4)</a></li>
6028
6029 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/08/">August (3)</a></li>
6030
6031 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/09/">September (1)</a></li>
6032
6033 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/10/">October (2)</a></li>
6034
6035 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/11/">November (3)</a></li>
6036
6037 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/12/">December (3)</a></li>
6038
6039 </ul></li>
6040
6041 <li>2008
6042 <ul>
6043
6044 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/11/">November (5)</a></li>
6045
6046 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/12/">December (7)</a></li>
6047
6048 </ul></li>
6049
6050 </ul>
6051
6052
6053
6054 <h2>Tags</h2>
6055 <ul>
6056
6057  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer (13)</a></li>
6058
6059  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/amiga">amiga (1)</a></li>
6060
6061  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/aros">aros (1)</a></li>
6062
6063  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bankid">bankid (4)</a></li>
6064
6065  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin (7)</a></li>
6066
6067  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem (12)</a></li>
6068
6069  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bsa">bsa (2)</a></li>
6070
6071  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian (76)</a></li>
6072
6073  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu (130)</a></li>
6074
6075  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan (10)</a></li>
6076
6077  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook (9)</a></li>
6078
6079  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/drivstoffpriser">drivstoffpriser (4)</a></li>
6080
6081  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english (196)</a></li>
6082
6083  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami (21)</a></li>
6084
6085  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling (12)</a></li>
6086
6087  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture (11)</a></li>
6088
6089  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen (11)</a></li>
6090
6091  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju (35)</a></li>
6092
6093  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram">isenkram (6)</a></li>
6094
6095  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart (18)</a></li>
6096
6097  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap (8)</a></li>
6098
6099  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lenker">lenker (6)</a></li>
6100
6101  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ltsp">ltsp (1)</a></li>
6102
6103  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia (25)</a></li>
6104
6105  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk (234)</a></li>
6106
6107  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug (152)</a></li>
6108
6109  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn (8)</a></li>
6110
6111  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/open311">open311 (2)</a></li>
6112
6113  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett (44)</a></li>
6114
6115  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern (65)</a></li>
6116
6117  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/raid">raid (1)</a></li>
6118
6119  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reprap">reprap (11)</a></li>
6120
6121  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rfid">rfid (2)</a></li>
6122
6123  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot (7)</a></li>
6124
6125  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rss">rss (1)</a></li>
6126
6127  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ruter">ruter (4)</a></li>
6128
6129  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/scraperwiki">scraperwiki (2)</a></li>
6130
6131  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet (29)</a></li>
6132
6133  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary (4)</a></li>
6134
6135  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/skepsis">skepsis (4)</a></li>
6136
6137  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard (43)</a></li>
6138
6139  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stavekontroll">stavekontroll (3)</a></li>
6140
6141  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stortinget">stortinget (7)</a></li>
6142
6143  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance (15)</a></li>
6144
6145  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sysadmin">sysadmin (1)</a></li>
6146
6147  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/valg">valg (7)</a></li>
6148
6149  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video (38)</a></li>
6150
6151  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/vitenskap">vitenskap (4)</a></li>
6152
6153  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web (26)</a></li>
6154
6155 </ul>
6156
6157
6158     </div>
6159     <p style="text-align: right">
6160  Created by <a href="http://steve.org.uk/Software/chronicle">Chronicle v4.6</a>
6161 </p>
6162
6163   </body>
6164 </html>