<link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/</link>
<atom:link href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/index.rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
+ <item>
+ <title>Appstream just learned how to map hardware to packages too!</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Appstream_just_learned_how_to_map_hardware_to_packages_too_.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Appstream_just_learned_how_to_map_hardware_to_packages_too_.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Fri, 23 Dec 2016 10:30:00 +0100</pubDate>
+ <description><p>I received a very nice Christmas present today. As my regular
+readers probably know, I have been working on the
+<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">the Isenkram
+system</a> for many years. The goal of the Isenkram system is to make
+it easier for users to figure out what to install to get a given piece
+of hardware to work in Debian, and a key part of this system is a way
+to map hardware to packages. Isenkram have its own mapping database,
+and also uses data provided by each package using the AppStream
+metadata format. And today,
+<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/appstream">AppStream</a> in
+Debian learned to look up hardware the same way Isenkram is doing it,
+ie using fnmatch():</p>
+
+<p><pre>
+% appstreamcli what-provides modalias \
+ usb:v1130p0202d0100dc00dsc00dp00ic03isc00ip00in00
+Identifier: pymissile [generic]
+Name: pymissile
+Summary: Control original Striker USB Missile Launcher
+Package: pymissile
+% appstreamcli what-provides modalias usb:v0694p0002d0000
+Identifier: libnxt [generic]
+Name: libnxt
+Summary: utility library for talking to the LEGO Mindstorms NXT brick
+Package: libnxt
+---
+Identifier: t2n [generic]
+Name: t2n
+Summary: Simple command-line tool for Lego NXT
+Package: t2n
+---
+Identifier: python-nxt [generic]
+Name: python-nxt
+Summary: Python driver/interface/wrapper for the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot
+Package: python-nxt
+---
+Identifier: nbc [generic]
+Name: nbc
+Summary: C compiler for LEGO Mindstorms NXT bricks
+Package: nbc
+%
+</pre></p>
+
+<p>A similar query can be done using the combined AppStream and
+Isenkram databases using the isenkram-lookup tool:</p>
+
+<p><pre>
+% isenkram-lookup usb:v1130p0202d0100dc00dsc00dp00ic03isc00ip00in00
+pymissile
+% isenkram-lookup usb:v0694p0002d0000
+libnxt
+nbc
+python-nxt
+t2n
+%
+</pre></p>
+
+<p>If you want to make this system a success and help Debian users
+make the most of the hardware they have, please
+help<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/AppStream/Guidelines">add
+AppStream metadata for your package following the guidelines</a>
+documented in the wiki. So far only 11 packages provide such
+information, among the several hundred hardware specific packages in
+Debian. The Isenkram database on the other hand contain 101 packages,
+mostly related to USB dongles. Most of the packages with hardware
+mapping in AppStream are LEGO Mindstorms related, because I have, as
+part of my involvement in
+<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/LegoDesigners">the Debian LEGO
+team</a> given priority to making sure LEGO users get proposed the
+complete set of packages in Debian for that particular hardware. The
+team also got a nice Christmas present today. The
+<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/nxt-firmware">nxt-firmware
+package</a> made it into Debian. With this package in place, it is
+not possible to use the LEGO Mindstorms NXT unit with only free
+software, as the nxt-firmware package contain the source and firmware
+binaries for the NXT brick.</p>
+
+<p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my
+activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address
+<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b&label=PetterReinholdtsenBlog">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p>
+</description>
+ </item>
+
<item>
<title>Isenkram updated with a lot more hardware-package mappings</title>
<link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Isenkram_updated_with_a_lot_more_hardware_package_mappings.html</link>
</description>
</item>
- <item>
- <title>How to talk with your loved ones in private</title>
- <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_talk_with_your_loved_ones_in_private.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_talk_with_your_loved_ones_in_private.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Mon, 7 Nov 2016 10:25:00 +0100</pubDate>
- <description><p>A few days ago I ran a very biased and informal survey to get an
-idea about what options are being used to communicate with end to end
-encryption with friends and family. I explicitly asked people not to
-list options only used in a work setting. The background is the
-uneasy feeling I get when using Signal, a feeling shared by others as
-a blog post from Sander Venima about
-<a href="https://sandervenema.ch/2016/11/why-i-wont-recommend-signal-anymore/">why
-he do not recommend Signal anymore</a> (with
-<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12883410">feedback from
-the Signal author available from ycombinator</a>). I wanted an
-overview of the options being used, and hope to include those options
-in a less biased survey later on. So far I have not taken the time to
-look into the individual proposed systems. They range from text
-sharing web pages, via file sharing and email to instant messaging,
-VOIP and video conferencing. For those considering which system to
-use, it is also useful to have a look at
-<a href="https://www.eff.org/secure-messaging-scorecard">the EFF Secure
-messaging scorecard</a> which is slightly out of date but still
-provide valuable information.</p>
-
-<p>So, on to the list. There were some used by many, some used by a
-few, some rarely used ones and a few mentioned but without anyone
-claiming to use them. Notice the grouping is in reality quite random
-given the biased self selected set of participants. First the ones
-used by many:</p>
-
-<ul>
-
-<li><a href="https://whispersystems.org/">Signal</a></li>
-<li>Email w/<a href="http://openpgp.org/">OpenPGP</a> (Enigmail, GPGSuite,etc)</li>
-<li><a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/">Whatsapp</a></li>
-<li>IRC w/<a href="https://otr.cypherpunks.ca/">OTR</a></li>
-<li>XMPP w/<a href="https://otr.cypherpunks.ca/">OTR</a></li>
-
-</ul>
-
-<p>Then the ones used by a few.</p>
-
-<ul>
-
-<li><a href="https://wiki.mumble.info/wiki/Main_Page">Mumble</a></li>
-<li>iMessage (included in iOS from Apple)</li>
-<li><a href="https://telegram.org/">Telegram</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://jitsi.org/">Jitsi</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://keybase.io/download">Keybase file</a></li>
-
-</ul>
-
-<p>Then the ones used by even fewer people</p>
-
-<ul>
-
-<li><a href="https://ring.cx/">Ring</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://bitmessage.org/">Bitmessage</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://wire.com/">Wire</a></li>
-<li>VoIP w/<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZRTP">ZRTP</a> or controlled <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Real-time_Transport_Protocol">SRTP</a> (e.g using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSipSimple">CSipSimple</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linphone">Linphone</a>)</li>
-<li><a href="https://matrix.org/">Matrix</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://kontalk.org/">Kontalk</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://0bin.net/">0bin</a> (encrypted pastebin)</li>
-<li><a href="https://appear.in">Appear.in</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://riot.im/">riot</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://www.wickr.com/">Wickr Me</a></li>
-
-</ul>
-
-<p>And finally the ones mentioned by not marked as used by
-anyone. This might be a mistake, perhaps the person adding the entry
-forgot to flag it as used?</p>
-
-<ul>
-
-<li>Email w/Certificates <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/MIME">S/MIME</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://www.crypho.com/">Crypho</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://cryptpad.fr/">CryptPad</a></li>
-<li><a href="https://github.com/ricochet-im/ricochet">ricochet</a></li>
-
-</ul>
-
-<p>Given the network effect it seem obvious to me that we as a society
-have been divided and conquered by those interested in keeping
-encrypted and secure communication away from the masses. The
-finishing remarks <a href="https://vimeo.com/97505679">from Aral Balkan
-in his talk "Free is a lie"</a> about the usability of free software
-really come into effect when you want to communicate in private with
-your friends and family. We can not expect them to allow the
-usability of communication tool to block their ability to talk to
-their loved ones.</p>
-
-<p>Note for example the option IRC w/OTR. Most IRC clients do not
-have OTR support, so in most cases OTR would not be an option, even if
-you wanted to. In my personal experience, about 1 in 20 I talk to
-have a IRC client with OTR. For private communication to really be
-available, most people to talk to must have the option in their
-currently used client. I can not simply ask my family to install an
-IRC client. I need to guide them through a technical multi-step
-process of adding extensions to the client to get them going. This is
-a non-starter for most.</p>
-
-<p>I would like to be able to do video phone calls, audio phone calls,
-exchange instant messages and share files with my loved ones, without
-being forced to share with people I do not know. I do not want to
-share the content of the conversations, and I do not want to share who
-I communicate with or the fact that I communicate with someone.
-Without all these factors in place, my private life is being more or
-less invaded.</p>
-</description>
- </item>
-
</channel>
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