X-Git-Url: https://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/077f8315e2f15d59f26baadef824d42cc1c42935..ae5db6d19f3d85fdd5e7bd4c12be28fa3f15fc43:/blog/archive/2014/04/04.rss diff --git a/blog/archive/2014/04/04.rss b/blog/archive/2014/04/04.rss index d764a57053..71971f80f2 100644 --- a/blog/archive/2014/04/04.rss +++ b/blog/archive/2014/04/04.rss @@ -6,6 +6,310 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + Half the Coverity issues in Gnash fixed in the next release + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Half_the_Coverity_issues_in_Gnash_fixed_in_the_next_release.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Half_the_Coverity_issues_in_Gnash_fixed_in_the_next_release.html + Tue, 29 Apr 2014 14:20:00 +0200 + <p>I've been following <a href="http://www.getgnash.org/">the Gnash +project</a> for quite a while now. It is a free software +implementation of Adobe Flash, both a standalone player and a browser +plugin. Gnash implement support for the AVM1 format (and not the +newer AVM2 format - see +<a href="http://lightspark.github.io/">Lightspark</a> for that one), +allowing several flash based sites to work. Thanks to the friendly +developers at Youtube, it also work with Youtube videos, because the +Javascript code at Youtube detect Gnash and serve a AVM1 player to +those users. :) Would be great if someone found time to implement AVM2 +support, but it has not happened yet. If you install both Lightspark +and Gnash, Lightspark will invoke Gnash if it find a AVM1 flash file, +so you can get both handled as free software. Unfortunately, +Lightspark so far only implement a small subset of AVM2, and many +sites do not work yet.</p> + +<p>A few months ago, I started looking at +<a href="http://scan.coverity.com/">Coverity</a>, the static source +checker used to find heaps and heaps of bugs in free software (thanks +to the donation of a scanning service to free software projects by the +company developing this non-free code checker), and Gnash was one of +the projects I decided to check out. Coverity is able to find lock +errors, memory errors, dead code and more. A few days ago they even +extended it to also be able to find the heartbleed bug in OpenSSL. +There are heaps of checks being done on the instrumented code, and the +amount of bogus warnings is quite low compared to the other static +code checkers I have tested over the years.</p> + +<p>Since a few weeks ago, I've been working with the other Gnash +developers squashing bugs discovered by Coverity. I was quite happy +today when I checked the current status and saw that of the 777 issues +detected so far, 374 are marked as fixed. This make me confident that +the next Gnash release will be more stable and more dependable than +the previous one. Most of the reported issues were and are in the +test suite, but it also found a few in the rest of the code.</p> + +<p>If you want to help out, you find us on +<a href="https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnash-dev">the +gnash-dev mailing list</a> and on +<a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/#gnash">the #gnash channel on +irc.freenode.net IRC server</a>.</p> + + + + + Install hardware dependent packages using tasksel (Isenkram 0.7) + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Install_hardware_dependent_packages_using_tasksel__Isenkram_0_7_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Install_hardware_dependent_packages_using_tasksel__Isenkram_0_7_.html + Wed, 23 Apr 2014 14:50:00 +0200 + <p>It would be nice if it was easier in Debian to get all the hardware +related packages relevant for the computer installed automatically. +So I implemented one, using +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">my Isenkram +package</a>. To use it, install the tasksel and isenkram packages and +run tasksel as user root. You should be presented with a new option, +"Hardware specific packages (autodetected by isenkram)". When you +select it, tasksel will install the packages isenkram claim is fit for +the current hardware, hot pluggable or not.<p> + +<p>The implementation is in two files, one is the tasksel menu entry +description, and the other is the script used to extract the list of +packages to install. The first part is in +<tt>/usr/share/tasksel/descs/isenkram.desc</tt> and look like +this:</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +Task: isenkram +Section: hardware +Description: Hardware specific packages (autodetected by isenkram) + Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific packages are + proposed. +Test-new-install: mark show +Relevance: 8 +Packages: for-current-hardware +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>The second part is in +<tt>/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/for-current-hardware</tt> and look like +this:</p> + +<p><blockquote><pre> +#!/bin/sh +# +( + isenkram-lookup + isenkram-autoinstall-firmware -l +) | sort -u +</pre></blockquote></p> + +<p>All in all, a very short and simple implementation making it +trivial to install the hardware dependent package we all may want to +have installed on our machines. I've not been able to find a way to +get tasksel to tell you exactly which packages it plan to install +before doing the installation. So if you are curious or careful, +check the output from the isenkram-* command line tools first.</p> + +<p>The information about which packages are handling which hardware is +fetched either from the isenkram package itself in +/usr/share/isenkram/, from git.debian.org or from the APT package +database (using the Modaliases header). The APT package database +parsing have caused a nasty resource leak in the isenkram daemon (bugs +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/719837">#719837</a> and +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/730704">#730704</a>). The cause is in +the python-apt code (bug +<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/745487">#745487</a>), but using a +workaround I was able to get rid of the file descriptor leak and +reduce the memory leak from ~30 MiB per hardware detection down to +around 2 MiB per hardware detection. It should make the desktop +daemon a lot more useful. The fix is in version 0.7 uploaded to +unstable today.</p> + +<p>I believe the current way of mapping hardware to packages in +Isenkram is is a good draft, but in the future I expect isenkram to +use the AppStream data source for this. A proposal for getting proper +AppStream support into Debian is floating around as +<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DEP-11">DEP-11</a>, and +<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/SummerOfCode2014/Projects#SummerOfCode2014.2FProjects.2FAppStreamDEP11Implementation.AppStream.2FDEP-11_for_the_Debian_Archive">GSoC +project</a> will take place this summer to improve the situation. I +look forward to seeing the result, and welcome patches for isenkram to +start using the information when it is ready.</p> + +<p>If you want your package to map to some specific hardware, either +add a "Xb-Modaliases" header to your control file like I did in +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/pymissile">the pymissile +package</a> or submit a bug report with the details to the isenkram +package. See also +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/isenkram/">all my +blog posts tagged isenkram</a> for details on the notation. I expect +the information will be migrated to AppStream eventually, but for the +moment I got no better place to store it.</p> + + + + + FreedomBox milestone - all packages now in Debian Sid + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/FreedomBox_milestone___all_packages_now_in_Debian_Sid.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/FreedomBox_milestone___all_packages_now_in_Debian_Sid.html + Tue, 15 Apr 2014 22:10:00 +0200 + <p>The <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox">Freedombox +project</a> is working on providing the software and hardware to make +it easy for non-technical people to host their data and communication +at home, and being able to communicate with their friends and family +encrypted and away from prying eyes. It is still going strong, and +today a major mile stone was reached.</p> + +<p>Today, the last of the packages currently used by the project to +created the system images were accepted into Debian Unstable. It was +the freedombox-setup package, which is used to configure the images +during build and on the first boot. Now all one need to get going is +the build code from the freedom-maker git repository and packages from +Debian. And once the freedombox-setup package enter testing, we can +build everything directly from Debian. :)</p> + +<p>Some key packages used by Freedombox are +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/freedombox-setup">freedombox-setup</a>, +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/plinth">plinth</a>, +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/pagekite">pagekite</a>, +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/tor">tor</a>, +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/privoxy">privoxy</a>, +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/owncloud">owncloud</a> and +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/dnsmasq">dnsmasq</a>. There +are plans to integrate more packages into the setup. User +documentation is maintained on the Debian wiki. Please +<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Manual/Jessie">check out +the manual</a> and help us improve it.</p> + +<p>To test for yourself and create boot images with the FreedomBox +setup, run this on a Debian machine using a user with sudo rights to +become root:</p> + +<p><pre> +sudo apt-get install git vmdebootstrap mercurial python-docutils \ + mktorrent extlinux virtualbox qemu-user-static binfmt-support \ + u-boot-tools +git clone http://anonscm.debian.org/git/freedombox/freedom-maker.git \ + freedom-maker +make -C freedom-maker dreamplug-image raspberry-image virtualbox-image +</pre></p> + +<p>Root access is needed to run debootstrap and mount loopback +devices. See the README in the freedom-maker git repo for more +details on the build. If you do not want all three images, trim the +make line. Note that the virtualbox-image target is not really +virtualbox specific. It create a x86 image usable in kvm, qemu, +vmware and any other x86 virtual machine environment. You might need +the version of vmdebootstrap in Jessie to get the build working, as it +include fixes for a race condition with kpartx.</p> + +<p>If you instead want to install using a Debian CD and the preseed +method, boot a Debian Wheezy ISO and use this boot argument to load +the preseed values:</p> + +<p><pre> +url=<a href="http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-jessie.dat">http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-jessie.dat</a> +</pre></p> + +<p>I have not tested it myself the last few weeks, so I do not know if +it still work.</p> + +<p>If you wonder how to help, one task you could look at is using +systemd as the boot system. It will become the default for Linux in +Jessie, so we need to make sure it is usable on the Freedombox. I did +a simple test a few weeks ago, and noticed dnsmasq failed to start +during boot when using systemd. I suspect there are other problems +too. :) To detect problems, there is a test suite included, which can +be run from the plinth web interface.</p> + +<p>Give it a go and let us know how it goes on the mailing list, and help +us get the new release published. :) Please join us on +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org:6667/%23freedombox">IRC (#freedombox on +irc.debian.org)</a> and +<a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss">the +mailing list</a> if you want to help make this vision come true.</p> + + + + + Språkkoder for POSIX locale i Norge + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Spr_kkoder_for_POSIX_locale_i_Norge.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Spr_kkoder_for_POSIX_locale_i_Norge.html + Fri, 11 Apr 2014 21:30:00 +0200 + <p>For 12 år siden, skrev jeg et lite notat om +<a href="http://i18n.skolelinux.no/localekoder.txt">bruk av språkkoder +i Norge</a>. Jeg ble nettopp minnet på dette da jeg fikk spørsmål om +notatet fortsatt var aktuelt, og tenkte det var greit å repetere hva +som fortsatt gjelder. Det jeg skrev da er fortsatt like aktuelt.</p> + +<p>Når en velger språk i programmer på unix, så velger en blant mange +språkkoder. For språk i Norge anbefales følgende språkkoder (anbefalt +locale i parantes):</p> + +<p><dl> +<dt>nb (nb_NO)</dt><dd>Bokmål i Norge</dd> +<dt>nn (nn_NO)</dt><dd>Nynorsk i Norge</dd> +<dt>se (se_NO)</dt><dd>Nordsamisk i Norge</dd> +</dl></p> + +<p>Alle programmer som bruker andre koder bør endres.</p> + +<p>Språkkoden bør brukes når .po-filer navngis og installeres. Dette +er ikke det samme som locale-koden. For Norsk Bokmål, så bør filene +være navngitt nb.po, mens locale (LANG) bør være nb_NO.</p> + +<p>Hvis vi ikke får standardisert de kodene i alle programmene med +norske oversettelser, så er det umulig å gi LANG-variablen ett innhold +som fungerer for alle programmer.</p> + +<p>Språkkodene er de offisielle kodene fra ISO 639, og bruken av dem i +forbindelse med POSIX localer er standardisert i RFC 3066 og ISO +15897. Denne anbefalingen er i tråd med de angitte standardene.</p> + +<p>Følgende koder er eller har vært i bruk som locale-verdier for +"norske" språk. Disse bør unngås, og erstattes når de oppdages:</p> + +<p><table> +<tr><td>norwegian</td><td>-> nb_NO</td></tr> +<tr><td>bokmål </td><td>-> nb_NO</td></tr> +<tr><td>bokmal </td><td>-> nb_NO</td></tr> +<tr><td>nynorsk </td><td>-> nn_NO</td></tr> +<tr><td>no </td><td>-> nb_NO</td></tr> +<tr><td>no_NO </td><td>-> nb_NO</td></tr> +<tr><td>no_NY </td><td>-> nn_NO</td></tr> +<tr><td>sme_NO </td><td>-> se_NO</td></tr> +</table></p> + +<p>Merk at når det gjelder de samiske språkene, at se_NO i praksis +henviser til nordsamisk i Norge, mens f.eks. smj_NO henviser til +lulesamisk. Dette notatet er dog ikke ment å gi råd rundt samiske +språkkoder, der gjør +<a href="http://www.divvun.no/">Divvun-prosjektet</a> en bedre +jobb.</p> + +<p><strong>Referanser:</strong></p> + +<ul> + + <li><a href="http://www.rfc-base.org/rfc-3066.html">RFC 3066 - Tags + for the Identification of Languages</a> (Erstatter RFC 1766)</li> + + <li><a href="http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/langcodes.html">ISO + 639</a> - Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages</li> + + <li><a href="http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc22/wg20/docs/n897-14652w25.pdf">ISO + DTR 14652</a> - locale-standard Specification method for cultural + conventions</li> + + <li><a href="http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc22/wg20/docs/n610.pdf">ISO + 15897: Registration procedures for cultural elements (cultural + registry)</a>, + <a href="http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc22/wg20/docs/n849-15897wd6.pdf">(nytt + draft)</a></li> + + <li><a href="http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc22/wg20/">ISO/IEC + JTC1/SC22/WG20</a> - Gruppen for i18n-standardisering i ISO</li> + +<ul> + + + S3QL, a locally mounted cloud file system - nice free software http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/S3QL__a_locally_mounted_cloud_file_system___nice_free_software.html @@ -251,7 +555,7 @@ storage. I did not try to locate them all, but am aware of at least <a href="http://crowncloud.net/">Crowncloud</A>. The latter even accept payment in Bitcoin. Pick one that suit your need. Some of them provide several GiB of free storage, but the prize models are -quire different and you will have to figure out what suit you +quite different and you will have to figure out what suits you best.</p> <p>While researching this blog post, I had a look at research papers