X-Git-Url: https://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/fb6ba24594960258911140b7f18489ea97cf2549..72dd5eb1f173d81384db68228e1b646d2f64c2de:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index 2028bfd7c8..865cf46a1c 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,136 +20,191 @@
-
Oslo community mesh network - with NUUG and Hackeriet at Hausmania
-
11th October 2013
-

Wireless mesh networks are self organising and self healing -networks that can be used to connect computers across small and large -areas, depending on the radio technology used. Normal wifi equipment -can be used to create home made radio networks, and there are several -successful examples like -Freifunk and -Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network -(see -wikipedia -for a large list) around the globe. To give you an idea how it -work, check out the nice overview of the Kiel Freifunk community which -can be seen from their -dynamically -updated node graph and map, where one can see how the mesh nodes -automatically handle routing and recover from nodes disappearing. -There is also a small community mesh network group in Oslo, Norway, -and that is the main topic of this blog post.

- -

I've wanted to check out mesh networks for a while now, and hoped -to do it as part of my involvement with the NUUG member organisation community, and -my recent involvement in -the Freedombox project -finally lead me to give mesh networks some priority, as I suspect a -Freedombox should use mesh networks to connect neighbours and family -when possible, given that most communication between people are -between those nearby (as shown for example by research on Facebook -communication patterns). It also allow people to communicate without -any central hub to tap into for those that want to listen in on the -private communication of citizens, which have become more and more -important over the years.

- -

So far I have only been able to find one group of people in Oslo -working on community mesh networks, over at the hack space -Hackeriet at Husmania. They seem to -have started with some Freifunk based effort using OLSR, called -the Oslo -Freifunk project, but that effort is now dead and the people -behind it have moved on to a batman-adv based system called -meshfx. Unfortunately the wiki -site for the Oslo Freifunk project is no longer possible to update to -reflect this fact, so the old project page can't be updated to point to -the new project. A while back, the people at Hackeriet invited people -from the Freifunk community to Oslo to talk about mesh networks. I -came across this video where Hans Jørgen Lysglimt interview the -speakers about this talk (from -youtube):

- -

- -

I mentioned OLSR and batman-adv, which are mesh routing protocols. -There are heaps of different protocols, and I am still struggling to -figure out which one would be "best" for some definitions of best, but -given that the community mesh group in Oslo is so small, I believe it -is best to hook up with the existing one instead of trying to create a -completely different setup, and thus this have decided to focus on -batman-adv for now. It sure help me to know that the very cool -Serval project in Australia -is using batman-adv as their meshing technology when it create a self -organizing and self healing telephony system for disaster areas and -less industrialized communities. Check out this cool video presenting -that project (from -youtube):

- -

- -

According to the wikipedia page on -Wireless -mesh network there are around 70 competing schemes for routing -packets across mesh networks, and OLSR, B.A.T.M.A.N. and -B.A.T.M.A.N. advanced are protocols used by several free software -based community mesh networks.

- -

The batman-adv protocol is a bit special, as it provide layer 2 -(as in ethernet ) routing, allowing ipv4 and ipv6 to work on the same -network. One way to think about it is that it provide a mesh based -vlan you can bridge to or handle like any other vlan connected to your -computer. The required drivers are already in the Linux kernel at -least since Debian Wheezy, and it is fairly easy to set up. A -good -introduction is available from the Open Mesh project. These are -the key settings needed to join the Oslo meshfx network:

- - - - - - - -
SettingValue
Protocol / kernel modulebatman-adv
ESSIDmeshfx@hackeriet
Channel / Frequency11 / 2462
Cell ID02:BA:00:00:00:01
- -

The reason for setting ad-hoc wifi Cell ID is to work around bugs -in firmware used in wifi card and wifi drivers. (See a nice post from -VillageTelco about -"Information -about cell-id splitting, stuck beacons, and failed IBSS merges! -for details.) When these settings are activated and you have some -other mesh node nearby, your computer will be connected to the mesh -network and can communicate with any mesh node that is connected to -any of the nodes in your network of nodes. :)

- -

My initial plan was to reuse my old Linksys WRT54GL as a mesh node, -but that seem to be very hard, as I have not been able to locate a -firmware supporting batman-adv. If anyone know how to use that old -wifi access point with batman-adv these days, please let me know.

- -

If you find this project interesting and want to join, please join -us on IRC, either channel -#oslohackerspace -or #nuug on -irc.freenode.net.

- -

While investigating mesh networks in Oslo, I came across an old -research paper from the university of Stavanger and Telenor Research -and Innovation called -The -reliability of wireless backhaul mesh networks and elsewhere -learned that Telenor have been experimenting with mesh networks at -Grünerløkka in Oslo. So mesh networks are also interesting for -commercial companies, even though Telenor discovered that it was hard -to figure out a good business plan for mesh networking and as far as I -know have closed down the experiment. Perhaps Telenor or others would -be interested in a cooperation?

+
First Jessie based Debian Edu released (alpha0)
+
27th October 2014
+

I am happy to report that I just sent out +this +announcement:

+ +
+The Debian Edu Team is pleased to announce the release of Debian Edu
+Jessie 8.0+edu0~alpha0
+
+Debian Edu is a complete operating system for schools. Through its
+various installation profiles you can install servers, workstations
+and laptops which will work together on the school network. With
+Debian Edu, the teachers themselves or their technical support can
+roll out a complete multi-user multi-machine study environment within
+hours or a few days. Debian Edu comes with hundreds of applications
+pre-installed, but you can always add more packages from Debian.
+
+For those who want to give Debian Edu Jessie a try, download and
+installation instructions are available, including detailed
+instructions in the manual[1] explaining the first steps, such as
+setting up a network or adding users. Please note that the password
+for the user your prompted for during installation must have a length
+of at least 5 characters!
+
+ [1] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie >
+
+Would you like to give your school's computer a longer life? Are you
+tired of sneaker administration, running from computer to computer
+reinstalling the operating system? Would you like to administrate all
+the computers in your school using only a couple of hours every week?
+Check out Debian Edu Jessie!
+
+Skolelinux is used by at least two hundred schools all over the world,
+mostly in Germany and Norway.
+
+About Debian Edu and Skolelinux
+===============================
+
+Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux[2], is a Linux distribution based
+on Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely
+configured school network. Immediately after installation a school
+server running all services needed for a school network is set up just
+waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable
+Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after
+initial installation of the main server from CD or USB stick all other
+machines can be installed via the network.  The provided school server
+provides LDAP database and Kerberos authentication service,
+centralized home directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other
+services.  The desktop contains more than 60 educational software
+packages[3] and more are available from the Debian archive, and
+schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE, Xfce and MATE desktop
+environment.
+
+ [2] <URL: http://www.skolelinux.org/ >
+ [3] <URL: http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html >
+
+Full release notes and manual
+=============================
+
+Below the download URLs there is a list of some of the new features
+and bugfixes of Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie. The full
+list is part of the manual. (See the feature list in the manual[4] for
+the English version.) For some languages manual translations are
+available, see the manual translation overview[5].
+
+ [4] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/Features >
+ [5] <URL: http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/ >
+
+Where to get it
+---------------
+
+To download the multiarch netinstall CD release (624 MiB) you can use
+
+ * ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso
+ * http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso
+ * rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso .
+
+The SHA1SUM of this image is: 361188818e036ce67280a572f757de82ebfeb095
+
+New features for Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie released 2014-10-27
+===============================================================================
+
+
+Installation changes
+--------------------
+
+ * PXE installation now installs firmware automatically for the hardware present.
+
+Software updates
+----------------
+
+Everything which is new in Debian Jessie 8.0, eg:
+
+ * Linux kernel 3.16.x
+ * Desktop environments KDE "Plasma" 4.11.12, GNOME 3.14, Xfce 4.10,
+   LXDE 0.5.6 and MATE 1.8 (KDE "Plasma" is installed by default; to
+   choose one of the others see manual.)
+ * the browsers Iceweasel 31 ESR and Chromium 38 
+ * !LibreOffice 4.3.3
+ * GOsa 2.7.4
+ * LTSP 5.5.4
+ * CUPS print system 1.7.5
+ * new boot framework: systemd
+ * Educational toolbox GCompris 14.07 
+ * Music creator Rosegarden 14.02
+ * Image editor Gimp 2.8.14
+ * Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.13.0
+ * golearn 0.9
+ * tuxpaint 0.9.22
+ * New version of debian-installer from Debian Jessie.
+ * Debian Jessie includes about 42000 packages available for
+   installation.
+ * More information about Debian Jessie 8.0 is provided in the release
+   notes[6] and the installation manual[7].
+
+ [6] <URL: http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes >
+ [7] <URL: http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual >
+
+Fixed bugs
+----------
+
+ * Inserting incorrect DNS information in Gosa will no longer break
+   DNS completely, but instead stop DNS updates until the incorrect
+   information is corrected (Debian bug #710362)
+ * and many others.
+
+Documentation and translation updates
+------------------------------------- 
+
+ * The Debian Edu Jessie Manual is fully translated to German, French,
+   Italian, Danish and Dutch. Partly translated versions exist for
+   Norwegian Bokmal and Spanish.
+
+Other changes
+-------------
+
+ * Due to new Squid settings, powering off or rebooting the main
+   server takes more time.
+ * To manage printers localhost:631 has to be used, currently www:631
+   doesn't work.
+
+Regressions / known problems
+----------------------------
+
+ * Installing LTSP chroot fails with a bug related to eatmydata about
+   exim4-config failing to run its postinst (see Debian bug #765694
+   and Debian bug #762103).
+ * Munin collection is not properly configured on clients (Debian bug
+   #764594).  The fix is available in a newer version of munin-node.
+ * PXE setup for Main Server and Thin Client Server setup does not
+   work when installing on a machine without direct Internet access.
+   Will be fixed when Debian bug #766960 is fixed in Jessie.
+
+See the status page[8] for the complete list.
+
+ [8] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie >
+
+How to report bugs
+------------------
+
+<URL: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs >
+
+About Debian
+============
+
+The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly
+free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of
+the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of
+volunteers from all over the world work together to create and
+maintain Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a
+huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the universal
+operating system.
+
+Contact Information
+For further information, please visit the Debian web pages[9] or send
+mail to press@debian.org.
+
+ [9] <URL: http://www.debian.org/ >
+
- Tags: english, freedombox, nuug. + Tags: debian edu, english.
@@ -157,37 +212,32 @@ be interested in a cooperation?

-
Skolelinux / Debian Edu 7.1 install and overview video from Marcelo Salvador
-
8th October 2013
-

The other day I was pleased and surprised to discover that Marcelo -Salvador had published a -video on -Youtube showing how to install the standalone Debian Edu / -Skolelinux profile. This is the profile intended for use at home or -on laptops that should not be integrated into the provided network -services (no central home directory, no Kerberos / LDAP directory etc, -in other word a single user machine). The result is 11 minutes long, -and show some user applications (seem to be rather randomly picked). -Missed a few of my favorites like celestia, planets and chromium -showing the Zygote Body 3D model -of the human body, but I guess he did not know about those or find -other programs more interesting. :) And the video do not show the -advantages I believe is one of the most valuable featuers in Debian -Edu, its central school server making it possible to run hundreds of -computers without hard drives by installing one central -LTSP server.

- -

Anyway, check out the video, embedded below and linked to above:

- - - -

Are there other nice videos demonstrating Skolelinux? Please let -me know. :)

+
I spent last weekend recording MakerCon Nordic
+
23rd October 2014
+

I spent last weekend at Makercon +Nordic, a great conference and workshop for makers in Norway and +the surrounding countries. I had volunteered on behalf of the +Norwegian Unix Users Group (NUUG) to video record the talks, and we +had a great and exhausting time recording the entire day, two days in +a row. There were only two of us, Hans-Petter and me, and we used the +regular video equipment for NUUG, with a +dvswitch, a +camera and a VGA to DV convert box, and mixed video and slides +live.

+ +

Hans-Petter did the post-processing, consisting of uploading the +around 180 GiB of raw video to Youtube, and the result is +now becoming +public on the MakerConNordic account. The videos have the license +NUUG always use on our recordings, which is +Creative +Commons Navngivelse-Del på samme vilkår 3.0 Norge. Many great +talks available. Check it out! :)

- Tags: debian edu, english, video. + Tags: english, nuug, video.
@@ -195,23 +245,96 @@ me know. :)

-
Finally, Debian Edu Wheezy is released today!
-
29th September 2013
-

A few hours ago, the announcement for the first stable release of -Debian Edu Wheezy went out from the Debian publicity team. The -complete announcement text can be found at -the Debian News -section, translated to several languages. Please check it out.

- -

There is one minor known problem that we will fix very soon. One -can not install a amd64 Thin Client Server using PXE, as the /var/ -partition is too small. A workaround is to extend the partition (use -lvresize + resize2fs in tty 2 while installing).

+
listadmin, the quick way to moderate mailman lists - nice free software
+
22nd October 2014
+

If you ever had to moderate a mailman list, like the ones on +alioth.debian.org, you know the web interface is fairly slow to +operate. First you visit one web page, enter the moderation password +and get a new page shown with a list of all the messages to moderate +and various options for each email address. This take a while for +every list you moderate, and you need to do it regularly to do a good +job as a list moderator. But there is a quick alternative, +the +listadmin program. It allow you to check lists for new messages +to moderate in a fraction of a second. Here is a test run on two +lists I recently took over:

+ +

+% time listadmin xiph
+fetching data for pkg-xiph-commits@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue
+fetching data for pkg-xiph-maint@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue
+
+real    0m1.709s
+user    0m0.232s
+sys     0m0.012s
+%
+

+ +

In 1.7 seconds I had checked two mailing lists and confirmed that +there are no message in the moderation queue. Every morning I +currently moderate 68 mailman lists, and it normally take around two +minutes. When I took over the two pkg-xiph lists above a few days +ago, there were 400 emails waiting in the moderator queue. It took me +less than 15 minutes to process them all using the listadmin +program.

+ +

If you install +the listadmin +package from Debian and create a file ~/.listadmin.ini +with content like this, the moderation task is a breeze:

+ +

+username username@example.org
+spamlevel 23
+default discard
+discard_if_reason "Posting restricted to members only. Remove us from your mail list."
+
+password secret
+adminurl https://{domain}/mailman/admindb/{list}
+mailman-list@lists.example.com
+
+password hidden
+other-list@otherserver.example.org
+

+ +

There are other options to set as well. Check the manual page to +learn the details.

+ +

If you are forced to moderate lists on a mailman installation where +the SSL certificate is self signed or not properly signed by a +generally accepted signing authority, you can set a environment +variable when calling listadmin to disable SSL verification:

+ +

+PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 listadmin
+

+ +

If you want to moderate a subset of the lists you take care of, you +can provide an argument to the listadmin script like I do in the +initial screen dump (the xiph argument). Using an argument, only +lists matching the argument string will be processed. This make it +quick to accept messages if you notice the moderation request in your +email.

+ +

Without the listadmin program, I would never be the moderator of 68 +mailing lists, as I simply do not have time to spend on that if the +process was any slower. The listadmin program have saved me hours of +time I could spend elsewhere over the years. It truly is nice free +software.

+ +

As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.

+ +

Update 2014-10-27: Added missing 'username' statement in +configuration example. Also, I've been told that the +PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 setting do not work for everyone. Not +sure why.

- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: debian, english.
@@ -219,72 +342,114 @@ lvresize + resize2fs in tty 2 while installing).

-
Videos about the Freedombox project - for inspiration and learning
-
27th September 2013
-

The Freedombox -project have been going on for a while, and have presented the -vision, ideas and solution several places. Here is a little -collection of videos of talks and presentation of the project.

- - - -

A larger list is available from -the -Freedombox Wiki.

- -

On other news, I am happy to report that Freedombox based on Debian -Jessie is coming along quite well, and soon both Owncloud and using -Tor should be available for testers of the Freedombox solution. :) In -a few weeks I hope everything needed to test it is included in Debian. -The withsqlite package is already in Debian, and the plinth package is -pending in NEW. The third and vital part of that puzzle is the -metapackage/setup framework, which is still pending an upload. Join -us on IRC -(#freedombox on irc.debian.org) and -the -mailing list if you want to help make this vision come true.

+
Debian Jessie, PXE and automatic firmware installation
+
17th October 2014
+

When PXE installing laptops with Debian, I often run into the +problem that the WiFi card require some firmware to work properly. +And it has been a pain to fix this using preseeding in Debian. +Normally something more is needed. But thanks to +my isenkram +package and its recent tasksel extension, it has now become easy +to do this using simple preseeding.

+ +

The isenkram-cli package provide tasksel tasks which will install +firmware for the hardware found in the machine (actually, requested by +the kernel modules for the hardware). (It can also install user space +programs supporting the hardware detected, but that is not the focus +of this story.)

+ +

To get this working in the default installation, two preeseding +values are needed. First, the isenkram-cli package must be installed +into the target chroot (aka the hard drive) before tasksel is executed +in the pkgsel step of the debian-installer system. This is done by +preseeding the base-installer/includes debconf value to include the +isenkram-cli package. The package name is next passed to debootstrap +for installation. With the isenkram-cli package in place, tasksel +will automatically use the isenkram tasks to detect hardware specific +packages for the machine being installed and install them, because +isenkram-cli contain tasksel tasks.

+ +

Second, one need to enable the non-free APT repository, because +most firmware unfortunately is non-free. This is done by preseeding +the apt-mirror-setup step. This is unfortunate, but for a lot of +hardware it is the only option in Debian.

+ +

The end result is two lines needed in your preseeding file to get +firmware installed automatically by the installer:

+ +

+base-installer base-installer/includes string isenkram-cli
+apt-mirror-setup apt-setup/non-free boolean true
+

+ +

The current version of isenkram-cli in testing/jessie will install +both firmware and user space packages when using this method. It also +do not work well, so use version 0.15 or later. Installing both +firmware and user space packages might give you a bit more than you +want, so I decided to split the tasksel task in two, one for firmware +and one for user space programs. The firmware task is enabled by +default, while the one for user space programs is not. This split is +implemented in the package currently in unstable.

+ +

If you decide to give this a go, please let me know (via email) how +this recipe work for you. :)

+ +

So, I bet you are wondering, how can this work. First and +foremost, it work because tasksel is modular, and driven by whatever +files it find in /usr/lib/tasksel/ and /usr/share/tasksel/. So the +isenkram-cli package place two files for tasksel to find. First there +is the task description file (/usr/share/tasksel/descs/isenkram.desc):

+ +

+Task: isenkram-packages
+Section: hardware
+Description: Hardware specific packages (autodetected by isenkram)
+ Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific packages are
+ proposed.
+Test-new-install: show show
+Relevance: 8
+Packages: for-current-hardware
+
+Task: isenkram-firmware
+Section: hardware
+Description: Hardware specific firmware packages (autodetected by isenkram)
+ Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific firmware
+ packages are proposed.
+Test-new-install: mark show
+Relevance: 8
+Packages: for-current-hardware-firmware
+

+ +

The key parts are Test-new-install which indicate how the task +should be handled and the Packages line referencing to a script in +/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/. The scripts use other scripts to get a +list of packages to install. The for-current-hardware-firmware script +look like this to list relevant firmware for the machine: + +

+#!/bin/sh
+#
+PATH=/usr/sbin:$PATH
+export PATH
+isenkram-autoinstall-firmware -l
+

+ +

With those two pieces in place, the firmware is installed by +tasksel during the normal d-i run. :)

+ +

If you want to test what tasksel will install when isenkram-cli is +installed, run DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical tasksel --test +--new-install to get the list of packages that tasksel would +install.

+ +

Debian Edu will be +pilots in testing this feature, as isenkram is used there now to +install firmware, replacing the earlier scripts.

- Tags: debian, english, freedombox, sikkerhet, surveillance, web. + Tags: debian, english, isenkram, sysadmin.
@@ -292,119 +457,23 @@ mailing list if you want to help make this vision come true.

-
Third and probably last beta release of Debian Edu Wheezy
-
16th September 2013
-

The third wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up -today. This is the release announcement from Holger Levsen:

- -
-

Hi,

- -

it is my pleasure to announce the third beta release (beta 2 for -short) of Debian Edu / -Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy!

- -

Please test these images extensivly, if no new problems are found -we plan to do this final Debian Edu Wheezy release this coming -weekend. We are not aware of any major problems or blockers in beta2, -if you find something, please notify us immediately!

- -

(More about the remaining steps for the Edu Wheezy release in -another mail to the edu list tonight or tomorrow...)

- -

Noteworthy changes and software updates for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b2 -compared to beta1:

- -
    - -
  • The KDE proxy setup has been adjusted to use the provided wpad.dat. This -also gets Chromium to use this proxy.
    • -
  • Install kdepim-groupware with KDE desktops to make sure korganizer -understand ical/dav sources.
    • -
  • Increased default maximum size of /var/spool/squid and /skole/backup on the -main server.
    • -
  • A source DVD image containing all source packages is now available as well.
    • -
  • Updates for chromium (29.0.1547.57-1~deb7u1), imagemagick -(6.7.7.10-5+deb7u2), php5 (5.4.4-14+deb7u4), libmodplug -(0.8.8.4-3+deb7u1+git20130828), tiff (4.0.2-6+deb7u2), linux-image -(3.2.0-4-486_3.2.46-1+deb7u1).
    • - -
- -

Where to get it:

- -

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

- - - -

The SHA1SUM of this image is: 3a1c89f4666df80eebcd46c5bf5fedb866f9472f

- -

To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use -

- -

The SHA1SUM of this image is: 702d1718548f401c74bfa6df9f032cc3ee16597e

- -

The Source DVD image has the filename -debian-edu-7.1+edu0~b2-source-DVD.iso and the SHA1SUM -089eed8b3f962db47aae1f6a9685e9bb2fa30ca5 and is available the same way -as the other isos.

- -

How to report bugs

- -

For information how to report bugs please see -
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs

- - -

About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

- -

Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based -on Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely -configured school network. Immediately after installation a school -server running all services needed for a school network is set up just -waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable -Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after -initial installation of the main server from CD or USB stick all other -machines can be installed via the network. The provided school server -provides LDAP database and Kerberos authentication service, -centralized home directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other -services. The desktop contains more than 60 educational software -packages and more are available from the Debian archive, and schools -can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE and Xfce desktop environment.

- -

This is the seventh test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically -this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the -Squeeze release.

- -

Notes for upgrades from Alpha Prereleases

- -

Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the -versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta -release. Both alpha and beta0 based installations should reinstall or -deal with gosa.conf manually; there are two options: (1) Keep -gosa.conf and edit this file as outlined on the mailing list. (2) -Accept the new version of gosa.conf and replace both contained admin -password placeholders with the password hashes found in the old one -(backup copy!). In both cases all users need to change their password -to make sure a password is set for CIFS access to their home -directory.

- - -

cheers, -
Holger

-
+
Ubuntu used to show the bread prizes at ICA Storo
+
4th October 2014
+

Today I came across an unexpected Ubuntu boot screen. Above the +bread shelf on the ICA shop at Storo in Oslo, the grub menu of Ubuntu +with Linux kernel 3.2.0-23 (ie probably version 12.04 LTS) was stuck +on a screen normally showing the bread types and prizes:

+ +

+ +

If it had booted as it was supposed to, I would never had known +about this hidden Linux installation. It is interesting what +errors can reveal.

- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: debian, english.
@@ -412,135 +481,49 @@ directory.

-
Recipe to test the Freedombox project on amd64 or Raspberry Pi
-
10th September 2013
-

I was introduced to the -Freedombox project -in 2010, when Eben Moglen presented his vision about serving the need -of non-technical people to keep their personal information private and -within the legal protection of their own homes. The idea is to give -people back the power over their network and machines, and return -Internet back to its intended peer-to-peer architecture. Instead of -depending on a central service, the Freedombox will give everyone -control over their own basic infrastructure.

- -

I've intended to join the effort since then, but other tasks have -taken priority. But this summers nasty news about the misuse of trust -and privilege exercised by the "western" intelligence gathering -communities increased my eagerness to contribute to a point where I -actually started working on the project a while back.

- -

The initial -Debian initiative based on the vision from Eben Moglen, is to -create a simple and cheap Debian based appliance that anyone can hook -up in their home and get access to secure and private services and -communication. The initial deployment platform have been the -Dreamplug, -which is a piece of hardware I do not own. So to be able to test what -the current Freedombox setup look like, I had to come up with a way to install -it on some hardware I do have access to. I have rewritten the -freedom-maker -image build framework to use .deb packages instead of only copying -setup into the boot images, and thanks to this rewrite I am able to -set up any machine supported by Debian Wheezy as a Freedombox, using -the previously mentioned deb (and a few support debs for packages -missing in Debian).

- -

The current Freedombox setup consist of a set of bootstrapping -scripts -(freedombox-setup), -and a administrative web interface -(plinth + exmachina + -withsqlite), as well as a privacy enhancing proxy based on -privoxy -(freedombox-privoxy). There is also a web/javascript based XMPP -client (jwchat) -trying (unsuccessfully so far) to talk to the XMPP server -(ejabberd). The -web interface is pluggable, and the goal is to use it to enable OpenID -services, mesh network connectivity, use of TOR, etc, etc. Not much of -this is really working yet, see -the -project TODO for links to GIT repositories. Most of the code is -on github at the moment. The HTTP proxy is operational out of the -box, and the admin web interface can be used to add/remove plinth -users. I've not been able to do anything else with it so far, but -know there are several branches spread around github and other places -with lots of half baked features.

- -

Anyway, if you want to have a look at the current state, the -following recipes should work to give you a test machine to poke -at.

- -

Debian Wheezy amd64

- -
    - -
  1. Fetch normal Debian Wheezy installation ISO.
    2. -
  2. Boot from it, either as CD or USB stick.
    3. -

  3. Press [tab] on the boot prompt and add this as a boot argument -to the Debian installer:

    -

    url=http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/preseed-wheezy.dat
    4. - -
  4. Answer the few language/region/password questions and pick disk to -install on.
    5. - -
  5. When the installation is finished and the machine have rebooted a -few times, your Freedombox is ready for testing.
    6. - -
- -

Raspberry Pi Raspbian

- -
    - -
  1. Fetch a Raspbian SD card image, create SD card.
    2. -
  2. Boot from SD card, extend file system to fill the card completely.
    3. -

  3. Log in and add this to /etc/sources.list:

    -
    -deb http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox wheezy main
-
    4. -

  4. Run this as root:

    -
    -wget -O - http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox/BE1A583D.asc | \
-   apt-key add -
-apt-get update
-apt-get install freedombox-setup
-/usr/lib/freedombox/setup
-
    5. -
  5. Reboot into your freshly created Freedombox.
    6. - -
- -

You can test it on other architectures too, but because the -freedombox-privoxy package is binary, it will only work as intended on -the architectures where I have had time to build the binary and put it -in my APT repository. But do not let this stop you. It is only a -short "apt-get source -b freedombox-privoxy" away. :)

- -

Note that by default Freedombox is a DHCP server on the -192.168.1.0/24 subnet, so if this is your subnet be careful and turn -off the DHCP server by running "update-rc.d isc-dhcp-server -disable" as root.

- -

Please let me know if this works for you, or if you have any -problems. We gather on the IRC channel -#freedombox on -irc.debian.org and the -project -mailing list.

- -

Once you get your freedombox operational, you can visit -http://your-host-name:8001/ to see the state of the plint -welcome screen (dead end - do not be surprised if you are unable to -get past it), and next visit http://your-host-name:8001/help/ -to look at the rest of plinth. The default user is 'admin' and the -default password is 'secret'.

+
New lsdvd release version 0.17 is ready
+
4th October 2014
+

The lsdvd project +got a new set of developers a few weeks ago, after the original +developer decided to step down and pass the project to fresh blood. +This project is now maintained by Petter Reinholdtsen and Steve +Dibb.

+ +

I just wrapped up +a +new lsdvd release, available in git or from +the +download page. This is the changelog dated 2014-10-03 for version +0.17.

+ +
    + +
  • Ignore 'phantom' audio, subtitle tracks
    • +
  • Check for garbage in the program chains, which indicate that a track is + non-existant, to work around additional copy protection
    • +
  • Fix displaying content type for audio tracks, subtitles
    • +
  • Fix pallete display of first entry
    • +
  • Fix include orders
    • +
  • Ignore read errors in titles that would not be displayed anyway
    • +
  • Fix the chapter count
    • +
  • Make sure the array size and the array limit used when initialising + the palette size is the same.
    • +
  • Fix array printing.
    • +
  • Correct subsecond calculations.
    • +
  • Add sector information to the output format.
    • +
  • Clean up code to be closer to ANSI C and compile without warnings + with more GCC compiler warnings.
    • + +
+ +

This change bring together patches for lsdvd in use in various +Linux and Unix distributions, as well as patches submitted to the +project the last nine years. Please check it out. :)

- Tags: debian, english, freedombox, sikkerhet, surveillance, web. + Tags: debian, english, lsdvd, multimedia.
@@ -548,283 +531,77 @@ default password is 'secret'.

-
Datalagringsdirektivet gjør at Oslo Høyre og Arbeiderparti ikke får min stemme i år
-
8th September 2013
-

I 2011 raderte et stortingsflertall bestående av Høyre og -Arbeiderpartiet vekk en betydelig del av privatsfæren til det norske -folk. Det ble vedtatt at det skulle registreres og lagres i et halvt -år hvor alle som bærer på en mobiltelefon befinner seg, hvem de -snakker med og hvor lenge de snakket sammen. Det skal også -registreres hvem de sendte SMS-meldinger til, hvem en har sendt epost -til, og hvilke nett-tjenere en besøkte. Saken er kjent som -Datalagringsdirektivet -(DLD), og innebærer at alle innbyggerne og andre innenfor Norges -grenser overvåkes døgnet rundt. Det ble i praksis innført brev og -besøkskontroll av hele befolkningen. Rapporter fra de landene som -allerede har innført slik total lagring av borgernes -kommunikasjonsmønstre forteller at det ikke hjelper i -kriminalitetsbekjempelsen. Den norske prislappen blir mange hundre -millioner, uten at det ser ut til å bidra positivt til politiets -arbeide. Jeg synes flere hundre millioner i stedet burde vært brukt -på noe som kan dokumenteres å ha effekt i kriminalitetsbekjempelsen. -Se mer på -Wikipedia -og Jon Wessel-Aas.

- -

Hva er problemet, tenkter du kanskje? Et åpenbart problem er at -medienes kildevern i praksis blir radert ut. Den innsamlede -informasjonen gjør det mulig å finne ut hvem som har snakket med -journalister på telefon, SMS og epost, og hvem som har vært i nærheten -av journalister så sant begge bar med seg en telefon. Et annet er at -advokatvernet blir sterkt redusert, der politiet kan finne ut hvem -som har snakket med en advokat når, eller vært i møter en med advokat. -Et tredje er at svært personlig informasjon kan avledes fra hvilke -nettsteder en har besøkt. Har en besøkt hivnorge.no, -swingersnorge.com eller andre sider som kan brukes til avlede -interesser som hører til privatsfæren, vil denne informasjonen være -tilgjengelig takket være datalagringsdirektivet.

- -

De fleste partiene var mot, kun to partier stemte for. Høyre og -Arbeiderpartiet. Og både Høyre og Arbeiderpartiet i Oslo har -DLD-forkjempere på toppen av sine lister (har ikke sjekket de andre -fylkene). Det er dermed helt uaktuelt for meg å stemme på disse -partiene. Her er oversikten over partienes valglister i Oslo, med -informasjon om hvem som stemte hva i første DLD-votering i Stortinget, -basert på informasjon fra mine venner i -Holder de -Ord samt data.stortinget.no. -Først ut er stortingslista fra Høyre for Oslo:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
#Navn, fødselsår og valgkretsStemme/kommentar
1.Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide (1976), Gamle OsloStemte for DLD
2.Nikolai Astrup (1978), FrognerStemte mot DLD
3.Michael Tetzschner (1954), Vestre AkerStemte mot DLD
4.Kristin Vinje (1963), Nordre AkerIkke til stede
5.Mudassar Hussain Kapur (1976), NordstrandIkke til stede
6.Stefan Magnus B. Heggelund (1984), GrünerløkkaIkke til stede
7.Heidi Nordby Lunde (1973), GrünerløkkaIkke til stede
8.Frode Helgerud (1950), FrognerIkke til stede
9.Afshan Rafiq (1975), StovnerIkke til stede
10.Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg (1936), FrognerIkke til stede
11.Camilla Strandskog (1984) St.HanshaugenIkke til stede
12.John Christian Elden (1967), UllernIkke til stede
13.Berit Solli (1972), AlnaIkke til stede
14.Ola Kvisgaard (1963), FrognerIkke til stede
15.James Stove Lorentzen (1957), Vestre AkerIkke til stede
16.Gülsüm Koc (1987), StovnerIkke til stede
17.Jon Ole Whist (1976), GrünerløkkaIkke til stede
18.Maren Eline Malthe-Sørenssen (1971), Vestre AkerIkke til stede
19.Ståle Hagen (1968), Søndre NordstrandIkke til stede
20.Kjell Omdal Erichsen (1978), SageneIkke til stede
21.Saida R. Begum (1987), GrünerløkkaIkke til stede
22.Torkel Brekke (1970), Nordre AkerIkke til stede
23.Sverre K. Seeberg (1950), Vestre AkerIkke til stede
24.Julie Margrethe Brodtkorb (1974), UllernIkke til stede
25.Fabian Stang (1955), FrognerIkke til stede
- -

Deretter har vi stortingslista fra Arbeiderpartiet for Oslo:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
#Navn, fødselsår og valgkretsStemme/kommentar
1.Jens Stoltenberg (1959), FrognerIkke til stede i Stortinget, leder av regjeringen som fremmet forslaget
2.Hadia Tajik (1983), GrünerløkkaStemte for DLD
3.Jonas Gahr Støre (1960), Vestre AkerIkke til stede i Stortinget, medlem av regjeringen som fremmet forslaget
4.Marianne Marthinsen (1980), GrünerløkkaStemte for DLD
5.Jan Bøhler (1952), AlnaStemte for DLD
6.Marit Nybakk (1947), FrognerStemte for DLD
7.Truls Wickholm (1978), SageneStemte for DLD
8.Prableen Kaur (1993), GrorudIkke til stede
9.Vegard Grøslie Wennesland (1983), St.HanshaugenIkke til stede
10.Inger Helene Vaaten (1975), GrorudIkke til stede
11.Ivar Leveraas (1939), AlnaIkke til stede
12.Grete Haugdal (1971), Gamle OsloIkke til stede
13.Olav Tønsberg (1948), AlnaIkke til stede
14.Khamshajiny Gunaratnam (1988), GrorudIkke til stede
15.Fredrik Mellem (1969), SageneIkke til stede
16.Brit Axelsen (1945), StovnerIkke til stede
17.Dag Bayegan-Harlem (1977), UllernIkke til stede
18.Kristin Sandaker (1963), ØsteinsjøIkke til stede
19.Bashe Musse (1965), GrünerløkkaIkke til stede
20.Torunn Kanutte Husvik (1983), St. HanshaugenIkke til stede
21.Steinar Andersen (1947), NordstrandIkke til stede
22.Anne Cathrine Berger (1972), SageneIkke til stede
23.Khalid Mahmood (1959), ØstensjøIkke til stede
24.Munir Jaber (1990), AlnaIkke til stede
25.Libe Solberg Rieber-Mohn (1965), FrognerIkke til stede
- -

Hvilket parti får så min stemme i år. Jeg tror det blir -Piratpartiet. Hvis de kan bidra -til at det kommer noen inn på Stortinget med teknisk peiling, så får -kanskje ikke overvåkningsgalskapen like fritt spillerom som det har -hatt så langt.

- +
How to test Debian Edu Jessie despite some fatal problems with the installer
+
26th September 2014
+

The Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project provide a Linux solution for schools, including a +powerful desktop with education software, a central server providing +web pages, user database, user home directories, central login and PXE +boot of both clients without disk and the installation to install Debian +Edu on machines with disk (and a few other services perhaps to small +to mention here). We in the Debian Edu team are currently working on +the Jessie based version, trying to get everything in shape before the +freeze, to avoid having to maintain our own package repository in the +future. The +current +status can be seen on the Debian wiki, and there is still heaps of +work left. Some fatal problems block testing, breaking the installer, +but it is possible to work around these to get anyway. Here is a +recipe on how to get the installation limping along.

+ +

First, download the test ISO via +ftp, +http +or rsync (use +ftp.skolelinux.org::cd-edu-testing-nolocal-netinst/debian-edu-amd64-i386-NETINST-1.iso). +The ISO build was broken on Tuesday, so we do not get a new ISO every +12 hours or so, but thankfully the ISO we already got we are able to +install with some tweaking.

+ +

When you get to the Debian Edu profile question, go to tty2 +(use Alt-Ctrl-F2), run

+ +

+nano /usr/bin/edu-eatmydata-install
+

+ +

and add 'exit 0' as the second line, disabling the eatmydata +optimization. Return to the installation, select the profile you want +and continue. Without this change, exim4-config will fail to install +due to a known bug in eatmydata.

+ +

When you get the grub question at the end, answer /dev/sda (or if +this do not work, figure out what your correct value would be. All my +test machines need /dev/sda, so I have no advice if it do not fit +your need.

+ +

If you installed a profile including a graphical desktop, log in as +root after the initial boot from hard drive, and install the +education-desktop-XXX metapackage. XXX can be kde, gnome, lxde, xfce +or mate. If you want several desktop options, install more than one +metapackage. Once this is done, reboot and you should have a working +graphical login screen. This workaround should no longer be needed +once the education-tasks package version 1.801 enter testing in two +days.

+ +

I believe the ISO build will start working on two days when the new +tasksel package enter testing and Steve McIntyre get a chance to +update the debian-cd git repository. The eatmydata, grub and desktop +issues are already fixed in unstable and testing, and should show up +on the ISO as soon as the ISO build start working again. Well the +eatmydata optimization is really just disabled. The proper fix +require an upload by the eatmydata maintainer applying the patch +provided in bug #702711. +The rest have proper fixes in unstable.

+ +

I hope this get you going with the installation testing, as we are +quickly running out of time trying to get our Jessie based +installation ready before the distribution freeze in a month.

- Tags: norsk, personvern, stortinget, surveillance, valg. + Tags: debian, debian edu, english.
@@ -832,138 +609,37 @@ hatt så langt.

-
Second beta release (beta 1) of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy
-
22nd August 2013
-

The second wheezy based beta release of Debian Edu was wrapped up -today, slightly delayed because of some bugs in the initial Windows -integration fixes . This is the release announcement:

- -

New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~b1 released 2013-08-22

- -

These are the release notes for Debian Edu / Skolelinux -7.1+edu0~b1, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

- -

About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

- -

Debian Edu, also known as -Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an -out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school -network. Immediately after installation a school server running all -services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users -and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting -environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of -the main server from CD or USB stick all other machines can be -installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP -database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home -directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The -desktop contains -more -than 60 educational software packages and more are available from -the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE -and Xfce desktop environment.

- -

This is the sixth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically this -is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the Squeeze -release.

- -

ALERT: Alpha based installations should reinstall or downgrade the -versions of gosa and libpam-mklocaluser to the ones used in this beta -release. Both alpha and beta0 based installations should reinstall or -deal with gosa.conf manually; there are two options: (1) Keep -gosa.conf and edit this file as outlined -on -the mailing list. (2) Accept the new version of gosa.conf and -replace both contained admin password placeholders with the password -hashes found in the old one (backup copy!). In both cases every user -need to change their their password to make sure a password is set for -CIFS access to their home directory.

- -

Software updates

- -
    - -
  • Added ssh askpass packages to default installation, to ensure ssh - work also without a attached tty.
    • -
  • Add the command-not-found package to the default installation to - make it easier to figure out where to find missing command line - tools. Please note, that the command 'update-command-not-found' - has to be run as root to actually make it useful (internet access - required).
    • - -
- -

Other changes

- -
    - -
  • Adjusted the USB stick ISO image build to include every tool -needed for desktop=xfce installations.
    • -
  • Adjust thin-client-server task to work when installing from USB -stick ISO image.
    • -
  • Made new grub artwork (changed png from indexed to RGB format).
    • -
  • Minor cleanup in the CUPS setup.
    • -
  • Make sure that bootstrapping of the Samba domain really happens - during installation of the main server and adjust SID handling to - cope with this.
    • -
  • Make Samba passwords changeable (again) via GOsa².
    • -
  • Fix generation of LM and NT password hashes via GOsa² to avoid - empty password hashes.
    • -
  • Adapted Samba machine domain joining to latest change in the - smbldap-tools Perl package, fixing bugs blocking Windows machines - from joining the Samba domain.
    • - -
- -

Known issues

- -
    - -
  • KDE fails to understand the wpad.dat file provided, causing it to - not use the http proxy as it should.
    • -
  • Chromium also fails to use the proxy when using the KDE desktop - (using the KDE configuration).
    • - -
- -

Where to get it

- -

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

- - - -

The MD5SUM of this image is: 1e357f80b55e703523f2254adde6d78b -
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 7157f9be5fd27c7694d713c6ecfed61c3edda3b2

- -

To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

- - - -

The MD5SUM of this image is: 7a8408ead59cf7e3cef25afb6e91590b -
The SHA1SUM of this image is: f1817c031f02790d5edb3bfa0dcf8451088ad119

- - -

How to report bugs

- -

http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs +

Suddenly I am the new upstream of the lsdvd command line tool
+
25th September 2014
+

I use the lsdvd tool +to handle my fairly large DVD collection. It is a nice command line +tool to get details about a DVD, like title, tracks, track length, +etc, in XML, Perl or human readable format. But lsdvd have not seen +any new development since 2006 and had a few irritating bugs affecting +its use with some DVDs. Upstream seemed to be dead, and in January I +sent a small probe asking for a version control repository for the +project, without any reply. But I use it regularly and would like to +get an updated version +into Debian. So two weeks ago I tried harder to get in touch with +the project admin, and after getting a reply from him explaining that +he was no longer interested in the project, I asked if I could take +over. And yesterday, I became project admin.

+ +

I've been in touch with a Gentoo developer and the Debian +maintainer interested in joining forces to maintain the upstream +project, and I hope we can get a new release out fairly quickly, +collecting the patches spread around on the internet into on place. +I've added the relevant Debian patches to the freshly created git +repository, and expect the Gentoo patches to make it too. If you got +a DVD collection and care about command line tools, check out +the git source and join +the project mailing +list. :)

- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: debian, english, lsdvd, multimedia.
@@ -971,34 +647,263 @@ stick ISO image.
-
Intel 180 SSD disk with Lenovo firmware can not use Intel firmware
-
18th August 2013
-

Earlier, I reported about -my -problems using an Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB disk. Friday I was -told by IBM that the original disk should be thrown away. And as -there no longer was a problem if I bricked the firmware, I decided -today to try to install Intel firmware to replace the Lenovo firmware -currently on the disk.

- -

I searched the Intel site for firmware, and found -issdfut_2.0.4.iso -(aka Intel SATA Solid-State Drive Firmware Update Tool) which -according to the site should contain the latest firmware for SSD -disks. I inserted the broken disk in one of my spare laptops and -booted the ISO from a USB stick. The disk was recognized, but the -program claimed the newest firmware already were installed and refused -to insert any Intel firmware. So no change, and the disk is still -unable to handle write load. :( I guess the only way to get them -working would be if Lenovo releases new firmware. No idea how likely -that is. Anyway, just blogging about this test for completeness. I -got a working Samsung disk, and see no point in spending more time on -the broken disks.

+
Hva henger under skibrua over E16 på Sollihøgda?
+
21st September 2014
+

Rundt omkring i Oslo og Østlandsområdet henger det bokser over +veiene som jeg har lurt på hva gjør. De har ut fra plassering og +vinkling sett ut som bokser som sniffer ut et eller annet fra +forbipasserende trafikk, men det har vært uklart for meg hva det er de +leser av. Her om dagen tok jeg bilde av en slik boks som henger under +ei +skibru på Sollihøgda:

+ +

+ +

Boksen er tydelig merket «Kapsch >>>», logoen til +det sveitsiske selskapet Kapsch som +blant annet lager sensorsystemer for veitrafikk. Men de lager mye +forskjellig, og jeg kjente ikke igjen boksen på utseendet etter en +kjapp titt på produktlista til selskapet.

+ +

I og med at boksen henger over veien E16, en riksvei vedlikeholdt +av Statens Vegvesen, så antok jeg at det burde være mulig å bruke +REST-API-et som gir tilgang til vegvesenets database over veier, +skilter og annet veirelatert til å finne ut hva i alle dager dette +kunne være. De har både +en +datakatalog og +et +søk, der en kan søke etter ulike typer oppføringer innen for et +gitt geografisk område. Jeg laget et enkelt shell-script for å hente +ut antall av en gitt type innenfor området skibrua dekker, og listet +opp navnet på typene som ble funnet. Orket ikke slå opp hvordan +URL-koding av aktuelle strenger kunne gjøres mer generisk, og brukte +en stygg sed-linje i stedet.

+ +
+#!/bin/sh
+urlmap() {
+    sed \
+    -e 's/  / /g'   -e 's/{/%7B/g'  \
+    -e 's/}/%7D/g'  -e 's/\[/%5B/g' \
+    -e 's/\]/%5D/g' -e 's/ /%20/g'  \
+    -e 's/,/%2C/g'  -e 's/\"/%22/g' \
+    -e 's/:/%3A/g'
+}
+
+lookup() {
+    url="$1"
+    curl -s -H 'Accept: application/vnd.vegvesen.nvdb-v1+xml' \
+       "https://www.vegvesen.no/nvdb/api$url" | xmllint --format -
+}
+
+for id in $(seq 1 874) ; do
+    search="{
+  lokasjon: {
+    bbox: \"10.34425,59.96386,10.34458,59.96409\",
+    srid: \"WGS84\"
+  },
+   objektTyper: [{
+     id: $id, antall: 10
+   }]
+}"
+
+    query=/sok?kriterie=$(echo $search | urlmap)
+    if lookup "$query" |
+    grep -q '<totaltAntallReturnert>0<'
+    then
+    :
+    else
+    echo $id
+    lookup "/datakatalog/objekttyper/$id" |grep '^  <navn>'
+    fi
+done
+
+exit 0
+
+ +Aktuelt ID-område 1-874 var riktig i datakatalogen da jeg laget +scriptet. Det vil endre seg over tid. Skriptet listet så opp +aktuelle typer i og rundt skibrua: + +
+5
+  <navn>Rekkverk</navn>
+14
+  <navn>Rekkverksende</navn>
+47
+  <navn>Trafikklomme</navn>
+49
+  <navn>Trafikkøy</navn>
+60
+  <navn>Bru</navn>
+79
+  <navn>Stikkrenne/Kulvert</navn>
+80
+  <navn>Grøft, åpen</navn>
+86
+  <navn>Belysningsstrekning</navn>
+95
+  <navn>Skiltpunkt</navn>
+96
+  <navn>Skiltplate</navn>
+98
+  <navn>Referansestolpe</navn>
+99
+  <navn>Vegoppmerking, langsgående</navn>
+105
+  <navn>Fartsgrense</navn>
+106
+  <navn>Vinterdriftsstrategi</navn>
+172
+  <navn>Trafikkdeler</navn>
+241
+  <navn>Vegdekke</navn>
+293
+  <navn>Breddemåling</navn>
+301
+  <navn>Kantklippareal</navn>
+318
+  <navn>Snø-/isrydding</navn>
+445
+  <navn>Skred</navn>
+446
+  <navn>Dokumentasjon</navn>
+452
+  <navn>Undergang</navn>
+528
+  <navn>Tverrprofil</navn>
+532
+  <navn>Vegreferanse</navn>
+534
+  <navn>Region</navn>
+535
+  <navn>Fylke</navn>
+536
+  <navn>Kommune</navn>
+538
+  <navn>Gate</navn>
+539
+  <navn>Transportlenke</navn>
+540
+  <navn>Trafikkmengde</navn>
+570
+  <navn>Trafikkulykke</navn>
+571
+  <navn>Ulykkesinvolvert enhet</navn>
+572
+  <navn>Ulykkesinvolvert person</navn>
+579
+  <navn>Politidistrikt</navn>
+583
+  <navn>Vegbredde</navn>
+591
+  <navn>Høydebegrensning</navn>
+592
+  <navn>Nedbøyningsmåling</navn>
+597
+  <navn>Støy-luft, Strekningsdata</navn>
+601
+  <navn>Oppgravingsdata</navn>
+602
+  <navn>Oppgravingslag</navn>
+603
+  <navn>PMS-parsell</navn>
+604
+  <navn>Vegnormalstrekning</navn>
+605
+  <navn>Værrelatert strekning</navn>
+616
+  <navn>Feltstrekning</navn>
+617
+  <navn>Adressepunkt</navn>
+626
+  <navn>Friksjonsmåleserie</navn>
+629
+  <navn>Vegdekke, flatelapping</navn>
+639
+  <navn>Kurvatur, horisontalelement</navn>
+640
+  <navn>Kurvatur, vertikalelement</navn>
+642
+  <navn>Kurvatur, vertikalpunkt</navn>
+643
+  <navn>Statistikk, trafikkmengde</navn>
+647
+  <navn>Statistikk, vegbredde</navn>
+774
+  <navn>Nedbøyningsmåleserie</navn>
+775
+  <navn>ATK, influensstrekning</navn>
+794
+  <navn>Systemobjekt</navn>
+810
+  <navn>Vinterdriftsklasse</navn>
+821
+  <navn>Funksjonell vegklasse</navn>
+825
+  <navn>Kurvatur, stigning</navn>
+838
+  <navn>Vegbredde, beregnet</navn>
+862
+  <navn>Reisetidsregistreringspunkt</navn>
+871
+  <navn>Bruksklasse</navn>
+
+ +

Av disse ser ID 775 og 862 mest relevant ut. ID 775 antar jeg +refererer til fotoboksen som står like ved brua, mens +«Reisetidsregistreringspunkt» kanskje kan være boksen som henger der. +Hvordan finner jeg så ut hva dette kan være for noe. En titt på +datakatalogsiden +for ID 862/Reisetidsregistreringspunkt viser at det er finnes 53 +slike målere i Norge, og hvor de er plassert, men gir ellers få +detaljer. Det er plassert 40 på østlandet og 13 i Trondheimsregionen. +Men siden nevner «AutoPASS», og hvis en slår opp oppføringen på +Sollihøgda nevner den «Ciber AS» som ID for eksternt system. (Kan det +være snakk om +Ciber +Norge AS, et selskap eid av Ciber Europe Bv?) Et nettsøk på + «Ciber AS autopass» fører meg til en artikkel fra NRK Trøndelag i + 2013 med tittel +«Sjekk +dette hvis du vil unngå kø». Artikkelen henviser til vegvesenets +nettside +reisetider.no +som har en +kartside +for Østlandet som viser at det måles mellom Sandvika og Sollihøgda. +Det kan dermed se ut til at jeg har funnet ut hva boksene gjør.

+ +

Hvis det stemmer, så er dette bokser som leser av AutoPASS-ID-en +til alle passerende biler med AutoPASS-brikke, og dermed gjør det mulig +for de som kontrollerer boksene å holde rede på hvor en gitt bil er +når den passerte et slikt målepunkt. NRK-artikkelen forteller at +denne informasjonen i dag kun brukes til å koble to +AutoPASS-brikkepasseringer passeringer sammen for å beregne +reisetiden, og at bruken er godkjent av Datatilsynet. Det er desverre +ikke mulig for en sjåfør som passerer under en slik boks å kontrollere +at AutoPASS-ID-en kun brukes til dette i dag og i fremtiden.

+ +

I tillegg til denne type AutoPASS-sniffere vet jeg at det også +finnes mange automatiske stasjoner som tar betalt pr. passering (aka +bomstasjoner), og der lagres informasjon om tid, sted og bilnummer i +10 år. Finnes det andre slike sniffere plassert ut på veiene?

+ +

Personlig har jeg valgt å ikke bruke AutoPASS-brikke, for å gjøre +det vanskeligere og mer kostbart for de som vil invadere privatsfæren +og holde rede på hvor bilen min beveger seg til enhver tid. Jeg håper +flere vil gjøre det samme, selv om det gir litt høyere private +utgifter (dyrere bompassering). Vern om privatsfæren koster i disse +dager.

+ +

Takk til Jan Kristian Jensen i Statens Vegvesen for tips om +dokumentasjon på vegvesenets REST-API.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: kart, norsk, personvern, rfid, surveillance.
@@ -1006,57 +911,221 @@ the broken disks.

-
90 percent done with the Norwegian draft translation of Free Culture
-
2nd August 2013
-

It has been a while since my last update. Since last summer, I -have worked on a Norwegian -docbook version of the 2004 book -Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig, -to get a Norwegian text explaining the problems with the copyright -law. Yesterday, I finally broken the 90% mark, when counting the -number of strings to translate. Due to real life constraints, I have -not had time to work on it since March, but when the summer broke out, -I found time to work on it again. Still lots of work left, but the -first draft is nearing completion. I created a graph to show the -progress of the translation:

- -

- -

When the first draft is done, the translated text need to be -proof read, and the remaining formatting problems with images and SVG -drawings need to be fixed. There are probably also some index entries -missing that need to be added. This can be done by comparing the -index entries listed in the SiSU version of the book, or comparing the -English docbook version with the paper version. Last, the colophon -page with ISBN numbers etc need to be wrapped up before the release is -done. I should also figure out how to get correct Norwegian sorting -of the index pages. All docbook tools I have tried so far (xmlto, -docbook-xsl, dblatex) get the order of symbols and the special -Norwegian letters ÆØÅ wrong.

- -

There is still need for translators and people with docbook -knowledge, to be able to get a good looking book (I still struggle -with dblatex, xmlto and docbook-xsl) as well as to do the draft -translation and proof reading. And I would like the figures to be -redrawn as SVGs to make it easy to translate them. Any SVG master -around? There are also some legal terms that are unfamiliar to me. -If you want to help, please get in touch with me, and check out the -project files currently available from -github.

- -

If you are curious what the translated book currently look like, -the updated -PDF -and -EPUB -are published on github. The HTML version is published as well, but -github hand it out with MIME type text/plain, confusing browsers, so I -saw no point in linking to that version.

+
Speeding up the Debian installer using eatmydata and dpkg-divert
+
16th September 2014
+

The Debian installer could be +a lot quicker. When we install more than 2000 packages in +Skolelinux / Debian Edu using +tasksel in the installer, unpacking the binary packages take forever. +A part of the slow I/O issue was discussed in +bug #613428 about too +much file system sync-ing done by dpkg, which is the package +responsible for unpacking the binary packages. Other parts (like code +executed by postinst scripts) might also sync to disk during +installation. All this sync-ing to disk do not really make sense to +me. If the machine crash half-way through, I start over, I do not try +to salvage the half installed system. So the failure sync-ing is +supposed to protect against, hardware or system crash, is not really +relevant while the installer is running.

+ +

A few days ago, I thought of a way to get rid of all the file +system sync()-ing in a fairly non-intrusive way, without the need to +change the code in several packages. The idea is not new, but I have +not heard anyone propose the approach using dpkg-divert before. It +depend on the small and clever package +eatmydata, which +uses LD_PRELOAD to replace the system functions for syncing data to +disk with functions doing nothing, thus allowing programs to live +dangerous while speeding up disk I/O significantly. Instead of +modifying the implementation of dpkg, apt and tasksel (which are the +packages responsible for selecting, fetching and installing packages), +it occurred to me that we could just divert the programs away, replace +them with a simple shell wrapper calling +"eatmydata $program $@", to get the same effect. +Two days ago I decided to test the idea, and wrapped up a simple +implementation for the Debian Edu udeb.

+ +

The effect was stunning. In my first test it reduced the running +time of the pkgsel step (installing tasks) from 64 to less than 44 +minutes (20 minutes shaved off the installation) on an old Dell +Latitude D505 machine. I am not quite sure what the optimised time +would have been, as I messed up the testing a bit, causing the debconf +priority to get low enough for two questions to pop up during +installation. As soon as I saw the questions I moved the installation +along, but do not know how long the question were holding up the +installation. I did some more measurements using Debian Edu Jessie, +and got these results. The time measured is the time stamp in +/var/log/syslog between the "pkgsel: starting tasksel" and the +"pkgsel: finishing up" lines, if you want to do the same measurement +yourself. In Debian Edu, the tasksel dialog do not show up, and the +timing thus do not depend on how quickly the user handle the tasksel +dialog.

+ +

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Machine/setupOriginal taskselOptimised taskselReduction
Latitude D505 Main+LTSP LXDE64 min (07:46-08:50)<44 min (11:27-12:11)>20 min 18%
Latitude D505 Roaming LXDE57 min (08:48-09:45)34 min (07:43-08:17)23 min 40%
Latitude D505 Minimal22 min (10:37-10:59)11 min (11:16-11:27)11 min 50%
Thinkpad X200 Minimal6 min (08:19-08:25)4 min (08:04-08:08)2 min 33%
Thinkpad X200 Roaming KDE19 min (09:21-09:40)15 min (10:25-10:40)4 min 21%

+ +

The test is done using a netinst ISO on a USB stick, so some of the +time is spent downloading packages. The connection to the Internet +was 100Mbit/s during testing, so downloading should not be a +significant factor in the measurement. Download typically took a few +seconds to a few minutes, depending on the amount of packages being +installed.

+ +

The speedup is implemented by using two hooks in +Debian +Installer, the pre-pkgsel.d hook to set up the diverts, and the +finish-install.d hook to remove the divert at the end of the +installation. I picked the pre-pkgsel.d hook instead of the +post-base-installer.d hook because I test using an ISO without the +eatmydata package included, and the post-base-installer.d hook in +Debian Edu can only operate on packages included in the ISO. The +negative effect of this is that I am unable to activate this +optimization for the kernel installation step in d-i. If the code is +moved to the post-base-installer.d hook, the speedup would be larger +for the entire installation.

+ +

I've implemented this in the +debian-edu-install +git repository, and plan to provide the optimization as part of the +Debian Edu installation. If you want to test this yourself, you can +create two files in the installer (or in an udeb). One shell script +need do go into /usr/lib/pre-pkgsel.d/, with content like this:

+ +

+#!/bin/sh
+set -e
+. /usr/share/debconf/confmodule
+info() {
+    logger -t my-pkgsel "info: $*"
+}
+error() {
+    logger -t my-pkgsel "error: $*"
+}
+override_install() {
+    apt-install eatmydata || true
+    if [ -x /target/usr/bin/eatmydata ] ; then
+        for bin in dpkg apt-get aptitude tasksel ; do
+            file=/usr/bin/$bin
+            # Test that the file exist and have not been diverted already.
+            if [ -f /target$file ] ; then
+                info "diverting $file using eatmydata"
+                printf "#!/bin/sh\neatmydata $bin.distrib \"\$@\"\n" \
+                    > /target$file.edu
+                chmod 755 /target$file.edu
+                in-target dpkg-divert --package debian-edu-config \
+                    --rename --quiet --add $file
+                ln -sf ./$bin.edu /target$file
+            else
+                error "unable to divert $file, as it is missing."
+            fi
+        done
+    else
+        error "unable to find /usr/bin/eatmydata after installing the eatmydata pacage"
+    fi
+}
+
+override_install
+

+ +

To clean up, another shell script should go into +/usr/lib/finish-install.d/ with code like this: + +

+#! /bin/sh -e
+. /usr/share/debconf/confmodule
+error() {
+    logger -t my-finish-install "error: $@"
+}
+remove_install_override() {
+    for bin in dpkg apt-get aptitude tasksel ; do
+        file=/usr/bin/$bin
+        if [ -x /target$file.edu ] ; then
+            rm /target$file
+            in-target dpkg-divert --package debian-edu-config \
+                --rename --quiet --remove $file
+            rm /target$file.edu
+        else
+            error "Missing divert for $file."
+        fi
+    done
+    sync # Flush file buffers before continuing
+}
+
+remove_install_override
+

+ +

In Debian Edu, I placed both code fragments in a separate script +edu-eatmydata-install and call it from the pre-pkgsel.d and +finish-install.d scripts.

+ +

By now you might ask if this change should get into the normal +Debian installer too? I suspect it should, but am not sure the +current debian-installer coordinators find it useful enough. It also +depend on the side effects of the change. I'm not aware of any, but I +guess we will see if the change is safe after some more testing. +Perhaps there is some package in Debian depending on sync() and +fsync() having effect? Perhaps it should go into its own udeb, to +allow those of us wanting to enable it to do so without affecting +everyone.

+ +

Update 2014-09-24: Since a few days ago, enabling this optimization +will break installation of all programs using gnutls because of +bug #702711. An updated +eatmydata package in Debian will solve it.

+ +

Update 2014-10-17: The bug mentioned above is fixed in testing and +the optimization work again. And I have discovered that the +dpkg-divert trick is not really needed and implemented a slightly +simpler approach as part of the debian-edu-install package. See +tools/edu-eatmydata-install in the source package.

- Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + Tags: debian, debian edu, english.
@@ -1071,6 +1140,31 @@ saw no point in linking to that version.

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