Petter Reinholdtsen

Entries from September 2013.

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).

Tags: debian edu, english.
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.

Tags: debian, english, freedombox, sikkerhet, surveillance, web.
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

Tags: debian edu, english.
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. Boot from it, either as CD or USB stick.
  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. Answer the few language/region/password questions and pick disk to install on.
  5. When the installation is finished and the machine have rebooted a few times, your Freedombox is ready for testing.

Raspberry Pi Raspbian

  1. Fetch a Raspbian SD card image, create SD card.
  2. Boot from SD card, extend file system to fill the card completely.
  3. Log in and add this to /etc/sources.list:

    deb http://www.reinholdtsen.name/freedombox wheezy main
    
  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. Reboot into your freshly created Freedombox.

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'.

Tags: debian, english, freedombox, sikkerhet, surveillance, web.
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 Oslo Stemte for DLD
2. Nikolai Astrup (1978), Frogner Stemte mot DLD
3. Michael Tetzschner (1954), Vestre Aker Stemte mot DLD
4. Kristin Vinje (1963), Nordre Aker Ikke til stede
5. Mudassar Hussain Kapur (1976), Nordstrand Ikke til stede
6. Stefan Magnus B. Heggelund (1984), Grünerløkka Ikke til stede
7. Heidi Nordby Lunde (1973), Grünerløkka Ikke til stede
8. Frode Helgerud (1950), Frogner Ikke til stede
9. Afshan Rafiq (1975), Stovner Ikke til stede
10. Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg (1936), Frogner Ikke til stede
11. Camilla Strandskog (1984) St.Hanshaugen Ikke til stede
12. John Christian Elden (1967), Ullern Ikke til stede
13. Berit Solli (1972), Alna Ikke til stede
14. Ola Kvisgaard (1963), Frogner Ikke til stede
15. James Stove Lorentzen (1957), Vestre Aker Ikke til stede
16. Gülsüm Koc (1987), Stovner Ikke til stede
17. Jon Ole Whist (1976), Grünerløkka Ikke til stede
18. Maren Eline Malthe-Sørenssen (1971), Vestre Aker Ikke til stede
19. Ståle Hagen (1968), Søndre Nordstrand Ikke til stede
20. Kjell Omdal Erichsen (1978), Sagene Ikke til stede
21. Saida R. Begum (1987), Grünerløkka Ikke til stede
22. Torkel Brekke (1970), Nordre Aker Ikke til stede
23. Sverre K. Seeberg (1950), Vestre Aker Ikke til stede
24. Julie Margrethe Brodtkorb (1974), Ullern Ikke til stede
25. Fabian Stang (1955), Frogner Ikke til stede

Deretter har vi stortingslista fra Arbeiderpartiet for Oslo:

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

Tags: dld, norsk, personvern, stortinget, surveillance, valg.

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