I ve spent the last few hours working on a tool to take snapshots of all the html files in a .deb using phantomjs.
It works great, but renders text all funny on my machine. I ve got two builds going with slight tweaks to check for the issue, but some advice before I file a bug would be helpful.
(or see the full size image)
This will hopefully be integrated into debuild.me, or debexpo.
A few months ago, a collection of essays called Open Advice was released. It consists of the things that seasoned Free and Open Source developers wish they had known when they got started. The LWN book review is the best way to get a good feel for what it's about, but here are the notes I took while reading it: 
When you start using Linux' logical volume manager, one of the first question
you have to answer is: what name will you give to your volume group? The usual
answer is: vg1, vg2, etc. Although it does not bear any specific meaning, this
naming convention is simple and seems functional enough.
In fact, this is a bad idea, which can have nasty consequences on the long
term. Here is why: one day, your computer will eventually give out. To save your
precious data, you will remove its drives and plug them into another computer.
If you are using LVM with the same naming convention on that second computer, you
will then get a name conflict, which will prevent you from seeing the volume
group you want to recover.
The solution is to name volume groups uniquely across all your computers,
and if possible other people's. An elegant way to achieve this is to use your
host names as a basis. For instance, on a machine called Pi acolada , you would
name a single volume group pinacolada , or two volume groups pinacolada1 and
pinacolada2 . Or perhaps vg-pinacolada0 or whatever, you get the idea.
Today I ll be telling you about an interesting way to build your Debian packages using Deb-o-Matic, a tool developed and maintained by Luca Falavigna. Some more details about this tool from the package s description:
Deb-o-Matic is an easy to use build machine for Debian source packages based on pbuilder, written in Python. It provides a simple tool to automate build of source packages with limited user interaction and a simple configuration. It has some useful features such as automatic update of pbuilder, automatic scan and selection of source packages to build and modules support.The setup. 1. Download the package.
apt-get install debomatic2. Modify the main configuration file as follows:
[default] builder: pbuilder packagedir: /home/john/debomatic # Take note of the following path since we'll need it for later use. configdir: /etc/debomatic/distributions pbuilderhooks: /usr/share/debomatic/pbuilderhooks maxbuilds: 3 # The number of builds you can perform at the same time. inotify: 1 sleep: 60 # The sleep time between one build and another. logfile: /var/log/debomatic.log [gpg] gpg: 0 # Change to 1 if you want Deb-O-Matic to check the GPG signature of the uploaded packages. keyring: /etc/debomatic/debomatic.gpg # Add the GPG Keys you want Deb-O-Matic to accept in this keyring. [modules] modules: 1 # A list of all the available modules will follow right after. modulespath: /usr/share/debomatic/modules [runtime] alwaysupdate: unstable experimental precise distblacklist: modulesblacklist: Lintian Mailer mapper: 'sid': 'unstable', 'wheezy': 'testing', 'squeeze': 'stable' [lintian] lintopts: -i -I -E --pedantic # Run Lintian in Pedantic mode. [mailer] # You need an SMTP server running on your machine for the mailer to work. You can have a look at the 'Ssmtp' daemon which is a one-minute-setup MTA, check an example over here. fromaddr: debomatic@localhost smtphost: localhost smtpport: 25 authrequired: 0 smtpuser: user smtppass: pass success: /etc/debomatic/mailer/build_success.mail-template # Update the build success or failure mails as you wish by modifying the relevant files. failure: /etc/debomatic/mailer/build_failure.mail-template [internals] configversion = 010aThe available modules are:
[debomatic] method = local incoming = /home/john/debomaticor the following if you are going to upload the files to a different machine through SSH:
[debomatic] login = john fqdn = debomatic.example.net method = scp incoming = /debomatic3. Add a new Virtual Host on Apache and access the repository / built packages directly through your browser:
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin john@example.net ServerName debomatic.example.net DocumentRoot /home/john/debomatic <Directory /home/john/debomatic> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews AllowOverride None Order allow,deny allow from all </Directory> </VirtualHost>4. Start the daemon:
sudo /etc/init.d/debomatic start5. (Optional) Add your repository to APT s sources.list:
deb http://debomatic.example.net/ unstable main contrib non-free6. (Optional) Start Deb-O-Matic at system s startup by modifying the /etc/init.d/debomatic file at line 21:
- [ -x "$DAEMON" ] exit 0 - [ "$DEBOMATIC_AUTOSTART" = 0 ] && exit 0 + [ -x "$DAEMON" ] exit 0 + [ "$DEBOMATIC_AUTOSTART" = 1 ] && exit 0and finally add it to the desired runlevels:
update-rc.d debomatic defaultsEnjoy!
?()-+-acpi_cooling0(16)
-acpi_thermal(15)
-audit(10)
-bufdaemon(18)
-flowcleaner(22)
-g_down(4)
-g_event(2)
-g_up(3)
-hald-runner(547)---hald-addon-storag(569)
-hald(546)-+-hald(548)---hald(549)
-hald-runner(547)---hald-addon-storag(569)
-hald(548)---hald(549)
-idle(11)
-init(1)-+-etc....
Over the past few days, I decided to purge Gnash and LightSpark from my laptop to see whether my Internet experience would be affected in any dramatic way. Amazingly, a number of sites seem to offer video content encoded in Theora (VP3) or WebM (VP8). Sadly, a handful of popular sites such as Vimeo insist upon using the H.264 (MPEG-4) CODEC, which cannot be safely supported on Free Software because of unclear licensing issues that might impose an ulterior usage fee onto the end-users.
Ever wondered how you can update your website (in our case a static website with a bunch of HTML and PHP files) by committing to a Git repository hosted on a different server? if the answer to the previous question is yes, then you are in the right place.
The scenario:
- Website hosted on server A.cd /srv/www.domain.com/http && sudo git clone http://git.example.com/git/domain.git2. Grab the needed package:
apt-get install fishpolld or yum install fishpolld3. Set up a topic (called website_update) that will call a git pull each time the repository hosted on server B receives an update. (the file has to be placed into the /etc/fishpoll.d directory)
#!/bin/bash PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin" WEBSITEDIR="/srv/www.domain.com/http" if [ -d "$ WEBSITEDIR " ]; then cd "$ WEBSITEDIR " else echo "Unable to access theme directory. Failing." exit 1 fi git pull4. Add a little configuration file that will enable the website_update s topic at daemon s startup. (you should name it website_update.conf)
[fishpoll] on_start = True5. Open the relevant port on Iptables so that server A and server B can communicate as expected, the daemon runs over port 27527.
-A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp -s server-B-IP --dport 27527 -j ACCEPT6. Start the daemon. (by default, logs are sent to syslog but you can run the daemon in Debug mode by using the -D flag)
sudo /etc/init.d/fishpolld start or sudo systemctl start fishpolld.service or sudo /usr/sbin/fishpolld -Dand on server B: 1. Grab the needed package:
apt-get install fishpoke or yum install fishpoke2. Configure the relevant Git hook (post-update, located into the hooks directory) and make it executable.
#!/bin/sh echo "Triggering update of configuration on server A" fishpoke server-A-IP-or-DNS website_updateFinally test the whole setup by committing to the repository hosted on server B and verify your changes being sent live on your website!
Some of my Romanian readers might know that for the last two years I've got involved in the skeptical movement to such a degree that I am a co-producer of a bi-weekly podcast on science and skepticism (in Romanian) called Skeptics in Romania . Some might even be regular listeners of the show. |
| Yvonne Main, died from an invasive carcinoma after seeking help from a iridologist, and delaying real medical treament for 18 months |
Start the Erlang shell
$ erl
Compile the code
1> c(factorial).
Call the calculate function
2> factorial:calculate(10000).
<script src="https://gist.github.com/3715155.js"> </script>
Here s a summary of what happened at this conference. Opening address. Keynote from Nick Hurd MP, @minforcivsoc. Lot less money around. Called canals and rivers trust the biggest social enterprise. Blames lack of large social enterprises on culture, leadership and access to capital. First Big Society Capital investments announced tomorrow. Questions (and responses) about what had changed in commissioning (determination?), something about accountability in health I think but I didn t hear (more public scrutiny), other models besides worker-led (gov is agnostic, but that s just the type of mutuals so far), and capital renewal (gov is challenging the banks with Big Society Bank).
This is going to get a bit long, so click through to our site to read what the other the speakers had to say and what that block of flats in the picture has to do with it
Still here? Good! Harriet Hounsell from John Lewis Partnership was next. What s the Right level of profit? Structure of the partnership. The registry seems like the member services function and a bit more. Partner suggestions make a real difference. Beliefs have been tested. Recession hit us.
Vivian Woodall, the co-operative phone, back to how it started. He knew people working for NGOs with high international phone bills. Bulk buy. Solid steady growth. Paid all tax. Living our cooperative values. Employee council and profit-shared. Adoption of new brand.
Questions to both on redundancies (debate openly, try to redeploy, ultimately division of responsibilities: managers manage staff levels, not members), and being rejected as too small to help other social enterprises (ask why? Try local level instead of head office?), plus praise for John Lewis.
Then there was coffee, workshops, lunch, workshops and coffee. I don t think I should report all of that, so a quick comment on the venue at Anglia Ruskin Uni Cambridge: is the Lord Ashcroft it s named after the same one who said it was legal to attack Iraq? Anyway Based on the workshops, I don t think our co-op will do SROI accounting any time soon (needs too much people time) and I m little the wiser on leadership. Some people are intrigued by collective management and cooperative working, though.
The closing keynote was Wayne Hemingway, formerly of Red or Dead and now of Hemingway Design. He gave a quick history of himself and of those two enterprises and a bit of an entertaining ramble around. He seemed very much from the business end and how to use business to benefit society, but I ve not really looked at his companies before. I probably should do, as they ve a regeneration project in Lynn (pictured: before Wayne).
Then it was the closing address, the thanks (yes, thanks to the workers and sponsors) and then time to head for the exit. It s a shame that some people who made good points during the keynotes (coop party!) left quickly instead of staying to chat.
Today was a black day for democracy in Germany. The German
constitutional court ruled in favour of the European
Stability Mechanism. In combination with last week s
announcement by the European Central Bank to purchase government
bonds without limits (breaking the No-Bail-Out clause at the core
of their mandate more obviously and irreversably than ever before),
the German people have lost a good deal of democracy today.
Why? you may ask because from now on, fiscal and financial
policy will be made in Brussels, by people enjoying full immunity,
but who are not elected democratically by the European people, let
alone the Germans, and they will freely decide over who has to pay
and be liable for whom.
I am talking about people like Klaus Regling,
who was already involved the very first time the Maastricht
Criteria were violated. He is now at the front of the largest
and most powerful financial weapon ever conceived. With
immunity.
And people like Mario Draghi,
whom I would possibly call the most corrupt person I know. His
announcement to save the Euro at whatever cost
accidentally came only a day before his motherland Italy
had to go to the market for more money and was able to place a bond
at such ridiculously low interest rates that anyone who s kept up
to speed with Italy s development had to rightfully ask how that
was possible.
While in the past, for whatever reason, the European people have
let the ECB get by saying that they are not bailing out countries
when they buy bonds on the secondary market (wtf!), they have
finally dropped that restriction (the law).
And as of today, the ESM is ready to go, along with the fiscal
pact. Germany is now liable for more than quarter of all of the
Eurozone s past and future debts.
And no citizen will be able to have any more influence in this,
or reverse it. Budget, fiscal policy and currency control are
forever gone.
Not that parliamentarian democracies were ever direct. Yet, in
the past, one could at least vote for those people whose promises
one was inclined to believe the most. You can still do that in the
future, but those people won t be able to influence fiscal or
financial policy anymore.
There is no way back. The ESM and its employees enjoy full
immunity, and the ESM is forever-binding. There is no exit
clause.
Thanks to the ECB s law breaking and the ESM, which I consider
highly unconstitutional, at least in Germany, Eurozone-countries
may refinance their debts at interest rates that are in no way
related to their ability to pay back loans. All other countries
foremost Germany are henceforth liable for others debts. The
fundamental rule of the EU that no country would have to stand up
for another country, is gone with the wind.
Within an hour, the markets reacted. Germany, which previously
had to pay negative interest (a sign of stability) saw interests
on its bond shoot up. And Spain, Portugal, Greece and others who
couldn t previously refinance their old debts, are now getting
fresh money cheaper than ever.
Spain s president Rajoy today didn t even bother beating around
the bush anymore, he s now going to apply for fresh money but won t
bother with any saving schemes or other restructurings. Monti in
Italy has suggested the same.
Wouldn t you take money if you were offered it for free, without
the need to pay it back?
This is more than inflation, in my opinion. What is currently
happening in Europe is active depreciation of individual wealth.
Our heads of state are actively working against the people. The
Euro has lost all credibility and everyone knows it. It is only a
question of time until it will tremble and fall. Meanwhile, the
market celebrates and continues their gambles while they still
can, on the backs of our currency and our wealth.
Most affected are the people who have savings in Euros, whose
life insurances are decreasing in worth and who cannot afford to
diversify into other asset classes or currencies.
On the other hand, those who let their money do the work are
being saved. Whoever previously invested into bonds of struggling
states, hoping to reap massive interest gains, is now proven right.
Brussels has eliminated the risk factor. What kind of message does
this send???
Hands up if you thought that our politicians are even interested
in closing the rapidly widening gap between rich and poor. Really?
That s naive. The Eurozone is corrupt, and our currency has never
been as virtual as today.
Nobody can say whether saving the Euro at all cost is the right
thing and noone knows whether what s currently happening is just
bad. I would have wished that our politicians had taken the crisis
as an incentive to fix the system in the interest of the people and
with a long-term focus:
It happens occasionally that I need to validate an optimization by benchmarking, and the benchmark results are a bit noisy. Usually the situation does not ask for a heavy-duty statistical analysis, and I am too lazy for that anyway. However, sometimes having at least the fundamental statistics of a sample would be handy.
# dpkg --add-architecture armel
# apt-get update
$ apt-get source binutils
$ cd binutils-*/
$ TARGET=arm-linux-gnueabihf dpkg-buildpackage -uc -us -b
$ export DEB_CROSS_NO_BIARCH=yes
$ echo $target > debian/arch
$ debian/rules control
$ dpkg-buildpackage -uc -us -b
Next.