...due to way too much work on the renovation project.

For LOAD (Linux Open Administration Days), I had to provide shell access to a few people in order to maintain the Drupal site. Since this is a multisite Drupal installation, simply providing shell access would be a huge security issue.
Here's how I secured it as much as possible:

Step 1: create an ssh chroot jail

cd /usr/local/sbin
wget http://www.fuschlberger.net/programs/ssh-scp-sftp-chroot-jail/make_chroo...
chmod 700 /usr/local/sbin/make_chroot_jail.sh

I adapted the script to include vi. Next I created a user.

We are searching for some graphical talents that want to show off with a nice logo!
We had a meeting last week about the FOSS event for system administrators, and we came up wit the name ‘LOAD’, or: Linux Open Administration Days.

anyway, we need a logo now.. So, if you’re an expert, and you want to have eternal respect from us, create a logo!

You can send the logo to biertie at fedoraproject dot org. the deadline is 28december. I hope you guys can come up with something nice!

* if you win this competition, we want the svg file too.

I hereby proudly announce the release of Beebie Alpha 1.

Beebie is a project started by myself and my girlfriend 3 months ago.
Alpha 2 is planned for February 22 and the final release is scheduled for July 4, 2010.
Screenshot after the break.

Earlier today I was astonished to find out FOSDEM will have a MONO devroom. When I reacted to this on identica stating this was not a good idea. Reinout van Schouwen reacted saying We should *strongly* support !freesoftware, no matter what platform it is written for or what language is used.
I pointed out to him that "free" software can never be written in a non-free language. I could have expected to get the typical MONO-evangelist's answer: Stop spreading #FUD, please. http://www.mono-project.com/Languages, so I replied with a quote from MS: Every piece of code written to our standards is a small victory.
Apparently Mr van Schouwen didn't get my point and dragged dear old RMS into the discussion: So you'd rather have no !freesoftware at all than FS written to MS standards? Even #RMS knows better than that. and when I pointed out his mistake: maybe you should read again and try to understand what I wrote..., he quickly sent me a final message: Maybe you should address facts and arguments instead of evading them with transparent rhetoric. #endofdiscussion.

Now, Mr van Schouwen, for me this is not the end of the discussion. I will try to explain to you and every other MONO evangelist why in my personal opinion MONO should be avoided at all cost:

1. We don't need MONO. Many terrific programs have been written in other languages.
2. We don't need MONO. We are on Linux, Unix, BSD or whatever. MONO is invented by MS. Let them use it, and let us stick with other programming languages.
3. We don't need MONO. MS says "Every piece of code written to our standards is a small victory, every piece of code written to other standards is a small defeat." The Open Source Community (further referred to as OSC) has fought many battles over many years to make people aware of the fact that there is a world outside MS. Don't start blindly following them again now, but let OSC set the standards.
4. We don't want MONO. It's based on MS owned technology. As with any other MS owned product, it's almost guaranteed to break backward compatibility at some point.
5. We don't want MONO. If we allow MONO to sneak in to Linux, I foresee a pretty dark future for Linux. As the OSC community grows, more and more people will start developing for it. As the MONO acceptance grows, more and more people will start developing in MONO. In the end, the entire operqting system will be MS compatible, and Linux operating systems will have no unique selling points. Average users don't care about ethics and don't "pay" for their MS license anyway.
6. Some people seem to love the FSF's campaign against MS Windows 7, but on the other hand have no issue in using MS technology for their own benefit. Talking about hypocrisy.

I hope to have given you a basic idea, Mr van Schouwen, about my personal opinion about MONO. Now, even if you disagree, would it be asked too much to respect my opinion?

Mevrouw de minister,
Hilde,

Met grote belangstelling bekeek ik afgelopen zondag 15 november uw interview in "De Zevende dag". U kwam daar pleiten voor meer flitspalen op gewestwegen, om zo de veiligheid (voor o.a. fietsers) te vergroten. Eveneens pleitte u voor meer fietstunnels aan kruispunten, ja zelfs voor het oprichten van een fonds ter financiering hiervan.
Nu weet ik wel dat gezond verstand de slogan is van een andere partij dan de uwe, maar toch zou het niet slecht zijn in deze een beroep te doen op uw gezond verstand. Er is namelijk een hele makkelijke, en zelfs goedkope oplossing (Ik mag toch aannemen dat een partij als CD&V het geld liever niet over de spreekwoordelijke balk gooit?). Waar ligt immers het grote probleem bij kruispunten? Inderdaad, automobilisten die rechts mogen afslaan, terwijl fietsers (en voetgangers) rechtdoor mogen. In Nederland heeft men hier op een aantal kruispunten een in al zijn eenvoud geniale oplossing voor gevonden. Zolang autoverkeer toegestaan is, is geen fietsverkeer toegestaan, en andersom. U leest het goed, er is een periode dat alle autoverkeer rood licht krijgt, en fietsverkeer in alle richtingen toegestaan is. Goedkoop, en efficiënt, nietwaar? Ik mag dan ook aannemen dat u mijn opmerking ter harte neemt, en het geld dat u op deze manier kan besparen besteedt aan het aanleggen van meer en betere fietspaden ipv aan totaal overbodige fietstunnels.

Met de meeste hoogachting,

Martijn Cielen

I must have missed something, but I didn't know of a Flemish vilage called Unnu, let alone a village that exists in East-Flanders, West-Flanders _and_ Flemish Brabant ... ;-)

http://maps.google.be/maps/place?cid=9496107104178907831&q=sony+zaventem...
http://www.mercuriusgids.be/UNNU/Afvalbehandeling
http://www.mercuriusgids.be/TNT
http://www.infobel.com/nl/belgium/business/111000/Kantoorbenodigdheden+/...

This tutorial shows how to set up automated backups of linux hosts through dhcp using Ubuntu.

I will use following software:

• dhcp3
• custom scripts

1 on the server

1.1 configure dhcp3

In /etc/dhcp3/dhcps.conf add:

on commit {
  execute (
    "/etc/dhcp3/startbackup.sh",
    "start",
    binary-to-ascii(10,8,".",leased-address)
  );
}

1.2 create startbackup.sh

sudo vi /etc/dhcp3/startbackup.sh

#!/bin/bash
case "$1" in
start)
  sudo -u backup /etc/dhcp3/rsync.sh $2
;;
*)
;;
esac
exit 0

1.3 create rsync.sh

sudo vi /etc/dhcp3/rsync.sh

#!/bin/bash
nohup rsync -azuvb backup@$1:/home /backup/$1 &

and add the /backup folder:

sudo mkdir /backup

sudo chown backup:backup /backup

1.4 add the user backup

sudo useradd backup

Create the private/public ssh keys:

ssh-keygen -t rsa

Copy the public key to all hosts you want to backup:

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa backup@[host]

replace [host] with your hostname(s) or ip address(es)

1.5 configure sudo

sudo visudo

and add a line like this:

dhcpd ALL=(backup)NOPASSWD: /etc/dhcp3/startbackup.sh, /etc/dhcp3/rsync.sh

1.6 configure apparmor

sudo vi /etc/apparmor.d/usr.sbin.dhcpd3

change the part that looks like:

/etc/dhcp3/ r,
/etc/dhcp3/** r,
/etc/dhcpd.conf r,
/etc/dhcpd_ldap.conf r,

to:

/etc/dhcp3/ r,
/etc/dhcp3/** r,
/etc/dhcp3/startbackup.sh Uxr,
/etc/dhcpd.conf r,
/etc/dhcpd_ldap.conf r,

1.7 restart services

sudo /etc/init.d/apparmor restart

sudo /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server restart

On the client

2.1 add the user backup

sudo useradd backup

sudo usermod -G root

2.2 test the setup

sudo dhclient interface

where interface is the one you want to renew

You should now have a backup of your clients on the server

I have recently released version 0.1 of Cwibber.
Cwibber is an easy to use command line interface to Gwibber, which makes it easy to get (currently) Identica, Twitter and Facebook messages in your Conky.

First of all, add my ppa to your /etc/sources.list:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/mcielen/ppa/ubuntu [version] main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/mcielen/ppa/ubuntu [version] main

Ofcourse subsitute [version] with intrepid, jaunty or karmic. Then add the PGP key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 0DA7F92B

Since Cwibber depends on Gwibber >= 2.0, add the Gwibber ppa:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gwibber-daily/ppa/ubuntu [version] main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/gwibber-daily/ppa/ubuntu [version] main

Again subsitute [version] with intrepid, jaunty or karmic. Add the PGP key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 72D340A3

And, as usual:

sudo apt-get update

Now you're ready to install Cwibber:

sudo apt-get install cwibber

Since Cwibber depends on Gwibber, it'll be installed too.

To use Cwibber 0.1, you'll have to run Gwibber to create the accounts you want to use, and run Gwibber once to start the Gwibber Daemon (this will be changed in Cwibber v0.2). Now call Cwibber from your .conkyrc:

${execi 60 cwibber}

TODO for Cwibber 0.2:

- check whether Gwibber daemon is running, if not start it. For this I depend on the Gwibber developers, since refresh intervals will have to be stored in gconf. Developers promised this will be changed soon. (see https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/gwibber/+bug/417903)

- allow management of accounts through cwibber instead of through Gwibber

TODO for later versions:

- I'm hoping to convince Gwibber developers to split GUI and Daemon. If this won't happen, I might pack the gwibber daemon with Cwibber. (see https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/gwibber/+bug/421285)

Call for developers and testers

Test this app, and open an LP bug for any problem you find or features you want to see in next versions.

Since I'm far from a developer myself, I need help for this project. Interested in developing? Contact me through this forum or mail.

You've probably heard about the FSF's new campaign called "Windows7sins". I strongly oppose this way of "PROmoting" Floss. If like me, you think Floss should be promoted in a positive way, put below banner on your blog/website/..., tell your colleagues/friends/... about it and comment on my blog or send me a mail. We should show the world the Floss community is a positive community and I'll write a follow-up post with the results.