In this example, we want to add a number of free fonts to our desktop computer with the Ubuntu operating system.

There are numerous sites, that offer free fonts. We can recommend freefonts.dk, which offers thousands of TrueType fonts (TTF), that can be browsed, downloaded and used directly and free of charge.

We browse and download the fonts, that we want to add, into a specific directory. Each font is stored in a compressed file.

We decompress all the files, convert the filenames to lowercase, set permissions and isolate the TTF files in a clean directory.

cd Desktop/fonts
unzip \*.zip
find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -execdir rename 'y/A-Z/a-z/' '{}' \;
chmod 0777 *.ttf
mkdir ~/fonts
mv *.ttf ~/fonts/
cd ..
rm -rf fonts

Our font types are then transferred to the operating system and we confirm, that they are owned by root. An index of the new font types are created and the font informatation cache files are updated.

sudo mkdir /usr/share/fonts/truetype/opentech
sudo cp /home/opentech/ttf/*.ttf /usr/share/fonts/truetype/opentech/
ls -ld /usr/share/fonts/truetype/opentech/*.ttf
sudo mkfontdir /usr/share/fonts/truetype/opentech
sudo fc-cache

The operating system is booted to test, that the new font types are available after reboot.

In this example, we will configure the popular Evolution mail client in a graphical desktop environment to be able to keep privacy by using OpenPGP (PGP, GnuPG, GPG) for signing and encryption. The Evolution mail client is the default mail client on a Ubuntu operating system.

We assume, that the mail server settings has been configured and tested prior to this procedure.

We also assume, that we have a valid private (secret) key.

If we have not already done so, we insert our private key and our friends public keys into the local key rings using the GnuPG command line utility.

gpg --list-keys
gpg --import private_key.asc
gpg --import anns_public_key.asc
gpg --import bobs_public_key.asc
gpg --list-keys

We open the Evolution mail client, press Ctrl-Shift-S to enter our preferences, press Alt-E to edit our mail account and click the security tab. In the field “PGP/GPG Key ID” we enter the hexidecimal ID of our private key. We prefix it with 0x. We assure, that our outgoing messages are always signed, and, that our key ring can be trusted when encrypting. We click “OK” and close our preferences.

We want to test the signing. We prepare a message, click “Security”, ensure, that “PGP Sign” is checked, and send it. The mail client asks for the pass phrase. We enter the pass phrase. The recipient receives our message, opens it and find, that the mail client has validated the signature against the local public key. If there is no trustworthy path available to the key of the sender, it is normal, that the sender can not be verified.

We want to test the signing and encryption. We assure, that we have imported the public key of the recipient prior to this. Again, we prepare a message, but this time, we apply encryption by clicking “Security” and selecting “PGP Encrypt” as well as “PGP Sign”. The recipient receives our message, opens it and the mail client asks for the pass phrase. When entered, the decrypted message and validation appears.

Favorites icons (favicon.ico) are small icons or thumbnails, that are related to websites or website content, that are shown in the collection of favorites and in the address bar of the browser.

This is the procedure for creating a favorites icon and making a website load it.

We boot an Ubuntu computer and open The Gimp, which is a recommendable graphics editor, and create a new image with a size of 16 pixels x 16 pixels. We set the zoom level to 1600 percent and create the image. We can use all of the squares as the browsers will add a margin around the icon. When done, we save a copy of the image in the PNM format, which is the format, used by the image conversion utility, we will be using.

If not installed, we install the image conversion utility Netpbm.

We use Netpbm to convert the image to the favorites icon format.

ppmtowinicon -output favicon.ico favicon.pnm

We transfer the favorites icon to a directory of the website, set permissions as necessary and make the website load it by inserting the following links in the header section, right below the title tag. Test, that the browser can view the icon by direct path.

<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/wp-content/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" />
<link rel="icon" href="/wp-content/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" />

We are in search of used server hardware for testing purposes at the upcoming Unix user group (UUG) conference The Camp, such as one or two IBM xSeries 330 or 335 with processor, memory and storage included.

If you or your company has used server hardware in stock, that you no longer use, please, contact us at opentech@opentech.dk.

This procedure deals with a problem, that can occur, when working with encrypted USB storage devices.

In our example, a FreeBSD operating system fail to handle the attachment of an encrypted external USB storage device.

The system message buffer reveals, that there is a problem with USB.

dmesg
umass0: BBB reset failed, IOERROR
umass0: BBB bulk-in clear stall failed, IOERROR
umass0: BBB bulk-out clear stall failed, IOERROR

The cryptographic control utility reports an input or output (input/output, IO, I/O) error.

geli attach -k starnix.key /dev/da0
geli: Cannot open /dev/da0: Input/output error.

We remove the device node, reboot the operating system, attach the encrypted external USB storage device, confirm the USB attachment, confirm the presence of the device node and mount the file system on the external USB storage device.

rm /dev/da0
reboot
dmesg
ls /dev/da*
geli attach -k starnix.key /dev/da0
mount /dev/da0.eli /mnt/starnix

Now, the file system is mounted.

Vi søger en praktikant, der som et led i sin videregående erhvervsuddannelse vil løse en opgave inden for markedsføring.

Vi tilbyder

• en praktikplads af 3 til 6 måneders varighed, hvor praktikanten får mulighed for, at prøve kræfter med markedsføring af en nystiftet virksomhed med spændende teknologier (open source),
• individuelt forløb med opsætning af mål for opgaven,
• løbende undervisning,
• kontakt med det virkelige erhvervsliv,
• løbende gennemgang og justering af delmål,
• arbejdsplads med eget arbejdsbord, telefon, computer og printer, samt,
• tilslutning af egen bærbar computer til brug for projektarbejde.

Vi forventer, at praktikanten

• brænder for, at prøve kræfter med aktiv og passiv markedsføring for begrænsede midler, herunder, at tilrettelægge, udføre og analysere en eller flere salgsfremmende kampagner inden for produkter, tjenester, medier og målgrupper,
• er udstyret med ideer og værktøjer til brug for markedsføring og salgsfremmende kampagner,
• har et let overordnet kendskab til informationsteknologi, herunder computere, operativsystemer, applikationer, printere, netværksudstyr og tjenester ude hos små og mellemstore virksomheder og hjemme hos private,
• er åben, frisk, kontaktskabende, tillidsfuld, præsentabel og velformuleret, såvel mundtligt som skriftligt på dansk og engelsk,
• kan tage kontakt til medier og kunder på eget initiativ, samt,
• er effektiv og resultatorienteret.

Vi er en lille nystiftet virksomhed, der tilbyder konsulentbistand med opgaver, der spænder fra lette praktiske opgaver for private til faste aftaler med små og mellemstore virksomheder, der skal sikre og optimere produktionsanlæg og systemadministration af informationsteknologi. Se i øvrigt vor hjemmeside på www.opentech.dk.

Praktikstedet vil være på Smedeholm 12-14 i Herlev.

Ansøgning sendes per e-mail til opentech@opentech.dk.

In this example, we will be installing a Brother HL 4050 CDN color network laser printer in Ubuntu 9.10.

Prior to this, network has been configured, such as static IP address and domain name for the printer.

We click “System”, “Administration”, “Printing”, “New” and “Printer”. The network is now searched for available printers and the results is presented in the list below. We click our laser printer, provide it with a name and print a test page. The test page is sharp and colorful.

We open our browser, go through the page and printer settings – and print a test page. This comes out fine too.

Should you wish to go through the printer settings, the default username is “admin” and the default password is “access”.

On a multi user operating system, such as FreeBSD, it can be necessary to be able to perform critical system administration tasks without outside interference. This is eliminated by switching the operating system into single user mode.

This is the procedure to go into single user mode on a FreeBSD operating system.

In our example, the boot proces has been stopped due to critical error and we have been issued a shell prompt on a read only root file system.

The local file systems are cleaned, changed from read only to read and write, file systems are mounted and swap memory file system is mounted.

fsck -p -t ufs -y
mount -u
mount -a
swapon -a

The operating system is now in single user mode and we can perform our system administration tasks and round off with a reboot test, that should bring the operating system back to normal operation.

reboot

If the boot proces issues another single user mode prompt because of a non clean network file system (NFS), then the file system tab needs to be configured. NFS should not be cleaned during the boot proces. These are cleaned by the remote operating system. This is done by a value of zero in the sixth field (pass).

vi /etc/fstab/
reboot

In our example, we want to configure a Nokia 5800 mobile phone to be able to

• block incoming calls from hidden numbers,
• block incoming calls and messages from numbers, that are not listed in the address book, and
• block incoming calls and messages from specific numbers.

When such incoming call is made, the caller should be automatically rejected by a busy tone.

The Nokia 5800 mobile phone has the Symbian operating system and the S60 user interface. Symbian is very close to being released as open source software and users can already download, install and run open source software on it.

An example of an open source application for Symbian is the well known PuTTy client for secure shell (SSH) access on Linux og Unix servers. Another example is the well known DOS emulator DOSBox.

This is done by installing an application, that will start automatically at phone operating system boot time, do the incoming call analysis and do the automatic rejection (blocking).

A search on Google leads to a blog about Nokia 5800, that has a review of an application, called Black List, that seems to meet our requirements. Black List is not open source software, but, we hope, that it or other similar application will be released as open source soon. We register and download the software, which is delivered in the Symbian Installation Source (SIS) format, transfer it to the mobile phone and install it.

Black List is now presented by a neat icon in the application menu. It asks for an update via internet, which we accept. The available prices are listed. We will choose the one day trial. The menu is now shown. In “On/Off” we confirm, that the application is activated. In Contacts, we add a test person from the phone book. In Settings, we activate autoboot, activate calls from hidden numbers, activates calls from unknown and deactivates the “Hide from tasklist”.

We are now ready to test Black List.

The blocked test person from the phone book will now make a call. The call is rejected by a busy tone. There are no delay nor sounds, that indicate any application blocking software. The blocked test person will now send a message by SMS and a picture by MMS. These are blocked and are not available from the main screen nor the inbox.

The call from a hidden mumber and the call from an unknown number is also tested and are rejected by a busy tone as well.

We recommend an interesting article by Bjørn Willum, published on the online news site, Berlingske Tidende, on November 25th, about the subject, when open source software is better than closed source software.

The article mentions changes from closed source software to open source software, such as operating systems and office applications, at major public installation sites in France, Sweden and Finland, that not only gave them better flexibility, scalability and standardization of information technology, but, also saved the tax payers huge amounts of money.