Go green with Linux

Last week in Serbia was marked by the green week initiative (SR), and this one is marked by freedom, it’s Creative Commons’ 6th birthday. This gave me an idea for this post. Use Linux to go green.

And how will Linux help you? By cutting your energy bills and lowering your e-waste production.

Few tests concluded that both Linux desktops and servers consume less power than Windows-powered machines.

Desktops: “When the Lenovo ThinkPad T60 was idling with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS “Hardy Heron” it had quite an advantage over Windows Vista Ultimate. Ubuntu was consuming five less Watts, which equates to more than 10% less power, over Microsoft Windows Vista. In our first server power consumption test, Vista Ultimate had consumed less power but it was just two Watts and both of these systems were consuming in excess of 170 Watts.”

Servers: “In most cases when sitting idle, Windows Server 2008 drew slightly more power than either Linux did on the same server. The exception was when Windows Server 2008 was running in power savings mode on the Dell server, where it drew on average 3% less power.”

Although, these results may be dependant on the actual test hardware, still it’s a good indication. Check out Intel’s LessWatts initiative, which aims to help you to lower your computer’s energy consumption if you use Linux. Also, there are tools that will help you make your Linux-powered computer consume less energy.

Another way it can help is by reducing your e-waste production. UK government conducted a study which showed that the typical hardware refresh period for Linux systems was 6-8 years, while Windows systems’ hardware refresh period was 3-4 years. Why is that? Consider that minimum requirements for Ubuntu, which is a fairly modern Linux distribution, are 64 MB of RAM, 4GB of HDD space and 300 MHz x86 processor. That configuration wouldn’t be able to run all the nice graphic effects, but you would have a ready-to-use system. For nice graphic effects, consider installing it on at least 700 MHz CPU with 256 or 384 MB of RAM. And there are also distributions which can work on even older configurations, like DSL or Puppy Linux. If you have an old computer which you don’t use, install one of those on it. It will serve nicely to surf the Internet, or to work on your documents.

So, go ahead and try it, if you’re not using it already. Go green .

How to create rotating wallpapers in Gnome

Few days ago I found artwork suggestions for Fedora 10. I really like the wallpapers in Solar theme. They should change based on the time of the day. As I don’t think that is supported in Gnome, I wrote this little script that does the job.

To run it, a directory with wallpapers needs to be passed.

./rotate-wallpapers /path/to/wallpaper/directory/

If you want it to run in the background, you can press Alt+F2 in Gnome, and run it.

/path/to/rotate-wallpapers /path/to/wallpaper/directory/

Once it’s run, it will count the number of wallpapers in the directory (files ending in jpg, jpeg, gif, png or svg), divide 1440 by that number and use the result as a period of time on which wallpapers will be rotated. It will set the first wallpaper, and sleep until the wallpaper needs to be changed.

So, this script is pretty much specific. It will work best with the series of wallpapers that have subtle changes, such as the Solar wallpapers. But, you’re free to use it in every way you want. Good luck …

If you find any bugs, please post it in the comments. Thanks.

Microsoft implements ODF support(?)

The article in IT PRO states that Microsoft will be implementing ODF (OpenDocument format) support in its Office suite:

Microsoft has no date for implementing OOXML on its own platform, but has agreed to implement the rival ODF format on Microsoft Office. Microsoft has given its blessings to ODF by joining the OASIS committees, and to cap it all, a senior Microsoft spokesman has conceded that “ODF has clearly won”.

Microsoft has even volunteered to opt into the ongoing ODF development process which, not without reason, has aroused the suspicions of ODF proponents.

I’m a bit suspicious of Microsoft’s move and if Microsoft has some hidden intentions. But I think it won’t be able to “close” ODF .

Here’s a blog post on MSDN which says ODF will be supported in MS Office 2007 Service Pack 2.

And why is this important to me? Most of my friends and professors still use MS Office. I use OpenOffice.org. If I need to send them a document (which needs to be editable, so PDF is not an option), I could do “Here’s the document in ODT (OpenDocument text), play with it”, but that wouldn’t be very nice. I don’t want to force anybody to use something they don’t wish to. So, I convert it to DOC, and then send it to them. But I don’t want to use DOC. And it seems like I’m not going to as soon as MS implements this ODF support. Let’s hope it will release plug-ins for previous MS Offices, too… or that people will switch to OpenOffice.org .

In the end, I think this is a good thing for ODF. Whether we like it or not, MS Office has the biggest market share, and by this more people will be able to use ODF for their documents.

SBB odbija da pomogne svojim korisnicima

Još uvek sam na SBB-ovim prepaid flat paketima, i nakon ovoga što je danas bilo definitivno moram da pređem na postpaid sistem plaćanja (pošto mi se sigurno ne prelazi na Telekom).

Uglavnom se potrefi da zadnji dan trajanja paketa odem i uplatim sledeći paket. Danas nisam mogao da obavim to u toku dana, pa sam predveče zvao korisnički servis da proverim do kada rade. Ljubazna Nikoleta me je obavestila da korisnički centar u Kralja Petra danas radi do 18h. Pretpostavljam da je zbog protesta. I mnogo je glupo ako su zbog toga skratili radno vreme. Kako je tad već prošlo 18h pitao sam da li je moguće na neki drugi način rešiti problem, pošto mi je potreban Internet. Dobio sam odgovor da korisnički centar u Ustaničkoj danas radi do 20h. Kako je lepo od njh što su se potrudili da neki drugi korisnički centar radi puno radno vreme. Možda ipak misle o svojim korisnicima?

Pošto su roditelji išli do grada, onda su oni svratili do Ustaničke 65. Negde posle 20h sam pogledao da li ima novi uplaćen paket i začudio se kad sam video da nema. Zvao sam ih na mobilni i saznao da je i taj centar radio do 18h. Oh, sreće i radosti…

Pošto pre nisam zapazio obaveštenje o skraćenom radnom vremenu ni na sajtu, ni na forumu SBB-a, otišao sam još jednom da vidim da ga nisam nekako prevideo. I zaista ga nema. Zovem opet korisničku podršku, da vidim da li bi mogli da mi učine i da produže paket za jedno veče, pošto već nije bilo obaveštenja i delimično su krivi što danas nisam mogao da uplatim. Na to dobijam odgovor od Marka (ako se tako zvao) da je bilo obaveštenje. Na moje pitanje gde, dobijam odgovor … “Na vratima.” Samo tako, hladno, najnormalnije. Kao da ne živimo u 21. veku, kao da nemaju sajt i forum… Na vratima?! Da li treba svaki dan da idem redom od jednog do drugog uplatnog mesta da bih video obaveštenje? Što nisu mogli na neki pristupačniji način da distribuiraju to? I tako, na još jedno pitanje da li je moguće produžiti Internet za jedan dan, dobijam odgovor da mogu ujutru da uplatim ako hoću…

Eh, Srbijo… Da sam u nekoj razvijenijoj zemlji… prvo se ne bih cimao do korisničkog centra da uplatim. Drugo, bilo bi malo verovatno da zbog protesta skrate radno vreme. Čak i da skrate, verujem da bi bilo obaveštenje na nekom logičnijem mestu, poput njihovog sajta (ili im ta napredna tehnologija služi da reklamiraju “uživajte uz 50 kanala, i Internetu brzine čak 2Mbps od 350 din!”… uz “sitne uslove”). I postoje primeri gde firme izlaze u susret korisnicima i prave ovakve ustupke da bi korisnik bio zadovoljan. Ali ne u Srbiji. Malo ko će to ovde da uradi.

I šta sad mogu da uradim? Ništa, sem da probam da izrazim svoje nezadovoljstvo na ovaj način… I da se nadam da će se situacija ovde nekad promeniti.

RATEL’s case on Global Voices

Danica Radovanović, web activist, researcher, PhD student in digital communications and Global Voices’ columnist for SE Europe, wrote an article for Harvard’s Global Voices. She tries to present both negative and positive sides of recent RATEL’s instructions on how to redirect and intercept Internet traffic for Internet Service Provider. She also summarizes the yesterday’s reaction of Serbian blogosphere on the published document. It might be an interesting read.

Misli o RATEL-u, Uputstvu, Zakonu i Ustavu…

Dakle, jutros je okačeno famozno Uputstvo, za koje je čuo ceo domaći Internet. Nakon razgovora sa Danicom o ovoj temi, delova Ustava i Zakona o telekomunikacijama, koje sam pročitao na Svakodnevnici i SSpin-ovog komentara na istom postu, malo sam razmišljao o svemu ovome. Ustav je najviši državni akt, i svi Zakoni, Odredbe i ostale stvari treba da budu u skladu sa njim. Daleko sam od pravnika, ali da pokušam da izlažim meni logično obrazloženje. Član 41. i 42. Ustava kažu:

Tajnost pisama i drugih sredstava opštenja

Član 41.

Tajnost pisama i drugih sredstava komuniciranja je nepovrediva.
Odstupanja su dozvoljena samo na određeno vreme i na osnovu odluke suda, ako su neophodna radi vođenja krivičnog postupka ili zaštite bezbednosti Republike Srbije, na način predviđen zakonom.

Zaštita podataka o ličnosti
Član 42.

Zajemčena je zaštita podataka o ličnosti.
Prikupljanje, držanje, obrada i korišćenje podataka o ličnosti uređuju se zakonom.
Zabranjena je i kažnjiva upotreba podataka o ličnosti izvan svrhe za koju su prikupljeni, u skladu sa zakonom, osim za potrebe vođenja krivičnog postupka ili zaštite bezbednosti Republike Srbije, na način predviđen zakonom.
Svako ima pravo da bude obavešten o prikupljenim podacima o svojoj ličnosti, u skladu sa zakonom, i pravo na sudsku zaštitu zbog njihove zloupotrebe.

Dakle, Ustav definiše kada sme da se odstupi od navedenih članova.

Član 55. Zakona o telekomunikacijama, na koji se poziva Uputstvo, kaže:

Javni telekomunikacioni operator je dužan da kao deo sistema, o sopstvenom trošku, oformi podsisteme, uređaje, opremu i instalacije za zakonom ovlašćeni elektronski nadzor određenih telekomunikacija.

Njime se poručuje da je potrebno da operater omogući nadzor korisnika.

Uputstvo, koje se poziva na član 55. Zakona o telekomunikacijama, a trebalo bi da je u skladu sa Ustavom, samo definiše kako se sprovodi elektronski nadzor. I kaže ovo:

Javni telekomunikacioni operator obavezuje se da na zahtev nadležnog državnog organa dostavi podatke o svim komunikacionim sredstvima koja su se pojavljivala na određenoj geografskoj, fizičkoj ili logičkoj lokaciji u minimalnom periodu od poslednjih 48 časova, nezavisno od postojanja telekomunikacione aktivnosti.

Pružalac Internet usluga je dužan da nadležnim državnim organima omogući pristup ažurnoj bazi podataka o pretplatnicima i periodično na zahtev dostavlja eksportovanu bazu podataka u formatu dogovorenom sa nadležnim državnim organima.

Spominje se da na zahtev mora da se omogući pristup podacima. Ima delova gde to nije eksplicitno navedeno, što je možda loše. Ali, ako se Uputstvo oslanja na Ustav, onda bi trebalo da je zabranjen pristup informacijama bez zahteva suda, ili kad nije ugrožena bezbednost Republike Srbije.

To jest, Uputstvom se dozvoljava neograničen pristup informacijama, ali se taj pristup Ustavom i Zakonom o telekomunikacijama ograničava na specijalne slučajeve. Na primer, ako se počini krivično delo 1. januara, a zahtev suda se izda 1. februara, onda bi provajder dostavio traženu komunikaciju od 1. januara do određenog datuma. Moguće je da zato moraju da prate sve podatke. Tako nešto mi deluje razumno.

Voleo bih ako bi ovo pročitao neki pravnik, koji bi mogao da da svoje tumačenje. Možda je ovo tačno, a možda je i samo moj pokušaj samoubeđivanja da je sve u redu…

U svakom slučaju, zdrava doza paranoje nije na odmet . Enkriptujte vaše poruke, razgovore preko IM-ova, i tako te stvari… Čisto radi vaše sigurnosti.

RATEL’s new law and our privacy

Serbia’s Republic Agency for Telecommunications (RATEL), published the instructions (text in Serbian) on Internet traffic interception and redirection. Basically, it allows Serbian government to read each and every bit of our communication, including HTTP, VoIP, e-mail and IM protocol. It’s not that I have something to hide, it’s just that it’s serious violation of my privacy. And I don’t really like that.

Update: I think I overreacted a bit in my comment. This legal act is not supposed to talk about violation of privacy. Violation of privacy is forbidden by the Serbian Telecommunication law, and Serbian Constitution. The whole purpose of this legal act, as I see it, is to amend element 55. of Telecommunication law.

Another comment can be found here (in Serbian).

Since we can’t change the law immediately, the least we can do is to protect our privacy. We can use encryption methods to encrypt our communication. Here are few advices:

Use HTTPS instead of HTTP

There are web servers that support HTTPS protocol. If you start with HTTP, your browser won’t transfer to HTTPS if it’s possible. So, I advise you to try HTTPS, maybe destination server has support for it. For example, most people will type in facebook.com, which will take them to www.facebook.com, using HTTP. Instead, try typing in https://www.facebook.com. If you’re using Firefox, you’ll notice that the icon next to the address bar is blue. If you click on it, it will inform you that your connection is secured. It should be harder to eavesdrop your connection with www.facebook.com, since it needs to be decrypted first.

Encrypt your e-mails

System of GPG public and secret keys enables to encrypt and decrypt content you need to securely pass to another person. It is possible to use it with e-mails. You need to install GPG software, set it up and generate you public/secret key pair. Then you need to install Enigmail extension if you’re using Thunderbird, or FireGPG if you’re using Gmail’s web interface. For Outlook, GPGol module should work.

Setting up Thunderbird and Enigmail

How to install GPG, and generate public/secret key pair on Linux can be found here. After that is finished, download and install Enigmail. How to install GPG, generate public/secret keypair and install Enigmail on Windows can be found here.

Setting up FireGPG in Gmail.

Just follow the instructions provided on FireGPG download page.

Setting up Outlook

Follow the instructions provided here. It should work with GPGol module, but I can’t test it. I don’t have Windows, nor Outlook.

Encrypt your IM conversations

Update: A list of IM clients that support OTR messaging can be found in Wikipedia’s article about OTR. If you don’t have or don’t like pidgin, you’re free to use something else.

Pidgin, a cross-platform, multi-protocol instant messenger client, has the capability of encryption of instant messages, using Off-the-Record plugin. If you still don’t use Pidgin, I would advise you to install it.

If you’re using Linux, I’m sure you can install it through your package manager. For Debian-based systems, search for pidgin package. Also, OTR plugin is available in pidgin-otr package in Ubuntu gutsy and later, and in Debian testing and unstable.

If you’re using Windows, download the installer from here. It’s easy to setup OTR after, and the instructions can be found here.

After you installed Pidgin, start it and go to Tools -> Extensions. Locate Off-the-Record plugin and enable it. Click on configure button. For each account in the list click Generate, and select Enable private messaging and Automatically initiate private messaging.

Note to some of my friends that use MSN: What do you care more about: your privacy, or animated smilies ?

At the end…

This short tutorial doesn’t cover all protocols… If you know something more, please post a comment and I’ll put it in this post. Thanks.

If you have any questions, post them in the comments, and I (or someone else) will try to answer them.