/DavidBezemer

Small Ebox Update

David Bezemer — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:06:08 +0000

Hey All,

just a quick update. Ebox is still rocking at a small to medium office I provide the services for. Some minor issues with openLDAP and openLDAP again since I first wrote about it. Some manual labor in restoring a backup but in general it has been doing great.

For all those that use ebox themselves, the interface is also available in mobile browsers, tested on opera 4 and 5, BOLT (for blackberry) and Safari on iPhone.

Stay tuned for the release of their new (2.0) version, based on Ubuntu 10.04LTS which will be reviewed here once released and tested.

Ebox Unpacking

David Bezemer — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:14:38 +0000

Recently I discovered a novelty (for me) on the hunt for groupware solutions, called ebox or ebox-platform for full (http://www.ebox-platform.com).
This solution does not focus strictly on groupware or e-mail but provides a fully costomizable office package with DNS,DHCP,LDAP,MAIL,PROXY and a lot more solutions, based on the LTS release of Ubuntu (8.04 LTS that is).

The first installation of ebox 1.2 was a breeze, and in general performance and configuration is very easy. Setting up as a groupware server they decided to include egroupware, not really my choice. Fortunately in the 1.3 beta they now included a solution based on roundcube, which works a lot faster and looks a lot better.

EBox Monitoring Example

Next step was the installation of ebox as a LDC (Local Domain Controller) with some Windows XP/Vista/W7/Ubuntu clients, with different types of users, a brother laserprinter and shared folders. The setup was very easy, and after creating the users everything was a walk in the park. Performance is definately at a level that it can compete with Windows Server 2003/2008 based AD solutions, and the additional web-management makes remote management a delight.

Ebox Dashboard

For the true demanding users, it might be a good idea to wait for the Ebox 1.4 release, which will (hopefully) have Ubuntu 10.4 LTS as a base. You can get your own copy at http://www.ebox-platform.com at no cost.

Matrox RTX2 Downloader

David Bezemer — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:40:19 +0000

Since Matrox only releases drivers on the (less then ideal) ftp protocol, I thought it might be a good idea to create a Matrox Downloader Utility.

This utility will have no problems with the ftp protocol and let you save the files to any chosen directory.
I already finished the first half of the project, the only thing remaining is the actual download from the Matrox Server in a multithreaded way.

let me know if you want this utility, and what improvements you would like to see on it. The application is developed in VB.NET (framework 3.5) and works on any windows above (and including) Windows XP.

Mature Screenshots:

At this moment the first edition of the downloader is finished.
Please report back any problems you encounter, through PM (here) or mail: info [at] davidbezemer [dot] nl

The installer can be downloaded at:

http://www.davidbezemer.nl/downloads/RTX2_Downloader_Setup.exe

David

PYscalix mirror updated!

David Bezemer — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:18:21 +0000

The new pysclaix made by Rene Hadler (http://tih.dynalias.net/python/scalix_installer) is now updated at my mirror location.
Mirror location can be found here: http://www.davidbezemer.nl/downloads/pyscalix.zip

A short description of the installer:
Scalix Installer version 0.11.4.5 for Scalix 11.x.x

Update 07.09.2009:

* Support for version 11.4.5 added.
* Fixes for hostname/FQDN check.

Required:

* Python interpreter (Version 2.4 or 2.5 tested)
* Scalix package 11.x.x (you have to copy the scalix-package into the same location as the installer)
* Debian based system (Debian 4.0 "Etch" or Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy" tested, all 32bit)
* Ubuntu versions older than 8.04 will not be supported anymore but code is still present
* Important: Please use, if possible, the latest scalix version as code updates will only be present on the latest version for the installer.
* Hint: Working on Debian 5.0 / Ubuntu 8.10 releases, but there seems be a lot broken packages, so I will promise nothing at the moment. Maybe the next Scalix Version will be 'optimized' for the new OS releases.

Features:

* Automatic check of required tools and libs
* Automatic installation and configuration of Scalix-packages and their dependencies
* Only a few important things will be prompted
* Installation will take approximately 10 minutes (depends on the speed of your computer and internet)
* German and english installation language
* GPLv3

My Youtube Channel

David Bezemer — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:05:31 +0000

because most of my work is done in Audio and Video teritory, which is hard to talk about and much easier to show, heres a list to all of my YouTube video content!

Or use the link to my profile: http://www.youtube.com/user/themmai
Enjoy!

VMware tools and Debian 5.0

David Bezemer — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:24:29 +0000

While testing the various groupware solutions I also decided to take a look at supported software on my vmware server environment. The first thing drawing my attention is the lack of support for Debian, Ubuntu/RHEL/SUSE are nicely listed, but there is no option for Debian.

So I tried installing anyways, choosing custom kernel 2.6.x series installing Debian 5.0 Lenny.

As anyone who uses VMware often would agree, the virtual machines work a lot better/faster when you have VMware Tools installed. This seemed to be the first hurdle to take, so I decided to track my effort for educational puposes.

Go to VM > Install VMware Tools
On the CLI type: 'mkdir /mnt/cdrom'
Type 'mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom'
Change to a temporary directory (ie /tmp)
'tar xvf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-7.8.5-156735.tar.gz' (or the appropriate version you're using)
change directory to the vmware tools using 'cd ./vmware-tools-distrib'
Execute the installation using './vmware-install.pl'
Press enter at the questions to accept default values, or choose custom locations.
....Wait.... (Allow up to 5 minutes to complete)
Accept the default values for further installation steps
On the config script you will get the message "none of the prebuilt modules is suitable etc."
Press ctrl+c to abort the config script
Now you will have to install linux header, build-essentials and gcc using 'apt-get install gcc build-essential linux-header-`uname -r` '
Set the correct GCC version using:
'rm /usr/bin/gcc' and 'ln -sf /usr/bin/gcc-4.1 /usr/bin/gcc'
After this step invoke the config script again using /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl
Accept all default values
For smoother network support the use of the vmxnet driver advised, instructions ar elisted at the end of the config script:
Stop networking: '/etc/init.d/networking stop'
Remove the old driver: 'rmmod pcnet32'
Add the new driver: 'modprobe vmxnet'
Start networking '/etc/init.d/networking start'
Reboot your Virtual Machine

As alternative to all this, you can try the open-vm package which has an excellent installation manual located at: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=39005#p229783

Good luck and enjoy your fully functional Debian Installation.

Groupware roundup #1

David Bezemer — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:35:08 +0000

As e-mail, communication and exchange seems to be growing rapidly it is interesting to spot some of the novelty's on the market.

One of these novelties in my opinion is the recent rise (or expansion) of linux based groupware solutions. For an impressions here's an -incomplete- list with the most popular groupware solutions, and their (dis) advantages:

eGroupware - flexible, opensource and a complete solution but a pain to install and maintain due to absence of installer packages that actualy work correctly with mailsupport
Kolab - versatile, fully expandable, fully opensource but the lack of good documentation make it a pain in the ass to even try to install
Open-Xchange - supported, nicely documented but partly closed source and a pricey solution even compared to exchange!
Zimbra - very good support, active community and a free personal version available but pricey solution when implementing and the current development seems to be slacking in supporting new linux distributions
Scalix - currently the most promising solutions, very good documentation and active community, free personal version available including outlook connector, but missing debian/ubuntu packages as well as a resource hogger due to the java architecture
Group-Office - very nice interface, good standard documentation, cheap license model but administration is quite limited in options, meaning you will have to edit a lot of files manualy (for instance when setting up a smarthost)
Citadel - easy to use and install groupware, fully opensource, fast usuage and lightweight but interface will not appeal to everyone and administration seems to be cluttered

THis is by no means a complete list, but gives you an impression of whats available, possible and impossible .

For all solutions, howver, it seems to be a real problem to get a good and fast working outlook connection supporting addressbook, calendar, notes and e-mail like exchange provides. The one supporting this as one of the best compared to its cost will be Scalix, as their "Premium Users" include the outlook connector acting as exchange component working really well and fast.

However as I said before, sclaix does not seems to have any debian or ubuntu based packages (debs) and instead o this they release a manual solution. As always with popular packages someone tries to find a better solution for this and so did Rene Hadler. He created a python based solution for installing scalix on Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, Ubuntu 8.10 and Debian 4 (etch). This solutions works brilliantly, but for most of the users the german language makes it hard to understand the installer, and that's where I came in. Now there is a fully translated version of this scalix installer available, and because Rene Hadler's website seems to be on and off I will provide a mirror here including instructions on the installation. So click on the link below for complete instructions and a mirror to the installer.

Install a base sytem, no GUI and setup your base components like apache, php, mysql, webmin etc. Make sure you do this before installing scalix, as scalix can (and probably will) break some dependencies.

Install a couple of essential tools needed later in the installation, python, unzip and screen

Now dowload the latest (11.4.3) scalix community release from www.scalix.com to a temporary location (ie /tmp) using screen (wget the file, then press ctrl + a followed by d to return to the base terminal)

Download the scalix python installer from http://www.davidbezemer.nl/downloads/pyscalix.zip

Extract the scalix installer using "unzip ./pyscalix.zip"

Now start the installation using "python scalix_install_deb.py" and follow on-screen instructions

Now your installation is complete, reboot and login to your newly installed scalix using "/sac" and you are ready to go.

Additional hints and tricks that I used contain setting up a smarthost, using fetchmail for external accounts and including spamfiltering and virusscanning using ClamAV and Spamassassin, for more info look at the below links.

http://www.scalix.com/wiki/index.php?title=HowTos/SpamAssassin
http://www.scalix.com/wiki/index.php?title=Configuring_Clamav_Ubuntu_Gutsy
http://www.scalix.com/wiki/index.php?title=Configuring_Sendmail_with_smarthost_Ubuntu_Gutsy
http://www.scalix.com/wiki/index.php?title=HowTos/Fetchmail

So far for this roundup, next month or so I will be back with more information on this scalix project, and comparing it to some other groupware packages, untill then try this out and let me know your results!

Cheerio, David

Rico, Progress Report!

David Bezemer — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:19:47 +0000

Ai Skipper:

Saturday

This weekend was the third test of the season. After coming in 6^th at the NKIR and 3^th at the Winterwedstrijden, the crew felt confident to put in a good performance at the Heineken. The Amstel can however be deceiving when being a Freshmens crew. The first distance we had a bad start on the wobbly Amstel water, and technique wasn’t as good as it could have been. Then we caught up with Skoll and for the second time this season, and for the second time we lost some seconds due to bad maneuvering which again cost points at the end of the weekend. Protesting however doesn’t help anybody, although a do hope that they give us a bit more room next time instead of waiting until the last possible official moment. The crew was not happy with the 250m, but again this isn’t home water. The time of 41.1 did give us some satisfaction where we got our first official victory of the season. The result of Saturday caused quite some enthusiasm among Theta spectators, because of the overall first place.

Sunday

750 m was basically comparable to the first kilometer of the 2500m. Again wobbly water + a few crabs + not getting together = a 6 seconds loss = 36 seconds to make up. Nothing is impossible, and with Laga’s Berlage experience in the past you just hope for the best. We were placed back in the field started 3 places before Laga. After a good start we could see Vidar shrinking away in the distance, as it should be . But after 4000m with some maneuvering around Orca in the outside bend the crew, Vidar came back on the crew, and we had a lot to do from the Omval to the Finish to have any chance on winning the distance. Powering on at 36+ against the wind felt like a charm, but did not put enough distance between us and Vidar. Loosing 4 seconds on Vidar, 1 on Laga, but gaining 5 on Skadi, we finished 3th on the 5000m but were 0,5 and 4 seconds short on the 5km to gain respectively one or two places places in the overall ranking………. *)&*) $^)#^_)#%&

Overall conclusion was that we had learned a lot this weekend as a whole crew. With a good sprint and speed on long distances we have learned a lot since the WW. It seems like the hammer is down for the coming weekend, with at least 5 crews on the Head having a chance of winning it. The favourites are however Vidar who will be starting in 2^nd place behind Nereus. With clear water from the Omval towards Oudekerk they will be cruising on the ideal line in idle water. However Nereus won’t let go that easy that weekend, and will be looking for revenge after having lost their Heineken Regatta. We’ll be hoping to battle it out with Laga back in the field and put in our best performance yet as margins are slim. With 5 crews racing so close together it will be an exiting race to row and watch.

Rico Out!

Rowing Madness

David Bezemer — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:15:17 +0000

Ok, time for another update on my rowing progress.

Currently I (and my 7 fellow rowers) are training into the race rowing season. Training around six times a week, with indoor, outdoor and circuit trainings, a tough schedule seems to be ahead.

The next incoming (big) event will be the NKIR, the Nationaal Kampioenschap Indoor Roeien (national championship indoor rowing), and our team is, ofcourse, striving to win!

This evening we have anopther preliminary test of 2km, and hopefully times be be up to scheme.

Realising that sports performance also means another way of life, I tend to be watching what, when and how much I eat, sleep, work and hang out. Just one bad evening can ruin pretty much 2 days of training.

At the other hand, I also started planning my total life, which menas I now know what to do for the day ahead, instead of just waiting and see what will be ahead for every day .

Well, untill I have more news, regards to fellow rowers, and till next time.

David

Big Buck Bunny

David Bezemer — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:43:09 +0000

One of the first succesfull and good looking movies produced by opensource software.

Well that might just have been one of the lines a review article would describe this movie in.
A movie fully animated in the opensource program Blender (www.blender.org), with roughly the same looks and quality as pixar shorts.

A funny, well thought animation, capable of making your laugh without one line of text in it.

The most special part about this movie, is that the full project is available for download, including sketches, audio, ideas and so on. For starters and semi-professionals this is THE possibility of viewing the capabilities of opensource software.

Stay tuned for some more news on Blender, I'm sure that I will take a second look at it