/srv/irclogs.ubuntu.com/2008/05/08/#ubuntu-devel.txt

blueyedCan somebody please clear vbox-ose-modules from NEW/hardy-proposed?00:32
LaserJockcan anybody think of a reason why a package would just disappear from Hardy?00:45
jdongLaserJock: usually that involves sabdflatory processes ;-)00:47
jdongor launchpad magic.00:47
LaserJockI think perhaps something went boom00:47
LaserJockI don't see a removal bug00:47
LaserJockbut a decently important science app is just gone00:48
LaserJocklooking at the publishing history all the Hardy uploads are "superseded" and none are "published"00:48
blueyedbtw: "hardy-proposed" is missing from http://ddebs.ubuntu.com/dists/00:51
TheMusoLaserJock: Has it been removed from Debian.00:59
LaserJockTheMuso: I seriously doubt it, let me check01:00
LaserJockoh, actually it appears it has!01:01
bd_heh, why was it removed?01:03
LaserJockRoQA; (very) RC-buggy01:04
LaserJockwell that's kinda crappy01:05
LaserJocksomebody was clearly trying to fix it up and they go and remove it01:05
LaserJockI don't suppose there's a way for us to get it back?01:07
cjwatsonLaserJock: err, it could come back in intrepid, maaaaaaaaybe in hardy-proposed given an SRU01:09
cjwatsonBTW the RoQA stuff typically only happens after the maintainer has been delinquent for some time, and is a reaction to many previous occurrences when people promised to fix things up and then forgot01:10
LaserJockI guess01:11
cjwatsonfor some reason, removing things seems to kick people into action ...01:11
LaserJockbut why not orphan it for a while first01:11
LaserJockI can see removing it from testing01:11
LaserJockas it had problems with gcc 4.301:11
LaserJockso instead I have users wondering where their app is01:12
LaserJockand turning to PPAs01:12
LaserJockwhich I guess is alright01:12
LaserJockbut perhaps we should just get the PPA packages into Ubuntu and let Debian do whatever they're gonna do01:15
LaserJockcjwatson: would you just blacklist a package like that from syncing?01:15
LaserJockI guess there wouldn't be anything to sync anymore01:16
* LaserJock shuts up for the moment :-)01:16
cjwatsonLaserJock: usually we don't blacklist packages that have been removed from Debian, on the basis that if they get put back into Debian then we probably want to follow suit01:21
cjwatsonthe blacklist is for packages that have been removed from Debian but not for Ubuntu01:21
LaserJockyeah, makes sense01:22
LaserJockI'm sure we'll bring them back for Intrepid01:22
LaserJockI don't feel like trying an SRU for Hardy, especially when there are PPAs available for it now01:22
cjwatsonLaserJock: what's the package name?01:22
LaserJockqgis01:22
LaserJockit's a very common/popular GIS gui01:23
LaserJockI've seen people who use Ubuntu soley for it01:23
LaserJockI was just reading a forum thread about people wondering where it went, that's how I found out01:24
cjwatsonwell, it'll come back if it gets accepted back into Debian before import freeze01:24
cjwatsonor if somebody reuploads it manually to Ubuntu01:24
LaserJockI'll have to talk to the people who are running the PPA, I think they are upstream developers01:25
LaserJockmaybe I can convince them to maintain it in Debian and/or Ubuntu01:26
ScottKLaserJock: If it gets into Intrepid, it can be backported to Hardy.02:11
LaserJockScottK: good point02:12
TheMusoStevenK: Any objections to me doing your libsdl1.2 merge? I'm preparing an SRU for it for hardy, and need to get the same fix into intrepid, so I may as well merge while I'm at it.03:30
StevenKTheMuso: None.03:30
TheMusoStevenK: Thanks.03:30
WhiteNoiseif anyone is good with cryptsetup and initramfs, please check out this confirmed bug exposed when upgrading to Hardy and the new kernel:  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/21327904:38
ubottuLaunchpad bug 213279 in linux "cryptsetup: source device not found during boot" [Undecided,Confirmed]04:38
doctormoHey is anyone here involved in the Remote-Support thread on the mailing list?05:36
ScottKI haven't noticed that any of the people significantly involved in it are regulars here (I commented once or twice).05:40
doctormoScottK: Ah, i got this stomach turning dread when i noticed the thread; "Ah damn they're reinventing our project"05:43
ajmitchwhich project is that?05:44
doctormohttps://launchpad.net/locoremotesupport/05:46
* Hobbsee tends to get people who give her an ssh login, and hand over root access, and say "fix it"05:46
fabbionemorning guys05:51
Hobbseemorning fabbione05:52
ion_"ciao a tutti".upcase.l337ize.mirc_colorize05:53
* StevenK slaps ion_ with a large trout.05:55
StevenKIf I can remember mIRC's default ...05:55
ion_:-)05:55
* ScottK pan fries the trout in butter and has a late night snack.05:56
ajmitchlate?05:58
ion_Yeah05:58
doctormoScottK: I was curious as to what you would make of our project, you seemed interested05:59
ScottKdoctormo: I'm mostly interested in we don't compromise security in order to 'help'.06:05
doctormoScottK: yea, something that has brought about grave discussion in our irc channel. One of the reasons we decided to make it elective06:06
HobbseeScottK: oh, but why don't we give ppa access, and so put the correct versions of everything in there, and do an upgrade of critical packages, jus tto fix things?06:06
Hobbseeblah.  my brain's not doing thoughts in a coherant order, today06:07
LaserJocknifty idea06:07
LaserJock"download this package and it will fix everything up for you .. ;-)"06:08
HobbseeLaserJock: it's called automatix3, and won't let you turn on your computer again.06:10
ScottK"download this package and you'll never need to worry about your data again."06:10
StevenKIt melts the machine down and encases it in rapid-set concrete?06:10
doctormoStevenK: and drops it in a 27 foot hole and covers it with rocks and bolders?/06:12
StevenKdoctormo: Not enough.06:12
doctormoStevenK: It was a weird-al quote from his "Virus alert" song06:13
StevenKHaha06:13
doctormo"Then burn any of the clothes you wore when you were online"06:16
doctormohehe06:16
ion_Sorry if i'm being ignorant (i didn't read the mailing list thread or study the locoremotesupport project), but i'd just like to point out that it would be nice if there were an easy way for a helpee to *connect to me* so that i'd gain access to her system for a single session. She wouldn't need to have something listening to a port, and i would be the one to set up an open port etc.06:20
LaserJockion_: that does seem more sane06:21
doctormoion_: yes, that is what we're working on, elective ssh support06:21
doctormoit uses reverse ssh tunnels06:22
ion_Nice06:22
RAOFHeh.  That was my one contribution to the thread :)06:22
doctormoThe idea is that it would work even if your on a weird PPoE or a McDonnelds Wifi, although weather you'd want to...06:23
doctormoRAOF: really? heh, you should have been in #ubuntu-us-ma about 2 months ago when we were talking about it06:23
RAOFReverse ssh seems eminently sensible.06:24
doctormoRAOF: so far we have `ssh -o "StrictHostKeyChecking yes" -nNT -R %s:%s:%s %s@%s`06:26
=== asac_ is now known as asac
dholbachgood morning07:06
Hobbseemorning dholbach07:07
dholbachhiya Hobbsee07:07
=== paran_ is now known as paran
norsettoheya dholbach07:14
dholbachheya norsetto07:15
LaserJockguten morgen dholbach07:18
dholbachheya LaserJock07:18
nixternalw00t, 1 more week of classes baby!07:19
nixternalnow I just need to find a job and I will be good to go07:19
* dholbach hugs nixternal07:20
LaserJocknixternal: job? what's that?07:20
doctormoprogramming?07:20
nixternalI have no clue...only job I have held the last 3 years is right here with all of you :)07:20
nixternalthough I have taken the slacker route obviously07:21
nixternalI quit Microsoft to work with you LaserJock!07:21
LaserJockhaha07:21
nixternalfor real!07:21
nixternalpeople think I quit to go back to school...in all honestly it was you!07:22
LaserJockyes, my magnetic charisma stole you away from Ballmer ;-)07:22
nixternalthat and he didn't pay worth a crap07:23
nixternalthey hated us so much they gave us crappy office space and all...wouldn't even let us come near redmond07:23
ajmitchfree copies of vista weren't enough for you?07:24
nixternaloh, you test ms products and linux.....no redmond for you!07:24
ion_And free chairs07:24
nixternalajmitch: you still using that free copy aren't you :p07:24
LaserJockI've been to the Redmond campus, it's very beautiful07:24
ajmitchof course07:24
nixternalLaserJock: I have seen the redmond campus07:24
nixternalin 2 presentations and on google maps07:24
ion_laserjock: Any chairs flying around?07:24
LaserJockion_: I was just outside waking through, never dared go inside the buildings07:25
nixternalthey would have killed you..they have people dressed up like the imperial forces just waiting to get rid of your hippy ways07:25
LaserJockI was afraid they'd catch me and make me one of their code monkeys07:25
LaserJockI didn't have the lasers I have now for just such an occasion ;-)07:25
nixternalhaha07:25
nixternalmy 2 current job offers would require me to leave the community behind...and I can't deal with that honestly...I am to addicted07:26
nixternalplus mario lemonsquare owes me a drink07:27
ajmitchrequire?07:28
nixternalya, as in I wouldn't be allowed to work on Ubuntu07:28
superm1lemonsquare?07:28
ajmitchharsh07:28
nixternalya you superm1 :p07:29
superm1was that explicitly told to you?07:29
superm1that you'd have to leave them behind?07:29
Yasumotonixternal: that's brutal.. :(07:29
nixternalsuperm1: ya07:29
superm1nixternal, yuck.  w/ what groups/companies are these offers?07:30
nixternaland the one, was the Red Hat job down there by you07:30
nixternalbut that was business services type stuff...marketing..they would only allow me to use what I was to support/market/manage/whatever07:30
nixternalthe other is my old MS job :p07:30
Hobbsee!visternal07:30
ubottuOh no!  The pointy-clicky Vista lover has arrived!  He's rumoured to be giving out free money, too!07:30
Hobbseeevil man.07:30
nixternalhehe07:30
nixternalonly in your eyes!07:30
nixternalwell, maybe a few others as well07:31
superm1nixternal, can they really dictate what you do on free time?07:31
lucentmy evil sense is tingling07:31
nixternalI am hoping on a job opening with a local free software company that won't hamper anything but time07:31
nixternalsuperm1: not really, but it is easy for them to use it against you when you are sucking07:32
Hobbseenixternal: then surely the solution is not to suck?07:32
nixternalmost definitely, but everyone hits those times when they aren't 100%07:32
nixternalespecially in business management07:32
=== hunger_t is now known as hunger
nixternalI so wish I would just go ahead and complete my damn CS stuff and forget this business crap07:33
* Hobbsee thought there was more to the range, rather than just '100%' or 'sucky'07:33
nixternalanything less than 90% is sucky in my books :)07:33
nixternalunless of course you are talking about the humidity in Chicago, then anything above 60% is sucky07:34
pittiGood morning07:34
Hobbseeright.07:34
Hobbseemorning pitti!07:34
* Hobbsee hugs pitti07:34
nixternalmornin' pitti07:34
* pitti hugs Hobbsee and nixternal07:34
superm1nixternal, yeah well down here if you are talking about any part of the year between the end of may and end of august, it's always sucky07:34
Hobbsee:)07:34
superm1temperature wise at least07:34
jsgotangcoevil nixternal making this channel noisy again!07:34
nixternaloh no!07:34
* jsgotangco goes back to work07:34
superm1haha07:34
\shnixternal, you need a new job? overseas? come to germany ;)07:34
ajmitchhi pitti07:34
nixternalwhatever jerome! you know you want to come back to Chicago07:35
\shnixternal, you can work on ubuntu full time ;)07:35
nixternal\sh: I am on my way!07:35
nixternalI will FedEx myself in the morning07:35
jsgotangconope i am getting an island soon :)07:35
\shnixternal, hehe...07:35
nixternalBlue Island?07:35
nixternalStoney Island?07:35
jsgotangcoi was supposed to be in ubuntu live but i have a sched that week elsewhere sunddenly came out i had to decline the slot07:35
\shnixternal, na really, I need an add here for the sysadmin stuff, deploying ubuntu on servers, fixing packages, pushing new crack in07:36
StevenK\sh: Your servers run Automatix?07:36
lucentjsgotangco: a goose island?07:36
nixternal\sh: Hobbsee will attest...I am the best crack pusher this community has ever witnessed!07:36
* Hobbsee beats StevenK07:36
\shnixternal, you are allowed to even fix flash ,)07:36
Hobbseenixternal: no, jdong is.07:36
nixternalooh, good one lucent, I forgot about the all important Goose Island07:36
\shStevenK, what is automatix?07:36
nixternaldamn, I need to start producing more crack then07:36
StevenK\sh: Something you should continue to ignore.07:37
nixternalwhich they are closing at the end of the year except for their one cruddy spot near wrigleyville07:37
lucentnixternal: I was going to say "312" but it doesn't make itself immediately obvious to outsiders07:37
\shStevenK, i thought the dev of autocracknix told the world that automatix died07:37
nixternallucent: where the heck are you at?07:38
nixternalthe name definitely rings a bell living right down the street from lucent07:38
nixternalhehe07:38
lucentI'm Eric Shattow07:39
nixternalhave we met?07:39
hungerSo what is the recommended upgrade path hardy/intrepid? Should I just remove the gcc-4.2 stuff? What about perl?07:39
lucentI live north of Chicago, IL07:39
lucentI don't know07:39
nixternalgroovy...I am out by Schaumburg07:39
\shhunger, there is no upgrade path...there is only pain...real pain...it will hurt...yay...pain is good ,->07:39
RAOFhunger: The currently recommended upgrade path is "don't".07:39
nixternalSchaumburg, a nice German town with more Greek restaraunts than you could shake a stick at07:40
Yasumoto\sh: haha. so reassuring.. :P07:40
RAOFIncidentally, it's also the currently recommended debootstrap path :(07:40
* \sh doesn't even no Schaumburg...and the story about more greek restaurants...07:40
hunger\sh, RAOF: I know unstable ubuntu distris. Have been using them since before breezy:-)07:40
Hobbseenixternal: do my assignment for me, kthxbye.07:40
Hobbseethis thing looks woefully stupid.07:40
nixternalhaha, Hobbsee I spent all day doing a bogus Business Needs Analysis07:41
\shhunger, it's too early to upgrade...believe us07:41
Hobbseenixternal: this assignment refers to the internet consistently as the "InterNet"07:41
nixternalI faked an interview from about 3 of you in this channel actually :p07:41
Yasumotohunger: it's still too early to upgrade yet though. the toolchain isn't even up yet (right?)07:41
\shhunger, just try latest debootsrtap from intrepid and try to create a chroot...07:41
hungerYasumoto: gcc 4.3 is uploaded and a lot of packages are already build.07:41
RAOFYasumoto: The toolchain is, and stuff's building.  The autosync hasn't finished yet IIRC, and it's not debootstrappable at the moment.07:41
lucentnixternal: I'm unemployed at the moment, work would be interesting07:42
nixternalhehe, you and I both :)07:42
hungerYasumoto: gcc-4.3 transition does not seem done yet and perl is updated but not the perl addon libs.07:42
lucentI was doing some work as an installer for Allen Visual Systems in Buffalo Grove, IL07:42
RAOFHobbsee: I suggest in your response you consistently capItalise rAndom chAracters.07:43
\shyay..another re-installation of hardy in only 3 mins...ubuntu-minimal rocks07:43
RAOFhunger: If you know this, why are you asking how to upgrade?  Either it works or it doesn't, and if it doesn't we don't much care yet :)07:43
lucent\sh: are we talking about a "netinst" version of Hardy?07:44
hungerRAOF: I have just checked what aptitude would do. And was wondering whether there are workarounds for these problems.07:44
lucentmy friend asked me today if there exists a netinst version of Ubuntu Server, I told him "no" thinking that there was none07:44
Yasumotohunger & RAOFL: gotcha, thanks07:44
\shlucent, nope..I'm taking about a nice tool of this Hetzner company...they have actually a nice little util named installimage...and it takes finally 5 mins to install ubuntu...including changing the installation template07:45
HobbseeRAOF: heh07:45
\shlucent, for simple installations over network you can use the netboot image...07:45
\shlucent, for real life mass deployment I advise looking at FAI07:45
lucentgood info, thank you07:46
pittiyay, intrepid is sane again, perl works07:46
RAOFhunger: I'm not sure if anyone in here has actually upgraded anything but a build-chroot to Intrepid yet.07:46
\shthat reminds me, my new two servers arrived...2x DL365, 16GB+16GB, 2x Quad Core Opterons...yay07:46
hungerpitti: It is? Aptitude still wants to keep back perl since all the libs are not upgradeable at this time.07:46
\sh8 Cores for ESX...I'm a lucky guy07:46
lucenthar... I saw a blog entry about "Completely Fucking Slow" (CFS) scheduler07:47
hungerRAOF: Where is the fun in waiting till everything works?07:47
RAOFpitti: Oh, does that make it debootstrappable?07:47
pittihunger: hm, WFM now, I could dist-upgrade, and now build-essential (which includes perl) installed07:47
\shpitti, you are my jesus with this message ;)07:47
pittiRAOF: should07:47
RAOFYay!07:47
pittiintltool still seems to be broken, though07:47
pittilibxml-parser-perl07:47
hungerpitti: Well, I have a somewhat non-standard system, so maybe it is just additional stuff.07:47
RAOFhunger: Yeah, but where's the fun in installing before _anything_ works?07:47
\shif only our a.u.c. servers were letting me sync intrepid..07:48
hungerpitti: Well, still 33 perl packages waiting to get build... lets see how things are once they are there.07:48
lucentintrepid?  what's so hot about that07:48
RAOFlucent: Goats are hot.07:48
lucentI've run debian unstable before, mostly because it was more or less stable07:48
RAOFThe internet knows that!07:49
pittihunger: ah07:49
lucentcompared to say, any other OS I've used for the desktop07:49
pittihunger: libxml-parser-perl is current, though07:49
pittiah, it was built against the old perl07:50
* pitti does another rebuild07:50
stgrabermorning07:52
\shwaaaaaa07:54
\shpasswd -l root07:54
\shapt-get install mysql-server07:54
\shfailed07:54
\shUnpacking mysql-server-5.0 (from .../mysql-server-5.0_5.0.51a-3ubuntu5_amd64.deb) ...07:54
\shYour account has expired; please contact your system administrator07:54
\shchfn: PAM authentication failed07:54
\shwth?07:54
\shwell, sudo su - <-- tells me the same, sudo -i doesn't07:55
ion_sh: Well, please contact your system administrator. ;-)07:55
\shion_, hehe07:55
\shwe do agree here, this shouldn't happen07:55
* \sh looks at mysql this evening...07:56
ion_Do the passwd/shadow lines for root look ok?07:56
\shion_, root is enabled during installation from the rootserver provider...07:57
\shion_, passwd -l root locks root account and make it unusable...it should be the same as the default non-root install now07:57
\shi am logged in via useraccount , sudo -i to become root, and install the package...07:58
\shmysql-server does something during postinst..and runs into a pitfall, because passwd -l root is not the same as telling the passwd package somehow to not enable root07:58
ion_Yeah, i'd assume that, but have you actually looked at passwd/shadow? I mean, is passwd/shadow broken by passwd -l root or is e.g. PAM broken?07:59
\shion_, na passwd/shadow are looking sane07:59
\shion_, and no...pam is not broken ;) because in the end everything works.08:00
pittiyay, with that libxml-parser-perl upload, intltool becomes installable08:00
pittiand cdbs08:00
TheMusoThe joys of the first weeks of a new release cycle.08:01
pittiso everyone who would like to see their intrepid upload build, please compile a list of source packages (NO commas in between) and toss it to me, I can give them back08:01
pitti(their uploads which FTBFSes because of intltool, that is)08:01
Hobbseepitti: can't you just get someone to do a mass giveback for anything that didn't build in intrepid?08:02
* \sh checks this afternoon after rollout of companies new product release08:02
TheMusopitti: jack-audio-connection-kit08:02
pittiHobbsee: yes, infinity can08:02
pitti(and will)08:02
Hobbseepitti: right08:02
pittiTheMuso: noted, will do08:03
TheMusopitti: oh and at-spi08:03
TheMusopitti: Thanks.08:03
=== tkamppeter_ is now known as tkamppeter
norsettopitti: re. the intltool ftbfs, I only have gnome-radio to be given back08:39
pittinorsetto: noted down, will do08:39
norsettopitti: danke08:39
pochupitti: could you also put gstreamer0.10 and libbeagle on that list to give back? re: intltool uninstallable09:31
pittipochu: done09:32
pittiI'm still waiting for the new libxml-parser-perl to become really published09:32
pochusure, no hurry. thank you09:32
Ngpitti: is apport supposed to get disabled at release? or am I on crack? ;)09:33
pittiNg: it is supposed to, and it's actually disabled for SIGSEGV-like crashes09:33
pittiNg: it's not yet for Python crashes, that's bug 22226009:33
ubottuLaunchpad bug 222260 in apport "apport_python_hook.py doesn't check to see if apport is enabled" [Medium,In progress] https://launchpad.net/bugs/22226009:33
Ngpitti: ahh, that would explain why we're seeing python crash reports here, thanks :)09:34
cylexhello.. I am wondering if anyone's home09:35
emgentmorning09:36
cylexI had a question... if I want to develop something for Xwindows.. like a small app09:36
cylexmorning emgent09:36
cylexWhat language do I use?09:36
cylexC ok?09:37
cylexor better question.. what languages most packages are written in.. for Xwindows?09:38
pitticylex: depends on which language you know and prefer; personally I find Python and pygtk rocking, and it's so easy and fast to develop small GUI apps09:41
pitticylex: C works fine, of course09:41
pitticylex: BTW, this is off topic here (not related to Ubuntu development, not even to Ubuntu in particular)09:42
cylexAre there mailing lists or any development places I can go for help09:43
cylexwith this stuff09:43
pitticylex: maybe try http://library.gnome.org/devel/gtk-tutorial/stable/ if you want GTK?09:44
cylexand is it difficult to code with C for GUI?09:44
tseliotcylex: try asking in the "Programming Talk" section of ubuntuforums:09:44
tseliothttp://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=3909:44
pitticylex: in C it is not more difficult, but much less comfortable than in scripting languages like Python or Perl09:44
lucentcylex: Gnome lovers will strike me, but the Qt toolkit provides a solid multi-platform base of code in C++ language to work with for professional application development09:45
pitticylex: (you need much more code, since C is a low-level language)09:45
lucentcylex: the other popular choice is Python language with Gtk+ bindings09:46
cylexok thanks, you guys been great help :)09:47
cylexIs there chan on this network for programming talk?09:51
Le-Chuck_ITAHi there, I would like to prepare a patch to dexconf, but I don't understand: in /etc/X11/xorg.conf it says that the file is regenerated whenever xorg is upgraded09:51
Le-Chuck_ITAon my system this does not happen even though I reconfigured X manually to get back the original file without my modifications09:52
pochucylex: generally or for a specific language?09:52
chmj:'(09:53
cylexpochu: C/gtk for ubuntu09:53
cylexpochu: language specific09:53
lucentwhat the heck is ctrl+Y in irssi hmm09:54
cylexI think I got it.. I'll just join #c09:56
broonieHas the process for doing SRUs for main changed in the past 6 months or so?09:57
pochucylex: and #gtk+09:57
Le-Chuck_ITAnobody can tell me how to force xorg.conf to be updated in a patched package for xorg or x11-common?09:57
pittibroonie: the procedure became a bit more streamlined, and we added a few acceptable cases09:58
pittiLe-Chuck_ITA: no, because packages must not touch xorg.conf09:58
broonieHrm, right. Might be worth trying then.09:58
broonieThanks.09:58
pittibroonie: see the current policy document09:58
pittiit has been rearranged quite a bit for readability09:59
broonieThe last policy didn't look too bad either...09:59
broonieBut yes, I'll have a look.09:59
=== Great_Briton_ is now known as Great_Briton
Le-Chuck_IT1pitti: sorry for disappearing so suddenly, my laptop is breaking and sometimes it dies10:03
Le-Chuck_IT1You said packages shouldn't touch xorg.conf but when is dexconf triggered? Never?10:03
pittiLe-Chuck_IT1: oh, I just read your previous lines, when I replied I just saw the last one10:04
xivulonseb128, had a quick look at changing the bookmarks yesterday night10:04
pittiLe-Chuck_IT1: no, dexconf does not change xorg.conf automatically either10:04
xivulonbut it seems that the default bookmarks are hardcoded :(10:04
pittiLe-Chuck_IT1: just if you manually do dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg10:04
Le-Chuck_IT1pitti so why in xorg.conf it says that the file is not regenerated when manually modified? Is it just an old comment and should be removed?10:05
xivulonseb128 would it be possible to change xdg-user-dirs-gtk so that it sources the default bookmarks from a config file?10:05
xivulonunless you have a better idea on how to do this, that is10:05
pittiLe-Chuck_ITA: ah, I think it might still be true10:06
seb128xivulon: I guess everything is possible, it just require somebody doing the changes10:06
Le-Chuck_IT1er... pitti: now it was pidgin that died10:06
pittiLe-Chuck_IT1: bryce and tjaalton would know better10:06
xivulonseb128 I guess by "possible" in this case I mean "appropriate for point release" :)10:07
Le-Chuck_IT1thank you pitti10:07
pittiLe-Chuck_IT1: ugh, what's wrong on your machine, that everythign crashes? bad rAM?10:07
seb128xivulon: well, depends what you suggest to do10:07
Le-Chuck_IT1pitti: this is a different laptop than the other one really :) This time I think it was a crash in pidgin since I pressed ctrl+w to close a tab10:08
xivulonseb128, as you know, I would need to change the default bookmarks generated on first login10:08
Le-Chuck_IT1pitti: the other laptop is dying for something related to temperature10:08
xivulonI guess my idea would be to have some file in /etc/xdg or such that contains a list of default boomkark types10:08
seb128xivulon: /etc/xdg/user-dirs.defaults for example?10:09
xivulonyep, that contains the dirtype <-> dir10:09
xivulonwe need another similar file to give me a list of default dirtypes10:09
\shpitti, we need something to ensure, that if some build-deps are name-changing all packages source-build-depending on them are recompiled automatically10:09
xivulonsuch as "VIDEOS PICTURES MUSIC... HOST"10:10
pitti\sh: how do you want to do that? you need actual uploads for that10:10
seb128xivulon: ok, so you suggest changing the way it's working10:10
xivulonyep update.c10:10
pitti\sh: and if the build deps actually change names, you need to modify the source10:10
seb128xivulon: I'm too busy to look at doing that but if you come with a reasonable patch why not10:10
\shpitti: e.g. php5 -> php5-imagick , needs libWand.so.9 now (in hardy) but we have libmagick10 in our archives, and libmagick9-dev still available...10:11
xivulonseb128: I am not on my machine now (and not too familiar with gnome code) but I will think of something10:11
\shpitti, php5 compiled against the old version, so the imagick extension does not work and failes to load10:11
seb128xivulon: ok, cool10:12
xivulonseb128 is there any xdg standard for bookmarks?10:12
\shpitti, looks like that libmagick9-dev still available, but there is no libmagick10-dev ... I wonder what happend actually10:12
* xivulon reading http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-bookmark-spec 10:14
pitti\sh: yeah, that's very inconsistent and a broken name10:14
\shs/php5/php-magick/ ;)10:15
seb128xivulon: not that I know about10:17
\shpitti, src imagemagick still builds libmagick9-dev ... but somehow we really need to ensure a rebuild of all rdependant packages after such an upload...10:18
xivulonseb128: I suggest /etc/xdg/user-boomarks as a flat list of  dirtypes10:18
xivulonseb128: I /etc/xdg/user-boomarks.defaults10:18
\shpitti, and kick the maintainer if imagemagick to not take care in the first place ;)10:19
\shs/if/of/10:19
\shnow for an SRU for php-magick, to be just an rebuild ;)10:21
=== cprov is now known as cprov-afk
Le-Chuck_ITAIs there a channel for talking about xorg bugs in ubuntu?10:48
dholbachLe-Chuck_ITA: try #ubuntu-x or #ubuntu-bugs10:49
Le-Chuck_ITAthanks dholbach10:51
=== thekorn_ is now known as thekorn
=== cprov-afk is now known as cprov
\shhooray...I can create intrepid chroots ;) thx11:10
\shpitti, can you give-back ddccontrol? (libxml-parser-perl ftbfs)11:12
emgentW: Failure trying to run: chroot /home/emgent/.chroots/intrepid dpkg --force-depends --install var/cache/apt/archives/libc6_2.7-10ubuntu3_i386.deb11:23
emgentargh..11:23
emgentitalian mirror dont work fine11:24
\shemgent, it's not updated...11:25
\shemgent, this problem is resolved since yesterday/today11:25
emgenti will try to use international mirror :)11:26
\shemgent, be careful of leningradskaya ;)11:28
emgent:)11:28
calccjwatson: bug 186049 appears to be it was mentioned in the arstechnica review11:51
ubottuLaunchpad bug 186049 in galago-sharp "System.DllNotFoundException: libgalago" [Undecided,Confirmed] https://launchpad.net/bugs/18604911:51
cjwatsoncalc: yeah, that was why I stuck an 8.04.1 milestone on it11:56
cjwatsonI got to it from arstechnica11:56
calcah ok11:57
cjwatsonlooks easy to fix and worth fixing11:57
\shgrmpf...a lot of stuff ftbfs because of this intltool/perl problem earlier on...more difficult that it hit on most of  auto-synced packages12:04
cjwatsonthat's what mass give-backs are for ...12:11
\shcjwatson, for sure...but it's hard to tell now, if packages are already NEWed + building or NEWed + FTBFS ... the webfrontend is not as nice as it could be ;)12:14
cjwatsonthat much is pretty clear from the builds page for the relevant package version12:18
asacsiretart: wpasupplicant 0.6.x - is it safe to just use the debian version or are there any changes you would like to add/keep?12:22
\shcjwatson, yes..when you click on the version in <release> first...clicking through the buildlogs to find out why etc...quite long ways for a simple info ;) anyways..12:22
siretartasac: I was about to ask you, no, AFAIK we can and should just sync the debian package12:34
siretartasac: if you need to do some changes to the package, let's please do them to the debian package directly, okay?12:35
cody-somervilleIs the UDS "business" or can I say I'm a "tourist"?12:35
asacsiretart: sure. if i add you to ~network-manager team would you upload updates there for the next few weeks (until i have sorted some grave issues for NM 0.7)12:37
asacto PPA i mean12:37
asacsiretart: i have a question though. how is wpasupplicant started? for me it first didn't start, but then (i don't remember exactly what i fixed) it started automagically12:37
siretartasac: it depends. from the wpasupplicant maintainers POV, the recommended way is via ifupdown12:38
siretartsee /usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/README.modes for details12:38
siretartNM however is starting it on its own behalf12:38
siretartand AFAIUI, NM 0.7 is supposed to use this dbus activation service thingy, which I haven't seen in action yet12:39
siretartdoes this answer your question?12:39
asacyes its dbus12:39
asacno, but i'll look closer and ask later i guess ;)12:40
siretartmay I ask why you suggest uploading to the ~network-manager PPA first instead of directly into intrepid?12:40
siretartor do you want to develop in hardy first?12:40
siretartasac: if you want we can also phone about that12:40
asaci am on hardy still yes.12:40
siretartsame here12:40
siretartI have uploaded a wpasupplicant package in my personal PPA. you should be able to just copy it from there12:41
asacsiretart: cool, would you be available tomorrow? i still need to actually know for sure what i am talking about :)12:42
asac(phone call)12:42
siretartI should be. ping me on irc first to be sure12:42
asacawesome12:42
pitti\sh: noted; let's see whether it finally got published12:56
pitti\sh: ah, seems to12:56
\shpitti, thx...12:58
\shis zope3 working now with py2.5 or is it still only usable with 2.4?13:00
pitti\sh: I gave back one arch:all test package for now, building now; cross your fingers!13:03
\shpitti, I'll pray to the mighty sbuild ... somehow right now everything is blocking my merges/syncs mostly because of missing new package releases ... and in the meantime fighting with stupid commercial software a la adobe flash media server is not even better13:07
pittiStatus:   Successfully built13:07
* pitti does the intrepid dance13:07
* pitti flushes his give-back list13:07
TheMusopitti: I've just discovered that ardour, a package that got autosynced, was hit by the libxmlparser-perl issue discussed earlier. That can be given back too while you're at it.13:10
seb128is launchpad down?13:11
elmoseb128: works for me?13:11
* ogra points pitti to dia and italc while he is at it13:11
TheMusoseb128: No problem here.13:12
seb128elmo, TheMuso: thanks, looks like an url copy error, works now13:13
pittiTheMuso, ogra: done13:20
ogragracias :)13:21
* ogra wnders if we could/should drop hwdb-client from the archive in intrepid ... there are still bugs rolling in for it13:22
TheMusopitti: thanks.13:22
* ion_ hopes X in intrepid will gain input hotplug and MPX. I’m going to buy a remote mouse-keyboard combination for sofa usage and keep the current keyboard and mouse on the desk.13:24
ograion_, works for me since gutsy with a wirelesss usb media keyboard13:25
ograand didnt break in hardy13:25
ion_ogra: I mean, i’d really love to have separate focus for both keyboard/mice pairs.13:26
ograah13:26
jcwinnieHardy Heron is a marvelous OS and aptly named because it can stand there and do nothing for evah!13:35
* cody-somerville blinks.13:35
siretarthm. since the upgrade to intrepid, my laptop heats up way more. did anyone notice that as well on his laptop?13:36
ion_This insight was provided by: having accidentally dropped the baby ten years ago.13:36
cjwatsonion_: I think that's needlessly harsh13:36
ion_cjwatson: Sorry, didn’t mean to be malicious.13:37
pittiseb128: btw, intltool buildd issue in intrepid is solved, happy uploading13:56
Hobbsee\o/13:57
pittiinfinity: I think now is a good time for a mass-give back in main13:57
infinitypitti: Kay.  Doing so.14:02
pittiinfinity: cheers14:02
infinitypitti: When you say "solved", you mean "completely published on drescher", right?14:03
pittiinfinity: yes, I just gave-back some of the failed packages, and they worked14:03
pittiinfinity: well, the Perl issue anyway14:03
infinitypitti: Alright.  The queues on /+builds just got a lot longer again.14:04
pitti:)14:05
ograsigh14:05
* ogra watches dia explode again on other missing packages now14:06
ograi guess i'll wait a week asking for the next give back14:06
* ogra sighs about tuxtype merge ....14:24
Hobbseewhat about it?14:25
ogra  * use dh_desktop to add maintainer script fragments to call14:25
ogra    update-desktop-database14:25
ografrom the latest debian changelog14:25
ograbut there is no .desktop file in the whole package14:25
ogra(it never had one)14:25
ograi'D love to drop our patch tat creates one if i knew debian added on14:26
ograe14:26
Hobbseeinteresting.14:26
ograoh, debian uses ours in the same place14:27
ograthats why it didnt show up in the patch14:27
Riddell"W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/intrepid/universe/binary-i386/Packages.bz2  Hash Sum mismatch" humph14:51
=== Shely_ is now known as Shely
cjwatsontesting germinate-update-metapackage changes is no fun with a loaded archive.u.c15:17
* ogra wonders when mom runs again, all stuff i uploaded yesterday still shows up15:31
andrew___Hi, I'm Andrew Sayers.  Martin Owens wanted to talk to me - are any of you him?15:32
=== thekorn_ is now known as thekorn
cjwatsonandrew___: doctormo15:32
cjwatsonogra: stuck on archive.ubuntu.com coming up to date, which is having serious load trouble15:33
ograah, still ?15:33
cjwatsonIS are aware, but we have those pesky users15:33
ograi thought that was solved15:33
andrew___cjwatson, thanks.  I'll nudge him.15:33
ograwell, i using a localhos apt-proxy here in pbuilder and for the chroots so i dont really notice slowness anymore15:34
ogras/i/i started/15:34
doctormohey andrew___15:40
doctormoandrew___: thanks for popping by, email can be fustrating at times.15:42
doctormoSo our plan is to have vnc-x11 running over the reverse ssh tunnel. my guess is that this is a similar plan as yours15:43
doctormothe ssh part is set up by creating a support user, creating a random password (putting it in .bashrc as an echo) using the helpers public ssh keys to get access over the tunnel. keys are transmitted over jabber (ssl)15:45
andrew___Yeah, our plans have gone a little further since then :)15:46
andrew___I've not really talked to Justin about this, but I'm personally most interested in the case of nearly-broken systems.15:47
doctormoAs you may have noticed, I've been working on the support tool side of things.15:47
andrew___Busted video card, dist-upgrade cancelled halfway, etc.15:47
andrew___Where you really can't make many assumptions at all about the system.15:47
andrew___(e.g. Python working)15:47
doctormoandrew___: broken video card means a trip to the nearest techy, not a support call15:47
andrew___Yeah, once you've confirmed that's what it is.15:48
doctormoAnything that would undermine the system, we would ask users to load a live cd15:48
andrew___That's another thing - we're looking at the "technical friend" case...15:49
doctormoandrew___: meet leftyfb, a technical friend who is my case.15:49
andrew___As in, you get a phone call from a friend of yours saying "hey, you know something about Linux, right?  Well, my computer doesn't work.  Please fix it"15:49
andrew___Hey leftyfb.15:49
leftyfbhi15:50
leftyfbi've already done all this a few times using scripts ... works well15:50
doctormoandrew___: I'm sure we're all used to taking those calls, but leftyfb has a whole load of people doing that to him.15:50
andrew___leftyfb, are they available online somewhere?15:51
leftyfbnope, i write them up as needed .... all it does is ssh back to me and create a reverse tunnel15:51
andrew___Ah right.15:51
doctormoSo, we were talking about the very broken case leftyfb, where the computer has a hardware fault or isn't software sane.15:52
leftyfbdoctormo's project will simplify this with a nice gui, but also provide the ability to troubleshoot some things without needing full ssh access. It also audits the whole process with a ticketing system15:52
leftyfboh15:52
leftyfbuh15:52
leftyfbnothing you can do there15:53
andrew___My original impetus for this was a friend that had a power cut (or similar) halfway through an upgrade to 8.04.15:53
* Hobbsee wonders what happens if ssh is dead.15:53
leftyfbunless the tool is included on the live cd15:53
leftyfbor we put one out15:53
doctormoHobbsee: we can still help via chat15:53
Hobbseedoctormo: i guess you can't do anything if nm decides to fall over.15:53
andrew___Hobbsee, use socat, or cryptcat, or netcat, or try to resurrect ssh with custom config files...15:53
doctormoHobbsee: yep15:53
leftyfbHobbsee: I think we talked about that ... doing some basic testing of an inet connection and either fixing it if it's absent or forcing one for the session15:54
andrew___The actual code we're looking to write is looking like it'll be a general mechanism for creating a session on one computer, accessible from another, using whatever tools are available/working.15:54
leftyfbwhat about adding in your own ssh daemon and making x11vnc a dependency of the tool?15:55
andrew___Again I haven't talked to Justin about this, but I'd like to have a tool with no explicit dependencies, then metapackages called something like technical-friend/nontechnical-friend that depend on a useful collection of tools.15:57
doctormoandrew___: I didn't want to get too far into the broken use cases, there is only so much you can mitigate before you end up http://xkcd.com/416/15:58
andrew___True.  I'm not planning to go nuts about that sort of thing until there's some evidence for what actual problems people have in real life.15:59
doctormoandrew___: there is no reason why a cli version of our support tool couldn't be made. your scripts could download deps if broken.16:00
doctormobut I'd want to mop up these things after the first release16:00
andrew___True, although it's overkill for a friend that you're already talking to on the phone.16:00
andrew___Would you agree with this general assessment:16:01
andrew___You want to create a Jabber-based support tool that makes it easy for a sitting group of experts to debug the computer of someone they don't know, and in order to do that, you need a tool to start SSH or VNC sessions, although that's not really where your technical interest lies.16:03
doctormoandrew___: not quite, leftyfb knows all the people he helps but would still use this tool16:03
leftyfbthis tool is for people I already know, at home, who need help from me and need to give me access to logs/etc or full ssh/vnc access to help troubleshoot their problem. You don't create scripts for helping people over the phone.16:04
doctormoandrew___: and, past tense. Have created a jabber-based...16:04
* Robot101 would like to point out that Telepathy and Empathy provide excellent infrastructure for such a tool...16:04
leftyfbjabber is more established16:05
doctormoleftyfb: er, they're just a set of gtk widgets and libs for chat16:05
Robot101yes, telepathy uses it, amongst other protocols16:05
doctormoleftyfb: imagen libpurple but for gnome ;-)16:06
Robot101we've actually got branches to Empathy which let you click a buddy and share your desktop with him16:06
Robot101telepathy deals with nat traversal etc for you, you just ask it for a "stream tube"16:06
leftyfbso this would be instead of using python to create the client which doctormo has already done?16:07
* ogra just read steam tube above :)16:07
Robot101mm, well there are benefits to integrating with an existing mechanism of communicating with people16:07
leftyfbi'll let doctormo handle that part of it :)16:08
* Robot101 thinks this is very much a use case we'd be interested in addressing16:08
leftyfbmy only concern is the security and functionality of the tool, now how it's made :)16:08
cody-somervillecrap16:08
doctormoRobot101: It's an interesting idea, I'd need convincing since I've spent time getting pyxmpp working with all the business logic we have.16:08
Robot101so you can be IM or VOIP chatting with someone and then they can say, oh yeah this pops ups, what do I do16:08
Hobbseeogra: you can have steam if you want.16:08
Hobbseeogra: but it's probably not useful.16:09
Robot101then you can just click share desktop, and the other guy gets a libnotify, clicks OK, and is then in the VNC viewer...16:09
ograHobbsee, telepathic steam :)16:09
cody-somervilleIf I cancel a dput upload in progress, what are the implications?16:09
doctormoogra: sounds like a doctor who16:09
ograhaha16:09
Robot101also it works over link-local contacts using the bonjour backend16:09
Robot101that being somewhat the purpose of the abstraction :)16:10
doctormoRobot101: We're doing fancy stuff with ticket handeling, auditing and various other things. Useful for one to one help, though community help use case is not there.16:11
Mithrandircody-somerville: it gets thrown away.16:12
cody-somervilleMithrandir, \o/ cheers.16:13
doctormoBut it sounds interesting, maybe future versions could use it, though I'd not want to risk changing direction now that we're so close to finishing the first version16:13
Robot101doctormo: reading scrollback a bit, it sounds like you're solving a slightly different set of problems16:14
leftyfbremote support that's easy for the user to install and use to give us access to help them16:14
Robot101doctormo: but I just thought I should let you know there are some options for the p2p/interactive support case where you're already using IM/VOIP to talk to someone16:14
Robot101seems to me like adding new users to the system and requiring sshd to be installed is kinda overengineering isn't it?16:15
leftyfbnope16:15
leftyfbssh = ability to fix anything16:16
hungerRobot101: Incoming connections are blocked in most home setups.16:16
leftyfblots of other programs add users/groups ....   vmware for one16:16
Robot101hunger: exactly why you should leave this to the NAT traversal experts :D16:16
leftyfbhunger: this works off reverse ssh connections16:16
leftyfbno inbound ports needed16:16
hungerleftyfb: Oh, great:-) Then why do you need a sshd?16:17
leftyfbuh16:17
Robot101oh, maybe I misunderstood16:17
doctormohunger: how would it do it otherwise?16:17
leftyfbyou want me to answer that?16:17
leftyfb:)16:17
Robot101does the user's system need sshd installed?16:17
leftyfbyes16:17
leftyfbhow else are you going to connect to them?16:17
Robot101so the helper ssh's to the user's system?16:18
andrew___leftyfb, ssh client != ssh daemon16:18
hungerDoes the outgoing SSH do port forwarding so that somebody can via that?16:18
* leftyfb sigh16:18
Robot101or the user ssh's somewhere, with a port forward, so the helper can ssh back?16:18
doctormoandrew___: can you create a reverse tunnel without sshd?16:18
andrew___What are you referring to as a "reverse tunnel" here?16:18
Robot101doctormo: (yes, use a stream tube from telepathy :D)16:18
doctormohunger: no port forwarding16:19
doctormoRobot101: no steam tubes ;-)16:19
Robot101can you explain in terms of a sequence of connections (who connects to who) how it'd work?16:19
leftyfbcustomer ssh's to our remote/secure server using generated ssh keys using an account that doesn't have shell access. This creates a reverse tunnel back to their local sshd service. We, as support, login to the server and ssh to the localhost port created by the reverse ssh tunnel giving us access to the customers account. All automated. Customer see's a pretty chat windows with a "remote access button". We click connect and up comes gnome16:20
leftyfb-terminal with the connection open.16:20
doctormoRobot101: user -> server, helper -> server -> user16:20
Robot101this seems alarmingly overengineered. cool. :)16:20
leftyfboverly secure is the word you are looking for16:21
Robot101encrypting things more times isn't more secure, and nor is granting remote shell access to people without being able to supervise (or even understand) what it is they're doing16:21
doctormoRobot101: I'm larry wall lazy16:21
andrew___If you're assuming the user has a GUI fired up, why not use VNC?16:21
Robot101andrew___++16:21
doctormoI'll let leftyfb handle these questions16:22
leftyfbI use this method all the time just fine16:22
leftyfbwe don't always need VNC access16:22
leftyfbin fact, VNC is just going to slow most troubleshooting down16:22
leftyfbmost things can be fixed via ssh16:22
Robot101VNC has the benefit that the user can /see/ what the helper is doing16:22
doctormoWe want to use vnc access to show the user how to do things, not to do things ourselves16:22
leftyfbif the user request that, then that's what we use16:23
andrew___Also, they can type in their passwords without telling you them.16:23
leftyfbbut it's not the default method of troubleshooting16:23
leftyfba lot of users don't care16:23
leftyfbwe will have a local account with sudo access16:23
leftyfbwe don't need their passwords16:23
leftyfbagain, this isn't the first program to create local accounts/groups to get things done16:24
andrew___That's fair enough for people that know you, but training users to hand out root access to people online they've never met seems like a bad plan.16:24
doctormoRobot101: We use auditing, although users don't generally mistrust their geeky friends16:24
Robot101it's the first program I've heard of which automatically grants local root access to 3rd parties :P16:24
Robot101and also installing a sshd service behind the user's back, unless you bind it localhost only or something, seems extremely undesirable16:24
doctormoRobot101: who said anything about automatically?16:25
Mithrandiruh, is this a package which is going to go into the normal repositories?16:25
leftyfbandrew___: people give M$ compete access to their computer when doing remote support. This support tool is meant to be used by groups/companies providing support to a large customer base16:25
HobbseeMithrandir: supposedly.16:25
leftyfbit will be bound to localhost16:25
HobbseeMithrandir: i'm sure it will show up as forums crack for a while16:25
leftyfbthe sshd16:25
Robot101doctormo: automatically as in "Do you want foo to fix your system? [ Yes ]" is sufficiently automatic16:25
Hobbseefix == sudo rm -rf /16:25
leftyfbit'll be a custom sshd access only accessible via pregenerated keys and via localhost only16:25
Robot101oh well. I prefer the idea that you can hook these things into a conversation with someone, and not let them do things you can't see.16:26
* Hobbsee grins maliciously16:26
Robot101which could be sharing a pty and exporting it over a socket, or VNC16:26
doctormoRobot101: that's because you know what your doing16:26
Hobbsee"i'm a core dev, of course i'll fix your getdeb'enated or automatixenated machine!"16:27
Robot101doctormo: yes, not letting 3rd parties cheese around with my system :P16:27
andrew___Robot101, speaking of PTYs, can Telepathy do that on its own?16:27
doctormoRobot101: Some people don't mind16:27
* Mithrandir makes a mental note to get that package blacklisted from all his hosts. Seriously, shipping a package that includes a) pregenerated ssh keys and b) new user with full sudo access? Are you guys completely out of your mind? What happens when you lose the private SSH key to a disgruntled employee or a cracker?16:27
leftyfbssh access is preferable and MUCH quicker for someone that just wants to finish their report and doesn't care how the person is fixing their computer16:27
Robot101Mithrandir: yeah seriously16:27
doctormoMithrandir: thanks for joinging the discussion constructivly16:27
Robot101andrew___: no, it'd be something the "support app" would hook up and provide to telepathy16:27
Hobbseedoctormo: the guy is an archive admin, FYI.  and also a core dev.16:28
Mithrandirto quote somebody much smarter than me, the interesting bit about security system is not how they work, it's how they fail.16:28
Hobbseedoctormo: you may not want to blow him off like that.  he might end up reviewing your package, fi it goes into ubuntu.16:28
Hobbseeit's called karma.16:28
Robot101andrew___: telepathy itself is plumbing, it abstracts different protocols and types of communication. one of them is "tubes" for plugging arbitrary apps together.16:28
doctormoHobbsee: I'm not partial to being treated baddly even by karma gods16:28
andrew___Robot101, Yeah, I'm starting to understand.  You can rip on my idea later ;)16:29
HobbseeMithrandir: i'm assuming they generate the ssh keys on the fly, though.16:29
HobbseeMithrandir: they'd have to...16:29
* cody-somerville is scarred to ask what is being discussed.16:30
Hobbseecody-somerville: see ubuntu-devel-discuss ML16:30
Robot101cody-somerville: remote support tools16:30
MithrandirHobbsee: oh, how would you do that?  You'd need to do secure key exchange somehow, then.16:30
Hobbseecody-somerville: system recovery by ssh, basically, for non-secure users.16:30
Robot101andrew___: in this case, telepathy would use XMPP to say you'd started a local VNC/whatever service (which could be "Share my desktop" or "Share a terminal" or such)16:30
HobbseeMithrandir: dunno - send by email / other IM is all i'm really coming up with.  But that's still better than pregenerated.16:30
doctormoHobbsee: not seeing what you guys are talking about, maybe not required?16:31
MithrandirHobbsee: yes, it's better than pregenerated, but it didn't sound like what leftyfb/doctormo was talking about.16:31
cody-somervilleI've never found it very difficult to tell someone how to install openssh-server and how to add a new account for me.16:31
cjwatsondoctormo: if you guys are trying to solve the key exchange problem, I suggest reading the several decades' worth of cryptographic literature on the subject ... it's not a trivial problem16:31
cody-somervilleOr how to get them to enable the remote desktop16:31
doctormocjwatson: nope16:31
Mithrandirdoctormo: prove me wrong by showing me a page with a thorough design and analysis of the security architecture, then.16:31
Robot101andrew___: and then when the remote user accepts, it'll signal over XMPP and do some negotiation (TCP, NAT traversal, tunnel via the server) to open the connection16:31
doctormonot trying to solve that16:31
cjwatsondoctormo: it sounds like a necessary element16:32
hungerKDE has a system where a user generates invitations (valid for 60min) that can get submitted to "support guys" via mail or whatnot.16:32
cjwatsondoctormo: if you aren't trying to solve it, the system seems fatally flawed ...16:32
Mithrandircjwatson: either that or ship pregenerated keys with all the fun that entails.16:32
HobbseeMithrandir: true16:32
hungerWhoever has that invitation can get a VNC session.16:32
Hobbseedoctormo: you have to have some way of generating the key, and getting it to the clued user.16:32
doctormoMithrandir: remind me what the keys are for again?16:32
Hobbseedoctormo: root access on the system.16:32
ogradoctormo, safety :)16:32
Mithrandirdoctormo: you need to log into the localhost-only ssh?16:32
Mithrandirdoctormo: technically, you could use a preset password, but that would be even worse.16:33
doctormopublic key of the helper copied over to client on elective basis? must be missing something since you guys seem very concerned16:33
ograwell, without that you can as well use telnetd16:34
Hobbseedoctormo: because listing the private key in a publically available source is akin to suicide.16:34
Hobbseedoctormo: which appears to be what you're thinking about doing.16:34
doctormoHobbsee: I didn't mention private key16:34
Hobbseedoctormo: so, how does the private, and public key, get generated?16:34
doctormoHobbsee: what public private key?16:34
cjwatsondoctormo: I think what we're missing is how the server gains access to the user's machine16:35
Hobbsee2 keys.16:35
Mithrandirdoctormo: yes, the public key.  How do you get it onto the system and copied into this brokensystem:~helper/.ssh/authorized_keys?16:35
Mithrandirs/this/the/16:35
doctormoMithrandir: xmpp16:35
Mithrandirdoctormo: so you're vulnerable to mitm attacks then.16:35
doctormoMithrandir: jabber using ssl? odd16:35
Mithrandirto a host where you ship the ca certs used for the host in the package itself and do proper certificate validation, then?  In that case, who are running the CA?16:37
leftyfbthe jabber connection is SSL and the ssh is encrypted. What mitm?16:37
MithrandirSSL isn't magic powder you can sprinkle on a TCP connection to make it secure, it takes a little bit more than that.16:37
hungerMithrandir: The community of course;-)16:37
Mithrandirbut I have to go now.  Drop me a link to a design document about this and I might go poke at it and see if I can find weak spots.16:38
doctormoMithrandir: your skill may be required16:38
cjwatsonthe CA here is a great big target for compromise16:38
hungerWho will do the support by the way?16:38
Hobbseerequire all you like.16:38
Hobbseehunger: them, methinks.16:38
cjwatsonHobbsee: easy ...16:38
Mithrandir(tfheen@ubuntu.com or just highlight me here.)16:38
hungerHobbsee: Them, who?16:38
Hobbseehunger: it's not an #ubuntu issue unless it gets in the archive, afaik.16:38
leftyfbthe client generates their own private keys on installation, then sends the public key via xmpp to the server via our "bot" which places it in the proper ~/.ssh/authorized_keys for the session and removes it when the session is over16:38
Hobbseehunger: those who are writing the system16:38
Hobbseeleftyfb: bot?16:39
leftyfbjabber client16:39
doctormoNow that we've struck fear into the hearts of ubuntu developers.16:39
Hobbseeleftyfb: how does that scale?16:39
leftyfbscale?16:39
leftyfbspeak english please16:39
hungerdoctormo: Assuming that the system is safe: Who will do the support?16:39
cjwatsonleftyfb: "scale" is perfectly normal English in system design16:40
Hobbseeleftyfb: as in, how will it work with 1000000000 users, for eg?16:40
doctormohunger: business is the main candidate16:40
hungerdoctormo: Which business? Is there a company doing the support?16:40
doctormohunger: That is probably the problem right there.16:40
hungerdoctormo: Are you developing this for a company?16:40
leftyfbHobbsee: what would the difference be with supporting 10 users as opposed to 1000? If it gets beyond 1000, of course you need to think about multiple servers and load balancing16:40
cjwatsondoctormo: is the server capable of sending essentially arbitrary commands to the client (upon request by the helper)?16:41
doctormohunger: no16:41
doctormocjwatson: no16:41
Hobbseeleftyfb: right, so this would be a service you were charging to your users, running on your HW, i take it.16:41
cjwatsondoctormo: is it capable of sending any commands to the client?16:41
doctormocjwatson: no16:41
hungerHow do you select the helpers if this is a community effort?16:42
leftyfbHobbsee: for right now, i'll be using this to support my own customers who I do consulting for. We as a LoCo team will also use it as a group to support people we come in contact with.16:42
leftyfbhunger: carefully16:42
cjwatsondoctormo: I think I'm missing how it's useful, then; I thought the point of this was to be able to remotely extract information from the client system16:42
Hobbseecjwatson: it's to remotely fix it - adn to set up an ssh tunnel so they can.16:42
leftyfbsigned pgp keys and CoC signing is required16:42
doctormocjwatson: It's able to send information upon request, the supporter tool is able to send requests for information and requests for access.16:42
cjwatsondoctormo: so it must be capable of sending some kind of command to the client, then? (Note I don't necessarily mean shell command here.)16:43
doctormocjwatson: there is a difference between the server and the supporter client.16:43
doctormowhich do you mean16:43
cjwatsonerr, I don't know your precise terminology. I mean the client as in the end user's system (as a whole) and the server as in the thing that both the client and the helper connect to.16:44
doctormocjwatson: ok, the server is not able to send commands, it can send information to both the supporter (helper) and the suportee (client) upon request16:44
doctormoIt's actually a bot program16:45
* Hobbsee is greatful that e l m o has not been highlighted about this.16:45
cjwatsonI'm not bothered about the implementation; I want a data and command flow diagram really16:45
cjwatsondoctormo: how is information extracted from the client system?16:45
doctormocjwatson: I see, supporter tool sends request to client tool, client tool asks user if it's ok. information is sent back.16:46
cjwatsonwhat format do the requests take? They must have to be pretty general16:46
doctormocjwatson: not that general, for instance to request logs: "@request logs xorg" would ask for xorg logs (various) which are pre-defined.16:47
* Hobbsee assumes that's after the authentication.16:48
cjwatsonI think what is confusing us is that you and leftyfb seem to be talking about radically different things16:48
cjwatsonleftyfb is saying things like:16:48
cjwatson16:23 <leftyfb> we will have a local account with sudo access16:48
cjwatson16:23 <leftyfb> we don't need their passwords16:48
cjwatson16:25 <leftyfb> andrew___: people give M$ compete access to their computer when doing remote support. This support tool is meant to be used by groups/companies providing support to a large customer base16:48
cjwatson16:25 <leftyfb> it will be bound to localhost16:48
cjwatson16:25 <leftyfb> the sshd16:48
cjwatson16:25 <leftyfb> it'll be a custom sshd access only accessible via pregenerated keys and via localhost only16:48
doctormocjwatson: I'm a programmer, leftyfb is a sysadmin we talk on different levels.16:49
andrew___doctormo, what does "@request logs ../../etc/shadow" do?16:49
cjwatsonthat isn't "different levels", that's a completely and utterly different designm16:49
doctormoandrew___: sends an error16:49
leftyfbi'm talking about ssh access16:49
andrew___doctormo, Good :)16:49
cjwatsonleftyfb: so I think we should be interrogating you about your plans, rather than doctormo about his :-)16:49
leftyfbdoctormo: is talking about the programs ability to send logs/etc to the helper without giving ssh access16:49
cody-somervilleleftyfb, If you want ssh access to someones computer, get them to install the openssh server and create you an account. It is very very easy already. What use case are you trying to fullfill here?16:49
cjwatsonleftyfb: how do you plan to arrange for safe authentication?16:50
Hobbseecody-somerville: the 'user is clueless, can't do that'16:50
leftyfbI don't have much part in the design/implementation of the requesting logs part, only the giving ssh access part16:50
Hobbseecody-somerville: the idea of one-click-authentication, etc.16:50
Hobbsee(i assume)16:50
cody-somervilleHobbsee, No matter how clueless the user is, they can type in what you tell them to pretty easily.16:50
Hobbsees/authentication/implementation/16:50
cjwatsonI'm much happier with what doctormo outlined above than anything that involves "type in what you tell them"16:50
leftyfbcody-somerville: my grandmother doesn't want to install ssh, generate keys, set it up for localhost access only, and ssh to me, creating a reverse ssh tunnel16:51
doctormocody-somerville: I've done remote support a lot, it's not that easy behind a router.16:51
Hobbseecody-somerville: actually, they can't.  i've seen all sorts of users doing strange things, when you tell them to type in some commands.16:51
andrew___cody-somerville, it's not so much a matter of clueless, as good at describing things.16:51
* _MMA_ hates the idea that"users are clueless" and the dumbing-down that goes on because of it. But that's a topic for a different time.16:51
Hobbseeleftyfb: how does the localhost access only?16:51
Hobbseeer, stuff work?16:51
cjwatsontype in what you tell them might involve "sudo apt-get install symlinks; sudo symlinks -d /" for example, which looks just as innocuous as many other commands one might request that a user issue, but will subtly screw up the user's system16:51
Hobbseeby definition, isn't the idea that it's remote, ssh'ing in?16:51
cody-somervilleleftyfb, and all of that is required why16:51
cody-somerville?16:51
leftyfbHobbsee: you can configure sshd to only listen on localhost16:52
cody-somervilledoctormo, true.16:52
Hobbseeleftyfb: yes, i know, but then, if you can't physically get to the box, you can do nothing.16:52
andrew___cody-somerville, For example, I was helping out a fairly technical friend lately, and we went round in circles for about 15 minutes because he hadn't understood that lines beginning with a '#' are comments16:52
leftyfbcody-somerville: security, simplicity as far as the user is concerned ... no firewalls to mess with16:52
cjwatsonsecurity is not achieved simply by adding ssh to the equation16:52
Hobbseeleftyfb: if you're going to do that, then why not just get the user to login, sudo -s, put in their password, then tell them to go make coffee for a while?16:52
andrew___(Or indeed that '#' is a character that needs spelling out)16:52
cjwatsonwhich is why I asked the question above "how do you plan to arrange for safe authentication?"16:52
leftyfbcjwatson: security is achieved by ONLY allowing ssh to the customers machine via keys and a reverse ssh tunnel16:53
cjwatsonleftyfb: how are those keys distributed?16:53
doctormocjwatson: I'll get you a diagram, I think I have one16:53
hungerleftyfb: Where do the keys come from?16:53
cjwatsonleftyfb: I'm interested in cases where there is no customer<->consultant relationship as well16:53
Hobbseecjwatson: by the xmpp, which is vulnerable to mitm attacks, as Mithrandir said.16:53
Hobbseehunger: presumably they get generated on first launch.16:54
cjwatsonHobbsee: please let them answer the questions I've posed, rather than answering for them16:54
leftyfbI already said that ... the ssh keys are generated at install time .. the public key is then sent via XMPP to the server where the "bot" on the server puts the keys into the proper place for the session and removes the keys after the session is closed16:54
hungerHobbsee: Can't work... the consultant will need to have the private key so that he can authenticate.16:54
Hobbseecjwatson: apologies, i was effectively regiving answers discussed above.16:54
leftyfbHobbsee: the public key is sent to the server, not the private key16:54
Hobbseeleftyfb: i think that was directed at hunger16:55
hungerleftyfb: How does that allow the consultant to gain ssh access to the requestors computer?16:55
doctormoThere are two instances were public keys are transmitted16:55
cjwatsonleftyfb: the supporter needs to have a private key that grants authentication to the client system. How does the server ensure that the public key matches a trusted user?16:55
cjwatsons/user/supporter/16:55
leftyfbour public keys are either prepackaged or uploaded to the client at install and/or via xmpp for the session ... same drill16:55
doctormoleftyfb: not quite16:55
leftyfbsorry, not at install16:56
cjwatsonleftyfb: what happens the first time the server is compromised and starts allowing evil public keys?16:56
leftyfbduring the session16:56
Hobbseehunger: er, the consultant generates the keypair, then sends it to the broken system, not the other way around.16:56
doctormocjwatson: the public key for the supporter is transmitted over xmpp to the client.16:56
hungerHobbsee: Yeap. But I do not get how it gets there.16:56
Hobbseehunger: that's the discussion now16:56
cjwatsondoctormo: that simply pushes the authentication problem one step back16:56
doctormocjwatson: probably16:56
hungerHobbsee: Yeap... that was what I was trying to ask, too:-)16:57
cjwatsonyou still have to trust that the supporter is Alice Aidgiver, not Evil Eye16:57
cjwatsons/Eye/Eve/16:57
leftyfbcjwatson: what happens when the support/client/server/canonical is compromised?  We work on not letting that happen.16:57
cjwatsonso you have to authenticate that somehow16:57
cjwatsonleftyfb: Canonical has a key rollover procedure for compromise of the central archive key16:57
doctormocjwatson: The supporter doesn't send the public key, the server does. the server has a list of good guys16:57
cjwatsonleftyfb: I expect the same of any similarly-critical system16:57
cjwatsondoctormo: how is that list maintained?16:58
Hobbseecjwatson: out of curiosity, is that documented publically anywhere?  i'd be interested in seeing what that is.16:58
doctormocjwatson: at the moment, by hand16:58
cjwatsonHobbsee: no, though it probably should be (with the list of people you need to mug excised)16:58
Hobbseecjwatson: heh, yes.16:58
cjwatsonso I think this probably can be made secure, but it does need a competent security review, and for its proponents to be willing to make changes as a result of that review as necessary16:59
doctormocjwatson: I agree16:59
Hobbseeoh, ffs.17:00
doctormoI'm not a security expert and I would a fool to sugest otherwise.17:00
* Hobbsee goes off to rant elsewhere.17:00
cjwatsonand you *will* encounter problems. At some point you have to assume that a supporter will go bad.17:00
leftyfbcjwatson: public keys will be flushed from the customer's system and the server each time a session is created and repopulated with the public key from the supporter uploaded via xmpp on the fly (yes doctormo ,this is new but doable)17:00
doctormocjwatson: yes, I've thought about that.17:00
doctormonot enough to solve it though17:01
leftyfbthat sound better?17:01
cjwatsonleftyfb: the key rollover problem I refer to is that, when the server is compromised, you need to have a trusted way to re-secure all clients17:01
cjwatsonbecause you will have to regenerate the keys used to authenticate the server to the client17:01
leftyfbif the server is compromised, they get nothing. No ssh private or public keys, no access to ssh to anywhere using passwords17:01
cjwatsonerr17:02
doctormoleftyfb: no, your suggestion won't work17:02
leftyfb?17:02
cjwatsonthat can't be true, given what you've said17:02
cjwatsonthe client is given supporter keys by the server17:02
cjwatsonergo, the server has a means to authenticate its identity to the client17:02
cjwatsonthis further implies that a compromised server can feed evil supporter keys to the client17:02
cjwatson(only once a client connects of course, but that's just a matter of time017:03
cjwatson)17:03
doctormocjwatson: those keys are use once, if the server is recovered the effects are null17:03
cjwatsondoctormo: we're talking about different keys17:03
doctormoI think so17:03
cjwatsonI don't mean the session keys for an individual client<->supporter session17:03
cjwatsonI mean the keys that protect the exchange that delivers new session keys17:03
cjwatsonthere must be such keys17:04
doctormoOver ssh or xmpp? just to be sure I understand17:04
cjwatsontransport is unimportant17:04
cjwatsonat the level of protocol design, details of transport are a distraction and best ignored17:04
doctormocjwatson: no I mean not in tech terms. in our context where we are using ssh or where we are using xmpp.17:05
cjwatsonI honestly haven't followed in enough detail to know and it doesn't matter to my question17:05
xivulonout of curiosity, is this a different problem from a (trusted) repo providing packages as opposed to keys?17:05
cjwatsonxivulon: it's related17:05
doctormocjwatson: true, it just matters for my understanding17:05
xivulonthen couldn't similar techniques be applied in both cases?17:06
cjwatsonxivulon: that's part of where I'm headed17:06
cjwatsonbut it's dangerous to make too many assumptions up front ...17:06
doctormoOK (this is implimetation detail), the client does have the configration for the server in a nice xml file, it has the servers public key which is used to confirm that the server is who it says it is.17:07
doctormoThis I think is what you mean17:08
cjwatsondoctormo: from what I recall I *think* you described this as being by xmpp but I am honestly not sure17:08
* ogra finds the words "nice" and "xml file" in one sentence disputable :)17:08
* cjwatson waves the "distraction" flag again17:09
doctormocjwatson: So if the server becomes evil, the public key in the config is invalid and potentially evil?17:09
cjwatsondoctormo: correct17:09
doctormoright17:09
doctormoSo far we're only using that key for the ssh connection, we're not using it for xmpp which just connects using dns only. not very secure as it doesn't certify the server (afaik)17:10
cjwatsonyes, that's horrible17:10
cjwatsonno secure protocol may rely only on DNS17:11
doctormoAs for public key updating... I'll have to think about the problem17:11
doctormocolin if you know of an existing solution, do tell17:12
cjwatsonmy suggestion would be that the server public key should reside in a package and only ever be updated out of band (i.e. by package updates, thus transferring the problem to that of archive signatures); furthermore, in order to ensure that clients are updated as quickly as possible after a compromise, there should be a way for the client to check whether newer versions of itself are available with newer keys, and refuse to run i17:13
cjwatsonor something along those lines17:13
cjwatsonif xmpp relies on DNS for authentication of remote identity, I think you should rethink your use of that problem17:14
leftyfbcompromised server + customers broken package management = no support tool17:14
cjwatsonerr ... of that protocol17:14
cjwatsonleftyfb: yes17:14
leftyfband if this were to get into the main repositories, updating keys would be dependent on how quick canonical is with pushing the updates17:14
cjwatsonyes17:15
cjwatsonthough not just Canonical17:15
doctormocjwatson: I agree with your idea, I believe xmpp can be made to check validity of the server more rigerously17:16
hungerleftyfb: You do not want to have your own package repos for this? Is everybody supposed to get the same config (== end up on the same server)?17:16
doctormohunger: indeed, very good question +117:16
hungerOr will you modify the config for the users your company wants to support?17:16
cjwatsonI think it is probably a good idea for commercial support offerings to run a separate server, or deliver separate configuration in some other way17:17
doctormoThere is the possibility of having a number of servers available, both LoCo, canonical offical support maybe even system76 available from ubuntu repos and the tool could let the user decide17:17
hungerI really do not see the need for such a package in a distribution... Maybe in some enterprisy thingy with support contracts, etc.17:18
hunger"Community support" with access to the system in question does smell too much like inviting random idiots from the net to break install troyans to me.17:19
hungerMaybe that is just me... but I doubt it.17:20
leftyfbwhat about having a list of of server to join for remote support. The servers would be the different LoCo's willing to provide support, possibly Canonical, system76, Dell, etc17:20
doctormohunger: that is a concern i have, I imagen the good name of a LoCo being the basis for community support. Those who lead such groups would have to be trusted to only allow trusted people in, as above PGP signed keys and CoC would be a good start17:20
hungerdoctormo: LoCo? CoC? Sorry, my english sucks:-(17:21
ograhunger, local communities17:21
ograhunger, coc = code of conduct ... dude you hang around in this channel since how many years ?17:22
leftyfbLoCo - Local Community    CoC = Code of Conduct which all official ubuntu members need to agree to and sign17:22
hungerWell, in a support forum you can not post responses that will do bad-stuff since everybody can see it and will tell you.17:22
hungerWith some single guy messing with your system via SSH: Who is ever to know?17:23
doctormohunger: yes, there is an audit, but ultimatly root access is root access. If someone intentionally or mistakenly hurts a machine then it's the group that must make amends.17:23
hungerdoctormo: Audit?17:24
doctormohunger: nothing fancy, the ~/bash_history is sent to the server after disconnect. it could be removed if someone was malicious though.17:24
leftyfbagain, who's to say a Microsoft support employee isn't going wipe your "My Documents" folder when he's doing remote support?17:24
leftyfbThis is the nature of remote support17:25
leftyfbyou assume the helper is to be trusted17:25
leftyfbthere's no way to ensure it17:25
doctormohunger: the only real barriers we can put in place are organisational, not technical17:25
cjwatsonwith a Microsoft support employee, you have a contractual relationship and can at the very least prove which legal entity was responsible for the breach17:25
hungerleftyfb: Sure, but with a MS support guy there is a company that gives its (good?) name and says "that guy will not mess up your system". And you can sue them if they misbehave;-)17:25
cjwatsonthis environment is different because it's quite possible you won't even know whom to prosecute under the Computer Misuse Act17:26
cjwatsonwhich lays the server operator open to subpoenas for logs, etc.17:26
doctormocjwatson: not a problem, subpoenas aren't always a bad thing17:26
cjwatsonright, but I think it's important to bear in mind that "make amends" may be a little more than "we're sorry, we won't do it again"17:27
cjwatsonthe system has to be designed up-front to avoid problems17:27
doctormocjwatson: i agree, it may be "get sued into bancrupsey"17:27
hungerdoctormo: They do cause work that somebody has to do:-)17:27
cjwatsonI liked the sound of a system that could only offer certain predefined classes of information on request17:27
cjwatsonthat's a lot better than "some guy gets a root shell by ssh"17:27
hungerdoctormo: And that work will end up on the server admin's desk...17:27
cjwatson~/.bash_history> unset HISTFILE; do malicious things17:28
doctormocjwatson: It isn't some guy though, it's a person the server knows, who has a signed PGP key and who the server operators personally know.17:28
cjwatsonI'd suggest keeping a connection trace instead17:28
doctormocjwatson: I never found out how to do that, that was my first thought17:28
cjwatsonpersonally know> that wasn't clear to me from the above. You mean somebody whom the server operators have met?17:28
doctormocjwatson: yes17:29
doctormoBut again, that is organisational17:29
cjwatsonthat doesn't sound like it will scale as people want17:29
cjwatsonwhich means there'll be pressure to breach that17:29
hungercjwatson: That is not a good idea either! Think what kind of info might end up in such a trace. Having that stored on the server does not sound too good an idea.17:29
doctormocjwatson: I know, but it's important to organise the organisational scalling too17:29
hungercjwatson: Plus the SSH connection is encrypted and not visible to the server anyway.17:30
doctormohunger: the ssh is a double hop through the server17:30
doctormocouldn't the server trace from there?17:30
hungerdoctormo: So I can put arbitrary info into any currently running ssh session streams if I gain access to the server?17:31
cjwatsonhunger: logging just the supporter->client side of the exchange (and not client->supporter) wouldn't reveal anything private17:31
cjwatsonor at least is unlikely to17:31
doctormohunger: not sure, maybe17:32
hungerdoctormo: No, from what I understand the supporter logs directly into SSH on the users box (going through port forwarded to the server).17:32
cjwatsonhunger: port-forwarding on the server => server can snoop17:32
cjwatsonactually, no, I suppose that isn't true17:32
hungercjwatson: It can snoop an SSH stream...17:32
cjwatsonyeah, end-to-end encrypted17:32
hungercjwatson: Not very informative;-)17:33
cjwatsonhunger: however, the client software could report a trace of what the supporter asked it to do17:33
cjwatson(obviously you can't trust a malicious supporter to do so)17:33
hungerSo logging needs to be done either by the supporters system or by the users system. Both are under the control of the supporter...17:33
cjwatsonthat could still be nobbled by the supporter, but it would raise the bar, particularly if it were done immediately rather than at the end of the session17:34
doctormohunger: at the moment it's set up so the supporter logs onto the server, then logs into a localhost port to log into the tunnel to the client17:34
cjwatsonif it were done immediately, then the last thing in the trace would be <supporter nobbles reporting software> which would be a big alarm bell in itself17:34
cjwatsonprovided that you report all commands before execution17:34
* ogra wonders if the landscape team couldnt give some hints on secure connecting remotely17:35
hungercjwatson: SSH can force commands to execute... you could have that forward the commands back to the server before handing it to a shell.17:35
hungers/SSH/sshd/17:35
cjwatsonhunger: there's no obvious reason to do this by ssh alone. It should be something richer on the client side that can receive a command format, report them, and execute them as appropriate.17:36
cjwatsonhunger: (p.s. I maintain our openssh packages)17:36
doctormocjwatson: that would be interesting17:36
hungercjwatson: Something we have not considered is that the supporter could set up SSH tunnels, bypassing your firewall configuration.17:36
cjwatsonhunger: which is yet another reason allowing the supporter to execute arbitrary commands is an unwise design17:37
cjwatsonDDTT17:37
doctormocjwatson: although more alarm bells17:37
hungerSo he can even attack the system or others...17:37
Hobbseecjwatson: DDTT?17:37
cjwatsondon't do that, then17:37
leftyfbIf we aren't trusting the supporter, then this tool is useless17:38
cjwatsonleftyfb: that's not true at all17:38
doctormoleftyfb: you just have to be able to catch supporters that go bad, auditing is good for that.17:38
cjwatsonthe supporter can be given the ability to ask for certain information and get it automatically, and then recommend certain courses of action under the control of the user17:38
cjwatsonit's not an all-or-nothing thing, and presenting it as such is harmful17:39
leftyfbI need this tool for root ssh access to my customer box's when they have problems. Without this, I won't be using this tool. Simple as that.17:39
cjwatsonleftyfb: so make the tool flexible enough that it can offer that to *you* where you have a contractual relationship with the customer, but don't turn that on for general user support over the Internet17:39
doctormoleftyfb: no reason it can't do both, if the server doesn't have ssh support, the client won't allow ssh17:39
cjwatsonleftyfb: you don't have to make your requirements mandatory in the tool as a whole17:40
hungerleftyfb: I think it is a great tool for a company/customer relationship. I just do not think community support with root access is a good idea.17:40
andrew___It sounds like you guys are coming at this problem from different directions.   doctormo and leftyfb are starting with tech support for friends and scaling up, cjwatson is looking at a way of automating/real-timing some of the work of the Ubuntu forums.17:41
doctormoandrew___: both doable using the existing tool17:41
leftyfbwe need to start small to support customers we have now17:42
doctormocjwatson: I've organised the support tool so that commands can be added on quite easily.17:42
cjwatsonandrew___: that's not an accurate representation of my position, FWIW17:42
andrew___cjwatson, what would be more accurate?17:42
hungerandrew___: I don't need such a tool to support friends and get supported by them. krfb is great for that:-)17:42
cjwatsonandrew___: I have nothing to do with the forums; my interest is in ensuring a secure design for any software that is offered to users of Ubuntu17:42
andrew___cjwatson: Fair enough.17:43
cjwatson(and, FWIW, I would rather have no software than insecure software in this case; although I accept that it is a significant requirement and I suspect it can be made acceptably secure with some effort)17:43
doctormocjwatson: and I thank you for your help.17:43
leftyfbhunger: the biggest advantage of this tool I see is not needing to open up ports on their firewall/router17:43
leftyfbcjwatson: i'm of the opposite opinion17:43
cjwatsonleftyfb: that's fair enough, but part of my job is ensuring high standards of software in Ubuntu17:44
hungerleftyfb: Sure. But I can do that when I set up a system:-)17:44
cjwatsonleftyfb: you are (obviously) entitled to do whatever you like within your customer relationships17:44
leftyfbhunger: i prefer not to poke holes in the customers network17:44
hungerleftyfb: In a commercial setting you will have a hard time to sell a firewall-bypass-tool.17:45
cjwatsonleftyfb: but, when it gets offered to all Ubuntu users, it comes within my purview17:45
cjwatson(among others)17:45
leftyfbhunger: gotomypc, logmein, teamviewer17:45
hungerleftyfb: I found it much easier to ask them to open a port which is then documented in their security documentation than to "sneak in" some piece of software.17:46
doctormoleftyfb: there is no reason why we can't have the more advanced features enabled by us personally or by some simple option. Normal internet wide servers wouldn't do ssh but our own would.17:46
hungerleftyfb: Maybe we are talking about different kinds of customers here:-)17:46
doctormohunger: It's not sneaking in,17:47
ograthere are many corporate environments where you cant get more than http and mail protocols through the firewall by policy and getting another port open can take you months to get approval fro from all parties involved17:47
hungerdoctormo: If it is not approved by the IT department and documented in the security guidelines, then it is sneaking in.17:47
hungerogra: Sure. But it can get you kicked out of the company if you get caught going round the firewall, too.17:48
ograjudging from myself, thats actually the majority of companies i have worked for doing it in such a way17:48
hungerdoctormo: Well, that tool is probably not targeted at companies with a IT department anyway.17:48
* hunger has to run.17:49
ograrun hunger run17:49
ogra:)17:49
doctormoogra: remind me, were you at UDS "Boston"?17:50
ogradoctormo, yep., i think we met outside several times17:50
doctormoI think so too17:50
ograyou're the one from the local loco, right ?17:50
* ogra refines to typo the name of the state he cant pronounce either :)17:51
doctormoYes, Ubuntu-US-MA this might explain the development17:51
ograah, right there is an abbreviation i forgot :)17:52
AmaranthMassachusetts17:52
ograAmaranth, :P17:52
* Amaranth used spell check17:52
ograi still cant pronounce it without getting knots in my tongue :)17:53
LaserJockhah17:53
LaserJockogra: I feel the same about many German city names ;-)17:53
doctormoYou get used to the spelling after a while17:54
ograAmaranth, oh, while you are here, i put willow on the uds agenda :)17:54
* Amaranth runs17:54
doctormoogra: we were talking at uds about dohickey and hardware tools17:54
ograLaserJock, yeah, understandable ... my hometown is easy though17:54
ogradoctormo, ah, yeah, cr3 is doing all that now17:54
andrew___Since there's a lull in the other debate, cjwatson: how come sshd allows password authentication by default?17:55
andrew___(I asked this in launchpad, but since you're here...)17:55
doctormoogra: I thought canonical had dropped hardware information projects? I assume this because I heard nothing from anyone.17:56
ogradoctormo, we have a new tool that hooks in with LP now17:56
ograhwtest-gtk17:57
ogra(had to look that up)17:57
sladenit died because nobody would share the data from the project17:57
ograsladen, its still ongoing17:58
ograjust not 100% finished afaik17:58
sladens/died/has not achieved its full potential/17:58
doctormoogra: forgive me if i'm not hurt by being left out.17:58
cjwatsonandrew___: well, it's the upstream default as well. I tend to think that it's sufficiently useful in many environments to be left on by default, though I'm not surprised by people turning it off18:01
andrew___Isn't it a serious security issue though?  It's alright for upstream, because OBSD users can be trusted not to use abc123 as a password ;)18:03
cr3doctormo: hiya, how's it been since last uds?18:03
cr3ogra: thanks for pimping my wares :)18:04
ogra:)18:04
Hobbseeandrew___: if they're that stupid and install an ssh server with such a p/w, don't they *deserve* to be rooted?18:04
doctormocr3: Busy, very busy.18:05
andrew___Hobbsee: not if Ubuntu is supposed to be Linux for human beings, no.18:05
cjwatsonandrew___: well, considering that we don't install an SSH server by default, it hasn't particularly worried me18:05
mjg59andrew___: There's no default username, and there's no default password18:05
Hobbseeandrew___: then remove all their input devices.18:05
cjwatsonit was perhaps more of an issue when we did18:06
doctormocr3: I was just talking to ogra about how I've not had any emails from you guys about hardware information and detection.18:06
cjwatsonanyway, got to go ...18:06
andrew___Bye - thanks.18:06
cr3doctormo: the limiting factor here is mostly on the launchpad side where additional hardware detection would not supported by the relaxng schema.18:08
cr3doctormo: I would like to see the schema eventually evolve to support more clever hardware detection such as done by dohickey, but Launchpad should first provide an interface for the existing schema before evolving it.18:09
doctormocr3: launchpad may be the wrong place to create a schema, although I'm sure you'd disagree at this point. it's too late.18:11
doctormowhen I get back to dohickey, I'll come calling and see what you've learned that I could aply18:12
cr3doctormo: it is necessary for the schema to be defined server side in order to provide a form of validation before storing the information in a database18:12
cr3doctormo: consider any rpc system for example, it is the server which enforces somekind of api in the form of a schema, dtd, idl, etc.18:14
pittiseb128: hah! I now got one common fakechroot error case fixated in a test case, and I can perfectly reproduce it on my desktop, without mixing different chroots, etc.18:14
pittiseb128: I was afraid that the combination of dapper system + gutsy chroot + hardy fakechroot mixed shlibs in a way to break this18:15
cr3doctormo: I don't quite see how this could be debated so, perhaps I misunderstand what you mean by: launchpad may be the wrong place to create a schema18:15
cr3doctormo: did you mean another server should be used for displaying hardware results to the community such as the dohickey server or the smolt server even?18:16
andrew___doctormo: About LoCoRemote, it's worth having a poke about at http://popcon.ubuntu.com/ to see what package people tend to have on their systems.  For example, it looks like only about 20% of people have an SSH server already installed.18:21
pittiseb128: ah, and the test still succeeds in feisty and gutsy; that explains the regression in hardy; apparently hardy's rm uses a new stat()-like call which isn't recognized by hardy's fakechroot18:26
andrew___Speaking of popcon, does anyone know how there can be 541,530 submissions to popcon, only 540,735 of which had popularity-contest installed?18:28
pittiandrew___: apparently you can submit your system data several times?18:29
ograit is an optional thing18:29
ograso not really something to base actual statistics on18:29
andrew___Sure, but how do you submit data if you don't have the program to submit it?18:29
pittiandrew___: I mean, those wo do have it installed might have submitted more than once18:30
andrew___Yeah, but then popularity-contest would show up more than once.18:30
andrew___Maybe the other handful were installing popularity-contest from source or something.18:31
* ogra tries to imagine a hand with 800 fingers18:36
ogra:)18:37
andrew___If two parties share a secret of, say, 10 or 20 characters, is there a security algorithm that could give you reasonable security for a few kilobytes of text, implementable in sed (or Perl with no modules)?18:49
doctormocr3: What I meant was that the schema for hw information is not static, launchpad doesn't ahve the tools to deal with dynamic hardware schemas yet.18:50
doctormoandrew___: I wonder if it's worth having a seperate ssh package which is pre-configured for localhost, unsure of the solution with regards to sshd18:52
andrew___I'm not sure I follow - what would that involve?18:53
awalton__andrew___, depends on your definition of "reasonable."18:56
andrew___awalton__: unlikely to be cracked within 20 minutes?  At a guess.18:57
awalton__but then again, perl is turing complete, even without its modules, so I guess the answer is "yes"18:57
andrew___True.  Do you have any particular pointers for where I might look?18:57
awalton__google, wikipedia are often where I start.18:58
ograandrew___, if you use ssh, then you surely have ssh-keygen installed?18:58
awalton__you could probably do a small blowfish implementaiton...18:58
andrew___ogra: if I've got SSH, I don't need to worry about such hacks :)18:58
* andrew___ makes note to look for Blowfish implementations in Perl18:59
andrew___Basically, I'm browsing popcon and thinking that sed, perl and netcat are amazingly popular and can probably be convinced to work with just a binary...19:01
awalton__or if you want a really, really small implementation, something like xtea or RC4, but they're both substantially weaker :-/19:01
andrew___sed and netcat are even in /bin, so get around problems with /usr failing to mount.19:01
andrew___Not so much small as possible for me to verify (and write if absolutely necessary), given my lack of security training.19:03
awalton__is it even worth it though? does it matter?19:04
andrew___Depends how hard it is.19:04
seb128pitti: ah ok19:05
pittiseb128: currently digging in the fakechroot code to add an implementation for the missing newfstatat()19:06
* seb128 hugs pitti, good work19:06
andrew___If I can put something together in an afternoon that's a guaranteed "download this and follow the instructions" solution for anything from a 90's NetBSD to a modern Leapord, I'd say yes :)19:06
pittinone of the new *at() functions are implemented :/ (http://lwn.net/Articles/164887/)19:06
Riddelldoko: any idea what causes an error like this? http://paste.ubuntu.com/10990/19:17
Riddelldoko: seems I have to add -ldl for some reason19:23
lamontmvo: is your util-linux change for #157763 something that should go in long-term upstream?19:30
lamontmeh.  no mvo19:36
pittiseb128: BANZAI!19:37
jdongis archive.u.c under stress? it's responding very slowly to me19:59
pittiyes, it is20:00
pittiboth mirroring drescher (master archive) and downloading from it take ages20:00
jdongoh20:00
cr3doctormo: perhaps a schema allowing for dynamic data could be proposed for launchpad. any suggestions?20:00
=== thegodfather is now known as fabbione
LaserJockgeeze, 2 times in 2 days I find a package I'm interested has been removed from Hardy :(20:33
bimberihi LaserJock, which one? iirc qgis was the other.20:36
Mithrandirandrew___: look at http://www.cypherspace.org/adam/rsa/perl-dh.html to get a key exchange going, then you have a session key and can use that with regular crypto.  I'd probably just use "openssl bf" or similar, though.20:36
LaserJockbimberi: ksynaptics20:38
LaserJockmy touchpad has too many "features" on it that are very annoying so I was hoping to turn them off20:39
LaserJockI think I'll just do it in xorg.conf and see how that goes20:40
* pitti uploads another fakechroot which now finally works again for hardy21:20
pitti\o/21:20
pittibdmurray: ^ FYI, that means I can reactivate the retracers (will do tomorrow, too late now)21:20
=== fta_ is now known as fta
bdmurraypitti: sweet!21:23
Caesarpitti: so I've got various small bugfixes I'd like to get into hardy-proposed21:34
CaesarI presume I can't upload there because my key's not in the keyring, so I'll need sponsorship?21:35
jdongCaesar: main or universe? (make sure it meets SRU policy and follows the SRU process)21:38
geserCaesar: yes, you'll need sponsorship. Have you already an ACK from the (correct) SRU team?21:39
jdongeven developers must get approval from the appropriate SRU approval team to ACK the request before uploading21:39
doctormocr3: I thought you'd seen dohickey, next UDS in mountin view I'll have to show you how it works21:42
Caesarjdong, geser, where/how do I get SRU team blessing?21:46
CaesarPoint me at docs, I'll go read21:46
geserCaesar: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates21:47
Caesarthnx21:47
cr3doctormo: you showed me dohickey in person and I took the time to look at the code on the client side. I have to admit I didn't look at the server side but, apparently, I'm missing out :) thanks for pointing this out21:47
doctormocr3: It has a schema for dynamic data using data pathing21:53
cjwatsonandrew___: I'd second Mithrandir's recommendation of something pre-cooked. Designing your own cryptosystem without security training is a really bad idea, and 20 characters => 160 bits => probably worthless for security purposes22:36
andrew___Yeah, that link is a good idea (thanks Mithrandir).  Actually, I'm starting to think that it's better to use small, simple tools to make the whole "recovery from a nearly-broken system" idea redundant.22:39
andrew___Hence posting to ubuntu-devel-discuss about dealing with failed mounts.22:40
* davidm is away: I'm busy22:48
cjwatsonandrew___: to back up my "160-bit keys are worthless for security purposes" statement: I just tested msieve (http://www.boo.net/~jasonp/qs.html) on my laptop with a series of 160-bit numbers that were products of two random 80-bit primes. The mean time taken to factorise each was .67 seconds.22:54
andrew___Bearing in mind my lack of security training, does that mean that any amount of information that could usefully be transferred over the phone is only useful in the context of something like a password in an SSH session?23:01
andrew___(Where by "usefully transferred over the phone", I mean "dictated phonetically at one character per second for less than 30 seconds")23:05
Mithrandirandrew___: tbh, I'd recommend using SMS-es or a similar out-of-band medium for transferring a passkey, preferably with a very short time span (5 minutes)23:16
Mithrandirso you'd get an sms with "the server should tell you abcd1234 and you should tell it gargleblaster"23:16
andrew___That's still only 160 characters max. though?23:17
Mithrandirit's not foolproof, but it's probably one of the better key exchanges you can come up with today.  It has a cost associated, but if you're in a business relationship, that should't be a problem.23:17
Mithrandirthat doesn't really matter so much, since you'd need to make it short-lived and lock the password on three wrong tries23:18
Mithrandirof course, an attacker can continually request new passwords, but you might notice that your phone keeps getting new passcodes and then react on that.23:18
Mithrandirbut then, I think this is a good idea, so find somebody smarter than me to poke holes in it and tell you on what points I'm wrong.23:19
andrew___Yeah, part of the reason I prefer an actual phone call is because you can at least verify that they sound like the right person.23:20
Mithrandirsocial engineering is typically quite easy, especially in a business situation.23:20
andrew___My personal interest is in tech support for friends.  If I was looking at a business thing, the first thing I'd do would be to get them to pay for me to physically go there and set up a reasonably secure login.23:21
Mithrandirbetween friends, social engineering is harder, agreed.23:22
Mithrandirand between friends, well, I wouldn't want a bot to message me, since that probably meant the login was actually going through a third party I had no reason to trust.23:23
Mithrandirtrust is bloody hard to manage and is not transitive, which makes this a problem.23:23
andrew___You're thinking of doctormo and leftyb, I'm looking at a completely different thing :)23:23
Amaranthhrm, i thought the bug squad had access to all ubuntu bugs23:24
MithrandirAmaranth: not security ones, I'd have thunk.23:25
Amaranthsecurity doesn't mean private though, apparently23:25
Amaranthalthough i guess if you set it private and security it might lock the bug squad out23:25
Mithrandirandrew___: true, but if you're serious about having some decent security in your system, sit down and make a design document explaining what and how and let people poke holes in it.23:26
Mithrandirafter a few iterations, we might have something that none of us are clever enough to break, at least.23:26
Mithrandirand it's not the crypto that's going to be the hard part.  It's the procedures, the social engineering and how your components fit together and managing trust between them.23:27
andrew___Sure - as soon as I can get to the end of a sentence without falling through eight of those holes.23:27
mneptokAmaranth: you won;t have access to private bugs of paid Canonical customers.23:27
Mithrandirmneptok!23:27
mneptokMithrandir!23:27
Mithrandirmneptok: crazy man, how are things?23:27
* mneptok spews ponmies and glitter23:27
mneptok*ponies23:27
Amaranthsome guy is complaining about aptoncd but his bug report is private23:28
mneptoknot too bad. the jbailey replacement has finally arrived. that's quite nice.23:28
mneptokAmaranth: bug#?23:28
Amaranthbug 22183923:28
Mithrandirmneptok: ah, sounds good, and about time23:28
ubottuAmaranth: Bug 221839 on http://launchpad.net/bugs/221839 is private23:28
wgrantAmaranth: Security issues are private by default.23:29
mneptokAmaranth: no access here, either. not private because of a paid relationship.23:29
mneptokMithrandir: no kidding. it's been too long.23:29
doctormoandrew___: some completly different remote support tool using reverse ssh tunnels then23:29
mneptokMithrandir: keeping busy? reporting to your parole officer as expected?23:29
Mithrandirmneptok: keeping busy, yes, lots of fun and learning, which is good.23:30
Mithrandirmneptok: billing customers is kinda weird, though. :-P  Given that I didn't work in such a position at C23:30
andrew___doctormo: probably.  as of right now, I'm still trying to work out what the actual missing pieces are in the puzzle.23:30
Mithrandirandrew___: do you have a document explaining what the problem you are trying to solve is?23:31
doctormoandrew___: the main parts? well I see people as a missing part, people that can be trusted. but this may not be the same as your problem.23:31
Mithrandirand some rough sketches of your approach to solving it?23:31
Amaranthwgrant: Yeah but some guy set a compiz bug as a security issue just because he wanted someone to look at it23:31
AmaranthThat's when I noticed security didn't automatically mean private23:32
andrew___Mithrandir: short answer - nothing worth reading yet.  As I say, I'm still getting my head around things.23:34
Mithrandirandrew___: ahkay.  Once you have that, tell me and I'll be happy to see what holes I can poke in your solution. ;-)23:34
andrew___Thanks :)23:34
andrew___I suppose the basic problem I'm looking at is: someone you know has a system that doesn't work, and your phone number exists somewhere in the list of things ways they know how to fix computer problems.  How do you get said friend's computer working?23:36
MithrandirI would probably pull out my bike and bike over or ask them to bring the laptop to my place.23:36
andrew___Most of the people I know are not within biking distance :s23:37
Mithrandirhehe23:37
andrew___Plus, it's always been my opinion that Linux adoption is constrained mainly by the number of people in generation N that can be supported by the community from generations <N.23:38
Mithrandirconceivably, yes.23:39
andrew___Therefore, two key ways to increase the pace of Linux adoption are to reduce the support burden and increase the number of people that older generations can support.23:39
lifelessMithrandir: in the deep of winter ? :)23:39
MithrandirI think a solution using the telepathy framework and such might work well, but I'd start by having a good description of the problem and the requirements.23:39
Mithrandirlifeless: I live in Oslo, we don't get real winters any more. :-(23:39
Mithrandirlifeless: (yes, I bike the whole winter)23:39
andrew___I live in Britain.  We don't get real winters, but we're starting to get real summers :s23:40
lifelessMithrandir: I knew where you lived :), I didn't know the climate had changed so noticably for you.23:40
Mithrandirlifeless: well, it's more about being downtown, I think.  I live basically at sea level about 1km from the ocean, so it doesn't get very cold for very long.23:41
andrew___What I'm thinking now is: there's lots that can be done with bullet-proofing the "mostly-broken" case.  I've mentioned two of what I think are the biggest issues on the ML: half-installed packages and FSs that won't mount...23:41
andrew___There's plenty of work already done in the "mostly working" case, and I'm starting to think that we need existing solutions to be promoted, rather than the likes of me adding another voice to the cacophony.23:43
andrew___But what about the intermediate case?  How common is it that someone will boot to a system that's not functional enough for Telepathy and friends, but too functional for automated special-case solutions?23:44
Mithrandirthat's called "live CD", isn't it?23:45
Mithrandirand then have the support tools available from there and the "help from a friend" functionality available there23:45
andrew___Generally speaking, people with enough foresight to have a live CD lying about generally don't need my help :)23:45
andrew___Hmm.23:46
andrew___Should there be a recovery option to download and burn a live CD?23:46
andrew___From GRUB or similar?23:47
Mithrandirgrub2 can give you netboot, and well, tftp can be routed, so theoretically you could boot over the internet23:47
Mithrandirit wouldn't be fast, though23:47
Mithrandirand would absolutely not be secure23:48
andrew___Yeah, and security becomes an issue again.23:48
NafalloMithrandir: wouldn't that depend on the speed of the connection? :-)23:50
MithrandirNafallo: no, it would probably more depend on the latency of the connection.23:51
NafalloMithrandir: point-to-point 10GbE wave? :-)23:51
MithrandirNafallo: most people don't have that at home though23:51
NafalloMithrandir: ...yet :-)23:52
moniccan anyone tell me what is the graphics library people use for Ubuntu now; i gather it won't be SVGAlib23:57

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