issue79:labo_linux
Différences
Ci-dessous, les différences entre deux révisions de la page.
Les deux révisions précédentesRévision précédenteProchaine révision | Révision précédente | ||
issue79:labo_linux [2014/01/21 15:06] – andre_domenech | issue79:labo_linux [2014/04/05 13:47] (Version actuelle) – [3] auntiee | ||
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Linux has always had a reputation of being a good way to reuse old computers. In fact this is how free software slipped into The Working Centre’s Computer Recycling Project. The project began in the late 1990’s as a way for those out of work to get access to a computer to create resumés. Around mid 2001, one of the project volunteers started putting together a Linux distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux called the Working Centre Linux Project (WCLP). WCLP was a desktop distribution designed to run on a 486SX/25 with 16MB of RAM and a 400MB hard drive. WCLP was the start of free software use in the project. | Linux has always had a reputation of being a good way to reuse old computers. In fact this is how free software slipped into The Working Centre’s Computer Recycling Project. The project began in the late 1990’s as a way for those out of work to get access to a computer to create resumés. Around mid 2001, one of the project volunteers started putting together a Linux distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux called the Working Centre Linux Project (WCLP). WCLP was a desktop distribution designed to run on a 486SX/25 with 16MB of RAM and a 400MB hard drive. WCLP was the start of free software use in the project. | ||
Around mid 2005, the volunteers developing WCLP abandoned the project. Other refurbishing-oriented distributions, | Around mid 2005, the volunteers developing WCLP abandoned the project. Other refurbishing-oriented distributions, | ||
+ | ** | ||
+ | Linux a toujours eu la réputation d' | ||
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+ | Vers la mi-2005, les bénévoles développant WCLP ont abandonné le projet. D' | ||
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+ | ** | ||
One of the great salvations for the project has been the fact that we’ve been able to take a hard drive running Linux out of one system and stick it in a completely new system with relatively few problems (not something you can do with proprietary OS’s because of the whole licensing issues, not to mention driver issues). We had a major hardware failure in one of our systems (we hadn’t looked close enough at the motherboard), | One of the great salvations for the project has been the fact that we’ve been able to take a hard drive running Linux out of one system and stick it in a completely new system with relatively few problems (not something you can do with proprietary OS’s because of the whole licensing issues, not to mention driver issues). We had a major hardware failure in one of our systems (we hadn’t looked close enough at the motherboard), | ||
Late 2005, I started working closer with the project to take it from a once-a-week drop-in project to a 5-day-a-week operation (we’ve since scaled back to 4 days a week to allow for other work to take place in the space). One of the projects I’d been working on while volunteering was a PHP/MySQL parts database. The database was hacked together using a script I’d found. That project was the start of what became a custom PHP/MySQL Point-Of-Sale (POS), based on an existing open source project: OSCommerce. A few months after I started, we had the opportunity to switch spaces into a much more spacious building. During the downtime, we took the opportunity to better lay out the POS. One of our on-staff IT developed the interface, while a programmer we hired for a short period worked on coding the POS. | Late 2005, I started working closer with the project to take it from a once-a-week drop-in project to a 5-day-a-week operation (we’ve since scaled back to 4 days a week to allow for other work to take place in the space). One of the projects I’d been working on while volunteering was a PHP/MySQL parts database. The database was hacked together using a script I’d found. That project was the start of what became a custom PHP/MySQL Point-Of-Sale (POS), based on an existing open source project: OSCommerce. A few months after I started, we had the opportunity to switch spaces into a much more spacious building. During the downtime, we took the opportunity to better lay out the POS. One of our on-staff IT developed the interface, while a programmer we hired for a short period worked on coding the POS. | ||
+ | ** | ||
+ | Ce qui a sauvé le projet a été le fait que nous avons été en mesure de prendre un disque dur avec Linux d'un système et de le coller dans un système complètement nouveau avec relativement peu de problèmes (ce n'est pas quelque chose que vous pouvez faire avec des systèmes d' | ||
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+ | Fin 2005, j'ai commencé à travailler plus étroitement sur le projet pour partir d'un projet ponctuel d'une fois par semaine et arriver à 5 jours par semaine (nous avons depuis réduit à 4 jours par semaine pour permettre à d' | ||
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+ | ** | ||
We actually considered Microsoft Dynamics before hiring anyone for the project, but, at the time, it wasn’t available in Canada, and, even if it was available, we weren’t convinced that it would have given us the flexibility we needed. The decision to hire a programmer and develop the POS ourselves turned out to be a wise decision. The programmer we hired completed the project early, so early that we didn’t really get a chance to completely debug the application. But since we had access to the source code, and we had someone on staff who was better with PHP than me, we could debug the application without begging a third-party company to make changes. It also meant that even I, with my limited PHP/MySQL knowledge, could make minor changes to the code (which I’ve done over the years). | We actually considered Microsoft Dynamics before hiring anyone for the project, but, at the time, it wasn’t available in Canada, and, even if it was available, we weren’t convinced that it would have given us the flexibility we needed. The decision to hire a programmer and develop the POS ourselves turned out to be a wise decision. The programmer we hired completed the project early, so early that we didn’t really get a chance to completely debug the application. But since we had access to the source code, and we had someone on staff who was better with PHP than me, we could debug the application without begging a third-party company to make changes. It also meant that even I, with my limited PHP/MySQL knowledge, could make minor changes to the code (which I’ve done over the years). | ||
For the past several years we’ve had a volunteer come in once a week and maintain the code for us. The volunteer has been cleaning up the code, making a few changes to the interface, and separating the code from the OSCommerce back end, so we can release the project as a completely independent FLOSS POS. | For the past several years we’ve had a volunteer come in once a week and maintain the code for us. The volunteer has been cleaning up the code, making a few changes to the interface, and separating the code from the OSCommerce back end, so we can release the project as a completely independent FLOSS POS. | ||
+ | ** | ||
+ | En fait, nous avons pensé à Microsoft Dynamics avant d' | ||
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+ | Depuis plusieurs années, nous demandons à un bénévole de venir une fois par semaine maintenir le code. Le bénévole nettoie le code, faisant quelques modifications à l' | ||
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+ | ** | ||
As the project grew, we moved a lot of documentation to an Intranet I set up on a system using the Drupal CMS (Content Management System). The system holds a lot of forms and paperwork that volunteers need, as well as information about The Working Centre, the Computer Recycling Project, environmental regulations, | As the project grew, we moved a lot of documentation to an Intranet I set up on a system using the Drupal CMS (Content Management System). The system holds a lot of forms and paperwork that volunteers need, as well as information about The Working Centre, the Computer Recycling Project, environmental regulations, | ||
One of our staff has since added a PXE network boot server on the same machine – to allow us to deploy a variety of Linux distributions. We also keep everyday tools on the PXE server | One of our staff has since added a PXE network boot server on the same machine – to allow us to deploy a variety of Linux distributions. We also keep everyday tools on the PXE server | ||
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At the core of the Computer Recycling Project is a table with 8 workstations (7 running Xubuntu, 1 running Ubuntu). Each workstation is on a Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) switch to allow volunteers to work on repairs or builds on the top, and search for information using the workstation below the table. On another table, we have a special system; a tower system with a couple of IDE and SATA controller cards in addition to the IDE and SATA ports on the motherboard. This system is used for DBAN-ing hard drives (we hate to say wiping hard drives because technically DBAN overwrites data on the drives). DBAN resides on our PXE server, so normally all volunteers have to do is hook up the hard drives, then turn on the DBAN machine. We jumper all IDE drives to cable-select – to make the process simpler for volunteers without a lot of computer building experience. | At the core of the Computer Recycling Project is a table with 8 workstations (7 running Xubuntu, 1 running Ubuntu). Each workstation is on a Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) switch to allow volunteers to work on repairs or builds on the top, and search for information using the workstation below the table. On another table, we have a special system; a tower system with a couple of IDE and SATA controller cards in addition to the IDE and SATA ports on the motherboard. This system is used for DBAN-ing hard drives (we hate to say wiping hard drives because technically DBAN overwrites data on the drives). DBAN resides on our PXE server, so normally all volunteers have to do is hook up the hard drives, then turn on the DBAN machine. We jumper all IDE drives to cable-select – to make the process simpler for volunteers without a lot of computer building experience. | ||
+ | ** | ||
+ | Au fur et à mesure que le projet grandissait, | ||
+ | Un de nos collaborateurs a depuis ajouté un serveur de démarrage réseau PXE sur la même machine, pour nous permettre de déployer une variété de distributions Linux. Nous gardons également des outils de tous les jours sur le serveur PXE, y compris Darik' | ||
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+ | Au cœur du Projet de recyclage informatique se trouve une table avec 8 postes de travail (7 tournant sous Xubuntu, 1 sous Ubuntu). Chaque poste de travail est sur un commutateur écran-clavier-souris (KVM) pour permettre aux bénévoles de travailler sur les réparations ou les constructions sur la table, et de rechercher des informations sur le poste de travail en dessous de la table. Sur une autre table, nous avons un système spécial ; un système en tour avec deux cartes contrôleur IDE et SATA en plus de l'IDE et des ports SATA sur la carte mère. Ce système est utilisé pour DBAN-er les disques durs (nous détestons dire nettoyer les disques durs parce que techniquement DBAN écrase les données sur les disques). DBAN réside sur notre serveur PXE, donc normalement tout ce que les bénévoles ont à faire est de brancher les disques durs, puis allumer la machine DBAN. Nous avons mis tous les cavaliers en position sélection-par-le-câble pour les disques IDE; pour rendre le processus plus simple pour des bénévoles sans beaucoup d' | ||
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+ | ** | ||
On the back wall behind the workstation table are 5 monitors and 4 KVM switches. The four monitors with KVM switches all have 4-port KVM switches, so up to 16 computers can be set up on the back wall. Normally, this counter is used only for things that take a bit more time: running memtest86+ on a system for example. The 5th monitor is connected to a small- form-factor computer running XBMCbuntu (a Linux+XBMC distribution) that replaced an aging stereo with a failing CD tray. | On the back wall behind the workstation table are 5 monitors and 4 KVM switches. The four monitors with KVM switches all have 4-port KVM switches, so up to 16 computers can be set up on the back wall. Normally, this counter is used only for things that take a bit more time: running memtest86+ on a system for example. The 5th monitor is connected to a small- form-factor computer running XBMCbuntu (a Linux+XBMC distribution) that replaced an aging stereo with a failing CD tray. | ||
In another area of Computer Recycling lies one of the more interesting work areas where 3 motherboards are mounted on the wall. These motherboards are used to test different types of RAM (currently we’re only testing DDR and DDR2 since we rarely see any older SDRAM or newer DDR3- based systems). These systems all boot off a multi-tool USB key created using Yumi multiboot USB creator. We’ve also started using Phoronix Test Suite to more accurately gather information about video card RAM at this work area. Phoronix Test Suite has a system-info switch to show information about a system, including Video RAM (VRAM) information. The project gets a lot of systems with video cards that don’t have VRAM information anywhere on the cards. | In another area of Computer Recycling lies one of the more interesting work areas where 3 motherboards are mounted on the wall. These motherboards are used to test different types of RAM (currently we’re only testing DDR and DDR2 since we rarely see any older SDRAM or newer DDR3- based systems). These systems all boot off a multi-tool USB key created using Yumi multiboot USB creator. We’ve also started using Phoronix Test Suite to more accurately gather information about video card RAM at this work area. Phoronix Test Suite has a system-info switch to show information about a system, including Video RAM (VRAM) information. The project gets a lot of systems with video cards that don’t have VRAM information anywhere on the cards. | ||
+ | ** | ||
+ | Sur le mur du fond derrière la table du poste de travail, on a 5 moniteurs et 4 commutateurs KVM. Les quatre moniteurs avec des commutateurs KVM ont tous des commutateurs KVM 4 ports ; ainsi, jusqu' | ||
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+ | Dans un autre endroit du service de recyclage des ordinateurs se trouve l'une des zones de travail les plus intéressants où 3 cartes mères sont montées sur le mur. Ces cartes mères sont utilisées pour tester différents types de RAM (actuellement nous ne testons que les DDR et DDR2, puisque nous voyons rarement les systèmes anciens avec de la SDRAM ou ceux, plus récents, avec de la DDR3). Ces systèmes démarrent tous à partir d'une clé USB multi-outil créée avec Yumi multiboot USB creator. Dans cette zone de travail, nous avons également commencé à utiliser Phoronix Test Suite pour recueillir plus précisément des informations sur la RAM de la carte vidéo. Phoronix Test Suite a une option system-info pour afficher des informations sur un système, y compris des informations sur la mémoire vidéo (VRAM). Le projet reçoit beaucoup de systèmes équipés de cartes vidéo qui n'ont pas d' | ||
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+ | ** | ||
Without question, Free Libre Open Source Software has helped the project, and every year our organization budgets a small amount of money to give back to a few open source projects. Being able to look at the code has helped the project adapt to changes over the years. When (in Canada) Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Provincial Sales Tax (PST) became a single Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), I was able to make the changes necessary to keep information on our POS about previous sales and deal with the new tax setup. One of our volunteers has updated the POS several times so we can show different reports we need to see. LOSS has saved us the cost of upgrading software licenses every few years. | Without question, Free Libre Open Source Software has helped the project, and every year our organization budgets a small amount of money to give back to a few open source projects. Being able to look at the code has helped the project adapt to changes over the years. When (in Canada) Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Provincial Sales Tax (PST) became a single Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), I was able to make the changes necessary to keep information on our POS about previous sales and deal with the new tax setup. One of our volunteers has updated the POS several times so we can show different reports we need to see. LOSS has saved us the cost of upgrading software licenses every few years. | ||
One of the side effects of having Linux on the computers used by volunteers is the change in attitude of many of the volunteers from indifference towards FLOSS to one of appreciation. Volunteers see just how easy Linux installs on many of the systems we work with. When a volunteer does get stuck, it’s usually because of a hardware fault in the equipment they’re working with. Many volunteers have come in knowing nothing about Linux, and they now support people who arrive with Linux- related questions, or help recommend Libre software on other platforms. And it’s because of FLOSS and the work of volunteers that we’re able to help a lot of people without good access to technology. | One of the side effects of having Linux on the computers used by volunteers is the change in attitude of many of the volunteers from indifference towards FLOSS to one of appreciation. Volunteers see just how easy Linux installs on many of the systems we work with. When a volunteer does get stuck, it’s usually because of a hardware fault in the equipment they’re working with. Many volunteers have come in knowing nothing about Linux, and they now support people who arrive with Linux- related questions, or help recommend Libre software on other platforms. And it’s because of FLOSS and the work of volunteers that we’re able to help a lot of people without good access to technology. | ||
+ | ** | ||
- | R ESOURCES | + | Sans aucun doute, le Free Libre Open Source Software a aidé le projet et, chaque année, notre organisation prévoit une petite somme d' |
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+ | Un des effets secondaires d' | ||
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+ | ** | ||
+ | RESOURCES | ||
The Working Centre’s Computer Recycling Project - http:// | The Working Centre’s Computer Recycling Project - http:// | ||
WCLP (uses a very old kernel, out of date) - http:// | WCLP (uses a very old kernel, out of date) - http:// | ||
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HDT - http:// | HDT - http:// | ||
XBMC - http:// | XBMC - http:// | ||
- | Yumi multiboot USB creator - http:// | + | Yumi multiboot USB creator - http:// |
+ | ** | ||
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+ | Documents: | ||
+ | Projet de recyclage informatique du Working Center : http:// | ||
+ | WCLP (utilise un noyau très vieux, obsolète) : | ||
+ | RULE (site hommage) : http:// | ||
+ | SAMBA : http:// | ||
+ | Memtest86+ : | ||
+ | Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) : http:// | ||
+ | HDT : http:// | ||
+ | Etherboot/ | ||
+ | XBMC : http:// | ||
+ | Yumi multiboot USB creator : http:// |
issue79/labo_linux.1390313183.txt.gz · Dernière modification : 2014/01/21 15:06 de andre_domenech