On 9th and 10th of November a training for software distribution with m23 in the Linuxhotel in Essen will take place, if there are enough registrations. The Linuxhotel is a deluxe hotel created after the archetype of Germany's best hotels, bit it works on basis of self-service to keep the price low. There you learn and sleep in an integreated facility, that encourages the copious exchange of experiences with co-workers and tutors. All (technic, stores, literature, food, drinks, ...) are available at day and night times without extra costs. You can review and change the configurations of the virtual test servers (DNS, mail, LDAP, databases, ...) by way of trial in an open network.

The two-day training will teach you how to set up your m23 server and how to install m23 clients with it. The course will show the possibilities of mass installation, client recovery, package (de)installation, updates, group functions and package source management. Advanced topics like problem management with m23 and enhancement of m23 (e.g. with the integrated script editor) are shown too.

Additional information to the m23 training (and other courses on the Linuxhotel) can be found on the German page www.linuxhotel.de/kurs/m23/index.html.

Maybe we will see in Essen ;-)

Today I would like to introduce another project that I have been working on in the last time and that is responsible for my silence in the m23 project. Aside from this project I'm involved in the planning of the next Kieler Linux- und OpenSource-Tage that will take place on the 2nd and 3rd of October in the KITZ in Kiel again. Additional information (in German only) about this event can be found on the associated website.

Ok then, but now back to the addressed project. This project is the AaiN VM.

But what is the AaiN VM?

The AaiN VM (Anonym arbeiten im Netz-VM - Work anonymously in the net) is a virtual machine, that has some applications preinstalled. These applications can be used to work anonymously in the net. The included software is free software and so it is allowed to modify an distribute the AaiN VM. AaiN VM runs in the free virtualisation software VirtualBox that can be run under the operating systems Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, FreeBSD or Solaris. If you put it for example on an USB stick, the AaiN is your worksplace to go. You will find the applications of your AaiN VM independently from the locally installed operating system or software.

You can find the files for the AaiN VM and an installation guide (German only, so please contact me if you want to translate) from the project page.

Have fun!

I just saw that SourceForce offers another RSS feed, that keeps you informed about uploaded files etc.. This new feed should not kept back by me and so it is shown here or in the menu.

Have fun with it!

Yes, you read correctly! There is a "new" m23 release, but there is no need to reinstall your m23 server, because this release corrects only a little detail of the m23 server installation ISO and the preinstalled VM.

The version without the "a" includes a setting for fetching software packages via an APT proxy that will be (most likely) unavailable in your network. That is why the m23 server cannot be updated or get additional software installed via APT. m23 servers that were installed via the m23 Debian packages on an existing Debian are not affected. You can deactivate the false proxy setting easyly so a reinstallation of your m23 server is not needed. The same applys for already downloaded virtual machines and m23 server ISOs. But if you haven't downloaded m23 you should download m23 rock 0.8.5a ;-)

Here are three simple ways to solve the problem on existing m23 servers:

1. Make an update of the m23 server via the m23 webinterface. The false APT proxy will get deactivated automatically.
2. Edit the file /etc/apt/apt.conf and delete the line, that contains "Acquire::http::Proxy".
3. Alternatively you can execute the following one-liner as root:
   grep -v "Acquire::http::Proxy" /etc/apt/apt.conf > /tmp/apt.conf; cat /tmp/apt.conf > /etc/apt/apt.conf; rm /tmp/apt.conf

Have fun!

On the m23 Twitter page (twitter.com/m23news) you can read the m23 development blog and the headings of new m23 community page articles (if they fit into 140 characters ;-)).

If you like to get informed about m23 activities, you can subscribe to m23news on Twitter. Whenever you like an m23 community page article you can "twitter" it on your own Twitter page. Just click on "Twitter article" and send the message of m23 to the whole world ;-)

Have fun!