Tayside Linux User Group
Dundee's own Linux User Group!
Tayside Linux User GroupDundee's own Linux User Group! |
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Tayside LUG is a user group for Linux and other Unix users, or general computer users interested in Free Software which is based in Dundee. It is open to all interested, whether you're an expert, a novice or just curious as to what it's all about.
Topic: "Virtual Private Servers: OpenVZ paenevirtualisation in Fedora and SuSE Linux" by Gordon Dunlop.
Location: The meetings are held by the Abertay Linux Society every other Thursday at 7pm in the Cinema (3rd floor) Students Association Building, Bell Street, Dundee. (Just across from the main University of Abertay Campus building). Map
How to get to Dundee: Directions can be found here: Directions
More Information: The web site of the Abertay Linux Society can be found here: Abertay Linux Society
Arron Finnon, President of the Abertay Linux Society, gave a talk on Rootkits: The why's, what's and how's of kitting the box. Arron outlined what is a rootkit and their history. He also listed the different types of rootkits.
Rootkit types:
1) Firmware.
2) Application level
3) Library level.
4) Kernel level.
5) Virtualised.
He demonstrated how rootkits can be detected via a live CD and how intelligence gathering of data can be deployed via offhooks, patches and system calls. These real life threats can be minimised using countermeasures that include SELinux, AppArmor & Tripwire.
Timothy Spencer, a 2nd year Ethical Hacking & Countermeasures student, gave a talk on XSS/XSRF/SQL-Injection. This is where code injection takes place through malicious web pages when viewed by other web users. He gave a demonstration of XSS (cross site scripting) where web users details can be acquired. Common examples of exploits were listed where web sites can be defaced, the occurrence of phishing and cookie stealing.
The common exploits:
1) Simply XSS.
2) Router (DNS).
3) Facebook.
4) SQL-Injection.
Tim also gave an example where a GIF picture with XSS script was uploaded to a site due to the server being fooled into regarding the GIF picture as non-executable content.
Flash Talks:
1) Gary Short - Smalltalk
Smalltalk is an object-orientated, reflective programming language. Gary talked about the history of Smalltalk and how it inspired the syntax for other languages. He also gave a demonstration of Smalltalk syntax and expressions and and how source code is translated into byte code using the JIT compiler.
2) Arron Finnon - Kismet
Kismet is a wireless network detector, sniffer and intrusion detection system where it acts passively as a listening device. Arron demonstrated how it can be downloaded from a Linux distribution repository and configured for a user, wireless card and GPS support. Kismet gives a lot of information on wireless networks and it can also be used to detect an evil twin.
3) Barry Carr - Cyclomatic Complexity
Cyclomatic complexity is a means of gauging code complexity on a routine by routine basis and is calculated by counting the alternative paths through a routine. This encourages the programmer to write shorter routing procedures with better reuse and decomposition of code. Barry gave us a demonstration on the calculation of cyclomatic comlexity for code routines such as: if statements; types of loop; switch statements; boolean operators; catch clauses.
4) Rick Moynihan - Erlang
Erlang is a concurrency orientated programming language developed by Ericsson over 20 years ago. It is mostly used in the Telecoms industry and in air traffic control systems where downtime is unacceptable. Rick explained to us about its concurrency and how it addresses problems with locks. He also mentioned its language features and how Erling has very lightweight processes.
Gary Short, a software developer, gave a talk on Secure Software and outlined the principles of secure software development using MySQL as an example.
The topics covered were:
1) Defence in depth.
2) The development of gatekeepers:
a) The MySQL database with the use of foreign key constraints.
b) The database API.
c) The service layer.
d) The client applications.
3) A demonstration of MySQL gatekeepers .
Timothy Simpson, Dundee District Council IT support manager, gave a talk on Drupal, a content management framework.
The topics covered were:
1) An Introduction to the functionality of Drupal.
2) The use of modules and content organisation.
3) A demonstration of web site design.
4) Problems of using Drupal.
5) The future of Drupal.
Flash Talks:
1) Philipp Geyer - Linux From Scratch
Philipp talked about conducting a project over two sessions where members can build a Linux system using Linux From Scratch. The objectives are educational for learning people how Linux systems are built using a tool chain within a clean environment for the installation of software applications and the Linux Kernel from source code. Philipp pointed out that as there is no package manager the system cannot be updated.
2) Andrzej Hajto - Jabber/XMPP
Andrzej demonstrated that the Jabber network, similar to email, works in a real-time environment over a persistant XML-TCP stream and that XMPP is based on the Jabber protocol. Jabber is used because it is open source and is IETF standard within a distributed network that allows the user to choose a client of preference. Jabber is secure in that it uses ssl, can use use pgp/gpg and is available on most operating system platforms.
3) Barry Carr - Git
Barry gave us a hands-on talk using Git, a distributed revision control system, that was developed by Linus Torvalds as an alternative to the Bitkeeper system. This is where each team member of a project gets the whole history of that particular project and can push and pull repositories to one other. The advantages of Git are: it is open source; very fast; scalable; has a cryptographic authentication of history; has excellent branching and merging capabilities; and is available on most operating system platforms.
The two OLPC laptops received by the Abertay Linux Society were shown to everyone at the end of the meeting and demonstrated in operation to everyone's pleasure. The photogragh shows the OPLC's size in comparison to the Asus EEEPC and a mobile telephone. The rota for individual's use of the OLPC's can be found on the Abertay Linux Society's web site.
Barry Carr, a software developer, gave a talk entitled "Regular Expressions."
The topics covered were:
1) The background of regular expressions.
2) A hands-on approach to regular expressions demonstrating:
a) Character matching.
b) Greedy and lazy examples.
c) Boundary and anchor matching in text.
3) Summary.
It was announced at the meeting that the two OLPC laptops has arrived in Glasgow and will be coming to the University of Abertay next week.
Taylug Administrator Dr. Gordon Dunlop gave a talk entitled "Server Consolidation: Xen paravirtualisation in Fedora and SuSE Linux."
The topics covered were:
1) Server consolidation with virtualisation.
2) Paravirtualisation.
3) Xen guest installation methods in Fedora and SuSE Linux.
4) Process migration between physical machines.
5) The future development of virtualisation technology.
A general meeting was held to discuss concurrent and future events for 2008 within the society.
1) OLPC: The two laptops on order will be sent early 2008 via California, another thank you to all who contributed. The two laptops will firstly be loaned out to contributers as a way of expressing thanks, demonstrations of the OPLC laptop's uses and functionality will be given to interested groups. Organisations and groups that are interested in these demonstrations are advised to contact us via the Abertay Linux Society web site or through the Taylug mailing list.
2) Abertay Linux Society Officials: Jennifer Higgins has stepped down from the role as Treasurer and Society Representative, and will now take the new post as Vice-President. Kris Davidson was elected as our new Treasurer and Society Representative. We give them thanks for their previous endeavours and look forward to them carrying out their new roles.
3) Presentations: Talks have been lined up for the next two months.
31/01/08 - Gordon Dunlop - Server Consolidation: Xen paravirtualisation in Fedora and SuSE Linux.
14/02/08 - Barry Carr - Regular Expressions.
28/02/08 - Flash Talk Evening.
13/03/08 - Tim Simpson - Drupal.
4) O'Reilly: A 35% discount with free postage & packaging can be had when using the UK shopping cart on their site, by quoting OR111. More details on the O'Reilly sponsorship will be given out at future meetings.
5) Linux From Scratch: Classes will be booked at some point for building this Linux distro.
6) Abertay Linux Society web site: The site will be given a complete overhaul in the following weeks, details will be given when appropriate.
Our Xmas night out was held at the Counting House in Dundee where we had Xmas dinner and a good night was enjoyed by everyone. It was announced that the Tayside Linux Users Group had raised £315 in pledges with a further £100 being donated by the Abertay Linux Society making a grand total of £415 for the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) Give one Get one scheme. This is where for £200 an OLPC laptop can be bought and and an extra OPLC laptop can be donated to a person in a third world country. This amount means that the Abertay Linux Society will receive 2 laptops and will donate 2 laptops. This was organized by our hard working Treasurer Jen, so a big thank you to Jen, the Abertay Linux Society and all Taylug members who made donations, you are all marvellous. When the laptops arrive next year I am sure that Arron and Jen will demonstrate the OLPC capabilities at one of our meetings. So a merry Xmas and a happy New Year to all our members and we hope to see you all next year.
Arron Finnon announced that the Abertay Linux Society was now part of the O'Reilly User Group Programme where the benefits consisted of:
1) Review of O'Reilly Books.
2) 35% discount on all O'Reilly books and no P&P when quoting the Abertay reference number.
3) Donation of books and other promo items.
4) Speaking engagements with O'Reilly authors when possible.
5) Monthly electronic newsletter.
6) Printed catalogues.
Flash Talks:
1) Lee Hughes : Vi Vi Vi - The number of the Beast
Lee gave a talk on using the Vi editor which he used extensively in his previous Unix experience. He demonstrated how performance and speed using Vi can maximise efficiency on systems and can be used on headless servers using openssh from remote logins at any location around the world. He also gave out tutorial sheets, which gave every Vi command, for individuals that were interested in this brilliant editing system.
2) Sebastian Vik : OpenBSD v Linux
Sebastion gave a very interesting talk on the differences on how OpenBSD and Linux work. He gave an excellent demonstration on using OpenBSD systems in firewalls, namely CARP and PFsync, where redundancy and backup in the the case of router hardware failure can still protect your system. Sebastion pointed out how this system was deployed in his native Sweden at a minimum cost.
3) Arron Finnon : OLPC
Arron gave a talk that is dear to his heart on the deployment of OLPC laptops to under priveliged children in impoverished countries. He reiterated the principles, mentioned in a talk six months previously, that are still valid today and that the operation and deployment of Linux within OLPC will help the future of education and the advancement of technology within those countries encouraging a self-sustaining culture.
Tim Simpson, IT Support Manager for Dundee City Council, gave a talk to approximately 30 members on how Dundee City Council has been implementing open source software since 1995. He demonstrated the large number of open source software systems and applications used within their IT infrastructure. Server consolidation was achieved using two IBM mainframe z servers running virtual machines, large cost savings were made in the reduction of proprietary licences required to run these software systems.
After the talk a number of us went to the Pub for a chinwag about Linux, Linux and Linux.
Here are two of our Abertay Linux Society Officials:
Arron Finnon (pictured right) is the President of Abertay Linux Society and is also a member of Taylug and Scotlug. Arron's main duties are organizing meetings, liaising with different groups and bodies, and generally keeping everyone happy. Arron is presently in his 2nd year of the Ethical Hacking & Countermeasures degree at the University of Abertay Dundee.
Jennifer Higgins (pictured left) is the Treasurer and Society Representative of Abertay Linux Society and is a member of Taylug. Her duties is to collect all membership subscriptions and generally hold the purse strings of the society, she is also the principal organizer for Abertay Linux Society merchandise such as laptop stickers and T-shirts. Jen is the Society Representative and she acts as a conduit between the Society membership and the University. Jen is presently in her 2nd year of the Ethical Hacking & Countermeasures degree at the University of Abertay Dundee.
Taylug Administrator Dr. Gordon Dunlop gave a talk to approximately 30 members entitled "Aquatrine: A Linux Beowulf cluster using Fedora Core 5 and OSCAR 5 Alpha middleware".
The topics covered were:
1) A general background to Linux Beowulf clusters.
2) Cluster middleware.
3) The construction of Aquatrine.
4) The installation of OSCAR 5 middleware.
5) The future of clustering and parallel computing.
This was a complete success with approximately 75 people signing up to show their interest in finding out more about Linux. A stand was set up with background posters, the computers on the stand included a 9 year old laptop running Puppy Linux, a laptop running Debian Etch & OpenOffice, a laptop running ArchLinux with Unreal Tournament and a Laptop running Ubuntu with Compiz 3-D graphics. Live CD's of the distros: Fedora 7, SuSe 10.2, Ubuntu , Kubuntu, Linux Mint, PCLinuxOS & Mandriva 2007 were given out. There were also laptop Abertay Linux Society stickers that went like hotcakes. All visitors to the stand were given good attention by all the Linux helpers. No one brought a digital camera with them but we managed to get a couple from a mobile phone. They are not the best pictures, it is only to give people an idea of what went on.
The first photograph shows our Linux stand with the laptops, notice the wee guy sitting on the top of the centre laptop. I think that means it is a GNOME desktop!
The second photograph shows three of our helpers. The person on the left is Philipp (aka Nistur the ArchLinux angel) , the person on the right is Hazel (the Gentoo girl) , and the unidentified helper in the centre is crying due to a fresher (new student) asking him "Does Linux come with Internet Explorer and Windows media player?".
A couple of Taylug members attended this conference. Taylug member and ex-Adminstrator Jonathan Riddle was a member of the organizing team and he also gave a talk on Kubuntu ,the OS for which he is responsible for. All the videos and slides can be downloaded from here: aKademy 2007
A small group of us (approximately five) attended the annual lecture of the Computer & Law Society of Scotland at the University of Edinburgh. There was a reception half an hour prior to the lecture offering wine and soft refreshments. Eben gave a fantastic lecture, as was expected, on free software and the impending release of GPL3. The video of the lecture can be found here: Eben Moglen Lecture
Seven of the Taylug members travelled through by bus, another three travelled separately, to attend Debian Day in Edinburgh. We attended the lectures and the pub (some mostly the lectures, some mostly the pub). The very important Debian T-shirts were bought, a good day was had by all. The videos of the lectures (a prize if you can spot Paul asking a question) can be downloaded from: DebianDay
We have an active mailing list for discussion of all things geeky and announcements of meetings. Subscribe below.
We have an IRC channel:
Easiest way to talk: Web Chat
Server: irc.blitzed.org
Channel: #tlug
To save everyone's time please read how to ask questions before posting on IRC or the mailing list. Very useful piece even if you do not post.
UK Linux User Groups home (lug.org.uk)
Last updated Mon 12/May/2008