Blog Software

Software

OK, so I was looking for some new weblog software for this site. I had been using Drupal, but it was just not working well. It’s XML-RPC API was limited, it was slow, and it took a lot of effort to maintain a blog, which was poorly suited as the site’s primary purpose (as an example: there was no way to make it say anything other than “jgoerzen’s blog” for the title).

So, I went hunting for other blog software. Turns out a lot of people have been doing this lately, for completely unrelated reasons. Anyway, there’s a great comparison chart. He finally made a personal choice, but is continuing to maintin the list.

Slashdot also ran an article on MovableType recently, in which many people are looking for new options.

About The ChangeLog

The ChangeLog

Welcome to The ChangeLog. Here is some basic information about using this site.

Purpose
There is no overriding theme. Basically, what gets on here is what I find interesting. I am, incidentally, John Goerzen, and you can reach me at jgoerzen@complete.org.

Legal
This site, compilation, and unattributed content is Copyright (c) 2003, 2004 John Goerzen. Comments, stories, submissions, or entries submitted by others are owned by the respective author, who agrees to grant permission to publish their comments, with attribution, on this site. No warranty or guarantee of any kind is given regarding the operation of this site, and all implied warranties are revoked to the maximum extent possible. Part or all of this site may be discontinued at any time with no notice. While I do not generally exercise editorial control except over the front page, I reserve the right to do so at my sole discretion.

Thoughts on the Candidates

Politics

Months ago, when this presidential race started, Howard Dean seemed the way the go. He truly was revolutionizing the way campaigns were run, money was raised, and volunteers were organized.


Dean’s poor showing in Iowa has done nothing to change my opinion. I think that the people in New Hampshire that are changing their votes because of how an election went in a different state are nuts. An election in a different state should have no bearing on your choice; you should choose based on issues and electability.


But there has been an increasing question in my mind about the electability of any of the Democratic contenders. Dean, for instance, appears to shoot himself in the foot with such regularity that it may soon be necessary for him to use crutches. I saw the speech Monday, was not offended by it, but it was clear that this was not a speech for television — or even one that recognized that TV cameras were present. Dean certainly did have a large audience there, as statement on Blog for America says. But he had a larger audience nationwide, and he erred in neglecting it.


Whie Dean erred, people need to take this in context, which is the point his campaign staff is making. I don’t see it as indicitive of an overall character problem, and moreover, I think it is better to have someone that is full of energy rather than someone that looks like he hasn’t had his morning cup of coffee yet. At 7PM.

Quick and Easy IPv6 for Debian

Linux, ,


A lot of people have asked about IPv6 in Debian. There have been some instructions floating around, but all of them I’ve seen are overly complex. Here’s how to set up your own 6to4 tunnel in about 5 minutes (assuming your kernel is IPV6-ready), without the need of freenet6 or any other tunnel broker. You need only a real IP address (static is best) and a basic understanding of IPv6 to proceed. This article will configure your host or your router.




These instructions set you up with 6to4, which requires no outside tunnel broker. However, there are not many 6to4 routers out there. If you are connecting to other non-6to4 sites, chances are god that performance will not be good. This is not a flaw in IPv6 itself. I suggest setting up 6to4 first, since it is fairly easy; once you have it working, then move on to others if you like.



First, you need to obtain an IPV6-ready kernel. I strongly recommend 2.6.1 or above if possible. Check the IPv6 kernel system check page to make sure your kernel is IPV6-ready, and for info on compiling a new kernel if not. In addition to basic IPv6, I also recommend that you compile in IPv6 netfilter support.


Next, you need to add a tunnel to your /etc/network/interfaces file. First, you will need to know your public IP address in IPv4. It will look something like 10.20.30.40. Next, you need to get that in IPv6 notation. Here’s a quick shell script to do that:




#!/bin/sh

printf “2002:%x%02x:%x%02x::\n” `echo $1 | sed ‘s/\./ /g’`


Just run that with your IP address as an argument. In this example, for 10.20.30.40, the result is 2002:a14:1e28::. This is your prefix. All your IP addresses will begin with that. Please see the link above for more on IPv6 addressing if you don’t understand the “::” part of this.


Now, you have all the information to create your own IPv6 tunnel. Edit /etc/network/interfaces and add these lines:




iface sit1 inet6 v4tunnel

        address 2002:a14:1e28::2

        netmask 64

        endpoint any

        local 10.20.30.40

        up ip -6 route add 2000::/3 via ::192.88.99.1 dev sit1

        down ip -6 route flush dev sit1

	up /etc/network/ipv6rules.sh

	ttl 64


The address line contains the IPv6 address you calculated above, followed by a “2”. The local line contains your local IP address. Now bring up the link with ifup sit1. You should now be able to run ping6 www.ipv6.org and get results back. If you don’t have ping6 on your system, install the iputils-ping package. If this works, add sit1 to the auto line in /etc/network/interfaces.


The /etc/network/ipv6rules.sh is a little script that closes off some ports to your system. If you don’t want to use it, delete that “up” line. Here’s one version that I recommend:




#!/bin/bash

ip6tables -F

ip6tables -I INPUT -i sit+ -p tcp –syn -j DROP

ip6tables -I FORWARD -i sit+ -p tcp –syn -j DROP

ip6tables -I INPUT -i sit+ -p udp \! –dport 32768:60999 -j DROP

ip6tables -I FORWARD -i sit+ -p udp \! –dport 32768:60999 -j DROP

ip6tables -I INPUT -i sit+ -p tcp –dport 22 -j ACCEPT

ip6tables -I FORWARD -i sit+ -p tcp –dport 22 -j ACCEPT

# Uncomment the following lines if this is a router

#echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/autoconf

#echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/accept_ra

#echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/accept_redirects

#echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/forwarding

#echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/router_solicitations


This script will close off incoming TCP connections, and UDP connections to low UDP ports, except for TCP to port 22 (ssh).


If you are setting up a host, you’re done. If this is a router, read on…


Router Configuration


If you’re setting up a router, there are a couple more quick steps. First, you need to configure your ethernet interface for ipv6. Insert a clause like this in /etc/network/interfaces:




iface eth0 inet6 static

        address 2002:a14:1e28:1::1

        netmask 64


Of course, replace the first first part of “address” with your real IPv6 address. (Note the added “:1::1” after the address.) Now run ifdown eth0; ifup eth0 to make the changes take effect.


Next, apt-get install radvd and edit /etc/radvd.conf. It should end up looking like this:




interface eth0

{

   AdvLinkMTU 1480;

   AdvSendAdvert on;

   prefix 2002:a14:1e28:1::1/64

   {

   };

};


Mind the semicolons (and lack thereof); radvd is picky. Now /etc/init.d/radvd restart and use ps to make sure it’s running. radvd is similar to dhcp for IPv6, but a lot easier.


At this point, your IPv6 network is ready. All clients on your network that are IPv6 capable should automatically assign themselves an IPv6 address and be ready to go. For Debian clients, all you need is IPv6 support in your kernel; you do not need to do anything on them at all.


Revisions


  • Added a note about performance (1/19/2003 7PM). Suggested by Jeroen Massar.

  • Adjusted netmasks and router subnet (1/20). Suggested by Jeroen Massar.

  • Added ttl 64 (1/20). Adapted from a suggested from Thomas Habets.

  • Corrected sit0 to read sit1

Community Doesn’t Generate Income?

Online Life

I came across this article in PC World about the rising usage of Usenet. The story talks about reasons for this, and has this quote from Forrester Research: “Community just doesn’t generate much income.”

There is where I disagree. The Internet itself developed as a new tool for communication — for building communities, and helping those communities function (yes, even when it was ARPANet). And everwhere you look people are building communities online: Usenet is one prime example, but I can also site the proliferation of IM/IRC systems, web forums, communities surrounding prominent sites such as EBay, the entire Weblog phenomenon, and several others.

To Forrester I say: Check out this new thing called “The Internet.” You might find a whole new world — er, community — out there.