Per our agreement at last Thursday's meeting, we decided to drop the idea of flashing nodes with individualized firmware images (since flashing is a hassle and easier to do in bulk).
Instead, all nodes will be flashed with the same firmware and will then be booted on a LAN where they will talk to a node configuration server that will give them their individualized files (such as securely generated SSH keys). This will also serve as verification that the firmware images have been successfully flashed.
The node configuration server is controlled via a web interface that Rhodey is currently writing.
The code is not ready yet, but here's what we have so far:
https://github.com/sudomesh/node-configurator
Also, with the gen_certificates.sh script, we are beginning to lay the ground-work for a sudomesh.fork() script that will allow easy forking of the entire project, including rebranding and generation of new certificates, such that groups in other areas (e.g. SF) can join
peoplesopen.net by starting their own organization.