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<span style="color:#20b24b;">'''<big>Feb 21: Launched [https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh/Blog#Developer_Launch.21 "Snow Crash" release candidate v.0.1.0] - now deploying the first batch of experimental nodes!</big>'''</span>
<center>{{#setlogo:Meshlogo.png}}
&nbsp;
[[File:Sudomesh.jpg|350px]]</center>


'''We are an all-volunteer organization building the People's Open Network, a community-owned and operated non-profit internet infrastructure in Oakland.'''
Sudo Mesh is a people-powered project. That means that anyone can join the network if they're willing to contribute by [https://github.com/sudomesh/bugs/issues/new reporting bugs], improving [https://github.com/sudomesh software], fixing hardware, [https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh/WalkThrough setting up a node], [https://peoplesopen.net/blog/new-node-in-the-berkeley-hills/ installing rooftop nodes], telling your friends about us, [https://peoplesopen.net/blog/build-your-own-internet-workshop/ joining for a workshop], bringing pizza to a hack session, donating  [[Mesh/Wishlist|equipment]]/[https://www.patreon.com/peoplesopennet money]/[https://blockchain.info/address/12RxU4DpLpdWcmEBn7Tj325CCXBwt5i9Hc Bitcoin], learning with us about how the internet works, or just being patient if something is broken :)


A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking mesh network] is a way of freely sharing internet connectivity that gives users an alternative to their service provider. It consists of routers that has software that allows it to communicate with other routers, instead of a modem (or service provider). The users who join the network enable others to be on the network and support [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality net neutrality]. These networks are resilient to disasters because the routers are distributed throughout the community rather than being dependent on the infrastructure developed by service providers. 
'''Interested in learning more and exploring?''' Check out our [[#Join Us|Join Us]] section. You do not need to be technically skilled to be part of this project. We need people willing to mount gear on rooftops, folks who want to do public outreach, graphic design artists, film-makers, documentarians and so much more! Show up at a monthly general meeting and get involved!


The software we've created is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source open source] and we're using it to develop free internet for Oakland and the surrounding areas. We hope the community will use our software to create a network that's ''available everywhere for free''. It's a project that will give access to internet, regardless of income, and reduce the divide between communities. We hope these networks will connect our neighbors, support local businesses, and enable community collaboration. In the event of disaster or censorship, a mesh network is a resilient means of communication and sharing of information.
----


[[File:510NetworkDishes.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Dishes in Action]]
<center>{{Mesh nav}}</center>


{{Mesh nav}}
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&nbsp;
__NOTOC__
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=What does it mean?!=
Imagine if the wifi router in your home connected to the wifi routers in your neighbours' homes and they again connected to their neighbours to form a huge free wireless network spanning the city! That's exactly what a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking mesh network] is, or at least what it can be. Roads and telephone poles are owned by government or private interests and laying down cable is expensive, but by using wireless signals that hop from building to building we can create a community-owned and -operated, free-as-in-freedom alternative to corporate Internet Service Providers. Community wireless mesh networks are growing around the world, creating local 'internets' that support Net Neutrality and community control of critical infrastructure.


= Join Us =
We are spending a lot of time developing [https://github.com/sudomesh/ software] to make it cheap and easy for anyone to be participate in cooperative communications infrastructure, regardless of technical skill.


* Join the [http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/mesh email list]!
= Who are you? =
* Follow us on [https://twitter.com/sudomesh twitter] and like us on [https://www.facebook.com/sudomesh facebook].
'''sudomesh is a group of volunteers operating out of the [https://sudoroom.org sudo room] hackerspace at the [https://omnicommons.org Omni Commons] - a collective of collectives stewarding a large community space in Oakland, California. We develop software and assemble hardware systems to help build open community networks like the [https://peoplesopen.net People's Open Network], a community-owned and -operated non-profit internet infrastructure in Oakland.''' We are all unpaid volunteers building open technology that helps to connect our neighbors, support local businesses, and enable community collaboration and cultural production. In the event of a natural disaster or state censorship, community mesh networks can be a resilient means of communication and sharing of information.
* We have '''weekly hack nights''' on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:30-11:00pm at [[Getting_there|Sudo Room]]. The first three Thursdays of the month are work nights -- help us change the internet!
* Learn more at our general meetings, which are the last Thursdays of every month. We have focus groups and we collaborate on different parts of the or join the mailing list for details.
* Chat with us on [http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/irctutorial.html IRC]: [http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=peoplesopen.net #peoplesopen.net]
* We generally collaborate on [https://pad.riseup.net/p/sudomesh meeting notes] at each meeting. Look at our archive of past [[Mesh/Minutes|meeting minutes]]!


= How to Help =
= Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)=
* [[Mesh/Decisions|Decisions]] - What decisions have we made, and why?
* [[Mesh/Funding|Funding]] - How the heck do we fund this thing?
* [[Mesh/Legal|Legal]] - How do we use exit nodes, relays and legal structures to protect node owners and ourselves?
* [[Mesh/Hosting|Hosting]] - How are we hosting and what does it cost?
* [[Mesh/Backup|Backup]] - How do we handle backups?
* [[Mesh/Server security|Server Security]] - How do we ensure server security?


We successfully concluded a crowdfunding campaign on WePay (July 2013) to buy the first 100 wifi routers for the mesh! Thanks to all who supported with a donation. See [[Mesh/Purchases]] for details on how much was raised, who contributed, and what we've procured thus far with the funds!
= Logistics =
* [[Mesh/Minutes|Meeting Minutes]] - Notes from our weekly meetings dating back to January 2013.
* [[Mesh/Taxes|Taxes]] - Filed taxes for the sudo mesh non-profit


There are many ways you can help us:
= Research =
* [[Mesh/Other mesh projects|Other mesh projects]] around the world that have inspired us to make our own network!
* [[Mesh/Interviews with other meshers|Interviews]] - we interviewed other experienced meshers
* [[Mesh/Documentation|Other documentation]] - books, articles, wikis, blog posts.
* [[Mesh/Oakland|Oakland]] - information and resources pertaining to Oakland community organizations, wireless initiatives, policy and research initiatives
* [[Mesh/Other muni networking projects|Municipal projects]] - examples of progressive uses of municipal networks.
* [[Mesh/Decentralized FM/AM radio|Decentralized FM/AM radio]] - Bit of research on adding legal FM/AM transmitters to nodes.
* [http://wiki.tidepools.com Tidepools] - [[User:tunabananas|Jenny Ryan]] designed local use cases for a community mobile mapping application built to run on mesh networks.
* [https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Main_Page Project Meshnet] - Extensive wiki on the /r/darknet project, including extensive list of [https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Projects projects coordinating with them].
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi#Notable_links Long Range Wifi] - Info on the longest-range wifi connections ever made.
* [https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-WebIDE Adafruit's Web IDE built for Raspberry Pi] but probably good for editing code on any device and ensuring it is managed with a code repo.  By default it uses [https://bitbucket.org bitbucket.org] but it could probably be configured for Github.


*Support us with a small weekly donation on [https://www.gittip.com/sudomesh/ gittip].
|style="font-size:90%; padding:10px 10px; background: #F4FDF6; border: 0px solid black;padding-left:1em;padding-right:0.5em;" width="20%"|
*Send bitcoins to our wallet address: {{bitcoin wallet}}
<center>
*Come to our meetings in Oakland! (listed above).
= Our Projects =
*Improve our documentation.
[[File:Mesh_Oakland_High_Res.png|center|187px|thumb|Building a community-owned and -operated wireless mesh network in Oakland, California and beyond!|link=https://peoplesopen.net]]<br />
*Talk to your community about joining the mesh.
[[File:Disasterradio.png|center|187px|thumb|link=https://disaster.radio|Disaster-resilient communications network powered by the sun.]]<br />
[[File:Byoi.png|center|187px|thumb|link=https://buildyourowninter.net|Instructions for building your own internet, plus a global directory of community wireless mesh networks.]]</center><br />
[[File:Laptops4all.png|center|187px|thumb|link=https://laptopsforall.org|Upcycling retired/donated laptops to those who can't afford them.]]<br />


== Be a User ==  
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We need more users on the network to improve the quality of the service. We have a user introduction that should When you setup a node, you're able to access the internet for free and give more people access. Also, We need users to talk to their communities and  
<center>
 
= How To Participate =
== Be a Developer ==
</center>
 
If you want to join the mesh you'll need a mesh router at your home! Currently the best way to get one is to show up at our monthly general meeting as described above. We need more people on the network to improve the quality of the service. When you setup a node, you improve the service for everybody on the network and give more access to your community. We encourage participants to ask their communities to join their networks and create distributed services for them. We have a [[Mesh/User_Guide|user guide]] to help you get on the network!
We need hardware and software engineers to help us with our code. We have an overview of technical documentation that will be helpful in understanding the network.  
* Chat with us on [https://peoplesopen.net/chat RocketChat], the #peoplesopen channel in [https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/ Secure Scuttlebutt], or on [http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/irctutorial.html IRC]: [http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=peoplesopen.net #peoplesopen.net] (see also [[IRC | IRC Intro]])
* Join the [http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/mesh email list]
* We have weekly meetings every Tuesday <s>from 7:30-9pm at [[Getting_there|sudo room]]</s> from [https://meet.jit.si/sudomesh2020 8-9pm via Jitsi]. We have focus groups and collaborate on different parts of the project - from [https://github.com/sudomesh/propaganda design] to [https://github.com/sudomesh software development], documentation to hardware hacking, [https://sudorom.org/wiki/Mesh/SFBayArea community outreach] and [https://github.com/sudomesh/mounting/blob/master/PONIprogram.md climbing rooftops to mount nodes]!
* Come to our weekly Tuesday meetings in <s>[[Getting_there|sudo room]]</s> cyberspace. The quarantine format is much more relaxed, and we welcome newcomers! <s>The first three Tuesdays of the month are hack nights where we work (often in parallel) on everything from pamphlets to maps to code. This is a good opportunity to find someone familiar with the ins and outs and ask questions. The last Tuesday of the month is a more structured recap meeting, where we follow an agenda, get updates on what progress was made in the last month, and plan for the next month.</s>
* We generally collaborate on [https://peoplesopen.net/notes notes] at each meeting. Look at our archive of past [[Mesh/Minutes|meeting minutes]]!
* Contribute to the network by installing a mesh node at your location using our handy [https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh/WalkThrough Mesh Node Setup Walkthrough]. This is especially helpful for those who are within range of an existing node (seen as a wireless SSID named "peoplesopen.net").
*Check out our [[Mesh/ToDos|ToDo list]]
*Support us with a small monthly donation on [https://www.patreon.com/peoplesopennet Patreon], here's [[Mesh/Purchases|how we spend it]].
*Send bitcoins to our wallet address: {{bitcoin wallet}}
*Check out our [[Mesh/Wishlist|wishlist]], we have requests!
*Improve our documentation
*Talk to your community about joining the mesh - here are some [https://github.com/sudomesh/propaganda resources] for doing so!
* Follow us on [https://twitter.com/sudomesh twitter] and like us on [https://www.facebook.com/sudomesh facebook].


== Be a Designer ==  
== Developers ==


We need artists and designers to make things look nice! We have [[Mesh/Design|design scheme]] we already use, but we're always looking to improve it. We need to improve our presentation content and [[Mesh/Diagrams|diagrams]] too!
We need hardware and software engineers to help us with our code. We have an overview of [[Mesh/Technical_Overview|technical documentation]] that will be helpful in understanding the network.


= Mesh pages =
If you want to immediately help, check out [https://github.com/sudomesh our code], [https://github.com/sudomesh/sudowrt-firmware/milestones look at our remaining issues for upcoming milestones], report any [https://github.com/sudomesh/bugs bugs] or help us squish them!
*[[Mesh/ToDos]] - Tangible To Dos! Add some on, take some on!
*[[Mesh/Wishlist]] - List of hardware we'd love to experiment with!


== Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)==
Here are some of the projects that need attention:


*[[Mesh/Legal]] - How do we use exit nodes, relays and legal structures to protect node owners and ourselves?
* [https://github.com/sudomesh/sudowrt-firmware sudowrt-firmware] - The sudowrt firmware
*[[Mesh/Hosting]] - How are we hosting and what does it cost?
* [https://github.com/sudomesh/sudowrt-web-ui sudowrt-web-ui] - The new and improved web admin UI for sudowrt nodes
*[[Mesh/Backup]] - How do we handle backups?
* [https://github.com/sudomesh/ubus-https-forwarder ubus-https-forwarder] - Allow management of extender nodes from home node web UI
*[[Mesh/Server security]] - How do we ensure server security?
* [https://github.com/sudomesh/service-browser The Service Browser] - Web UI for browsing mesh services
*[[Mesh/Naming]] - What do we call ourselves?
* [[Mesh/Distributed Services|Mesh Services]] - Which services should we provide?
*[[Mesh/Marketing]] - Inspiration and links to marketing materials in progress.
*[[Mesh/Purchases]] - Details on our purchases, made by either individuals or through our crowdfunded money.
*[[Mesh/Inventory]] - What we currently have.
*[[Mesh/Donations]] - List of donations
*[[Mesh/Decisions]] - Decisions on how to operate
*[[Mesh/Challenges]] - Challenges faced. Problems to be solved.
*[[Mesh/Checkouts]] - Who took what gear home
*[[Mesh/Funding]] - Ideas on funding structures and list of grants to apply for.


==Background Research==
== Designers ==  
*[[Mesh/Interviews with other meshers]] - In which we attempt to extract the results of their hard-won experience.
*[[Mesh/Other mesh projects]] - List of active and inactive meshes we know about
*[[Mesh/Documentation]] - Books, articles, wikis, blog posts.
*[[Mesh/Oakland]] - Information and resources pertaining to Oakland community organizations, wireless initiatives, policy and research initiatives
*[[Mesh/Other muni networking projects]] - Examples of progressive uses of muni-networks


= Firmwares / groups =
We need artists and designers to make things look nice! We have [[Mesh/Design|design schemes]] we already use, but we're always looking to improve it. We need to improve our presentation content and [[Mesh/Diagrams|diagrams]] too! We've been focused on these areas:
* [[Mesh/Presentations]] - Past presentations, talks, workshops, tutorials and videos
* [[Mesh/Diagrams|Diagrams]] - Diagrams outlining the network topology and technical stack
* [[Mesh/Design|Design]] - Website & logo design; swag for enthusiasts; and marketing inspiration.
|}


*[[Mesh/Freifunk]]
----
*[[Mesh/Commotion]]


=Web Resources=
''Please note that all contributions to Sudo Room may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Sudo Room:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!''
*[http://510pen.org 510pen] - East Bay community wireless mesh network spawned in 2009 by [[User:mfb|Mark Burdett]]
*[http://wiki.tidepools.com Tidepools] - [[User:tunabananas|Jenny Ryan]] designed local use cases for a community mobile mapping application built to run on mesh networks.
*[https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Main_Page Project Meshnet] - Extensive wiki on the /r/darknet project, including extensive list of [https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Projects projects coordinating with them].
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi#Notable_links Long Range Wifi] - Info on the longest-range wifi connections ever made.
*[https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-WebIDE Adafruit's Web IDE built for Raspberry Pi] but probably good for editing code on any device and ensuring it is managed with a code repo.  By default it uses [https://bitbucket.org bitbucket.org] but it could probably be configured for Github.


[[Category:Projects]]
[[Category:Projects]][[Category:Mesh]]

Revision as of 20:28, 18 August 2020

Sudomesh.jpg

Sudo Mesh is a people-powered project. That means that anyone can join the network if they're willing to contribute by reporting bugs, improving software, fixing hardware, setting up a node, installing rooftop nodes, telling your friends about us, joining for a workshop, bringing pizza to a hack session, donating equipment/money/Bitcoin, learning with us about how the internet works, or just being patient if something is broken :)

Interested in learning more and exploring? Check out our Join Us section. You do not need to be technically skilled to be part of this project. We need people willing to mount gear on rooftops, folks who want to do public outreach, graphic design artists, film-makers, documentarians and so much more! Show up at a monthly general meeting and get involved!


Quick Links (see below for more details)
Documentation Technical Outreach Operations Research External Links
Install Instructions Overview FAQ Minutes User Research peoplesopen.net
Net Topology Hardware Blog To-Do's SF Bay Area network map
Presentations Power How to Help Legal Interviews code on github
History Security Wishlist Inventory Other Meshes DisasterRadio
Press Backup Website Meetings Software Tools BuildYourOwnInter.Net
Firmware Hosting Propaganda Funding Local Services
Mounting Decisions Self-Education
Next gen


What does it mean?!

Imagine if the wifi router in your home connected to the wifi routers in your neighbours' homes and they again connected to their neighbours to form a huge free wireless network spanning the city! That's exactly what a mesh network is, or at least what it can be. Roads and telephone poles are owned by government or private interests and laying down cable is expensive, but by using wireless signals that hop from building to building we can create a community-owned and -operated, free-as-in-freedom alternative to corporate Internet Service Providers. Community wireless mesh networks are growing around the world, creating local 'internets' that support Net Neutrality and community control of critical infrastructure.

We are spending a lot of time developing software to make it cheap and easy for anyone to be participate in cooperative communications infrastructure, regardless of technical skill.

Who are you?

sudomesh is a group of volunteers operating out of the sudo room hackerspace at the Omni Commons - a collective of collectives stewarding a large community space in Oakland, California. We develop software and assemble hardware systems to help build open community networks like the People's Open Network, a community-owned and -operated non-profit internet infrastructure in Oakland. We are all unpaid volunteers building open technology that helps to connect our neighbors, support local businesses, and enable community collaboration and cultural production. In the event of a natural disaster or state censorship, community mesh networks can be a resilient means of communication and sharing of information.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  • Decisions - What decisions have we made, and why?
  • Funding - How the heck do we fund this thing?
  • Legal - How do we use exit nodes, relays and legal structures to protect node owners and ourselves?
  • Hosting - How are we hosting and what does it cost?
  • Backup - How do we handle backups?
  • Server Security - How do we ensure server security?

Logistics

  • Meeting Minutes - Notes from our weekly meetings dating back to January 2013.
  • Taxes - Filed taxes for the sudo mesh non-profit

Research

Our Projects

Building a community-owned and -operated wireless mesh network in Oakland, California and beyond!

Disaster-resilient communications network powered by the sun.

Instructions for building your own internet, plus a global directory of community wireless mesh networks.

Upcycling retired/donated laptops to those who can't afford them.

How To Participate

If you want to join the mesh you'll need a mesh router at your home! Currently the best way to get one is to show up at our monthly general meeting as described above. We need more people on the network to improve the quality of the service. When you setup a node, you improve the service for everybody on the network and give more access to your community. We encourage participants to ask their communities to join their networks and create distributed services for them. We have a user guide to help you get on the network!

  • Chat with us on RocketChat, the #peoplesopen channel in Secure Scuttlebutt, or on IRC: #peoplesopen.net (see also IRC Intro)
  • Join the email list
  • We have weekly meetings every Tuesday from 7:30-9pm at sudo room from 8-9pm via Jitsi. We have focus groups and collaborate on different parts of the project - from design to software development, documentation to hardware hacking, community outreach and climbing rooftops to mount nodes!
  • Come to our weekly Tuesday meetings in sudo room cyberspace. The quarantine format is much more relaxed, and we welcome newcomers! The first three Tuesdays of the month are hack nights where we work (often in parallel) on everything from pamphlets to maps to code. This is a good opportunity to find someone familiar with the ins and outs and ask questions. The last Tuesday of the month is a more structured recap meeting, where we follow an agenda, get updates on what progress was made in the last month, and plan for the next month.
  • We generally collaborate on notes at each meeting. Look at our archive of past meeting minutes!
  • Contribute to the network by installing a mesh node at your location using our handy Mesh Node Setup Walkthrough. This is especially helpful for those who are within range of an existing node (seen as a wireless SSID named "peoplesopen.net").
  • Check out our ToDo list
  • Support us with a small monthly donation on Patreon, here's how we spend it.
  • Send bitcoins to our wallet address: 12RxU4DpLpdWcmEBn7Tj325CCXBwt5i9Hc
  • Check out our wishlist, we have requests!
  • Improve our documentation
  • Talk to your community about joining the mesh - here are some resources for doing so!
  • Follow us on twitter and like us on facebook.

Developers

We need hardware and software engineers to help us with our code. We have an overview of technical documentation that will be helpful in understanding the network.

If you want to immediately help, check out our code, look at our remaining issues for upcoming milestones, report any bugs or help us squish them!

Here are some of the projects that need attention:

Designers

We need artists and designers to make things look nice! We have design schemes we already use, but we're always looking to improve it. We need to improve our presentation content and diagrams too! We've been focused on these areas:

  • Mesh/Presentations - Past presentations, talks, workshops, tutorials and videos
  • Diagrams - Diagrams outlining the network topology and technical stack
  • Design - Website & logo design; swag for enthusiasts; and marketing inspiration.

Please note that all contributions to Sudo Room may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Sudo Room:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!