[mesh-dev] Progress update

Fri Mar 13 15:23:41 PDT 2015

Hey Jenny,

I really wish you wouldn't have publicly walked back April's statement like
this. A number of people have different ideas for the next directions for
this project, and I think one of the things we've realized lately is that
when they don't align, we rely on eachother's good judgement and
communication in order to not shout eachother down. In fact, I don't really
agree with your statement:

Namely, we're not intending to create a free-as-in-beer, fast, high-speed
> network, but rather the focus is on cultivating a community of participants
> sharing their existing bandwidth with a public, open network and developing
> local applications and services- all built by and for the people with
> resiliency in mind.

I, for one, do intend in part to create a fast high-speed network which
would allow folks to join with a sliding scale membership. I don't really
think that anything in the grant proposal that April wrote up fundamentally
contradicts our values or motives, so I'd prefer that if you have your own
constructive additions you voice them without attempting to cancel out
anyone else's.

Thanks

On Fri, Mar 13, 2015 at 12:30 PM, Jenny Ryan <tunabananas at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Laura!
>
> Please use Marc's reply for the update - the grant application isn't a
> totally accurate portrayal of our goals, current progress and next steps.
> Namely, we're not intending to create a free-as-in-beer, fast, high-speed
> network, but rather the focus is on cultivating a community of participants
> sharing their existing bandwidth with a public, open network and developing
> local applications and services- all built by and for the people with
> resiliency in mind.
>
> Thanks for putting this together!
>
> On 03/13/2015 11:23 AM, Laura Turiano wrote:
> > Thanks Marc and April. This is so exciting and you are really being
> > thoughtful about the build out and testing.
> > Laura
> >
> > On 3/13/15 7:07 AM, April Glaser wrote:
> > > Hi Laura,
> > >
> > > To clarify, the $40 node isn't $40 a month for an Internet connection.
> > > It's the price of the antenna set up to connect to the network.
> > >
> > > So we're still working out the details on how we will distribute
> > > access to the network. Some parts of Oakland still report that less
> > > than 50% of residents have access to a reliable Internet connection.
> > > In those areas we might experiment with other methods of distribution.
> > > To that end, we're doing outreach to local organizations and the like
> > > to discuss how to best expand the network.
> > >
> > > Here's a description of our work that we used recently to apply for a
> > > grant, in case this also helps.
> > >
> > > *What's your project? What's below is about 30 words over. Can someone
> > > tighten it up?*
> > > We are a homegrown, community-owned network in Oakland, California
> > > working toprovide free Internet access at faster speeds than
> > > traditional providers.
> > > The People's OpenNetworkis dedicated to the idea that our community
> > > must have a central role in theoperation of ourcommunications
> > > networks. That is why we are building our own free network that
> > > provides high-speed, open access to the global Internet, while hosting
> > > local applications and services crafted by and for users in the East
> Bay.
> > > We are committed to universal, equitable, and unfettered access, free
> > > of unwanted surveillance and censorship. People's Openuses Sudo Mesh
> > > firmware, a free software project developed by
> > > volunteersenablingrobust, non-hierarchical mesh networks. The firmware
> > > provides a simple way for users to share a configurable portion of
> > > their Internet connection with the network – made relatively safe
> > > because the traffic from the shared connection is notassociated with
> > > the donor's IP address. Sudo Mesh is distinct from other opensource
> > > firmwaresbecause we prioritize both sharing andprivacy.
> > > Every aspect of People's Open is participatory, and every week we host
> > > three open meetings, including firmware development and community
> > > organizing. We're collaborating with local organizations and our
> > > diverse neighbors to co-create the network.
> > > *What assumptions will you test? *
> > > We hope to establish that a small-scale community-run network can
> > > provideservices currently assumed to be the province of large,
> > > top-down Internet providers. Specifically, we are exploring how local
> > > media and applications can be developed on such a network tobenefit
> > > local users. Examples of services include a local bulletin board,
> > > grassroots journalism outlets, local Voice-over-IP, archives,
> > > community asset maps, and Internet radio, all hosted on our local
> > > network.
> > > Instead of paid-subscribers, our goal is to have active participants.
> > > To that end, we currently offer training and hold open hack-nights at
> > > Oakland community hackerspaceSudoroom. Topics range from cryptography
> > > and network administration to antenna design and firmware hacking. We
> > > are actively designing our network through conversations with
> > > community partners, like Media Alliance, AspirationTech,
> > > ICSI/UCBerkeley, and others as part of our long-term outreach strategy.
> > > Access to the Internet is a human right, and we oppose practices that
> > > corner users into paying exorbitant rates to get online. Our network
> > > offers a free connection to anyone within range or willing to host a
> > > node. We challenge the idea that users need to trade personal data to
> > > engage with their community online, and People's Open encourages our
> > > neighbors to support other free software projects.
> > > *Who is the audience/user of this project? How will they be impacted? *
> > > The current model of Internet distribution in the East Bay isn't
> > > working for everyone. Many neighborhoods continue to report that over
> > > fifty-percent of residents lack a reliable home Internet connection.
> > > People's Open is partnering with community anchors, like churches,
> > > neighborhood gardens, schools, small businesses, and libraries, to
> > > mount antennas in underserved neighborhoods.
> > > This is a community network, and we're working with our neighbors to
> > > build and maintain it collectivity. We meet with local leaders and
> > > invite our neighbors to participate, fostering collective expertise
> > > and helping to ensure sustainability of the network.
> > > We are building a captive portal that directs users tolocal
> > > applications, such asa community calendar, grassroots media, maps, and
> > > bulletin boards. Working directly with activist groups to co-design
> > > trustworthy platforms, we're exploring ways to host local social media
> > > and digital classrooms. We are also in conversation with branch
> > > libraries and social service organizations about hosting information
> > > directories on the network. People’s Open is a grassroots media
> > > project, and we want to help meet the information needs of our
> > > communities.
> > > In sum, we provide a faster connection to the global Internet than a
> > > traditional residential ISP, while strengthening our community’s
> > > relationship with technologies that we depend on everyday.
> > >
> > > *What have you made so far? *
> > > For the past year and a half, most of our work has gone into
> > > developing and testing our firmware, which is a heavily modified
> > > version of OpenWRT. Our sources are on GitHub
> > > (https://github.com/sudomesh/) <https://github.com/sudomesh/%29>and
> > > are available for other communities wishing to create a similar
> > > network. We are finally at a point where we can begin to offer a
> > > reliable networking service.
> > > We have also deployed two testbed networks, one in Omni Commons, a
> > > giant community center which houses Sudoroom, and one in West Oakland,
> > > consisting of routers running our firmware.
> > > People's Open also has a long-term outreach and communications
> > > strategy, with the goal that the network will bloom and remain
> > > responsive to our communities. Our outreach strategy focuses on three
> > > tiers: large organizational partners, community anchors like churches
> > > and small businesses, and neighborhood mapping. In working with
> > > existing and trusted community groups, we hope to invite their
> > > networks to join and participate.
> > > Finally, we have a dedicated team in the project for the long-haul. We
> > > have three open hack-nights a week at Sudoroom, a well-known community
> > > center, where anyone is welcome to get involved at every level of the
> > > project. We frequently welcome new participants and keep our website
> > > up-to-date.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On 3/13/15 3:04 AM, Marc Juul wrote:
> > >> On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 3:13 PM, Laura Turiano<scylla at riseup.net>
> > >> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Hello meshers,
> > >>>
> > >>> I'm writing an update for Oaklandish about the Omni and would like to
> > >>> include info about progress on the mesh network. Can someone tell me
> > >>> how
> > >>> many nodes have been installed, any other accomplishments, what are
> the
> > >>> next steps, etc.?
> > >>>
> > >> Hi. Here are my thoughts. Other mesh folk, please correct or expand
> > >> as you
> > >> please.
> > >>
> > >> Next week we're activating a test network at the Omni to test our
> indoor
> > >> nodes in an apartment-complex-like setting, as well as a small six
> node
> > >> high-speed roof-to-roof network in west Oakland. We have been working
> > >> on a
> > >> new, friendlier, web admin interface as well as features that will
> allow
> > >> people to start out with an entry-level ~$40 node and upgrade their
> > >> coverage later by adding rooftop or street-facing nodes without any
> > >> extra
> > >> configuration.
> > >>
> > >> Over the next month or so we'll be stress-testing our two networks and
> > >> completing these new features. The next phase will be a beta release
> > >> where
> > >> we invite the adventurous to adopt nodes. I would like to see a beta
> > >> test
> > >> network with maybe 50-100 node locations. The beta test will be less
> > >> about
> > >> testing the technology (though there will be some of that) and more
> > >> about
> > >> understanding the problems and opportunities that arise when a diverse
> > >> group of people with diverse skill-sets have to run their own
> > >> network. If
> > >> the network is to succeed as it grows, then it cannot rely only on the
> > >> small group of volunteers that make up sudo mesh. We're going to have
> to
> > >> figure out how to communicate to node operators that this is not a
> > >> traditional ISP with a support line. Instead it is rather like a
> > >> community
> > >> garden where everyone helps out to make it succeed and we want so
> figure
> > >> out how to best facilitate that cooperation. During this phase we'll
> > >> also
> > >> be finalizing our automation tools for receiving orders for new nodes,
> > >> automatically configuring those nodes and shipping them out. Once
> we're
> > >> comfortable that everything is ready for a rapidly expanding network
> the
> > >> next phase might take the form of a large crowdfunding campaign where
> > >> people can get nodes as perks.
> > >>
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
>
> Jenny
> http://jennyryan.net
> http://sudomesh.org
> http://thevirtualcampfire.org
> http://technomadic.tumblr.com
>
> `~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
> "Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories."
> -Laurie Anderson
>
> "Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it."
> -Hannah Arendt
>
> "To define is to kill. To suggest is to create."
> -Stéphane Mallarmé
> ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
>
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