[Freedombox-discuss] objectives

[Bob Mottram]

On Sun, 12 Jun 2011 08:37:58 +1000, Heddle Weaver wrote:
> Lets get organised or this will just be another project that meanders
> all over the place for years, with various models of dysfunctional
> output the only result.

I agree.  I have been running what might be described as a freedombox 
for about a year now - a Sheeva plug with a Debian installation.  
However, presently I can't recommend this to other people unless they 
have enough technical expertise and time to be able to install and 
configure a web server (which isn't that many people).  The freedombox 
project should aim to make doing this as easy as installing a router.

My suggestions are:

1.  Pick a hardware platform and stick to it, at least for an initial 
release.  Various exotic platforms such as mobile phones and modified 
routers would be nice, but to begin with to avoid having to deal with a 
plethora of hardware variety just pick one and run with it.

2.  Pick some packages.  Take a vote on which ones are the most 
appropriate if necessary.  If some things are presently unpackaged then 
delegate that work as needed.

3.  Don't get too bogged down with "pure blends", etc.  The people who 
will get the most benefit from freedombox have far less abstract 
concerns.

4.  Aim to produce an initial release at the earliest possible date, 
then iterate.


> With governments increasingly insisting on actioning their
> scatterbrained concept of imposing national boundaries on the net in
> order to advance the causes of their corporate lobby group sponsors,
> this is an important project. We don't have the luxury of that amount
> of time.

I couldn't agree more.  Just today I saw some news story about the IMF 
being under some sort of "cyber attack".  You can be certain that events 
like this - however sophisticated or amateurish - will be used by 
politicians as a reason to introduce laws which further erode internet 
freedoms, and to push users into officially sanctioned cloud services 
which they don't own or have any control over.