[Freedombox-discuss] Objectives

[John Walsh]

Hi,
 
This is my first post to any mailing list so if I say/do anything wrong
please forgive me. I am really excited about the promise of freedombox and I
hope it realises its full potential. Unfortunately, I am only a user so my
opinions will probably not carry much weight, but I hope you at least
consider them
 
The Freedombox objectives seemed clear to me after reading the kickstarter
pledges, the about, goals and FAQ section. I was surprised to learn that the
objectives need clarification. Listed below is my understanding of the
freedombox objectives;
1) All objectives below are subject to the caveat that the software must
already exist in Debian Stable (I don't really understand the Debian Blend
concept), which should help deliver FreedomBox products quicker to market
than other plug devices \o/
2) FreedomBox 0.1 will be delivered on 19th September 2011 - 6 months after
kickstarter closed.
3) The initial FreedomBox 0.1 product will be provided on a SDCard+Reader, a
CD and a plugcomputer (kickstarter pledges).
4) A server product targeted towards a home user.
5) Although the minimum hardware requirements to power a FreedomBox have not
been defined each device needs at least a Wi-Fi radio ("An emergency
communication network in times of crisis.") for mesh/home networking which
rules out most home user desktops. However, this needs clarification because
mesh networking software is reported as being still quite immature, although
you still require Wi-Fi to act as an AP/Hotspot for the home network.
6) Encrypted Email and Voice calls ("Email and telecommunications that
protects privacy and resists eavesdropping")
7) Secure Backup to a friends FreedomBox. 
8) Secure Self-upgrading - already exists \0/
9) "Home Network Security" (Goals), which I assume to mean a capability to
manage a home network (DHCP) and firewall/virus protection. 
10) "A publishing tool" (Goals), which I assume to be a CMS because it's a
separate point to Email which is also a publishing tool.
11) "An organising tool" which I assume to be a calendaring and/or task
system
12) "Safe social networking .... with privacy-respecting federated
services".I assume I would have to get my friends to "re-friend" to the
"Freedom Network" via an unencrypted email invite. 
13) "Safe anonymous publication" via Friends, which I assume to mean a
multi-user CMS and a DNS for a website.
 
Please correct me if any of my assumptions are wrong.
 
I have two wishes for myself and one wish for my friends. I would like to be
able to use my own domain name so that I am not locked-in to the freedombox
domain name - in fact maybe freedombox could get a referral fee from Domain
Name Registries that back freedombox principles (privacy). Similarly, I
would like all data to be exportable to open formats so that I am not locked
into freedombox's applications. For my friends, I would like to see
freedombox offered as a cloud service to ISP's so that my friends could try
the "freedom social network" without needing to buy a freedombox - ownCloud
is a project similar to freedombox which have ISP's that offer the ownCloud
service free for the first year. 
 
I finish with a couple of questions
Q1) Does "privacy-respecting federated services" software exist in Debian
Stable?
Q2) Can anything be delivered if "privacy-respecting federated services"
software does not exist?
Q3) What will be delivered on 19th September 2011?
 
In a separate email I intend to write about my experiences using the Tonido
personal server to help prevent FreedomBox from making the same mistakes.
Thank you for taking the time to read my email and I look forward to your
feedback.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/freedombox-discuss/attachments/20110625/02043d81/attachment.html>