I'd like to echo PoorRichard's sentiment. <div><br></div><div>I am following the FreedomBox list, This looks great <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/LeavingTheCloud">http://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/LeavingTheCloud</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>Over the summer, I am pulling together a small grid of 2 or more plug computers that can run these kinds of services (plus possibly other hardware). Perhaps there are already plans in place for how to do this on freedombox, but I am thinking about how to run 2-3 plugs as a cluster of Freedombox servers. I am also going to implement some of what we discuss at <a href="http://blog.futureforwardinstitute.com/2011/04/01/a-nextnet-proof-of-concept">http://blog.futureforwardinstitute.com/2011/04/01/a-nextnet-proof-of-concept</a></div>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><br></div><div>I've also done some work to get ubuntu/apache (or nginx) and python/PHP/Ruby talking with Arduino (mostly in service of <a href="http://www.appropedia.org/Food_Commons_Rain_Water_Hydroponics">http://www.appropedia.org/Food_Commons_Rain_Water_Hydroponics</a> I have been working on at appropedia). So, a Freedombox can talk with electronics and sensor networks/actuators in addition to being a personal serving OS (as I've already proven by making this work with Arduino and Ubuntu). This is potentially powerful for people engaged in urban and rural hoop house indoor/outdoor/hoop house food production. They will be able to optimize limited space, and existing rainwater resources, based on plant species, and local environmental factors. The application I am creating will allow people to share data gathered from sensors too. Currently storing data in postgresql but may move to couchdb, or eventually some form of distributed iRODS </div>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><div><br></div><div>I can also see some plug computers acting as relays, distributed storage, and more (running Freedombox). I am interested in creating some of these newer services in Erlang. Also interested in Freedombox + <a href="http://gnuradio.org/redmine/wiki/gnuradio">http://gnuradio.org/redmine/wiki/gnuradio</a> for wide area mesh networking. Would be cool to eventually see GNU Radio packages supported in Freedombox, personally.</div>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 1:35 AM, Poor Richard <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:poor.ricardo@gmail.com">poor.ricardo@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">I don't know how much Charles may have already described the FreedomBox project he is working on, but since I joined the mail list I have been getting pretty excited about it. The wikipedia page <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreedomBox" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreedomBox</a> says:<br>
<br><p style="margin-left:40px">"The project currently describes a <i>FreedomBox</i> as</p><div style="margin-left:40px">
</div><table style="margin:auto auto auto 40px;border-collapse:collapse;border-style:none;background-color:transparent;width:auto">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="color:#B2B7F2;font-size:35px;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;text-align:left;padding:10px 10px" valign="top" width="20">“</td>
<td style="padding:4px 10px" valign="top">a personal server running a
free software operating system, with free applications designed to
create and preserve personal privacy.</td>
<td style="color:#B2B7F2;font-size:35px;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;text-align:right;padding:10px 10px" valign="bottom" width="20">”</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-left:40px">
The project aims to develop a software stack that can run on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_computer" title="Plug computer" target="_blank">plug computers</a>
that can easily be located in individual residences or offices. By
promoting a decentralized deployment of hardware, the project hopes that
FreedomBoxes will "provide privacy in normal life, and safe
communications for people seeking to preserve their freedom in
oppressive regimes."<br><br></div>A "plug computer" is an inexpensive little plug and play appliance that goes between your pc and/or router and your ISP connection. The FreedomBox is a self-contained unit with a pre-installed suite of anti-surveillance, anti-blocking, and social networking software that can be used in its default configuration without any user expertise. Optionally, the applications can be further user-configured and they can also be installed directly on a pc or other user-supplied hardware instead of on a plug computer. (Personally I love the appliance version because it offloads a lot of cpu work from my pc.)<br>
<br>The FreedomBox developers are going to be integrating existing free software with new components/layers as needed. Members of the Next Net group might have insights to offer on tools and approaches.<br><br>Charles:<br>
<br>1) is there any ETA for FreedomBox yet?<br>2) has there been much discussion of INVISIBILITY vs simple anonymity/encription/etc (which can raise red flags and draw scrutiny)?<br><font color="#888888"><br>PR<br><div><br>
</div></font></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>--<br>Sam Rose<br>Future Forward Institute and Forward Foundation<br>Tel:+1(517) 639-1552<br>Cel: +1-(517)-974-6451<br>skype: samuelrose<br>email: <a href="mailto:samuel.rose@gmail.com" target="_blank">samuel.rose@gmail.com</a><br>
<a href="http://futureforwardinstitute.com" target="_blank">http://futureforwardinstitute.com</a><br><a href="http://forwardfound.org" target="_blank">http://forwardfound.org</a><br><a href="http://hollymeadcapital.com" target="_blank">http://hollymeadcapital.com</a><br>
<a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a><br><a href="http://socialmediaclassroom.com" target="_blank">http://socialmediaclassroom.com</a><br><br>"The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition." - Carl Sagan<br>
</div></div>