11 ms·

FreedomBox 0.7 released

131 points by Flip-per 11y ago

rogeryu 11y ago
I've looked at what this is, but it's not clear to me. Is this an alternative to Tor? How can it enable users in China to surf the internet for free? Is it some kind of VPN? A short intro is welcome! :-)
- teddyh 11y ago
  https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/learn/ https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/learn/ It’s a distribution to run on a small “plug server” in your home.
  - jordigh 11y ago
    The goal was to sell the hardware as well, not just the software, to have a complete turnkey server. Like this: http://projectdanube.org/freedombox/ http://projectdanube.org/freedombox/
- vox_mollis 11y ago
  This is their goals/capabilities page: https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/goals/index.en.html https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/goals/index.en.html But nothing on this page is clear exactly which software packages are included, or how the distributed filesystem is federated, etc.
  - Flip-per 11y ago
    These are the initial goals, but you can think of anything that decentralizes the web and advocates privacy. Here are the packages that are currently included: https://github.com/freedombox/Plinth/tree/master/plinth/modules https://github.com/freedombox/Plinth/tree/master/plinth/modu... That's tor, owncloud, openVPN, mumble, pagekite, xmpp, ikiwiki, shaarli, transmission, roundcube. There are also plenty of ideas for new applications/services/protocols, like replacing DNS, that would be a good fit.
- jordigh 11y ago
  It's supposed to be a cheap and complete server you can just plug into your own home. Remember answering machines? That they would store your voice mails, and it was a machine in your own home, which you could control all on your own? Your data physically stored under the same lock and key that you use for the rest of your life? That's the idea with Freedombox. Host your own email server, website, chat server. Servers nowadays are called "clouds", so the idea is to have a "cloud" in your own home, under your control. It's very similar to arkOS: https://arkos.io/ https://arkos.io/
- lwyr 11y ago
  I think FreedomBox is a Debian "pure blend" configured to provide self-hosted communication services such as blog, dav, tor, voip, vpn, wiki and xmpp on low-power open hardware such as single board computers, and any other hardware that runs Debian.
  - nyan4 11y ago
    No, FreedomBox is Debian rather than a derivative.
    - lwyr 11y ago
      Debian Pure Blends are not derivatives. [0] [0] http://blends.debian.org/blends/ch02.html http://blends.debian.org/blends/ch02.html
- me_bx 11y ago
  A great explanation of why freedomBox is necessary and important is the keynote from Eben Moglen at Fosdem (Free and Open Source European Meeting) 2011. Why Political Liberty Depends on Software Freedom More Than Ever Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BSLBvwyUEs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BSLBvwyUEs Transcript / Highlights / More https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/TalksAndPresentations#A2011-02-05_-_FOSDEM_2011:_.27.27Why_Political_Liberty_Depends_on_Software_Freedom_More_Than_Ever.27.27_-_Moglen https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/TalksAndPresentations#A20...: Really worth watching.
pudo 11y ago
It frightens me how literal this looks to be intended: that freedom is (almost exclusively) a function of infrastructure, rather than "the human layer". It's a dead-serious attempt to "hot-wire" politics by means of better crypto and smarter tech, to avoid having to engage in the constructive design and defense of laws which guarantee freedom.
- sowbug 11y ago
  Yes, the name of the project is aspirational, but there's a bit of fallacy of relative privation in this argument, don't you think? Why can't technical specialists use their skills toward a common goal of greater freedom? Should they spend that time and effort faxing their congresspersons instead?
  - jordigh 11y ago
    Eben Moglen is both technically and legally savvy (he's the one who wrote the GPL). He works on both fronts, and the FreedomBox project which he inspired is but part of his overall work.
    - jrnvs 11y ago
      Richard Stallman wrote the GNU GPL. Eben Moglen assisted in writing version 3.
      - jordigh 11y ago
        Oh, I thought rms only wrote GPLv1 and got a lot of assistance from Moglen for GPLv2, but I suppose you're right, my bad, it was only until GPLv3 that Moglen had a big impact.
- Flip-per 11y ago
  The FreedomBox Foundation is led by Eben Moglen, founder of the Software Freedom Law Center (http://softwarefreedom.org/ http://softwarefreedom.org/), which takes care of the human and law layer.
freshyill 11y ago
Their website make it really hard to figure out what the heck this is.
- jordigh 11y ago
  Does this video interview from 2011 give you a better idea? http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358702n http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358702n Not sure if these guys are still selling them: http://projectdanube.org/freedombox/ http://projectdanube.org/freedombox/ The idea is nearly the same as what arkOS is trying to do: https://arkos.io/ https://arkos.io/
  - Flip-per 11y ago
    So far there's a couple of prototypes and no boxes were sold. A small initial batch (100 boxes) is planned for 2016.
    - daveloyall 11y ago
      In March 2013, in Boston, Mr. Moglen publicly blamed the ever-receding launch date of the FreedomBox on a fire at the dev's house. Or something like that. I wasn't really paying attention! The whole thing sounded like vaporware, and I hadn't yet heard him speak about matters of privacy law and software freedom--topics on which he is on far better footing!
- sowbug 11y ago
  This post's landing page is suboptimal. This one is better: https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Introduction https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Introduction
- adrtessier 11y ago
  Agreed. I couldn't figure it out at all without navigating around a bit. Someone with some HTML/CSS ability should attempt to donate some time to fixing this web page's messaging issues to get the product across better, to those technical or otherwise.
billfish 11y ago
wtf no fuck lowball
motujo 11y ago
There is a video of freedombox demo from the Software Freedom Law Center's annual conference posted that shows off the FreedomBox. https://softwarefreedom.org/events/2015/conference/video.html https://softwarefreedom.org/events/2015/conference/video.htm...
colordrops 11y ago
I like the idea of having your data and services untethered from a specific provider, but I could see a system like this generalized to support any hosting situation, and not just a dedicated home server. My ideal system: * Minimal effort install to a local machine as well as any of the major cloud providers, and some sort of architecture to easily add more providers. * Clear separation of system/apps and data * ability to easily backup and migrate data from one installation to another * Commercial providers that specifically provide setup, hosting, and support for this solution With these features, you could choose your level of privacy and effort, and be assured that you will have a sustainable system in the future, even when you're working 12 hour days during that crunch and have no time to mess with your personal cloud.
- ocdtrekkie 11y ago
  You should look at Sandstorm.io, which aims to do much or all of this. Some things like migration between servers is still on the roadmap.

131 points by Flip-per 11y ago

I've looked at what this is, but it's not clear to me. Is this an alternative to Tor? How can it enable users in China to surf the internet for free? Is it some kind of VPN? A short intro is welcome! :-)

teddyh 11y ago
https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/learn/ https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/learn/ It’s a distribution to run on a small “plug server” in your home.
- jordigh 11y ago
  The goal was to sell the hardware as well, not just the software, to have a complete turnkey server. Like this: http://projectdanube.org/freedombox/ http://projectdanube.org/freedombox/
vox_mollis 11y ago
This is their goals/capabilities page: https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/goals/index.en.html https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/goals/index.en.html But nothing on this page is clear exactly which software packages are included, or how the distributed filesystem is federated, etc.
- Flip-per 11y ago
  These are the initial goals, but you can think of anything that decentralizes the web and advocates privacy. Here are the packages that are currently included: https://github.com/freedombox/Plinth/tree/master/plinth/modules https://github.com/freedombox/Plinth/tree/master/plinth/modu... That's tor, owncloud, openVPN, mumble, pagekite, xmpp, ikiwiki, shaarli, transmission, roundcube. There are also plenty of ideas for new applications/services/protocols, like replacing DNS, that would be a good fit.
jordigh 11y ago
It's supposed to be a cheap and complete server you can just plug into your own home. Remember answering machines? That they would store your voice mails, and it was a machine in your own home, which you could control all on your own? Your data physically stored under the same lock and key that you use for the rest of your life? That's the idea with Freedombox. Host your own email server, website, chat server. Servers nowadays are called "clouds", so the idea is to have a "cloud" in your own home, under your control. It's very similar to arkOS: https://arkos.io/ https://arkos.io/
lwyr 11y ago
I think FreedomBox is a Debian "pure blend" configured to provide self-hosted communication services such as blog, dav, tor, voip, vpn, wiki and xmpp on low-power open hardware such as single board computers, and any other hardware that runs Debian.
- nyan4 11y ago
  No, FreedomBox is Debian rather than a derivative.
  - lwyr 11y ago
    Debian Pure Blends are not derivatives. [0] [0] http://blends.debian.org/blends/ch02.html http://blends.debian.org/blends/ch02.html
me_bx 11y ago
A great explanation of why freedomBox is necessary and important is the keynote from Eben Moglen at Fosdem (Free and Open Source European Meeting) 2011. Why Political Liberty Depends on Software Freedom More Than Ever Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BSLBvwyUEs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BSLBvwyUEs Transcript / Highlights / More https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/TalksAndPresentations#A2011-02-05_-_FOSDEM_2011:_.27.27Why_Political_Liberty_Depends_on_Software_Freedom_More_Than_Ever.27.27_-_Moglen https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/TalksAndPresentations#A20...: Really worth watching.

pudo 11y ago

It frightens me how literal this looks to be intended: that freedom is (almost exclusively) a function of infrastructure, rather than "the human layer". It's a dead-serious attempt to "hot-wire" politics by means of better crypto and smarter tech, to avoid having to engage in the constructive design and defense of laws which guarantee freedom.

sowbug 11y ago
Yes, the name of the project is aspirational, but there's a bit of fallacy of relative privation in this argument, don't you think? Why can't technical specialists use their skills toward a common goal of greater freedom? Should they spend that time and effort faxing their congresspersons instead?
- jordigh 11y ago
  Eben Moglen is both technically and legally savvy (he's the one who wrote the GPL). He works on both fronts, and the FreedomBox project which he inspired is but part of his overall work.
  - jrnvs 11y ago
    Richard Stallman wrote the GNU GPL. Eben Moglen assisted in writing version 3.
    - jordigh 11y ago
      Oh, I thought rms only wrote GPLv1 and got a lot of assistance from Moglen for GPLv2, but I suppose you're right, my bad, it was only until GPLv3 that Moglen had a big impact.
Flip-per 11y ago
The FreedomBox Foundation is led by Eben Moglen, founder of the Software Freedom Law Center (http://softwarefreedom.org/ http://softwarefreedom.org/), which takes care of the human and law layer.

freshyill 11y ago

Their website make it really hard to figure out what the heck this is.

jordigh 11y ago
Does this video interview from 2011 give you a better idea? http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358702n http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358702n Not sure if these guys are still selling them: http://projectdanube.org/freedombox/ http://projectdanube.org/freedombox/ The idea is nearly the same as what arkOS is trying to do: https://arkos.io/ https://arkos.io/
- Flip-per 11y ago
  So far there's a couple of prototypes and no boxes were sold. A small initial batch (100 boxes) is planned for 2016.
  - daveloyall 11y ago
    In March 2013, in Boston, Mr. Moglen publicly blamed the ever-receding launch date of the FreedomBox on a fire at the dev's house. Or something like that. I wasn't really paying attention! The whole thing sounded like vaporware, and I hadn't yet heard him speak about matters of privacy law and software freedom--topics on which he is on far better footing!
sowbug 11y ago
This post's landing page is suboptimal. This one is better: https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Introduction https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Introduction
adrtessier 11y ago
Agreed. I couldn't figure it out at all without navigating around a bit. Someone with some HTML/CSS ability should attempt to donate some time to fixing this web page's messaging issues to get the product across better, to those technical or otherwise.

billfish 11y ago

wtf no fuck lowball

motujo 11y ago

There is a video of freedombox demo from the Software Freedom Law Center's annual conference posted that shows off the FreedomBox. https://softwarefreedom.org/events/2015/conference/video.html https://softwarefreedom.org/events/2015/conference/video.htm...

colordrops 11y ago

I like the idea of having your data and services untethered from a specific provider, but I could see a system like this generalized to support any hosting situation, and not just a dedicated home server. My ideal system: * Minimal effort install to a local machine as well as any of the major cloud providers, and some sort of architecture to easily add more providers. * Clear separation of system/apps and data * ability to easily backup and migrate data from one installation to another * Commercial providers that specifically provide setup, hosting, and support for this solution With these features, you could choose your level of privacy and effort, and be assured that you will have a sustainable system in the future, even when you're working 12 hour days during that crunch and have no time to mess with your personal cloud.

ocdtrekkie 11y ago
You should look at Sandstorm.io, which aims to do much or all of this. Some things like migration between servers is still on the roadmap.