Once we support a device (60+), we have every intention to continue supporting each one far into the future. Privacy and technological sovereignty go hand in hand with sustainability and ecology. #permacomputing

New(ish) account, new home.

I'm a freelance tech writer / software developer / KM project manager based in Europe. Digitally, I was born in the 90s. So I grew up eating cyberpunk books, BBSes, home computers, hacking, then the first doses of Internet and the Web.

In the 90s and the first 00s I developed my (ahem) "philosophy": digital spaces are (can be, should be) autonomous zones where different cultures, and sub/counter-cultures, can thrive.

These are the years of the enshittification of Internet, but it can't rain forever (cit.) and I see the Fediverse as a new opportunity for some of us to recreate better and safer digital spaces.

That's the "vision". Than there's the daily life: I write code (awful, mostly), help companies in managing their knowledge bases, write technical documentation, sometimes write tech articles for (mostly unknown) business tech manazines.

In the spare time, I tinker with Linux, SCB boards and "old" languages like Forth, Assembly and Lisp. I'm convinced that permacomputing and, maybe, collapse computing are our digital future. So, "back to basics" seems a good idea.

I have a blog that I consider more a digital garden. No daily or even regular posts, when I feel I have something to share, I write. It's very basic, because it's like a perma-garden: no strange languages, web framework, dynamic stuff or whatever.

That's all, I guess. Nice to meet ya.

#softwaredevelopment #km #linux #forth #assembly #permacomputing #collapsecomputing #solarpunk

In prep for the Windows 12 rollout, now is a good time to get your town's Linux Install Parties planned and advertised.

Here's my town's https://fxbginstall.party/

Here's a quick how-to guide to spinning one up in your town:

Goals:
- Install Linux on your neighbors' laptops. This preserves older laptops ( #permacomputing #ewaste prevention). This removes people from one part of the surveillance economy. And it saves people money.
- The party should be geared towards NON-TECHIES. This is NOT a Linux Users Group. This is not for enthusiasts. This for folks who just want their computer to work and let them do the basics. Bend the tech to the people, not the people to the tech.

Date and Time:
- Shoot for monthly parties. Try for a specific day of the week. Say the "First Saturday" or "Second Sunday" of every month.
- Easy for folks to remember and if they miss one month, they'll be there the next month
- Try for between two hours to four hours for the event.
- Be consistent. Show up for the full time even if no one shows up. Some times it takes two or three meetings before people start to come regularly.

Location:
- Shoot for a public community area
- The best bet is your local library if they have rooms or conference areas.
- City community centers are good, too
- Also look for religious institutions, civic orgs, or fraternal orgs if need be. It needs to be open to
the public, though, with no requirements to push other agendas on to visitors.

Linux Distro:
- Shoot for a single distro that caters to folks who are new. I usually go for Linux Mint, but go with what you like. Focus on ease of use and familiarity for folks who arent used to Linux or various Desktop Environments.

Waivers & Backups:
- Everyone should sign a waiver. You keep the signed waiver. They can have a copy of the waiver
- Explain that while you and other volunteers will make your best attempt to install Linux, you make no guarantees. You may brick their machine accidentally. And no files that were on the harddrive will remain. Everything will be deleted.
- They should make backups of their files before you start the install process (either online/cloud, or local on a USB)
- Some folks want you to try for a dual-boot, but thats up to you if you want to offer it. Still let them know that you might brick the machine even (especially?) if you try for a dual boot install.
- Example Waiver: https://tldp.org/HOWTO/Installfest-HOWTO/legalprotection.html

Advertisements:
- Create a simple brochure website and fliers with info and time and date
- Use words like "Update to a modern, private, and fast operating system. No monthly subscription. No cost. Volunteers will install for you." Appeal to folks whose laptops cant upgrade. "Can't install Windows 11 or 12? Don't throw your laptop away, install Linux. It's free, up to date, and secure" Etc etc.
- Use your town's local social media (eg Town Subreddit, Online/Offline Classifieds, Library Announcements, Town Events Page)
- Post fliers in various coffee shops, libraries, bars, restrooms, and community centers
- Tell other similar groups (hacker spaces, maker spaces, linux groups, etc) both to spread the word and get volunteers
- Word of Mouth: Just tell everyone you run into. And tell them to tell everyone they know.

What to bring:
- Multiple install media/USBs with your Distro on it to install on the laptops
- A couple "Demo Laptops" with your distro of choice installed for people to try out (install games, office suites, common programs for folks to try it out - aim for what people use so various browsers including Firefox and Chrome, Zoom / Teams, LibreOffice, MS Office on browser, browser games, desktop games, etc)
- Your own laptops to do internet lookups and specialized downloads (weird stuff happens - its good to be prepared)
- Extension cables and power strips
- Cheap USBs for last minute backups prior to installation that folks can take home with them
- Some screwdrivers or tools to open up laptops for light repair if you like

What to do:
- Greet folks as they come in and invite them to try out the demos
- Encourage questions and discussions (AVOID DISTRO FLAME WARS OR WHICH WINDOWS MANAGER BEATS WHAT DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT FOR FUCKS SAKE! THESE ARE NORMAL PEOPLE DONT SCARE THEM AWAY WITH YOUR NERD SHIT!!!!)
- If folks brought laptops for installation explain and have them sign their waivers, make sure they know all files will be deleted, ask if they've made backups, and then install!
- Help folks troubleshoot issues or install programs for those that already have Linux installed and need community support

That's it. Make it a regular occurrence and you'll get folks coming in for fresh installs monthly and to ask for help with previous installs. Also a really chill way to meet other folks and have a lovely afternoon.

If you have any questions, post up in this thread.

If you have any suggestions or tips and tricks that have worked at your own Linux Install Party, share with us as well!

Edit to add: The Windows 12... scare?... seems to be a hoax brought upon by AIslop. But there will be a Win12 at some point, and a 13, and so on. And the recent Win11 forced upgrade is what spurred my group to create a Linux Install Party in the first place. It's always best to have a place for folks to land, one that is already running and well established. So, honestly, still in prep for the Windows12 rollout, whenever it comes, get a Linux Install Party going now.

#ewaste #linuxinstallparty #installparty #solarpunk #windows12 #windows11 #linux

Big questions, I want to play videogames (big ones, sorry permacomputing friends) and I considere buying a more powerfull computer for work and my music projects. I waited for the steam machine but IA bubble make explode components prices! I considere build one (with a mix of refurbish and new components) but same problems! Now I’m considering buyin mac mini m2 refurbish and install ubuntu asahi, I’m both very techno curious about these machines sold very powerfull and not so expensive but also not very in the same page for proprieratory hardware as apple.
#permacomputing #games #music

In some ways, anime policewoman Noah Izumi is a better FOSS mascot than the existing ones.
- Fairly nontechnical, yet still strives to get the most out of her exoskeleton (even does a little maintenance)
- Dismantled the C&C server of a botnet that spread through a backdoored OS update: in a film that came out decades before the age of constant automatic updates
- Defeated the Griffon (advanced prototype thingy) by using a last-gen machine that didn't have the Neural Network motion control software: in a genre that otherwise loves mid-season upgrades
- Infectuously energetic and optimistic
- Named after God's oldest backup engineer

#frugalcomputing
#permacomputing
#unix_surrealism
#unixsurrealism

EVERYTHING’S GOING TO BE OK
Implementing a tiny virtual machine, assembler, and compiler

The thesis of Tre O’Neal
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7765&context=theses_etds

#uxn #permacomputing

I missed this but it's brilliant :

« We Need To Rewild The Internet - The internet has become an extractive and fragile monoculture. But we can revitalize it using lessons learned by ecologists. » by @mariafarrell & @robin Berjon

« Our online spaces are not ecosystems, though tech firms love that word. They’re plantations; highly concentrated and controlled environments … that madden the creatures trapped within. »

› https://www.noemamag.com/we-need-to-rewild-the-internet/

#Internet #Web #SmallWeb #Smolweb #Permacomputing

I went down to check up on they're getting along with the ancient iMac and the scariness of Linux, and everybody was absolutely overjoyed with the new system! Which is kind of wild :D And it's good to actually put one of these retro computers to actual functional use. #RetroComputing #permacomputing
https://bitbang.social/@billgoats/116060044634788050

#LispyGopherClimate show

About 6 hours from now: https://anonradio.net/listen/

I will be guest-hosting the show this week, Wednesday 2026 February 11 at midnight UTC, giving a bit of relief to @screwlisp

Feel free to comment on this post for suggesting topics, or in response to things we say on the show.

Join the IRC-like chat, which is not IRC but MUD (“Multi-User Dungeon”), the Lambda Moo server, using telnet:

telnet lambda.moo.mud.org 8888connectjoin @screwtape

#tech #podcast #LispyGopherClimateShow #Lisp #ClimateChange #GopherProtocol #GeminiProtocol #PublicAccessUnix #Tildeverse #SmallWeb #Permacomputing #Degrowth

References to reports and articles:

“Lie to Me,” a poem about trust and honesty, by Kent M. Pitman
Ramin Honary: AI cannot live up to the hype
2025 European Lisp Symposium: Robert Smith: Toward safe, flexible, and efficient software in Common Lisp (a presentation about Coalton)
Olympics Torched: How the Winter Olympics being a platform for polluters is melting the snow it depends on
World Bank: World Annual Fresh Water Losses Could Supply 280 Million People
Continental Drying: A Threat to our Common Future
Our World in Data: Global primary energy consumption by source
Our World in Data: What’s the difference between direct and substituted primary energy?
International Energy Agency: Energy Demand for AI

I've got two Amazon #FireStick units and a gen 1 #Chromecast dongle in a drawer. They are three SoC devices I'd love to repurpose but the manufacturers have locked them up so when they get replaced by newer models with extra features they become landfill!

So frustrating, I'd love to make one a simple command line computer so my 4 year old could type stories on an immutable system. I'd host my #GeminiProtocol capsule on another and free up the Raspberry Pi for other projects. Even then I'd still have one free for tinkering with....

#permacomputing needs manufacturers to open systems at the end of life to encourage communities to #repurpose and #reuse them because guess what they'll make loyal customers in a thriving community that way.

We also need this to be simple enough for everyone to be able to reuse their tech.

It has been 6 months since I passed my viva, yet I forgot to share my thesis here (due to it feeling unreal af... until... today :)

It's called 'The Image at the End of the World: Communities of practice redefining technology on a damaged Earth'. In it I describe communities which give voice and shape to different definitions and roles for technology within the polycrisis: permacomputing, computing within limits, collapse informatics, salvage computing, slow tech, redundant technology, low-tech, feminist technology, convivial computing, disability driven development and more.

https://researchportal.lsbu.ac.uk/en/publications/the-image-at-the-end-of-the-world-communities-of-practice-redefin

With contributions by so many amazing people! Including @ccl @alcstrt @anglk @amelia @decentral1se @cmos4040 @p_p @mara @reni @diacritter @constant @snisioi @rra @320x200 @wendy @kattrali @praxeology @michal @viznut @sister0 @pixouls @msavoritias @jonuriarte @smmrcr @hellocatfood @neauoire @rek @dougschuler @solderpunk @titipi @xocffoeg @aaaannet and more!

#happy #phd #permacomputing #lowtech #feminist #tech #smolweb #sustainability

Permacomputing Aesthetics: Potential and Limits of Constraints in Computational Art, Design and Culture

This coming wednesday 14 June, @praxeology @sandu @viznut and myself will give a quick overview of a paper about #permacomputing at the Ninth Computing within Limits 2023 workshop.

Paper can be found there: https://limits.pubpub.org/pub/6loh1eqi/release/1 and the whole collection of LIMITS 23 papers is avail there https://limits.pubpub.org/ninth-computing-within-limits-2023

Our paper is a personal take on the potential and... limits of the current permacomputing practices in the context/constraints of #art #design and #culture production.

I will attend the workshop at the Amsterdam LIMITS hub hosted by @dosch

https://doc.pondr.nl/s/wt7vmXF0v#

Big thanks to our reviewers Eli Blevis, Birgit Penzenstadler, and Robert Soden for their helpful feedback. We also thank
the different groups and people currently gravitating around the term permacomputing for contributing to a growing number of rich discussions and debates. We are particularly grateful for the suggestions from @Greta @michal@node9.org and @neauoire as
well as to @creativecoding for providing us with a platform to share an early reflection on permacomputing aesthetics. Finally, we would especially like to thank @loriemerson and @l03s for their substantial and stimulating comments! <3

We're happy to announce that we just started to work on three new interdependent online resources: the Damaged Earth Catalog, the Permacomputing wiki, and the permacomputing workshop series!

///

Damaged Earth Catalog

A growing online catalog of the different terms in circulation, used by communities of practice, in relation to computing and network infrastructure informed by ecological ethics, degrowth, resilience, repair, and minimalism. Currently developed by @l03s as part of her PhD research.

https://damaged.bleu255.com

///

Permacomputing wiki

A new wiki about permacomputing that aims to expose its principles, present and discuss the concepts and jargon required to engage with permacomputing, and maintain a repository of related projects. Currently facilitated by @viznut and @320x200 open for contributors!

https://permacomputing.net

///

Permacomputing in the Arts

A workshop series that will be developed throughout end-2022 and 2023 as an onboarding course for permacomputing practices in art an design. The workshops will be made available as an Open Educational Resource. Developed by @320x200 as part of a postdoc research on the topic.

https://permacomputing.net/courses_and_workshops/

#permacomputing #ecology #art #design #technology

The next #permacomputing #berlin Meet-Up is on Tuesday 3.2.2026 at 19:00.

The meeting is at /rosa in Heidelberger Str. 28, 12059 Berlin:

https://www.panke.gallery/rosa/ (@netzkunst)

This time we are excited to be joined by and learn from @Codeberg.

Codeberg is a forge website for hosting the development of free and open source software. Unlike other major forge websites, Codeberg is run as a non-profit association and is administered democratically by over 1,000 members worldwide. Andreas Shimokawa, one of the founders of Codeberg, will be joined by Daphne Preston-Kendal, current presidium member, to discuss the history of the site and its future: the idea, how the site was founded, what our goals are, and where we see challenges and problems.

There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions.

Non-nerd-identified, newbies and perma-curious are always welcome! Please join us for an informal discussion of ideas and real-world practices around Permacomputing.

Please boost and spread the word!

My #Introduction.

I talk about life in #CambridgeMA and #Boston, #engineering, #science, #radios (#SDR, #HAM, #LoRa, #MeshCore), #pinball, #film, retro computers/video games, and more.

I collect #art, #LaserDiscs, study #horology, visit museums (The Met, MFA, Harvard Art #Museum) and support my local #library.

I read #poetry and books on #architecture, #design, and #urbanism.

I walk or take public #transit everywhere.

I practice #permacomputing and self-hosting, running #BSD where I can.

« If it is possible to imagine all the possible use cases when designing a system, the design may very well be too simple and/or too inflexible. Smallness, simplicity and flexibility are also part of the "small, sharp tools" ideal of the Unix command line. Here the key to flexibility is the ability to creatively combine small tools that do small, individual things.»
https://permacomputing.net/principles/
#permacomputing #smolweb

in ljubljana this weekend at osmo/za for some more #permacomputing !! join us to write markdown, living documentation and literate programming together <33
more info here: https://www.osmoza.si/en/event/pocket-infrastructure :)

Coming up today:

Entropy Coding: Experiments with Video and #Permacomputing
with @praxeology

In this hands-on session participants will experiment with outmoded and low-fi digital cameras as tools for new aesthetics and narratives.

From 14-18h at nGbK on Alexanderplatz, Berlin. Free entry, come as you are.

Part of the ongoing EastUnBloc exhibition. For more events, see
https://ngbk.de/en/programm/programm/eastunbloc
https://monoskop.org/EastUnBloc

Host a website from an old phone using #postmarketos

#permacomputing

https://far.computer/how-to/

intensely excited to be at the #permacomputing meetup in the hague next weeeeeek. will be talking about the london chapter of permacomputing, alongside legends anna andrejew, brendan howell, danny tirthdas van der kleij and @320x200 💠 tickets via https://www.stroom.nl/en/stroom/agenda-en/brewing-permacomputing-collectives come come friday 28th 🌠

If you're around Varia (Rotterdam) this weekend, @spacehobo will be running a fun little #literate #programming workshop which, personally, I can't wait for 📜 https://zork.net/~nick/varia/announcement.html join us!!!
#permacomputing

We all know what’s going on, but we can determine where we go from here. Like mycelium, we can decompose the rot and make new life.
#permacomputing #solarpunk
https://anarchosolarpunk.substack.com/p/our-resistance-will-become-our-persistence

#introduction
TLDR: 🫥 🚲 🎶 🌲
Trop souvent: 🌊⛵🌩️

Perdu au milieu d'un torrent de haine, de politique et de complaisances des problèmes écologiques j'essaie de trouver un peu de calme, de l'humour, quelques notes de musique, des idées et des allié·e·s pour "couler en beauté".

J'aime bien les beaux textes mais j'accorderais toujours plus aux actes (et la loi est n'est pas un beau texte) 😏

#vegetarian #opensource #permacomputing

I was in Philly on a work trip and couldn't do much, but the one thing I had to do was visit @iffybooks in person! One of the few bookstores/hackerspaces I've seen sharing #solarpunk and #permacomputing information, truly a unique and amazing place!