View source for User:Riviera/Draft project proposal/v3

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<span id="what-do-you-want-to-make"></span>
= What do you want to make? =

It’s a newsletter, keeping people up to date with goings-on. On one level, the project addresses the topic of how people aiming to setup servers ought to proceed. Hoping to set up a community infrastructure project? Then seriously consider what is offered by others and do so responsibly. In terms of content, the newsletter could include pieces of text, sounds, algorithms or git repositories. That is to say, it considers various services running on the klankschool server which I set up in October 2024. It aims to offer coverage of what has taken place at Klankschool since the previous newsletter. On a different level, it’s a record of what’s going on at Klankschool.

By the time the end arrives I hope to:<br />
1. Publish several newsletters<br />
2. Handover everything relating to the server<br />
3. Meet other reasonable requests brought forward by others based on this proposal. For example, saving passwords in a password manager database file.

The release date of the newsletter follows a lunar calendar. It will be published every Last Quarter Moon between December and June. It is circumspect in tone.

<span id="how-do-you-plan-to-make-it"></span>
= How do you plan to make it? =

I plan to collaborate with Rosa on this project. To that end, it’s about what can be documented of time-limited collaborations. She and I hold generative conversations with one another. Openproject may facilitate with documenting contributions, project planning and keeping track of tasks. Ensuring the stability of the latter system is important to the extent that it is considered a key infrastructural component. She and I agree to use markdown as a document format when writing the newsletter. Initially, I considered using a VPS to run a small mail server. It is likely content will be transcluded and turned into HTML using a static site generator.

Stories such as the following exemplify possible content in the newsletter:

I considered using a VPS to host a mail server to send the newsletter. I set up a mail server inside a container on a Mac Pro and then deployed it on a VPS. I activated the mail server. I tried to send one email and was placed on a domain blocklist immediately. I unblocked the domain and was fooled into signing up to an “email warm-up service”. It started spamming people at full pelt, something about voter suppression arrived in the inbox. It was a slew of politicised mostly AI generated messages relating to Big Tech and social media platforms. I received an abuse reaction from the hosting provider requesting I email them to assure them it would not happen again, otherwise they would need to shutdown my service. I voluntarily shut down the service. I am no longer attempting to run a mail server. Nor do I hope to demonstrate the value of an email server to Klankschool. If a mailing list is wanted, reach out to an organisation that can support with that.

<span id="what-is-your-timetable"></span>
= What is your timetable? =

The timetable itself is a living document which will be publicly available at openproject.klank.school for the duration of the project. Here is an overview:

'''November - December:'''<br />
- Drum up enthusiasm about programme amongst community members.<br />
- Advertise the Performances;<br />
- DONE Speak with Stephen Kerr about these matters<br />
- Organise a workshop.<br />
- Thursday evenings are for repairing.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="text-align: center;"| Month  Type
! style="text-align: center;"| Meet
! style="text-align: center;"| Publish Newsletter
! style="text-align: center;"| Topic
|-
| style="text-align: center;"| December
| style="text-align: center;"| Sunday 8th
| style="text-align: center;"| Sunday 22nd
| style="text-align: center;"| Passwords
|-
| style="text-align: center;"| January
| style="text-align: center;"| Tuesday 7th
| style="text-align: center;"| Tuesday 21st
| style="text-align: center;"| Terms of Service
|-
| style="text-align: center;"| February
| style="text-align: center;"| Wednesday 5th
| style="text-align: center;"| Thursday 20th
| style="text-align: center;"| Privacy Policy
|-
| style="text-align: center;"| March
| style="text-align: center;"| Thursday 6th
| style="text-align: center;"| Saturday 22nd
| style="text-align: center;"| Code of Conduct on Funkwhale
|-
| style="text-align: center;"| April
| style="text-align: center;"| Saturday 5th
| style="text-align: center;"| Monday 21st
| style="text-align: center;"| Counter Cloud Theme: DNS Providers
|-
| style="text-align: center;"| May
| style="text-align: center;"| Sunday 4th
| style="text-align: center;"| Tuesday 20th
| style="text-align: center;"| TBA
|-
| style="text-align: center;"| June
| style="text-align: center;"| Tuesday 3rd
| style="text-align: center;"| Wednesday 18th
| style="text-align: center;"| Handover
|}

<span id="why-do-you-want-to-make-it"></span>
= Why do you want to make it? =

I would like to help create a community space through digital infrastructure. However, it makes limited sense to do this in the context of Klankschool as it stands at the moment. To that end, I would like to offer food for thought to others in similar positions attempting to setup their own infrastructure. I want to argue for a rethinking of how to maintain connections across contemporary border regimes.

<span id="who-can-help-you-and-how"></span>
= Who can help you and how? =

In alphabetical order:

Alex Olloman - Wants to organise events

decentral1se - Boosting Klankschool events on the Fediverse

knoflook - Sharing events on radar

log - Co-sysadmin

Manetta Berends - offering very useful references

<span id="relation-to-previous-practice"></span>
= Relation to previous practice =

'''Concurrent servers''' <br />
Besides maintaining the klankschool server, I am also running Nextcloud on a raspberry pi. The computer is temporarily connected to the XPUB HUB. The nextcloud instance is for personal and research use. It enables me to keep my files backed-up, contacts in order and calendar appointments synchronised with my phone. On the one hand, there is a parasitic relation between this infrastructure and HUB, thus it is temporary. The XPUB infrastructure relates to this project through the layout of the local area network at my flat. For now, both the Klankschool server and the Pi are physically located at my flat. On the one hand, I need to return the Mac Pro “Trashbin” computer to the department in the near future. That informs the narrative of my columns in the newsletter. Yet another aspect of the plan: to stop leeching off the XPUB HUB.

'''Previous Collaboration with Rosa'''<br />
In mid 2024, Rosa and I worked together on a performance titled Printer Jam. We gave the performance at Gulaschprogrammiernacht 22, in Karlsruhe, Germany. The video recording of the performance has been watched 245 times at the time of writing. Printer Jam brought live coding software and abandoned hardware together to breathe life back into disused printers. She and I have worked together effectively in the past and I am optimistic about this collaboration.

<span id="relation-to-wider-context"></span>
= Relation to wider context =

'''Terms of Service'''

Hosts make clear what constitutes permitted uses of the services. Abiding by these terms is significant in relation to a practice of general adherence which I am inclined towards.

'''Sever maintenance informed by feminism''' 

Feminist servers, such as Systerserver and Anarchaserver, are operated by feminist collectives who prefer feminist modes of collaboration. Such servers often provide services for like minded groups or projects. Feminist servers are conceptually distinct from and contextually adjacent to the way in which the server has been set up and maintained. I am keen to draw upon feminist methods, practice and research in maintaining the server and writing the newsletter. The newsletter addresses single-handed attempts to maintain infrastructure through it’s collaborative mode of production. But it also addresses this with reference to feminist collectives.

<span id="references"></span>
= References =

Berends, M., Diakrousi, A. and Gryllaki, A. (2022) ‘Hosting With’, Debug, Linz, Varia [Online]. Available at https://varia.zone/archive/2023-03-Hosting-with-others/hosting-with-zine-booklet.pdf (Accessed 16 October 2024).

Engelhardt, L., Billie, P. and Reinthal, A. (2023) Self-Hosting Guide [Online]. Available at https://self-hosting.guide/dokuwiki/about_this_site (Accessed 16 October 2024).

Strete, A., Cochior C and Mugrefya e (Eds.) (2022) A Traversal Network Of Feminist Servers. Fractalia, Bucharest.