
FreedomBox 0.7 released - Flip-per
https://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/news/FreedomBox-0.7/index.en.html
======
colordrops
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
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.

------
rogeryu
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! :-)

~~~
vox_mollis
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
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/modu...](https://github.com/freedombox/Plinth/tree/master/plinth/modules)

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.

------
pudo
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.

~~~
vox_mollis
This is because 95% of the time throughout human history, true political
freedom from authority is only ever won via extreme violence.

As nerds, we're neither inclined nor skilled in the ways of killing, and we
enjoy our modern comforts, so we opt for technical workarounds instead.

~~~
adrtessier
> political freedom from authority is only ever won via extreme violence.

Eh, that's the most extreme end. Political freedom from authority is won by
having more power, period. That power can come in many forms, but at its most
primal can come from having the capability of lethal force. The power of a
representative government is supposed to be in being able to vote out those
that are destroying you, not in you having to take up arms to solve the issue.

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

~~~
jordigh
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
So far there's a couple of prototypes and no boxes were sold. A small initial
batch (100 boxes) is planned for 2016.

~~~
daveloyall
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!

------
motujo
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.htm...](https://softwarefreedom.org/events/2015/conference/video.html)

