[Freedombox-discuss] Requesting a FreedomBox Quick Start Guide

[Nick M. Daly]

Hi folks, the following forwarded message is from Josh, who got in touch
with me after my FBX presentation in Seattle.  He asked for a quick
start guide that would explain how to start using the existing FBX
system.  Would anyone be up for adding such details to the wiki?  I've
elaborated below, but there're still a lot of details missing.  He
mentioned didn't mind me forwarding this to the list.

Nick

----

Kiatoki Zeiram writes:

> Hi Nick,
>
> I'm Josh the one who was thinking about using the pogoplug for this
> project. I decided to start off with the VirtualBox VM to get
> comfortable with the project, and while I have all the networking set
> up, I'm sort of lost as to what processes should be running (as per "as
> px | more", which i don't see any freedom processes running. This is one
> thing that isn’t clear to the general user (of which i am, but plan on
> contributing in every way I can to this project). So I guess I'm asking
> "What are the full commands(besides static networking profiles) are
> needed to run/start all the functionality of the freedombox. If this is
> to be a widely used device/VM I think there should be an explicit
> command set more than it is now. User friendlyness is key to making a
> product (open source or not) no matter what level of experience they
> have (and yes I know this is in the development stagest still), Maybe
> you and others still want to keep this in the hands of more skilled
> users untill further development, and if so deffinatly plan for makintg
> a centralized (maybe forum based) explicit code and command database. (I
> would be willing to help with this even with my limited html base, but
> this project is ever so important/awesome that I want to help in what
> ever way I can). help me to help you and I will do everything I can do
> and more if I cant. I love this project and everything it stands for,
> and hope to have it integrated with my ESX server immedeatly.  P.S. the
> pogoplug is a viable option, but seince it doesnt have a physical hard
> drive you have to use a USB stick, but it is completely posible to
> install debian onto the stick, with a few other settings. (ArchLinux is
> the big one!).
>
> what ever you have to give me I will try to work over to an HTML port,
> and I can do alot with a little.
>
> PLUR,
> Josh

----

Nick Daly writes:

> Hi Josh!  Apologies for the long delay, this has been on my list of
> things to reply to for far too long.
>
> Kiatoki Zeiram writes:
>
> > So I guess I'm asking "What are the full commands(besides static
> > networking profiles) are needed to run/start all the functionality
> > of the freedombox.
>
> Your request for a "getting started" page is a great idea.  I was
> hoping to have it written before mailing you back, but that's
> happening more slowly than I'd like.  Would you mind if I forwarded
> this to the FreedomBox list?  It'd be a good thing for those folks to
> work on.
>
> The FreedomBox-specific code lives in /home/fbx and contains several
> projects that work (together?) to produce a free and private system.
> I don't think any of them are complete.  FreedomBox-Privoxy is the
> most complete and can work today as a privacy-protecting proxy.
>
> The rest of the projects are in development, some in a working example
> stage, others not.
>
> - Plinth is the UI and needs work.  We need example code showing how
>   Plinth can produce changes in the underlying system.
>
> - ExMachina is the layer that Plinth will use for privileged
>   communication with the underlying system, for root-based admin tasks.
>
> - WithSqLite is a neat Python module, good for storing data in SQLite
>   containers.  Could be used by other parts of the system, to avoid
>   needing something as heavy as a MySQL database in some instances.
>
> - FreedomBuddy is the communication tool and will be able to exchange
>   data (like the IPs of your friends) over any available protocol (HTTP,
>   SSH, GNUnet, etc).
>
> - Project Publish is a simple and nearly silly tool for turning any
>   directory into a web-published project.
>
> FBX-Privoxy is the piece that makes something a FreedomBox at this
> point.  It should start on boot.
>
> Nick
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