#+KEYWORDS: freedombox, debian, beaglebone, red matrix, email, web server, home server, internet, censorship, surveillance, social network, irc, jabber
#+DESCRIPTION: Turn the Beaglebone Black into a personal communications server
"/I see mesh networks naturally evolving to become the dominant form of network over the next few decades, because it’s the most practical solution to a number of problems that will have to be solved in order to build the VR web as well as to connect the entire world to the internet. Centralized networks are only possible in highly developed countries with existing infrastructures like power and telephone grids, as well as roads. You can’t build a tower where you don’t have either power or access. For vast areas of the world, mesh networks will be the only feasible solution./" -- Valkyrie Ice
The Freedombone Mesh is a wireless solution for autonomous or internet connected communication that can be rapidly deployed in temporary, emergency or post-disaster situations where internet access is unavailable or compromised.
Mesh networks are useful as a quick way to make a fully decentralised communications system which is not connected to or reliant upon the internet. Think festivals, hacker conferences, onboard ships at sea, disaster/war zones, small businesses who don't want the overhead of server maintenance, protests, remote areas of the world, temporary "digital blackouts", scientific expeditions and off-world space colonies.
If an internet connection is available then it can make use of that, but otherwise it can still work regardless of whether the internet exists. So it's not dependent upon ISPs and additional infrastructure other than USB drives isn't required.
Systems only need to be within wifi range of each other for the mesh to be created, so it can be an very convenient way to create a local communications network.
- *Decentralized*: The network should not be operated, maintained, or in any way reliant upon a single or minimally differentiated set of entities or technologies. No individual, entity or group should be central to the network to the extent that their absence would measurably impact its functionality or scope. Network participation should not require access to fixed, physical infrastructure of any sort.
- *Universally Accessible*: The requisite technology and expertise required to participate in the network should be available at minimal cost and effort to every human being on the planet. Furthermore, all users should be able to extend the network’s content and functionality to suit their own needs, or those of others. No aspect of the network’s functioning should be reliant upon proprietary technologies, information or capital.
- *Censor-proof*: The network should be resistant to both regulatory and technical attempts to limit the nature of the information shared, restrict usage by given individuals or communities, or render the network, or any portion of it, inoperable or inaccessible.
- *Surveillance-proof*: The network should enable users to choose exactly what information they share with whom, and to participate anonymously if they so desire. Users should only have access to information if they are the designated recipients, or if it has been published openly.
- *Secure*: The network should be organized in a way that minimizes the risk of malicious attacks or engineering failure. Information exchanged on the network should meet or exceed the delivery rate and reliability of information exchanged via the Internet.
- *Scalable*: The network should be organized with the expectation that its scale could reach or even exceed that of today’s Internet. Special care should be taken to address to the challenge of maintaining efficiency without the presence of a centralized backbone.
- *Permanent*: The network’s density and redundancy should be great enough that, despite its ad hoc nature, it will persistently operate on a broad scale, and be available in full to any user within range of another peer.
- *Fast (enough)*: The network should always achieve whatever speed is required for a “bottom line” level of social and cultural participation. At present, we assert that the network’s data transfer rate should, at a minimum, be enough for voice-over-IP (VoIP) communications, and low-bitrate streaming video.
- *Independent*: While the network will have the capacity to exchange information with Internet users and nodes, it should be able to operate independently, as well. A large-scale failure or closure of Internet infrastructure and content should have minimal effect on the network’s operations.
- *Evolvable*: The network should be built with future development in mind. The platform should be flexible enough to support technologies, protocols and modes of usage that have not yet been developed.
This system should be quite scalable. Both qTox and IPFS are based upon distributed hash tables (DHT) so that each peer does not need to store the full index of data for the entire network. Gossiping between SSB peers may be slower, but the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-world_network][small world effect]] will presumably still make for quite efficient delivery in a large network. Caching or pinning of IPFS data and its content addressability means that if a file or blog becomes popular then performance should improve as the number of downloads increases, which is the opposite of the client/server paradigm.
There may be situations where you need to write the same disk image to multiple drives at the same time in order to maximize rate of deployment. In the instructions given below the *dd* command is used for writing to the target drive, but to write to multiple drives you can use a tool such as [[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/MultiWriter][GNOME MultiWriter]].
"Client" isn't exactly the right term, but it's a mesh peer with a user interface. These images can be copied to a USB drive, then you can plug it into a laptop/netbook/desktop machine and boot from it. You will probably also need an Atheros USB wifi dongle (the black protruding object on the left side of the netbook in the picture above), because most built-in wifi usually requires proprietary firmware. In the commands below substitute /dev/sdX with the USB drive device, excluding any trailing numbers (eg. /dev/sdb). The USB drive you're copying to will need to be at least 8GB in size.
If you're in an emergency and don't have Atheros wifi dongles then there is also an "insecure" image which contains some proprietary wifi drivers which may work with a wider range of laptops. Proprietary drivers *are not recommended* because they're unsupportable and may be exploitable or contain malicious antifeatures which fundamentally compromise the security of the network. However, the trade-off between security/maintainability and simply having the ability to communicate at all may be a valid one in some situations.
Routers are intended to build network coverage for an area using small and low cost hardware. You can bolt them to walls or leave them on window ledges. They don't have any user interface and their only job is to haul network traffic across the mesh and to enable peers to find each other via running bootstrap nodes for Tox and IPFS. Copy the image to a microSD card and insert it into the router, plug in an Atheros wifi dongle and power on. That should be all you need to do.
The above picture shows a Beaglebone Black with the image copied onto a microSD card (there's no need to do anything with the internal EMMC). A USB Atheros wifi adaptor with a large antenna is attached and in this case power is from the mains, although it could be from a battery or solar power system capable of supplying 5 volts and maybe 1A (depending upon how active the router is).
There is still a software freedom issue with the Beaglebone Black, but it doesn't prevent you from running a fully free system on the board. The TI AM335X SOC has a PowerVR SGX530 GPU which will only run with a proprietary blob, but this would only be an issue for systems with a monitor or LCD screen attached running a desktop environment which also needs GPU acceleration. For "headless" systems such as servers or mesh routers this isn't a problem.
It's better not to trust images downloaded from random places on the interwebs. Chances are that unless you are in the web of trust of the above GPG signatures then they don't mean very much to you. If you actually want something trustworthy then build the images from scratch. It will take some time. Here's how to do it.
If you don't have Atheros or free software compatible wifi adapter then you can include proprietary wifi drivers which will work with most laptops. This is *NOT RECOMMENDED* because proprietary drivers are unsupportable and may contain either malware or be exploitable in a way which can't be fixed. However, if you're in an emergency and don't have any Atheros or free software wifi USB dongles then you can use the following command to make the image:
This takes a while. Maybe an hour or so, depending on the speed of your system and the internets. The good news though is that once created you can use the resulting image any number of times, and you don't need to trust some pre-built image.
You can now copy the image to the USB thumb drive, replacing *sdX* with the identifier of the USB thumb drive. Don't include any numbers (so for example use *sdc* instead of *sdc1*).
And wait. Again it will take a while to copy over. When that's done plug it into the laptop or netbook which you want to use on the mesh, power on and set the BIOS to boot from the USB stick.
On first boot you'll be asked to set a username, and then you can open the chat client and select the *users* icon to show the Tox IDs for other users on the mesh. When folks join they will be announced.
Rinse, repeat, for any number of laptops that you want to get onto the mesh or to build out coverage within an area. There are no servers. Just peer-to-peer communications routed through the network which are end-to-end secure after a friend request is accepted. By default the chat client doesn't log anything.
You can also use single board computers (SBCs) such as the BeagleBone Black to make mesh routers which can be bolted to walls or the sides of buildings and consume minimal electrical power, so could be solar or battery powered for short term events such as festivals. To do that use the following command to make the image:
If you want to make your own specially branded version, such as for a particular event, then to change the default desktop backgrounds edit the images within *img/backgrounds* and to change the available avatars and desktop icons edit the images within *img/avatars*. Re-create disk images using the instructions shown previously.
If you need particular /dconf/ commands to alter desktop appearance or behavior then see the function /mesh_client_startup_applications/ within *src/freedombone-image-customise*.
When you first boot from the USB drive the system will create some encryption keys, assign a unique network address to the system and then reboot itself. When that's done you should see a prompt asking for a username. This username just makes it easy for others to initially find you on the mesh and will appear in the list of users.
After a minute or two if you are within wifi range and there is at least one other user on the network then you should see additional icons appear on the desktop, such as /Other Users/ and /Chat/.
If the system doesn't boot and reports an error which includes */dev/mapper/loop0p1* then reboot with *Ctrl-Alt-Del* and when you see the grub menu press *e* and manually change */dev/mapper/loop0p1* to */dev/sdb1*, then press *Ctrl-x*. If that doesn't work then reboot and try */dev/sdc1* instead.
On the ordinary internet the date and time of your system would be set automatically via NTP. But this is not the internet and so you will need to manually ensure that your date and time settings are correct. You might need to periodically do this if your clock drifts. It's not essential that the time on your system be highly accurate, but if it drifts too far or goes back to epoch then things could become a little confusing in regard to the order of blog posts.
*Right click on the date* in the top right corner of the screen. Select *preferences*, then click the *Time Settings* button. You can then select the date from the calendar and set the time, then click the *Set System Time* button. Enter the default password, which is /freedombone/.
Select the wifi icon on the desktop and enter the password '/freedombone/'. The network configuration will go into a monitoring mode and in the bottom right side of the window you will be able to see signal strength and other parameters. This can help you to locate systems or adjust antennas to get the best wifi performance.
When you are finished close the window and then select the /Network Restart/ desktop icon, which will restart the B.A.T.M.A.N. network. You can also use the restart icon if you are within range of the mesh network but the /Chat/ and /Other Users/ icons do not automatically appear after a few minutes.
If you need to be able to access the internet from the mesh then connect one of the peers to an internet router using an ethernet cable, then reboot it. Other peers in the mesh, including any attached mobile devices, will then be able to access the internet using the ethernet attached peer as a gateway. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freifunk][Freifunk]] works in a similar way.
After connecting one peer to the internet you may need to reboot other peers in order to update their network configurations.
If for legal reasons you need to connect to the internet via a VPN then openvpn is preinstalled and you can run the command:
#+begin_src bash
sudo openvpn myclient.ovpn
#+end_src
Where /myclient.ovpn/ comes from your VPN provider and with the password "/freedombone/".
** Connecting two meshes over the internet via a VPN tunnel
Maybe the internet exists, but you don't care about getting any content from it and just want to use it as a way to connect mesh networks from different geographical locations together. VPN configuration, pem and stunnel files exist within the home directory. Edit the configuration with:
#+begin_src bash
nano ~/client.ovpn
#+end_src
Edit the IP address or domain for the mesh that you wish to connect to within the /route/ command:
#+begin_src bash
route [mesh IP or domain] 255.255.255.255 net_gateway
#+end_src
Then you can connect to the other mesh with:
#+begin_src bash
cd /home/fbone
sudo stunnel stunnel-client.conf
sudo openvpn client.ovpn
#+end_src
Using the password "/freedombone/". From a deep packet inspection point of view the traffic going over the internet will just look like any other TLS connection to a server.
To allow mobile devices to connect to the mesh you will need a second wifi adapter connected to your laptop/netbook/SBC. Plug in a second wifi adapter then reboot the system. The second adaptor will then create a wifi hotspot which mobile devices can connect to. The hotspot name also contains its local IP address (eg. "/mesh-192.168.1.83/").
On a typical Android device go to *Settings* then *Security* and ensure that *Unknown sources* is enabled. Also within *Wifi* from the *Settings* screen select the mesh hotspot. The password is "/freedombone/". Open a non-Tor browser and navigate to the IP address showing in the hotspot name. You can then download and install mesh apps.
On some android devices you may need to move the downloaded APK file from the *Downloads* directory to your *home* directory before you can install it.
Ensure that you're within wifi range of at least one other mesh peer (could be a router or client) and then you should see that the /Chat/ and /Other Users/ icons appear. Select the users icon and you should see a list of users on the mesh. Select the /Chat/ icon and once you are connected you should see the status light turn green. If after a few minutes you don't get the green status light then try closing and re-opening the Tox chat application. Select the plus button to add a friend and then copy and paste in a Tox ID from the users list.
One important point is that by default the microphone is turned off. When doing voice chat you can select the microphone volume with the drop down slider in the top right corner of the screen.
Patchwork is available as a social networking system for the mesh. Like all social network systems it has a stream of posts and you can follow or unfollow other users. You can also send private messages to other users with end-to-end encryption.
Double click on the "Social" icon to open the app, then add your nickname and optionally a description. If you want to choose an avatar image some can be found within the directory */usr/share/freedombone/avatars*. On older systems or systems without a hardware random number generator, Patchwork sometimes takes a long time (a few minutes) to open for the first time after clicking the icon. This is most likely due to the initial generation of encryption keys, so be patient.
Other Patchwork users on the mesh will appear automatically under the *local* list and you can select and follow them if you wish. It's also possible to select the dark theme from *settings* on the drop down menu if you prefer.
#+BEGIN_CENTER
[[file:images/patchwork_public.jpg]]
#+END_CENTER
The Secure Scuttlebutt protocol which Patchwork is based upon is intended to be robust to intermittent network connectivity, so you can write posts when out of range and they will sync once you are back in the network.
You can make files publicly available on the network simply by dragging and dropping them into the /Public/ folder on the desktop. To view the files belonging to another user select the desktop icon called /Visit a site/ and enter the username or Tox ID of the other user.
#+BEGIN_CENTER
[[file:images/mesh_share_files.jpg]]
#+END_CENTER
** Blogging
To create a blog post select the /Blog/ icon on the desktop and then use the up and down cursor keys, space bar and enter key to add a new entry. Edit the title of the entry and add your text. You can also include photos if you wish - just copy them to the *CreateBlog/content/images* directory and then link to them as shown.
#+BEGIN_CENTER
[[file:images/mesh_new_blog.jpg]]
#+END_CENTER
To finish your blog entry just select /Save/ and then close the editor. On older hardware it may take a while to publish the results, and this depends upon the amount of computation needed by IPFS to create file hashes. If you make no changes to the default text then the new blog entry will not be saved.
#+BEGIN_CENTER
[[file:images/mesh_new_blog2.jpg]]
#+END_CENTER
#+BEGIN_CENTER
[[file:images/mesh_view_blog.jpg]]
#+END_CENTER
You can also visit other blogs, edit or delete your previous entry and also change your blog theme.
