[Mesh] Still here

[John]

Hi all,

Just letting you know I still have a pulse and am paying attention.

* I wanted to see Stuart's presentation to NovaLug but unfortunately was 
out of town at the time.

* I read the article posted here on how IPv4 contributed to the 
centralization and rent-taking of the net, and found it 
thought-provoking.  Coincidentally my job put me through Amazon Web 
Services training and I saw it from the perspective of 'More 
centralization! It didn't have to be this way'.

My current status mesh-wise is that I have a PittMesh node in the window 
of our condo, serving free internet to the courtyard.  It is a gl-inet 
in a weatherproof shell.  It is VPN'ed to PittMesh but really just a 
gateway through our own cable connection to the traditional internet. It 
is fun to realize that even if PittMesh itself disappeared, my own node 
could still be the start of an independent network.

Unfortunately this node seems to have less range than the mere spillover 
from our in-house netgear router. Oh well.  At least it's a symbolic 
flag to fly in solidarity.

I have also been on NYCMesh's Slack channel reading and asking 
questions.  They just installed their 200th node!

The guys at PittMesh are good people doing good work, but NYCMesh seems 
a lot more open, and I think it makes a difference in their growth 
rates.  An online community of people discussing the subject seems to 
generate more interest than just asking for a node and having it mailed 
to you.

The backbone of a mesh isn't the hardware, but an active subculture of 
people sharing tribal knowledge of how to really build and maintain it.  
I may yet try to install an NYCMesh node VPN'ed to NYC as well.

But shouldn't I buy local?  Stuart, you are growing a mesh in your 
area.  How hard would it be for me to VPN to it and serve wifi to our 
courtyard, assuming I am an idiot unable to configure a router myself?  
Yes, just assuming, ha.

-John


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