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  1. title: Permacomputing Update 2021
  2. url: http://viznut.fi/texts-en/permacomputing_update_2021.html
  3. hash_url: 0f791a9509f762f1a1a36b6ca2333230
  4. <p>It is now more than a year since I wrote <a href="http://viznut.fi/texts-en/permacomputing.html">my "early notes" about
  5. Permacomputing</a>. At that time, I was not yet aware of anyone else having
  6. similar ideas, so I've now decided to write an update that connects my ideas
  7. with the existing discussions and activities. I also want to share some new
  8. ideas I have been pondering about. This text is about 33K characters / 4900
  9. words long, so allocate your time accordingly.</p>
  10. <h2>1. A fragmented pluriverse</h2>
  11. <p>The "biosphere-aware computing scene" is quite fragmented. There are many
  12. different islands (groups and individuals) that use different terminology
  13. and that are only now discovering each other. It is therefore important to
  14. build bridges between the islands.</p>
  15. <p><a href="https://computingwithinlimits.org/">Computing within Limits
  16. workshops</a> that started in 2015 form an important hub but have been
  17. rather invisible from non-academic perspectives. Many interesting papers
  18. have come out of these workshops, but I would really like to see more
  19. practical and/or longer-term projects that go beyond the shortish workshop
  20. papers. Computing within Limits branched out of a larger field of
  21. "sustainable" ITC <a href="http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-375131">that is known
  22. to have huge problems</a>.</p>
  23. <p>Another hub is in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse">Fediverse</a>, particularly
  24. around the Mastodon server <a href="https://merveilles.town/">Merveilles.town</a> that centers around
  25. creativity and sustainable technology. Many of these productive hackers,
  26. artists and activists also participate in the "smolnet"/"smallnet",
  27. including the space of the <a href="https://gemini.circumlunar.space/">Gemini</a> protocol. My
  28. Permacomputing article was very well received in these circles and many have
  29. adopted the concept for their use.</p>
  30. <p>Then there's the "Sustainable Internet" activism that has the <a href="https://branch.climateaction.tech/about">Branch online magazine</a>. I
  31. tend to lump this together with the various "solar web" projects such as the
  32. <a href="https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/01/how-sustainable-is-a-solar-powered-website.html">solar-powered
  33. version of Low-Tech Magazine</a> and the <a href="http://solarprotocol.net/">Solar Protocol</a>. Also somewhat related
  34. is the <a href="https://smallfile.ca/">Small File Media Festival</a> that
  35. criticizes the carbon footprint of streamed media with smallish (video)
  36. files. This is an area where the demoscene could make important
  37. contributions.</p>
  38. <p>In addition to the generic groups of like-minded people, there are
  39. specific projects, such as <a href="https://collapseos.org/">Collapse
  40. OS</a>, whose participants don't necessarily have connections to wider
  41. groups.</p>
  42. <p>Occasionally, an online article pops up that expresses similar concerns
  43. and ideas as I did with the Permacomputing essay, like Wim Vanderbauwhede's
  44. <a href="https://wimvanderbauwhede.github.io/articles/frugal-computing/">Frugal
  45. computing</a>. It is great to see that many different people independently
  46. come to similar conclusions, but this can also be seen as a sign that we
  47. need more social media activism and awareness-rising even to make all the
  48. concerned people find each other.</p>
  49. <p>Marloes de Valk has been <a href="https://computingwithinlimits.org/2021/papers/limits21-devalk.pdf">mapping</a>
  50. this scattered "pluriverse" and its terminology, but I have the feeling that
  51. this only scratches the surface, and that there's a lot of relevant practice
  52. going on in e.g. non-Western countries.</p>
  53. <p>A major problem with this "pluriverse" is the lack of a common name to be
  54. used in communication. "Permacomputing" scored quite high in De Valk's
  55. Fediverse poll, and I have no objections against using it for this purpose.
  56. Something like "radically sustainable computing" might also be a good
  57. umbrella term ("radically" being the keyword that differentiates it from the
  58. greenwashed capitalism of "Sustainable ITC").</p>
  59. <h2>2. Collapse Informatics</h2>
  60. <p>Many of the early Computing within Limits papers discuss collapse and
  61. scarcity scenarios from somewhat bleak viewpoints. In later years, the
  62. research community started to reframe itself in more positive ways by
  63. drawing inspiration from e.g. Hes &amp; du Plessis' <i><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Designing-for-Hope-Pathways-to-Regenerative-Sustainability/Hes-Plessis/p/book/9781138800625">Regenerative
  64. Sustainability</a></i> and Escobar's <i><a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/designs-for-the-pluriverse/">Designs for
  65. the Pluriverse</a></i> – just like Permacomputing draws inspiration from
  66. Permaculture. But even when focusing on a positive vision, one should not
  67. take anything for granted. If a vision cannot survive a collapse of
  68. industrial production or network infrastructure, it isn't resilient
  69. enough.</p>
  70. <p>An important paper in the collapse vein is Jang et al.'s <i><a href="https://kurti.sh/pubs/unplanned_limits17.pdf">Unplanned Obsolescence:
  71. Hardware and Software After Collapse</a></i> that e.g. estimates lifetimes for
  72. various hardware components, with the conclusion that it may be possible to
  73. maintain some of current computer hardware for several human generations
  74. even if the entire semiconductor industry collapsed right now. Solderpunk
  75. (the creator of the afore-mentioned Gemini) has a concrete proposal for a
  76. "<a href="gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/0/%7esolderpunk/phlog/the-standard-salvaged-computing-platform.txt">standard
  77. salvaged computing platform</a>" based on smartphone/tablet e-waste. I'm
  78. sure that there are components with much longer potential lifespans (Jang et
  79. al. estimate current mobile hardware to be able to persist for about one
  80. generation), but at least there would be heaps of this type of junk
  81. available in the early years. I'm personally interested by the possibilities
  82. of microcontroller-based smartcards (that are even more ubiquitous than
  83. mobile phones but have entirely different challenges).</p>
  84. <p>Jang et al. also have a few interesting words about maintenance culture.
  85. In the same way as religious organizations continued to maintain ancient
  86. Chinese roads that no longer received governmental support, computing could
  87. be maintained in a post-collapse world by "semi-ascetic cultural
  88. organizations whose primary focus may or may not be computing". I have
  89. personally been fascinated by the potential of monastery-like communities to
  90. preserve science and technology even during "dark ages" when the society at
  91. large sees no value in them. In medieval Europe, some monasteries even
  92. refined and advocated technologies such as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271064820_Wind_and_Water_in_the_Middle_Ages_Fluid_Technologies_from_Antiquity_to_the_Renaissance">water
  93. power</a>.</p>
  94. <p>The term <i><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262276832_Collapse_Informatics_and_Practice_Theory_Method_and_Design">collapse
  95. informatics</a></i> comes from Bill Tomlinson who suggests that one should look
  96. into the existing computing practices in groups that have voluntarily chosen
  97. to live off-grid or in other "collapse-like" conditions. I might also want
  98. to include those who do so involuntarily, as well as those who have made
  99. "collapse-compatible" decisions specifically with computing (e.g. artists
  100. who specialize in old hardware).</p>
  101. <p>I don't know if there is going to be a collapse, but I'm quite sure that
  102. the entire society needs to reduce energy consumption, lengthen
  103. technological lifespans and reduce superfluous dependencies. Recognizing the
  104. possiblity of a collapse may help coordinate these changes. <i><a href="https://www.ceguide.org/Strategies-and-examples/Design/Design-for-disassembly-deconstruction">Designing for
  105. disassembly</a></i> is an example of a concrete goal that supports hardware
  106. longevity in both collapse and non-collapse scenarios.</p>
  107. <h2>3. Anti-utilitarianism</h2>
  108. <p>In profit-oriented societies, people often try to make themselves and
  109. their fields of expertise as important and useful as possible. It has
  110. therefore been delightful to learn about visions that detach computing from
  111. all utilitarian purposes.</p>
  112. <p>Brendan Howell's <i><a href="https://moddr.net/rustic-computing/">Rustic
  113. Computing</a></i> is an artistic project that depicts computing as "the pastime
  114. of dilettantes, amateur scientists and gentleman tabulators who construct
  115. machines to manipulate abstract symbols with no practical application".
  116. Computer components are built using pre-industrial technology, which reminds
  117. me of early mechanical computers such as Zuse's Z1. When computers are built
  118. with non-pollutive technologies, they don't need to justify their existence
  119. by paying back their ecological debts. And since they have no practical
  120. purpose, they don't even have to be faster or better than manual
  121. paper-and-pencil calculation. They can just be interesting and important the
  122. way they are.</p>
  123. <p>I see much of the same attitude in <i><a href="https://compudanzas.net/about.html">Compudanzas</a></i>, a research
  124. project that reimagines computing in the form of "seemingly useless"
  125. activities such as rituals and dancing.</p>
  126. <p>In Steve Lord's idea of <i><a href="https://thedorkweb.substack.com/p/the-100-year-computer">Heirloom
  127. Computing</a></i>, a computer that has been made to last for many generations
  128. can be a piece of family history that evolves with the family, keeping
  129. permanent traces from every generation that has used it, and does not need
  130. to have any purpose besides this.</p>
  131. <p>As suggested by Jang et al., a post-collapse society that has eventually
  132. lost all of its artificial computing capacity may still want to continue the
  133. practice of computer science in a purely theoretical level, as a form of
  134. mathematics. This is another example of how computing may remain meaningful
  135. for some pockets of culture even with no ability to run any potential
  136. applications.</p>
  137. <p>Detachment from utilitarism may (perhaps paradoxically) give way to a
  138. deeper importance and meaning. I'm particularly thinking about Yuk Hui's
  139. idea of <i><a href="https://www.academia.edu/35561477/On_Cosmotechnics_For_a_Renewed_Relation_between_Technology_and_Nature_in_the_Anthropocene">Cosmotechnics</a></i>
  140. which refers to a unified harmony between technology, culture and non-human
  141. nature. Modern technological thinking lost this harmony by turning
  142. everything into utilitarian resources. An interesting point made by Hui is
  143. that every culture should find its own approach to cosmotechnics – so, we
  144. would be replacing a homogenous global utilitarian monoculture with a rich
  145. and diverse polyculture.</p>
  146. <h2>4. Limits of imagination</h2>
  147. <p>It is often difficult to even imagine a kind of computer culture that
  148. does not suffer from unlimited growth. Even the most interesting real-world
  149. examples (such as the Soviet computing culture) exist somewhat in the shadow
  150. of Western developments and ideologies. So, there's no real "other" to
  151. contrast the growth-obsessed mainstream computing with.</p>
  152. <p>Computing within Limits papers have also given me an impression that some
  153. scholars even find it difficult to imagine e.g. how software development
  154. could take place without the Internet. In cases like this, I might suggest
  155. looking into the actual history and listening to people who have experienced
  156. it. Even though the history of computing isn't nearly as diverse as it could
  157. or should be, it is still worthwhile to study it. And definitely not only
  158. the mainstream "winners' history" but everything from the various cultures
  159. and subcultures.</p>
  160. <p>Eriksson and Pargman <a href="https://computingwithinlimits.org/2018/papers/limits18-eriksson.pdf">have
  161. suggested the use of counterfactual history</a> to assist imagination.
  162. Sadly, their own <i><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/project/Coalworld">Coalworld</a></i>
  163. scenario (with the point of divergence being an early-seventies "peak oil"
  164. event) has not yet reached the point where computing can be elaborated. I
  165. wish there was more speculation (both fiction-oriented and academically
  166. rigorous works) that would present thoroughly-imagined alternatives to the
  167. actual history.</p>
  168. <h2>5. Alternative paradigms</h2>
  169. <p>I've already mentioned several "alternative paradigms of computing":
  170. <i>frugal computing</i>, <i>heirloom computing</i>, <i>rustic computing</i>,
  171. <i>collapse informatics</i>. But there are still a few more to add:</p>
  172. <p><i><a href="https://computingwithinlimits.org/2018/papers/limits18-mann.pdf">Regenerative
  173. computing</a></i> is Mann et al.'s idea of applying Hes &amp; du Plessis'
  174. <i>Regenerative sustainability</i> to computing. The most
  175. Permacomputing-relevant part of the Limits'18 is quite dense, so I'll quote
  176. it verbatim: (number 7 refers to Hes &amp; du Plessis' 2014 book <i><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Designing-for-Hope-Pathways-to-Regenerative-Sustainability/Hes-Plessis/p/book/9781138800625">Designing
  177. for hope: pathways to regenerative sustainability</a></i>)</p>
  178. <blockquote>
  179. (3) Move beyond efficiency as the primary lever available to computing. -
  180. These new narratives should look to nature and ecology to demonstrate the
  181. interplay between computing, society and biological systems where limits of
  182. these systems are respected and worked with.<br>
  183. (4) Integrate ecological worldviews into computing's narratives and
  184. processes both the theory such as living systems and deep ecology, and
  185. values sets:
  186. <ul>
  187. <li>Integrity - maintaining the wholeness of [wider] systems, ensuring that
  188. structure and relationships remain intact and functioning as they
  189. should.</li>
  190. <li>Inclusivity - "interacting with the world in its entirety" [7, p. 35],
  191. engaging and integrating with all dimensions, levels of existence and
  192. knowledge.</li>
  193. <li>Harmony - all elements cooperate through relationships that are
  194. respectful in order to avoid dissonance.</li>
  195. <li>Respect - all parts of the world have intrinsic worth and all existence
  196. is part of the extended self, and therefore all self-respect is extended to
  197. mutual respect for the world.</li>
  198. <li>Mutuality - "we are in this together, and what happens to ‘others’ will
  199. also have an effect on self" - see: compassion, treating others the same as
  200. yourself.</li>
  201. <li>Positive reciprocity - "reciprocating in a way that is
  202. of benefit to and advances the relationship between
  203. self and extended self" [7, p. 35].</li>
  204. <li>Fellowship - an extension of mutuality and positive reciprocity, where
  205. the world is co-created by humans in partnership with nature.</li>
  206. <li>Responsibility - morally accountability for the consequences of our
  207. actions in an uncertain and unpredictable world</li>
  208. <li>Humility - change is constant, we cannot know the true consequences of
  209. our actions</li>
  210. <li>Non-attachment - In order to adapt to changing circumstances it is
  211. important to uphold non-attachment in order to decouple from “the futility
  212. of trying to hold onto anything in an ever changing world including ideas,
  213. dogmas and strategies” [7, p. 36]</li>
  214. </ul>
  215. </blockquote>
  216. <p><i>Convivial computing</i>, from <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235173004_Constrained_Design_Processes_Steps_Towards_Convivial_Computing">Fischer
  217. &amp; Lemke's 1987 paper</a>, is an earlier example of taking ideas from
  218. ecologically conscious thinking into computing (in this case, from Ivan
  219. Illich's book <i>Tools for Conviviality</i>). Even earlier, Lee Felsenstein
  220. had been inspired by the same book when designing the Osborne 1 personal
  221. computer. In both cases, however, the ecological aspects of Illich's thought
  222. are ignored. Also, Fischer &amp; Lemke's paper doesn't feel at all like a
  223. forgotten masterpiece of groundbreaking thought – the ideas actually seem to
  224. be very much in line with what was implemented in the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_application_development">RAD</a>
  225. tools" of the 1990s. And some of these tools (Delphi, Visual Basic) felt
  226. like the epitome of bloat at the time.</p>
  227. <p><i><a href="https://computingwithinlimits.org/2015/papers/limits2015-raghavan.pdf">Benign
  228. computing</a></i> basically advocates keeping things small in order to keep
  229. the problems caused by them small. Currently, huge problems are created by
  230. huge, centrally-managed systems built with the principles of abstraction and
  231. indirection. Raghavan's critique of these principles is very similar to how
  232. I see "<a href="http://viznut.fi/texts-en/maximalism_virtualism.html">maximalism and
  233. virtualism</a>". I also completely agree with Raghavan about that "the
  234. utopian notion of creating new technology that is strictly "beneficial" or
  235. that advances "development"" must be rejected.</p>
  236. <h2>6. Permacomputing practice</h2>
  237. <p>My Permacomputing article from 2020 is basically a vision of a new kind
  238. of computing that works in a radically different way in a radically
  239. different society. It does not give many guidelines towards actual practice
  240. or how to transition towards permacomputing, so maybe I should cover this
  241. area a little bit.</p>
  242. <p>I have been reluctant to name specific technologies or design constraints
  243. for permacomputing. This is because I want to support a diverse polyculture
  244. of ideas and possibilities. Asking what is the most suitable programming
  245. language for permacomputing is a bit like asking what is the most suitable
  246. plant for permaculture – the entire question contradicts itself. There is no
  247. "silver bullet" – there isn't one even in the mainstream industry despite
  248. its continuous attempts to uniformize everything. However, there can be
  249. design wisdom about the strengths, weaknesses and mutual interactions of
  250. specific elements, and this wisdom helps with choosing a language, a plant,
  251. an algorithm or a design pattern for a specific place.</p>
  252. <p>In software, nothing that can be run locally is "poisonous" per se. Even
  253. if something consumes a lot of energy, it does not need to mean more than
  254. that the consumption must be restricted to when that energy is available.
  255. Far more important questions are how the hardware is obtained and
  256. maintained, and how the energy is produced.</p>
  257. <p>I have noticed that many "sustainable" or even "low-tech" computing
  258. projects have been built on cheap DIY-oriented boards such as Raspberry Pi.
  259. Even though these may be among the best of the currently available options,
  260. it should be noted that they have been designed for hackability and
  261. replaceability rather than longevity or repairability. There might be a need
  262. for a radically repairable and modifiable hardware basis to fulfill similar
  263. purposes. Radical modifiability might include the ability to interface with
  264. a large variety of different chips (processors, SoCs etc.) – this would help
  265. maximize the usable lifespans of those chips.</p>
  266. <h3>6.1. Low complexity</h3>
  267. <p>Keeping systems very simple but very capable is a good guideline for a
  268. lot of permacomputing, but particularly so for the crucial basic software
  269. used to enable salvaged/makeshift hardware. Bare-hardware Forth systems
  270. (such as Collapse OS or OpenBIOS) are very capable for their low complexity,
  271. and can be small enough even for rudimentary 8-bit microcontrollers.</p>
  272. <p>One possible approach to simplicity is to try to keep things simple
  273. enough that they can be thoroughly understood and (re)implemented by one
  274. person. This applies not only to application programs but the dependent
  275. elements as well (programming language, operating system, firmware,
  276. hardware). This is not to say that people should write everything from
  277. scratch but to keep the complexity human-graspable. The ideal of human-sized
  278. computing is particularly applicable to systems that are used as tools
  279. (because tools in general should be thoroughly understandable to their
  280. users). Also, in decentralized "post-collapse" societies, the local
  281. all-around experts ("village hackers") should be able to master all aspects
  282. of the local computing systems in order to maintain them and to adapt them
  283. to various local needs. All this becomes much easier if complexities are
  284. kept low or moderate.</p>
  285. <p>The effective complexity of a software program can be estimated by
  286. summing its executable size with the size of the minimum set of dependencies
  287. required to run it (including the OS components). Alternatively, one can
  288. calculate its bootstrap complexity (by summing the size of all code and data
  289. required to compile the program, the dependencies, and the entire dependency
  290. network of the toolset required for the compilation in the smallest system
  291. that can run them). These types of assessment strongly favor programs that
  292. are written in non-bloated languages and can be made run on bare hardware –
  293. even if they can also run in bloated environments and use their special
  294. features.</p>
  295. <p>One way to deal with huge platforms is to create "pockets of simplicity"
  296. such as <a href="https://100r.co/site/uxn.html">simple virtual machines</a>
  297. that can also run on bare hardware. Emulators of existing hardware platforms
  298. are a special case of this. VMs are particularly suitable for small things
  299. that require far less computation than what the hardware is capable of. A
  300. virtual machine may also help eliminate compatibility problems and code rot,
  301. if it is unambiguously defined and the definition is canonized (permanently
  302. frozen). If approached with mainstream engineering attitudes, however, VMs
  303. may easily lead to "Java-like" problems (wastefulness, incompatibilities,
  304. etc.) Setting artificial limits to memory usage and execution speeds may
  305. prevent some of these developments. One might also want to think about how
  306. to statically translate VM programs into native code for running on
  307. platforms that are actually small.</p>
  308. <p>In mainstream computing, "ease of use" is usually implemented as
  309. "superficial simplicity" or "pseudo-simplicity", i.e. as an additional layer
  310. of complexity that hides the underlying layers. Meanwhile, systems that are
  311. actually very simple and elegant are often presented in ways that make them
  312. look complex to laypeople (think about the esoteric syntax of Forth or Lisp,
  313. for example). Ideally, UIs should reflect, amplify and illustrate the
  314. underlying elegance instead of trying to hide or misrepresent the inner
  315. workings. The earliest versions of the Apple Macintosh OS manage to do this
  316. to some extent (the system is not much more complex than the UI
  317. representation, every file is represented by an icon, program files are
  318. stand-alone without external dependencies, etc.)</p>
  319. <p>When minimizing the internal complexity of a system, however, it should
  320. not be isolated from the complexity of the external world. Computers are
  321. dependent on energy availability, temperature and other conditions, so they
  322. should be able to adjust their operation to the changes in these conditions
  323. – even if environmental monitoring is not among their designated tasks.</p>
  324. <h3>6.2. Towards concrete examples</h3>
  325. <p>Permacomputing has so far been defined in ways that emphasize generic
  326. ideas and a wide diversity of possibilities. However, in order to actually
  327. create something that represents permacomputing, one needs to make a lot of
  328. specific design decisions. Concrete examples (either real projects or
  329. mockups) may help with this. In order to cover the possibility space, we
  330. need a lot of different examples from different points of view.</p>
  331. <p>One possible starting point is to think about a general-purpose
  332. single-user computer that remains usable and relevant as long as possible
  333. even in a collapse scenario. Of course, any computer should be
  334. end-user-programmable and have some kind of programming interface to
  335. facilitate it, but what would be the concrete applications this kind of
  336. computer would be used for?</p>
  337. <p>I assume that viewing text files from physical storage devices (such as
  338. flash memory) is what would persist the longest in any scenario. A few
  339. gigabytes of storage would be enough for an entire library of literature
  340. that could be valuable for centuries. And accessing it would be possible
  341. (although not comfortable) even with very rudimentary post-collapse I/O
  342. devices (such as a few switches and indicators for a manual serial protocol
  343. – somewhat like using a Morse code telegraph).</p>
  344. <p>It may be theoretically possible to even read data directly from a USB
  345. flash drive with this kind of manual "telegraphy", but the complexity of the
  346. USB protocol would probably get overwhelming. Fortunately, a complex
  347. protocol implies that there is a (re)programmable microcontroller in the
  348. device, so one may want to reprogram it to support a simpler protocol. One
  349. could also add a "backdoor" that enables the device to run arbitrary
  350. programs from the drive, thus unleashing its potential for general-purpose
  351. computing. It may even be possible to get a USB stick to drive "proper"
  352. interface devices such as display screens despite the low number of I/O pins
  353. (two output pins are enough for composite video, but LCD panels
  354. unfortunately tend to need much more, so some kind of a multiplexer would be
  355. required). This could help reduce and postpone the need for "Morse
  356. code".</p>
  357. <p>These could become general guidelines for maximizing the lifespans of
  358. arbitrary programmable devices: 1) make it as straightforward as possible to
  359. run arbitrary code, 2) support an electrically simple interface that can
  360. even be operated manually in times of far-future scarcity.</p>
  361. <p>Another persistent application besides file viewing would be text
  362. editing. It has been prominent in personal computers since the early years
  363. and probably will be in just about any scenario. It would also imply the
  364. need for general file management tasks such as copying files between storage
  365. devices. Programs for doing these tasks would be among the first to
  366. implement for any "permacomputer" that does not require special expertise to
  367. use.</p>
  368. <p>Telecommunication is important but does not require computers – messages
  369. may well be relayed with classical amateur radio methods. Also, computer
  370. file-sharing networks can well be based on physical media. However, the
  371. existence of a radio and a computer makes it appealing to combine the two. A
  372. program for transferring files and text streams over abritrary channels, in
  373. one- or two-way protocols or packet protocols, with or without error
  374. correction and/or encryption, would be a fine inclusion to the set of
  375. "collapse software".</p>
  376. <p>Of course, supporting far-future post-collapse scenarios does not mean
  377. that one should stick to far-future post-collapse practices – rather, it
  378. ensures that there are fallbacks for everything. You can use a
  379. high-resolution screen today, but the system will work fine even with
  380. tomorrow's more rudimentary display. You can run a complex OS today, but the
  381. simple OS in the firmware ROM is also perfectly fine for editing a text
  382. document.</p>
  383. <p>I imagine that this "simple OS" would normally look either like a plain
  384. Forth interpreter or an orthodox file manager (i.e. a Norton Commander
  385. clone), depending on whether the computer is connected to a sufficient
  386. screen or not. For screens that are a bit too small for the OFM there might
  387. also be an intermediate option that resembles early-2000s cellphone
  388. interfaces. All of these modes would be usable even with quirky input
  389. devices (such as a game controller, a single telegraph key or a barely
  390. functional touchscreen). Hardware is accessed via Forth words that can be
  391. straightforwardly redefined if there are unexpected hardware changes (such
  392. as specific glitches that need to be bypassed).</p>
  393. <p>The OFM would allow one to browse, view and manipulate files, run
  394. executable files, edit text files and enter Forth commands. It could also be
  395. set up as a bootloader to load a more complex OS, but loading one would
  396. often be unnecessary, as many programs (especially ones that favor
  397. single-tasking) would also be available as "Forth" executables (that may
  398. also be native binaries that may or may not use Forth words) or as "ROM"
  399. files runnable with a simple VM.</p>
  400. <p>Systems that don't have much capacity to spare would perhaps only have a
  401. plain Forth interpreter, or if even that would be too bloated, something
  402. like the standard byte protocol used by smartcards.</p>
  403. <p>Longevity maximization easily leads to an emphasis on conservative and
  404. well-tested ideas, so this example may sound a little bit bleak. A fancier
  405. starting point (such as one based on ideas from unconventional computing)
  406. would perhaps give more room for fancier permacomputing ideas that take more
  407. distance from fossil-era computing.</p>
  408. <h3>6.3. Sustainable cyberspace</h3>
  409. <p>There are many projects that address the sustainability problems of the
  410. World Wide Web. Activism for sustainable websites, solar-powered servers,
  411. new protocols, simpler document formats. However, these often take the
  412. underlying Internet for granted. The access may perhaps be slow at times or
  413. places, and a solar-powered server may be sometimes offline, but any place
  414. of the world is still supposedly accessible from any other place of the
  415. world at any time. The weirdness of this assumption may not even be obvious
  416. to modern Internet users – after all, it is in the core of nearly every
  417. major service/protocol (perhaps apart from Email and Usenet that can also
  418. propagate over temporary connections).</p>
  419. <p>I see need for a decentralized protocol that works painlessly in
  420. conditions where everything is not constantly available. Where individual
  421. servers or communication links may be online or offline depending on
  422. circumstances. Where other parts of the network may only be accessible via
  423. temporary connections, physical file-sharing or data mules. Where your
  424. messages still reach their destinations, where you still get the files you
  425. need, and where "social media" discussions can still thrive, despite all
  426. these logistical constraints.</p>
  427. <p>For some inspiration for the required mindset, one may think about how
  428. files were collected and propagated in "pre-Internet" conditions (BBSes,
  429. friend-to-friend file copying) and how to make these processes as automatic
  430. as possible.</p>
  431. <h2>7. Collapse-tolerant business</h2>
  432. <p>I don't often think about how to do business in the capitalist economy,
  433. but in the early 2021 I asked myself what kind of IT company (or other type
  434. of IT-related organization) would thrive both before and after a collapse. I
  435. wanted to challenge my prejudice that anything you do for profit/living will
  436. always be somewhat "greenwashed" instead of properly sustainable.</p>
  437. <p>Here are my ideas of how a relatively small "permacomputing company"
  438. could operate in the "age of abundance":</p>
  439. <ul>
  440. <li>Accept software-related and other customer projects just like any
  441. average IT company, as long as they are in line with strict eco-ethical
  442. standards. Refuse to contribute to the wasteful use of resources, and
  443. strongly prefer doing things in sustainable and robust ways. Make these
  444. standards a part of the company brand.</li>
  445. <li>Have long-term in-house research and development projects related to
  446. radically sustainable computing, both software and hardware. Convince
  447. investors about their vitality to the future of civilization. Also practice
  448. permaculture (or constantly co-operate with ones who do) and try to connect
  449. it to everything else that the company is doing.</li>
  450. <li>Self-host everything you need for software work on local physical
  451. servers. This includes all networked applications as well as an extensive
  452. library of software and documentation (including repair manuals and OS
  453. distributions for all relevant hardware). Offer hosting services to make
  454. use of the surplus.</li>
  455. <li>Produce as much of your own energy as possible with solar panels, wind
  456. turbines etc. Sell the surplus to the company that maintains the grid.</li>
  457. <li>Repair and maintain all hardware by yourself. Maintain a storage
  458. facility for old/recycled hardware. Offer services related to repairing and
  459. recycling (in a small scale, for now). Maintain a hackerspace or constantly
  460. co-operate with one.</li>
  461. <li>Support forms of culture that strengthen the status of radically
  462. sustainable computing/technology (e.g. hackerspaces, education, demoscene
  463. events, art projects that use "obsolete" hardware, etc.)</li>
  464. <li>Make sure that many of the employees live close to the office. Maintain
  465. spaces that can be turned into apartments once transportation becomes more
  466. difficult.</li>
  467. </ul>
  468. <p>Once the world has completely changed, the focus or the organization will
  469. become somewhat wider:
  470. </p><ul>
  471. <li>Accept any customer projects related to computing or any other
  472. technology you happen to understand. Offer repair services.</li>
  473. <li>Collect/buy "e-waste", build working computers and appliances out of it,
  474. sell them.</li>
  475. <li>Keep in contact with the rest of the "computing scene" even if
  476. long-range communication networks have collapsed. Share information and
  477. trade hardware components. Use couriers if necessary.</li>
  478. <li>If microchips or some other essential components are no longer produced,
  479. participate in attempts to restart the production (in a small scale, for
  480. now – until we learn how to do it sustainably).</li>
  481. <li>Similarly, try to rebuild communication networks if they have collapsed.
  482. Offer communications services, maybe maintain "Internet cafés".</li>
  483. <li>Maintain digital and physical libraries of pre-collapse and
  484. post-collapse information. Print physical books. Participate in projects
  485. that support the continuing existence of science and education.</li>
  486. <li>Make sure that technological understanding will pass on to new
  487. generations. If necessary, educate the new employees (or cult members or
  488. whatever they may be called) from scratch.</li>
  489. <li>If it becomes impossible to make living out of this, start depending on
  490. agriculture. But in any case don't forget the importance of science and
  491. technology. If necessary, explain the importance in religious terms.</li>
  492. </ul>
  493. <h2>8. Postdigital advocacy</h2>
  494. <p>Art researchers recognize the concept of "postdigital" as a reaction
  495. against the so-called "digital revolution" that took place in the nineties,
  496. and especially against the typically "digital" esthetics. Using cassette
  497. tapes for music in a world where digital music formats are ubiquitous is an
  498. obvious example of "postdigital".</p>
  499. <p>But not all that is called "postdigital" is non-digital. Actually, much
  500. of it is very profoundly digital – pixel art and glitch art for example. The
  501. term is somewhat misleading – it does not only mean "the non-digital that
  502. comes after digital", but can also be read as "a later form of digital" or
  503. "something that comes after the digital revolution". It particularly seems
  504. to set itself apart from the "progress narrative" that wants to continuously
  505. replace everything with "bigger and better". This makes the idea relevant to
  506. permacomputing as well.</p>
  507. <p>When advocating lifestyles that abandon maximalism, it is important to
  508. frame it in a positive way. Settling for simple and coarse things does not
  509. need to be a "sacrifice" but something genuinely better than the mainstream
  510. alternative. "Postdigitality" is already a prominent force in e.g. indie
  511. games that often choose to use pixel graphics as a "modern" esthetic
  512. preference rather than as "retro nostalgia". This gives hope that a major
  513. paradigm shift is possible for the mainstream digital culture in
  514. general.</p>
  515. <p>During the global pandemic, many people have been extremely dependent on
  516. prohibitively complex digital blackboxes. I therefore assume that, once the
  517. pandemic is over, many people will want to distance themselves from the
  518. mainstream digital world. To concentate on non-digital things but also to
  519. find a healthier relationship with the digital. I think this is something
  520. that advocates of radically sustainable computing should tap into.</p>
  521. <h2>Links</h2>
  522. <p>(Added 2021-08-27) Here are some links I failed to include in the
  523. original version of this page:</p>
  524. <ul>
  525. <li><a href="https://moddingfridays.bleu255.com/Main_Page">Modding
  526. Fridays</a>: "An online community of people interested to learn together about the maintenance, repurposing, and reappropriation of supposedly obsolete consumer electronics, for fun and profit. We see our interest as part of a broader conversation on post-digital culture, permacomputing and repair
  527. culture". Includes a wiki and an XMPP chatroom.</li>
  528. <li><a href="http://civboot.org/">Civboot</a> is an educational project
  529. aiming at simplifying the requirements and dependencies of computer
  530. technology as well as increasing humanity's ability to understand it.</li>
  531. <li><a href="https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/permacomputing.html">Permacomputing
  532. at the XXIIVV Wiki</a></li>
  533. <li><a href="https://communitywiki.org/wiki/SimpleSystemsManifesto">Simple
  534. Systems Manifesto</a></li>
  535. </ul>
  536. Written by Ville-Matias "<a href="http://www.viznut.fi/">Viznut</a>" Heikkilä.<br>
  537. <b>2021-08-12</b>: initial release<br>
  538. <b>2021-08-27</b>: added the links section<br>
  539. <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
  540. <img alt="Creative Commons License" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAFgAAAAfCAMAAABUFvrSAAAADFBMVEUAAAD///99fX2+w7rj0zguAAAA4klEQVRIx7WWgQ6FIAhFYf3/P9cjMX0K3rvStVwDT3QTRFS2jB/22DBkE9fI/WuwV639GnOrEILN/R6jKW4DCEaWftVWsWVJyjWX3M9NHTcne7j3fQH+42Zk8NNuy8BNlhTXOi3AqiM5V2KhhYGfv9xPH4DdV+oUrmGk8K1z3XzKwN2uQMBtJIDIwHZjwXCCUFIwKU39PKYIUduNKptMglCFnklp7gQhihB56M3L5tujOqqG75uA+dEU9wyWH6V5wMjR89CM2KVgzMf0IYpYRHE5ZskVRizKKA1g2Yi3tIU7sCfXlRBdibyVCwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg=="></a><br>
  541. This work is licensed under a
  542. <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
  543. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.