I have an upcoming article about this but: I just slapped together a older desktop machine with a large HDD and made it network accessible via my local network. Add Kiwix and a few other things and you’re most of the way there. The difficulty is getting people to use it.

Yes it is and it does my heart good to find it. Thank you all so very much.

Oh wow, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’m really glad to know folks are working in this direction!

I’d love to tell you that it was an attempt at visual irony, but the reality is I originally posted this in another corner of the Fediverse and was too lazy to remove the #hashtags. The good/bad news is that I have nothing to sell you.

That one’s gonna haunt us for a very long time, even though it really just made official what had been happening routinely.

I honestly think that’s what we can do: start to build free, parallel structures and attract folks to join us. We can’t outspend Google but we can opt out of their ecosystem to some degree or another both collectively and individually.

And thank you for bringing that up as it helps me illustrate my central point: the importance of a free internet isn’t online life in and of itself, but rather what the open flow of information and communication enable us to do in order to make the world a better place. Thanks for allowing me to clarify.

It’s a real challenge in large portions of the world. So many national governments are perfectly happy with a corporatized, compartmentalized internet–and willing to pass legislation to keep it that way.

I absolutely agree, but I don’t think it’s too much to say that digital freedom and more important access to the internet and the various tools it offers played a starring roll in the Arab Spring.

Thank you for that insightful response. I appreciate you taking the time.

How would you suggest using the internet without search engines, and can that be accomplished in a way that is accessible to the average person?

Stay tuned, as I have thoughts and ideas on that in an upcoming article.

(Make sure to like and subscribe, as the YouTubers say ;) )

“When a hero comes along . . .”

I really appreciate you getting in touch and offering those clarifications. Thank you!

That could work, I suppose, but I do wonder how much it would slow everything down.

I have a very difficult time imagining an internet that is both interoperable and ranking-free. Now, that having been said, we are well outside my area of expertise here so I’d love to hear from folks who know more than me.

California has the opportunity to be good for something.

With pleasure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radicalized_(Doctorow_book)

Cody Doctorow wrote a short story about a group of newbie hackers doing just that.

I hope you’re right, sincerely.