My thesis on P4P is finally online!

zelf

P4P: Steps Toward more Adaptive Internets: charting Open-Source, P2P and Local-First Networks

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@zelf this is marvellous. And #p4p a good term for the combination of paradigm shifts that allow us to shift away from cloud dominance and browser oligopoly. Congratulations, and hats off for this innovative work.

Erlend Sogge Heggen

@zelf sounds marvelous. I’m gonna try to make my way through it (we’re using Willow in #weirdone after all) but 90 pages of academic text is admittedly a bit intimidating to me, although what I skimmed so far was quite legible to me

Just to check, I don’t suppose there’s like a ~10 page version of this in the works for laypeople?

Erlend Sogge Heggen

@smallcircles @zelf I had a mixed impression of the term. Before any context I thought ‘uh-oh, do we have a case of web5 type branding here?, but as soon as I read that it stands for peer *for* peer it made complete sense and I like it, heh.

{Insert Pasta Pun}

@zelf this graphic is really blurry?

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@erlend @zelf

Indeed. I find it very well relates both to technical and social concepts. People standing up for each other. Where they co-create and together shape the works that advance humanity there's peer production.

Social dynamics in grassroots creative environments (at 'movement' level) depend a lot on hedonic motives driving proactive participation of autonomous agents/peers. Intrinsic motivation drives 'governance' as emergent force through P4P commons-based service & value exchange.

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@erlend @zelf

I have named the overall 'formula' that incorporates such ideas "Joyful creation". Indicating a vision for seamless collaboration across the commons.

Also relating to "Joy of coding", but broadened to holistically include the entire scope of the creation process plus the full lifecycle of the created work, from first idea to dispersal of the value that was 'converged'.

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@erlend @zelf

I took inspiration of Dan North's @tastapod concept of #JoyfulCoding outlined at https://cupid.dev

Joy of coding is a big hedonic driver that starts many FOSS hobby projects. The problem is that these grow beyond hobbies and start to crack down quickly under the unaddressed forces that begin to work on them.

So here holistic approaches become vital. Accounting for evolution, adopting a sustainability-first approach to growth, relate local scope --> ecosystem --> movement.

{Insert Pasta Pun}

@zelf where is "routing agnostic" defined?

Is that "topology agnostic routing" or something else?

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@erlend @zelf @tastapod

As you know I 'ditched' FOSS as useful concept unless in handwavy casual chatter, and use a redefinition that is workable for a sustainable commons:

FOSS = SOSS + hobby projects
SOSS = Sustainable open social software
SOSS = Projects addressing their FSDL
FSDL = Free software development lifecycle
SOSS = Foundation of open social stack

Friendly and open ecosystems that may flourish and thrive can stand on SOSS, not on shaky hobby projects that may crumble any moment.

zelf

@erlend oh yes! Thank you for reminding me, was planning on making a zine out of it. I'll get on that too.

Great to hear you're using Willow! Their approach to protocol design inspired a lot of the conclusions in the thesis as well ~

Checked out #weirdone last night, will try it out for sure!

Edit: ps, I skimmed the documentation and got the impression you were running over ipfs, did you switch or running a merge somehow? *research curiosity intensifies*

zelf

@smallcircles @erlend @tastapod exactly! This is what one of the conclusions in my thesis was about. What design principles can be made for sustainable FOSS (or rather SOSS ;D) projects to thrive? How should organizing be done?

- Small (like two people can complete it)
specific (has a scoped function)
- Achievable (completed and no need for continuous expensive maintenance)
- Documented (other people can learn about it)
- Modular (can fit in with other projects, act as a bridge or connector)

All the above enable self-organizing, which is a resilient and adaptive formula for peer-for-peer as an ecosystem.

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@zelf @erlend @tastapod

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@zelf @erlend @tastapod

I would like to mention another imho crucial aspect. I have taken commonplace ideas of working-in-public to heart and created a variant called weaving-in-public. A very unselfish way, as you don't build a public influence sphere (influencer-style social networking):

Weaving in Public: Connecting people and interests

Placeholder for a possible Best Practice. This is based on how I do a lot of Advocacy activities e.g. relating to the Fediverse. Weaving in Public This practice is related to Learning in Public: The fastest way to lear…

Discuss Social Coding (discuss.coding.social)

Working in public is only a good practice. Insufficient. For healthy evolving commons we need working-in-commons, so we keep control and ownership "of the people, by the people".

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@zelf @erlend @tastapod

I have been in discussions with quite a few FOSS working-in-public extremists who wanted to take the concept to its maximum extent, like operating with *complete* transparency (as a core requirement for trust), and plead e.g. for "radically transparent strategies".

That's playing poker with open cards and wondering why you always lose.

It is not a basis to live up to the dreams and ambitions to one day compete with big tech and brighter futures. It's flawed thinking.

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@zelf @erlend @tastapod

What @zelf indicates is that there are many different contexts to take into consideration, and the context dictates the best approach. At a very fundamental basis the social context determines the meaning of information. You can have it stored in some kind of data model. I.e. data. But information and semantics make things as nuanced as you can manage and support it. How much of that we can do with tech, who knows. The social is still mostly all manual activity.

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@zelf @erlend @tastapod

Btw we have various related subjects being discussed in social coding movement channels, subsequently in the Social experience design and Groundwork labs matrix chatrooms:

You're invited to talk on Matrix

(matrix.to)

You're invited to talk on Matrix

(matrix.to)

And reflections on these themes are welcome on the movement's discourse forum:

Discuss Social Coding

Build better together and create solutions that people love

Discuss Social Coding (discuss.coding.social)

The website https://coding.social is informative, yet outdated. Should get a revamp in due time

small circle 🕊 in calmness

@zelf @erlend @tastapod

This comment in the #SX channel directly relates to more observation re:social context:

You're invited to talk on Matrix

(matrix.to)

Erlend Sogge Heggen

@zelf hmm no, what docs did you derive ipfs from? Oh, the fact that I did a talk at the ipfs conf I guess.

Weird was never based on ipfs, but it has been prototyped using a close cousin, Iroh:

Weird happenings

FedCM, OIDC and IndieAuth are converging; Iroh gives us p2p superpowers; and, the Norwegian Buddhist Foundation has partnered with us as early adopters!

Muni Blog (blog.muni.town)

That’s what led us to Willow, which is now a core part of our architecture, whereas Iroh is being relegated to a more optional net-protocol for p2p connectivity.

Leaf, ATProto and ActivityPub

How does Leaf compare to AtProto and ActivityPub?

Muni Blog (blog.muni.town)

Preston Maness ☭

@zelf >This study explores the development and implementation of Peer-for-Peer (P4P) networks, a family of open-source, peer-to-peer, and local-first communication protocols. Rooted in the principles of complexity theory and an ontological basis in complex realism, the research examines how small, modular, and community-driven infrastructures can serve as adaptive solutions in response to ecological, social, and technological crises. Through a mixed-methods approach, including interviews with nine case studies and an in-person workshop, the study identifies design principles that enable resilience and sustainability in P4P ecosystems. Findings highlight the critical role of modularity—both technical and social—in fostering self-organization, adaptability, and mutual aid within decentralized networks. The study also introduces the concept of "nested isomorphism," revealing how the structural patterns of technical systems influence the organizational structures that develop them. P4P protocols, such as Willow, Mapeo, and Scuttlebutt, demonstrate the viability of localized and distributed communication infrastructures that prioritize user agency and digital sovereignty. These systems challenge the colonial structures of global internet infrastructure by empowering communities to build and maintain their own resilient networks. This research contributes to complexity theory by expanding the understanding of self-organizing systems and isomorphic tendencies of technical and organizational structures. The research presents a framework for designing future communication infrastructures that align with principles of sustainability and inclusivity. The implications of these findings extend to the fields of open-source development, decentralized networks, and adaptive infrastructure design, offering pathways toward a more equitable and resilient digital future.

Well shit! That sounds really interesting!

#SecureScuttleButt #SSB #decentralization #torrent #p2p #fediverse #federation #foss #meshnet #meshtastic #ActivityPub #lora #iot