[Commotion-discuss] Technical User Guide

Tue Oct 4 09:18:30 CDT 2011

Andrew- I'll definitely move/copy anything we generate to the project site.
We've basically just been using our wiki in the interim as we play with the
PR2 Debug release.

I also built a usable fonera image last night that I'll upload to the files
section.

Thanks for your work on this!

-Chris

On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 9:03 AM, Andrew Reynolds <andrew.reynolds34 at gmail.com
> wrote:

> That is an excellent suggestion, and one that's been on our minds here
> at OTI as well.
>
> We're trying to cover so much ground that even our more advanced users
> are likely to get stuck at some point. My goal is to be able to identify
> the common sticking points and give some sort of suggestion even if a
> full answer is not available.
>
> My focus right now is on overhauling the project site. Some of the
> things I plan to add are development task lists, how-to documents (such
> as you've suggested below), and a more useful navigation scheme. We're
> also splitting the "What is Commotion"-type material off onto a separate
> site, which should help us organize the technical and non-technical
> documentation a little more easily.
>
> In the mean time, please keep sending questions and suggestions to the
> list. I want to be sure all of this material makes it to the project site.
>
> -andrew
>
> On 10/04/2011 07:25 AM, memnoch Dookie wrote:
> >
> > Dear Admin,
> >
> > I would like to add on to Laurence's request below, besides a
> > non-technical user guide, is it possible to also include a technical
> > user guide?
> >
> > Points to include in the user guide could be 1) what to download and
> > where 2) how to reverse engineering your router or mobile with
> > commotion 3) what configuration is required 4) how to create a mesh
> > network after having a couple of commotion-enabled UE devices and on
> > to other more advanced topics, but that could just be a start
> >
> > I also like to point out that there are problems with the user login
> > feature on the website, or is that not required afterall?
> >
> > Hope that this does not come across as a demand but rather a
> > suggestion, I love the idea and will work towards creating a mesh
> > network for seniors to save on mobility costs.
> >
> > Thank you, Vincent
> >>
> >>
> >> Today's Topics:
> >>
> >> 1. Re: New here & International Development applications (Brian
> >> Duggan)
> >>
> >>
> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>
> >>
> Message: 1
> >> Date: Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:23:05 -0400 From: Brian Duggan
> >> <bcdugga at gmail.com> To: laurence bascle <lbascle at gmail.com> Cc:
> >> commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net Subject: Re:
> >> [Commotion-discuss] New here & International Development
> >> applications Message-ID: <4E88E449.1020104 at gmail.com> Content-Type:
> >> text/plain; charset=UTF-8
> >>
> >> Hi Laurence,
> >>
> >> Great to hear you're interested in the project, and thanks for
> >> your thoughtful questions. I'll answer them as best I can for now.
> >> Responses inline.
> >>
> >> On Thu Sep 29 12:38:25 2011, laurence bascle wrote:
> >>> Hi there,
> >>>
> >>> better late than never! I also discovered Commotion via Le
> >>> Monde's article (so this is almost a french speaker thread! ;),
> >>> and currently working in the non-profit/human rights sector, I
> >>> was obviously thrilled. I am Technical Project Manager though not
> >>> a dev myself, and as such tend to think more of the gap between
> >>> developers and users/potential stakeholders. I believe it would
> >>> be great to get more plain language documentation (as accessible
> >>> say, as the so-successful-LeMonde-article) to promote the concept
> >>> and the progress of the project to potential
> >>> community/institutional users. Because the people who will use it
> >>> are ultimately not devs, but say emergency field workers and
> >>> Human Rights Defenders (HRDs)! This in turn might totally
> >>> influence your roadmap (and if you have some vague idea to
> >>> service the 'third sector', then better develop something fits
> >>> their need).
> >>>
> >>> I have seen this wiki entry which is a great start I think
> >>> https://tech.chambana.net/projects/commotion/wiki/Newbie_How_it_Works
> >>>
> >>>
> but as a non-dev there are still a few things I am struggling to
> >>> understand:
> >>>
> >>> 1) what are the USPs (Unique Selling Points) of this project
> >>> compared to other open source wireless mesh networks initiatives
> >>> already used (like OLPC
> >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XO-1#Wireless_mesh_networking.
> >>> Oh actually just reading that "Although one goal of the laptop is
> >>> that all of its software be open source
> >>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source>, the source code for
> >>> this routing protocol is currently closed source" booh!). I
> >>> understand one is the integration with TOR, but any others?
> >>
> >> The concept behind Commotion is to make the barrier to entry into
> >> a local mesh network as low as possible while leveraging the
> >> inherent benefits of mesh networks.
> >>
> >> Most existing mesh network platforms require a significant amount
> >> of networking knowledge of users and deployers. A mesh device
> >> running Commotion will require the minimum amount of configuration
> >> from the user. The pre-release of Commotion basically reduces this
> >> configuration to selecting the name of a mesh network to start or
> >> join.
> >>
> >> No mesh platforms include a set of commonly-used services or
> >> services that are suited to take advantage of the unique
> >> characteristics of mesh networks. Commotion will include
> >> anonymization, encryption, and communication services by default.
> >> Commotion distributions for end user devices will also include a
> >> services browser. This tool will display local services that have
> >> been deployed on the mesh network like video, chat, streaming
> >> radio, and any other services that communities choose to deploy on
> >> their networks.
> >>
> >> Existing mesh platforms target a very narrow set of hardware,
> >> severely limiting deployment. Commotion already targets the most
> >> common wifi hardware, but will also be available for as many
> >> consumer wifi devices as possible. Commotion will target consumer-
> >> and professional-grade wireless routers, Windows, Mac OS X, Linux,
> >> and mobile phones. The goal is to increase the quality of the
> >> infrastructure by encouraging users to deploy Commotion on as many
> >> devices as possible.
> >>
> >>>
> >>> 2) how is the access to the internet addressed, and bandwidth in
> >>> particular (access to a wider network for HRDs for example is
> >>> strategically crucial). It would be good to have a non-tech
> >>> version of why/how 100s can access the internet through the one
> >>> point/computer and what kind of speed they can expect.
> >>>
> >>
> >> A mesh network does not include Internet access by default. At
> >> least one mesh node must be connected to the Internet to provide
> >> Internet access to other nodes within the mesh. The quality of that
> >> Internet access would then, of course, be dependent on the quality
> >> of the link of that single node, or "backhaul". But since wireless
> >> links between nodes are inherently lossy, the quality of the
> >> Internet connection for any node within the network would also
> >> depend on the number of links, or "hops", between it and the
> >> backhaul node. It would also depend on the quality of those hops.
> >>
> >> But a mesh network can also utilize multiple backhauls. The more
> >> backhauls that users can incorporate into the mesh, the more
> >> robust Internet access will be. More backhauls - even low-quality
> >> backhauls - will at the very least decrease the number of hops for
> >> some nodes in a mesh.
> >>
> >> That said, developing a very basic non-techy table of number of
> >> backhauls vs backhaul quality vs number of hops would certainly be
> >> helpful, and we will attempt to incorporate this into our
> >> non-technical documents as we go forward.
> >>
> >>> 3) Commotion routers and their role, and access from say deep
> >>> Rural Northern Uganda.
> >>>
> >>
> >> One of the primary benefits of a mesh network is its unique
> >> capacity to distribute local services to mesh participants without
> >> Internet backhauls. For example, in my hometown we have a low-power
> >> FM radio station whose range has been severely limited by the
> >> geography of the area. Once my community deploys mesh nodes, we can
> >> start a very simple network service at the station that will stream
> >> the audio from the soundboard out to any user on the mesh,
> >> effectively extending the range of the radio station without any
> >> Internet access.
> >>
> >> Rural areas are egregiously underserved by commercial Internet
> >> service providers, but a mesh network reduces the need for Internet
> >> service in the first place. By encouraging hyper-local services and
> >> communication, communities can reduce their dependence on
> >> commercial Internet service providers.
> >>
> >> Further, mesh networks can be connected to other mesh networks
> >> very easily. Mesh node radios within a village may be low-power or
> >> only use low-gain antennas. But a high-power, directional radio
> >> could connect a village mesh with any other village mesh within
> >> range. This would connect multiple rural villages to each other the
> >> same way that villagers are connected to each other by their local
> >> mesh. Local services in one village could be extended to other
> >> villages.
> >>
> >> Then, if one village acquired a sufficiently high-data-rate
> >> Internet backhaul, that backhaul could be shared with other
> >> villages.
> >>
> >>> Ok, that's a lot to address, but hopefully there will be a few
> >>> people out there who are able to answer! I'd suggest best done
> >>> via the wiki, and then send us a link, thanks!
> >>>
> >>
> >> Great idea. I think these answers should go on our upcoming
> >> non-technical site. Meanwhile, feel free to respond with your
> >> thoughts.
> >>
> >>> PS: wasn't chambana down yesterday?
> >>>
> >>
> >> Yes, it was. Our apologies. We're working to upgrade access to the
> >> Commotion source code. It's up now, and all public-facing
> >> functionality has been restored.
> >>
> >> Thanks! Brian
> >>
> >>> Laurence
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 6:00 PM,
> >>> <commotion-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net
> >>> <mailto:commotion-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Send Commotion-discuss mailing list submissions to
> >>> commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> >>> <mailto:commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> >>>
> >>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> >>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-discuss or,
> >>> via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> >>> commotion-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net
> >>> <mailto:commotion-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net>
> >>>
> >>> You can reach the person managing the list at
> >>> commotion-discuss-owner at lists.chambana.net
> >>> <mailto:commotion-discuss-owner at lists.chambana.net>
> >>>
> >>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more
> >>> specific than "Re: Contents of Commotion-discuss digest..."
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Today's Topics:
> >>>
> >>> 1. Re: New here (Yann Forget) 2. Re: New here (L. Aaron Kaplan)
> >>> 3. Introducing myself. (Merouan Mekouar)
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> Message: 1
> >>> Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 00:19:58 +0530 From: Yann Forget
> >>> <yannfo at gmail.com <mailto:yannfo at gmail.com>> To: F L
> >>> <legendre at tik.ee.ethz.ch <mailto:legendre at tik.ee.ethz.ch>>,
> >>> commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> >>> <mailto:commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net> Subject: Re:
> >>> [Commotion-discuss] New here Message-ID:
> >>>
> >>> <CAKcJoPk0eSJwuBCU2N-_cX0fUPBFCMajnrB7YqBP-pC=jxtY5Q at mail.gmail.com
> >>>
> >>>
> <mailto:jxtY5Q at mail.gmail.com>>
> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> >>>
> >>> 2011/9/1 F L <legendre at tik.ee.ethz.ch
> >>> <mailto:legendre at tik.ee.ethz.ch>>:
> >>>> Hi Yann, Since you're in India, are you aware
> >>>> of?http://drupal.airjaldi.com/
> >>>
> >>> Yes, I wrote to them.
> >>>
> >>>> Cheers, -- Franck
> >>>
> >>> Regards,
> >>>
> >>> Yann
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------
> >>>
> >>> Message: 2 Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2011 20:59:31 +0200 From: "L. Aaron
> >>> Kaplan" <aaron at lo-res.org <mailto:aaron at lo-res.org>> To: Yann
> >>> Forget <yannfo at gmail.com <mailto:yannfo at gmail.com>> Cc:
> >>> commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> >>> <mailto:commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net>, F L
> >>> <legendre at tik.ee.ethz.ch <mailto:legendre at tik.ee.ethz.ch>>
> >>> Subject: Re: [Commotion-discuss] New here Message-ID:
> >>> <DF7F2CE4-1C42-4B9D-B062-6AFF77EA2B8D at lo-res.org
> >>> <mailto:DF7F2CE4-1C42-4B9D-B062-6AFF77EA2B8D at lo-res.org>>
> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Sep 1, 2011, at 8:49 PM, Yann Forget wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> 2011/9/1 F L <legendre at tik.ee.ethz.ch
> >>> <mailto:legendre at tik.ee.ethz.ch>>:
> >>>>> Hi Yann, Since you're in India, are you aware of
> >>>>> http://drupal.airjaldi.com/
> >>>>
> >>>> Yes, I wrote to them.
> >>>
> >>> Hehe, I proposed the same :)
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> a.
> >>>
> >>>
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> >>>
> >>>
> ------------------------------
> >>>
> >>> Message: 3 Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 12:10:42 -0400 From: Merouan
> >>> Mekouar <merouanm at gmail.com <mailto:merouanm at gmail.com>> To:
> >>> commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> >>> <mailto:commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net> Subject:
> >>> [Commotion-discuss] Introducing myself. Message-ID:
> >>>
> >>> <CAK1MRQf8wwGUwKo1Vm0zvwxfiGPbfG4WVU5FJD7zs6Aon_PUvQ at mail.gmail.com
> >>>
> >>>
> <mailto:CAK1MRQf8wwGUwKo1Vm0zvwxfiGPbfG4WVU5FJD7zs6Aon_PUvQ at mail.gmail.com
> >>
> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> >>>
> >>> Hi everyone,
> >>>
> >>> My name is Merouan, I am a PhD student in Political Science at
> >>> McGill University - Montr?al. I also heard about commotion
> >>> through the french website lemonde.fr <http://lemonde.fr> and I
> >>> immediately fell in love with the project!!
> >>>
> >>> I am currently doing my research on the concept of
> >>> "informational cascades" or why random instances of street
> >>> protest spiral in some cases and not others (for instance, I am
> >>> trying to understand why would the self-immolation of a street
> >>> vendor trigger massive protests in Tunisia and not elsewhere in
> >>> the Arab world). Nothing tech related as you can see but I do
> >>> speak/write Arabic and French fluently and would be very very
> >>> happy to help with translations or anything else if need be.
> >>>
> >>> Again, I would like to congratulate all those working on the
> >>> project. Coming from the Arab world, I can only testify on the
> >>> importance of a free (and secure) access to the internet for the
> >>> defence of individual freedoms.
> >>>
> >>> Cheers!
> >>>
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> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> ------------------------------
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________ Commotion-discuss
> >>> mailing list Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> >>> <mailto:Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> >>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-discuss
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> End of Commotion-discuss Digest, Vol 2, Issue 2
> >>> ***********************************************
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> -- Laurence Bascle Technical Project Manager mob: +44 7739 189
> >>> 035 skype: lbascle
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________ Commotion-discuss
> >>> mailing list Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> >>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-discuss
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ------------------------------
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________ Commotion-discuss
> >> mailing list Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> >> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-discuss
> >>
> >>
> >> End of Commotion-discuss Digest, Vol 3, Issue 2
> >> ***********************************************
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________ Commotion-discuss
> > mailing list Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> > http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-discuss
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Commotion-discuss mailing list
> Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-discuss
>
>
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