Free Skool:Summer 2013

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Free Skool, Free Software: Beyond Open Source

• The focus of this class will be empowerment through free software.
• We'll need a quick overview of wiki editing as well, so that we can use this wiki for collaboration.
• The facilitators will hammer home the importance of freedom, openness, and the role of FOSS (free/open-source software) in building and maintaining a free Web.

Class Description

Free software (commonly called “open source”) is in most of our pockets, in the mutant forms of Android and iOS. The conflict between human freedom and software surveillance is more real than ever. The dual nature of this technology, and technology in general, presents a challenge for activists, educators, and everyone. Learn about free (as in freedom) software, its history, and what you can do to empower and protect yourself with it.

Time and Location

Classes take place Wednesdays 5:00pm to 6:00pm EST, July 17 thru August 28 at The People's Arts Collective of New Haven:

212 College St, New Haven, CT 06511

Optionally, after class sessions can be scheduled, preferably somewhere with beer and the Internet.

Signing Up

There are a few ways to do this, there's a signup sheet at the Free Skool website, but it requires giving your information to Google via Google Docs. You can also just contact the facilitators (listed below) directly, or just show up. Classes are typically 13-16 people, but we have room for (maybe) 20 people and will try to make computers available for participants upon request.

• To edit this wiki, you must request an account.

Facilitator

Sean "Diggity" O'Brien

me@seandiggity.com or sean@webio.me

Participants

• List will go here, if you want your name published!
• Please consider joining Foojbook, which will make communication much smoother.

Cyberwar?

Class Outline

Session 1

July 17, 2013

FOSS Overview

• Presentation from the first session [ODP]
• Presentation from the first session [PDF]

Video

• Revolution OS Part 1 (first 35 mins)

Readings

• GNU Manifesto and the Preamble to GNU GPLv2
• Debian Social Contract

Freedom Tips

1. Block ads and browse the Web more securely.
2. Take a look at all the FOSS operations systems out there.

Session 2

July 24, 2013

• Loose discussion about PRISM and Snowden revelations, why it's a new thing and not just the "same old spying".
• Short discussion of the PRISM slides by a very excited and animated dude.
• Overview of the slides that were leaked, and a visually nicer presentation.
• There are other programs, like Stellar Wind, which we know less about and use the "power of FOSS" against us. There are also "old-fashioned" methods like tapping undersea cables.

Readings

• The dotCommunist Manifesto
• After the dotCommunist Manifesto

Videos

• Eben Moglen summary of FOSS to the EU
• Revolution OS Part 2 (35 mins - end)

Freedom Tips

1. Take a few minutes and browse these browser addons to stop tracking.
2. Make sure you check out PRISM Break and try the FOSS alternatives there, or see our list

Session 3

July 31, 2013

• Loose discussion about XKeyscore, another deeply troubling NSA program revealed today.
• XKeyscore queries, in real time, "strong selectors" such as email, or "soft selectors" such as content. It can look for "anomalies", without any specific person attached, such as a person speaking a foreign language, using encryption, or unidentified protocols/software.
• NSA hearing cancelled

Readings

• Leaked XKeyscore presentation from 2008
• PDF version of presentation

Videos

• Richard Stallman: Snowden & Assange besieged by empire but not defeated
• Greenwald: Is U.S. Exaggerating Threat to Embassies to Silence Critics of NSA Domestic Surveillance?

Freedom Tips

1. Don't forget how close the links are between "hacktivism" and movements like Occupy.
2. Does Linux = Anarchy? It's been called "practical anarchism".

Session 4

Aug 7, 2013

• More discussion about the latest NSA/Snowden news.
• Business report says NSA spying could cost billion dollar losses to U.S. "cloud" industry.
• "Cloud computing" pushes most of what you would normally do on your own machine (e.g. computer, phone) to another machine (server). Web browsers and "thin apps" (software "wrappers" that run mostly on another machine somewhere on the Internet) are quickly removing our options for running our own software (app stores!).
• Although this diagram uses some complex terms, it clearly shows the role of our computers in the Brave New Cloud World: running a Web browser, as a thin client, etc. (and therefore losing control to whoever owns the servers).
• The Cloud is a trap. We need to ask, Who does that server really serve?

Readings

• On Obama's cancellation of summit with Putin and extradition

Videos

• Viewer questions for Jacob Applebaum of the Tor project
• Obama's dismissive comments on PRISM
• Obama lying about the NSA on the Tonight Show

Freedom Tips

1. Take a minute to learn how the Internet works, or at least the way most of it has for the past 10-20 years.
2. Now take three minutes to learn how cloud computing is changing all that.

Session 5

Aug 14, 2013

• LavaBit shutdown, Silent Mail shutdown, and what it means.
• The PirateBay: Away From Keyboard (TPB AFK)
• Bittorrent tutorial and Deluge setup.
• A quick overview of the Software as a Product model, to bring things full circle.

Videos

• Steal This Film II interview with Eben Moglen
• Steal This Film
• Steal This Film II

Readings

• NSA to world+dog: We're only watching 1.6% of Internet, honest
• Transcript: Obama’s Remarks on NSA Controversy

Freedom Tips

• Check out our recommendations for private Web browsing, including thoughts on ThePirateBrowser.
• Bradley Manning has been tortured, humiliated, and coerced into an apology. Share his story!

Session 6

Aug 21, 2013

• Microsoft makes most of its money from Microsoft Office, and their Windows desktop monopoly relies upon it too. Let's stop supporting a company that spies on us and keeps us under heel, and use LibreOffice instead!
• There are good reasons not to save documents in .doc, .docx, or any proprietary file format.
• We know Microsoft needs MS Office and that the last few years have been tough for them. However, we need to ask ourselves, are we doing enough? When will we say ¡Ya basta! and stop using their products?
• Did you know desktop computers may be on the way out? Dell is in a mess, and there's a lot riding on the next update to Windows (they can't afford to keep screwing up new products).
• What does the Microsoft decline mean? We know Microsoft is evil, but there are new threats in a "post-PC world". We have to keep fighting new challenges.
• As Microsoft collapses, it may act like an animal backed into a corner. We may have to ask Microsoft's permission just to start up a computer.

Readings

• Linux in 2013: Zemlin said that each day some 10,519 lines of code are added to the Linux kernel, while another 6,782 lines are subtracted from it. All told, the kernel averages around 7.38 changes per hour – a phenomenal rate for any code base.

Zemlin went on to liken Linux to a multi-million dollar R&D project, on which over 400 companies collaborate – some of which, at the same time, are fierce competitors. "This incredible platform is now more than just an operating system. Linux is really now becoming a fundamental part of society – one of the greatest shared technology resources known to man," Zemlin said. He added, "I mean, it runs all of our stock markets, most of our air-traffic control systems, internet, phones, you name it ... most of the world's telecommunications systems ... this is really now beyond a movement and an operating system, this is now this real, shared, societal, important piece of work.

• Counting Source Lines of Code (SLOC): How FOSS has transcended the standard metric of software production.

Video

• Innovation Under Austerity

Freedom Tips

1. We're not the only ones doing free community classes. Check out Skillshares and Trainings from NEanarchists on Crabgrass
2. Take a look at one of these LiveCD/USB images to achieve real communications privacy. Learn how to use a Live image here.

Session 7

Aug 28, 2013

• NSA internal report on violations, leaked
• FISC Court: Ability to police U.S. spying program limited
• Life Post-PRISM: Politics and Power Struggles
• Google goes dark for 2 minutes, kills 40% of world's net traffic: we need to really think about what this means!
• Teens Take Privacy Seriously - contrary to popular belief :)

Readings

• Manning Sentenced to 35 years
• Groklaw shutting down due to PRISM fears

"Safe privacy is an important component of autonomy, freedom, and thus psychological well-being, in any society that values individuals. ... But if we describe a standard for treating people humanely, why does stripping privacy violate it? And what is privacy? In his landmark book, Privacy and Freedom, Alan Westin names four states of privacy: solitude, anonymity, reserve, and intimacy. The reasons for valuing privacy become more apparent as we explore these states. ...

The essence of solitude, and all privacy, is a sense of choice and control. You control who watches or learns about you. You choose to leave and return. ... Intimacy is a private state because in it people relax their public front either physically or emotionally or, occasionally, both. They tell personal stories, exchange looks, or touch privately. They may ignore each other without offending. They may have sex. They may speak frankly using words they would not use in front of others, expressing ideas and feelings -- positive or negative -- that are unacceptable in public. (I don't think I ever got over his death. She seems unable to stop lying to her mother. He looks flabby in those running shorts. I feel horny. In spite of everything, I still long to see them. I am so angry at you I could scream. That joke is disgusting, but it's really funny.) Shielded from forced exposure, a person often feels more able to expose himself."

Freedom Tips

1. Terms of Service; Didn't Read is a solution to the problem of long, tedious, ridiculous ToS text. Install the addon and get instant info about the terms and privacy policies of websites you browse!
2. Still not sure what Bittorrent is? Familiarize yourself with it through this great paper, Why My Printer Received a DMCA Takedown Notice.

Class Materials

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More Resources

• Links to all kinds of cool (and helpful!) stuff.

Wiki Editing Help

Tips on editing this wiki.