The permacomputing ideas and practices are shaped by its community. To actively participate in the discussion we facilitate moderated services for individuals and groups: that's the role of the permacomputing infra. We are trying to be as mindful as possible in the choice of software and hardware we use. Why? Because permacomputing does not only concern the devices and appliances we physically interact with, such as a phone or desktop computer, but also the machines and networks that together provide the digital infrastructures for these more common devices and appliances.

Some of these services can be joined by anyone at any time, such as the public XMPP and IRC chatrooms, or the email discussion list. However for those who want to participate more actively, we also offer access to a web forum, static web hosting, git repos and, of course, the permacomputing wiki. To do this we maintain a community server which we call Eik. It's gracefully provided by servus.at. Existing members of the community help maintain the server. We maintain a bit of sysadmin documentation for this machine.

We are currently working towards a simple onboarding process for existing and new community members. Our plans involve a single application form for signing up and a single username/password for all our community services. This work will begin in 2026. For now we are working with duct tape, rusty typewriters, pigeons and stamps. This is why it can take a long time for us to respond.

Growth at the speed of trust

We prioritise diversity, moderation and online safety in the permacomputing community. To this end, we have written a Code of Conduct which we ask everyone to read and agree to before proceeding onwards to participation in our community. All the services we provide are subject to these terms. To be sure, this is a quick fix, eventually we will move to better articulated community guidelines.

Keep in mind all moderation and communication is shared and carried out by community members on a volunteer basis. If it's not urgent you can generally expect to receive a response within 1-6 weeks when contacting us or requesting to join in. Thanks for your patience in advance. Once the new system is in place, things should be much easier and faster (famous last words).

Overview of the extra services

Forum (for individuals)

We host and maintain a permacomputing forum to promote public discussions around permacomputing. The forum is just starting and a bit slow for now. It's been waiting for you. To get started, we ask everyone to fill in this short community signup form.

Wiki (for individuals)

We host and maintain the permacomputing.net wiki together. For now access is granted on an individual basis for members who are already active on the forum.

Website hosting (for groups)

We offer the possibility to host your own permacomputing static websites on Eik. For example, berlin.permacomputing.net and top.permacomputing.net are hosted on Eik.

Source code hosting (for groups)

If you are familiar with Git and source code hosting, we provide a service for those who would like to share their work. All our repositories are publicly available on git.permacomputing.net.

Private chatrooms (for groups)

We chat with each other using XMPP. If you don't already have account, we recommend you to use one of the servers listed by the JoinJabber collective. You should also read their Get Started section for suggestions on which software to use on your computer or phone. We can also recommend using chat.conversejs.org as a simple web browser client. Once members of your permacomputing group are ready, we can setup private rooms for your collective.

How to get help

Getting access to all the permacomputing community services is quite ad-hoc and requires some patience. If anything is unclear, please send an email to permacomputing a/t bleu255 d/o/t com.