Freedom=Growing Each Other

Text-only version of PDF talk and slides about internet... called The Net beyond the Web (slides) by Amin Bandali 

I think this PDF was supposed to have images but maybe my particular reader couldn't render the PDF, but means I got the text version so even though I could try another viewer I just wanted to paste the talks slide and output as it's interest and you can test out the PDF yourself !(each line break . paragraph is a new slide)

Enjoy!

The Net beyond the Web (slides) by Amin Bandali
media.libreplanet.org/u/librep

the net beyond the web
libreplanet 2022
bandali@gnu.org

goal: share some thoughts, spark discussion

net ?= web

[inter]net: interconnected network of networks
where
the networks and the devices comprising them
use tcp/ip to communicate with each other

web: is part of the internet
consists of websites, like
gnu.org
which consist of webpages, like
gnu.org/gnu/about-gnu.html
which are written in html

html + css
... + javascript

web initially a method/protocol for sharing
documents, information, media, ...
example: the first website (still accessible):
info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/The

aside: shout out and thanks to
wayback machine - web.archive.org

early on:
small websites consisting entirely of text
and a bit later images/photos as well

joan stark (jgs)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Sta
Veronica Karlsson (vk)
web.archive.org/web/2016031900

javascript

[before] javascript:
webpages were fully static
this was not desired by web developers

netscape decided to add a scripting language
to their web browser, netscape navigator
netscape hired Brendan Eich to embed the
scheme language into their browser

yay!!
right?
... right??

nestscape collaborated with sun microsystems
to embed java into their browser

netscape management decided the new scripting
language must have a syntax similar to java
rather than scheme
Eich designed and implemented javascript in 10 days

no shortage of interesting takes and/or criticisms
of javascript as a language, and its impacts
"the birth & death of javascript" and "wat"
talks by Gary Bernhardt
other interesting reads, such as
wiki.haskell.org/The_JavaScrip
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScri
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_
cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvekey.c

text --> multimedia --> ... programs that run on your machine
... and they are virtually everywhere!

the wwworst app store
by Alexandre Oliva
gnu.org/philosophy/wwworst-app

why are we okay with this, when we know we can do better?

how gnu/linux (and other unix-like) distributions
handle distributing of software to their users

we need similar control/trust/consent in the browser
and a shift in the norms and status quo among web developers
for instance by creating and documenting publicly-accessible
api endpoints, so that anyone could write and use a custom
application for communicating with their website/service

"taking back the web with haketilo"
libreplanet 2022 (day 1) talk
by Nicholas Johnson and Wojciech Kosior
libreplanet.org/2022/speakers/
hydrillabugs.koszko.org/projec

what about other protocols?
gopher, gemini, spartan, ...

http(s)

one idea:
plain text + some rules + convenience (via extension)
some *bold* text, _emphasized_ text,
a dashed title
--------------
[ image-filename.png ]
and a simple caption
a link to the <contact.txt> page
> a tiny block of
> quoted text
(message "and a 4-space indented code block")
(call-interactively #'butterfly) ; M-x butterfly
(eqn "sqrt(b^2-4ac)")
(eqn
(sqrt (- (expt b 2) (* 4 a c))))
\sqrt{b^2-4ac}

do we want a programming language?
maybe, maybe not. if we do,
1. be used only when really needed
2. code blocks be clearly & freely licensed
3. any code executed only with user's consent,
potentially along with a permission system
that gives the user fine control over what
functions can execute for each site

user should have ultimate control
over how documents look

http does not have to be the only transport
people have been thinking about or experimenting
with other transport methods/protocols
alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2022-02-
gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar. \
nt-distribution-with-git.txt
gopher.tildeverse.org/zaibatsu \
/low-budget-p2p-content-distribution-with-git.txt

what to do? how to help?

as a user:
- use freedom- and privacy-enhancing
browser extensions such as:
gnu.org/s/librejs, jshelter.org,
haketilo, and ublock origin
(see "taking back the web with haketilo"
by Nicholas and Wojciech for a list of
even more such extensions)
- say no to nonfree javascript
"saying no even once helps"
gnu.org/philosophy/saying-no-e
- check out and participate in
small web or small net initiatives,
as well as tilde or pubnix communities
like tilde.team and sdf.org

as a developer:
- release and label your javascript as free software
gnu.org/software/librejs/free-
- check out protocols like gopher and gemini,
see what they have to offer, and think about
what an http-based approach could look like
- contribute:
- other browsers like luakit, netsurf, and visurf
- help maintain liberated and privacy-enhanced
versions of firefox like gnu icecat and abrowser
- don't use javascript unless you really need to.
when you do, please license it freely, and follow
principles like 'progressive enhancement' to make
sure your website works without javascript and css

if you happen to work on either side of the
current web browser duopoly, or work on web
standards, please consider:
do we really *need* all the new complexity?
12 years ago, mozilla removed support for
gopher on the grounds of reducing complexity
and attack vectors. do the current web and
its browsers resemble anything but complexity?
firefox and chromium are now each more than
30 million lines of code, on the same order
of magnitude and in fact currently larger than
the kernel linux. new code and complexity
keeps being added, while at the same time,
user freedom, control, and often privacy seem
to be gradually lessened and eroded.

the net I'd like to see beyond the current web
1. does not facilitate tracking users;
2. has freedom, control, and consent built in; and
3. is in many ways simpler, has a reasonable and
finite scope, and has several server and client
implementations.
thanks!
bandali@gnu.org
kelar.org/~bandali

references
----------
info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/The
web.archive.org
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Sta
web.archive.org/web/2016031900
wiki.haskell.org/The_JavaScrip
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScri
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_
cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvekey.c
gnu.org/philosophy/wwworst-app
libreplanet.org/2022/speakers/
hydrillabugs.koszko.org/projec
gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-
gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-th
fsf.org/campaigns/freejs
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(
gopher.floodgap.com
gemini.circumlunar.space
spartan.mozz.us
aaronsw.com/weblog/000574
aaronsw.com/2002/rss30
alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2018-12-
alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2022-02-
gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.
gopher.tildeverse.org/zaibatsu
gnu.org/philosophy/saying-no-e
tilde.team
sdf.org
gnu.org/software/librejs/free-
gnu.org/distros/free-system-di
bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.
drewdevault.com/2020/03/18/Rec
drewdevault.com/2021/09/11/vis
drewdevault.com/2021/09/27/Let
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress

kelar.org/~bandali/talks/libre
gopher://kelar.org/0/~bandali/
marked with cc0 and dedicated to the public domain

bandali@gnu.org
kelar.org/~bandali

1
Freedom=Growing Each Other
Follow

Here's the talk at:
kelar.org/~bandali/talks/libre

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