Feminist Servers
3 locations coming in on uberconference cause meet jitsi was going bad :-( -Graz - esc, http://esc.mur.at/en/projekt/zerstoeren (destroy: project for the fall at esc) -Calafou - anarchaserver space (http://zoiahorn.anarchaserver.org/) -Montreal
A. On the roof of the server in Calafou
Starting to do Introduction of people located in Montreal for the 3 THF convergence at Studio XX Go Around, then a bit of disconnection MONTREAL - Anne in Montreal, helping to organize THF! -- Femhack member - Ellen coming from Troy - Sara coming from Concordia, came off the street -- student in anthropology - Dana, computer science student, living in Montréal, - Marthe, one of the sys admins of the anarcha servier -- was in Calafou setting up the interface. Taking part in THF! as well. Visited the data center where anarcha server on Techanka on Coumbit would be located GRAZ - Reni in Graz -- art technology and society -- helps to organize different meetings and events. Exhibition and get-togethers around feminism and technology ESC, hosted the first eclectictechcarnival in Austria, involved in gender changers -jogi: mur.at, sys admins independent servers: internet services for art & cultures : systerserver.net -- got involved 2 years ago in Calafou theoretically sysadmin in anarchaserver CALAFOU - a person who just disappeared, a Donnes tech - spider alex -- helped to organize the first THF! in Calafou. Here with another friend that just requested access to the server works on technosouverignity - benjamin from france, part of labomedia and on the roof of anarcha server now installing radio calafou/calaflow + willing to make a sonification of anarchaserver in the physical space - obaz from systerserver + anarcharsever also joined
Reni: What have you been doing and how have things been going in Montreal and the THF! convergence? Anne: We havebeen working on the 4 tracks -- hacking with care + decolonizeing technologies /speculative fiction + queer feminist pedagogies + autonomous infrastructure - this last one is somethign we still need to work on, was more a meta-discussion, need to bring it into practice At first fixing many things, there was not internet, then we set up the space Feminist and ciritcal approaches to epistemology Visited the Data center koumbit Worked on a cryptodance project Day-long workshop on consent for trans, queer, femme women We had brief discussion on decolonize technology Discussion with technolibre, working on open hardware and refurbishing, recycling technology -- also accessibliyt and what it means from an anti-oppressive technology Cryptodance performative event came next Soldering workshop and playing around with sound Yesterday: Focused on care Workshop on touch Discussion on Politcs of Care Today: This discussion! Picnic Visionary writing Improv Night :)
Alex: Concern about scattering of documentation, this all sounds great, what can we do about documentation practices? Still waiting to have full documentation of events in Mexico So what are the plans for organization, sharing, etc. of discussions, ideas and outcomes?
Documentation of Montréal:: https://antonieta.vedetas.org/p/THF2016 + https://femhack.noblogs.org/thf-2016/ Proposal to have the mediawiki http://anarchaserver.org/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page we have this noblogs in autistice where the 3 calls were published so far: https://transhackfeminist.noblogs.org/
that would be great
<spideralex> and i can talk with anhamoo (another admin of anarcahserver) that organized 2 THF in mexico <spideralex> to put available information over there
Anne: We have been discussion, thinking of that today In November, A. visits Graz -- LN & A. work further on documentation THF website is not a wiki
MArthe: Yah -- there was a proposition of having one machine having living data within the feminist server network. Also discussed having one repositiory where video/audio/writing could be stored. Important to have the media repository running and to have good service for different types of data In the feminist server network, is there a server whihc has this repository for audio, video, images for us to use? -- Is there such a platform already? http://espora.org/ and also have a mediagoblin installed in (we can check how it looks like here http://media.espora.org/ installed in a nice autonomous server in mx espora.org) a mediagoblin could be a good way to upload the images + audios of different THF but also in general work like a cyberfeminist repository
Alex: Mediagoblin and something else that someone (missed the name here) is working on Anne: Can we have a feminist server intro? Alex: There were organizations with women interested to learn about servers and how to administrate them -- created a lot of experience and know-how in that network and then SysterServer was set up -- strictly feminist server run by women who identifiy as feminist http://samedi.collectifs.net/ Samedies by constantvzw http://systerserver.net/ Systerserver by genderchangers And then found out there were a lot of neds for feminist servers http://gynepunk.tumblr.com/ At the first THF, one of the action lines was creating a feminist server -- so that was action to learn about what could be possible, created a working group Anarcha server more thinking about how to host data http://anarchaserver.org/ Connections to the feminist server in Brazil -- have been to Sao Paolo , where there was a feminist hacker group interested in helping out and taking part There are surely more, but not sure. These are the ones we know of, have worked with, etc.
Reni: From systerserver, there was always the idea of two ways to do this. One about learning technology, and the other about hosting data -- being responsible to having a really secure back-up; but this server was never intended to be a provider to be a service server -- opens up questions about reliability and accessiblity that we have -- our possibility to really connect is at issue, So this was a topic to open up at the convesation in Calafou THF -- so Anarcha is the home for content (service) and then the other about the experience and learning of the technology
WE have access to this control, but then not much is happen -- if the need is not really there, or if it just needs some more re-energizing. That a question to find out, to explore -- take the advantage of being together now to possibly answer this in Montreal
Marthe: Question about systerserver -- what on the metaphorical layer, what are they trying to do with the server? Which services do they have installed, what does it mean for them to serve? (We have metaphoricall need)
Alex: They have been studying different things like VOIP, a pad, mailing lists ( https://lists.systerserver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/femservers) -- to be an open mailing list for the various feminist server mailing lists to subscribe to. FemServers could be instantiated on the SysterServer -- it proposed on their website
Reenergizing ? Is feminist Servers ~ Slow olympics :succeeding in a very slow pace, If we think about what feminist groups require, it clear that there is a need for more engineering, for more service on the internet in general We need more autonomy -. Is it succeeding but at a very slow pace. This is what happens with feminist activists, we are involved in a lot of different things -- so very hard to create the space to develop, maintain, and learn towards a feminist server -- so we need time to learn for the server within feminist groups and organizations. Sys admins are about enacting this shift. Its an overarching feminist issue of our own responsiblity to create the time and space to work on this. People involved in feminist serveres in many diff places with diff time zones, etc. -- hard to meet face to face, so this personal boundary comes up in terms of working through issues, and developing things precarity - engagement in so many initiatives, places
Reni: We have someone new joining from Berlin Regina involved i Systerserver and Anarchaserver. One of the most active sys admins on both of these! Ellen: Refers to politics of care / .... keep moving forward and ?......The difficulties of having limited energies/resources within feminist organizing -- so important to be patient with oursevles to take time to set things up and to grow/develop the projects we work on. Discussion happened in regards to this yesterday Anne: Want to make a link to the autonomy of infrastructure. This precarity of an autonomy of infrastructure -- a lot to do in terms of hardware infrastructure, places, and work to imagine our solidarity network and how to work together. And even in the organization of this THF! we are a very small group. Some organizers had to leave before it even happened. Ended up being a small team with new people joining. But since a small team there was not as much publicity -- great to connect virtually, becuase it even makes more sense that THF! is about linking to this international network that we have to sustain and maintain. 6-7 people came from abroad, which was impressive, people committed to it -- its an important and meaningful subject -- The metaphor of the constellation that needs to be seen and sustained in order to help each other better see the future together has had a great impact and seems to be quite important for this partiular THF. Want to be in touch with people abroad and see what is going on how things
Reni: Just to understand -- the anarcha server is to have moved or has moved to Montreal??
Marthe: When talking about moving the server to Calafou, xxxx related that the real physical server was hosted on Tachanka which is located in Montreal -- during the conversation with the Data Center that we were going to visit while in Montreal to see the physical infrastructure -- the person who was giving the tour found out that the server was not in Montreal, it was in New York. There is a data transfer between NYC and Montreal. We don really know what the physical location of the data is. But xxxxx has been working to transfer the data from NYC to Montreal. One sys admin was working on this (Noe) was saying the most important thing regarding this is jurisdiction -- is the jurisdiction better in Montreal or in NYC? The physical location is not quite so important to think -- puts a dynamic around the physical machine, but it questionable. I wonder why we get stuck with where the server is located? looks we are not stucked anymore as rzabo as tracked the route of anarchaserver and it looks like it is located in NYC: <rzabo> 11 100ge10-1.core1.nyc4.he.net (184.105.81.77) 273.904 ms 274.777 ms 214.679 ms <rzabo> 12 10ge5-1.core1.nyc6.he.net (184.105.222.82) 227.167 ms 220.134 ms 215.057 ms <rzabo> 13 209.51.163.19 (209.51.163.19) 226.834 ms 225.939 ms 226.511 ms Anne: Not quite stuck, just trying to figure it out. Marthe: Might be interesting to find out if the phsyical location could energize or change the projects being hosted on such a server.. asking if having the physical machine in montreal would be an energizer for the local group in THF Anne: The materiality of the server creates a relation or more understanding about what's going on here. I'm not necessarily saying the technical understanding, there is much more to do here. But could be more understanding about the physiical instantiation of the feminist server Marthe: Is it really about the materiality and tacticality of the server, or is it about a network of people that are locally registered? Anne: Thinking about Julie, who has also been to Calafou, a sys admin of Koumbit Alex: Have not met her Anne: Person to meet -- she seems to be very interested in the sys admin work. In Koumbit, the group of sys admin is 6 -- the fact that these people meet physically, is helping to create a relation and discussion, for the first time i hear that a feminist is interested in this discussion in montreal and she is on the board. She is involved in art, helping sex workers, working in a tech collective -- would be happy to meet her and cultivate the network.
Marthe: Interested in Regina`s thoughts -- on physical hard-ware as a way of energizing the feminist servers Anne: (Reframing) Asking if the Anarcha server has been moved -- but what does that move change? Does it matter? If the fact that the server has been moved to Montreal change any relation, because people involved here would be meeting physically, person-to-person, to get more involved in sys admin related work.
Reg: Since the server is a virtual server inside a server, in my humble opinion, it is maybe too much energy (of our limited resources) to switch the location which does not have as much impact on what happens on it. But I am one of the most practical -- wont say no to it, but will not personally give energy to moving it to a different location, to a different server. Marthe: It is actually still in NYC anyway. A good remark to see, if we have limitedtime/resources -- Is this worthy of what we have to do overall? Can we work together with different philosophical understandings of the importance of location and creation of physical infrastructure. Alex: The issue is that we need to go towards the practical side around quality. The issue of precarity, the time and energy going into administrate the feminist servers. Need to agree at this moment of making things work to now. It is worth it to come to Calafou physiclaly to figure things out, take time -- and take the time once a month to talk. Or maybe to make a calendar to create a meeting, that all of us creat for the feminist server and who wants to join in and take part. Maybe its time to open it up to the rest of the world
Regina: Tell the story of meeting up. Her and Gaba who met once a week after the Internet---? conference -- Could meet every week on Sunday, set up several servers. And then summer came and had to take care of ourselves too -- so took a break. So yea, i think its not finished and when the winter comes back, which will be soon in Berlin, we will get back at it. So having regular meetings are important for keeping the energy going for working on these servers.
Anne: Need to start wrapping up conversation to get towards wrapping up of THF! Marthe: Find an appropriate agenda tool to start sharing thing, on which feminist server.
Spideralex: Working on documentation, and setting up of physical space and there is a meeting in 4 days with lots of cyberfeminists -- including someone from Brazil -- if you create the time and space people will come to meetings even if they do Agenda for meeting within the next month. Anne you mentioned coming to Calafou, so that would be what I could -- setting to spread info among those in Calafou, having the documentation put down, getting in touch with those in Mexico about documentation Anne: Not sure about when to come to Calafou, but would love to come Reni: Ln & Anne will be in Graz in November -- so we are definitely going to do something. And appreciate what Alex said around meeting up, taking these moments to meet and work together, with this kind of regular meeting every month, with every few months on-line will help give us the energy to move things forward. Thank you! Ln: Happy to be doing documentation and having time to do this in Graz with Anne -- and work on other things with Reni -- hoping to come to Calafou Anne: Looking forward to work on constellations and networks which is reflected Alex»: Starting to see that: There No coming back! Feminist servers as idea coming to fruition and that is really coming along -- was depressed, but now seeing that this is happening. Getting real. Going to work on the documentation, let's make this calendar for meeting so we can go on and keep working on the stuff and evey time that we meet as smaller or bigger collectivities we work through pushing things forward, little steps all along :)
