Necessity is the mother of implementation.
Users of the social news and community site Reddit don’t like the way the government seems to be muscling in on the Internet. So they plan to build a new one.
So far, it’s being called Meshnet. The technology and basic concept are hardly new, and the idea has been kicked around since at least as long as I have been on the Internet, more than 15 years. Now that there is a real threat to the freedom of the current network, people are actually digging into the ugly details of implementation.
I’m likely to participate if I can. It would mean buying some new hardware. Where I live, that would include running an antenna up atop the house because significant range depends on line-of-sight. To our advantage, we do live perched on a hilltop. That we live in a relatively rural area is symbolic of why I love the Net so much.
I’ll probably never have a “best friend” sort of buddy; the things which matter most to me are too esoteric. So much so my very closest pals are currently virtual ones, scattered across the face of the earth. The nearest one would be more than 300 miles (480km) geographically. About half of my real friends are on other continents. Without the Internet, I would be even more isolated.
Unlike some Net nerds and geeks, I didn’t choose the Net because I couldn’t handle people in meat space. I didn’t dig into computers because they made more sense than people. Mine is simply a glorified typewriter. It has always been a means of communication with other people.
We may need this Meshnet all too soon, I’m afraid.
