Pubnixes
This is my landing page for information and links about pubnixes.
Matters are complicated by the significant overlap between pubnixes, gopher and other areas of interest.
Definitions
I take a "broad" definition of pubnix, to include any big remotely accessible UNIX/Linux machine which permits shell access for users beyond a single household, employer or family. A "narrow" definition of pubnix would restrict that by imposing some of the following conditions:
- non-commercial or non-profit organisational setup
- not charging users for access
- not limiting users to a particular sub-population (e.g., members of some particular wider community)
In the late 1990s, some friends and I were involved in founding some pubnixes, in a contested context. It meant we needed to put some thought into the actual theory of what pubnixes are and why they're good. The broad/narrow typology above cuts across that. I'll write more on it one day.
There is also a concept of "micro-pubnix" (and "subverse"), adumbrated in some of the articles linked below.
Some links
cmccabe on the history and future of pubnixes
Micro-pubnixes, local flavour and two-tier structure
On SDF, and the future of public access unix
The Circumlunar Universe (according to the Zaibatsu)
The Circumlunar Universe (according to the Soviet)
There is no FOMO on the small internet
Specific pubnix sites
The Mare Crisium Soviet Socialist Regency
My own pubnixes
In the future, circa 2026, I intend to found a new pubnix focused on smolnet / Heterodox Technology.
Unsorted links
Hacker News thread re SDF / pubnixes (1)
Hacker News thread re SDF / pubnixes (2)
What were the major public access unix systems available in the 1990s
Five years a sundog - Happy birthday, circumlunar space!
Happy Birfday, Zaibatsu-kun! Or, Wages of the Smolnet
Pubnix governance
TBD
- unincorporated vs incorporated
- who grants root access?
- do users have to be members of the organisation?
- is the organisation (if any) more of an association or a foundation?
Coda
I tend to call them "Public Access UNIX" systems, or PAX. This is definitely what some people called them in the 1990s. The "pubnix" term was new to me when I came across it a few years ago, circa 2020.
Source