migrate The Moving Parts into Intro area, stylize

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@ -4,8 +4,16 @@ title: Quick start
There are a few ways to get started, here are some entrypoints listed below:
- If you're new around here and you'd like to learn how to deploy apps with `abra`, then a good place to start is the [new operators tutorial](/operators/tutorial). If you've already deployed some apps and would like to learn how to maintain them, then the [operators handbook](/operators/handbook) is the right place.
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
- If you're installing `abra` so you can do recipe packaging, take a look at the [new maintainers tutorial](/maintainers/tutorial). `abra` can help you check the quality of the recipe you've packaged and help you publish it to the public recipe catalogue. Then others can deploy your configuration :rocket:
- __Operators__
If you're new around here and you'd like to learn how to deploy apps with `abra`, then a good place to start is the [new operators tutorial](/operators/tutorial). If you've already deployed some apps and would like to learn how to maintain them, then the [operators handbook](/operators/handbook) is the right place.
- __Maintainers__
If you're installing `abra` so you can do recipe packaging, take a look at the [new maintainers tutorial](/maintainers/tutorial). `abra` can help you check the quality of the recipe you've packaged and help you publish it to the public recipe catalogue. Then others can deploy your configuration :rocket:
</div>
If you run into any issues, please see the [troubleshooting page](/abra/trouble) :bomb:

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---
title: Project strategy
title: Project Strategy
---
!!! note "Yes, we are blog"
From our experiences working and organising as Autonomic, the tech co-op who [initiated Co-op Cloud](https://autonomic.zone/blog/co-op-cloud/), we know that the progressive tech movement lack reliable and cost-effective technical means for providing a sustainable alternative to _Big Tech_© services which are marketed as "[cloud computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing)".
Some leading thoughts are outlined in the [project launch blog post](https://autonomic.zone/blog/co-op-cloud/) also.
From our experiences working and organising as Autonomic, the tech co-op who initiated Co-op Cloud, we know that the progressive tech movement lack reliable and cost-effective technical means for providing an alternative to “Big Tech” cloud services.
## Technological Saviors?
The urgency for providing an alternative comes out of the understanding that the concentration of our digital lives within the private sphere of corporate providers (e.g. [GAFAM](https://degooglisons-internet.org/en/)) represents a loss of freedom due to the threat to our privacy and self-determination through surveillance and monopolisation.
As a movement, we cannot compete with corporate providers in terms of cost and scale. Their network effects and available capital means that no one project, product or organisation can create the required shift to a more widespread public interest technology.
Technology alone will not save us. Simply deploying libre software is not enough.
> Technology alone will not save us
>
> Simply deploying libre software is not enough.
Our strategy is to mutualise our resources to facilitate this shift. Co-op Cloud is an attempt to create a new shared resource - an open and democratically managed, open standards based, copyleft licensed, libre software infrastructure project.
Our strategy is to mutualise our resources to facilitate this shift. _Co-op Cloud_ is an attempt to create a new shared resource - an open and democratically managed, open standards based, copyleft licensed, libre software infrastructure project.
From this base, we can focus on the urgent and necessary social organising work that goes beyond the technical question.
## The Moving Parts
_Co-op Cloud_ is made up of a few simple, composable pieces. The system does not rely on any one specific implementation: each part may be replaced and/or extended as needed. We want to build a resilient and long-term sustainable project and that means allowing for different implementations, open formats and a diverse project organisation. Here are the main technical concepts listed below,
``` mermaid
graph LR
A[Libre Software Apps] --> B{Recipe Packaging};
B --> C[Command-line Tool];
B --> D[Container Orchestrator];
C --> D;
```
Once you [grok](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grok) this, you grok the moving parts of the entire project. You can then move on to [deploying your first app](/operators/tutorial/#deploy-your-first-app).
### Libre Software Apps
Libre software apps are tools- they take the shape of websites, mobile apps, and software clients that you may already use in your daily life, for example...
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
- :simple-nextcloud: __Nextcloud__
- :simple-jitsi: __Jitsi__
- :simple-wikimediacommons: __Mediawiki__
- :fontawesome-solid-rocket: __Rocket.chat__
</div>
...and many more. These apps are also often referred to as _open-Source_ or _Free-Software_. These are tools that are created by volunteer communities who use [free software licenses] in order to build up the public software commons and offer more digital alternatives to [proprietary systems].
The communities who develop these softwares also publish them using [containers]. For example, here is the [Nextcloud hub.docker.com account] which allows end-users to quickly deploy a new Nextcloud instance.
There is a growing consensus in the free software community that containers are a useful and time saving format for distribution.
!!! question "Why did you choose to use containers?"
Learn more [in the FAQ section](/intro/faq/#why-containers).
[free software licenses]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
[nextcloud hub.docker.com account]: https://hub.docker.com/_/nextcloud
[proprietary systems]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprietary_software
[containers]: https://www.docker.com/resources/what-container
### Recipe Packaging Format
However, just having a container of an app is often not enough. The work required to deploy that app in a "production ready" setup is still too time intensive and often involves a duplication of effort.
Each service provider needs to deal with the same problems: stable versioning, backup plan, secret management, upgrade plan, monitoring and the list goes on.
Individual free software projects can't take on all this responsibility. They provide the containers as is, in a secure and ready-to-go manner but it is up to service providers to worry about how the app is deployed.
Therefore, Co-op Cloud proposes a packaging format, which we refer to as a recipe, that describes the entire production state of the app in a single place. This format uses the existing [standards based compose specification].
This is a file format which is most commonly used by the [Docker compose] tool but Co-op Cloud **does not** require the use of Docker compose itself. Furthermore, as described below, we also don't rely on the actual Docker CLI itself either. We do however use a lot of the underlying libraries.
!!! question "Why did you choose to use the compose specificiation?"
Learn more [in the FAQ section](/intro/faq/#why-use-the-compose-specification).
[Each recipe] that Co-op cloud provides is described using the compose specification and makes use of the upstream project published container when possible (sometimes they don't publish one!).
This is the core of our approach to working with the ecosystem of free software communities. We want to maximise the chances of sharing work, knowledge and build solidarity through concrete co-operation.
[standards based compose specification]: https://compose-spec.io
[docker compose]: https://docs.docker.com/compose/
[each recipe]: /recipes/
### Container Orchestrator
Once we have our app packaged as a recipe, we need a deployment environment (e.g. a server & something to keep the containers running). Production deployments are typically expected to support a number of features which give hosters and end-users guarantees for stability.
The Co-op cloud makes use of [Docker swarm] as a deployment environment. It offers an approriate feature set which allows us to support zero-down time upgrades, seamless app rollbacks, automatic deploy failure handling, scaling, hybrid cloud setups and maintain a decentralised design.
!!! question "Why did you choose to use Docker Swarm?"
Learn more [in the FAQ section](/intro/faq/#why-docker-swarm).
[docker swarm]: https://docs.docker.com/engine/swarm/
### Command-line tool
Finally, we need a tool to read the recipe package format and actually deploy the app. For this, we have developed and published the [abra] command-line tool.
`abra` aims at providing a simple command-line interface for managing your own Co-op Cloud. You can bootstrap machines with the required tools, create new apps and deploy them. `abra` is written in [Go](https://go.dev/) and uses a lot of the libraries that the `docker` and `docker-compose` CLIs use but does not rely on those interfaces directly.
`abra` is our flagship command-line client but it does not need to be the only client. `abra` was designed in such a way that it complements a workflow which can still be done completely manually. If Co-op Cloud goes away tomorrow, our configuration commons would still be useful and usable.
[abra]: /abra/

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@ -2,82 +2,9 @@
title: New Operators Tutorial
---
## The moving parts
Co-op Cloud is made up of a few simple, composable pieces. The system does not rely on any one specific implementation: each part may be replaced and/or extended as needed.
We want to build a resilient and long-term sustainable project and that means allowing for different implementations, open formats and a diverse project organisation.
Here are the main technical concepts listed below, once you [grok](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grok) this, you grok the moving parts of the entire project. You can then move on to [deploying your first app](/operators/tutorial/#deploy-your-first-app).
### Libre software apps
Libre software apps are tools, websites & software clients that you may already use in your daily life: [Nextcloud], [Jitsi], [Mediawiki], [Rocket.chat] and [many more]!
These are tools that are created by volunteer communities who use [free software licenses] in order to build up the public software commons and offer more digital alternatives to [proprietary systems].
The communities who develop these softwares also publish them using [containers]. For example, here is the [Nextcloud hub.docker.com account] which allows end-users to quickly deploy a new Nextcloud instance.
There is a growing consensus in the free software community that containers are a useful and time saving format for distribution.
!!! question "Why did you choose to use containers?"
Learn more [in the FAQ section](/intro/faq/#why-containers).
[nextcloud]: https://nextcloud.com
[jitsi]: https://jitsi.org
[mediawiki]: https://mediawiki.org
[rocket.chat]: https://rocket.chat
[many more]: /recipes/
[free software licenses]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
[nextcloud hub.docker.com account]: https://hub.docker.com/_/nextcloud
[proprietary systems]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprietary_software
[containers]: https://www.docker.com/resources/what-container
### The recipe packaging format
However, just having a container of an app is often not enough. The work required to deploy that app in a "production ready" setup is still too time intensive and often involves a duplication of effort.
Each service provider needs to deal with the same problems: stable versioning, backup plan, secret management, upgrade plan, monitoring and the list goes on.
Individual free software projects can't take on all this responsibility. They provide the containers as is, in a secure and ready-to-go manner but it is up to service providers to worry about how the app is deployed.
Therefore, Co-op Cloud proposes a packaging format, which we refer to as a recipe, that describes the entire production state of the app in a single place. This format uses the existing [standards based compose specification].
This is a file format which is most commonly used by the [Docker compose] tool but Co-op Cloud **does not** require the use of Docker compose itself. Furthermore, as described below, we also don't rely on the actual Docker CLI itself either. We do however use a lot of the underlying libraries.
!!! question "Why did you choose to use the compose specificiation?"
Learn more [in the FAQ section](/intro/faq/#why-use-the-compose-specification).
[Each recipe] that Co-op cloud provides is described using the compose specification and makes use of the upstream project published container when possible (sometimes they don't publish one!).
This is the core of our approach to working with the ecosystem of free software communities. We want to maximise the chances of sharing work, knowledge and build solidarity through concrete co-operation.
[standards based compose specification]: https://compose-spec.io
[docker compose]: https://docs.docker.com/compose/
[each recipe]: /recipes/
### Container orchestrator
Once we have our app packaged as a recipe, we need a deployment environment (e.g. a server & something to keep the containers running). Production deployments are typically expected to support a number of features which give hosters and end-users guarantees for stability.
The Co-op cloud makes use of [Docker swarm] as a deployment environment. It offers an approriate feature set which allows us to support zero-down time upgrades, seamless app rollbacks, automatic deploy failure handling, scaling, hybrid cloud setups and maintain a decentralised design.
!!! question "Why did you choose to use Docker Swarm?"
Learn more [in the FAQ section](/intro/faq/#why-docker-swarm).
[docker swarm]: https://docs.docker.com/engine/swarm/
### Command-line tool
Finally, we need a tool to read the recipe package format and actually deploy the app. For this, we have developed and published the [abra] command-line tool.
`abra` aims at providing a simple command-line interface for managing your own Co-op Cloud. You can bootstrap machines with the required tools, create new apps and deploy them. `abra` is written in [Go](https://go.dev/) and uses a lot of the libraries that the `docker` and `docker-compose` CLIs use but does not rely on those interfaces directly.
`abra` is our flagship command-line client but it does not need to be the only client. `abra` was designed in such a way that it complements a workflow which can still be done completely manually. If Co-op Cloud goes away tomorrow, our configuration commons would still be useful and usable.
[abra]: /abra/
This tutorial assumes you understand the [frequently asked questions](/intro/faq/) as
well as [the moving parts](/intro/strategy/) of the technical problems Co-op
Cloud solves. If yes, proceed :smile:
## Deploy your first app

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@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ markdown_extensions:
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