Write public FAQ #4

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decentral1se · 2021-08-06T11:51:58Z

decentral1se commented

2021-08-06 11:51:58 +00:00

/cc @3wordchant

3wordchant commented

2021-08-06 13:05:21 +00:00

Questions received so far, and what I said:

Where does the cost sharing come in?
Do I create the hub and then lease out virtual machines, is that where the cost sharing comes in.

Yes, exactly. Cyberia computer club have been using Capsul for 18 months (https://capsul.org) to run almost 100 VMs; they cover their monthly costs, and make a surplus which has already paid back their hardware purchase, and is now being set towards their next server.

We see this as helping make it much more sustainable to host virtual servers: there's no manual work needed from you as the server operator to receive payments and create new VMs.

Is that what this is attempting to address, to get around these global content provider's censorship? To allow anyone to get into the game?

At Autonomic Co-operative, we speak to a lot of people whose values mean they would prefer not to host with Google, DigitalOcean etc. – but they don't have the budget for existing "ethical" hosting options. In the UK (where a lot of Autonomic's clients are) the main coöp-run VPS option is about 10-20× more expensive than the equivalent corporate options. So, the hope is that by making it easier for pro-social organisations to start providing virtual servers, we can help bring down costs, and bring coöp-hosted servers within more people's financial reach.

Is it correct, that the project is starting in UK, but the plan is to build a global network of cooperatives owning the servers an managing together the digital infrastructure running on the servers.network?

💯. Only thing I'd add is that people could also use the servers.coop model without being part of the network. The utopian goal is a movement of community hosting providers; it'd obviously be nice if many-to-all of those folks wanted to be in touch with us, and contribute to developing the software and the organisational structure, but it's still a win even if they don't.

Who is the enduser of services in this network of servers / services? (The administration stuff of the cooperatives, the members of the cooperatives or both?)

The main end-users would be people renting virtual servers, and yes, our recommendation would be for hosting collectives to structure themselves so that those people are members of those organisations, rather than just customers or clients.

We do also envisage these hosting collectives hosting and managing some of their own services using this platform, too.

Can you please explain, which kind of services will be offered for the endusers?

Offer from hosting collectives to end-users: virtual private server hosting, variety of (non-Windows) operating system images, multiple size options, payment with Stripe or Bitcoin/Litecoin.

Offer from servers.coop to hosting collectives: software and governance support (documentation, advice) to operate sustainably.

Can you please explain (even for non techies), what capsule VM / Flask does and what is its role in the whole concept?

I'll do my best!

Capsul-flask handles everything in between "you have a server running with an internet connection somewhere" and "people can pay you to create virtual servers on it".

It provides a web interface, which you can see running live on https://capsul.org, or our servers.coop pre-alpha on https://yolo.servers.coop, that lets people pay money (using Stripe for card payments, or BTCpay for crypto) to the server operator for hosting credit, and create virtual servers using their purchased credit.

Can you please explain which kind of tools will you offer for the business / management / decision making of the cooperatives network?

Do you have any idea, which kind of organizational entity should manage the cooperatives network?

Questions received so far, and what I said: > Where does the cost sharing come in? > Do I create the hub and then lease out virtual machines, is that where the cost sharing comes in. Yes, exactly. Cyberia computer club have been using Capsul for 18 months (https://capsul.org) to run almost 100 VMs; they cover their monthly costs, and make a surplus which has already paid back their hardware purchase, and is now being set towards their next server. We see this as helping make it much more sustainable to host virtual servers: there's no manual work needed from you as the server operator to receive payments and create new VMs. > Is that what this is attempting to address, to get around these global content provider's censorship? To allow anyone to get into the game? At Autonomic Co-operative, we speak to a lot of people whose values mean they would prefer not to host with Google, DigitalOcean etc. – but they don't have the budget for existing "ethical" hosting options. In the UK (where a lot of Autonomic's clients are) the main coöp-run VPS option is about 10-20× more expensive than the equivalent corporate options. So, the hope is that by making it easier for pro-social organisations to start providing virtual servers, we can help bring down costs, and bring coöp-hosted servers within more people's financial reach. > Is it correct, that the project is starting in UK, but the plan is to build a global network of cooperatives owning the servers an managing together the digital infrastructure running on the servers.network? 💯. Only thing I'd add is that people could also use the servers.coop model without being part of the network. The utopian goal is a *movement* of community hosting providers; it'd obviously be nice if many-to-all of those folks wanted to be in touch with us, and contribute to developing the software and the organisational structure, but it's still a win even if they don't. > Who is the enduser of services in this network of servers / services? (The administration stuff of the cooperatives, the members of the cooperatives or both?) The main end-users would be people renting virtual servers, and yes, our recommendation would be for hosting collectives to structure themselves so that those people are members of those organisations, rather than just customers or clients. We do also envisage these hosting collectives hosting and managing some of their own services using this platform, too. > Can you please explain, which kind of services will be offered for the endusers? Offer from hosting collectives to end-users: virtual private server hosting, variety of (non-Windows) operating system images, multiple size options, payment with Stripe or Bitcoin/Litecoin. Offer from servers.coop to hosting collectives: software and governance support (documentation, advice) to operate sustainably. > Can you please explain (even for non techies), what capsule VM / Flask does and what is its role in the whole concept? I'll do my best! Capsul-flask handles everything in between "you have a server running with an internet connection somewhere" and "people can pay you to create virtual servers on it". It provides a web interface, which you can see running live on https://capsul.org, or our servers.coop pre-alpha on https://yolo.servers.coop, that lets people pay money (using Stripe for card payments, or BTCpay for crypto) to the server operator for hosting credit, and create virtual servers using their purchased credit. > Can you please explain which kind of tools will you offer for the business / management / decision making of the cooperatives network? > Do you have any idea, which kind of organizational entity should manage the cooperatives network?

decentral1se commented

2022-05-16 12:50:29 +00:00

#5 (comment)

https://git.coopcloud.tech/servers.coop/organising/issues/5#issuecomment-13049

decentral1se closed this issue

2022-05-16 12:50:30 +00:00

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Reference: servers.coop/organising#4