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+---
+title: "October 2025 community update"
+date: 2025-10-03T11:32:59+02:00
+draft: false
+image: "/img/TODO.jpg"
+imageCredit: ""
+description: "October 2025 community update"
+---
+
+We're delighted to share the latest and greatest from Co-op Cloud 🤘 It seems safe to say that *a lot* has happened! Grab a `$geographic_location_appropriate_temperature` beverage and enjoy :tada:
+
+<!--more-->
+
+## Funding from the Calyx Institute
+
+<img src="/img/huerta.png" style="display: block; float:left; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+We are [once more](https://social.coop/@coopcloud/115173448163104330) proud to announce that we are working alongside the wonderful humans of the [Abya Yala Network](https://escuelacomun.yanapak.org/), a project which:
+
+> [...] brings together activists, developers, and people's technicians working with organizations and communities to appropriate autonomous and secure digital platforms by hosting and administering themselves. The network is formed by [Centro de Autonomía Digital](https://autonomia.digital/en/), [Espora](https://espora.org/), [Laboratorio Popular de Medios Libres](https://laboratoriodemedios.org/), [Numérica Latina](https://numerica.latina.red/), and [Sutty](https://sutty.nl).
+
+The Co-op Cloud config commons and tools are being used by the Abya Yala Network for their project called [Escuela Común](https://escuelacomun.yanapak.org/).
+
+The first round of the school has been a success, and a conversation began about working together on improvements in Co-op Cloud to support the second round. We submitted a joint funding application to the [Calyx Institute](https://calyxinstitute.org)'s [Sepal Fund](https://calyxinstitute.org/projects/the-sepal-fund), and can report that this was also a success :tada:
+
+We have focused in the last two months on making improvements to `abra`, our command-line tool, which correspond to overcoming the difficulties faced in the first round of the school. We will dive into the gruesome technical details briefly below. Additional technical work for the school is continuing over in [`git.coopcloud.tech/escuela-comun/abyayala`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/escuela-comun/abyayala/issues).
+
+We would like to sincerely thank the Calyx Institute for supporting our work.
+
+## Community Hackathon with Klasse & Methode
+
+<img src="/img/km-hack.png" style="display: block; float:right; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+[Klasse & Methode](https://klasse-methode.it/) have organised a community hackathon this weekend and proposed to make hacking on Co-op Cloud one of the main focuses. If you can't make it in person, online meeting moments are proposed [here](https://social.coop/@klasse_methode@chaos.social/115271026694250006).
+
+> From October 3 to 5, we host our first #hackathon.
+> 
+> It will be a weekend full of fun, mate, and wild coding. We want to focus on the following topics, but we are also open to other ideas:
+> #Coopcloud: https://coopcloud.tech
+> #LAUTI: https://lauti.org
+> 
+> Participation is #free!  Vegan food and drinks will be provided, but everyone is asked to help out in the kitchen.
+> 
+> 📍 #Stuttgart, Germany
+> Fr: 4–11pm
+> Sa: 10am–11pm
+> Su: 10am–4pm
+> 
+> Registration: https://social.coop/@klasse_methode@chaos.social/115072750592901610
+
+## Translations for `abra`
+
+One of the main difficulties faced by those sharing and learning skills in the Escuela Común was a question of language. 
+
+In some cases, English is a 3rd language and Castellano is a 2nd language besides a native language. This was a considerable barrier for those learning for the first time: not only do you have share what a command does but also you need to translate what the command means in 2 languages and in some cases, 3!
+
+Translating free software is a road relatively [well travelled](https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/). There are many tools, projects and people who have already worked on translating their own softwares to other languages. However, we quickly realised that many command-line tools do not translate the entirety of their interfaces. For example, when German speakers use Git, they still type `git status`, using the English command names.
+
+We discussed this and decided to go for a full translation, ditching completely and utterly the sole reliance on English and giving translators the full flexibility to translate nearly all aspects of our command-line tool `abra`.
+
+This is an important step forward for our project which we believe must develop an increasingly decentralised and international character if we are to truly turn the tide against Big Tech :triangular_flag_on_post: 🏴
+
+Technically speaking, this means the following commands are equivalent for `abra`:
+
+* `LANG=en abra app deploy 1312.net`
+* `LANG=es abra plataforma desplegar 1312.net`
+
+This translation process is still at an experimental stage.
+
+This creates new challenges, in which, we must work to translate texts and documention for all aspects of our tool and configuration commons so that everything remains consistent across multiple languages. We are continuing to work on this on our [Language translation project](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/-/projects/38).
+
+If you want to jump in and start translating, you're very much welcome! Please get in touch. We have written the following [documentation](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/abra/hack/#internationalisation-i18n) and we maintain our own self-hosted translation tooling: [translate.coopcloud.tech](https://translate.coopcloud.tech) (which is, naturally, also a deployed instance of our Weblate recipe :stuck_out_tongue:). 
+
+## Abra stability improvements
+
+We are happy to report there is a new release of `abra`, version [`0.11.0-beta`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra/releases/tag/0.11.0-beta). For the full listing of everything we worked on, see [this project](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/-/projects/34) (61 tickets closed :cool:). Thanks for all our `abra` hackers for their contributions and time spent improving our shared tools :heartpulse: 
+
+We did also manage to bring some new improvements into the mix. Here's a brief tour of some of those highlights which might be interesting to `abra` users:
+
+### New pre-deploy overview
+
+Thanks goes to `@3wc`, who worked on improving  the overview screen for deployments. This means operators will have *much* more useful information that they need to make the right decisions on how to proceed with a deployment, an upgrade or a rollback.
+
+### New `abra recipe sync` overview
+
+Thanks goes to `@cas`, member of [Autonomic](https://autonomic.zone), who proposed a very significant improvement to the recipe release process. It's now possible for maintainers to have a much clearer overview of what is being upgraded.
+
+### New `abra app move` for server migration
+
+Thanks goes to `@p4u1`, member of [Klasse & Methode](https://klasse-methode.it/), who developed the new `abra app move` feature! It does what it says on the tin - it allows operators to simply and easily transfer a deployed app from one server to another. This is a very common task, and making it easier is an important step forward for supporting server portability.
+
+## New federation members
+
+We are delighted to welcome [Resist Tech Monopolies](https://resisttechmonopolies.online/PointsOfUnity/) as newest member of the Federation ([`R032`](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/federation/resolutions/passed/032/#details)) :clap: We can also happily report that both [Movement Infrastructure Research](https://mirnet.org/) ([`R027`](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/federation/resolutions/passed/027/)) and [Red Abya Yala](https://abyayala.sutty.nl/) ([`R028`](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/federation/resolutions/passed/028/)) have become members :love_letter: This follows our [previous update](https://coopcloud.tech/blog/new-year-status-update-25/) earlier this year where we had already begun to make friends and were deeply impressed by their work. Welcome comrades!
+
+## Resist Tech Monopolies: Creating an Internet For The People
+
+<img src="/img/failure.png" style="display: block; float:left; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+[Resist Tech Monopolies](https://resisttechmonopolies.online/PointsOfUnity/) have published and shared a zine which we would like to signal boost! It briefly sets out a local and international analysis of the issues society faces with technology and invites people to join the struggle.
+ 
+* [Link to the Zine](/pdf/RTM-CreatingAnInternetForThePeople.pdf)
+
+<br><br><br><br>
+
+## Talks and workshops
+
+### Digital Independence Day Workshop @ Science in the City Festival
+
+<img src="/img/science-in-the-city.png" style="display: block; float:right; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+Our new friend `@nextlevelshit` gave a workshop focusing on hands-on Co-op Cloud deployment practice at the Science in the City Festival in Malta.
+
+> Digital Independence Day Workshop
+> 
+> Workshop to explore GNU/Linux, an easy, affordable alternative to big tech. No experience needed. Bring a laptop with a USB port and start
+
+* [Workshop materials](https://github.com/nextlevelshit/malta-digital-independence-workshop)
+* [Event description](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/digital-independence-day-tickets-1621757232539)
+
+### Data Autonomy: Counter-Surveillance Strategies for Civil Society @ HOPE
+
+<img src="/img/hope.png" style="display: block; float:left; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+`@marl0n`, member of [MIR](https://mirnet.org/), gave a great talk at [HOPE](https://hope.net/) in NYC which featured Co-op Cloud.
+
+> Data Autonomy: Counter-Surveillance Strategies for Civil Society
+> 
+> The surveillance apparatus in the West is going critical, and civil society is not prepared for the fallout. Political leadership is explicitly targeting NGOs and social movements using surveillance capabilities that have been perfected over the past decade. This talk will evaluate the merits and limitations of different counter-surveillance approaches from the vantage point of grassroots organizers, and go beyond the stock advice of “use Signal and a VPN” to offer proposals for defeating state surveillance through technical infrastructure development and political organization.
+
+* [Link to video](https://tv.undersco.re/w/euG6vQC1QzAZUhbCvRU5DV)
+* [Event description](https://schedule.hope.net/hope16/talk/XCDFD3/)
+
+### Kieler Open Source und Linux Days 2025
+
+<img src="/img/kieler.png" style="display: block; float:right; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+Federation members [Local-IT](https://local-it.org/) were present at Kieler Open Source und Linux Days sharing a presentation featuring Co-op Cloud, which forms part of the technical base for their [KolliCloud](https://kollicloud.de/) system.
+
+> 2. Everything about Coop-Cloud and KolliCloud
+> 
+> In the second presentation, we opened the toolbox for open infrastructures: How does Coop Cloud work, what is KolliCloud based on, and how can associations and groups benefit from it? We provided practical insights into container technologies, recipes for FOSS applications, and the goal of advancing self-determined, sustainable, and community-organized hosting.
+
+* [Blog post](https://local-it.org/2025/09/22/team-bei-den-kieler-open-source-und-linux-tagen/)
+
+`@simon_sth`, member of [Local-IT](https://local-it.org), also shared a talk on this topic: [KolliCloud & CoopCloud: Open-Source-Infrastruktur für Vereine [23. Kielux 2025]](https://tube.tchncs.de/w/duVASFf96X8j3o7cynaUQR). The pure magic of [`alakazam`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/moritz/alakazam) is finally publicly revealed!
+
+### Platform Surveillance and Data Autonomy @ CounterSpy
+
+<img src="/img/counterspy.png" style="display: block; float:left; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+`@marl0n` also gave a similar talk at [CounterSpy](https://counterspy.zip) in Atlanta, Georgia which featured Co-op Cloud.
+
+> Platform Surveillance and Data Autonomy
+> 
+> How can we gain meaningful control over data in an era where instant collaboration and "cloud-based" applications are the norm? Why did the early internet dream of radically distributed networks turn into the centralized architecture of 2025? We will look at the infrastructure of the modern web - from humming server racks to law enforcement surveillance portals - and explore what it takes technically and politically to build autonomous data platforms for the needs of today's social movements.
+
+* [Link to video](https://counterspy.zip/assets/presentation-platform-autonomy.mp4)
+* [Link to slides](https://counterspy.zip/assets/presentation-platform-autonomy.pdf)
+* [Event description](https://counterspy.zip/archive)
+
+### Autonomous Infrastructure Workshop @ Deep May
+
+<img src="/img/deepmay.png" style="display: block; float:right; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+`@marl0n` didn't let up and kept organising straight through to help run a self-organised course at [DeepMay](https://deepmay.net) in the Hudson Valley, New York featuring Co-op Cloud. This session fell under the Autonomous Infrastructure track:
+
+> Autonomous Infrastructure
+> 
+> The autonomous infrastructure track will explore how to build community-controlled systems that provide the tools necessary for everyday living and organizing. Students will learn how to set up a server and host open-source versions of widely used platforms like google drive, with an eye towards security & privacy. We will also investigate systems with which we still struggle to regain autonomy and the risks they pose such as phone networks, ISPs, cloud computing platforms, and social media.
+
+* [Event website](https://deepmay.net)
+
+### `@fauno` visiting, VPN & Technologies of Solidarity @ Rotterdam
+
+<img src="/img/fauno.png" style="display: block; float:right; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+Fellow federation member `@fauno`, member of [Sutty](https://sutty.nl) was hosted by `@decentral1se` at [Varia](https://varia.zone) with a show & tell about fauno's work in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
+
+> Community technology from below: fauno visits Varia
+> 
+> fauno is a software developer, organiser and worker-owner at Sutty. His work and activism focus on investigating, re-thinking, adapting, modifying, and implementing ecological and resilient technologies, especially autonomous, collectively managed infrastructure.
+>
+> fauno & Varia member decentral1se have been working together on the Escuela Común and Co-op Cloud projects, building shared digital tools that can be appropriated by communities for the purpose of land defense. Following his participation at the Global Gathering, he is travelling through Europe and will stop by Varia for a visit.
+
+* [Event description](https://varia.zone/en/community-technology-from-below.html)
+
+`@decentral1se` also started a month long trial run of a new apprenticeship-based technology school for new system administrators and community organisers at Varia which featured Co-op Cloud.
+
+> Vakbond Precaire Netwerken: September Sunday Sessions
+> 
+> VPN is an apprenticeship-based technology school for radical organizers. It offers an IT curriculum to otherwise underserved communities and organizations advancing social justice causes. We train politically self-motivated individuals who aim to set up and maintain digital infrastructure for themselves and their communities. We stand for direct action and mutual-aid, to end our dependence on technology monopolies. We work in the here and now towards a grassroots alternative for digital technology and society.
+
+* [Event description](https://varia.zone/en/vakbond-precaire-netwerken.html)
+
+And finally, coming up on October 10th, `@decentral1se` will be presenting and discussing Co-op Cloud things at [Technologies of Solidarity](https://www.engagerotterdam.nl/en-us/programma/technologies-of-solidarity) as part of [Engage Rotterdam](https://www.engagerotterdam.nl/en-us).
+
+> Technologies of Solidarity
+>
+> Mainstream digital technologies are often controlled by large companies and profit models. We know how that’s working out. But what if we tried to do it differently? 
+>
+> Technologies of Solidarity invites you to learn about alternatives to digital technologies. Over the four days of engage 2025, V2_ will host talks, workshops and artistic projects exploring open-source tools, ethical AI and offline ways of staying connected. Try out practical tools and imagine new, more collective and creative ways of working with technology. 
+
+* [Event description](https://www.engagerotterdam.nl/en-us/programma/technologies-of-solidarity)
+
+## Website survey
+
+<img src="/img/web-survey.png" style="display: block; float:left; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 30px; " />
+
+We've been working on developing, discussing and reflecting on a community survey about our public-facing website, [coopcloud.tech](https://coopcloud.tech).
+
+The website was published "back in the day" when the [Good Ship Autonomic](https://autonomic.zone) was the sole organisation pushing things forward. Now, things have moved forward considerably, we're a global federation of 15 technology collectives and worker co-operatives!
+
+What should the new website communicate exactly? And how? Thanks to the good work of `@sef`, member of [Doop Coop](https://doop.coop/) and `@eli` and `@edu`, members of [Sutty](https://sutty.nl), we have had a great collective process to discover the answers to these questions with each other.
+
+Work is ongoing to develop these ideas into a new website development resolution.
+
+* [Survey results](https://cloud.doop.coop/s/yYsAeAEW6Xi9fam)
+* [Visual design board](https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVI0qDbrY=/?moveToWidget=3458764638651124941&cot=14)
+
+## Recipe updates
+
+As per usual, work behind to scenes to maintain our recipe configuration commons continues. Here's a quick summary of the latest and greatest that we saw pass by. It's almost impossible to keep up with all the updates at this point. Thanks to all our recipe hackers and maintainers for your valuable work :heartpulse: 
+
+* Thanks to `@rra` and `@3wc` who released a new version of [Peertube](https://recipes.coopcloud.tech/peertube)
+* Thanks to `@cyrnel` who published [Mealie](https://recipes.coopcloud.tech/mealie) and [Node-red](https://recipes.coopcloud.tech/node-red) and made several major releases of existing recipes [Writefreely](https://recipes.coopcloud.tech/writefreely), [Renovate](https://recipes.coopcloud.tech/renovate) and [Rauthy](https://recipes.coopcloud.tech/rauthy)
+* Thanks to `@ammaratef45` for publishing [Shlink](https://recipes.coopcloud.tech/shlink)
+* Thanks to `@brooke` for new releases for [GoToSocial](https://recipes.coopcloud.tech/gotosocial)
+
+## Recipe maintainership
+
+One of our more important collective TODOs and mid-term strategic goals as a federation is to implement the [recipe maintainers resolution](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/federation/resolutions/passed/025/). This decision is now slowly becoming a reality.
+
+If you maintain a recipe at the moment, we'd love to invite you add yourself to the [WIP spreadsheet](https://cloud.klasse-methode.it/s/yc9tg4P2tsF7LQA) that `@stevensting`, member of [Klasse & Methode](https://klasse-methode.it/), set up to get an overview of who is taking care of what.
+
+We are working towards a situation where we can state that some recipes are stable and others are not, based on maintainership and additional criteria. Please check out the [resolution text](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/federation/resolutions/passed/025/) for the gory details.
+
+Thanks to `@kawaiipunk`, member of [Autonomic](https://autonomic.zone), for writing up the resolution.
+
+## Other federation happenings
+
+### Switching fiscal host
+
+One of the last pieces of Co-op Cloud infrastructure still left centralised with Autonomic was finances: Autonomic has kindly continued as the project's "fiscal host" on Open Collective since the project's launch, holding the money and managing paying invoices for work.
+
+But, the extra (often time-sensitive) finance admin work has proven a lot to ask from a group that doesn't provide these services normally.
+
+So, in order to share the work, we are migrating to a new fiscal host on Open Collective. [`#R033`](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/federation/resolutions/in-progress/033/) is in progress and will hopefully start to be implemented within the coming weeks/months.
+
+### Radical administrator
+
+Once the fiscal host migration is wrapped up, we are going to open up a public call to fund a paid organising position for the federation that we have dubbed, "radmin". [`R029`](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/federation/resolutions/passed/029/) goes into the full details on how we intend to achieve this.
+
+We are seeing that no single federation member would be able to undertake our membership administration and bookkeeping, and yet it is a common task that concerns us all and must be carried out. We believe that a paid organiser role with a democratically decided-upon mandate can work.
+
+We hope to make progress on this in the coming months and open up the public call. It will be posted here on our website and via [our account](https://social.coop/@coopcloud) on fedi also. Stay tuned!
+
+## Co-op Cloud docs elsewhere
+
+We are proud to report that projects are increasingly promoting Co-op Cloud as a "first-class" deployment option for their free software project. Wonderful projects like [Karrot](https://karrot.world), [Bonfire](https://bonfirenetworks.org) and [Lauti](https://lauti.org) have documentation which shows end-users how to get started with `abra` directly in their project documentation.
+
+* [Karrot install documentation](https://docs.karrot.world/self-host/coop-cloud/getting-started)
+* [Bonfire install documentation](https://docs.bonfirenetworks.org/deploy.html#step-1-decide-how-you-want-to-deploy-and-manage-the-app)
+* [Lauti install documentation](https://lauti.org/#getstarted)
+
+All of these projects are also federation members and have a say in how the project develops. We're happy to see more projects invest, commit and join the federation and participate in the collective self-management of Co-op Cloud.
+
+## Get Radical with us 🚩🏴
+
+That's a lot going on but we’d still love to see more folks [get involved](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/intro/get-involved/) 🎉
+
+If you’re thinking about setting up a technology co-op, you have a software stack sitting around waiting for you to pick up now; we have the technology! It’s built by tech co-ops for tech co-ops.
+
+If you’re curious but don’t know where to start, [get in touch](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/intro/contact/) anyway!