Byzantium v0.1a (Scarab) Released!

UPDATE: We forgot to put the bit that makes it Byzantium in the build directory before we uploaded it <.< Please redownload from either the torrent, the S3, or the virtadpt.net mirror (at the moment we're trying to get the linuxfreedom.com mirror updated still). ANNOUNCING BYZANTIUM LINUX V0.1a (Scarab) Approved for: GENERAL RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED Project Byzantium, a working group of HacDC, is proud to announce the release of v0.1 alpha of Byzantium Linux, a live distribution of Linux designed to fulfill a crucial role in the evolution of the Internet. That role is a rapidly deployable ad-hoc wireless mesh network which can augment or replace the current telecommunications infrastructure in the event that it is knocked offline (for example, due to a natural disaster) or rendered untrustworthy (widespread surveillance or disconnection by hostile entities). Unlike other mesh networking projects Byzantium was designed to be run on any x86 computer with at least one 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless interface. Byzantium can be burned to a CD- or DVD-ROM (the .iso image is just over 300 megabytes in size), booted from an external hard drive, or can even be installed in parallel with an existing operating system without risk to the user’s data and software. Byzantium Linux will then act as a node within the mesh and will automatically connect to other mesh nodes and act as an access point for WiFi-enabled mobile devices.

THIS IS AN ALPHA RELEASE! Do NOT expect Byzantium to be perfect. Some features are not ready yet, others need work. Things are going to break in weird ways and we need to know what those ways are so we can fix them. Please, for the love of LOLcats, do not deploy Byzantium in situations where lives are at stake.

FEATURES:

  • Binary compatible with Slackware v13.37, so existing packages can be converted with a single command.
  • Able to act as a gateway to the Internet if a link is available.
  • Linux kernel v2.6.38.8
  • Drivers for dozens of wireless chipsets
  • KDE v3.5
  • LXDE (2010 release of all components)
  • Mplayer
  • GCC v4.5.2
  • Perl v5.12.3
  • Python v2.6.6
  • Firefox v4.0.1
  • X.org v7.4 (? – hard to tell because each module has its own release code)
  • Custom web-based control panel

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (to use)

  • Minimum of 512MB of RAM
  • i586 CPU or better
  • CD- or DVD-ROM drive
  • BIOS must boot removable media
  • At least one (1) 802.11 a/b/g/n interface

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (for persistent changes)

  • The above requirements to use Byzantium
  • 2+GB of free space on thumbdrive or harddrive

WHAT WE NEED:

  • Developers.
  • Developers!
  • DEVELOPERS!
  • No more Bill Ballmer impersonations.
  • People downloading and running Byzantium to find bugs and tell us where the problems are so we can fix them.
  • People filing bug reports on our Github page. We can’t fix what we don’t know about!
  • People submitting patches.
  • People booting Byzantium and setting up small meshes (2-5 clients) to tell us how well it works for you with your hardware. We have a hardware compatibility list on our wiki that needs to be expanded.
  • People who can help us translate the user interface. We especially need people fluent in dialects of Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu.
  • People to help us write and translate documentation.

Homepage (website coming soon)
Download sites
Edit: Removed CC notice. The Byzantium Project is free and open source and to relieve any confusion the CC copyright notice for this document has been removed.

New Area Meetup Group: Geeks and Depression

Are you a geek? (If you’re reading this, the answer is probably yes.) Do you or have your struggled with depression? HacDC member is launching a new meetup group for geeks who are affected by depression for support.

We’re geeks. We do strange and interesting things with technology for fun as well as for profit. We also get depressed to varying degrees from time to time, and sometimes it becomes a lot to bear. In the past year we lost a few of our friends and colleagues to depression, but it doesn’t have to be this way. You’re not alone – none of us are. The purpose of this meetup is to help one another through the rough times and enjoy the good times. If you’re a geek of some kind and have or are prone to depression then we would love to have you. -the group’s description.

The first meeting will be January 18, 2012 in Rockville. Click here for more information and to join the group.

Categories: UncategorizedAuthor Alli

Byzantium Sprint Reminder

There are a couple temporary schedule changes coming up. The first is that we will have a sprint at the end of this week (Fri 6/1 & Sat 7/1). The second is that to accommodate those of us who are going to ShmooCon we will meet a week late (Fri 3/2 & Sat 4/2 instead of Fri 27/1 & Sat 28/1).
The impending sprint will focus on the captive portal software (the one hold up for the whole alpha release). If you know anything about iptables, captive portals, or have the ability to transmute lead into wifi adapters come by or logon and help out.