Berlin
Permacomputing
Meet
Up

Please Note: we don't record audio or video for our events. Recording puts pressure on the presenter and can dissolve some of the casual, inclusive atmosphere that we try to cultivate. Doing it properly, requires some specialized gear, knowledge and time. It can be a great way to expand access in other contexts but we don't have the resources or need. We will try to provide links to the presenters and additional resources.

29.11.2024 – BesserAlsNeu

This meet-up presented BesserAlsNeu, a project to support people in the neighborhood and beyond to use their digital devices sustainably with the help of free software.

"We provide support in setting up and using Linux operating systems on laptops or Android custom ROMs on smartphones and tablets. We also collect any old devices, upcycle them and then give them out free of charge, for example to those in need or to cultural or social projects in the neighborhood."

BesserAlsNeu is a project by Resi - the resource shop in Alt-Treptow at Bouchéstraße 79 B. We began with a short presentation of the project, followed by discussion. Afterward, there was an open session with recycled devices to check out and advice for anyone looking to repurpose an old laptop or phone. There was a longer very pleasant chat about the project and other practical efforts to make more use of old equipment as well as some talk about more radical interface concepts as well as life without a smart-phone.

11.08.2024 - compost.party

For this meetup we discussed 🌱📱🌱 https://compost.party 🌱📱🌱, or how a smartphone was left to rot and turned into something more over time. There was be a brief presentation and discussion of the project, what works and what didn't, and how it relates to permacomputing principles. This followed with a lively discussion and some excitement about doing workshops to install and learn about postmarket.os

09.07.2024 - MNT Reform

MNT told us the story of building up hard- and software stacks from scratch with the goal of making computers designed for longevity, flexibility and openness. There was a hands-on demonstrations and a super-sweet keyboard.

23.04.2024 - Desktop Sustainability

A last-minute program change led to Tobias Bernard and various members of GNOME, KDE and PostmarketOS projects having a very lively discussion of longevity and the role that free software can play in extending usable lifetimes of devices.

25.03.2024 - Platform Detox

Fred Wordie told us the entertaining (and not uninspiring) tale of his Google Detox experiments. And we also had discussion about the idea of "dependencies" and various approaches to software sustainability.

28.02.2024 - Inaugural Meet-Up.

We started with some discussion and tried to help people understand what Permacomputing is and means in terms of practice and relative to other related concepts.

Louis Merlin presented his experimental, minimalist virtual machine Sola with a demo and discussion of the design choices.

We concluded by playing a round of Crappy Tech Bingo. The prize was a secondhand coffee cup that says "I ❤️ COMPUTER", which was donated to the bar/kitchen at offline.