Cryto Coding Collective

What is the Cryto Coding Collective?

The Cryto Coding Collective or 'CrytoCC' is a non-profit collective of independent developers and contributors that strive for real innovation. Unhindered by monetary incentive, arbitrary guidelines or authoritarian coordinators, it allows for an environment where real innovation takes place.

Summary: An environment where you do not have to worry about money, infrastructure or other irrelevant things. All services are provided for free, so go crazy with your ideas!

Who are part of the Cryto Coding Collective?

Anyone who wants to be! While there are several people that maintain infrastructure and some centralized outlets (such as the IRC network, etc.) there is no real membership list. There are a few guidelines though, although these are made to not get in your way if your intentions are good. Further down this page, you can read the guidelines.

What 'services' are offered by the Cryto Coding Collective?

Currently there is the Cryto IRC network which is generally used to house IRC channels for CrytoCC projects. This network is accessible through both IPv4 and IPv6 (forced IPv6 connections can be achieved by connecting to ipv6.cryto.net), and does not explicitly block proxies, VPNs, or TOR nodes - only in cases of serious network abuse are IPs denied access. The IRC network offers basic hostmasking where the first part of the hostname is masked and the rest is left intact - non-resolving IPs get masked completely. The IRC network also offers vhosts, which can be freely requested by any registered user in #vhost. A basic set of Anope services (with Fantasy commands for BotServ) is offered, and bots can be added on request. A web-IRC client is available at http://irc.lc/cryto. Be aware that the Cryto IRC network is a public network that is not exclusively used for CrytoCC, and that there are a few additional rules in place to prevent attacks on the network. There are no set rules to abide by for private channels (except for the no-botnets rule), the rules in the MOTD generally only apply to public channels.

There is also a Tahoe-LAFS storage grid available, that will allow (unlimited) secure and free redundant storage for contributors. Contributors are always welcome to contribute storage space and bandwidth by setting up a Tahoe-LAFS node and connecting it to the grid. A HTTP gateway is offered, allowing for hotlinking to stored files.

Current Tahoe-LAFS status: Tahoe-LAFS grid running - HTTP gateway available. If you are a contributor, send a private message to joepie91 on Cryto IRC to get the Introducer FURL and have your client connect to the network. Please limit your non-development use of the storage grid (it is not fully prohibited of course) to make sure other contributors have the space they need for development purposes. Please only connect high-bandwidth servers as storage nodes, and limit low-bandwidth nodes (home DSL or cable, etc) to being a client - this will keep the overall grid speedy to use. An upload script is available.

In the near future, a server will also be set up that will provide free shell accounts to all contributors with all tools needed for development.

Webhosting for projects can be arranged (for free) on request - either on Cryto servers or through AnonServ.

In the future there will also be a site that lists ongoing projects, and allows for communication between contributors - for now this simple site will have to do.

What are the guidelines?

To make sure that things do not turn sour, there are a few guidelines that contributors are expected to abide by. These guidelines do not exist because we want to tell you what you can and cannot do, but to protect our infrastructure, contributors, and name.

• CrytoCC is aimed towards non-profit and open-source development. While closed-source projects can be acceptable with proper motivation, commercial projects are not what CrytoCC is about.
• CrytoCC is about development. That can be building platforms and infrastructures, programming, or other 'constructive technological activity'. The well-known example of how someone can set a building on fire in the name of Anonymous, does not go for CrytoCC. Although Anonymous and CrytoCC have things in common, CrytoCC is more focused towards constructive action, and mostly in technological fields. Destructive actions (without a constructive counterpart) are not what CrytoCC is about, and should be avoided.
• We are generally not here to tell you what you can or cannot do - however, this also means that only those involved in certain projects are responsible for the outcome of it. Contributors are not responsible for what other contributors do, unless they are directly involved. In simple words: if you get yourself into trouble, while we may stand with you, we will not take your fall - so, cover your own ass.
• Specific parts of the infrastructure may have their own rules (such as the IRC network). Respect these rules and all will be fine.

Open-source?

Many of the CrytoCC projects will be open-source, under various licenses. Open-source licenses, especially the very free ones such as WTFPL, actively encourage others to take the code, improve it, and release it again. Some examples of open-source licenses are GPL, BSD, MIT, LGPL, and WTFPL.

What are the current projects?

Several projects are currently being worked on - some are in planning stages, some are under active development. The following is a simple list, with the corresponding IRC channels.

Also check out the Noticeboard!

At http://typewith.me/crytocc-notices you can find requests, messages, and notices by other contributors. If you need anything or want to tell others about something, feel free to add your note to that pad!

Cryto Coding Collective Infrastructure

IRC

All servers offer regular connections on port 6667, as well as SSL connections on port 6697. TOR/VPN/proxy users are welcome on all servers, but abusive IPs will be banned. An I2P tunnel is planned to be added soon. Servers in blue accept non-SSL connections on port 80, for the purpose of bypassing firewalls.

Web-IRC

Replace 'crytocc' with your channel name.
http://irc.lc/cryto/crytocc would bring you to #CrytoCC.
http://irc.lc/cryto/crytocc/webuser@@ would bring you to #CrytoCC as webuser##, where # is a random number.

Tahoe-LAFS Storage Grid

Web hosting / Project hosting

Project pages can be hosted on cryto.net. Web hosting is available through AnonServ, and in some cases also on CrytoCC servers.