Discussion:
Shell access
Roscoe
2010-09-03 23:00:45 UTC
Permalink
[Attempt 2 at avoiding moderator approval]

Hey all,

When I was going through uni, I was greatly disappointed that the uni
only had Windows boxes. I didn't really want to bring my own computer
to and from uni everyday. There was a simple solution, SSH into a
decent host. But, try as I might all the paid shell providers seemed
quite seedy, and the free ones (like metawire) had a few issues -
mostly due to the kind of people they attracted.

I never did find a decent shell provider, but I never forgot the
frustration involved in trying. I ended up with a Linode VPS.

Now I've had an idea I've been toying with for a while, and that is to
provide a host fellows can SSH into. I hope this will mean we won't
hit the problems of typical shell hosts, as the user base hopefully is
a reasonable and honorable group.

The rules would be simple, but hopefully easy enough to follow:
- No non-free content/software*.
- Don't get me in trouble.
- Don't interfere with the services provided to other people.

The requirements for joining would also be simple:
- FSFE email address.
- OpenPGP key.
- Agreement to the rules.

I have a budget of about $50 per month for this, which would get two
Linodes with 512MB of RAM, 16GB of storage; or one with 1GB of RAM and
32GB of storage.
I'm pretty open to other ideas, but Linode's value proposition is
pretty good. And it's based on xen, which is at least FLOSS

Of course no one may care, but I was thinking if I got 10 people keen
I'd go for it :)

Sound like a good idea? Crap idea? Suggestions?

Regards,

-- Roscoe
Timo Juhani Lindfors
2010-09-03 23:12:25 UTC
Permalink
Post by Roscoe
Sound like a good idea? Crap idea? Suggestions?
Not a bad idea.

Just a random thought: If spamming or abusing the internet connection
of the VPS is a problem, how about not providing outbound access at
all? People could easily tunnel their outgoing traffic back to their.
local system. For example

ssh -t -R 3218:proxy.at.some.edu:3128 your-vps.somewhere.example.com \
sh -c 'http_proxy=http://localhost:3218/ elinks'

would start the elinks browser on the VPS but route its traffic over
ssh back to the client machine.

(You probably want to use network namespaces of linux to make sure
that each user can only access their own port forwardings..)
MJ Ray
2010-09-04 16:52:25 UTC
Permalink
Post by Roscoe
Now I've had an idea I've been toying with for a while, and that is to
provide a host fellows can SSH into. I hope this will mean we won't
hit the problems of typical shell hosts, as the user base hopefully is
a reasonable and honorable group. [...]
Of course no one may care, but I was thinking if I got 10 people keen
I'd go for it :)
Sound like a good idea? Crap idea? Suggestions?
Fine idea. There are a few shell hosting co-ops around. Maybe you
could copy the decision-making structure and basic rules from one of
them?

Good luck!
--
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
Webmaster, Debian Developer, Past Koha RM, statistician, former lecturer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire through http://www.software.coop/products/techsupp/
Matthias Kirschner
2010-09-23 13:51:52 UTC
Permalink
Hello Roscoe,
Post by Roscoe
Sound like a good idea? Crap idea? Suggestions?
I discussed this idea with others. Like me, most people liked the idea
very much to have such a service for Fellows. The problem is, that at
the moment we do not have _any_ spare sysadmin time to integrate this or
to help anything for that. There are too many urgent things which are
critical for our infrastructure which needs a lot of work at the moment.

Of course that does not prevent you to set up such a service and provide
Fellows access there, but unfortunately our admins cannot help with any
tasks (like account management, etc.).

Regards,
Matthias
--
Matthias Kirschner - Fellowship Coordinator, German Coordinator
Free Software Foundation Europe (fsfe.org)
Free Software is important to you? Join today! (fsfe.org/join)
Roscoe
2010-10-03 04:28:41 UTC
Permalink
Hey all,

Thanks for the replies. One off list reply pointed out the potential
legal issues involved, while I'd like to think each user was
responsible for their own use it may come down to the server owner
being responsible for their use. Or, at least, being the first
visiting point for raids.

The time and money investment don't phase me, but the potential legal
hassle/risk does :(

Regards,

-- Roscoe
Post by Matthias Kirschner
Hello Roscoe,
Post by Roscoe
Sound like a good idea? Crap idea? Suggestions?
I discussed this idea with others. Like me, most people liked the idea
very much to have such a service for Fellows. ?The problem is, that at
the moment we do not have _any_ spare sysadmin time to integrate this or
to help anything for that. ?There are too many urgent things which are
critical for our infrastructure which needs a lot of work at the moment.
Of course that does not prevent you to set up such a service and provide
Fellows access there, but unfortunately our admins cannot help with any
tasks (like account management, etc.).
Regards,
Matthias
--
Matthias Kirschner - Fellowship Coordinator, German Coordinator
Free Software Foundation Europe (fsfe.org)
Free Software is important to you? Join today! (fsfe.org/join)
jamesmikedupont
2010-10-03 06:18:05 UTC
Permalink
I would appreciate any hosting for compilng free software projects.
Currently I am working on some refactoring of binutils, and the compile
times are killing my small computer.
mike
Post by Roscoe
Hey all,
Thanks for the replies. One off list reply pointed out the potential
legal issues involved, while I'd like to think each user was
responsible for their own use it may come down to the server owner
being responsible for their use. Or, at least, being the first
visiting point for raids.
The time and money investment don't phase me, but the potential legal
hassle/risk does :(
Regards,
-- Roscoe
Post by Matthias Kirschner
Hello Roscoe,
Post by Roscoe
Sound like a good idea? Crap idea? Suggestions?
I discussed this idea with others. Like me, most people liked the idea
very much to have such a service for Fellows. The problem is, that at
the moment we do not have _any_ spare sysadmin time to integrate this or
to help anything for that. There are too many urgent things which are
critical for our infrastructure which needs a lot of work at the moment.
Of course that does not prevent you to set up such a service and provide
Fellows access there, but unfortunately our admins cannot help with any
tasks (like account management, etc.).
Regards,
Matthias
--
Matthias Kirschner - Fellowship Coordinator, German Coordinator
Free Software Foundation Europe (fsfe.org)
Free Software is important to you? Join today! (fsfe.org/join)
_______________________________________________
Discussion mailing list
Discussion at fsfeurope.org
https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
--
James Michael DuPont
Member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova and Albania flossk.org
flossal.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/discussion/attachments/20101003/14c125ac/attachment.htm
jamesmikedupont
2010-10-03 06:56:29 UTC
Permalink
Even a continuous build server would be nice, one that only compiles checked
in versions.

On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 8:18 AM, jamesmikedupont at googlemail.com <
Post by jamesmikedupont
I would appreciate any hosting for compilng free software projects.
Currently I am working on some refactoring of binutils, and the compile
times are killing my small computer.
mike
Post by Roscoe
Hey all,
Thanks for the replies. One off list reply pointed out the potential
legal issues involved, while I'd like to think each user was
responsible for their own use it may come down to the server owner
being responsible for their use. Or, at least, being the first
visiting point for raids.
The time and money investment don't phase me, but the potential legal
hassle/risk does :(
Regards,
-- Roscoe
Post by Matthias Kirschner
Hello Roscoe,
Post by Roscoe
Sound like a good idea? Crap idea? Suggestions?
I discussed this idea with others. Like me, most people liked the idea
very much to have such a service for Fellows. The problem is, that at
the moment we do not have _any_ spare sysadmin time to integrate this or
to help anything for that. There are too many urgent things which are
critical for our infrastructure which needs a lot of work at the moment.
Of course that does not prevent you to set up such a service and provide
Fellows access there, but unfortunately our admins cannot help with any
tasks (like account management, etc.).
Regards,
Matthias
--
Matthias Kirschner - Fellowship Coordinator, German Coordinator
Free Software Foundation Europe (fsfe.org)
Free Software is important to you? Join today! (fsfe.org/join)
_______________________________________________
Discussion mailing list
Discussion at fsfeurope.org
https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
--
James Michael DuPont
Member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova and Albania flossk.org
flossal.org
--
James Michael DuPont
Member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova and Albania flossk.org
flossal.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/discussion/attachments/20101003/1269a666/attachment.htm
Roscoe
2011-09-28 09:17:30 UTC
Permalink
Hey all,

I've revisited this idea, and I still like it and will push forward
with it. Starting with a single linode [Debian, 512MB, 20GB] instance
then seeing where we need to go from there.


The rules may change in future but as a starting point:

0. Applicable sections of the Linode TOS must be followed
1. Users will not intentionally disrupt the services of other users


The privacy policy is as a starting point:

0. There isn't much privacy in this system, but I'll try to act in good faith
1. As local root exploits are frequent, don't assume the server to be
trustworthy
2. Network information (most likely destination ip:port pairings and
tx/rx), process listings [ps -ef and simliar] and disk usage may be
observed to understand how users are using the service and to identify
resource usage

The service is provided as is, it may break at times. Depending on the
users action it may even stop. It's not my intent nor desire that
people use it as a means to circumvent bans or other do nefarious
things. Nor is it an anonymizing service. The rules and any policies
may change as time goes by.

Email me with requested packages and services and I'll endeavor to set
them up or provide you with the means to do so.

Sign-up is as follows:

Email me a public key, and I'll encrypt and email you at fsfe.org address
login details.


Sound reasonable? Any suggestions? I'm happy to consider anything. The
privacy policy sucks, but if you're after secrecy that's what
tor/gnunet/freenet are for.

There is no nice domain name, I was thinking of registering
fsfesh.net, or if a fsfe.org domain admin feels like it sh.fsfe.org
would be nice (:


Regards,


-- Roscoe

On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 5:56 PM, jamesmikedupont at googlemail.com
Post by jamesmikedupont
Even a continuous build server would be nice, one that only compiles checked
in versions.
On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 8:18 AM, jamesmikedupont at googlemail.com
Post by jamesmikedupont
I would appreciate any hosting for compilng free software projects.
Currently I am working on some refactoring of binutils, and the compile
times are killing my small computer.
mike
Post by Roscoe
Hey all,
Thanks for the replies. One off list reply pointed out the potential
legal issues involved, while I'd like to think each user was
responsible for their own use it may come down to the server owner
being responsible for their use. Or, at least, being the first
visiting point for raids.
The time and money investment don't phase me, but the potential legal
hassle/risk does :(
Regards,
-- Roscoe
Post by Matthias Kirschner
Hello Roscoe,
Post by Roscoe
Sound like a good idea? Crap idea? Suggestions?
I discussed this idea with others. Like me, most people liked the idea
very much to have such a service for Fellows. ?The problem is, that at
the moment we do not have _any_ spare sysadmin time to integrate this or
to help anything for that. ?There are too many urgent things which are
critical for our infrastructure which needs a lot of work at the moment.
Of course that does not prevent you to set up such a service and provide
Fellows access there, but unfortunately our admins cannot help with any
tasks (like account management, etc.).
Regards,
Matthias
--
Matthias Kirschner - Fellowship Coordinator, German Coordinator
Free Software Foundation Europe (fsfe.org)
Free Software is important to you? Join today! (fsfe.org/join)
_______________________________________________
Discussion mailing list
Discussion at fsfeurope.org
https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
--
James Michael DuPont
Member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova and Albania flossk.org
flossal.org
--
James Michael DuPont
Member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova and Albania flossk.org
flossal.org
Mike Dupont
2011-09-28 18:52:04 UTC
Permalink
Hi,
This sounds great.
I dont have a fsfe account or anything but can always use another account.
mike
Post by Roscoe
Hey all,
I've revisited this idea, and I still like it and will push forward
with it. Starting with a single linode [Debian, 512MB, 20GB] instance
then seeing where we need to go from there.
0. Applicable sections of the Linode TOS must be followed
1. Users will not intentionally disrupt the services of other users
0. There isn't much privacy in this system, but I'll try to act in good faith
1. As local root exploits are frequent, don't assume the server to be
trustworthy
2. Network information (most likely destination ip:port pairings and
tx/rx), process listings [ps -ef and simliar] and disk usage may be
observed to understand how users are using the service and to identify
resource usage
The service is provided as is, it may break at times. Depending on the
users action it may even stop. It's not my intent nor desire that
people use it as a means to circumvent bans or other do nefarious
things. Nor is it an anonymizing service. The rules and any policies
may change as time goes by.
Email me with requested packages and services and I'll endeavor to set
them up or provide you with the means to do so.
Email me a public key, and I'll encrypt and email you at fsfe.org address
login details.
Sound reasonable? Any suggestions? I'm happy to consider anything. The
privacy policy sucks, but if you're after secrecy that's what
tor/gnunet/freenet are for.
There is no nice domain name, I was thinking of registering
fsfesh.net, or if a fsfe.org domain admin feels like it sh.fsfe.org
Regards,
-- Roscoe
On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 5:56 PM, jamesmikedupont at googlemail.com
Post by jamesmikedupont
Even a continuous build server would be nice, one that only compiles
checked
Post by jamesmikedupont
in versions.
On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 8:18 AM, jamesmikedupont at googlemail.com
Post by jamesmikedupont
I would appreciate any hosting for compilng free software projects.
Currently I am working on some refactoring of binutils, and the compile
times are killing my small computer.
mike
Post by Roscoe
Hey all,
Thanks for the replies. One off list reply pointed out the potential
legal issues involved, while I'd like to think each user was
responsible for their own use it may come down to the server owner
being responsible for their use. Or, at least, being the first
visiting point for raids.
The time and money investment don't phase me, but the potential legal
hassle/risk does :(
Regards,
-- Roscoe
On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 12:51 AM, Matthias Kirschner <mk at fsfe.org>
Post by Matthias Kirschner
Hello Roscoe,
Post by Roscoe
Sound like a good idea? Crap idea? Suggestions?
I discussed this idea with others. Like me, most people liked the
idea
Post by jamesmikedupont
Post by jamesmikedupont
Post by Roscoe
Post by Matthias Kirschner
very much to have such a service for Fellows. The problem is, that
at
Post by jamesmikedupont
Post by jamesmikedupont
Post by Roscoe
Post by Matthias Kirschner
the moment we do not have _any_ spare sysadmin time to integrate this or
to help anything for that. There are too many urgent things which
are
Post by jamesmikedupont
Post by jamesmikedupont
Post by Roscoe
Post by Matthias Kirschner
critical for our infrastructure which needs a lot of work at the moment.
Of course that does not prevent you to set up such a service and provide
Fellows access there, but unfortunately our admins cannot help with
any
Post by jamesmikedupont
Post by jamesmikedupont
Post by Roscoe
Post by Matthias Kirschner
tasks (like account management, etc.).
Regards,
Matthias
--
Matthias Kirschner - Fellowship Coordinator, German Coordinator
Free Software Foundation Europe (fsfe.org)
Free Software is important to you? Join today! (fsfe.org/join)
_______________________________________________
Discussion mailing list
Discussion at fsfeurope.org
https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
--
James Michael DuPont
Member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova and Albania flossk.org
flossal.org
--
James Michael DuPont
Member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova and Albania flossk.org
flossal.org
_______________________________________________
Discussion mailing list
Discussion at fsfeurope.org
https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
--
James Michael DuPont
Member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova http://flossk.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/discussion/attachments/20110928/02e4153e/attachment.html>
Fabian Keil
2010-10-03 09:47:22 UTC
Permalink
Post by jamesmikedupont
I would appreciate any hosting for compilng free software projects.
Currently I am working on some refactoring of binutils, and the compile
times are killing my small computer.
You may want to take a look at the "GCC Compile Farm Project":
http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/CompileFarm
Despite the name it's not limited to GCC development.

Laurent Guerby gave a lightning talk about it at the
GNU Hackers Meeting in the Hague 2010, a video is available at:
http://www.gnu.org/ghm/2010/denhaag/

I don't have an account myself but I'm thinking about getting one.

Fabian
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 196 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/discussion/attachments/20101003/6bbc0a90/attachment.pgp
Matthias Kirschner
2010-10-04 07:35:06 UTC
Permalink
hi Roscoe,
Post by Roscoe
The time and money investment don't phase me, but the potential legal
hassle/risk does :(
I understand.

Thanks,
Matthias
--
Matthias Kirschner - Fellowship Coordinator, German Coordinator
Free Software Foundation Europe (fsfe.org)
Free Software is important to you? Join today! (fsfe.org/join)
Loading...