Roadmap¶

Junk Net is in active development. This page is the honest state of things — expect it to change as reality continues to set in.

Phase 0 — Design & docs ¶

Mostly done.

• Choose the storage layer (Garage)
• Choose the mesh layer (Nebula)
• Prove out a hardened single-node Garage service (guide)
• Document the architecture and the operator playbooks
• Publish this site

Phase 1 — Brisbane pilot ¶

In progress. The current focus.

• Collect the first batch of donated laptops
• Wipe, health-check, and hand-provision 3–5 nodes
• Stand up the Nebula lighthouse and certificate authority
• Form the first replicated cluster (replication_factor = 3) across at least two homes
• Issue the first contributor access keys
• Run it for real: measure durability, node churn, and bandwidth over a few months of actual use

Phase 2 — The node image ¶

The magic trick: a laptop becomes a node by booting a USB stick.

• Automated installer image (Debian-based) — wipe, partition, install, enroll
• First-boot provisioning: generate keys, request a signed Nebula certificate, register with the cluster
• Sensible laptop defaults baked in: ignore lid-close, auto-restart services, reconnect on network drop
• Node health telemetry: SMART monitoring and alerts before disks die, not after
• A simple "is my node okay?" status page for hosts

Phase 3 — Growing the mesh ¶

• Nodes in enough different homes that zone-aware replication is meaningfully geographic
• Public S3 endpoint with TLS (s3.junknet.au)
• Client-side encryption documented as the default path, not an option
• Capacity/allocation policy settled and published
• Second community cluster outside the pilot group

Phase 4 — Community governance ¶

The part that makes "community-owned" true rather than aspirational.

• Shared custody of the mesh CA and Garage admin credentials
• Written acceptable-use and abuse-handling policy, agreed by members
• A lightweight membership process for new communities that want to start their own Junk Net
• Succession plan: the network must survive any single person losing interest, including the founder