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<wall of text>
I  am  interested in  the  history  and  future  of public  access  Unix
and  GNU/Linux systems  ("pubnixes",  for short);  places like  SDF.org,
Grex.org,  or   tilde.town.  It has  been a  hobby of  mine  to  dig  up 
information on old systems and to learn about  and support current ones.
Some  information  I've  collected  is  in  a  git  repo  here:
https://github.com/cwmccabe/pubnixhist  This is a collaborative project,
and you are welcome to contribute.

Part of my  interest  in  pubnixes  is  linked  to  a concern  about the
social and environmental sustainability of modern societies.  Increasing
power of short-sighted  corporate  institutions over all aspects of life
is making popular movements for sustainability much more difficult.  And
corporate   control  over   news  and  other  media  means  that  it  is
increasingly  difficult for  many  to  even maintain  awareness  of  the
problems.   This happens  as investigative  journalism  about  corporate
wrong-doings  is surpressed,   attention is  deflected away  from topics
about the need for corportate regulation,   and a culture of futility is
cultivated  in order to  shape us all into "good consumers".   To combat
this and maintain public control of government, informal, non-commercial
venues for social interaction and organization are very  important.  And
hands-on familiarity with the technologies of communication are important.
These are potential forms of resistance.

I recently set up a "micro-pubnix" as a place for collaboration, digital
skill building, and for socializing with others interested in  this same
topic: https://rawtext.club  This system is running on a tiny Arch Linux
VPS,  and just  about all  member interactions  are on the command line.
If you're interested in any of topics above or below,  just ask and I'll
set you up with a free account.
</wall of text>

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Some recommended readings/viewings:

  SDF - The Ethical Social Network

  The Corporation - by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan

  Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media
  - by Herman and Chomsky

  Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show
  Business - by Neil Postman

  HyperNormalization - by Adam Curtis

  Mother Jones - an independent (no corporate owners) investigative
  news organization with a mission of delivering hard-hitting reporting
  that inspires change and combats "alternative facts"

  ProPublica - Journalism in the Public Interest

  Truthout - a nonprofit news organization dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social justice issues.

  Free Software Foundation

  Electronic Frontier Foundation

  Anti-social Media Manifesto, by Grex user ~papa (gopher link)

  Slow Journalism

  Source Watch and PRWatch

  Low-tech Magazine - by Kris de Decker

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