[wsfii-discuss] Was FON in Spain - Now, can someone please explain...

Tue Jul 18 11:40:19 UTC 2006

James,

Thank you for your well thought out explanation. As you would expect, I 
have inserted my comments and questions in-line.

james stevens wrote:
> All networks would face difficulties dealing with the examples you 
> suggest. We can only offer each other help and assistance at a scale 
> and depth within our reach as collaborators, operate systems we 
> understand and respond to issues as they arise.

I am in complete agreement. This is why I am raising these questions in 
the context of developing nations deployments.

> These are lightweight infrastructures and though vulnerable is many 
> ways are easily repairable and flexible enough to overcome obstacles. 
> Networks and users will always require attention and support as they 
> grow and develop, and will always raise issues for us to tackle.

Again, based on a developing nation deployment, who would be the person 
that fixes these problems - oftentimes fighting the obstacles of very 
computer illiterate users coupled with long distances compounding the 
problems.

My concern is based on who, if anyone, is looking at this aspect of the 
daily use of these networks.

In a centralized network, this type of problem can be dealt with, 
individual users can be shut off if they are infected with a virus as 
well as defensive action can be taken from DDOS attacks. Considering 
that roughly 2/3rds of the total Internet traffic is now compromised of 
PtP transfers a centralized network can also "manage" this traffic but I 
see no comparable mechanism in the networks we are talking about here. 
Is there such a thing? Does this even need to be addressed?

> Our "spontaneous networks" are user oriented, all involved have a 
> contribution to make and much to learn.

Please understand, I love this concept and can see all kinds of 
applications for this technology ranging from emergency communications 
to infrastructure deployment as well as many, many others. I see this 
type of network being able to provide many critical services while 
providing value to the community at large without monthly recurring 
expenses. However, this is also something that I see as being suitable 
for industrialized nations to be deploying and based on my complete lack 
of understanding I have concerns (as noted above) that this type of 
network architecture is not the best choice for developing nations as it 
sits today.

Based on your experience, do you think some kind of management can be 
designed where "superusers" can be granted the ability to see network 
issues and fix them remotely? Can some kind of monitoring be built into 
these platforms that will identify trouble spots so they can be dealt 
with? Is this approach even advisable?

Again, thank you for your insight,

Ken