Hacking Is a Mindset, Not a Skillset: Building Solidarity Infrastructures

This talk, given by moshfet, argues that shared technical infrastructure can be built by people with no technical background. It describes many modern systems as opaque, rigid and extractive, and proposes "solidarity infrastructures": grassroots systems shaped by the needs of a neighbourhood and held in common rather than run for profit.

The main case study is Tucson Mesh, a volunteer mesh internet project in Arizona. It began when ten friends, none with networking experience, pooled half of their COVID stimulus checks. One member received a monthly stipend to work on the project, and a fiscal sponsor helped fund hardware and bandwidth. Bandwidth from an internet exchange is passed across rooftop radio links, and the network has grown to around 20 to 30 nodes. Tucson's flat geography and line-of-sight radios limit its reach, so the group is pursuing tall buildings for its main antennas. Volunteer time and engagement are also ongoing constraints.

The talk then looked ahead to community-hosted services, experiments combining software-defined radio with open-source 4G stacks, and regular open events such as multi-week networking workshops and potlucks. In the Q&A, the speaker covered municipal Wi-Fi comparisons, a basic firewall that blocks peer-to-peer traffic, and how the group handles liability through community accountability rather than formal structures. The takeaway is to start small with what you have, and to apply the same model to other shared resources such as repair cafes and tool libraries.