Awesome Permacomputing 
A curation of resources, projects, and communities related to
permacomputing. > Permacomputing is
both a concept and a community of practice oriented around issues of
resilience and regenerativity in computer and network technology
inspired by permaculture.
Contents
Resources
Websites
- Permacomputing - A wiki
for permacomputing.
- Low-tech Magazine -
Articles about solving human problems with low-tech solutions.
- Monoskop - A wiki for arts and
studies.
- Damaged Earth Catalog - A
growing online catalog of the different terms in circulation.
- XXIIVV - Ideas and notes on
technology, art, language, and philosophy.
- The Luddite - A skeptical look
at technology and its impact on society.
- Frugal
Computing - Ideas and notes on frugal computing.
- Modding Fridays -
A wiki about maintenance, repurposing, and reappropriation of supposedly
obsolete electronics.
- No tech Magazine -
Low-tech Magazine’s sister blog, it emphasizes simple technologies over
high-tech, resource-intensive ones.
- Simplifier -
Practical, low-tech guides and resources to simplify daily life.
- Death to Bullshit -
Critiques the clutter and misleading tactics common in digital
experiences.
- Do the Math - Explores the
physical limits of growth in energy consumption and technological
progress.
- Branch Magazine -
Articles about climate justice and internet sustainability.
- Pluralistic - Explores
technology, digital rights, and societal issues.
Articles
- Permacomputing
- Ville-Matias Heikkilä, 2020.
- A
holistic approach to computing and sustainability inspired from
permaculture - Devine Lu Linvega, 2021.
- Permacomputing
Aesthetics: Potential and Limits of Constraints in Computational Art,
Design and Culture - Aymeric Mansoux, Brendan Howell, Dušan Barok,
and Ville-Matias Heikkilä, 2023.
- Permacomputing
and the Dance of Repair Amid the Vestiges of Digital Obsolescence -
Nancy Mauro-Flude, 2023.
- The
Oceanic provenance of Permacomputing and Computational poetics -
Nancy Mauro-Flude, 2024.
- The
Beauty of Finished Software - Jose M. Gilgado, 2023.
- What
might degrowth computing look like? - Neil Selwyn, 2022.
- Low Fat
Computing - Jeff Fox, 1998.
- What can
a technologist do about climate change? - Bret Victor, 2015.
- The
Staggering Ecological Impacts of Computation and the Cloud - Steven
Gonzalez Monserrate, 2022.
- It’s Not Easy Being
Green: On the Energy Efficiency of Programming Languages - Nicolas
van Kempen, Hyuk-Je Kwon, Dung Tuan Nguyen, and Emery D. Berger,
2024.
- The
biggest lie tech people tell themselves — and the rest of us - Rose
Eveleth, 2019.
- Hype, Sustainability, and
the Price of the Bigger-is-Better Paradigm in AI - Gaël Varoquaux,
Alexandra Sasha Luccioni, and Meredith Whittaker, 2024.
- Redefining
our needs: permacomputing and vernacular computing - Robert Engels,
2022.
Books
Fiction
Non-fiction
Visual
Comics
Audiovisual
Fiction
Documentaries
Talks
Projects
Software
Operating Systems
- Collapse OS - Forth-based
operating system designed for post-collapse scenarios.
- Tiny Core Linux - Small,
highly modular system with community build extensions.
- Alpine Linux - Secure,
lightweight Linux distribution.
- Plan 9 - Compact and uniform
operating system built as a successor to Unix.
Code Editors
- Vim - Highly efficient,
customisable, and lightweight text editor.
- Micro - Lightweight,
intuitive terminal-based text editor.
- Geany - Small, lightweight IDE
suitable for basic coding needs.
- Nano - A lightweight,
terminal-based text editor for Unix-like systems.
- Left - Graphical
text editor for the Uxn virtual machine. 18kb.
- Suckless - A collection of
ultra-minimalist tools focused on simplicity, clarity and
frugality.
- TLP - Linux power management
tool to extend battery life.
- Hugo - Open-source static website
generator.
- twtxt - A
decentralised, minimalist microblogging platform built on a text-based
protocol.
- sqlite - Small, reliable SQL
database engine.
- Argos Translate - An
open-source translation tool that runs offline.
- NoScript - An open-source
browser extension that allows JavaScript to be executed only on trusted
websites of your choice.
- CO2.js
- A JavaScript library for estimating the carbon emissions associated
with software.
- Tauri - A framework for building
lightweight, native desktop applications with web technologies.
- XFE - A simple and
efficient file manager.
- Festival - A lightweight music
player designed for local album collections.
- FOX - A portable C++ based
toolkit for building GUIs.
- Zola - A fast static site
generator in a single binary.
- Uxn - A portability
layer for graphical applications.
Protocols
- Gemini - Minimalist,
text-based internet protocol.
- Tor - A privacy-focused,
decentralised network protocol.
- Dat Ecosystem - A
peer-to-peer protocol and tools for decentralised data sharing.
- IPFS - Peer-to-peer file storage
and sharing protocol.
- Meshtastic - Open-source mesh
networking protocol designed for off-grid communication.
Browsers
- Dillo - A multi-platform graphical
web browser, focused on speed and minimal resource usage.
- w3m - Text-based web
browser for low-resource environments.
- Lagrange - A minimal,
open-source browser designed for browsing Geminispace.
Search Engines
- DuckDuckGo Lite - A
minimal version of the DuckDuckGo search engine.
- Mojeek - Independent,
privacy-focused search engine.
Social
- Scuttlebutt - A decentralised,
low-bandwidth social network that works offline and is powered by a
peer-to-peer gossip protocol.
- Lemmy - A federated,
open-source social platform for creating and joining communities.
- Piped - An open-source
alternative frontend for YouTube which is efficient by design.
- Mastodon - A decentralised,
open-source microblogging community.
Hardware
Devices
- OLinuXino
- Single-board computers based on open-source hardware.
- Framework - Customisable,
repairable laptops.
- Fairphone - Repairable
smartphones made with responsibly sourced materials.
- pine64 - Devices based on
open-source hardware.
- Green Arrays - Low
power computation platforms.
- RC2014 - A simple 8 bit Z80
based modular computer.
Repairing
- iFixit - Step-by-step
guides for repairing various devices.
- Repair Café - Free
meeting places for repairing things together.
- The Restart Project -
Repair education, repair events, and advocacy for the right to
repair.
Repurposing
- Unbinare - An e-waste reverse
engineering lab.
Experimental
- Solar Protocol -
Decentralised, solar-powered internet infrastructure.
- Permacomputing
as a practice - Integrates permacomputing principles into graphic
design processes.
- Reclaimed Systems -
Conducts research on ethical and sustainable technology, particularly in
AI’s societal and ecological impacts.
- Designlife-cycle.com
- Explores the life cycle, materials, energy use, and sustainability
challenges of everyday design products.
Communities
Collectives
Computing
- Computing within Limits -
An annual workshop concerning the role of computing in human societies
affected by real-world limits.
- Freifunk - Decentralised,
non-profit wireless community network in Germany.
- Right to Repair - Advocates for
products to be designed for repairability and for universal access to
the necessary spare parts, tools, and repair manuals.
- Green Software
Foundation - An ecosystem of people, standards, tooling and best
practices for building green software.
- ClimateAction.tech - A
slack-based tech community to meet, discuss, and learn about climate
action.
- Electronics
< > Ecologies - A workshop series providing strategic research
outcomes and specialised training in sustainable electronics design and
hardware studies.
- LURK - Hosts discussions on
decentralised, sustainable computing and new digital environments.
- Sustainable Web
Manifesto - Advocates for sustainable design principles in the web
industry.
- The Green Web
Foundation - An independent non-profit that tracks how much of the
internet is powered by green energy.
- Varia - Rotterdam-based
community focusing on collective approaches to sustainable
technology.
Art
- Small File Media Festival - A
film festival in Canada, focused on short films with file sizes less
than five megabytes.
- Demoscene - Old-school
programming artistry using limited system resources to produce stunning
visuals and sounds.
- Pixel Joint - Community
for artists making low-resolution, low-power pixel art.
- LOWREZJAM - A game
jam where participants create games with a maximum resolution of 64x64
pixels.
- Data Garden - A series of
bio-reactive installations that transform natural phenomena into
music-generating data.
- Fiber Space - Events and
workshops exploring permacomputing in creative and digital arts.
- Small
File Photo Festival - A mini festival encouraging and celebrating
small size photography.
- Tiny Code Christmas - A
yearly jam on low-level graphics programming.
- Watt-Wise Game Jam - A
challenge to build low-energy games.
- digicam.love - Promotes
photography taken with old digital cameras.
Forums
permacomputing.md
Github