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@@ -3,101 +3,112 @@ title: Social Unix servers
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layout: default.liquid
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---
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-This document will teach you what Social Unix servers are. Users without a
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+This document will teach you what Social Unix servers are. Users without a
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technical background will benefit the most from this document. This document
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consists of the following sections:
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-* What is a server?
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* What is Unix?
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+* Servers and clients
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+* A common server-client setup
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* What does "social" mean in the context of social Unix servers?
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-## What is a server?
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+## What is Unix?
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+
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+As Wikipedia puts it, "Unix is a family of multitasking, multiuser, computer
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+operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, development starting
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+in the 1970s at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie,
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+and others."
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+
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+Okay, let's slow down here, that was a lot of jargon.
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+
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+To simplify things, nowadays (2019 as I write this), when people say Unix, they
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+probably mean one of the Unix-like operating systems that derived from the
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+original AT&T Unix, such as:
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+
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+* GNU/Linux [[1]](#1)
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+* FreeBSD
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+* OpenBSD
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+* NetBSD
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+* and many more
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+
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+So, Unix is a family of similar operating systems, and an operating system
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+allows you to control your computer. Currently, you are probably already
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+familiar with an operating system. Windows and macOS are two popular ones right
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+now.
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+
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+---
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+
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+<span id="1">[1]:</span> I understand that Linux is a kernel, and GNU is a set of tools that can
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+interact with the Linux kernel, but that's a whole other discussion.
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+
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+## Servers and clients
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+
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+Before you continue to the next two sections "What is a server?" and "What is a
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+client?", you should know that the descriptions in each of the sections below
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+are generalized. They leave out information related to server and client
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+processes. This is done intentionally so readers are not overwhelmed with
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+information.
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+
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+### What is a server?
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+
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+A server is hardware or software that has been configured to accept connections
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+from other hardware or software.
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+
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+An example of a server could be a computer that has chat server software running
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+on it, so other people can connect and chat to each other.
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-A server is a computer configured to accept connections from other computers.
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-Configuration could involved editing a text file, clicking a few buttons,
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-running a downloaded program, or many other ways. This is a very simplified
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-definition, but understanding this concept will de-mystify this "server" word
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-you keep hearing.
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+### What is a client?
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-You will hear the word "client" being thrown around in this document. A client
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-is a computer that connects to a server, and sometimes even another client! For
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-now, you can think of a client as a guest, and a server as a host.
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+A client is hardware or software that has been configured to connect to other
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+hardware or software.
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-A server could be any machine, even a laptop. The laptop hardware may not
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-be designed to handle a lot of connections from different computers, but it can
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-still accept connections from other computers.
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+An example of a client could be your internet browser, which connects to a
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+social media website (a server).
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-One kind of server setup could involved three computers: computer A, computer B,
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-and computer C. Let's pretend computer B's settings have been configured to
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-accept connections from other computers. Computer A can connect to computer B to
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-communicate with computer C (See Figure 1 below).
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+## A common server-client setup
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+
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+One kind of server-client setup could involved three computers: computer A,
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+computer B, and computer C. Let's pretend computer B's settings have been
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+configured to accept connections from other computers. Computer A can connect to
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+computer B to communicate with computer C (See Figure 1 below).
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```
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+------------+ +------------+ +------------+
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-| |--------->| |----------->| |
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+| |--------->| |-----------<| |
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| computer A | | computer B | | computer C |
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| |<---------| |<-----------| |
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+------------+ +------------+ +------------+
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Figure 1
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```
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-Another kind of server setup could just involve two computers: computer A and
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-computer B. Both computers have software that can search for other computers on
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-a wifi network. This software can not only connect to other computers, but it
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-also accepts connections from other computers. Using this software, computer A
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-can communicate with computer B (See Figure 2 below).
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-
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-```
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-+------------+ +------------+
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-| |--------->| |
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-| computer A | | computer B |
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-| |<---------| |
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-+------------+ +------------+
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-Figure 2
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-```
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-
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-In Figure 2 above, computer A and computer B are both servers and clients at the
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-same time, because they are both accepting connections from clients, and they
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-both act as clients because they can also connect to each other! This is called
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-Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networking. "Network" is just a fancy word for a collection
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-of computers that connect to each other.
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-## What is Unix?
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-
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-As Wikipedia puts it, "Unix is a family of multitasking, multiuser, computer
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-operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, development starting
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-in the 1970s at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie,
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-and others."
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+## What does "social" mean in the context of social Unix servers?
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-Let's slow down here, that was a lot.
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+The "social" here refers to how people socialize on Unix servers. This could be
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+through:
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-When people say Unix nowadays (2019 as I type this), they probably mean one of
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-the many modern Unix-like operating systems that derived from the original AT&T
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-Unix, such as GNU/Linux (See Note 1 below) or one of the BSDs (FreeBSD, OpenBSD,
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-NetBSD).
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+* Message boards
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+* Real-time chat
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+* Local [[2]](#2) Email
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+* Games
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+* and many more.
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-Forgot everything you just read? Just remember that Unix refers to one of the
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-Unix-like operating systems mentioned above, and that an operating system allows
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-your to control your computer.
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+All of this "local" business seems limiting, but it is a great way to experience
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+non-commercial digital mediums of social interactions that may otherwise be
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+monitored or monetized without your knowing. This is also a great way to avoid
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+[dark patterns](https://www.darkpatterns.org).
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-Note 1: I understand that Linux is a kernel, and GNU is a set of tools that can
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-interact with the Linux kernel, but that's a whole other discussion.
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+Another example of something "local" is [tilde.town](https://tilde.town)'s
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+[botany](https://github.com/jifunks/botany) game where the player can grow a
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+virtual plant. The user is responsible for watering their plant, but users can
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+also water each other's plants. Only tilde.town users can play this game with
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+other tilde.town users if they are connected to tilde.town.
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-## What does "social" mean in the context of social Unix servers?
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+In this case, tilde.town is the server, and the users connecting to tilde.town
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+are clients.
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-The "social" here refers to how people socialize on Unix servers. This could be
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-through message boards, real-time chats, email, games, and many more. Many of
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-these mediums are only accessible within the server itself. This means that you
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-couldn't, as an example, email people from anywhere outside of the server unless
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-the server was configured to allow that. This would be called "local" email. So
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-it would only allow users on that server (computer) to email other users.
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-
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-It seems limiting, but it is a great way to experience non-commercial digital
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-mediums of social interactions that may otherwise be monitored or monetized
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-without your knowing.
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-
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-As an example, [tilde.town](https://tilde.town) has a game called
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-[`botany`](https://github.com/jifunks/botany) where the player can grow a
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-virtual plant. The user is responsible for watering their plant, but users can
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-also water each other's plants. tilde.town users can only play this game with
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-other tilde.town users if they are connected to tilde.town (a server).
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+---
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+<span id="2">[2]:</span> The word "local" in this context refers to user-to-user
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+emails on a server, rather than communicating with external email services, such
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+as [Protonmail](https://protonmail.com). "Local" is just a fancy word people use
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+to refer to something that doesn't leave or connect to another computer.
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m455