/ README.md
README.md
1 # Nomad Network - Communicate Freely 2 3 *This repository is [a public mirror](./MIRROR.md). All development is happening elsewhere.* 4 5 Off-grid, resilient mesh communication with strong encryption, forward secrecy and extreme privacy. 6 7  8 9 Nomad Network allows you to build private and resilient communications platforms that are in complete control and ownership of the people that use them. No signups, no agreements, no handover of any data, no permissions and gatekeepers. 10 11 Nomad Network is build on [LXMF](https://github.com/markqvist/LXMF) and [Reticulum](https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum), which together provides the cryptographic mesh functionality and peer-to-peer message routing that Nomad Network relies on. This foundation also makes it possible to use the program over a very wide variety of communication mediums, from packet radio to fiber optics. 12 13 Nomad Network does not need any connections to the public internet to work. In fact, it doesn't even need an IP or Ethernet network. You can use it entirely over packet radio, LoRa or even serial lines. But if you wish, you can bridge islanded networks over the Internet or private ethernet networks, or you can build networks running completely over the Internet. The choice is yours. Since Nomad Network uses Reticulum, it is efficient enough to run even over *extremely* low-bandwidth medium, and has been succesfully used over 300bps radio links. 14 15 If you'd rather want to use an LXMF client with a graphical user interface, you may want to take a look at [Sideband](https://github.com/markqvist/sideband), which is available for Linux, Android and macOS. 16 17 ## Notable Features 18 - Encrypted messaging over packet-radio, LoRa, WiFi or anything else [Reticulum](https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum) supports. 19 - Zero-configuration, minimal-infrastructure mesh communication 20 - Distributed and encrypted message store holds messages for offline users 21 - Connectable nodes that can host pages and files 22 - Node-side generated pages with PHP, Python, bash or others 23 - Built-in text-based browser for interacting with contents on nodes 24 - An easy to use and bandwidth efficient markup language for writing pages 25 - Page caching in browser 26 27 ## How do I get started? 28 The easiest way to install Nomad Network is via pip: 29 30 ```bash 31 # Install Nomad Network and dependencies 32 pip install nomadnet 33 34 # Run the client 35 nomadnet 36 37 # Or alternatively run as a daemon, with no user interface 38 nomadnet --daemon 39 40 # List options 41 nomadnet --help 42 ``` 43 44 If you are using an operating system that blocks normal user package installation via `pip`, you can return `pip` to normal behaviour by editing the `~/.config/pip/pip.conf` file, and adding the following directive in the `[global]` section: 45 46 ```text 47 [global] 48 break-system-packages = true 49 ``` 50 51 Alternatively, you can use the `pipx` tool to install Nomad Network in an isolated environment: 52 53 ```bash 54 # Install Nomad Network 55 pipx install nomadnet 56 57 # Optionally install Reticulum utilities 58 pipx install rns 59 60 # Optionally install standalone LXMF utilities 61 pipx install lxmf 62 63 # Run the client 64 nomadnet 65 66 # Or alternatively run as a daemon, with no user interface 67 nomadnet --daemon 68 69 # List options 70 nomadnet --help 71 ``` 72 73 **Please Note**: If this is the very first time you use pip to install a program on your system, you might need to reboot your system for the program to become available. If you get a "command not found" error or similar when running the program, reboot your system and try again. 74 75 The first time the program is running, you will be presented with the **Guide section**, which contains all the information you need to start using Nomad Network. 76 77 To use Nomad Network on packet radio or LoRa, you will need to configure your Reticulum installation to use any relevant packet radio TNCs or LoRa devices on your system. See the [Reticulum documentation](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/interfaces.html) for info. For a general introduction on how to set up such a system, take a look at [this post](https://unsigned.io/private-messaging-over-lora/). 78 79 If you want to try Nomad Network without building your own physical network, you can connect to the [Unsigned.io RNS Testnet](https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum#public-testnet) over the Internet, where there is already some Nomad Network and LXMF activity. If you connect to the testnet, you can leave nomadnet running for a while and wait for it to receive announces from other nodes on the network that host pages or services, or you can try connecting directly to some nodes listed here: 80 81 - `abb3ebcd03cb2388a838e70c001291f9` Dublin Hub Testnet Node 82 - `ea6a715f814bdc37e56f80c34da6ad51` Frankfurt Hub Testnet Node 83 84 To browse pages on a node that is not currently known, open the URL dialog in the `Network` section of the program by pressing `Ctrl+U`, paste or enter the address and select `Go` or press enter. Nomadnet will attempt to discover and connect to the requested node. 85 86 ### Install on Android 87 You can install Nomad Network on Android using Termux, but there's a few more commands involved than the above one-liner. The process is documented in the [Android Installation](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/gettingstartedfast.html#reticulum-on-android) section of the Reticulum Manual. Once the Reticulum has been installed according to the linked documentation, Nomad Network can be installed as usual with pip. 88 89 For a native Android application with a graphical user interface, have a look at [Sideband](https://github.com/markqvist/Sideband). 90 91 ### Docker Images 92 93 Nomad Network is automatically published as a docker image on Github Packages. Image tags are one of either `master` (for the very latest commit) or the version number (eg `0.2.0`) for a specific release. 94 95 ```sh 96 $ docker pull ghcr.io/markqvist/nomadnet:master 97 98 # Run nomadnet interactively in a container 99 $ docker run -it ghcr.io/markqvist/nomadnet:master --textui 100 101 # Run nomadnet as a daemon, using config stored on the host machine in specified 102 # directories, and connect the containers network to the host network (which will 103 # allow the default AutoInterface to automatically peer with other discovered 104 # Reticulum instances). 105 $ docker run -d \ 106 -v /local/path/nomadnetconfigdir/:/root/.nomadnetwork/ \ 107 -v /local/path/reticulumconfigdir/:/root/.reticulum/ \ 108 --network host 109 ghcr.io/markqvist/nomadnet:master 110 111 # You can also keep the network of the container isolated from the host, but you 112 # will need to manually configure one or more Reticulum interfaces to reach other 113 # nodes in a network, by editing the Reticulum configuration file. 114 $ docker run -d \ 115 -v /local/path/nomadnetconfigdir/:/root/.nomadnetwork/ \ 116 -v /local/path/reticulumconfigdir/:/root/.reticulum/ \ 117 ghcr.io/markqvist/nomadnet:master 118 119 # Send daemon log output to console instead of file 120 $ docker run -i ghcr.io/markqvist/nomadnet:master --daemon --console 121 ``` 122 123 ## Tools & Extensions 124 125 Nomad Network is a very flexible and extensible platform, and a variety of community-provided tools, utilities and node-side extensions exist: 126 127 - [NomadForum](https://codeberg.org/AutumnSpark1226/nomadForum) ([GitHub mirror](https://github.com/AutumnSpark1226/nomadForum)) 128 - [NomadForecast](https://github.com/faragher/NomadForecast) 129 - [micron-blog](https://github.com/randogoth/micron-blog) 130 - [md2mu](https://github.com/randogoth/md2mu) 131 - [Any2MicronConverter](https://github.com/SebastianObi/Any2MicronConverter) 132 - [Some nomadnet page examples](https://github.com/SebastianObi/NomadNet-Pages) 133 - [More nomadnet page examples](https://github.com/epenguins/NomadNet_pages) 134 - [LXMF-Bot](https://github.com/randogoth/lxmf-bot) 135 - [LXMF Messageboard](https://github.com/chengtripp/lxmf_messageboard) 136 - [LXMEvent](https://github.com/faragher/LXMEvent) 137 - [POPR](https://github.com/faragher/POPR) 138 - [LXMF Tools](https://github.com/SebastianObi/LXMF-Tools) 139 140 ## Help & Discussion 141 142 For help requests, discussion, sharing ideas or anything else related to Nomad Network, please have a look at the [Nomad Network discussions pages](https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum/discussions/categories/nomad-network). 143 144 ## Support Nomad Network 145 You can help support the continued development of open, free and private communications systems by donating via one of the following channels: 146 147 - Monero: 148 ``` 149 84FpY1QbxHcgdseePYNmhTHcrgMX4nFfBYtz2GKYToqHVVhJp8Eaw1Z1EedRnKD19b3B8NiLCGVxzKV17UMmmeEsCrPyA5w 150 ``` 151 - Bitcoin 152 ``` 153 bc1pgqgu8h8xvj4jtafslq396v7ju7hkgymyrzyqft4llfslz5vp99psqfk3a6 154 ``` 155 - Ethereum 156 ``` 157 0x91C421DdfB8a30a49A71d63447ddb54cEBe3465E 158 ``` 159 - Liberapay: https://liberapay.com/Reticulum/ 160 161 - Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/markqvist 162 163 164 ## Development Roadmap 165 166 - New major features 167 - Network-wide propagated bulletins and discussion threads 168 - Collaborative maps and geospatial information sharing 169 - Minor improvements and fixes 170 - Link status (RSSI and SNR) in conversation or conv list 171 - Ctrl-M shorcut for jumping to menu 172 - Share node with other users / send node info to user 173 - Fix internal editor failing on some OSes with no "editor" alias 174 - Possibly add a required-width header 175 - Improve browser handling of remote link close 176 - Better navigation handling when requests fail (also because of closed links) 177 - Retry failed messages mechanism 178 - Re-arrange buttons to be more consistent 179 - Term compatibility notice in readme 180 - Selected icon in conversation list 181 - Possibly a Search Local Nodes function 182 - Possibly add via entry in node info box, next to distance 183 184 ## Caveat Emptor 185 Nomad Network is beta software, and should be considered as such. While it has been built with cryptography best-practices very foremost in mind, it _has not_ been externally security audited, and there could very well be privacy-breaking bugs. If you want to help out, or help sponsor an audit, please do get in touch. 186 187 ## Screenshots 188 189  190 191  192 193  194 195  196 197 