nether/wiki
6
0
Fork 0
Code Issues 2 Pull requests Projects Releases Packages Activity Actions

meta: "What Nether offers" — services page (bridges, hosting, member projects, non-profit homeserver bootstrapping) + sweep the TODO placeholders #3

New issue
Open
opened 2026-07-12 14:19:26 +00:00 by robocub · 2 comments
robocub commented 2026-07-12 14:19:26 +00:00
Member
Copy link

Meta: the wiki should say what Nether actually offers. Right now the voice-bridge pages are detailed and current, but there's no page that presents Nether's services as a whole — and several existing pages (joining.md, help.md, connect.md) still carry TODO placeholders that this effort should sweep up.

Proposed: a "What Nether offers" page (linked from the landing page and /matrix/)

  1. Bridges. The Discord↔Matrix voice bridge (open beta, self-serve — link the existing guide), and text bridging (mautrix Discord/Telegram) for community rooms. Nether runs the only hosted Matrix voice bridge we know of — say so.
  2. Hosting & infrastructure. nether.im accounts (invite-based), rooms/spaces for communities, git hosting at nether.codes, this wiki, media. What members get by being here.
  3. Member projects. Nether helps members make their things real — infrastructure, collaboration, technical help. (Operator to set the voice/scope here: how much to promise, with what boundaries.)
  4. Homeserver bootstrapping — the non-profit etke.cc. For people who want their OWN Matrix homeserver but lack the technical background: we help them get started — choosing hosting, installing (Tuwunel), DNS/delegation/tunnels, federation verification, and ongoing "is my server healthy" support. Unlike etke.cc (paid managed hosting), this is free community mentoring: we help you run YOURS, we don't run it for you. Natural tie-ins: the federation self-test service exploration (voice-bridge repo #108) becomes the diagnostic tool for exactly this audience, and the fixture-provisioning runbook (#109) is halfway to a "small Tuwunel setup" guide already. The 2026-07-12 beta night is the proof of demand: two testers on small personal homeservers, one of whom needed exactly this kind of help.

Also fold in (existing debt)

  • The TODO(Fox) placeholders: application-room alias in joining.md, help-room/mod contacts in help.md, starter space aliases in connect.md — a services page pointing at dead-end TODOs undermines itself.
  • Cross-link discipline: services page ↔ voice-bridge guide ↔ joining ↔ help, so no page is an orphan.

Notes

  • Tone: match the existing voice-bridge page (warm, direct, open-beta honest).
  • The operator owns the promises made in §3/§4 — agent drafts, operator edits before publish.
  • No deadline pressure; post-announcement is fine, but §4's wording would strengthen the announcement itself if it lands first.
**Meta: the wiki should say what Nether actually offers.** Right now the voice-bridge pages are detailed and current, but there's no page that presents Nether's services as a whole — and several existing pages (`joining.md`, `help.md`, `connect.md`) still carry `TODO` placeholders that this effort should sweep up. ## Proposed: a "What Nether offers" page (linked from the landing page and /matrix/) 1. **Bridges.** The Discord↔Matrix **voice bridge** (open beta, self-serve — link the existing guide), and text bridging (mautrix Discord/Telegram) for community rooms. Nether runs the only hosted Matrix voice bridge we know of — say so. 2. **Hosting & infrastructure.** nether.im accounts (invite-based), rooms/spaces for communities, git hosting at nether.codes, this wiki, media. What members get by being here. 3. **Member projects.** Nether helps members make their things real — infrastructure, collaboration, technical help. (Operator to set the voice/scope here: how much to promise, with what boundaries.) 4. **Homeserver bootstrapping — the non-profit etke.cc.** For people who want their OWN Matrix homeserver but lack the technical background: we help them get started — choosing hosting, installing (Tuwunel), DNS/delegation/tunnels, federation verification, and ongoing "is my server healthy" support. Unlike [etke.cc](https://etke.cc) (paid managed hosting), this is free community mentoring: we help you run YOURS, we don't run it for you. Natural tie-ins: the federation self-test service exploration (voice-bridge repo #108) becomes the diagnostic tool for exactly this audience, and the fixture-provisioning runbook (#109) is halfway to a "small Tuwunel setup" guide already. The 2026-07-12 beta night is the proof of demand: two testers on small personal homeservers, one of whom needed exactly this kind of help. ## Also fold in (existing debt) - The `TODO(Fox)` placeholders: application-room alias in `joining.md`, help-room/mod contacts in `help.md`, starter space aliases in `connect.md` — a services page pointing at dead-end TODOs undermines itself. - Cross-link discipline: services page ↔ voice-bridge guide ↔ joining ↔ help, so no page is an orphan. ## Notes - Tone: match the existing voice-bridge page (warm, direct, open-beta honest). - The operator owns the promises made in §3/§4 — agent drafts, operator edits before publish. - No deadline pressure; post-announcement is fine, but §4's wording would strengthen the announcement itself if it lands first.
robocub commented 2026-07-12 14:42:02 +00:00
Author
Member
Copy link

Design seeds for §4 (homeserver bootstrapping/hosting), from operator discussion 2026-07-12:

  • Stack: matrix-docker-ansible-deploy + Tuwunel (first-class support exists) — the same playbook family etke.cc uses, so guides/knowledge transfer. ⚠️ conduit-family forks (Tuwunel/Continuwuity/Conduit) share a DB format with no cross-migration — switching corrupts irrecoverably; choose per server at birth.
  • Default posture for hosted/assisted servers: encryption_enabled_by_default_for_room_type = "invite" (private rooms E2EE at creation; public rooms untouched), FDE underneath, closed/invite registration, AUP + abuse-report/takedown path (reuse the voice-bridge policy templates).
  • Honest liability framing (do NOT oversell in the wiki): forced E2EE means private-room content is unreadable/compellable-as-ciphertext-only — but state events (names/topics/avatars), public rooms + their media, and all metadata remain plaintext, so moderation duties persist. E2EE reduces exposure; it is not a shield. The real liability question is counsel territory.
  • Fixture tie-in: trial the forced-E2EE knob on the nether.autos fixture (voice-bridge #109) before recommending it anywhere — the e2e suite will enumerate what breaks.
Design seeds for §4 (homeserver bootstrapping/hosting), from operator discussion 2026-07-12: - **Stack**: [matrix-docker-ansible-deploy](https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy) + Tuwunel ([first-class support exists](https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy/blob/master/docs/configuring-playbook-tuwunel.md)) — the same playbook family etke.cc uses, so guides/knowledge transfer. ⚠️ conduit-family forks (Tuwunel/Continuwuity/Conduit) share a DB format with no cross-migration — switching corrupts irrecoverably; choose per server at birth. - **Default posture for hosted/assisted servers**: `encryption_enabled_by_default_for_room_type = "invite"` (private rooms E2EE at creation; public rooms untouched), FDE underneath, closed/invite registration, AUP + abuse-report/takedown path (reuse the voice-bridge policy templates). - **Honest liability framing** (do NOT oversell in the wiki): forced E2EE means private-room content is unreadable/compellable-as-ciphertext-only — but state events (names/topics/avatars), public rooms + their media, and all metadata remain plaintext, so moderation duties persist. E2EE reduces exposure; it is not a shield. The real liability question is counsel territory. - Fixture tie-in: trial the forced-E2EE knob on the nether.autos fixture (voice-bridge #109) before recommending it anywhere — the e2e suite will enumerate what breaks.
robocub commented 2026-07-12 14:46:31 +00:00
Author
Member
Copy link

Addendum on admin tooling (changes the §4 stack picture): Ketesa (etke.cc's Synapse Admin successor — web panel for users/rooms/media/federation, Apache-2.0, actively maintained, native MAS support) requires Synapse v1.150+; no Tuwunel/conduit-family support (it drives Synapse's admin REST API; Tuwunel's admin surface is the !admin bot room + CLI).

So §4 likely offers two tiers:

  • Tuwunel tier — light/cheap, admin via bot room, matches our runbooks (#109); right for self-reliant personal servers.
  • Synapse+MAS tier — heavier, but Ketesa gives the member a real self-service web admin panel; right for the less-technical audience we'd otherwise be administering FOR.

Experiment queued for the nether.autos fixture: conduwuit-lineage servers historically had PARTIAL Synapse-admin-API compat — point a Ketesa at the fixture and enumerate what actually works before saying anything about it publicly.

Addendum on admin tooling (changes the §4 stack picture): [Ketesa](https://github.com/etkecc/ketesa) (etke.cc's Synapse Admin successor — web panel for users/rooms/media/federation, Apache-2.0, actively maintained, native MAS support) **requires Synapse v1.150+; no Tuwunel/conduit-family support** (it drives Synapse's admin REST API; Tuwunel's admin surface is the `!admin` bot room + CLI). So §4 likely offers **two tiers**: - **Tuwunel tier** — light/cheap, admin via bot room, matches our runbooks (#109); right for self-reliant personal servers. - **Synapse+MAS tier** — heavier, but Ketesa gives the member a real self-service web admin panel; right for the less-technical audience we'd otherwise be administering FOR. Experiment queued for the nether.autos fixture: conduwuit-lineage servers historically had PARTIAL Synapse-admin-API compat — point a Ketesa at the fixture and enumerate what actually works before saying anything about it publicly.
Sign in to join this conversation.
No Branch/Tag specified
Branches Tags
master
beta
No results found.
Labels
Clear labels
No items
No labels
Milestone
Clear milestone
No items
No milestone
Projects
Clear projects
No items
No project
Assignees
Clear assignees
No assignees
1 participant
Notifications
Due date
The due date is invalid or out of range. Please use the format "yyyy-mm-dd".

No due date set.

Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference
nether/wiki#3
No description provided.