I am specifically asking about software and needed libraries, not stuff like Wikipedia or the writings of Ernest Hemmingway.
To keep people from archiving all of github on thousands of shucked external hard drives cobbled together all Frankenstein-y to create a postapocalyptic data center assume a ~1TB storage limitation. Though I’m sure that person exists here on Lemmy somewhere :D
As a base: The Linux kernel source, GNU software sources and compiler binaries so I can - in theory - write missing software myself. For convenience probably some stable, offline-installable, ready to use distros.
I would probably also archive sources and binaries of day-to-day software like web-browsers (I might still have an intranet to use), office tools, photo management software, audio/video players and all the codecs, etc.
I think that’s a solid starting point but im sure I’m missing something important :D
I’d also keep DNS, DHCP and routing software,detailed manuals about how IPV4 and 6 work, nginx and maybe Wordpress, lemmy, Peertube, and other federated software
Good point! And Docker. Also: Encryption software
I shall open a pub 🍺🍺🍺
I’ll be at the Winchester, having a nice cold pint and waiting for this all to blow over.
Yeah boiii!
Yeah I was like shiit I’ll just go to the bar while the world burns
Not an epub, unless you saved a copy of Calibre!
emulators, keep gaming alive
I keep a raspberry pi dedicated just to have NES/SNES/etc emulators via the “retropie” distro. I have thousands of ROMs that I can plug into any TV with HDMI and SNES/NES USB controllers for it. $100 for a full raspi kit to have full access to anything just by copying some files over to a microsd card. Can’t remember controller cost but that’s kind of a given requirement.
Besides the basics (operating systems, compilers, office, CAD, database, etc software):
-
A copy of open street map together with the linked Wikipedia articles, along with the software to view and edit them. I know you said no wikipedia, (since that’s pretty much a given), but this is basically the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy.
-
A copy of Godot’s editor so people can still make games.
-
As many games as I could fit in the remaining space, concentrating on the ones that give you the most bang for your buck in terms of space.
-
I have started to do this and I’m using Docker to host Kiwix. I’m currently using it to provide offline versions of Wikipedia, medical guides and tutorials for various programming languages. My plan is to put essential apps and information on an RPi and provide a broadcast hotspot where anyone can access the info.
I also live on top of a hill, so I’m saving up to put together a solar powered Meshtastic repeater that I can mount to my aerial pole.
Probably guides on how to make a mesh-net and the appropriate hardware to do so. No idea how that’s done.
There you go https://mander.xyz/c/meshtastic
Keeping the electricity on long enough to enjoy games or movies is gonna be difficult if you rely on the grid right now.
So maybe archive the electronics stack exchange, and solar/battery installation guides so you can steal it if the neighbors roof.
If internet shuts down you’ll have trouble keeping your life long enough to enjoy this.
I know it’s a fun hypothetical but without internet wed be falling into an immediate collapse which we might recover from but many wouldn’t make it.
I don’t think you’re supposed to tease out this scenario too far. It’s a pretty focused question.
Don’t you like a little apocalypse tease? We’re kinda into that it seems
I’m just saying you can answer the question without having to worry about all Nuances and context around it. It’s like saying “what 3 items would you make sure to have in order to survive the zombie apocalypse?“ And someone goes “well “without a robust healthcare system I’d likely die of natural causes so it’s moot.”
Nothing, I would just to plant some potatoes instead or something
FYI it can take up to 3 years to bring enough nutrients and biodiversity to a patch of land to get really decent harvests, so if you haven’t started already now is the time to. Good luck, and may your potato harvests be bountiful!
Raspberry pi os , it can also be run on non raspberry pis*. all the recommended packages in its menu (libre office?) that should get you a nice os.
Some torrenting software to ensure you can help share it around.
I recently heard of something called a ‘Pirate box’ which is a WiFi router without a password and storage attached for people to upload and download stuff to / from .
I wouldn’t do it myself, but if it was a country town, it could be something similar to a virtual notice board in the pub.
- Might as well get Debian and Ubuntu too.
- Fire Zeal and Fetch every API documentation listed there
- Pull latest deepseek models
- Clone entire debian current repo
- Clone Firefox, Linux and the gnu coreutils
- Clone Litecoin and Litewallet
- Download the most recent dump of Wikipedia
- Download all the maps and data available today in OSM
That should do for me
Open source collaboration will be difficult on mesh, so my contribution would be jailbreaks and cracked versions of softwares. My local government will need it since all their systems run on licensed software 🥲
I’d also get my hands on a bunch of iphone and android jailbreaks, because phone OSes might just stop working in 9 months if they’re left unmodified.
Maps would be the most valuable data.
Though I’m sure that person exists here on Lemmy somewhere :D
I feel seen!
In all honesty, I’ve been doing something somewhat similar for the last 2 decades or so. Originally I was building my archives because I was often away from internet access. Now, though, it’s just become habit.
I started with basic first aid and medical texts and whatever other books and reference texts I found interesting. To that I also archive proprietary software and the source code and releases for the open source software I find useful. Add to that ISOs of the distributions I tend to use and I’m at roughly 3TB. I could probably cut that to 2TB if I remove the older Ubuntu and NixOS releases. I’m over 30TB if you include CD and DVD rips.
About the only thing I am missing from my current archives would be a clone of the Ubuntu and NixOS repositories for all of the “glue” dependencies that no one ever thinks of. After that you would just need the hardware to build out the network.
All Debian and its packages. Probably a bunch of Meshtastic stuff. And a copy of Wikipedia.
To start, I’d download nixpkgs. That would cover pretty much anything I could want.
