From linus.luessing at c0d3.blue Sat Aug 1 14:20:34 2026 From: linus.luessing at c0d3.blue (Linus =?utf-8?Q?L=C3=BCssing?=) Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2026 16:20:34 +0200 Subject: [Battlemesh] Wikipedia page In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi, Thanks for polishing and extending the Wikipedia article! That will hopefully help a lot to also explain the event to others in the future. And will help to document what this event is or was about. Regarding feedback (sorry, first half is a bit verbose, the second half should be more precise suggestions): I'm wondering if it could make sense to somehow split between the early and later WBMs. Very early days: Spending most days on getting a testbed running. Late night debugging+patching sessions for bugs on all layers: Routing protocols, WiFi drivers (I remember that even Felix was kindly, remotely providing fixes for the Madwifi driver during the event), OpenWrt etc. Also every year a new firmware was configured/build from the scratch, often with repeated discussions on how to do it which had been discussed the years before, too (due to changing people "in charge" of the testbed - which isn't necessarily a bad thing imo.) Typically we'd have a testbed running on the last day, but with no time left for any evaluation/result/"winner". So that was quite chaotic. But not fruitless: Every year we had more and more mature software, a lot of software issues got discovered and fixed during the event. Probably issues that had bugged other community networks for a while. But bringing devs, researches, testers and activists together in a manageable size and looking at these problems together, focussing on it or several days made in my opinion quite a difference to create stable, reliable mesh software (stack). Not just for the WBM, but for everyone around the world. WBMv8 in Maribor felt a bit like a turning point (to me): I think that was the first event where we actually had some test results on the last day of the event and not weeks/months later via the mailing list. I think during the WBMv8 closing event people also voiced/acknolwedged how far the protocols have come, that they all provided a solid performance. After that the testbed got into the background. Or didn't even exist anymore. Instead we would have more and more presentations from communities, activists etc. And discussion panels or off-the-record discussions. WBMv10 might have had the most participants (around 80?). And the break during Covid (even though we had a v13 virtual edition) had a strong negative impact on the number of participants from then on. Typically we "only" had like 30-40 people from 2022 / v14 on? ----- So in my opinion on the current Wikipage these points could be worth updating: 1) The "primary goal of the event is to test these protocols" could be a bit misleading these days / could lead to wrong expectations for new participants. Should maybe be clarified between early and later years? 2) Maybe the History section, next to adding all events, could be extended with rough participant numbers (if we can still find them somehow?). Also to give readers a feeling for the size of the event? (also maybe the number of talks?) 3) I'm wondering if terms like "unconference" or "BarCamp" should be added. To also emphasize the bottom-up, flexible, open approach. 4) "rotating through different European cities and sub-urban areas to support local community networks" -> I'm not quite sure in which ways we would have supported local communities. At least not directly. That phrasing might lead to wrong expectations? To me (from a developers perspective) the changing locations seemed more like a great opportunity to learn about the different, unique challenges each community or culture faces. Or to discover similarities/synergies between communities. (And made me come to the conclusion that you can't develop the perfect mesh routing protocol from your basement. Developers and researchers need to sync with their users.) 5) Maybe the (typically) low, student-friendly cost could be worth mentioning? Which the WBM can achieve due to its small size, often through arrangements with local hostels, camp sites etc. which see the event as worth supporting? And due to its participants helping out and last but not least the local organizers' tremendous efforts. And the event itself has always been free-of-charge (if I recall correctly?). And without commercial sponsorships (afaik). (The "The event relies on sponsorships" as is could maybe lead to some wrong impressions? We don't have Coca-Cola or Redbull banners or crap like that.) 6) (Maybe for the "History" / local community part it could be worth mentioning that often a WBM also consisted of one daytrip or similar event dedicated to get to know the local community, area and culture better? Which in my opinion is also quite an experience and eye-opener as each country in Europe has such a unique culture and history.) 7) Add a section to list which initiatives / community networks have participated at the WBM in the past? Like Ninux, guifi.net, WLAN Slovenjia, Altermundi, F?d?ration FDN, Freifunk, Funkfeuer, NYC Mesh (I've probably forgotten quite a few, sorry... please amend). (And maybe also list which universities, hackspaces and other local organizations have provided/sponsored a venue?) 8) (I'm wondering if it could be worth mentioning that in more mid- to northern European countries it was often more advertised as the "Wireless Battle Mesh" or BattleMesh while in more southern European countries it was more "Battle of the Mesh"? Maybe due to grammatical preferences from the native language of the local venue? v3 in Italy seems to have been the first to use the term "Battle of the Mesh"? (*)) Regards, Linus (*): Unrelated to the Wikipedia article: Even though "Battlemesh" seemed more "correct"/"normal" to me for an English name at first ("Battle of the Mesh" sounded more like from history books, like "Battle of Hastings" - or southern European :-) - to me.). I think I would prefer "Wireless Battle of the Mesh" these days as the official name, as it is less ambiguous. "Battlemesh" could be misinterpreted as having a military background/motivation.) On Thu, Jul 30, 2026 at 05:49:01PM +0200, ?eljko Bla?e via Battlemesh wrote: > Thanks for input. I appreciate ideas, but need more. > > All can be done in some way at least (external neutral/academic/web references > are essential) but not all at once and not from wikis, blogs and social > media?so please help advance that part by working with partners/symphatizers > :-)? > > I would have started with updating now as I am on the long train ride Berlin > > Amsterdam (goVolta) without internet, power sockets and my laptop died recently > :-/ > > Anyone in Amsterdam? Can anyone meet in some library/indy space and help work > on this? I also wanna translate it to local HR/SH/BS languages next week if it > ripens ;-) > > > On Thu, 30 Jul 2026 at 14:17, Filipe Borges Teixeira via Battlemesh < > battlemesh at ml.ninux.org> wrote: > > Hi! > > Thanks for creating the Wikipedia page. I agree with Thijs, a list of > all editions would be preferred. The WBM wiki page has a lot of more > information that can be included, but it's a good starting point. > > Best Regards, > Filipe Teixeira > > Thijs van Veen via Battlemesh escreveu > (domingo, 26/07/2026 ?(s) 10:26): > > > > Hi, > > > > In the History section, you've picked a couple of "notable" locations. > > To me it's not clear why these locations are notable (compared to the > others) and why you wouldn't just list all the editions. > > > > There could also be a paragraph on the organization of the event. How > every year a new local team organizes it how they see fit, while a core > group helps maintain continuity. > > This results in every edition having a different identity and focus while > still feeling like part of the same series. > > > > I think it might also be nice to include some links to some of the > projects and organizations that were presented at WBM, like Libre Router, > OpenWISP, Coolab and NYC Mesh. Maybe even link directly to the recordings? > > > > I think most people might read the wiki page, but won't do a deep dive > into the main WBM page to find the past schedules. > > > > -- > >? ?Thijs van Veen > >? ?dicht at fastmail.com > > > > > > On Fri, Apr 24, 2026, at 12:30, ?eljko Bla?e via Battlemesh wrote: > > > > Hey folx - I recently made Wikipedia page for Battlemesh and was missing > some early history narative, references, documentation photos + > > ? > > any general feedback would be nice before confirming it is ripe/ > good-enough for translation in Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian language spectrum > and possibly ? other languages? > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Battlemesh mailing list > > Battlemesh at ml.ninux.org > > https://ml.ninux.org/mailman/listinfo/battlemesh > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Battlemesh mailing list > > Battlemesh at ml.ninux.org > > https://ml.ninux.org/mailman/listinfo/battlemesh > _______________________________________________ > Battlemesh mailing list > Battlemesh at ml.ninux.org > https://ml.ninux.org/mailman/listinfo/battlemesh > > _______________________________________________ > Battlemesh mailing list > Battlemesh at ml.ninux.org > https://ml.ninux.org/mailman/listinfo/battlemesh