Thanks For All The Support This Year!

[markqvist]

This post is also mirrored at the unsigned.io website

Once again, a whole year has come and gone, and a new chapter is on the horizon. The year we called 2022 was certainly an interesting one. While governments around the world have raced each other in the warm-up rounds for implementing the most Orwellian control and surveillance measures, there is also a lot to be thankful for. I could fill up this post with all the bad things that happened in 2022, but I will save those for later, and instead focus here on all that which I am thankful for.

You Made It Work

First of all, thank you so very much to everyone who supported my work, the Reticulum project, development of open comms hardware and the budding ecosystem of user-facing applications built with Reticulum.

So many people have helped with donations, both monetary and in hardware and equipment for testing and development, contributed time and work to improve code, documentation and resources, promoted the project, and have provided translation of essential material into several languages.

A few times, individuals made contributions that literally made the difference for me being able to continue working completely dedicated to Reticulum and related projects.

All of this has been so important in bringing the entire Reticulum project to where it is now, and we've come so far. I cannot state it too many times: Thank you so very much, to everyone who has contributed. This is what makes it all possible, and I could never have done any of this without your help.

For all of this support and belief in the vision of a free and open communications ecosystem, I am eternally grateful. Thank you for making it all happen.

An Evolving Ecosystem

And a lot has happened. Reticulum itself has seen 26 releases this year, with major improvements in all areas of the reference implementation. Various programs built on Reticulum have also seen major improvements.

It's been a bit of a wild ride, with some of the auxillary projects around Reticulum going from barely usable proof-of-concepts, to powerful and resilient communications tools, especially in situations with non-existing or damaged infrastructure, and impossibility of Internet access.

One of the achivements, that I am most relieved is now deployed into the world, is the new RNode ecosystem, which has seen it evolve from a singular device, to a incredibly flexible multiplatform tool for creating self-replicatable, free and open communications devices.

Every RNode deployed from here on includes all the information, tools, software and source-code neccessary to replicate the system accross space and time, in a on-board repository called the RNode Bootstrap Console.

Seeing the community around Reticulum grow, and meeting all of the new people that have gotten involved has also been a real pleasure, and something I value a lot. I hope you will all stick around, and that many more will join our project, and help shape the vision.

Moving Forward

With a new year laid out ahead of us, there's plenty of work to do. For myself, most of that will initially focus on improving the documentation, accessibiilty and educational resources around Reticulum, to make it as easy as possible for developers to start building new systems on Reticulum.

More detailed information is already available in the Reticulum Roadmap, and over the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing a lot more information about where I envision us taking the project in the near, mid- and long-term future.

If you're curious about joining the efforts, please do not hesitate, and join us already! There is so much work to do, and we are only just getting started.