collection #1

The first collection is documentation from Chile's Project Cybersyn (1971–1973) — a cybernetic system for managing the national economy, built under Salvador Allende and destroyed by the 1973 military coup. The archive has been scattered across institutions and private collections for fifty years.

This collection includes only documentation that was clearly produced — and therefore its rights are owned — by the state of Chile through one of its agencies — either extinct or still active. By international standards and Chilean law, these documents are public information.

collection #2

The second collection ...

• 0100101110101101.org – P2P
• ArchiveBox
• ArchiveTeam Wiki
• Are.na
• ATNOFS
• Centre for Digital Culture
• Common.Garden
• COMPOST COMPUTACIONAL
• Constant
• Critical Infrastructure Lab
• Digital Methods Initiative
• eclips.is
• Feminist Hackerspaces
• Foundation for Public Code
• Hundred Rabbits
• IMPAKT Festival 2026
• Internet Archive Europe
• IPFS
• joak
• Knowledge Servers (DARC)
• LAG
• LineageOS
• LOW←TECH MAGAZINE
• Marginal
• Monoskop
• Node Media Lab
• offline
• Permacomputing
• postmarketOS
• Small File Media Festival
• Solar Protocol
• Storage Museum
• V2 Lab for Unstable Media
• Varia
• YaCy

the problem

Many important cultural archives lack visibility. Some are carefully preserved by archival staff without the knowledge or resources to host digital copies. Others disappear. Institutions lose funding, servers go offline, hard drives fail, political regimes change. When a digital archive depends on a single organization or a single server, it is only as durable as that organization’s budget or that server’s uptime.

compost.cc invites people to share in the work of preservation — distributing archives across many machines in many places, maintained by the people who care about them. The point is not decentralization for its own sake, but collective responsibility: more hands, more resilience, more awareness of what it actually takes to keep shared knowledge alive.

how it works

Each node in the network runs a single small program that does everything: it checks a signed list of what the network is currently preserving, downloads the relevant files, and shares them with every other node using BitTorrent. The list is cryptographically signed — each node can verify it hasn’t been tampered with before accepting changes. Even if the server were compromised, nodes would reject a forged list.

  compost.cc                          node (rescued device)
		
		  ┌──────────────┐                    ┌──────────────┐
		  │  registry    │── fetch+verify ──▸ │  compost     │
		  │  .json       │                    │  binary      │
		  │  + signature │                    │              │
		  └──────────────┘                    │  embedded    │
		  ┌──────────────┐                    │  BitTorrent  │
		  │  tracker     │◂── announce ────── │  engine      │
		  └──────────────┘                    │              │
		  ┌──────────────┐                    └─────┬────────┘
		  │  web seed    │◂── fallback ───────────┤
		  └──────────────┘                          │
		  ┌──────────────┐                    ┌─────▾────────┐
		  │  directory   │◂── status ──────── │  BitTorrent  │
		  │              │──▸ peer hints ───▸ │  swarm       │
		  └──────────────┘                    └──────────────┘

Once files are downloaded, nodes share them directly with each other — peer to peer. A tracker helps nodes find each other, and a web seed provides an HTTP fallback so files are always available even when no other peers are online. The more nodes that join, the more resilient and available the archive becomes.

trust

Two separate cryptographic keys govern the network, held by different people. The archive’s curator signs a manifest attesting that these are authentic documents with verified provenance. The network operator signs the registry that tells nodes what to seed and where to find it.

This separation means archival authority and infrastructure authority are independent. A new curator can take over a collection without needing access to the infrastructure, and a new operator can manage the network without needing access to the archive. Either role can be transferred without disrupting the other.

the devices

The network runs on rescued hardware — old laptops pulled from e-waste, tablets in drawers, phones with cracked screens — restored with lightweight Linux and turned into archival servers. Turning discarded technology into infrastructure for preserving discarded knowledge is the project’s central gesture: digital detritus becomes fertile infrastructure for common knowledge.

The node software is designed for these machines: about 40 MB of RAM, x86 and ARM Linux, no technical configuration beyond the initial install. Node operators choose how much to seed based on their available disk space — even a minimal contribution from an old phone strengthens the archive’s resilience. The network also includes servers provided by eclips.is and the Digital Methods Initiative.

the commons

compost.cc operates under the philosophy of the commons — a form of collective governance that is neither market-based nor bureaucratic. The archive is not owned; it is collectively maintained. The infrastructure is not rented; it is assembled from what has been discarded. The project draws from permacomputing — a framework for digital practices that takes seriously the material and ecological costs of computation, prioritizing care, repair, and the extended use of existing resources over replacement and upgrade cycles. Where mainstream computing culture treats hardware as disposable and infrastructure as invisible, compost.cc insists on the opposite: hardware is worth repairing, and infrastructure should be legible.

participate

Run a node. If you have an old machine — even a low-powered one — it can become part of the archive. Send us an email.

Bring a device to a workshop. compost.cc hosts hands-on sessions at cultural institutions where participants bring old devices and leave with a functioning archival server. No prior technical knowledge required.

Donate hardware. Old phones, tablets, or laptops — especially those that can run Linux. Get in touch.

Host a workshop or exhibition. If you run an institution and this interests you, reach out.

Browse the code. Everything is open source at codeberg.org.

Above all, reach out: hola@compost.cc.

Demo installation of five recycled devices running compost.cc nodes: a 2011 MacBook Air with a broken screen, a 2012 MacBook Pro, a 2018 Huawei MediaPad T5 with a broken screen, a 2014 ASUS MeMO Pad, and a Google Pixel 7 with a broken screen, alongside a Wi-Fi router and a power meter.

sobre el proyecto

compost.cc es un proyecto de «permacomputing» para la preservación, soporte y distribución de archivos digitales bajo la lógica del procomún; un proyecto de arte medial de Zachary Furste y Diego Gómez-Venegas.

El proyecto restaura dispositivos computacionales desechados para convertirlos en servidores que, de forma colectiva, preservan archivos en riesgo. La red distribuye archivos a través de BitTorrent.

el archivo

La primera colección corresponde a la documentación del Proyecto Cybersyn de Chile (1971–1973), un sistema cibernético para la gestión de la economía nacional construido bajo el mandato de Salvador Allende y destruido por el golpe militar de 1973. El archivo ha estado disperso entre instituciones y colecciones privadas durante cincuenta años.

cómo funciona

Un nodo es un programa individual que recupera un registro firmado que enumera lo que la red está compartiendo actualmente, descarga los archivos correspondientes a través de BitTorrent y los comparte con todos los demás nodos.

  compost.cc                          nodo (dispositivo restaurado)
		
		  ┌──────────────┐                            ┌──────────────┐
		  │  registro    │── recuperar+verificar ──▸ │  compost      │
		  │  .json       │                           │  binario      │
		  │  + firma     │                           │               │
		  └──────────────┘                           │  motor        │
		  ┌──────────────┐                           │  BitTorrent   │
		  │  tracker     │◂── anunciar ──────        │  integrado    │
		  └──────────────┘                           │              │
		  ┌──────────────┐                           └──────┬───────┘
		  │  semilla web │◂── respaldo ───────────        ──┤
		  └──────────────┘                                  │
		  ┌──────────────┐                             ┌─────▾────────┐
		  │  directorio  │◂── estado ────────          │  enjambre    │
		  │              │──▸ sugerencias de peer ───▸ │  BitTorrent  │
		  └──────────────┘                             └──────────────┘

Dos llaves criptográficas controlan la red. El responsable de la mantención de la colección (en el caso de la colección Cybersyn, Diego, quien digitalizó el archivo) firma el manifiesto de archivos, dando fe de su autenticidad y procedencia. El operador de la infraestructura (Zachary, quien construyó y mantiene la red) firma el registro que indica a los nodos qué deben compartir (seed). Este diseño permite transferir la autoridad sobre el archivo, para el caso de la colección Cybersyn, a una institución chilena sin alterar la infraestructura.

  llave de mantención (Diego)            llave del operador (Zachary)
		        │                                  │
		        ▾                                  ▾
		  ┌────────────────────┐                  ┌────────────────┐
		  │  manifiesto de     │                  │  registo de    │
		  │  lista de archivos │                  │  configuración │
		  │  + hash            │                  │  de la red     │
		  │  + procedencia     │                  │  + fuentes     │
		  └──────┬─────────────┘                  └──────┬─────────┘
		         │                                       │
		         └──────────┐   ┌────────────────────────┘
		                    ▾   ▾
		              ┌──────────────┐
		              │  el nodo     │
		              │  verifica    │
		              │  ambos antes │
		              │  de compartir│
		              └──────────────┘

los dispositivos

La red funciona con hardware recuperado —portátiles, tablets y teléfonos móviles viejos restaurados con una versión light de Linux— junto a servidores proporcionados por eclips.is y la Digital Methods Initiative. El software del nodo utiliza unos 40 MB de RAM y funciona en sistemas Linux x86 y ARM.

súmate

El proyecto invita a la placentera y regeneradora práctica de construir infraestructura juntos y de descubrir, a través del archivo, iniciativas históricas que han hecho lo mismo.

Gestiona tú mismx un nodo del proyecto, trae un dispositivo a uno de nuestros talleres, dona hardware, organiza un taller o una exposición en tu institución, o dale un vistazo al código fuente.

Y, sobre todo, ponte en contacto con nosotros: hola@compost.cc.

Instalación con cinco dispositivos reciclados ejecutando nodos de compost.cc: un MacBook Air de 2011 con pantalla rota, un MacBook Pro de 2012, una Huawei MediaPad T5 de 2018 con pantalla rota, un ASUS MeMO Pad de 2014 y un Google Pixel 7 con pantalla rota, junto a un router Wi-Fi y un medidor de energía.