NomadNet/README.md

Nomad Network - Communicate Freely

Off-grid, resilient mesh communication with strong encryption, forward secrecy and extreme privacy.

Nomad Network Allows you to build private and resilient communications platforms that are in complete control and ownership of the people that use them. No signups, no agreements, no handover of any data, no permissions and gatekeepers.

Nomad Network is build on LXMF and Reticulum, which together provides the cryptographic mesh functionality and peer-to-peer message routing that Nomad Network relies on. This foundation also makes it possible to use the program over a very wide variety of communication mediums, from packet radio to fiber optics.

Nomad Network does not need any connections to the public internet to work. In fact, it doesn't even need an IP or Ethernet network. You can use it entirely over packet radio, LoRa or even serial lines. But if you wish, you can bridge islanded networks over the Internet or private ethernet networks, or you can build networks running completely over the Internet. The choice is yours.

Notable Features

• Encrypted messaging over packet-radio, LoRa, WiFi or anything else Reticulum supports.
• Zero-configuration, minimal-infrastructure mesh communication
• Distributed and encrypted message store holds messages for offline users
• Connectable nodes that can host pages and files
• Node-side generated pages with PHP, Python, bash or others
• Built-in text-based browser for interacting with contents on nodes
• An easy to use and bandwidth efficient markup language for writing pages
• Page caching in browser

Current Status

The current version of the program should be considered a beta release. The program works well, but there will most probably be bugs and possibly sub-optimal performance in some scenarios. On the other hand, this is the ideal time to have an influence on the direction of the development of Nomad Network. To do so, join the discussion, report bugs and request features here on the GitHub project.

Feature roadmap

• Network-wide propagated bulletins and discussion threads
• Collaborative maps
• Facilitation of trade and barter

How do I get started?

The easiest way to install Nomad Network is via pip:

# Install Nomad Network and dependencies
pip3 install nomadnet

# Run the client
nomadnet

The first time the program is running, you will be presented with the guide section, which contains all the information you need to start using Nomad Network.

To use Nomad Network on packet radio or LoRa, you will need to configure your Reticulum installation to use any relevant packet radio TNCs or LoRa devices on your system. See the Reticulum documentation for info. For a general introduction on how to set up such a system, take a look at this post.

If you want to try Nomad Network without building your own physical network, you can connect to the Unsigned.io RNS Testnet over the Internet, where there is already some Nomad Network and LXMF activity.

Please Note: If this is the very first time you use pip to install a program on your system, you might need to reboot your system for the program to become available. If you get a "command not found" error or similar when running the program, reboot your system and try again.

Installing on Android

You can install Nomad Network on Android using Termux, but there's a few more commands involved than the above one-liner. The process is documented in the Android Installation section of the Reticulum Manual. Once the Reticulum has been installed according to the linked documentation, Nomad Network can be installed as usual with pip.

For a native Android application with a graphical user interface, have a look at Sideband.

Using docker / running a daemon

Nomad Network is automatically published as a docker image on Github Packages. Image tags are one of either master (for the latest release) or the version number (eg 0.1.7) for the specified version number (as tagged in this git repo).

$ docker pull ghcr.io/markqvist/nomadnet:master

# Run nomadnet interactively without installing it (with default config)
$ docker run -it ghcr.io/markqvist/nomadnet:master

# Run nomadnet as a daemon, using config stored on the host machine in specific
# directories, and allowing access to specific numbered ports openned by nomadnet
# on the host machine on the same port numbers.
$ docker run -d \
  -v /local/path/nomadnetconfig/:/root/.nomadnetwork/ \
  -v /local/path/reticulumconfig/:/root/.reticulum/ \
  -p 37428:37428 \
  -p 37429:37429 \
  ghcr.io/markqvist/nomadnet:master

Help & Discussion

For help requests, discussion, sharing ideas or anything else related to Nomad Network, please have a look at the Nomad Network discussions pages.

Support Nomad Network

You can help support the continued development of open, free and private communications systems by donating via one of the following channels:

• Ethereum: 0x81F7B979fEa6134bA9FD5c701b3501A2e61E897a
• Bitcoin: 3CPmacGm34qYvR6XWLVEJmi2aNe3PZqUuq
• Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/markqvist

Caveat Emptor

Nomad Network is beta software, and should be considered as such. While it has been built with cryptography best-practices very foremost in mind, it has not been externally security audited, and there could very well be privacy-breaking bugs. If you want to help out, or help sponsor an audit, please do get in touch.

Screenshots