TL;DR_March 12th 2024

/var/shelf

Preface

TL;DR researches ways to make sense of the hidden labour that goes on in a feminist server through log files and unlogged activity.

The unlogged activity of a server includes the physical labour, the decisions about shared spaces, the different knowledges that depend on each other for the network to exis

Activity that is logged, is often compiled in inaccessible log files that track the work a server performs as data. They're both hard to retrieve, hard to decipher, and have a bias towards the technological ecology, prioritizing the labour of machines.

Chopchop is a a Raspberry Pi that is configured, maintained and used as a community server by XPUB1

This EPUB is a generated compilation of logs with annotations that provide context to the situatedness of this technology. With one book a day, a diary of chopchop is kept, stored and shared.

The state of chopchop on March 12th 2024

tldr@chopchop:~ $whoami

XPUB 1 users use chopchop as a shared community server. chopchop is usually located in the Piet Zwart Wijnhaven building. It moves around from time to time, too. For the occassion of SI23, it is resting on the shelf below this e-reader.

tldr@chopchop:~ $sudo journalctl -S today _COMM=useradd -r

Users are assigned to groups, which allow them rights to read or edit files, run commands or apply infrastructural changes. No new users were created today. The trust network remains the same size.

tldr@chopchop:~ $ grep 'install' /var/log/dpkg.log

Packages are often installed to use different software or coding languages or build alternative tools. Often users have to talk about and consider which packages they need and why, as well as how much storage they take up and how they will change their interactions with and on their shared server.

2024-03-12 14:29:01 install python3-markupsafe:armhf 2.1.2-1

2024-03-12 14:29:01 status half-installed python3-markupsafe:armhf 2.1.2-1

2024-03-12 14:29:02 install python3-jinja2:all 3.1.2-1

2024-03-12 14:29:02 status half-installed python3-jinja2:all 3.1.2-1

2024-03-12 14:29:02 status installed python3-markupsafe:armhf 2.1.2-1

2024-03-12 14:29:03 status installed python3-jinja2:all 3.1.2-1

tldr@chopchop:~ $ grep 'upgrade' /var/log/dpkg.log

No existing packages were upgraded today.

tldr@chopchop:~ $ grep 'remove' /var/log/dpkg.log

No packages were removed today. These actions are only a portion of the work... There's also the relationships of the people who care for the server enough to maintain it... The hours they put into meeting each other, discussing and deciding on how to move forward... They are sharing a digital landscape in which there are no hierarchies of landlords and renters... So, they find different ways to make a space for learning and co-habitation... This list is not exhaustive.

tldr@chopchop:~ $sudo journalctl _COMM=systemd-login --output-fields=MESSAGE -S today -g "New session" | grep -v 'Boot'

Users can login to the server using the SSH (secure shell) protocol. This allows a user to explore files, make changes, run commands and speak to the server from their own machine. This is useful when working remotely, and also to allow multiple users logging into the server simultaneously.

Mar 12 17:00:16 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 664 of user murtaugh.

Mar 12 15:51:41 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 660 of user river.

Mar 12 15:51:33 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 659 of user river.

Mar 12 15:51:27 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 658 of user river.

Mar 12 15:51:19 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 657 of user river.

Mar 12 15:51:19 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 656 of user river.

Mar 12 15:36:18 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 654 of user river.

Mar 12 15:35:14 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 653 of user river.

Mar 12 15:33:09 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 652 of user vitrinekast.

Mar 12 14:49:01 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 648 of user joak.

Mar 12 14:48:38 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 646 of user mxrwho.

Mar 12 14:48:34 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 644 of user aleevadh.

Mar 12 14:48:06 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 642 of user aleevadh.

Mar 12 14:45:31 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 641 of user river.

Mar 12 14:45:19 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 640 of user river.

Mar 12 14:33:30 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 638 of user river.

Mar 12 14:33:22 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 637 of user river.

Mar 12 14:31:30 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 635 of user river.

Mar 12 14:27:15 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 633 of user river.

Mar 12 13:11:57 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 627 of user mxrwho.

Mar 12 13:11:45 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 625 of user mxrwho.

Mar 12 13:11:24 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 623 of user mxrwho.

Mar 12 13:10:37 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 621 of user mxrwho.

Mar 12 09:23:52 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 609 of user vitrinekast.

Mar 12 09:22:41 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 607 of user vitrinekast.

Mar 12 07:04:12 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 597 of user river.

Mar 11 20:22:09 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 561 of user mxrwho.

Mar 11 20:21:26 chopchop systemd-logind[530]: New session 559 of user mxrwho.

These users have logged into our shared server chopchop, during the course of this day. Usernames are often not the real names of the users, but often pseudonymns. This creates a sense of customization to your experience. In bigger groups this might also result in anonimity, which can be (un)desirable and potentially confusing.

tldr@chopchop:~ $sudo journalctl _COMM=usermod -r

Mar 12 14:37:50 chopchop usermod[14936]: add 'xpub' to shadow group 'lpadmin'

Mar 12 14:37:50 chopchop usermod[14936]: add 'xpub' to group 'lpadmin'

These users have been modified. Probably because someone changed their password, keys, or other settings, or given new permissions.