In the last few years, the frantic pace of technological development has brought us to a situation where computer networks are one of the most important mediums of global communication. It's a medium we can't afford to ignore. It's cheap and relatively easy to use. It can save us a lot of work and it can help us to reach a wider range of people than ever before.
The main purpose of this booklet is an attempt to express the basics of computers in a practical and easy-to-understand way. It is orientated towards communications and is aimed at members of collectives and individuals involved in or interested in setting up an anarchist computer network.
It's not meant to be a comprehensive guide to computers, but an introdution to get you to the point where you can set up and run a computer bulletin board service (BBS) and a network. If you have trouble understanding this shit, please don't worry. For one thing it's weird stuff and for another thing, i'm not very good at explaining it - nobody is!
If you start getting lost, toss it away and pick it up again tomorrow. It might make more sense then. Don't struggle with it, it'll never make any sense if you do!
It's better to read it through quickly a few times than to labour over it. Even if it doesn't make sense, at least you'll be familiar with some of the jargon. Also, try and read it in the order it comes in as it sort of explains itself as it goes along.
I chose the title of this book as a symbol of the down-to-earth use of this esoteric medium. And also as a small acknowledgement of the fact that i'm writing this on aboriginal land. Australia was colonized by the British ruling class in 1788. It's still a colony today.
I support the aboriginal people in their daily struggle to break the chains of colonization and hope that they too will find an international voice through computer networks.
Click here to go to chapter one.