Peer-to-Peer Folder Poetry

What if we could transform our online networks from something we passively receive to something we actively create? Folder Poetry is the practice of using the structure of computer folder organization as a new kind of poetic form like the haiku or iambic pentameter. By naming and nesting folders and files, we can create unfolding narratives, rhythmic prose, and choose-your-own-adventure poetry. In this workshop we will collectively create peer-to-peer folder poetry using the command line and Dat. Through lecture, examples, and writing folder poetry as meditation, we will explore the narrative qualities of folder structures and Dat as a tool for building digital spaces with and for our networks.

In this session we will get intimate with computers and write poetry with their logic. This workshop is an introduction to writing folder poetry, the P2P protocol Dat, and navigating the command line interface using Bash.

Together, we will create living networked poetry through connecting folders on the peer-to-peer web for each other to inhabit and explore.

This workshop assumes no coding experience and simultaneously takes the position that everyone who interacts with computers in some way is already a programmer.

Always Already Programming

Bash Drawings made for Folder Poetry by Taeyoon Choi

Workshops

P2P Folder Poetry has been taught in multiple places. These are the notes and slides for each place.

Resources to Review Before Class

P2P Folder Poetry Arena Channel

Prerequisites

A computer running macOS, Linux or Windows 10
An Internet connection to download software packages
Administrator access to your computer to install software packages
In this workshop we will use Bash, Node.js, and Dat.

Session Objectives

To create a space where we are getting intimate with computers and writing poetry with their logic
To develop a taste for creating emotive and community-centered software
To introduce Dat and navigating the Command Line with Bash
To create poetry through building a folder-based city on the peer-to-peer web for each other to inhabit

Vocabulary

Word	Notes
Folder Poetry	The practice of using the structure of computer folder organization as a new kind of poetic form like the haiku or iambic pentameter. By naming and nesting folders and files, we can create unfolding narratives, rhythmic prose, and choose-your-own-adventure poetry.
terminal	A desktop application to control and make changes to your operating system by typing text commands. In this class we'll use the terminal to create folder poetry.
terminal commands	text commands to control your computer when entered into a command prompt like the terminal. The commands we'll learn will be in a language called Bash.
Bash	is the programming language we use in the terminal, often one line at a time, but we can also put Bash code in a file and run that file.
Peer-to-Peer	Peer-to-peer computing is a way to make distributed networks in which each computer can act as a server for the others, allowing shared access to files without the need for a central server.
Dat	is a data distribution tool for publishing on peer-to-peer networks.
folder	(also referred to as directory) is an organizational regime imposed on your computer used to store and organize files and other folders
file	is an object on a computer which stores data, information, settings, or commands to be used with various computer programs
file types/formats/extensions	indicate how data has been stored and how to read or open files in specific programs. for example, `.txt` files open in a text editor, `.jpg` files open in an image viewer/editor. full list of file formats and extensions here
file path	tells you the location of a file in a system. for example `users/username/desktop/folder_poetry_club`

Always Already Programming

Everyone who interacts with computers has—in important ways—always already been programming them. Why are the ideas of a programmer and a user so divorced from each other? The distinction between programmer and user is reinforced and maintained by a tech industry that benefits from a population rendered computationally passive.

Every time you make a folder or rename a file on your computer, the actions you take through moving your mouse and clicking on buttons, have an equivalent text command. When you use a visual interface (called a GUI) text commands are still being fired in the background which eventually compile to binary. Using bash in the terminal is a way to get a little closer to the metal and a little further along in uncovering the mechanics of our most common devices.

Together we can build up and cultivate one another’s agency to shape technology and online spaces that support and care for each other.

To create our folder poetry, we will use Bash in the terminal. To share our folder poetry, we will use Dat.

"Dat is a p2p protocol that enables people to publish content and information to the web from their personal computers. This fundamentally changes the relationship people have to the internet by breaking the client server hierarchy and opens the realm of self publishing to everyone." - New Computers Working Group

Notes on why we're using a spatial and narrative metaphors for learning bash and creating folder poetry

Using the command line and computing in general is a relational practice. You are never using the command line from a “global” perspective. When you issue commands from the command line, you are doing so, from a particular position within the hierarchy of your computer’s file system.

Similarly, when we are inside a house, we are never simultaneously in the kitchen and the bedroom. If we tried to “get into bed” while in the kitchen, we would not be able to. However if we wanted to wash dishes while standing in the kitchen, we would be able to.

From the command line, if we have navigated to the Desktop folder but try to perform an action on a file that’s inside your home directory, this would not work. You would have to navigate to the home folder by navigating your file path.

Acknowledgments & Thank You

Thank you these collaborators and friends for guiding and inspiring Peer-to-Peer Folder Poetry

Max Fowler for creating Oasis which was one of the early sparks for me creating spatial metaphors with folders and was a beautiful example of collaborating on these folder structures through SSH
Taeyoon Choi for inviting me to teach this class at SFPC in Detroit and Japan and for suggesting I name it Folder Poetry instead of Folder Structure Narratives. Another thank you for encouraging me to bring Folder Poetry to the P2P web. And for the Bash drawings he created for Folder Poetry
Neta Bomani for designing and printing the first Folder Poetry with Bash Zine
Teikaut for printing the second Folder Poetry zine on Risograph
Brian Solon for being the Folder Poetry TA twice and writing custom Folder Poetry software students to use in the terminal
Callil Capuozzo for guiding me through how Dat works and suggesting ways to integrate Folder Poetry with Dat
Laurel Schwulst for her many tender Dat Projects and for creating http://p2pforever.org/, a charming and helpful P2P resource
Dan Taeyoung for giving incredible feedback on the class structure
Lauren Gardner for iniviting me to teach Folder Poetry at SFPC Fall 2019 and for helping to create sustainable spaces for creative ideas always

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