A steward, not an owner.
The Foundation’s job is to hold trust — releases, keys, transparency — and hand it on. It is not the commons, and it is not consensus.
FOUNDATION · COMMONS · NETWORK · LANTERN
One commons.
Four parts.
Stewardship, shared knowledge,
community networks, and a device
that holds its own.
The SAGE Commons is bigger than any one device: a shared body of knowledge, carried over community-owned networks, with clear boundaries about who holds what. Here is the distinction, plainly.
How the pieces fitA steward, not an ownerPrivate by defaultOpen to build onMade to keep working
FOUR PARTS, ONE SYSTEM
Different jobs.
One direction.
Each part has a job it can be held to, and a boundary it must not cross. That is what keeps a shared network from quietly becoming somebody’s platform.
The steward. It funds and holds the mission’s long-term home: releases, signing trust and transparent reporting. In formation. It does not own the commons, is not designed to read your private knowledge, and is not the network’s authority.
- Holds
- Releases, signing trust and transparent reporting
- Owner
- The Foundation itself, in formation. The name and marks are held as a trademark, not licensed away.
- Boundary
- Does not own the commons, and is not the network’s authority
The main project. SAGE is the research and engineering work behind the commons: its papers and the protocol they describe. Founded by the Foundation’s founder, who wrote the papers, and stewarded under the Foundation.
- What it is
- The research project: its papers and the protocol they describe
- Written by
- The Foundation’s founder, sole author of the papers
- Owner
- The founder holds the papers; licence terms for the specifications and fixtures are published as they are signed off.
The shared knowledge. What people choose to publish, reviewed before it travels, content-addressed and signed so any copy can be checked without an account or a connection. Under development.
- Grows from
- What people choose to contribute, reviewed before it travels
- Checkable
- Any copy can be verified offline, with no account and no connection
- Owner and licence
- Each item stays the contributor’s, under the licence they chose when they published it. The manifest records that licence beside the source for every chunk.
The way it travels. Local MeshCore radio, community repeaters and gateways with WiFi or satellite backhaul where available. Short messages and compact knowledge move even when the usual connections don’t.
- Carries
- Short messages and compact knowledge, between reachable powered peers
- Built by
- Anyone who runs a node, holds a copy, extends coverage or hosts a gateway
- Owner
- The radio standard is MeshCore’s, not ours — we build above it and contribute improvements upstream. Each repeater or gateway belongs to whoever runs it.
The device at the edge. Local AI that answers on the device, private by default, holding the part of the commons that is useful to you. A working prototype.
- Keeps
- Your knowledge, private by default
- Keeps working
- When the network is down, and can keep relaying what it holds
- Owner and licence
- The unit is yours. The open licences for the design, firmware and application are published with each release as they are signed off.
Your private knowledge. Questions, photos and notes stay on this device. Nothing leaves it without a deliberate decision.
WHAT BELONGS TO WHOM
Clear lines.
Held in the open.
A commons only works if people can see where their part ends and someone else’s begins. These are the lines we are building to.
| Part | Whose it is |
|---|---|
| Your private knowledge | Stays on your LanternQuestions, photos and notes are yours. Nothing leaves without a deliberate decision. |
| The shared commons | Grows from contributionOnly what people choose to share is considered, and it is reviewed before it becomes available to others. |
| The radio standard | MeshCore’sWe build above it, contribute improvements upstream and do not fork it. The standard stays with its community. |
| Signed releases and packs | Verified by anyoneThe Foundation signs what it publishes. A pack can be checked without an account, a server or a connection. |
| The device in your hands | YoursIt keeps answering, and can keep relaying what it holds, when the network is down. |
Written as design intentions. Legal formation, review arrangements and the public commons are still being built, and this page will change as they do.
WHY THE DISTINCTION MATTERS
The alternative is
a familiar story.
Knowledge that dies with a company. A device that quietly phones home. A network whose rules are set by whoever holds the servers. The separation is the point.
A network, not a service.
Anyone can join, hold a copy, extend coverage or run a gateway. No central server is required for a copy of shared knowledge to stay useful.
A participant, not a terminal.
A Lantern answers locally, keeps working offline and can pass on what it holds. The network gets stronger with every participant rather than every purchase.
Where this stands: two working prototype Lanterns run local AI and voice on the device; signed knowledge packs verify offline; MeshCore integration is being tested. The public commons, its review process, the public-domain policy on the device and gateway backhaul are still being built. The Foundation is an initiative in formation. Nothing on this page is a live service, and no coverage, bandwidth or permanent availability is promised.
A COMMONS IS BUILT BY THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT.
Help build
the commons.
Run a node, write a knowledge pack, host a gateway, translate a page or help a community get started. There’s more than one way in.
Build with us Find your part