Building the Commons of Freedom Through Radical Transparency
The New Hampshire Institute of Libertarian Sciences embodies its principles not only in what it teaches but in how it operates. A core tenet of our institutional philosophy is "Open Source Everything." We believe that knowledge—and the tools to build upon it—should be a commons, freely accessible to all, not a proprietary product locked behind paywalls or intellectual property barriers. This commitment applies to our software, our research, our curricula, and even our administrative processes. By making our work publicly available, we invite global collaboration, accelerate innovation, and ensure that our contributions to the ecosystem of liberty cannot be easily suppressed or monopolized. This post serves as a guide to our open-source offerings and an invitation to hackers, scholars, and builders everywhere to join us.
Public Repositories and Key Projects
All of our work is hosted on a publicly accessible, self-hosted instance of a popular git repository platform, mirrored to major public forges.
1. The Libertas Codex (Software): This is our flagship software repository. It contains the complete codebase for tools developed in our "Technologies of Freedom" labs, including:
- Athena Protocol: The suite of encrypted communication and file-sharing tools.
- FreeNet Daemon: The firmware and configuration tools for our mesh network nodes.
- Veritas DSL: The domain-specific language and compiler for libertarian smart contracts.
- Agora Platform: The software powering our local mutual aid network, adaptable for any community.
All code is released under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) v3, ensuring that any improvements or deployments must also remain open. Documentation is extensive, and we maintain active issue trackers for community bug reports and feature requests.
2. The Scholarly Archive (Research & Curriculum): This repository contains the complete text of all NHILS research papers (like the Regulatory Burden study), lecture notes, syllabi, reading lists, and video transcripts from our public lecture series. Everything is released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) licenses. We are in the process of converting our core curriculum into a structured, modular online course that anyone in the world can follow for free—a true "Open Source Libertarian Degree."
3. The Instituendum (Administrative & Legal): In a move of unprecedented transparency, we have open-sourced our own institutional blueprint. This includes our founding charter, bylaws, decision-making processes, budgeting templates, and even our standard operating procedures for everything from running a seminar to managing the community gardens. The goal is to provide a complete "kit" for other groups who wish to start similar institutes or intentional communities based on libertarian principles. We call this the "Franchise Model for Freedom."
The Philosophy and Benefits of Open-Source Everything
Our commitment stems from a deep alignment with libertarian ethics and strategy. First, it rejects the IP regime we often criticize. We practice what we preach regarding the free flow of ideas. Second, it leverages the distributed intelligence of the global liberty movement. A programmer in Estonia can improve our encryption library; a professor in Argentina can adapt our economics curriculum for her local context. This crowdsourced development model is far more powerful than any closed R&D department.
Third, it ensures resilience and anti-fragility. If the NHILS campus were ever forcibly shut down, the knowledge and tools would live on in thousands of mirrors and forks across the internet. The institute becomes a protocol, not a place. Fourth, it builds immense goodwill and legitimacy. We have nothing to hide. Our finances (with donor anonymity preserved), our successes, and our failures are all open for scrutiny. This builds trust with our community and distinguishes us from opaque think tanks and universities.
Finally, it is a powerful pedagogical tool for our students. They learn to code, write, and research in public, subject to immediate peer review from a global audience. They graduate with a public portfolio of contributions that is far more valuable than a private diploma.
How to Contribute and Collaborate
We actively seek contributors from all backgrounds. You do not need to be a NHILS student or affiliate.
- For Developers: Check our issue trackers for "good first issue" tags. Join our development chat channels. Submit pull requests. We also need help with documentation, translation, and user interface design.
- For Scholars & Educators: Review our curriculum modules and suggest improvements or additional resources. Translate materials into other languages. Use our research in your own work and cite it—we track citations as a key metric of impact.
- For Organizers: Fork the Instituendum repository and start your own study group, seminar series, or community project based on our models. We offer voluntary mentorship to serious groups.
- For Everyone: Spread the word. Use our tools. Report bugs. Donate to our general fund (which is also transparently accounted for) to support the infrastructure that makes this all possible.
The Open Source Everything model is our bet on a future built not by centralized, secretive institutions, but by open, voluntary collaboration across borders. It is the digital embodiment of the spontaneous order we teach. We believe the tools for freedom should be as free as the air we breathe. Welcome to the commons.