I'm glad you found us. Look around, join and feel at home.
Welcome to freeshell.de
freeshell.de has been serving as a non-profit service provider since September 19, 2002, marking two decades of existence. We consistently welcome new users to our platform, with a straightforward membership process facilitated through postcard-ware accounts. Our primary focus is on fostering anonymity, the free flow of information, and the promotion of freedom of speech. Additionally, we are committed to staying at the forefront of cryptographic advancements within the scope of our services.
To date, approximately 3000 individuals from across the globe have become part of our community by sending in postcards. Will you be the next addition? For your reference, my login on the system’s shell is “sk.” Feel free to reach out at any time.
The core objective of our system is to provide complimentary Linux shell accounts. These accounts grant access to a server running the Ubuntu Server OS, enabling remote logins and utilization for diverse purposes. However, this merely marks the inception of our offerings. Over time, our platform has evolved to incorporate an array of supplementary services and software, detailed in the table at the bottom of this page.
In its initial stages until the commencement of 2005, the project operated from a residence on a 384 kbit/s upstream line with a dynamic IP. As time progressed, the demands surpassed the capabilities of a residential DSL line and computer.
Let’s delve into the project’s evolution by highlighting some significant milestones:
→ Year 2002: The beginning.
Machine: Pentium I (233 MHz), on my balcony. In summer, and in winter…
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 3.0
Bandwidth: 768 kbit/s downstream, 128 kbit/s upstream
Homepage: https://web.archive.org/web/20021011204402/http://nic.nac.wdyn.de/
(Original pictures. Click for zoom.)
→ Year 2003: Relocation. System went inside. Slightly updated hardware.
Machine: Pentium III (550 MHz)
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 3.1
Bandwidth: 768 kbit/s downstream, 128 kbit/s upstream
Homepage: https://web.archive.org/web/20030603072017/http://nic.nac.wdyn.de/
(Original pictures. Click for zoom. The right one is the old logo/name of the project.)
→ Year 2005: Moved the system to Hetzner data center. New hardware.
Machine: AMD Athlon 3000+ (1.0 GB RAM, 160GB HDD)
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 3.1
Bandwidth: 100 MBit/s (duplex)
Homepage: https://web.archive.org/web/20050511082627/http://nic-nac-project.de/
→ Year 2007: Moved to Strato data center
Machine: AMD Opteron 148 – 2.0 GB RAM – 160GB RAID1
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 4.0
Bandwidth: 100 MBit/s (duplex)
Homepage: https://web.archive.org/web/20070206154613/http://nic-nac-project.org/index.php
→ Year 2010: Moved to Laxin data center
Machine: Intel Core2 – 4.0 GB RAM – 500GB RAID (Mirror)
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 (squeeze), 64 Bit
Bandwidth: 100 MBit/s (duplex)
Homepage: https://web.archive.org/web/20111022030011/http://www.freeshell.de/
→ Year 2016: Hardware upgrade within the same data centre
Machine: Intel Xeon E3 – 32 GB ECC RAM
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 8.0 (Jessie), 64 Bit
Bandwidth: 1 Gbit/s (duplex)
Homepage: https://web.archive.org/web/20170604141128/https://freeshell.de/
→ Year 2021: Migration to a new server (hardware life-cycle and fresh base install) !
The detailed specs and services as of today are the following:
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Ubuntu 20.04 LTS “focal fossa” with ESM and Livepatch |
| Kernel | Linux Kernel 5.4.0-xx (“/proc” with “hidepid=2” option) |
| CPU | Intel Xeon (E-2176G) |
| RAM | 64 GB ECC |
| HDD | 8.0 TB (RAID 1) |
| Quota (personal) | 20 GB in your home directory + 20 GB Owncloud space + MySQL |
| Personal resource limits (“ulimit -a”) | 150 max user processes, 1024 open files |
| WAN connectivity | 1 GBit/s bandwidth (full-duplex), IPV4 and IPV6 connectivity |
| Database | MySQL 8.0.xx (2 databases per user) |
| Server location | Germany |
| Backup concept | Backup + Backup-Copy (technology used: “Veeam Agent for Linux”) |
| E-Mail system | MTA is postfix / Mailbox is in “Maildir”-Format / Dovecot for IMAP |
| Groupware (optional) | Kopano (Zarafa) is implemented here for ActiveSync, Calendaring, … |
| Personal “crontab” and “at” jobs? | Yes |
| Background jobs (“screen”, “tmux”) ? | Yes |
| Private TCP/UDP port, on request | Yes |
| Account inactivity period? | None. Your account with all the files remain forever. |
| Homepage URL (with PHP7, CGI, PY) | https://freeshell.de/yourname/ (and https://freeshell.de/~yourname/) |
| Missing programs on the shell ? | Everything from official Ubuntu Repos will be installed on request ! |
→ Year 2022: 20th anniversary!
