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Point "what is the cpunks list" to our own archive

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Tom Busby
2018-07-05 01:07:27 +02:00
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_getting_started/what-is-the-cypherpunks-mailing-list.md
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@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ From the Wikipedia "[Cypherpunk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypherpunk)" arti
> The Cypherpunks mailing list was started in 1992, and by 1994 had 700 subscribers. At its peak, it was a very active forum with technical discussion ranging over mathematics, cryptography, computer science, political and philosophical discussion, personal arguments and attacks, etc., with some spam thrown in. An email from John Gilmore reports an average of 30 messages a day from December 1, 1996 to March 1, 1999, and suggests that the number was probably higher earlier. The number of subscribers is estimated to have reached 2000 in the year 1997.
While an incarnation of the mailing list is still in operation (archives viewable [here](https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/)) it is generally acknowledged that its heyday was in the 90s through to around 2000. The (incomplete) archive of posts from this era can be found at [cypherpunks.venona.com](https://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/). If you want to read a comprehensive description of what the list is/was all about, you can read [The Cyphernomicon](https://www.cypherpunks.to/faq/cyphernomicron/cyphernomicon.html) which is the "official" mailing list FAQ, compiled by Timothy C. May. It's quite lengthy but if you have the time, it is worth the read.
While an incarnation of the mailing list is still in operation (archives viewable [here](https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/)) it is generally acknowledged that its heyday was in the 90s through to around 2000. The (incomplete) archive of posts from this era can be found at [mailing-list-archive.cryptoanarchy.wiki](https://mailing-list-archive.cryptoanarchy.wiki/). If you want to read a comprehensive description of what the list is/was all about, you can read [The Cyphernomicon](https://www.cypherpunks.to/faq/cyphernomicron/cyphernomicon.html) which is the "official" mailing list FAQ, compiled by Timothy C. May. It's quite lengthy but if you have the time, it is worth the read.
It is during this period that the community was energised by a battle with the US intelligence establishment relating to the export of cryptography (which the US Government had at the time classified as a munition). This is a battle that the cypherpunk movement and broader civilian cryptography community largely won, though some variations of government proposals still pop up to this day.
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ The modern cryptocurrency space can largely be considered as an offshoot of the
## tl;dr:
+ Optional reading: [The Cyphernomicon - Cypherpunks Mailing List FAQ](https://www.cypherpunks.to/faq/cyphernomicron/cyphernomicon.html)
+ Optional reading: [Cypherpunk Mailing List Archives](https://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/)
+ Optional reading: [Cypherpunk Mailing List Archives](https://mailing-list-archive.cryptoanarchy.wiki/)
+ The Cypherpunks Mailing List was the place where a community and ideology was founded that favoured direct action (in the form of software code) towards the ends of social change (namely an increase in privacy and individial liberty). I say "was" because, while an incarnation of the list still exists, it's not really the same community in terms of participants and signal-to-noise ratio.
+ This community and ideology later inspired the creation of Wikileaks, Bitcoin and the current Cryptocurrency space.
+ The heyday of the list coincides with an important social and legal battle with the US government over the control of strong cryptography.