Johnathan Corgan
0fcf0f6f8f
The gateway is designed for systems already serving DHCP and DNS to a LAN segment (canonically an OpenWrt AP). On those systems port 53 is already taken by the existing resolver, so the prior `[::]:53` default conflicted with the gateway's intended deployment target out of the box. The OpenWrt ipk previously overrode this in its packaged config as a workaround; matching the source default to what the canonical deployment actually wants makes the override redundant and removes a foot-gun for fresh manual Linux-host installs. The redundant `dns.listen` line in `packaging/openwrt-ipk/files/etc/fips/fips.yaml` is dropped along with this change. Operators on a host without a pre-existing resolver on port 53 can opt back into the wildcard bind by setting `dns.listen: "[::]:53"` explicitly. The new default binds IPv6 loopback only — Linux IPv6 sockets bound to explicit `::1` do not accept v4-mapped traffic, so forwarders that reach the gateway over IPv4 loopback need to be pointed at an explicit IPv4 listen address instead. Touches the gateway config struct and its default-value test, the commented-out gateway example in the Debian common fips.yaml, the OpenWrt ipk config (override removed), the gateway reference / how-to / design / tutorial / troubleshoot docs, and a CHANGELOG entry under [Unreleased] -> Changed.
FIPS Documentation
FIPS (Free Internetworking Peering System) is a self-organizing encrypted mesh network built on Nostr identities, capable of operating over arbitrary transports — local networks, the public internet, Tor, Bluetooth, or point-to-point links — without central infrastructure.
With FIPS, your machine becomes a node in the mesh with a self-generated cryptographic identity. There are two ways to deploy it.
As an overlay on top of existing IP networks, FIPS lets your node reach any other FIPS node wherever it sits — behind a NAT, on a different ISP, on a phone over cellular, on a laptop with only Bluetooth in range, or behind a Tor onion. The mesh forwards IPv6 traffic transparently and end-to-end encrypted, with no central VPN concentrator or coordinating server.
From the ground up over raw Ethernet, WiFi, or Bluetooth, FIPS provides a complete permissionless network without any pre-existing IP infrastructure, ISP, or DNS. Any node that joins the link gets routable IPv6 addresses, peer discovery, and a path to every other node automatically.
Either way, existing networking software runs over it unchanged: SSH, HTTP servers, file transfer, anything IPv6-native works the same way it would on a local network.
New to FIPS? Start with the Getting Started guide.
Documentation Sections
Tutorials
If you are starting from scratch and want a guided path to a working mesh, go here.
How-To Guides
If you have a specific task in mind — enabling a feature, deploying a component, diagnosing a problem — go here.
Reference
If you need to look up wire formats, configuration keys, command flags, or counter inventories, go here.
Design
If you want to understand how the mesh self-organizes, why FIPS makes the choices it does, or how the pieces fit together, go here.