Permacomputing

Summary

Permacomputing is a philosophy that applies principles from permaculture to the realm of computing. Coined by Ville-Matias Heikkilä, the idea calls for a radical rethinking of how we relate to technology — not as an endless race for speed and convenience, but as an integral part of ecological and cultural systems. It challenges the prevailing trends of rapid obsolescence and resource-intensive computing.

In the world of permacomputing, computers are not fast, invisible servants that are replaced every three years, but long-living, repairable, frugal companions. It’s about doing more with less — creating meaningful software on modest machines, cultivating deep technical literacy, and favoring transparency and control over convenience and opacity. Importantly, permacomputing is not just an engineering guideline but a cultural stance: it values slowness, care, and resilience over frictionless automation.

At its core, permacomputing is a call to align digital practice with ecological ethics. It invites developers, artists, and technologists to treat code, hardware, and networks as part of the living world — not separate from it. This doesn’t mean abandoning innovation, but reframing it: What does computing look like when designed to last 50 years? How do we build systems that respect limits, nurture local knowledge, and empower people rather than platforms? Permacomputing doesn’t provide one answer — it opens space for a whole ecosystem of possibilities.

Instead of amplifying the users' intelligence, they [computers] rather amplify their stupidity. Instead of making it possible to scale down the resource requirements of the material world, they have instead become a major part of the problem. Instead of making the world more comprehensible, they rather add to its incomprehensibility. And they often even manage to become slower despite becoming faster. In both computing and agriculture, a major issue is that problems are too often “solved” by increasing controllability and resource use. Permaculture takes another way, advocating methods that “let nature do the work” and thus minimize the dependence on artificial energy input. Ville-Matias Heikkilä.

Key concepts

• Sustainable design: Prioritizing energy efficiency, hardware longevity, and minimal resource consumption in both software and hardware development.
• Repair and reuse: Encouraging the maintenance and repurposing of existing technologies to extend their useful life and reduce waste.
• Decentralization: Promoting distributed systems that empower local communities and reduce reliance on centralized infrastructures.
• Cultural integration: Recognizing computing as a cultural activity that should reflect and support diverse human values and practices.
• Resilience: Designing systems that can withstand and adapt to changing environmental and social conditions.

Permacomputing offers a transformative vision for the future of technology — one that harmonizes with ecological systems and human communities. By reimagining computing practices through the lens of sustainability and resilience, it challenges us to create technologies that are not only efficient but also ethically and environmentally responsible.

This idea was originally published by Ville-Matias Heikkilä as Permacomputing. A follow-up essay, Permacomputing Update 2021, expands on the concept and connects it to existing discussions and related movements. For more insights and community discussions, visit the Permacomputing Wiki.