Become a member

How do I become a member?

If you believe that friByte is the right fit for you, or that you are the right fit for friByte, just send a short application to bli-medlem@fribyte.no. Tell us a little about who you are, what you can do, and why you want to become a member. If you are still wondering what it is like to be a member of friByte, you may find the answer below, and if not, just ask!

What is friByte?

friByte is an independent student organization that delivers secure and stable IT services to student organizations in Bergen. We are a volunteer organization known for our great parties and rich learning environment! We meet regularly, around 3–4 times a month, to check in on how things are going, take part in volunteer work, and socialize a bit.

Most of our active members are students, and this means we keep a loose internal profile. Our founding document reflects this; the general assembly is required to be an excursion with a subsequent party! A lot of effort goes into maintaining the social environment, not just time in front of a screen.

Which duties do I have as a member of friByte?

• Show up in crisis situations (server downtime, power outages, etc.)
• Show up for volunteer work (maintenance, setting up new systems and services, etc.)
• Take part, and have a project or ten

How much free time does it take?

The members largely decide this themselves, but we usually try to have 2 volunteer sessions a week, around 2–3 hours each. Members decide for themselves how long they stay and whether they have time to show up. This can vary depending on what needs to be done, and studies of course take priority. We try to avoid a lot of work around exam periods.

What systems do we use?

We mainly use Linux-based operating systems for servers. On workstations we use distros we are comfortable with. This can be anything from Ubuntu to Arch. When it comes to server distros we primarily use Ubuntu, Debian and OpenBSD. There are no requirements on which distros our members choose. (As long as they work :D)

What do our members study?

The most common, and most natural, fields of study among our members are informatics or information science at UiB, information technology or computer engineering at HVL, or cybersecurity at Kristiania University College. There is no requirement that you study at a specific institution, or that you study something technological. Any student from a higher education institution in Bergen can become a member!

These are the study programs we see as most relevant:

University of Bergen

• Computer Technology
• Bioinformatics
• Computer Security
• Informatics-Mathematics-Economics
• Information Technology and Economics
• Information Science
• Geoscience and Informatics
• Integrated Master's in Quantum Technology

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

• Information Technology
• Computer Engineering

Kristiania University College

• Cybersecurity
• Information Technology

Noroff

• Cyber Security
• Applied Data Science
• Digital Assurance and Security Management
• Networks and IT Security
• Backend Development
• Frontend Development

It is also recommended that you are at least a second-year student, but this is not a requirement

What do our members need to know before applying?

There are no prior-knowledge requirements to apply! A very good starting point is to:

• Have experience with Linux, networks and/or virtualization
• Be comfortable working in the terminal
• Have an interest in hardware and technology
• Have experience with Git
• Be able to work independently
• Have curiosity for the subject and a willingness to learn

What can our members do after having been with us for a while?

• Configure firewalls and networks between machines
• Navigate the terminal on Linux and OpenBSD
• Configure and manage virtual machines
• Administer and configure DNS for various domains
• Set up physical machines as part of a server farm
• Experience with tools such as:
  • SSH
  • Git
  • Tailscale
  • Vim/NeoVim/Nano
  • Tmux
  • NFS
  • Ansible
  • ProxMox
  • SQL