<div>Personally, I think Direct Democracy is an important part of the hackerspace. It gives every member a sense of equal belonging, and a kind of vested-interest / personal accountability. </div>
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<div>But some people might disagree. To some people it sounds a little anarchist/socialist. <br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 6:15 PM, Sean Bonner <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:seanbonner@gmail.com">seanbonner@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class="gmail_quote">I think one of the magical things about hackerspaces is they aren't<br>clearly defined, and explaining them is almost impossible without<br>
setting foot in one. They are definitely a case of the result being<br>greater than the sum of the parts.<br><br>-s<br>
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<div class="h5"><br><br>On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 1:41 PM, Jerry Isdale <<a href="mailto:isdale@gmail.com">isdale@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>> I'm new to this list, but recent discussions seem to me to have an<br>
> undercurrent of 'just what is a hackerspace'<br>><br>> It is important to many folk to have good definition of terms, and very<br>> heated flamewars happen over such (mis)understandings.<br>><br>> So as a help to noobs like me, I'd like to discuss some of the terms used<br>
> for various biz models for the generic term of 'Maker Space'. Terms like<br>> hackerspace, fab lab, tech shop, and names for variants outside those.<br>><br>> "hackerspace" seems to be one nebulous term with some charcteristics<br>
> Far gave a nice summary as:<br>> The core concepts of a hackerspace:<br>> 1) Owned and Run by it's members in a spirit of equality<br>> 2) is a nonprofit orgnization, and open to the outside world on a<br>
> (semi)regular basis<br>> 3) Shares tools, equipment and ideas without discrimination<br>> 4) A strong emphasis on technology and invention<br>> 5) Has shared space (or is working on a space) as a center of the community<br>
> 6) A strong spirit of invention and science, based on trial, error, and<br>> freely sharing information<br>><br>> 'fab lab' seems to be more instituion based, specifically related to MIT<br>> efforts. While non profit, it seems more focused on education and less on<br>
> continuing community and commercial spinnoff.<br>><br>> 'TechShop' is a commercial franchise variant. It offers the space equipment<br>> and some classes, but with an underlying profit motive (perhaps small)<br>
><br>> Other variants might be the commercial workshops that focus on particular<br>> tech (woodworking, metalworking, screenprinting, etc)<br>> Or the kids who gather in a family garage to hack and play. Or the club<br>
> that meets (ir)regularly.<br>><br>> If you strongly about 'hackerspace'', how about defining some of those maker<br>> spaces that aren't.<br>><br>> Mahalo<br>> Jerry<br>><br>> Sent from my iPhone<br>
> _______________________________________________<br>> Discuss mailing list<br>> <a href="mailto:Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org">Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org</a><br>> <a href="http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss" target="_blank">http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss</a><br>
><br><br><br><br></div></div><font color="#888888">--<br>Sean Bonner<br><a href="http://www.seanbonner.com/" target="_blank">http://www.seanbonner.com</a> - homebase<br><a href="http://www.metblogs.com/" target="_blank">http://www.metblogs.com</a> - get local<br>
Unless agreed upon, assume everything in this e-mail might be blogged.<br>Sent from Culver City, CA, United States<br></font>
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