[hackerspaces] Taxonomy of maker spaces

[Robert Ward]

Our universal answer for the question "What is a hackerspace?", when  
asked by people who wouldn't really get a longer explanation is,  
"We're like an Elks lodge...but for geeks.".

As I write this it's occurring to me that I don't know if anyone has  
these types of organizations outside the US, e.g. The Elks, Eagles,  
Rotary, etc.  Well, at least stateside it does make some sense to your  
average Joe.

~Bob

On Oct 23, 2009, at 3:25 AM, Koen Martens wrote:

> On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 10:24:34AM +0200, Koen Martens wrote:
>> Hya,
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 01:41:09PM -0700, Jerry Isdale wrote:
>>> So as a help to noobs like me, I'd like to discuss some of the terms
>>> used for various biz models for the generic term of 'Maker Space'.
>>> Terms like hackerspace, fab lab, tech shop, and names for variants
>>> outside those.
>>
>> I have been asking myself 'what is a hackerspace' a lot lately,  
>> because i'm
>> just starting one and need to explain this to eg. potential  
>> landlord. I don't
>> think there is one single answer, this is already evident in the  
>> great number
>> of different hackerspaces: some nothing more than an office unit,  
>> others in
>> multi-story buildings with rooms varying in function, others not  
>> having their
>> own space at all..
>>
>> Ask anyone on this list what a hackerspace is, and you are likely  
>> to get
>> very different answers.
>>
>> I, for one, would not want to come up with a single, fits-all  
>> definition of
>> the term, simply because that would deny the great variety that  
>> makes all
>> these spaces so interesting!
>
> Oh, and I forgot: as for the other terms like fablab, tech shop,  
> maker space,
> etc.. I think they're all in one blurry Venn diagram, overlapping  
> here, differing
> there. Any single space might be in any number of circles in the  
> Venn diagram.
>
> Gr,
>
> Koen
>
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