[hackerspaces] will the fruits of our labors be used for good or for evil?

[Al Jigen Billings]

On 11/29/11 10:10 PM, Justis Peters wrote:
> On 11/30/2011 12:44 AM, Al Jigen Billings wrote:
>> I'm also on the e-mail lists for a number of other hackerspaces and 
>> this is a debate, on small scale, that many of them are having on 
>> their own. The DoD money is being discussed quite a bit. So far, I 
>> think everyone has made pretty much the same observations that I've 
>> made here and decided it was money best left on the table. Maybe you 
>> and your space feel different but I know of no one who has actually 
>> applied for the DoD money.
> This finally makes more sense. Prior to this comment, I did not 
> understand where you got the idea that any hackerspace was considering 
> taking money from the DoD. Nobody on this list had suggested it.
>
> Our space has not been approached by the DoD or DARPA and I doubt that 
> we would take money from them. All our funding thus far has been from 
> individuals donations and membership dues. We enjoy the autonomy that 
> is afforded to us by that model.

  As far as I know, no one has been approached personally. That said, 
the DoD has put it out there. It has been blogged and tweeted about (I 
recall something in one of the Wired blogs, something on Adafruit's 
blog, and similar) so people are aware of it and discussing it.

Al