[hackerspaces] Hackerspaces Re:Foundation (Was Re: Abuse Of Power)

[Mark Janssen]

>> Besides insurance bargaining, what else would you put in a list of
>> hacker goals for a foundation?
>>
>> If I was to make up the rules on my own, then the rules or goals would
>> end up being something related to funding activities- such as finding
>> funding, raising money, franchising products or whatever, to pay for
>> and fund excellent hackers in hackerspaces working on excellent open
>> source projects throughout hackerspaces, including lesson plans,
>> circuits, schematics, biology projects, chemistry projects, or any
>> other hacker activity.
>

I hope you guys will take a look at the [[hackerspace microcosm]] we
developed at sf_x -- it shows the desired dynamic between financial
input streams and the projects/people and activities going on there
(http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/pangaia/index.php?title=Hackerspace_Microcosm).

> First, I'm not necessarily advocating a foundation in this case.  A council
> may very well serve the needs described by others.

We had a board of directors representing the academic sector, the
commercial sector, and the governmental sector.  We had funding from
the city.  But the problem is having a memory so that the influx of
new people can see that there is a progress of activity.  This is also
what helps sustains the financial model.  I've been a budget director
and I have some experience with this and unless there is a giant gift
from a benefactor, it takes some higher-lever organization to stay
sustainable.  That higher-level can either be in the form of a good
board/council or something like the pangaia project which is
*designed* to be a stigmergic platform.

> Of course one sticking point here is defining "hacker".  I'm not trying to
> quibble over semantics either-- this community is much more diverse than any
> other in which I've been involved.  There are those who would favor a
> quasi-corporate approach to governance.  There are others who would
> gleefully opt for anarchy... and myriads of flavors in between...

The other major point in using the word "hacker" is that it has major
negative connotations when seeking funding form the commercial sector.
 It could be argued that we (sf_x) probably lost our space because of
the confusion surrounding that word.

I'm sorry if my comments are too loud or out-of-order, I've been so
racked by these issues for the past four years and not in the
mainstream conversation.....

MarkJ