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Gambiarra: repair culture (2015)

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Re: Gambiarra: repair culture (2015)

#31

Post by fiatjaf »

leovonl wrote: post #24

Having grown up in Brazil, where computers and parts are expensive - and in a time where the country was recovering from a galloping inflation and a failed attempt from the government to cut it back by freezing everyone's saving accounts - I can very strongly relate to this. In fact, I think most brazilians of my generation which share same taste for building things are used to prototyping things with "a lot of duct…

The term "gambiarra" should always come with its related "bambo", which means floppy, or not solid enough.

Re: Gambiarra: repair culture (2015)

#32

Post by chicob »

leovonl wrote: post #24

Having grown up in Brazil, where computers and parts are expensive - and in a time where the country was recovering from a galloping inflation and a failed attempt from the government to cut it back by freezing everyone's saving accounts - I can very strongly relate to this. In fact, I think most brazilians of my generation which share same taste for building things are used to prototyping things with "a lot of duct…

Portuguese guy here.

The 'desenrascanço' culture in Portugal has two sides to it, because on one hand people do appreciate the art of finding quick hacks on the fly ('desenrasques'), but on the other it just overlooks thorough planning and design.

Re: Gambiarra: repair culture (2015)

#34

Post by efeefe »

Hey all, thanks for the attention and comments. A slightly updated version of this text was published in Tvergastein (walled garden version here - https://www.academia.edu/20808625/Gambiarra_Repair_Culture , anyone interested in the PDF please let me know). And indeed, I have not explored that the "repair" side of it that much. More recently, I've been trying to think of "transformation of matter" to frame a wider field that would encompass digital making, arts & crafts, repair, maintenance, customization and others. I wrote another two texts last year while researching that perspective: Transformed Worlds (https://medium.com/@felipefonseca/transformed-worlds-9a6bd7c... ) and Knowledge, Skill and Labor (https://medium.com/@felipefonseca/knowledge-skill-and-labor-... ). I'd love to read everyone's thoughts on those as well. (Felipe Fonseca / http://efeefe.me )

Re: Gambiarra: repair culture (2015)

#35

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

rl12345 wrote: post #19
zorked wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Accurately translated in English as "hack".

Where I come from, "Gambiarra" sometimes has a bad connotation -- in the sense that it was not well thought. So, maybe, a lazy hack?

English hack is very much the same. Only in the computer / hobby usage sense does hack mean skilful or clever. The opposite being the engineered solution, opposite in the computer / hobby sense in that engineered often means over engineered and not fun.

From http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hack?s=t

hack, verb

1. to cut, notch, slice, chop, or sever (something) with or as with heavy, irregular blows (often followed by up or down): to hack meat; to hack down trees.

2. to break up the surface of (the ground).

3. to clear (a road, path, etc.) by cutting away vines, trees, brush, or the like: They hacked a trail through the jungle.

4. to damage or injure by crude, harsh, or insensitive treatment; mutilate; mangle: The editor hacked the story to bits.

5. to reduce or cut ruthlessly; trim: The Senate hacked the budget severely before returning it to the House.

6. Slang. to deal or cope with; handle: He can't hack all this commuting.

7. Computers:

a. to modify (a computer program or electronic device) or write (a program) in a skillful or clever way: Developers have hacked the app. I hacked my tablet to do some very cool things.

b. to circumvent security and break into (a network, computer, file, etc.), usually with malicious intent: Criminals hacked the bank's servers yesterday.

Re: Gambiarra: repair culture (2015)

#36

Post by whatever_dude »

zorked wrote: post #15
rl12345 wrote: post #5

Ha, when I read the post title I knew it would come from a (Brazilian) Portuguese author. The way I would explain "Gambiarra": it's a quick fix that relies heavily on an ad hoc solution instead of following the generally accepted principles for solving a problem.

Accurately translated in English as "hack".

This. A "hack" is the same as a "gambiarra".

In all honesty, my impression is that some admirers of the Brazilian Portuguese language frequently believe there are words and concepts that are exclusive to that language while in reality there's, more often than not, a very good translation in English or other languages.

Re: Gambiarra: repair culture (2015)

#37

Post by rmsaksida »

rl12345 wrote: post #5

Ha, when I read the post title I knew it would come from a (Brazilian) Portuguese author. The way I would explain "Gambiarra": it's a quick fix that relies heavily on an ad hoc solution instead of following the generally accepted principles for solving a problem.

Many years ago, in my first programming job, I had to do an ugly hack to fix an issue in production that was preventing other people from doing their jobs. In the minutes before I made that decision, while I was contemplating the problem, my colleague (a senior) asked me with a very serious face: have you ever heard of the POG methodology?

"POG"? No... should I have?

He smiled and explained it to me - Programação Orientada a Gambiarra, or "Gambiarra Oriented Programming".

Re: Gambiarra: repair culture (2015)

#38

Post by hardbaloney »

This speaks to a disparity between the first and second (and third) worlds (and yes, I know that these are outdated terms); in the US writ large, we take it technology for granted, and have been marketed to thusly; as such, our products are disposable, obsolescence is as much about culture as it is about cycles of technology, and we are marketed to as such.

Go further afield, and tech cultures spring up around technology we'd otherwise take for granted in the Anglosphere. Sure, there's some cultural cachet around old 'things,' but to my cynical mind, it's cachet for the sake of cachet. The label of useless is applied to last generation's gear, and it's thrown out, recycled, or stuck in a drawer.

If only we had a more open and less, shall we say capitalist/IP-based view of our technology, we could create an ecosystem where 2012's iPhone, with ample computing power for many tasks, could become a valuable part of said ecosystem instead of being a relic. Similarly, instead of trashing broken things, we could repair them; there exist almost a stigma surrounding a broken phone screen. Why repair when you're due for an upgrade in a few months? Don't be so base as to actually fix your shit, that's not what you're being sold; upgrade, advance, incrementalize.

Re: Gambiarra: repair culture (2015)

#39

Post by solidsnack9000 »

cfelix wrote: post #27
solidsnack9000 wrote: post #20

When the maker culture becomes eminently entrepreneurial, we should wonder what mechanisms are set into motion. It may as well be the old capitalist drive to turn the critique to itself into the gears of its own reinvention gaining ground. Could we ever escape that path? Lately when I read things like this I wonder, how are the people in the movement -- whatever movement -- supposed to make a living without being ent…

It's not about being able to make a living, it's about how much do we really need to make a living.

Things seem kind of bimodal there, though. If you're part of a new technology or movement, generally there aren't any stable jobs with retirement plans. So someone has to get entrepreneurial...and then they are CEO.
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