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My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

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Re: My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

#31

Post by nickmolnar2 »

mcantelon wrote: post #26

In adding to contacting VHS (dedicated Vancouver hackspace), as suggested by Rantenki, I've heard that Bootup Labs (Boris Mann and co.) are looking for funding for a startup/coworking space (to substitute for the now defunct Workspace). Maybe you can join forces.

I really have to meet those guys anyways. Everywhere I go in Vancouver, I seem to be hearing about them these days. Always good things. It seems like they are successfully kickstarting the startup scene here. Their events are usually more packed than the ones I went to in Seattle, which says something of the growth.

Three or four years ago, the Vancouver startup scene was pretty anemic. There were some gaming companies, a few startups, and a dearth of any events to spread ideas between them.

Re: My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

#32

Post by lukec »

VHS has been around for a year, and bootstrapped ourselves into our 45W space. Our goal is to get into a bigger space in 6-12 months, as resources allow.

We've talked a lot over the past year about our future, our relation to other similar ventures like Hacker Dojo, Workspace, ..., and where our values lie. We're always looking for more people passionate about hacker spaces and growing our community.

We really agree that top notch tutorials and courses are key, and we've just started scheduling regular kit nights, featuring projects like a laser spirograph, tv-b-gone and minty boosts. We also try to do hardware hacking every tuesday night, and software nights every thursday. I also use VHS's facilities to organize a Super Happy Hacker House every ~6 weeks.

If you haven't already, you should check out the hacker spaces design patters PDF, it has lots of tips for building a great hackerspace.

VHS has a public night tonight - feel free to drop by and check out what we offer. Tonight is a triage/cleanup night where we're going to go through our vast donations and tidy the place up.

http://hackspace.ca

Re: My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

#33

Post by nickmolnar2 »

jey wrote: post #30

Sounds impractical from the standpoint of making your money back. Also the idea of having an equipment free-for-all is terrible. Equipment can only be used by one person/team/company at a time, so you need to make sure there's a reasonable economy to allocate the resources fairly according to supply/demand. You could maybe set it up so that the equipment is rented at some rates, but all tenants get a certain amount o…

There definitely needs to be a very powerful reservation system. Some high-paying members might be able to rent out certain pieces of equipment for days at a time, while others would only be able to access it when vacant. You would not want somebody monkeying around with your C&C machine while you were taking a 2 hour break.

It would certainly require some good software, and community support. Maybe the different pricing levels would allow you to book equipment further and further in advance, to ensure availability for big projects.

Re: My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

#34

Post by nickmolnar2 »

trafficlight wrote: post #24
nickmolnar2 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are fair concerns. I think they can be engineered around, however. There would be lockers available, as well as secured office space. Also, the office workers wouldn't have to leave by 5pm, it would just become more crowded. There would need to be an efficient registration system to make sure the shared resources were fairly allocated in these busy times.

It just sounds like too many rules and regulations to be useful.

I would love to know how other Hackerspaces have succeeded making their equipment available to different groups with distinct needs.

Re: My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

#36

Post by jrbobdobbs »

nickmolnar2 wrote: post #29
Rantenki wrote: post #21

I think you should probably contact #VHS to see if they are interested, what they have learned (they are currently running and in the black), and to gauge interest. http://vancouver.hackspace.ca/doku.php In short, there seems to be plenty of interest, but other projects like Workspace have failed by over-reaching their targets.

Thanks. They're on my 'to contact' list. Hell, maybe they'd even want to move to an area with less junkies. They seem to have a great community, but they have a terrible address. I really like their 'principles' page. I think that's important to have up in writing, publicly, and not fixed in stone. Their insistence on GPL'ing everything might be an issue. I would hope that most projects would be GPL'ed, but it would…

something to note.. vhs is not only GPL we have been taking about rewording this for a while. Anything developed by VHS as a vhs group project is CC/GPL/BSD/etc. That being said members are free to show up and work on their proprietary projects. Also, open/group projects do get priority when it comes to shared tools.

p.s. there is alot of awesome aside from the junkies in the dtes. ;]

Re: My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

#37

Post by nickmolnar2 »

lukec wrote: post #32

VHS has been around for a year, and bootstrapped ourselves into our 45W space. Our goal is to get into a bigger space in 6-12 months, as resources allow. We've talked a lot over the past year about our future, our relation to other similar ventures like Hacker Dojo, Workspace, ..., and where our values lie. We're always looking for more people passionate about hacker spaces and growing our community. We really agree…

Sounds great. I can't get there until about 9, but sounds like a good time to meet-and-greet-and-clean.

Re: My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

#38

Post by nickmolnar2 »

8plot wrote: post #35

Since hardware hacking is in some ways similar to making (and practicing) music, perhaps the shared band spaces where many bands group together to share practice space, equipment and recording studios would be a good model to start from.

That's a great thought. They are very similar (high capital costs, skilled machinery, loud).

Re: My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

#39

Post by nickmolnar2 »

jrbobdobbs wrote: post #36
nickmolnar2 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. They're on my 'to contact' list. Hell, maybe they'd even want to move to an area with less junkies. They seem to have a great community, but they have a terrible address. I really like their 'principles' page. I think that's important to have up in writing, publicly, and not fixed in stone. Their insistence on GPL'ing everything might be an issue. I would hope that most projects would be GPL'ed, but it would…

something to note.. vhs is not only GPL we have been taking about rewording this for a while. Anything developed by VHS as a vhs group project is CC/GPL/BSD/etc. That being said members are free to show up and work on their proprietary projects. Also, open/group projects do get priority when it comes to shared tools. p.s. there is alot of awesome aside from the junkies in the dtes. ;]

Thanks for the clarification. That seems far more practical than what I was imagining.

Encouraging open source and group projects is definitely going to be a priority at whatever we end up building. I'd love to chat more with you about other ways of doing that.

Re: My Dad Asks HN: Should I Build A Hackerspace?

#40

Post by jrockway »

nickmolnar2 wrote: post #13
jrockway wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. See this for an example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberport The idea was to build a complex with shared resources for high-tech companies. They built the complex, but nobody is renting. I was there last week, as I have a friend that works there, and there was absolutely nobody there. It is probably the least populated point on Hong Kong Island, including the mountains :)

Their mistake was going too high-end. Expensive glass buildings, deluxe residences, high-end malls. I want something lean, dirty, and productive as hell.

I want something lean, dirty, and productive as hell.

But does anyone else with money want that? Selling to YC startups is probably not a good idea, because they have no money.

Corollary: there's a reason there are so many bland, boring office spaces -- they sell.

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