[Noisebridge-discuss] [drama] Frantisek is going to stop living at Noisebridge starting tonight.

[Albert Sweigart]

> I did.  I was being facetious.  But isn't that what is being said?  Isn't that what he is being called?

No. In fact, everyone is going out of their way to point out that
Frantisek is helpful and friendly. No one is calling him a "fucking
bum" (even in jest), and bringing that up can escalate arguments on
the list since it can easily be construed that you are accusing people
who have a problem with people living at Noisebridge of hurtful
name-calling.

I wrote my original email very carefully, because I know how easy it
can be to misinterpret text. I want to keep the discussion calm and
constructive, so I'd like to ask everyone read this email carefully. I
will try to answer each of Corey's questions.

> My point being, obviously this guy is working very hard and is an active
> member of the community, paying or not.  He's running projects, keeping them
> clean, keeping the place clean, he's not disturbing anyone

Frantisek has been living at Noisebridge for months. The space has not
always been clean. Frantisek *does* help out with the cleaning, but I
think it gives the wrong idea that Noisebridge is well-organized and
tidy because of his sole efforts. Lots of different people help out
with the cleaning.

> It's the beef that he is setting a bad example? Is the fear that NB is
> suddenly going to be inundated with people that follow in his foot steps:
> being overly nice, doing good work, hacking on cool shit, and then crashing
> on a couch?

I know this is a sardonic question, but: No, the beef has always been
with people living (not just occasionally sleeping) at Noisebridge
fully knowing the community disapproves of it, and keeping it secret
from the general community because they know they would be forced to
stop. Again, it is not that he's been "crashing on a couch" but that
he has been using the tea room as a bedroom to live at Noisebridge.

> It just seems to me Frantisek is a scape goat and that the anger over
> Llama

This is a red herring. That Llama guy was outright disruptive and
quickly told to leave Noisebridge and from my view its been forgotten.
The community being against purposefully spending the night and living
at Noisebridge existed before the whole Llama thing. Llama wasn't even
mentioned at last night's meeting or on this email thread until you
just now brought it up.

> Is it habitual?  How does that matter?
>
> How do you run a 24 hour hacker space, then put limits on how long a person
> stays there?

Michael Kahn and others come to Noisebridge every day for hours at a
time. There is no problem with the amount of time they spend at
Noisebridge. There isn't a problem if you are up all night working on
projects until 7 in the morning. The problem is using Noisebridge as a
your personal home.

We do it by coming together as a community and having a discussion
about to see how everyone feels, and then trying to sort out what is
acceptable behavior. That is how we put the "no living" limit in.

> Is it theft for him to not pay rent, here?  Is it theft that people running
> a legitimate business and making profits off of work done here aren't also
> paying rent?

No, it is not theft for him to not pay rent. However it does change
the dynamics of the space, because it can make it seem like instead of
a public workspace, it can make people feel they are being invasive in
a person's private home. Even though someone is perfectly justified in
working and making noise at night, basic politeness would make them
hesitate to do so when someone is sleeping in what is their home. This
imposition isn't fair, especially since living at Noisebridge has
never been a publicly advertised option available to everyone. Instead
it was only available to someone who ignores the community's norms and
does it in secret.

> Is it a problem, legally? I think that is the only valid concern.

Eh. Possibly. It was discussed at the meeting and in the thread. I
think most people can agree this may be a significant reason, but it's
not anywhere near the most significant.

> See, normally I avoid drama as much as possible.  I mean, I try not to step
> in it...I'm always watching my feet to make sure I don't end up with sticky,
> stinky, festering drama on my shoes...
>
> ...but now I am jumping in head first.

Please don't purposefully escalate drama at Noisebridge, even
jokingly. It puts other people on the defensive and then they start to
escalate. Let's play it cool.

> What is going on here is, a really nice guy is being publicly (and pubicly)
> cock punched, repeatedly, over his reliance on a community he contributes
> to...

No, Frantisek is not being repeatedly cock punched. His character is
being repeatedly upheld through all of this. He's a nice guy and makes
contributions, and nobody wants any sort of punishment or barring or
anything over this. He just can't live at Noisebridge, following the
same standard that everyone else adheres to.

> When you sacrifice so much for a community, it is not only natural, but
> necessary to use that community to fulfil some of the needs displaced by the
> sacrifice.

That isn't a sacrifice if you expect something in return, it's a
purchase. And generally this sort of "purchase" shouldn't be done in
secret so you can escape disapproval by the community. Many people
clean up and help out at Noisebridge. But they don't get a privilege
to misuse the space because of it.

> Maybe that sacrifice is misplaced and undesired.  I am sure we've all done
> that...should we all be publicly bashed over it?

I brought it up in front of the community because my personal efforts
to resolve it privately weren't working and wouldn't change anything.
I didn't go by rumors, I personally confirmed that Frantisek was
repeatedly sleeping at the space and kept his personal artifacts here,
and also talked to him about it to get his side of the story before
emailing the list.

I emailed the list, carefully explained that I did not want Frantisek
kicked out or condemned. Now he's been offered an apartment for a
month by another member, Noisebridge doesn't have someone living in
the space, and the problem was solved in a single day.

>>   i find that not taking things seriously generally is
>> freeing, often with a clarifying effect.
>
> When the thread is "[name of person] is [offending action]" it is hardly
> general.

The issue of people sleeping at Noisebridge has been brought up
before. This was a specific problem dealing with a specific person,
and I wanted to narrow the focus on that so we could have it resolved.
I specifically put names out there because as much as I made clear
that this is not a condemnation, I did not want tiptoe on the issue.

-Al