[Noisebridge-discuss] A modest proposal.

Will Sargent will.sargent at gmail.com
Fri Feb 17 22:04:49 UTC 2012


On Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 11:47 PM, rachel lyra hospodar
<rachelyra at gmail.com> wrote:
> Re closing the space at 11pm.
>
> I maintain that crippling our essential services is a lame way to solve this
> problem, and I am frustrated with the unwillingness of some to acknowledge
> the importance, to many members of our membership and community, of
> late-night hacking.

Well, late night hacking is not something that lots of people do.  I
don't know of another hackerspace that does it -- even Techshop closes
at midnight.  Regular companies may have the odd 2 am deployment, but
San Francisco as a whole sleeps at night.  You've got DNA Pizza and
Sparky's Diner and Denny's for food options, and that's about it.

I think there's a good reason for that; I think that places that stay
open 24/7 tend to be selected out of existence.  There's just not
enough demand -- it's not "essential" to enough people to make it
worthwhile.  The cost is greater than the benefit.

> Basically anyone who is proposing a solution that involves closing the space
> at night is ignoring some fundamental differences that others have with
> their idea... as well as glossing over important logistical concerns...which
> leaves me thinking that you are either not listening, don't give a shit what
> others think, or that you think your fear outweighs the thoughts of other
> members.  SOME OF WHOM ARE THE ONES RUNNING INTERFERENCE ON LOONIES IN THE
> MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

Having Noisebridge open in the wee hours of the morning has an effect
on what happens the rest of the day, and to the rest of the community.
 To Matt's point, it's open ended risk to the many, for the benefit of
a few.  How many people are really in the space at 3 am?  Maybe 5
hackers and 10 hangers on.  How many people are affected by things
like Delta going batshit at 2 am?  Everyone.  You can say that Delta
could have popped at any time, but Noisebridge consistently gets
looser, wilder and more chaotic at night, and every time something
happens the entire community gets dragged into it.

> Which I believe morally entitles me, a paid up member, to commit to blocking
> the hell out of your stupid idea.  Feel free to try and convince me
> otherwise. In person. At noisebridge.

Sure, if you're willing to think about the community of Noisebridge as
including people who want a Noisebridge in some form, but don't care
about 3 am hacking.  Are you able to do that?

Will.



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