[Noisebridge-discuss] ROBERT 2.0 should not be banned despite some problems he creates

[Robert Chu]

Hello Noisebridge Community.

I am writing this email on behalf of the good that there is in Robert 2.0,
and  also because I don't think that he should be banned. Before you become
enraged with this email (or even annoyed), I encourage you to read on.

I can only infer (from my experience with Rob 2.0) the situation is as
follows:

******ROBERT 2.0******

- Is one of the best software hackers that I've ever met at Noisebridge

- HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN DOWN TO TEACH AND HELP OTHERS with any questions they
have. (As he only said know if he was super busy).

- Came to Noisebridge and crashed a couple of public computers (with the
intent of making them better- this was done do-ocrattically) also because
he didn't know that it would be a problem to do so.

- Had taken apart a couple of scooters (when I spoke with him, it was his
intent to build a better one with the parts. I spoke to Rob about this a
while ago when this issue came up. It seemed that HACKING apart the
scooters to make a better one was completely valid since Noisebridge is a
HACKERSPACE and it has been communally agreed upon that everything at
Noisebridge is HACKABLE except the Membershelves.

- Robert brought a cabinet of servers to Noisebridge, and was taking to
some people to do some awesome tech stuff such as clustering, and even
teach a class (teaching is most excellent at Noisebridge).

- Robert  2.0 had slept a couple of nights at Noisebirdge (Before it was
communally looked down upon).

- When Robert 2.0 was allowed in the space he did make a lot of messes that
other people had to clean up (which is why part of the reason some people
got upset to the point of wanting him to not come back).

- He is a hard person to communicate with.

- Robert 2.0 has often been coming back to Noisebridge for various reasons,
and has left every time after being asked to leave.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ROBERT 2.0
- Robert 2.0 has been asked to leave the space and not come back until he
goes through a Noisebridge Moderation process (which I don't think he wants
to moderate with the current moderators).

- I would estimate that about $2,000 to $3,000 worth of servers that he was
going to donate to Noisebridge were pushed out onto the street (without
even letting Robert 2.0 know that this was going to happen), and are now
GONE. That is $2,000 - $3,000 dollars worth of servers let the COMMUNITY
know that this unjustice was done. IHO throwing away a hacker's hardware is
a huge insult to a hacker. He could have been asked to move them out of
Noisebridge if they were really that much of a problem.

- I would estimate that the damage that Robert could have done to
Noisebridge is at most ~$500 in man hours or whatever, where as the amount
of money he lost in the form of hardware is far greater.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In conclusion,

- Robert 2.0 is still upset that ~$2,000 - $3,000 in servers was just
trashed without his knowledge or even being communicated to (TOTALLY
UNEXCELLENT IMHO), and the person who was responsible wasn't even
reprimanded at all, just because he has been a huge part of the Noisebridge
community.

- I feel that there Robert  should be allowed to return to Noisebridge, but
only after we figure out what the problems that others are having with him
(AS ARE DOING WITH CYNTHIA),  and work them out. I also am pretty sure he
does not want to moderate with the current people that defaulted as
moderators, and think that I would be able to moderate this situation
because of my repor and relationship with Robert.

Let me get in contact with Robert and see what his goals are and what his
expectations for being a part of the Noisebridge community are.

Since I am still on vacation from Noisebridge feel free to tell him to
contact me if he shows up.
robertayoungchu at gmail.com - 415.935.3597

Banning Robert would be another example of Noisebridge Hackerspace kicking
out another %100 authentic hacker (probably one of the best in the
Noisebridge eco-system).

Please Noisebridge (at community at large) let me sync up with Robert 2.0
before any decision  is even discussed. I would still be pissed off at the
person who is responsible and at Noisebridge to if $2,000 - $3,000 (maybe
even more) worth of hardware was just tossed. I also feel that that part is
being over-looked on Noisebridge's part (why don't we ban the person tossed
his hardware to the curb?).


Robert Albert Young Chu
"Keep hackers in the hackerspace."
Rayc
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.noisebridge.net/pipermail/noisebridge-discuss/attachments/20120524/92cb7aff/attachment.html>