Dominic's Philosophy of Nottinghack

Well believe it or not their is a philosophy in my head about the whole project and they aren't easy to get out but I'll have a go...

Like the Prime Directives maybe... maybe not. Kirk was always flouting them anyway.

...and in no particular order:

Number 1: Be Open Source

I love creative commons and Open Source stuff... I recently had a pod-cast "Free, the future of a Radical Price" by Chris Anderson the editor of Wired Magazine in the States (it's still available as a podcast on iTunes). I love kits from AdaFruit and lots of good open source software. Giving stuff away, like content and plans, is an excellent way to get lots of interest and buzz around something. Nottinghack and the Hackspace Foundation have Open Source at their core.

Number 2: Be a Maven

It was Dave H who mentioned Mavens at the very first meet-up. What I mean is Nottinghack won't be about "My Geekiness is greater than your Geekiness". When I used to work in IT support folk used to torment "newbies" for asking questions, holding their knowledge like Golum holding the Ring. There are no Cliqués, unless we're all in the Cliqué. I did say there are no "Newbies" but unfortunately that also read as "No New People Please". Nottinghack is for the mentor and the mentored not for showing-off. Respect is earned, no-one was born with a soldering iron in their hands!

Number 3: Look what you are missing

Lots and lots and lots and lots of content online. Videos, photos, tweets, forums, instructions, you name it we'll post it. The more stuff interested people can get access too the more they will know about Nottinghack, the more they know, the more they'll want to come and be a part of it. A hackspace lives and dies on it's member participation. Lots of content is a really good way of keeping things "inclusive".

Number 4: It's not about "Sticking-it-to-the-man"

Huh? What's Sticking it to the man? Who's "the man"? What I am trying to say is that Nottinghack isn't a cause or a movement, it's not subversive, it's not political, totally secular... it's just about Hackers and Making... there maybe a few tools, and even some art! But when did art become so political? Look I want to save the planet as much as the next guy and I'm very annoyed about the Digital Economy Bill (or Act now I suppose).

This isn't an underground movement. It's not about a rag-tag line of hackers soldering for world peace or an Arduion project that strive to raise awareness of saving the whale. We WILL be about community and a place to hack within it.

Number 5: Lets hear it for planet Earth!

OK, I know I just said we're not about anything political... the environment and technology have not mixed well over the last 200 years. It's time for that to change. If anyone can act on climate change it's a bunch of boffins like Nottinghack. Now I'm not saying we're going out to campaign with Greenpeace, but we will dispose of our waste responsibly, keep an eye on our energy usage and look for ways to make Nottinghack environmentally sound and an example to others too.