Hacklab leaflet

From Hacklab

Print version based on the text below available here (http://www.hacklab.org.uk/hacklab_leaflet.pdf).

[edit]

London Hacklabs Collective

What do you do at a Hacklab?
A Hacklab is not just another Internet cafe. Hacklabs are spaces used for alternative media, the promotion and development of free/open source software and other emancipatory technologies. Skill sharing, collective learning, community projects and developing our own political voice are amoungst our aims. The projects that happen at the Hacklab will be limited only by the commitment of those involved. Some examples of the kind of things we want to do:

  • Free internet and computer access
  • Free Software distribution (see our definition of Free Software below)
  • Video and audio editing
  • Hosting hacker conferences/meets/bug squashing parties (see our definition of 'hacker' below)
  • Participation in wireless internet projects
  • Provision of computer resources and help to activist events, Independent Media Centres etc.

Workshops in:

  • How to build a PC
  • Basic computer and Internet use
  • Use of GNU/Linux and other Free Software
  • Graphic and web design
  • Alternative media
  • Making and using radio transmitters
  • Video and sound editing
  • Ecologically sustainable alternatives (to what?)


Who is welcome the Hacklabs?
Anyone and everyone! It is an open access computer lab and social space for the learning and usage of computers, the internet, free software and other free technologies. It is a space for sharing of skills and radical social change. A space to demystify the haze that often surrounds ICT and its applications. The Hacklab collective have a radical political perspective. We come from various backgrounds and ideologies but enforce none. Some come in from the free software or open source movements; some from anarchist, anti-capitalist, alternative media or environmental movements; and some from community projects around London. Some are involved in all of these things and some in none. We operate on a consensus basis; we organise with monthly open meetings, a mailing list and by defacto standards of what works. Everyone willing to work on this basis is welcome to get involved.

Free Software
Free software is a matter of user's and programmer's freedom to run, copy, study and change the software. More precisely, it refers to four freedoms:

  • The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
  • The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
  • The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour
  • The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

We recognise these freedoms as important ones for those in the world who are privileged enough to have computer access. We want to promote the use of free software such as GNU/Linux and FreeBSD. To this end, the default operating system on our machines are free software. However, we are pragmatists and recognise that there is not yet a free software replacement for all non-free software, and therefore provide access to proprietary (including Windows) operating systems as well as GNU/Linux.

In addition, we disagree with those who fetishise the "freedom" of free software as the be all end all. We recognise the importance of freedom, but freedom without equality is privilege and injustice. We do not believe that freedom means the freedom to do whatever you want. Therefore, we reject the so called "libertarian" free market extremist position that some in the free software and open source movements seem to endorse. We also reject the claim that free software automatically guarantees everyone the same rights, when the simple truth is that majority of the world's population have no access to running water and basic sanitation, let alone computers.

Hacking
Hacking can refer to both hardware and software. Please don't ask us to "hack" into a website or your ex-employee's network - we don't do that. We take the definition of a hacker to be someone who likes to go 'beyond the design' and do 'playful, clever things' with technology. In this sense, anyone can be a hacker. We don't like the self-serving elitism that too often surrounds computing. We want the Hacklab to be a place where the "geeks" learn as much from new users as the new users learn from the geeks. And where those with ideas and and dreams learn from the techies, and the techies from the dreamers. Where the seeds are sown for possibilities turning into realities.

Warez
We don't distribute illegal commercial software (often refered to as warez) but you are welcome to come in and make a copy of GNU/Linux or any other free software.

Access and opening times
Look out for details of workshops and benefit events as advertised. If you would like to run your own workshop or event in one of the labs then come along to the next open meeting (as advertised on the website) with your proposal, or suggest it on the mailing list. The Freedom Hacklab is open evey Saturday from 12 to 6pm. The space is kindly supplied by Freedom Press, but we want to contribute towards the costs of the building and we also have an ongoing cost of £22 per month for broadband internet. Use of the Hacklab is free, but we suggest a donation of £1 a day per person; more for higher wage earners. We are looking for more volunteers to run the lab - if you can help there is a rota on the web site that you can put your name down on.

Where?
The Media Hacklab is based at the Freedom Bookshop, Angel Alley, 84b Whitechapel High Street, London E1. The alley is next to the KFC near Aldgate East tube, Whitechapel Art Gallery exit.
The rampART Hacklab is at the rampART creative centre and social space, 15-17 Rampart Street, London E1 2LA. It's just off Commericial Road near the junction of New Street / Canon Street Road.


www.hacklab.org.uk

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