OpenHack: 17 cities strong and counting | Hacker News Reader

OpenHack: 17 cities strong and counting

openhack.github.com

36 pointsqrush13 comments

My favorite thing about this is that it's not focusing on a specific technology. I'm pretty involved with the Python group here in Pittsburgh, but what I really love is doing stuff, not necessarily getting together and talking or sitting while someone else talks. It seems wrong to me somehow to make a particular technology the focus of a group. They're tools! And, honestly, they're pretty similar tools--Python, Ruby, JavaScript, etc. It'd be like if carpenters had Hammer user groups and Mallet user groups and Maul user groups. Can we just build some shit, please?

I'm looking to get a regular weekend meetup going in Tulsa, OK. I created a preliminary page and put in a pull request. I know we have some fellow hackers on here lurking. Hopefully some people on here see this that live nearby interested.

Interesting concept, love the intention.

At first glance it seems OpenHack provides the organizer with the concept, branding, and inclusion on their site... anything I'm missing? what are the next steps?

Yep, it's more of a "flag" to fly under, and a template to run meetings. We should definitely have a page for "How do I schedule my first meetup?".

Good idea, lead potential organizers into the next action steps... I'm out in CA and down to help if you want any help connecting with meetups/organizers.

What has been produced so far by groups under this banner? That's the interesting question, to me. Anything you can link us to?

While this is an interesting question, and it would be nice to know, I don't think its the only reason to have these get togethers. For someone like me, it would be more about experience, networking, and fun. I like to code in my spare time, but often work on my own and it kinda detracts from the fun.

Perhaps another interesting question is "Is there anything which differentiates this from a local HackerSpace?". If the goal is to not focus on specific languages or environments, then why not go one step further, and not focus specifically on software?

I understand that there is need to draw the line somewhere, so I don't have any problem with them focusing on just software, however another HN article could be:

HackerSpaces: Over 500 cities strong and counting [0]

[0] - http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/List_of_Hacker_Spaces

Correct me if I'm wrong, but HackerSpaces are more about the space since you have to store your hardware somewhere and there's more tools involved. With software all you need is a laptop so an OpenHack could maybe migrate around more easily.

Heard about this on the In Beta podcast. Love the idea. Looks like the design has been updated a little since. Very nice.

This is such a great idea! If I were Meetup, I would be scared.

We're using Meetup to help RSVP for the Buffalo one. The github page is here to organize them all and provide a more centralized "home" for them.

love this idea, cant wait to get started!

Awesome! We have a page on how to get started. Let me know how it goes. http://openhack.github.com/yours/

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