What is every geek's dream? I think that we find material goods to be interesting, perhaps occasionally useful, but essentially... unessential. A happy geek is one who has a comfortable set of rooms, the occasional meal, and the best computer money and obsessive tweaking can buy.
It struck me that for many geeks, this means that going out and getting a job just so you can buy a house full of rooms with no apparent purpose- after all, why would you need a whole room for dining? It's just you, and maybe your lan party visitors- is ineffcient. Really all you need, you may say to yourself, is a room for sleeping, a room for everything else (so you don't have to pick the clothes off the floor every time someone visits), and a bathroom. And if only, then, you could somehow borrow or rent the others on the rare occasion you need them.
What you really would like in a home, I know you think on occasion, is a really potent internet connection. Maybe a fiber or two, or a set of T1 lines. And perhaps, with such a connection, you could finally set up your own webserver and DNS and everything. But where would you get the money you need? And the expertise?
And then, on reflection, you may realize that if you did have all that, you'd probably invite people over for the occasional lan party, or perhaps a little DnD session, or any number of geeky things. Why, come to think of it, some of your friends would hardly leave at all!
Perhaps you think this is just an idle fantasy, but I tell you now that this is not the hallucination it may seem!
My idea is really rather simple; anywhere from the traditional seven to perhaps a couple dozen people of geekly stature decide to pool their resources. That isn't to say you give up everything you have- perhaps a mere few thousand dollars, not even enough for a small apartment or even the tiniest of homes- and with the collected funds (which would be a very significant amount), set out to build a communal living space.
Now, determining how many geeks would be best to start with, and how much of a starting price, and what upkeep would be needed requires some modest but non-trivial work. It depends, in large part, on where this commune might be founded. Perhaps in Canada? California? Europe? Any of those countries might work (I kid of course, I know Canada isn't really a whole "country")
Further, how we build is just as important. Do we take over some existing structure and convert it, or strike the earth ourselves and make something specific to our own plans. Rural or Urban? Wood stoves or nuclear reactors? Both? 7 or 8 T1-lines? Panel the outside with T1-11 for irony? These questions can change who would join the project and how much it might cost to start. But these questions come later. What I am asking now is just this: Does anyone out there expect anything to come from this but a half-dozen geeks frozen in the canadian wilderness?
And if you are interested, don't worry, we'll make sure to set up the best group dining hall you've ever seen.
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Topic: Geek Commune (Read 21797 times)