<p>doing computer is whatever you want...on computers, together. our bias is towards programming and <spandir="ltr"lang="en"class="notranslate"> diy </span> shared computing infrastructure. but there's also art and music and open data science and circuit-bending and a million other things we don't know about</p>
<p>the political economy of computing is awful. have you read <adir="ltr"lang="en"class="notranslate"href="https://bookwyrm.social/book/525851/s/palo-alto"> palo alto</a>? me neither. we should read it. we deserve better than the <spandir="ltr"lang="en"class="notranslate"> darpa-funded </span> visions of <spandir="ltr"lang="en"class="notranslate"> xerox parc </span> technologists</p>
<p>make the political economy of computing less awful and bring it home to you and yours by starting a computer club in the place that you live</p>
<h2>RULES</h2>
<p>we can't make you do anything, so do whatever you want. but these are the things we think are really important</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>hang out in real life:</strong> online has rude vibes, real life has kinder vibes. hang out in real life for trust and strength and to ground your computer club in your actual local context</li>
<li><strong>reject corporate sponsorship:</strong> corporate sponsorship constrains behavior and undermines collective ownership. computer club isn't yours if a corporate sponsor might get upset by something you do</li>
<li><strong>computer club is for computer club:</strong> you don't need a mission statement, but you might have an ethos that defines your computer club. computer club is beholden only to that ethos and the people who show up</li>
</ul>
<h2>GUIDELINES</h2>
<p>we still can't make you do anything, so continue doing whatever you want. but these are things we think are important to think about</p>
<ul>
<li>computing is political, so let computer club be political too</li>
<li>the <ahref="https://www.recurse.com/social-rules"><spandir="ltr"lang="en"class="notranslate"> recurse center </span> social rules</a> foster collaboration and psychological safety, consider using them</li>
<li>talk about what used to excite you about doing computer. talk about how the political economy of computing could be better. talk about these things publicly. the computer club might already be breathing in the communities you're in</li>
<li>attend preexisting computing meetups and find like-minded people. meetups about "how to <spandir="ltr"lang="en"class="notranslate"> node.js </span> apolitically" are sidelining people who want "how to <spandir="ltr"lang="en"class="notranslate"> node.js </span> pro-socially." don't try to be a recruiter -- just be excited at events and find people who are also excited</li>
<li>does your city have a food coop? food coops and computer clubs have a similar ethos; and food coops are a great place to get your food for the same reasons that a computer club is a great place to do computer. make friends at your food coop and find the computer-doers</li>
<li>computer clubs are inspired by <adir="ltr"lang="en"class="notranslate"href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hackerspaces"> hackerspaces</a></li>
<li><strong>mob programming:</strong> a big monitor, tv, or a projector. computing together is fun and contributes to your computer club's culture!</li>