“So many cool things to do!”: Hacker ethics and work practices

"So many cool things to do!". This line is usually pronounced by Mitch Altman when used to inviting people to visit Noisebridge Hackerspace and is also a slogan which is part of the statutes of the Montpellier hackerspace named the Boat in a Bag (BIB). The motto indicates that the organization and its activities focus on two values: doing things and having fun. Hackerspace could then carry all the alternative potential of organizations by embodying alternative means and ends. To accomplish their projects, hackers have recently gathered in local hackerspaces to propose different ways of working and making decisions. In addition, they resist the dominant order not by protest, reforms or the creation of a new global order but by creating local initiatives capable of demonstrating the advocated values of hacking while being appropriated by the greatest number possible. Finally, hackerspaces could be seen as a popular means for people to experiment with local production techniques and to make decisions about the relationship between economic and social issues. In this chapter, we want to explore the spirit and experience of resistance as they emerge in the context of hacker communities and hacker spaces.