Fixfest is a global gathering of repairers, tinkerers, and activists
172 points by robtherobber 20 hours ago | 19 comments

j1elo 14 hours ago
I would enjoy this so much. Always keeping electronic parts around home, "just in case". It feels so profoundly satisfying when you finally get to put some switch or random piece to use for a repair, after having kept it stored for 13 years in a drawer (and through moving houses 3 times!)
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jjice 18 hours ago
Everything about fixing something broken is so appealing. Better for the environment, often better for your wallet, and better for the soul.

I think this applies to software too! Writing good software allows it to be maintained well and it being open source helps promote that. Publishing good documentation is another huge win for maintainability.

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lukan 16 hours ago
"and better for the soul"

Well, if it works again ..

https://xkcd.com/1994/

If you have a habit like me of only partly fixing things, because a unforseen problem came up and deciding to get back later on it, you will just pile up electronic garbage and run out of space. (It was really good for my soul getting rid of most of it recently)

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wolvoleo 11 hours ago
It's a learning experience. The more you do it, the more successful outcomes you get.
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bluGill 10 hours ago
That is why I work on broken things - if I can't fix it, it was broken anyway. Working things that could use a tweak scare me as I might make it worse.
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wolvoleo 11 hours ago
And you learn a lot from it. Even if it fails.
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ja27 18 hours ago
We did a "restart party" at our hackerspace a few years ago. Definitely could have used a good stock of capacitors. Probably power cords. Not sure what to do with all the very specific USB-C etc. ports that break.
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throwa920189 14 hours ago
I once knew someone who bought a set of various different types of usbc connector, I think from a chinese site. It had enough variety that one worked for his repair (a handheld gaming device).
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alexbike 15 hours ago
The fact that fixing what you own now requires 'activism' is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
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arikrahman 15 hours ago
Will be marking my calendar!
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adolph 16 hours ago
Something that repair enables is wealth in the sense that David Deutsch uses in "Beginning of Infinity:" the repertoire of physical transformations that they would be capable of causing
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guerython 18 hours ago
[flagged]
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dang 18 hours ago
We've banned this account. Please stop now.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated

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guerython 11 hours ago
[dead]
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dang 18 hours ago
[stub for offtopicness]
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daedrdev 18 hours ago
Are they nimby?
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xeromal 18 hours ago
I read this as fedex. The brain is weird.
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r_lee 18 hours ago
I read it as Firefox
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FarmerPotato 18 hours ago
funny, I read it as BarCamp
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idontlikenigge 17 hours ago
[flagged]
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larodi 15 hours ago
Given expected further economic struggle ahead of most everyone living in the UK, such gatherings perhaps come being more appropriate than ever. If not late already. The only contradiction is with the otherwise super consumerism-oriented societal tune across most Europe, UK including.
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