Forum categories: modular

[sam]

Machines?

(20 characters)

[TheTechnobear]

catch-all is good, but you need to be careful of not creating overlapping categories - surely, things like gear/tools etc, will have (for the uninitiated) a large overlap with tech, as much of our gear is tech.
when discussing programming aleph is that now gear or tech?

Yeah I think the important thing is to categorize to allow users to curate the kinds of posts they’ll see. Are there users who would only want to see either ‘tech’ or ‘general gear’? I have a feeling they may have very similar audiences.

Id agree with this…

I ‘up voted’ modular, as I suspect there are quite a few non-modular users out there … and its not just about GAS suppression

however, I do recognise that monome, now, probably has more eurorack users now than non, so perhaps lines therefore is focused on modular users, so perhaps Im in a small minority here.

should monome modules be in ‘modular’ or monome - that already seems to be in question, some discussions are in monome, some in tech… its an overlap, so is ‘bound to happen’.

categories are not perfect for this, tagging is better … which discourse also supports, but when I added tags on another site, I found most users did not use.

[kisielk]

I definitely think some category is needed. I just posted about hardware loopers, it doesn’t really seem to fit in with any of the existing categories.

I don’t think there’s much overlap with Tech, its description is:

“Programming, circuits, design, DIY.”

So unless you’re building something new, I feel like you wouldn’t post there. The “Hardware” or “Gear” category or whatever it’s ultimately called would probably be more about discussing existing devices.

[tehn]

maybe “tech” needs to be renamed something more like “DIY”, though DIY in my mind is very pejorative term which suggests amateur.

i’m up for a “hardware” category. any last suggestions? should we do a poll?

[sam]

I’d be happy with ‘Tech’ renamed to ‘DIY’, but we’d need a ‘Coding’ category then.

Alternate names for DIY, ‘Electronics’, ‘Synth DIY’, or even just ‘SDIY’.

I think the names of the categories define what content is encouraged, especially for newer users. On the plus side, Discourse does do a good job of prominently displaying category descriptions, so the names can be quite pithy, while the description can contain more inclusive language.

[tehn]

this is a good point.

so

• code
• electronics
• gear

i still dislike the word gear, but i suppose it’s fitting. gear applies to commercial software, etc as well.

any final thoughts on this, anyone?

i’d like to point out that “regulars” have the ability to re-categorize posts, so this can be a quick collective effort.

[marcus_fischer]

how about devices or equipment instead of gear?

[beo]

how about organon
it’s ancient greek for tool, instrument.
it’s obscure word, nobody knows what it means, but [quote=“sam, post:25, topic:983”]
Discourse does do a good job of prominently displaying category descriptions, so the names can be quite pithy, while the description can contain more inclusive language.
[/quote]

and

“regulars” have the ability to re-categorize posts

so it’s ok if no one understand it.
but more importantly : how does it sounds in english ?

[geh2oman]

I was about to second “equipment” but maybe that’s also too broad? I like “code” because it’s clear and I like “electronics” because it’s inclusive of both tools and instruments, but I think in order to address the main concerns it might be necessary to be specific about the case of “modular” or “eurorack.” My vote would be for “modular.” Who knows, maybe somebody’s going to repanel ansible into 4U…

[TheTechnobear]

Hardware
Software
Modular

?

[beo]

maybe “tech” needs to be renamed something more like “DIY”, though DIY in my mind is very pejorative term which suggests amateur.

i’m ok with ‘tech’, i think it describes very well what it is : programming, circuits, design, DIY.

---

side note, regarding DIY :

What did I try to do, in this context, in 1948? As Boulez said,
extremely snidely (he’s a pretentious boy, a kind of musical
Stalinist… I’m an anarchist myself), it was a case of
‘bricolage’. (Note: This French noun has no direct equivalent in
English, but is close to the adjective ‘makeshift’; and the idea of
improvising new uses for things originally meant for something else) I
retain this term not as an insult but as something very
interesting. After all, how did music originate? Through bricolage,
with calabashes, with fibres, as in Africa. (I’m familiar with African
instruments). Then people made violin strings out of the intestines of
cats. And of course the tempered scale is a compromise and also a
bricolage. And this bricolage, which is the development of music, is a
process that is shaped by the human, the human ear, and not the
machine, the mathematical system.

(the complete translated interview is here).

(since then i feel very cool with these words (diy, craft-whatever, bricolage, makeshift, etc.) and their weight.)

[abalone]

@beo 'bricolage is right http://cristobalmartinez.net/PDFs/IKTC2011_88_97_Martinez_120.pdf

¿code (software, apps, ideas)
circuts (bending, soldering, diy)
hardware (products, pedals, modular)

[sandy]

Code
Circuits
Devices

[shellfritsch]

perhaps i’m a bit biased, but i really like DIY as a catch-all for topics that encourage folks to make something themselves - amateur or expert. i’d be all for electronics, but what if we want to share techniques around baking bread or fungi cultivation?

•DIY
•Software
•Hardware

[ngwese]

I personally find “DIY” to be a more limiting term than “Tech” and I too largely associate DIY with something more amateur which is not an attribute I would associate with anyone on this forum!

I’d personally favor a “hardware” or “hacking” (in it’s most general and positive sense) category over a DIY category.

[tehn]

ok, i’m feeling a reversal. i think “tech” can encompass circuits and code and design just fine. whereas “equipment” can encompass commercial hardware and software.

i’m going to just make the category and we can rename it if desired. regulars please reclassify where needed if you feel compelled to do so.

http://llllllll.co/c/equipment

[dspk]

just a general question connected to this… if you don;t want to massively engage with muffwiggler where else do people sell/buy modular equipment online. I don’t think I have enough things to say on MF to get to the required amount of posts to be able to put things up for sale… there must be other universes for this? (aside from this wonderful space)

[bookmil]

reverb.com is growing in the modular world

i’ve used it a lot for effects pedals and monome stuff

[Galapagoose]

I think the category breakdown makes sense, but still not entirely convinced by the nomenclature. The way I see it is:
Tech = The making / modifying / design of things
Equipment = The use of existing things
That is, Tech is about ‘making’ and Equipment is about ‘using’. There’s obviously a whole lot of baggage with the word ‘maker’ (just as there is DIY), but perhaps a more abstract, less electronic-music-centric categorization is preferable?

That said, I don’t have a proposal, but think this conversation can continue and maybe we’ll find something that fits more naturally. I’m still uncertain as to the utility of the tech/equipment distinction -> how different are the audiences? I still see utility in a separate ‘modular synth’ category regardless, as i often want to filter those out personally.