Kernel Panic Room
| Kernel Panic Room | |
|---|---|
| |
| Status | active |
| Country | Mexico |
| State or District | Queretaro |
| City | Queretaro |
| Date of founding | 2018/10/15 |
| Last Updated | 2023-10-31 |
| Website | https://kernelpanic.lol |
| @botkernel | |
| Snail mail |
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| Number of members | ~10"~" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 10. |
| Membership fee | (We would like to have everyone contribute around) 25EUR/month (but we've never charged anything) |
| Size of rooms | 20m² + ~ 30m² |
| Members | |
| Open to Exchanges? | Not yet (not enough space)"Not yet (not enough space)" is not in the list (yes, no, maybe) of allowed values for the "Exchanges" property. |
| Open to Residencies? | Nope, but if somebody really wants to come over we can probably find some sort of interesting arrangement"Nope, but if somebody really wants to come over we can probably find some sort of interesting arrangement" is not in the list (yes, no, maybe) of allowed values for the "Residencies" property. |
| Residencies Contact | kpr@abysmal.mx |
| Location | 20° 35' 34.87" N, 100° 23' 45.60" W |
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a.k.a. Cuarto de Máquinas[edit]
Our space currently occupies a room in a tiny hidden courtyard inside of the City Museum. Rent consists of helping around with occasional technical issues. It's small, has some stuff that doesn't belong there and is under constant modification, but it's *ours*. The objective is to serve as a free software and hardware laboratory, a little playground for tech-minded people, an oasis of Linux and code in a sea of silly Apple aspirationism. This space isn't tailored for minors, or for absolute first introductions to the wonderful world of technology. We are in for all-nighters and beers are welcome. Our afternoons are spent talking (to each other, visitors or LLMs), researching and, of course, ***hacking***. The more there are of us, the more skills we can collectively master, so if you're in the area, come give us a visit or send a message, don't be a stranger cause you're not! The surefire way to find us is over twitter, telegram or by visiting us any Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.
Ancient History[edit]
The original Kernel Panic Room was a community-oriented space in Querétaro, Mexico, focused on free technology. The founders aimed to create a collaborative space where expenses could be split among voluntary paying members and paid for by workshops and activities. KPR was established in a small room upstairs from a library, which had previously hosted musical events and sold beer. The founders chose this location to draw in people interested in free technology from those attending other events at the library.
Initially, KPR served as a personal lab for the founders. They worked on various projects, including helping someone rescue Bitcoin from an old desktop, for which they received a small payment that they used to purchase equipment and pay rent. The founders hoped to lure people from the library into learning about free technology and possibly installing Linux.
However, after several months, the person who rented the entire house, including KPR's space, announced that they would be stopping the rental. KPR had to make a choice: either split up and continue separately, or pay the full rent together. Since books, art, computers, and mezcal did not attract enough people, the founders decided to open their own bar, called the БУНКЕР (Bunker), in an additional room of the house. The bar was a success and allowed KPR to continue its projects, albeit with less attention to the hackerspace.
As the bar grew in popularity, the founders had the idea of starting a cohesive cultural center revolving around a house full of spaces. However, noise complaints from neighbors made it unbearable to continue in the current location, and KPR had to find a new house. They found one by chance and moved there a week later.
Unfortunately, with the hackerspace relegated to a secondary priority and the bar becoming the main attraction, toxic people infiltrated the organization. One such person entered as a social media manager, but never had a true understanding of the goals of the space and the ideas it was based on. The toxic environment eventually led to KPR's downfall and disappearance from the physical realm.
However, hacking is not something you can abandon easily. The homelabs kept growing and the idea of opening another hackspace never truly died down. Additionally, a little community on Telegram formed, growing slowly by word of mouth. It now serves as a good and sort of neutral point of interaction with both people who we know from the scene who aren't in our city, as well as newcomers who get invited by members of that group for one reason or another.
Over time, there have been several attempts to revive the physical space of KPR. In 2018, a new group of individuals tried to re-open KPR in a different location in Querétaro, but the project never gained enough momentum to take off.
Current era[edit]
Recently, there has been a renewed interest in re-establishing KPR in Querétaro. A group of former members and new enthusiasts have come together with the goal of creating a new hackerspace that reflects the original values and spirit of KPR, but within the City Museum. This is a a building that belongs to the state, but the agreement we have with the administration is a hack in itself, as well as us occupying a piece of a 300-year old Convent for our dark deeds. It took a while to make all the necessary arrangements to clean out and (semi-)properly make the space habitable, but we're pretty much there at this point. We are actively building up our own infrastructure, both in terms of hardware and software. Visit our website if you'd like to know more (or visit)
