- The group debated whether AJAX-based web interfaces were a distraction from “real engineering” for an open-hardware collaboration platform, while simultaneously critiquing the early “unptnt” repository for being little more than a SourceForge clone that might only host LEGO assemblies.  
- LEGO was rejected as a seed dataset because its patents and non-manufacturable design conflicted with the goal of truly open hardware; extruded plastic T-slot framing was proposed as a more useful, reproducible alternative.  
- A DARPA-funded faculty member, Dr. Sata, was identified as a potential six-figure backer for the nascent Austin FabLab, but participants worried his commercial focus could undermine the lab’s open-source ethos.  
- Practical FabLab bootstrapping tasks were enumerated: syncing personal data to git, building AVR motor-driver programmers, scavenging a 500 GB drive and BeagleBoard for the electronics bench, and cataloging 651 lb of donated gear (vacuum pump, non-functional bronze robotic arm, etc.).  
- Installation pain with open-source CFD tools (OpenFOAM, Elmer, OpenFlower) was documented—missing dependencies, undocumented formats, lack of Debian packages—spurring calls for better packaging and documentation.  
- MIT’s FabLab git repositories (fab.cba.mit.edu/git-repos/) were cloned and inspected, yielding cad.py, kokompe, and other CAD code, though many links were broken and downloads crawled at 500 kB/s.  
- A cautionary blog post was cited showing that after a year in a FabLab, students still “coveted machines they couldn’t have,” reinforcing the need to emphasize empowerment over mere access.  
- gene floated the idea of repurposing a RepRap 3-D printer as an “easy-bake PCR thermocycler,” while kanzure offered ultra-high-vacuum construction notes to support ambitions of room-temperature superconductor experiments (linked 2008 arXiv paper: 0805.0230).