# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion

• A DIY Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) project was shared, demonstrating how advanced scientific instrumentation can be built by individuals outside institutional settings, supporting the democratization of science tools.

• Open source project organization strategies were discussed, highlighting the value of community gatekeepers who filter submissions before they reach core developers—a model similar to Linux kernel development that balances openness with quality control.

• Technical discussions about BRL-CAD modeling software included Python bindings and approaches to modeling complex shapes, showing the community's interest in accessible tools for advanced design work.

• Plans for a blue laser etcher for microfluidics applications were mentioned, with potential collaboration on DNA synthesis microfluidics projects, indicating ongoing DIY biohacking efforts.

• Backblaze's 2014 hard drive failure rate analysis was shared, providing empirical data on hardware reliability that could inform infrastructure decisions for long-term projects.

• Resources on reason maintenance systems and truth maintenance systems were exchanged, with discussion of their applications in debugging and fault diagnosis, showing interest in formal reasoning systems.

• The Mercury programming language's declarative debugging capabilities were highlighted for their ability to work backward from incorrect outputs to identify false assertions in code, representing advanced approaches to software reliability.