A
s all my friends can testify: I
love DIY. Give me a drill and
a wall to damage and I’m a
happy gal.
And my DIY cup runneth over, since
I recently moved into a new house that
our local plumber Naim cheerfully
referred to as: “Oh my God Luce this
place is a wreck, are you sure?”
The estate agents didn’t even say
it had ‘character’. The brochure
said, with a hopeful look, that our
new home was “in need of cosmeticdecoration” and presented a
“fantastic opportunity to add value to
a property”.
And add value I have! Day and
night with drill, and hammer, and
screwdriver. The cat hates me;
carpets have come up, stairs have
been pulled down, and with more
than a little help from Naim, a new
kitchen has magically appeared.
And all this DIY has got me
thinking about Raspberry Pi.How does it work?
Raspberry Pi is – above all else –
the do-it-yourself of computing
platforms. Not for us the glue andglass of the iPhone and the security
screws of the Microsoft Surface. Oh
no, we hold our computer in our hand
and say out loud, “How do you work,
then, little one?”
Sometimes we also say, “Why
aren’t you working, you absolute
rotter.” [We don’t swear in The MagPi,
house rule – Ed.]
Doing-it-myself, or rather undoing
the work of others to redo it, has given
me an appreciation of good work. Good
work can be taken apart, examined,understood, and reassembled.
Raspberry Pi is good work.
And I think doing-it-yourself is
important. Because the alternative
is somebody-else-does-it-for-you.
And that comes at a heavy cost (and
I don’t mean money). Somebody-
else-does-it-for-you means they get
to understand the world you live in.
They get all the joy of a job well done;
if something goes wrong, you need to
call them and ask for help.
I want to live in a world that I
understand. If something goes wrong,
I know how to fix it, how to stop it
getting worse, and at least where to
look to solve the problem.Do-it-yourself computing is
important. In a world of locked-
down devices and black-box artificial
intelligence, do-it-yourself computing
is a shield against superficiality. It
helps you to take the modern world
apart and get a grip on how it ticks.
It’s also good for the environment.
Learn to make something and you can
fix and repair it, improve it, and gain
an appreciation for the immediate
world around you.Sustainable devices
Repair is the new green, as iFixit says
(magpi.cc/ifixitrepair): “Sustainable
devices are devices that are designed
to have a long life – and that means
prioritising repair and upgradability.
Devices that are easier to disassemble
are also easier to recycle. Reusing,
repairing, and recycling are always
greener than manufacturing
something anew.”
DIY – both in your computing and
in your home – is good for the soul
and good for the world. Long may
it continue.Why DIY is about more than saving a few pennies. By Lucy Hattersley
98 magpi.cc Do-it-yourself computing
Do-it-yourself computing
I want to live in a world that I understand. If
something goes wrong, I know how to fix it
Lucy Hattersley
Lucy is the editor of The MagPi and is
doing it all just to get more space for a
dog. A dog with a lot to live up to.
magpi.ccAUTHORTHE FINAL WORD