About us

A short history of the MetaMeute

On 14 December 2007, Simone, an MLS Master's student, sent the first mail via the general mailing list with the construction plan for a light-seeking robot mouse. This marked the point in time when the "Meute" had grown to a size that made a mailing list useful. The mailing list was still somewhat banally called "Rechner" (Computers) and thus left little doubt about the interests of the fellow readers: computers and the creative use of technology.

Tinkering for students

The first steps in this direction had already been taken half a year before. Two MML students and flatmates in a shared flat on Moltkeplatz noticed that there was a lack of exchange opportunities for people interested in technology in Lübeck. More conversations with interested people and friends on this topic made it clear: this has to change. The two students successfully applied to the Student Parliament for financial support to start a student group. With the money they were granted, they were able to buy a basic stock of "tinkering materials", i.e. a computer, soldering iron, components and an evaluation board for microprocessors. Equipped with this, a small, very mixed group of computer science, MML and MLS students and also a non-student hobbyist interested in technology quickly formed - the beginning of the MetaMeute.

Hackers looking for a home

Since rooms at the university are traditionally hard to acquire, the first meetings of the MetaMeute took place in the WG at Moltkeplatz. In the end, it was the rather unrelated Institute of Biology that put an end to the search for a room. Professor Hartmann thankfully agreed to allow the new group to share a room in the institute. It took some major tidying up to make the room, which was primarily used for storage, usable for a group of hackers and hobbyists. But the effort was rewarded with a room on the campus! The investment in some furnishings and a donation of a sofa eventually made the basement the main meeting place for the pack.

A mutineer does what a mutineer does:

Tactically attaching tautologies to alliterations.

The focus of the MetaMeute has definitely expanded since its foundation: Tinkerings like the little robot mouse and a very simple standard website evolved into projects with complex systems for open wireless networks, hand-coded web frameworks and the maintenance of numerous server-side services. In addition, there are smaller projects such as the hard drive that was turned into an impressive clock with light-emitting diodes and a little code, the LaTeX template that embellished numerous theses and the WLAN antenna that was used to radio from St. Petri to the university.

But not only is the list of successful Meute projects long, but also the list of ideas that were never realised. That something positive is hidden here is due to the Meute philosophy: the world is full of great things that want to be tried out and copied, so that some less promising projects can never be realised. Everything can, nothing has to and whoever wants to, does it! If an idea is good, there are always others who will join in.

The pack today

The Meute people are always happy to receive visitors, interested people and like-minded people. The mailing list MetaMeute@asta.uni-luebeck.de is a reliable way to get in touch with the MetaMeute. In room 82 in house 64 you can meet the MetaMeute very regularly and whenever someone feels like doing something. We look forward to all the new things we can learn in the exchange.

References

The information has been compiled from old websites of the Meute and the Studentenpack