Be sure to check out this great interview with a member of Hackerspace.gr in Athens, Greece. Note that the above interview is in Greek, for a translated (but alas, unembedable) version, see the main interview page.

The Hackerspace is an open space for creativity, collaboration, research, course development and learning. But it is more than just a physical space. It is an active community of people with ideas emanating from the philosophy of Free Software. The idea stems from the Free and Open Source (Free / Open-Source Software), from open ideas, but primarily from our need to share with the world of experience we have gained through our involvement with the Free and open Source.
Just as we share our code, so we want to share and our ideas. Daily online shared data and ideas, problems and solutions, from home or our work. So why not do it up close?