The Word "Hacker" (2004)
paulgraham.com
The Word "Hacker" (2004)
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Re: The Word "Hacker" (2004)
#2Last night on 60 Minutes, Leslie Stahl interviewed Vint Cerf and some security experts for a story on identity theft and malware. Cerf was on for maybe 20 seconds and the rest of the segment was your typical the-sky-is-falling doomsday report. What bugged me about Stahl's piece was how rotten she presumed hackers writ large to be. She said the word at least 20 times with no consideration given for honest hackers.
I once used the h-word in a corporate setting in front of my boss. The benign context left no doubt as to my meaning but old pointy hair later assured me I had crossed a line. Memo: the safewords are "code" and "program."
Good to be working on a startup today. Essays like this continue to remind me why I left the establishment.
Re: The Word "Hacker" (2004)
#3Do we really need to go over this again? It's pretty simple: within the computer community 'hacker' has a positive context. For everyone else it's negative.
It's like 'fag'. Say that in the UK and you are talking about cigarettes. Say it in the US and it's offensive.
Re: The Word "Hacker" (2004)
#4Do we really need to go over this again? It's pretty simple: within the computer community 'hacker' has a positive context. For everyone else it's negative. It's like 'fag'. Say that in the UK and you are talking about cigarettes. Say it in the US and it's offensive.
not to cut teeth here, but the 'fag' analogy doesn't really hold up. no matter how you swing it, the term 'hacker' relates to technology (hardware, software, wetware, whatever). in this case, 'fag' has two very different meanings. i'm reminded of the story posted a month (or so) ago on the linux hacker dad whose son received some flack from an ignorant teacher (anyone have a link?).
Re: The Word "Hacker" (2004)
#5Maybe we need a story called "The Word 'News'"
Re: The Word "Hacker" (2004)
#6Do we really need to go over this again? It's pretty simple: within the computer community 'hacker' has a positive context. For everyone else it's negative. It's like 'fag'. Say that in the UK and you are talking about cigarettes. Say it in the US and it's offensive.
not to cut teeth here, but the 'fag' analogy doesn't really hold up. no matter how you swing it, the term 'hacker' relates to technology (hardware, software, wetware, whatever). in this case, 'fag' has two very different meanings. i'm reminded of the story posted a month (or so) ago on the linux hacker dad whose son received some flack from an ignorant teacher (anyone have a link?).
I disagree. It's all about context. Don't describe yourself as a hacker unless you are around fellow hackers (in the sense used on this site). Otherwise you risk being misinterpreted.
Re: The Word "Hacker" (2004)
#7Do we really need to go over this again? It's pretty simple: within the computer community 'hacker' has a positive context. For everyone else it's negative. It's like 'fag'. Say that in the UK and you are talking about cigarettes. Say it in the US and it's offensive.
not to cut teeth here, but the 'fag' analogy doesn't really hold up. no matter how you swing it, the term 'hacker' relates to technology (hardware, software, wetware, whatever). in this case, 'fag' has two very different meanings. i'm reminded of the story posted a month (or so) ago on the linux hacker dad whose son received some flack from an ignorant teacher (anyone have a link?).
Perhaps not "hacker", but call something a "hack" and programmers will get a positive connotation, other people will see a negative one.
Re: The Word "Hacker" (2004)
#8Maybe we need a story called "The Word 'News'"
That might make for an interesting story! There're arguments about the origin: there's the mindset that says it's slang for "the new things", using "news" as a plural for new. Then there's the one that says "NEWS" is an anagram of "North East West South." It leads to some interesting arguments in media class, when it comes to defining "What is News?" (That's an argument that Hacker News seems to have as well, so it's far from dead.)
Re: The Word "Hacker" (2004)
#9"Hacker" may very well be (helpfully) keeping the size of HN down. The last time I sent someone a link to an HN discussion they took one look at the url and phoned to tell me that my email had a virus.
Re: The Word "Hacker" (2004)
#10I don't agree that everyone in the tech world agrees on the term.
When I was in school (late 90s/2000), one of our professors made a clear distinction between "hacker mentality" and "software engineer mentality"–emphasizing that the latter was professional/preferred and the former was undesirable/rogue.
To him, a "hacker" didn't plan, didn't show an engineering thought-process, didn't think long-term, and wasn't a team player.
So, at least in academia, not everyone thinks "hackers" are good.