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Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

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Re: Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

#51

Post by Kinnard »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #41
Kinnard wrote: post #34

There are many definitions of hacker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hacker_Manifesto Wark defines hacking 'as an “abstraction”, the construction of different and unrelated matters into previously unrealized relations. Hackers produce new conceptions, perceptions and sensations hacked out of raw data. Everything and anything is a code for the hacker to hack, be it “programming, language, poetic language, math, or mus…

I've literally never heard a musician , mathematician or engineer refer to themselves as a "hacker" or anyone outside of computing for that matter.

You will soon. This itself is a hack ;)

Re: Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

#52

Post by anoncow »

I am a doctor working in a pharmaceutical company. I used to code before starting medical school. Still do. Here mostly for the scene, the point of views and the people. I love the posters here and the feeling of community. It motivates me to keep trying new things.

(I count myself as a hacker. I code and maintain a number of (poor quality) projects.)

Re: Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

#53

Post by AnimalMuppet »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #41
Kinnard wrote: post #34

There are many definitions of hacker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hacker_Manifesto Wark defines hacking 'as an “abstraction”, the construction of different and unrelated matters into previously unrealized relations. Hackers produce new conceptions, perceptions and sensations hacked out of raw data. Everything and anything is a code for the hacker to hack, be it “programming, language, poetic language, math, or mus…

I've literally never heard a musician , mathematician or engineer refer to themselves as a "hacker" or anyone outside of computing for that matter.

A jazz musician might easily fit the definition of a hacker, but still might be more likely to describe him/herself as "a cat who can blow".

Re: Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

#54

Post by Bzomak »

I'm here because I find the various news and discussions about assorted programming languages fascinating. I often find, either posted directly to the site or in the comments, new resources which help me learn more about the languages and technologies I either use or have a passing interest in. A happy side effect is that I gain an understanding of what my numerous friends who make their living by programming are talking about!

I don't particularly care about startups, but then, the beauty of this site is that I don't have to! There's enough here that I find myself perusing the RSS feed and culling stories that, if I had enough time available, I might be interested in. For those articles that I do select, however, I usually read through the associated comment threads, as I find the various opinions and clarifications most enlightening!

Re: Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

#55

Post by bnejad »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #49
daveloyall wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recognized you at "robot lady with reality problems" and I absolutely LOVE your work. Thank you! See you in the future!

For those of us who don't recognize it, can you (or the GP) give us a clue? Titles? Name of series? Some hint?

Check the parent's profile, its all in there.

Re: Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

#56

Post by ahjushi »

my_username_is_ wrote: post #16

I'm a mechanical engineer, working in product development. I have an interest in programming to the extent that I can try to automate some tedious tasks, but very little formal training. I'm definitely a long ways from being a "hacker" as its known here. I agree with all of your reasons for visiting HN. I've mentioned this before on another thread, but the guideline that posts should be "anything that gratifies one's…

Woah, my doppelganger!

I work in user acquisition, specifically in SEM (AdWords/Bing). Same reasons here: cursory knowledge of programming I self-taught when trying to automate tasks, but nothing formal. Trying to learn more because I want to go the Product Management route.

This place definitely piques my curiosity in things I sometimes never knew existed. I've been lurking for a few years and can say that I've learned so much more about technology, business, etc. from here that I otherwise wouldn't have (I didn't even know what a PM was before; now I want to be one, heh).

Also echo the desire for non-programming jobs in the Who's Hiring thread, but I guess that's a double-edged sword because if it gets too diverse, it can become like a regular job board and thereby lose its relevance, for employers and employees alike. At the same time, my selfish side wishes it to be so since I would love to work for companies that frequent HN, i.e. more forward-thinking companies doing really cool things (usually).

Re: Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

#57

Post by chipotle_coyote »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #49
daveloyall wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recognized you at "robot lady with reality problems" and I absolutely LOVE your work. Thank you! See you in the future!

For those of us who don't recognize it, can you (or the GP) give us a clue? Titles? Name of series? Some hint?

The series is "Decrypting Rita".

http://egypt.urnash.com/rita/chapter/01/

Re: Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

#58

Post by daveloyall »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #41
Kinnard wrote: post #34

There are many definitions of hacker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hacker_Manifesto Wark defines hacking 'as an “abstraction”, the construction of different and unrelated matters into previously unrealized relations. Hackers produce new conceptions, perceptions and sensations hacked out of raw data. Everything and anything is a code for the hacker to hack, be it “programming, language, poetic language, math, or mus…

I've literally never heard a musician , mathematician or engineer refer to themselves as a "hacker" or anyone outside of computing for that matter.

Neither have I, but I find myself recognizing hacker traits in musicians, mathematicians, lawyers, chefs, spangers, legislators, tech recruiters, modern bohemians, and grant writers.

These are all people that reason about systems. The systems and the tools vary, but the process doesn't.

Re: Ask HN: Who isn't in the software industry/not a hacker?

#60

Post by throwaway283719 »

I'm a quant trader working at a hedge fund. I write a lot of code, but not in the same way that I think most people here think about code. A lot of it is hacky Matlab scripts to test some new research idea. Some of it is hand-crafted C that implements some numerical routine that we need to call a few billion times. Occasionally I throw something together in Python to do some web scraping or parsing task, but that's becoming rarer nowadays.

I come to HN because I enjoy coding, and the level of discussion is still probably the best out of any online community I know of (excepting a few very specialized ones... the r/haskell community comes to mind).

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