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Comment by patrickmn | Hacker News Reader

> The idea of Ikea plus internet security together at last seems like a pretty terrible one, but having taken a look it's surprisingly competent.

For what it's worth, hacking is a big part of Swedish culture.

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At least in tech circles it seems to be in. My point of view may be biased, but 50% of the techy folk I socialize with in Sweden are very much into this stuff.

> hacking is a big part of Swedish culture.

Really? how so?

I've never heard about this before so I'm curious about it.

You mean it's a big part as in there are a lot of Swedish hackers or because it's encouraged as part of the culture/education system?

I grew up in Denmark and Sweden but I'm not sure I can give you a single reason. It's more that kids are more likely to be exposed to computer internals than in most other countries. PC gaming and LAN parties much more commonplace, an unfriendly climate most of the year encourages indoor activities, there isn't much going on (the downsides of peaceful countries...) and so on.

A lot of the early Internet's game cracking scene originated in Sweden, too.

I think you may be projecting your own experience growing up on a nation as a whole.

Yes, Fairlight and some other groups were Swedish. Yes, a strong middle class meant that a lot of kids had access to ABC80s, C64s, Amiga 500s, IBM PCs, Macintoshes growing up. BBSes were popular in certain groups of the population. People grew up with this and started companies. A lot of existing companies were open to new things. That does not mean that "hacking is a part of Swedish culture".

> an unfriendly climate most of the year encourages indoor activities

Anecdotally, I seem to recall a lot of sledge riding, snowball throwing and various other winter activities from my youth.

I only have my own experience on this subject, so I'm definitely projecting.

I didn't mean that hacking is as culturally significant as the Dala horse or Semla. Just that, for example, nearly every kid in our town came to the LAN parties, even the "jocks." And everyone needed to troubleshoot networking issues, figure out how to get the games to run (cough without a serial key cough,) and so on. The biggest jock in town was cool because he played a MUD without ASCII colors, making him "hardcore." (Not to mention that the largest LAN party in the world, Dreamhack, which continues to this day, is in Sweden.)

Does that mean that all those kids became hackers? Of course not. But clearly being exposed to system internals coupled with a driving curiosity is how a lot of hackers got started, and so it's no surprise to me that IKEA has capable infosec talent.

Thinking back, the fact that the Pirate Party actually managed to get Parliament seats in Sweden suggests, at the least, a uncommon level of sympathy with the hacker ethos.

> sledge riding, snowball throwing and various other winter activities

Presumably further north, since Denmark and Skåne don't have that much snow, and Denmark doesn't have any hills.

(I've moved here as an adult, and so far haven't seen much outdoor activity in the winter.)

Denmark and Skåne does not have much snow compared to the north, but there is snow, especially outside of the cities.

And Denmark has hills.

> And Denmark has hills.

Yes but only baby ones. Your highest point is only 170m!

Of course you were not inside all the time during winter but surely you must agree that you were inside more than during summer time?

Interesting peek into another country's computer culture!

Thanks for the replies.

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