Hacker News Reader

Comment by c2 | Hacker News Reader

I can see from your other comments today that you might be getting frustrated with this topic and I understand. It's not my intention to draw out some asinine debate over the use of the work hacker and hack.

That said, I can definitely understand why the original poster was assuming you use the word hacker in non-conventional ways. Claiming "one who hacks" is a metaphor for a person who implements innovative and disruptive ideas and then claiming "one who hacks" does not equate to a "hacker" is a bit of a semantic train wreck.

For the record, I've never heard of some one who uses "hacks" in that way to describe anything outside of the traditional "hacker" sense. I personally think it is a clever and interesting way to think of the word, and I also don't understand why anyone would be particular upset about it enough to post a comment.

View on HN

"claiming "one who hacks" does not equate to a "hacker" is a bit of a semantic train wreck"

No, in standard usage they are not equivalent. "Hack" is used broadly for slightly dubious solutions in programming and other domains, whereas "hacker" is rarely used to refer to anything other than programmers.

Except .. in mainstream media where a hacker is someone who do digital breaking and entering.

I believe that the people doing the "digital breaking and entering" are called "programmers", just as pg claimed.

From catb:

"The hacker mind-set is not confined to this software-hacker culture. There are people who apply the hacker attitude to other things, like electronics or music — actually, you can find it at the highest levels of any science or art. Software hackers recognize these kindred spirits elsewhere and may call them ‘hackers’ too — and some claim that the hacker nature is really independent of the particular medium the hacker works in. But in the rest of this document we will focus on the skills and attitudes of software hackers, and the traditions of the shared culture that originated the term ‘hacker’."

I don't believe that hacking is or should be confined to programming.

I don't believe that hacking is or should be confined to programming.

That's pretty funny insofar as it (the verb) is precisely the point not in dispute. Also, your quote supports what pg said: "hacker" refers to programmers by default, though non-standard usages are possible.

I don't see how this is even an argument. Pick just about any verb; I just thought of "bake". I baked something the other day. Does that make me a baker?

I baked something the other day. Does that make me a baker?

It means that you baked something.

Now, someone might look at it and say "That thing that gruseom baked is really good. Gruseom has the Baker nature." You might then gain respect from other bakes that you made and people consider you a baker.

I wasn't attempting to argue with pg - Do people only reply to him in order to stir things up? (I think, perhaps, that I've seen this pattern.) I was only throwing in what I consider to be a good definition of the scope of hacking from someone who has written a lot about the hacker culture (esr).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com