Life is about action. Being "not dead" to me suggests not being done with what you do. To live without action is not living, but I guess you are "not dead". However, to fully embrace being "not dead" means you still need to do something.

Why in the hell philosophy is being so heavily considered here is beyond me though. If hackers really think about life too much, they stop hacking and start living. Hacking is doing but in a way that really isn't changing anything truly permanently. Having kids and providing them with a good environment that they then pass on to their kids and their kids... that is permanent. They won't remember your crappy webapp or your nifty tech startup nor will they give a shit about your talk circuit or the books you wrote on some aspect of some framework that no one will use 10 years from now.

Helping others and raising a family can do real and permanent good. That is being "not dead".