Rodney Mullen Interview, Slamtrick 2003 Italy
youtube.com
youtube.com
I've heard extremely passionate programmers say things like "I don't ever want to see a computer again" or "I wish I could do something else, this sucks". But on the other hand, when you work with them and they're actually 'in it' and they're not distracted by external stresses, you see that they actually love it, and they wouldn't trade it for nothing.
He has a very nerdy/technical style and invented much of modern street skating. There are still tricks that he is the only person to have been filmed doing.
"What is it to hack? It's knowing a technology so well that you can manipulate it and steer it to do things it was never intended to do.
And they're not all bad. You can be a Linux kernel hacker, make it more stable, more safe, more secure. You can be an iOS hacker, make your iPhone do stuff it wasn't supposed to. Not authorized, but no illegal.
Then you have some of these guys. What they do is very similar to our creative process. They connect disparate information and they bring it together in a way that a security analysis doesn't expect. It doesn't make them good people, but it's at the heart of engineering, the heart of a creative community, an innovative community.
The open source community, the basic ethos of it, is take what other people do, make it better, give it back so we all rise further. Very similar communities, very similar."
I remember, before connectivity arrived, that sense of wonder: anything was possible with these machines. Anything.
Hungering for knowledge, exhausting all of the libraries, finally a modem came. The BBS. Knowledge! Software! Vast capabilities for exploration. Exchanging ideas with other people. My people.
And then, finally, the internet. A simple search prompt, Altavista. That pure rush of untapped potential! The realisation of the immense scope and breadth of what was possible! Search for anything, anywhere, anytime! Communicate freely! Never again be trapped by geography!
Experientially, I believe the main thrust of the experience was the fulfilment of the insatiable curiosity that I believe all children are born with but few manage to carry much of through to adulthood. However, secondly there was definitely an anti-authoritarian, egalitarian, individual empowerment (dare I say left wing?) side to it. In the angst of teenage years, perhaps at times not substantially differing from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto (which many of us probably read).
Pragmatically, it was never a problem to resist other actors (parents, school teachers, etc.) who sought to dissuade research by disconnecting phone lines, setting arbitrary limits, imposing temporal wonts. Once it became clear that a starting salary was higher than that of many teachers, drudgery became optional and the first steps upon the path were set. What a strange and amazing journey it has been. I sincerely hope that it continues, and that through my own actions I can help others to discover and explore freely. For at no time have we as a group been more highly politicised, romanticised, or perhaps misunderstood. Many turn their backs on ethics and take the money. But we must not forget that we are the shepherds of network effects, and that our actions sometimes powerfully affect others, the environment, and the future. Instead of allowing ourselves to be motivated by greed and malice, let us work toward taking those feelings of awe, freedom and exploration that we held dear from youth and make them a reality for the many.
Programming makes me happy because I love to create new things, hacking makes me happy because I love to figure out how things work, and holding on to that same feeling I had about it when I was a kid is what keeps me going everyday.
I read new things, discover new things, use what I want. It's important to enjoy what you do, and just relax, and enjoy.