The article is by ESR and in his mind "hacker community" is a very specific group. A group who happened to have their heyday when the game of life had just been published and Conway was still offering a prize for an infinitely expanding pattern. This makes it really more of a coincidental thing rather than a representation of any inherent trait of the community.

Though even for that community(and people now who really like the game of life) I don't think it is a great logo. Circles are not a very pretty or pleasant way of representing the game of life and it makes me think of a board game when I look at it.