
The Hacker's Manifesto (1986) - kilian
http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3&mode=txt
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arthurdent
_Wait a second, this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a
mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me..._

This really spoke to me when I was a kid. Young me was really attached to the
notion of creating your own destiny and taking responsibility for your own
successes and failures. Back then, felt like a lot of people were just big fat
whiners.

~~~
mfukar
Every time I read another language rant on HN, it feels like people are still
big fat whiners.

~~~
mathgladiator
Most of the population is comprised on big fat whiners.

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blhack
This extend beyond computer hackers. One of my little sisters read this at a
speech contest in high school; everybody loved it.

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bitwize
A common tongue-in-cheek definition of "hacker" is "one who carves furniture
with an axe".

Loyd Blankenship would go on to focus pretty heavily on his woodworking
activities.

Make of that what you will. :)

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todayiamme
>>>"This is it... this is where I belong..." I know everyone here... even if
I've never met them, never talked to them, may never hear from them again... I
know you all...<<<

I actually come to hacker news for a reason close to this. This is a space
where no one judges me, belittles me, or criticizes me for things I couldn't
possibly choose. I know that I end up wasting a lot of time here, but somehow
it is a release that keeps me sane and makes everything else possible. Maybe
someday I'll end up being a "hacker". Maybe not, but the lessons I've learnt
on these pages will last me an entire lifetime.

~~~
blhack
> _Maybe someday I'll end up being a "hacker"._

It sounds like you already are.

~~~
todayiamme
That's quite flattering, but no I am not even close to that. I don't even know
how to code that well, let alone the myriad of tiny concepts that make up CS.

Even if I do reach that level someday. I doubt it that I would proclaim myself
a hacker, or anything to that effect. I don't want to spend my life running
around claiming credit for things. If someone finds my ideas or code beautiful
then they can point it out and I will cherish that moment with them.

Yeah, I am crazy like that.

~~~
blhack
Being a hacker doesn't have _anything_ to do with coding, or computers.

My Grandfather was a hacker; he built _everything_ himself and I doubt there
was anything in his house that he hadn't taken apart and put back together. He
worked in construction, and most of the heavy equipment he used was things he
built himself (as in: a bulldozer, a backhoe; earth moving equipment).

In early 2000 he started getting into computers (he died shortly thereafter),
he is every bit as much a hacker (if not more so) than anybody I've ever met.

~~~
trafficlight
Hacking isn't even about building things. It's about making things better. And
it's about making those things do new things that they were never intended to
do.

------
kilian
Something reminded me of this manifesto and made me think about what a
"hacker" really is. Things have changed in the past 25 years.

~~~
blhack
One thing that I've noticed is that "hack" has gone from being something
incredibly clever to being some incredibly horrible.

"Yeah, it's a serious hack and it pretty much crashes all the time".

s/hack/kludge/

~~~
kilian
On the other hand, a "hacker" has gone from someone that takes apart/breaks
stuff to figure out how it works, to someone that _makes_ stuff (albeit often
quick'n'dirty). It's two directions, really.

~~~
mathgladiator
I see them being the same. In order to improve and make something new, you
need to break stuff to find faults.

------
AbyBeats
Viva La Hack

------
vineet7kumar
iHack!

