5 ms·

The Hacker's Manifesto (1986)

23 points by kilian 16y ago

kilian 16y ago
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 16y ago
  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 16y ago
    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 16y ago
      I see them being the same. In order to improve and make something new, you need to break stuff to find faults.
vineet7kumar 16y ago
iHack!
bitwize 16y ago
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. :)
arthurdent 16y ago
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 16y ago
  Every time I read another language rant on HN, it feels like people are still big fat whiners.
  - mathgladiator 16y ago
    Most of the population is comprised on big fat whiners.
AbyBeats 16y ago
Viva La Hack
blhack 16y ago
This extend beyond computer hackers. One of my little sisters read this at a speech contest in high school; everybody loved it.
todayiamme 16y ago
>>>"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 16y ago
  >Maybe someday I'll end up being a "hacker". It sounds like you already are.
  - todayiamme 16y ago
    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 16y ago
      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.
      - 16y ago
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

23 points by kilian 16y ago

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 16y ago
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 16y ago
  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 16y ago
    I see them being the same. In order to improve and make something new, you need to break stuff to find faults.

vineet7kumar 16y ago

iHack!

bitwize 16y ago

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. :)

arthurdent 16y ago

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 16y ago
Every time I read another language rant on HN, it feels like people are still big fat whiners.
- mathgladiator 16y ago
  Most of the population is comprised on big fat whiners.

AbyBeats 16y ago

Viva La Hack

blhack 16y ago

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

todayiamme 16y ago

>>>"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 16y ago
>Maybe someday I'll end up being a "hacker". It sounds like you already are.
- todayiamme 16y ago
  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 16y ago
    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.
    - 16y ago

deleted 16y ago

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