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Anyone else see the irony in all of this hacker-bashing on this site called "Hacker News?" Not just in this particular discussion, but overall a shift away fro

Anyone else see the irony in all of this hacker-bashing on this site called "Hacker News?" Not just in this particular discussion, but overall a shift away from talking about individual, inspired and sometimes entrepreneurial creativity toward how to pass a FAANG-style interview or have better standups and corporate culture.

ludamad 6y ago
Hacker news has grown in readership and I assume this explains the shift in tastes. I see it more as commentary than bashing, but I do think the stereotype doesn't mean much beyond valid points than that the traits outlined had negatives. Oh a Great Hacker is one that is productive but won't touch Java? I'm not one then, but what does that really mean
- belval 6y ago
  It's a 2004 article which really have to be read through the lenses of the time. Java in 2020 with Kotlin and Scala is pretty far removed from 2004 Java. Same goes for the Windows vs Linux part.
  - ludamad 6y ago
    I'll admit during 2004 I indeed did not want to touch Java or Windows. However, I'd like to say if a project demanded 2004 Java I'd be up for the task now, if the business case was exciting
PragmaticPulp 6y ago
> Not just in this particular discussion, but overall a shift away from talking about individual, inspired and sometimes entrepreneurial creativity toward how to pass a FAANG-style interview or have better standups and corporate culture. Comparing hackers in an individual context is apples and oranges to talking about them in a company context. It's great when hackers use their knowledge and creative energy to create new things or startup new companies. It's not great when super-hackers use their assumed intellectual superiority to make life miserable for their team members and managers. There are plenty of real "hackers" who have the right interpersonal skills and self-awareness to be lead teams in a business context and get work done. Unfortunately, there are plenty of self-described "hackers" who use think their intellectual superiority excuses a lot of bad behavior in the workplace, from stonewalling projects unless/until they get their way to railing against the corporation. If these hackers want to go off and start their own companies then I'm all for it. As a coder-turned-manager, I don't want any self-absorbed hacker types on my team, though.
krebs_liebhaber 6y ago
> A shift away from talking about individual, inspired and sometimes entrepreneurial creativity toward how to pass a FAANG-style interview or have better standups and corporate culture. The internet isn't the domain of nerds and spergs anymore - it's a trillion-dollar industry that the whole world depends on. We have to shed this outdated, toxic, antisocial culture if we want to move forward. (I think diversity is going to be an important part of the transition away from nerd culture. Women and minorities tend to be more well-adjusted.)
ghroberts 6y ago
I have noticed this, too. The hacker and creativity bashing started in open source projects, which were taken over by corporations. Now that a sufficient number of "open" source developers are in the pockets of said entities, mailing lists are censored, conference speakers are censored and dissidents are silenced. HN is one of the rare places where free thinking is still allowed (probably thanks to pg), but the new ideology is spreading fast. On the bright side, this may be a good time to found a startup.

ludamad 6y ago

Hacker news has grown in readership and I assume this explains the shift in tastes. I see it more as commentary than bashing, but I do think the stereotype doesn't mean much beyond valid points than that the traits outlined had negatives. Oh a Great Hacker is one that is productive but won't touch Java? I'm not one then, but what does that really mean

belval 6y ago
It's a 2004 article which really have to be read through the lenses of the time. Java in 2020 with Kotlin and Scala is pretty far removed from 2004 Java. Same goes for the Windows vs Linux part.
- ludamad 6y ago
  I'll admit during 2004 I indeed did not want to touch Java or Windows. However, I'd like to say if a project demanded 2004 Java I'd be up for the task now, if the business case was exciting

PragmaticPulp 6y ago

> Not just in this particular discussion, but overall a shift away from talking about individual, inspired and sometimes entrepreneurial creativity toward how to pass a FAANG-style interview or have better standups and corporate culture. Comparing hackers in an individual context is apples and oranges to talking about them in a company context. It's great when hackers use their knowledge and creative energy to create new things or startup new companies. It's not great when super-hackers use their assumed intellectual superiority to make life miserable for their team members and managers. There are plenty of real "hackers" who have the right interpersonal skills and self-awareness to be lead teams in a business context and get work done. Unfortunately, there are plenty of self-described "hackers" who use think their intellectual superiority excuses a lot of bad behavior in the workplace, from stonewalling projects unless/until they get their way to railing against the corporation. If these hackers want to go off and start their own companies then I'm all for it. As a coder-turned-manager, I don't want any self-absorbed hacker types on my team, though.

krebs_liebhaber 6y ago

> A shift away from talking about individual, inspired and sometimes entrepreneurial creativity toward how to pass a FAANG-style interview or have better standups and corporate culture. The internet isn't the domain of nerds and spergs anymore - it's a trillion-dollar industry that the whole world depends on. We have to shed this outdated, toxic, antisocial culture if we want to move forward. (I think diversity is going to be an important part of the transition away from nerd culture. Women and minorities tend to be more well-adjusted.)

ghroberts 6y ago

I have noticed this, too. The hacker and creativity bashing started in open source projects, which were taken over by corporations. Now that a sufficient number of "open" source developers are in the pockets of said entities, mailing lists are censored, conference speakers are censored and dissidents are silenced. HN is one of the rare places where free thinking is still allowed (probably thanks to pg), but the new ideology is spreading fast. On the bright side, this may be a good time to found a startup.