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My Life With Tim
- maxklein 18y agoWhen I read such articles, or I see biographies where everyone started programming on their Atari when they were 6 years old, I wonder - was I the only one who started using a computer after they were 18? Are the majority of hackers people who grew up using computers, understanding them and being around them?
- Kaizyn 18y agoProbably you'll find that the majority of hackers started with computers before they were 18. It's not so much that this is a requirement as it is a fact that unless a person starts in fairly early with computers they won't have developed that great an interest in programming them.
- hhm 18y agoI'm not exactly sure what age I started programming at, but I think it was around 12. I was very angry of all the guys that had had the chance to have contact with computers earlier and didn't do anything worth with that, and I started programming as if I had to recover the time that I had lost (it sounds pretty funny in retrospective). I didn't have a computer for myself for about two years after that anyway, so I was programming games in lent computers or typing around at stores (or even programming in paper notepads, that's the sad story of a young maniac hacker). At an earlier age I was happy enough writing stories, drawing comics and trying to invent strange stuff.
- tjr 18y agoIt's surely not a requirement, but I suspect many people who are seriously into anything begin developing their interest at a young age. With hacking, unlike medicine or nuclear physics, it's reasonably easy to not only develop interest, but actually starting doing it.
- startingup 18y agoI touched my first computer at 19, but that was just one mandatory college class in programming, after which I never touched a computer for several years. I didn't become a programmer until I was 26 and even then, it was a chore I had to do as part of my regular job - it took me a while to actually like it. I had no interest in software until I was 28-29. I am 40 now, and have had a fair bit of success in software (enough to be an occasional angel). So don't worry - there are lots of slow learners like me!
- prakash 18y agoSo, what changed at 28-29? Was it the choice of programming language? The advent of the Internet?
- startingup 18y agoI suppose that was when I got interested in starting a business. I realized software is one area where you don't need much capital. So I decided to fall in love with software ;) To be honest, I hugely enjoyed it, though it was a kind of marriage of convenience at first.
- prakash 18y agoOut of curiosity, which prog. language did you start with?
- startingup 18y agoC++ (which a colleague taught me)
- qhoxie 18y agoThe overlaying issue about that is more the hacker disposition than hacking on code specifically. Despite not working with code at a young age, chances are most hackers were pushing the limits of some system for the lot of their lives.
- ivankirigin 18y agoI've played video games heavily since I was 5, but didn't start to program till college.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- pius 18y agoBeautiful essay.
- defen 18y agoThis was a fun essay. However it also contains one of the really annoying aspects of aaronsw's writings, when he calls DanC's "socially conservative politics" one of DanC's flaws.
- hhm 18y agoI thought he was specifically speaking of extreme positions such as that of intelligent design.
- queensnake 18y agoThis guy's going to commit suicide someday, I sense it.