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A lot of that ethos I think is just Generation X plus computers. A rebellious generation that came of age during a time when digital technology had just granted
by jart 4y ago
A lot of that ethos I think is just Generation X plus computers. A rebellious generation that came of age during a time when digital technology had just granted kids the power to wardial norad. I think tinkerers have always been timeless, but that kind of cyberpunk culture is something we're unlikely to see again.
- jhbadger 4y agoI'm solidly GenX, but the hacking culture described by "The Hacker's Dictionary" is a generation older than that -- the era of the MIT AI Lab or Stanford's SAIL in the mid 1970s. Lisp Machines and custom in-house operating systems. The GenX hacking culture was the 1980s and was more about getting the most out of our own microcomputers.
- User23 4y agoIt was also about bullshitting on Alliance.
- jart 4y agoOh believe me I know it has origins in ivory towers like MIT. Stallman has written all about that for instance. The context with GP was once it had trickled down into more popular culture with the ESR / Jargon File days. We honestly don't know a lot of the true origins of hacker culture, because so much of it started in corporate government enclaves with confidentiality rules. What we know are echos of practices and socialization that crystalized into usenet posts.