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This is why I stopped calling HN, HN. It's YCombinator news. It's not news for hackers - maybe at one point, but not anymore and not for awhile. It may even be

by fallat 3y ago

This is why I stopped calling HN, HN. It's YCombinator news. It's not news for hackers - maybe at one point, but not anymore and not for awhile. It may even be seen as looked down on because you're posting on a site run by venture capitalists.

throwaway894345 3y ago
I think it's a lot less confusing when you understand that "hacker" doesn't describe a kind of politics, but rather connotes an interest in technology.
- saltcured 3y ago
  Depending on who you talk to, hacking doesn't even mean technology. It's more of an artful blend of craftsmanship and trickery in whatever problem domain you face. But I think the confusing aspect of HN and the VC influence is the number of folks here who happily conflate technology, business, entrepreneurship, and capitalism. If you see these as separable topics, you find that a lot of the confused threads here are different cohorts in the audience who focus on one of these topics and treat the others as ancillary.
  - fallat 3y ago
    > Depending on who you talk to, hacking doesn't even mean technology. It's more of an artful blend of craftsmanship and trickery in whatever problem domain you face. Exactly this. I use the term hacker in its original form.
fomine3 3y ago
YC news is still weird for praising Apple
- smoldesu 3y ago
  Not really. Every entrepreneur has to worship the Steve Jobs handbook if they want jaded middle-aged Disney investors to open their wallets for $TECH_PRODUCT. It's not uncommon or surprising to see people in the startup sphere who are unnaturally defensive of Apple/iOS/MacOS.
  - oceanplexian 3y ago
    Woz and Jobs started out building Blue Boxes (https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/blue-box-designed-and-built-by-steve-wozniak-and-marketed-by-steve-jobs-circa-1972-wozniak-steve-1950/OQGxyXq2DFvKaw?hl=en https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/blue-box-designed-an...) They then created Apple as a hobbyist outfit in a garage, soldering chips together so they could demo a DIY computer programmed in Assembler at a computer club. As opposed to what, a company that exists to sell the equivalent of billboard ads on the Internet? Out of Big Tech, Apple has the strongest claim to any kind of hacker culture.
    - smoldesu 3y ago
      And when Jobs got the contract from Atari, he lied to Woz about how much it paid so he could take the lion's share. Fraud culture is unfortunately part of their blood too, something we ought to excise if we want the tech industry to be taken seriously in the long-run.
      - esafak 3y ago
        Everything I read leads me to believe that Steve Jobs was not a virtuous person, though I keep trying to find the silver lining. How should one test for ethics? A reference check comes to mind, but it is not a test that you can apply fairly.
        fallat 3y ago
        > How should one test for ethics? You ask if that's how you'd like to be treated.
parasubvert 3y ago
the fallacy you have is that all hackers are socialists or folks that dislike venture capital or capitalism. I can assure you many hackers are libertarian or anarchists of some flavour (from mutualists to anarcho-capitalists). Many celebrate Apple because they want to build the next Apple some day. HN has always slanted for the latter crowd, though certainly open to everyone.

by fallat 3y ago

throwaway894345 3y ago

I think it's a lot less confusing when you understand that "hacker" doesn't describe a kind of politics, but rather connotes an interest in technology.

saltcured 3y ago
Depending on who you talk to, hacking doesn't even mean technology. It's more of an artful blend of craftsmanship and trickery in whatever problem domain you face. But I think the confusing aspect of HN and the VC influence is the number of folks here who happily conflate technology, business, entrepreneurship, and capitalism. If you see these as separable topics, you find that a lot of the confused threads here are different cohorts in the audience who focus on one of these topics and treat the others as ancillary.
- fallat 3y ago
  > Depending on who you talk to, hacking doesn't even mean technology. It's more of an artful blend of craftsmanship and trickery in whatever problem domain you face. Exactly this. I use the term hacker in its original form.

fomine3 3y ago

YC news is still weird for praising Apple

smoldesu 3y ago
Not really. Every entrepreneur has to worship the Steve Jobs handbook if they want jaded middle-aged Disney investors to open their wallets for $TECH_PRODUCT. It's not uncommon or surprising to see people in the startup sphere who are unnaturally defensive of Apple/iOS/MacOS.
- oceanplexian 3y ago
  Woz and Jobs started out building Blue Boxes (https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/blue-box-designed-and-built-by-steve-wozniak-and-marketed-by-steve-jobs-circa-1972-wozniak-steve-1950/OQGxyXq2DFvKaw?hl=en https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/blue-box-designed-an...) They then created Apple as a hobbyist outfit in a garage, soldering chips together so they could demo a DIY computer programmed in Assembler at a computer club. As opposed to what, a company that exists to sell the equivalent of billboard ads on the Internet? Out of Big Tech, Apple has the strongest claim to any kind of hacker culture.
  - smoldesu 3y ago
    And when Jobs got the contract from Atari, he lied to Woz about how much it paid so he could take the lion's share. Fraud culture is unfortunately part of their blood too, something we ought to excise if we want the tech industry to be taken seriously in the long-run.
    - esafak 3y ago
      Everything I read leads me to believe that Steve Jobs was not a virtuous person, though I keep trying to find the silver lining. How should one test for ethics? A reference check comes to mind, but it is not a test that you can apply fairly.
      - fallat 3y ago
        > How should one test for ethics? You ask if that's how you'd like to be treated.

parasubvert 3y ago

the fallacy you have is that all hackers are socialists or folks that dislike venture capital or capitalism. I can assure you many hackers are libertarian or anarchists of some flavour (from mutualists to anarcho-capitalists). Many celebrate Apple because they want to build the next Apple some day. HN has always slanted for the latter crowd, though certainly open to everyone.