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Ask HN: Do you identify yourself as a hacker?
- remram 3y agoI think HN has a poll feature.
- mindcrime 3y agoSort of, not exactly, kinda. If you know what I mean. OK, glibness aside, what I mean is, I kinda do a little bit in my own mind, but I don't openly advertise myself as such, and having other people use that term to refer to me is in no way part of my identity or sense of self-worth. I build stuff, I hack, I code, I tinker, I explore, I learn. Call me "hacker", "maker", "tinkerer", "mad scientist" or just "bob", it doesn't really matter so much. EDIT: And just to be clear, when I say "hacker" in this context, I don't mean "somebody who breaks into other people's computers". I'm talking about the more traditional definition of "hacker", ala the characters and attitudes seen in, for example, Stephen Levy's Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution.
- theandrewbailey 3y agoAgreed, Hollywood and the news has ruined the word, and I don't use it to describe myself to other people.
- gsuuon 3y agoI used to, now I consider myself a 'builder' - the difference being that I care that people use the stuff I make, whereas before not so much.
- dieselgate 3y agoLike many things, more as "someone who hacks".
- mikewarot 3y agoHacker, polymath, programmer, amateur scientist, geek, ham, nerd, grumpy old man, citizen, machinist.. I answer to all of those and more. One who does the "impossible" is my favorite mode of being. I fix things, sometimes without authorization, for others and myself. I bend technology to my will, for myself and others. I try to teach those skills and spread that attitude as well.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]