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What's your definition of a "generic hacker"?

• RiderOfGiraffes 18y ago
  Good question - not sure I can answer ... I've known lots of people who program/hack but who do so because they want results from computers, not because they are producing programs as product. They are people using computers as tools, and I would not class them as generic hackers. I guess I meant people who program to produce programs as the main goal, as opposed to producing programs to perform an analysis and get results. For example, I wrote programs for my Ph.D. and for the research positions I held afterwards. I wanted the answers from the computations. I didn't want the programs. These days I write programs to analyse data (of a specific and esoteric nature) and I manage people who write programs that form part of a product. They are generic hackers. I'm not. This isn't, in my usage, a derogatory terms. I'm not implying that programmers are interchangable parts. they're not. Some of my team are gifted all-rounders. They choose, however, to write programs-as-products as their means of earning a living. Most, but not all, also write programs for fun. They're also not limited to web programming, or database programming, or spreadsheet programming, or any other domain specific work. They program generally, and can turn their hand to any domain, always with competent and workmanlike results, although not always as well as specialists from the area. Does that make it clearer? Does it actually matter? I probably used the term to refer to people who can program generally, and in a wide variety of domains, as opposed to those that have limited experience, knowledge and ability. I'm no longer sure though, and don't think it really matters. "Closed Mouths Gather No Feet." Perhaps I should've shut up ages ago ...