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> hackers (in the MIT/HN sense of the word). As someone at Berkeley who's been to many events at MIT, I feel like the definition of Silicon Valley/West Coast "
by jychang 12y ago
> hackers (in the MIT/HN sense of the word).
As someone at Berkeley who's been to many events at MIT, I feel like the definition of Silicon Valley/West Coast "hacker" is very different from the MIT hacker.
- surge 12y agoThe original term hacker came from the MIT Model Railroad Club. It came from when they "hacked" together some phone switching equipment to control the relays on their model railroad. Someone who used something other than its original intended or imagined purpose for some cool new innovative purpose. SV/West Coast has largely adopted the same term, albeit in a much looser sense.
- nsrango 12y agoMIT "hack" comes from the pranks and unauthorized adventuring that many undergraduates came to enjoy on campus. (eg. http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/misc/best_of.html http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/misc/best_of.html) Hack was then used by MIT's TMRC of which many members became involved with/helped build the AI-lab. The first third of Hackers (http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Anniversary-Edition/dp/1449388396 http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Anniversar...) gives a good perspective on the evolution.
- surge 12y agoYes, I've actually read the book, that's why I thought it came originally from the TMRC as one of the many slang terms or jargon they came up with.
- jnbiche 12y agoHmm, I think it depends on who is using it out West. There are plenty of MIT-style hackers in CA who describe themselves as such, including many on HN. But you may be partly right, I think that the way it's used among SV entrepreneurs differs a little from the MIT connotation. But all that is pretty immaterial to the question at hand. Both hacker subcultures are probably intended as the target of intimidation.