3 ms·

I've long felt that some variation of the anarchy symbol would be more appropriate for a hacker symbol being that hacking represents total freedom (in my mind).

acjohnson55 12y ago
Not all hackers are anarchists, though.
- robotkilla 12y ago
  That's why we shouldn't adopt the anarchist symbol as is. A variation would be needed.
  - TheOtherHobbes 12y ago
    You could put an H inside a circle, but a lot of people will think you're trying to be a hospital. I'd suggest (λx.t), but that's not very anarchic, I guess.
    - atomicfiredoll 12y ago
      A lambda in a circle is the mark of the Lambda Complex and a symbol for the Resistance in Half Life. Adopting that would be pretty nerdy, but I don't know if it says "Hacker."
    - stevekemp 12y ago
      A lot of people might thing you were referring to a certain dead hologram too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Rimmer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Rimmer
- jsilence 12y ago
  If you consider that the basic meaning of Anarchism is "no hierarchies!" and compare that in a not-too-strict sense to core principles of the hacker and maker community, it becomes clear that a hacker culture and anarcism are not too far apart. High emphasis on collaboration, egalitarian mindset and a "respect stems from knowledge" attitude come to my mind. But still most of the hackers I know don't want to be associated to anarchy, even though they act like anarchists. I think the reason is that their acting like anarchists simply is appropropiate for what they are trying to achieve and not a political act or message by itself.
  - jacknews 12y ago
    Absolutely. Anarchism in the popular imagination means wearing funny headgear and throwing bombs, but the real meaning is as you say, "anti hierarchy", or perhaps more accurately, "anti hierarchy-that-can't-justify-itself", since I guess some forms of hierarchy are necessary and mutually beneficial" Anyway, in the spirit of totally ignoring Raymond's pedantic and arbitrary missives, we (a hackerspace, somewhere) have produced our own variation, which is still part of the "game of life" glider sequence, but looks much better, looks sort of like an 'h' for hacker, or someone sitting typing, or a group of people (of different shades!) listening to a presenter, etc, etc, etc: http://i.imgur.com/ba7o9i0.png http://i.imgur.com/ba7o9i0.png

acjohnson55 12y ago

Not all hackers are anarchists, though.

robotkilla 12y ago
That's why we shouldn't adopt the anarchist symbol as is. A variation would be needed.
- TheOtherHobbes 12y ago
  You could put an H inside a circle, but a lot of people will think you're trying to be a hospital. I'd suggest (λx.t), but that's not very anarchic, I guess.
  - atomicfiredoll 12y ago
    A lambda in a circle is the mark of the Lambda Complex and a symbol for the Resistance in Half Life. Adopting that would be pretty nerdy, but I don't know if it says "Hacker."
  - stevekemp 12y ago
    A lot of people might thing you were referring to a certain dead hologram too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Rimmer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Rimmer
jsilence 12y ago
If you consider that the basic meaning of Anarchism is "no hierarchies!" and compare that in a not-too-strict sense to core principles of the hacker and maker community, it becomes clear that a hacker culture and anarcism are not too far apart. High emphasis on collaboration, egalitarian mindset and a "respect stems from knowledge" attitude come to my mind. But still most of the hackers I know don't want to be associated to anarchy, even though they act like anarchists. I think the reason is that their acting like anarchists simply is appropropiate for what they are trying to achieve and not a political act or message by itself.
- jacknews 12y ago
  Absolutely. Anarchism in the popular imagination means wearing funny headgear and throwing bombs, but the real meaning is as you say, "anti hierarchy", or perhaps more accurately, "anti hierarchy-that-can't-justify-itself", since I guess some forms of hierarchy are necessary and mutually beneficial" Anyway, in the spirit of totally ignoring Raymond's pedantic and arbitrary missives, we (a hackerspace, somewhere) have produced our own variation, which is still part of the "game of life" glider sequence, but looks much better, looks sort of like an 'h' for hacker, or someone sitting typing, or a group of people (of different shades!) listening to a presenter, etc, etc, etc: http://i.imgur.com/ba7o9i0.png http://i.imgur.com/ba7o9i0.png