hacker.md

Bob Gardner

Back in Fall 2013, I read The Cathedral & The Bazaar. "The Hacker Attitude" is quoted directly from the Appendix, but I paraphrased "Do you want to become a hacker." I changed (2) to say "Linux" instead of "an open source distribution of Unix" and (3) to say "Internet" instead of "World Wide Web." I don't think (3) needs a clarification, but (2) does. Linux has become very popular among students and researchers. While I have used Solaris at NYU (another Unix variant), Linux has become the standard among many of my peers.

The goal of the following paragraphs is to excite people with esr's words as much as they excited me the first time I read them. People generalize the first three attitudes of a hacker to be "programmers are lazy," but I prefer the eloquence of his words. Contrasting "Fascinating Problems" with "Boredom and Drudgery" are exactly the attitudes I want to convey when I talk about what my fields of study have given me, economics and computer science. The world is full of fascinating problems. They can be silly (like the Internet Chuck Norris Database) or something serious like getting Internet to 100% of people in the world.

You don't have to become a programmer to think the world is full of fascinating problems (though I do recommend learning to think like a programmer).

##What does being a hacker mean to me?

1. Ask questions.
2. Find a question to be fascinated by - something to think about before going to bed.

#What It Means To Be A Hacker

The basic difference is this: hackers build things, crackers break them.

###The Hacker Attitude Repeat after me:

1. The World is Full of Fascinating Problems Waiting To Be Solved.
2. Nobody Should Ever Have To Solve A Problem Twice.
3. Boredom And Drudgery Are Evil.
4. Freedom Is Good.
5. Attitude Is No Substitute For Competence.

Eric S. Raymond - One of the Founders of the Open Source Software Movement

If you agree with these points, you're a hacker. You don't have to be a programmer or an engineer to believe that the world is full of fascinating problems. Hackers ask why when they see something they don't understand - this happens a lot. Many possess the tools to dig deeper; all possess the curiosity. Hackers work with duck tape and glue. They don't don't settle for "that's always the way it's been done." Hackers share information - they stand upon the shoulders of giants.

###Do you want to become a hacker?

1. Learn How To Program.
2. Install Linux!
3. Learn How To Use The Internet And Write HTML.