The Hacker Culture

Hackers today are often times misunderstood. Many people see them as geeks sitting alone in their dark basement breaking into networks and sending viruses that steal passwords and destroy people’s computers. However, this picture is far from the truth. To understand what a hacker really is, it helps to see where their culture came from.

History

Ken Thompson is often considered the first hacker. In 1969 he was a major advocate to defend the openness of the UNIX source code. UNIX was an innovative operating system, compatble with many different systems, so software had become portable. However, there were several legal battles over the control of the development of UNIX, so many ran out of funds and lost interest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson

The next big name came with Richard Stallman. In the 1980’s he created a system similar to UNIX, yet independent from all the legalities and burdens that accompanied the operating system. He coined this GNU (GNU is Not UNIX). Stallman was a major advocate of free speech, believing that free speech of the next century lies within free software. Having the software and code available to anyone, he argued, could only improve and help innovate. He created the Free Software Foundation in order to help protect the rights of hackers everywhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman

Linus Torvalds was the next big wig of the hacker culture. He started to develop his own version of UNIX for his personal computer, however he realized that the task was far too great for him alone. Therefore, he posted his source code online, under the server administrator’s file named LINUX. In this way, hundreds of hackers were able to critique, change, test, and debug Torvalds code. By 1993, LINUX was better than preceding UNIX systems and is now one of the most reliable operating systems available. The only problem is that this system is complex, and not intended for the ‘computarily unadvanced’. Thus, the next frontier of LINUX and any free-source software is user-oriented commercialization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds

Who are Hackers exactly?

There is no sure-fire test to determine if someone is a hacker, save the culture itself. A man named Eric Raymond, and icon of the hacker culture, defined them as “those whom the hacker culture recognizes as such.” With this, it is important to distinguish between hackers and crackers. Crackers are ones who illegally break into networks, crack codes, and bring havoc to computer traffic.

Hackers, on the other hand, are quite necessary in the construction of the internet and much technology for two basic reasons:

• Hackers nurture an overarching sense of the breakthrough of technological innovations through cooperation and free communication.

• Hackers connect the knowledge stemming from the ‘techno-meritocratic’ culture (explained below) and business spin-offs that diffuse internet society.

Features of the Hacker Culture

The hacker Culture, like any culture, has its own sets of values and beliefs. To Hackers, two of the most important qualities are informality and virtuality. A hacker exists simply as his name and his merits. Those who submit more, better code for the improvement of the culture are seen in a higher regard from those who do not do their own work or simply work for their own selfish goals.

As mentioned above, the hacker culture is techno-meritocratic. Much like I just stated, this simply says that those who do better jobs or held in higher regard. Along with this runs the goals of the culture. The reason someone who does an excellent job is thought of as superior is the fact that hackers strive for performance and technological excellence.

Finally, hackers enjoy a great deal of personal satisfaction for their creations. They know that the things they create or improve are going to be put into action towards the goals (mentioned ablve) of the entire culture.