http://techticker.net/2008/05/06/hackers/ educational technology, eLearning & emerging technology Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:43:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://techticker.net/2008/05/06/hackers/#comment-116 Giedre Tue, 20 May 2008 06:49:05 +0000 http://mbogle.wordpress.com/?p=1606#comment-116 I was thinking of replying to your other post on Open Source community, but then came across this. Several years ago a Finnish philosopher Pekka Himanen caused major discussions (at least in Finland :) with his book <a href="https://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375758782" rel="nofollow">Hacker Ethics</a>. He made a claim that recent years brought about a shift in people's mindset: we are moving from protestant work ethic (work hard, so that you can earn your time off) to hacker work ethics (work and play is impossible to separate and you're engaged in it all the time). He used examples of Finnish society (Linus Torvalds is a Finn, btw :), Silicon Valley and Singapore to illustrate his claims. It kind of remains an interesting snapshot of time, I think it presumed that the dotcom economy will go on (and we'll continue having self-made teenage millioners), however, the economy (and our thinking) corrected itself and after all, I am not quite sure if there's anything substantially new in this "hacker ethics" concept. Academic life has been this way since ages ago: you do things because you're interested. The academic system is essentially based on reputation and desire to advance knowledge for the greater good of the society. Not too different from what Open Source community is doing, really? I was thinking of replying to your other post on Open Source community, but then came across this. Several years ago a Finnish philosopher Pekka Himanen caused major discussions (at least in Finland with his book Hacker Ethics. He made a claim that recent years brought about a shift in people’s mindset: we are moving from protestant work ethic (work hard, so that you can earn your time off) to hacker work ethics (work and play is impossible to separate and you’re engaged in it all the time). He used examples of Finnish society (Linus Torvalds is a Finn, btw :), Silicon Valley and Singapore to illustrate his claims. It kind of remains an interesting snapshot of time, I think it presumed that the dotcom economy will go on (and we’ll continue having self-made teenage millioners), however, the economy (and our thinking) corrected itself and after all, I am not quite sure if there’s anything substantially new in this “hacker ethics” concept. Academic life has been this way since ages ago: you do things because you’re interested. The academic system is essentially based on reputation and desire to advance knowledge for the greater good of the society. Not too different from what Open Source community is doing, really?

]]> http://techticker.net/2008/05/06/hackers/#comment-115 matt smith Thu, 08 May 2008 23:42:41 +0000 http://mbogle.wordpress.com/?p=1606#comment-115 I reckon hacking has always been a bit subversive but as the tech industry has grown, some people have tried to sanitise it so that the bosses don't feel so worried about it. I think programmers like to see themselves as edgy and a bit rebellious (even though they are all pussycats). On seeing a poorly structured piece of code we are simultaneously revolted and awed. We call it a hack because it breaks the rules but might admire it because it somehow works. I reckon hacking has always been a bit subversive but as the tech industry has grown, some people have tried to sanitise it so that the bosses don’t feel so worried about it. I think programmers like to see themselves as edgy and a bit rebellious (even though they are all pussycats). On seeing a poorly structured piece of code we are simultaneously revolted and awed. We call it a hack because it breaks the rules but might admire it because it somehow works.

]]>