I think my child might be a hacker!

Darius S. Naqvi wrote:
Banty writes:


In article , Darius S. Naqvi says...

Gactimus writes:


As an enlightened, modern parent, I try to be as involved as possible in
the lives of my six children. I encourage them to join team sports. I

[snip]

A note for the humour impaired: the above-quoted article is irony. It
is meant to be laughed at, not taken seriously. And it is hilarious!
I'm going to forward it to my company's humour mailing list.


OK, OK, I admit it, I was pulled in.

But, y'know - humor is supposed to be, y'know - FUNNY. Like, not just
ridiculous - FUNNY. FUNNY works better. Really.


Funny is a subjective judgement. I think that the original article
was written as satire/irony, and is likely part of a collection of
essays on hacker culture, where "hacker" is used in its original
sense: "One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a
computer buff." In that context, I find it hilarious.

Original sense??? No, the original sense was more along the lines of

hack n. something that appears to work.

hacker n. someone who thinks they know what they're doing.

Some undergrads from MIT perverted the word in the '60s. Those
of us who were programming back then know what the real meaning
is (and still use it that way :-)

/dan






/dan

In article , Daniel Ganek says...

Darius S. Naqvi wrote:
Banty writes:


In article , Darius S. Naqvi says...

Gactimus writes:


As an enlightened, modern parent, I try to be as involved as possible in
the lives of my six children. I encourage them to join team sports. I

[snip]

A note for the humour impaired: the above-quoted article is irony. It
is meant to be laughed at, not taken seriously. And it is hilarious!
I'm going to forward it to my company's humour mailing list.


OK, OK, I admit it, I was pulled in.

But, y'know - humor is supposed to be, y'know - FUNNY. Like, not just
ridiculous - FUNNY. FUNNY works better. Really.


Funny is a subjective judgement. I think that the original article
was written as satire/irony, and is likely part of a collection of
essays on hacker culture, where "hacker" is used in its original
sense: "One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a
computer buff." In that context, I find it hilarious.

Original sense??? No, the original sense was more along the lines of

hack n. something that appears to work.

hacker n. someone who thinks they know what they're doing.

Some undergrads from MIT perverted the word in the '60s. Those
of us who were programming back then know what the real meaning
is (and still use it that way :-)

What -no ballons coming out of the ground or banners flying around fieldposts at
football games??!?

Banty (whose 1982 college football experience was full of strange happenings...)

Daniel Ganek writes:

Darius S. Naqvi wrote:

[...]
Funny is a subjective judgement. I think that the original article
was written as satire/irony, and is likely part of a collection of
essays on hacker culture, where "hacker" is used in its original
sense: "One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a
computer buff." In that context, I find it hilarious.

Original sense??? No, the original sense was more along the lines of

hack n. something that appears to work.

hacker n. someone who thinks they know what they're doing.

Some undergrads from MIT perverted the word in the '60s. Those
of us who were programming back then know what the real meaning
is (and still use it that way :-)

Hmm. Yes, I think you're right, "hack" and "hacker" have gone through
more than one shift in meaning. Perhaps I should say:

...where "hacker" is used in the sense of : "One who is
proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer
buff."

Or "in the somewhat less unoriginal sense", "in the older (but not
necessarily original) sense", etc.

My point is that the original essay is "hacker culture" in that sense,
not in the sense of "hacker = dangerous criminal who breaks into
computers", nor "hacker = someone who thinks he knows what he's
doing."

But your point is an interesting foil to those who complain about
"hacker" being subverted to no longer mean "one who is proficient at
using or programming a computer."

--
Darius S. Naqvi email: dsn at dsn dot incentre dot net
("From:" line email address with "nospam" removed)

Darius S. Naqvi ) writes:
A note for the humour impaired: the above-quoted article is irony. It
is meant to be laughed at, not taken seriously. And it is hilarious!
I'm going to forward it to my company's humour mailing list.

Whew! I almost got taken in and posted an outraged reply, but I thought
I'd better read the thread first. "Lunix". :-)
--
Cathy
A *much* better world is possible.

Banty ) writes:
(OK, it was random keystrokes that got lucky, but we thought it was funny!)


Hmmph. Your kid won't be a true hacker until he uses vi



chuckle
--
Cathy
A *much* better world is possible.

In article , Banty
wrote:

Hmmph. Your kid won't be a true hacker until he uses vi

DH made a noise like that when I read out your post ;-) He's an xemacs core
developer.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.