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From: sher@rochester.UUCP (David Sher)
Newsgroups: net.cse
Subject: Re: Where have all the hackers gone? (reposted)
Message-ID: <4721@rochester.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 13-Dec-84 20:12:27 EST
Article-I.D.: rocheste.4721
Posted: Thu Dec 13 20:12:27 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 15-Dec-84 02:12:24 EST
References: <3137@utah-cs.UUCP> <629@bunker.UUCP>
Organization: U. of Rochester, CS Dept.
Lines: 47

> > Subject: Where have all the hackers gone?
> > Newsgroups: net.college, net.cse
> > 
> > The following is a message that I have forwarded for a friend of mine:
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > The department I belong has very few undergraduate hacker
> > types.  They are being replaced by normal looking, normal acting people who
> > only want to make money.  They do their assignments on time, and seldom write
> > anything that they aren't either getting credit for, or being paid for.  It's
> > sickening.
> 
> When (if?) you get out of school, you will find that doing assignments on
> time is a definite plus in the professional world.  If you are good at it,
> you will only do what you get paid for, because you will not have time to
> do other things.  He who pays the fiddler calls the tune; he who pays the
> programmer specifies what programs will be written.  "Only" want to make
> money?  I doubt that; I, for one, like making money, but I also enjoy
> learning how to do what I do well.
 ...
> 
> > 	Steven (Harley) Davidson
> > 
> Gary Samuelson

There seems to be a problem of conflicting definitions here.  There
used to be a group of undergraduates at Yale and elsewhere who wrote
code because they enjoyed it.  They were found in the computer room at
all hours of the night simply because they were doing what they
enjoyed and could do so when they wanted to.  They refered to themselves
as hackers.  Some of them were not well disciplined and they paid the
price in general, others like myself were sufficiently well
disciplined to get degrees with honors and go on to become graduate
students or professionals.  Mr Samuelson seems to think writing code
because you enjoy it somehow destroys your discipline that it is
incompatible with coding well.  (Actually I apologize for putting
words in your mouth,  a lot of messages with this gist have been
coming through).  Sorry I lost control there,  the other definition is
that hackers are people who destroy computer systems and waste time
simply to be obnoxious.  This was publicized by the news systems and
has corrupted the word from its once fairly innocent meaning.  I think
Mr. Davidson is looking for the people who write code and do computer
science because they enjoy it.  I have written to him where he might
find them.  They are gone because the environments available at most
universities could not be enjoyed by anyone but a confirmed masochist
which is why you find so many confirmed masochists as cs majors now a
days (they used to be premeds).  Oh well enough flames.
-David Sher (former hacker)