"Hacker School made it very clear what their definition of “hacker” is (curious go-getters) and what it is not (pompous know-it-alls)."
"Someone who enjoys sharing what she learns with others. "
"Someone who is friendly and communicates well."
Bandwagon much? Don't go redefining 'hacker' just so you can jump your school on the 'hacking is hot' phenomenon.
From a Google definition: "An enthusiastic and skillful computer programmer or user.", and yes, skillful is a far more important part of it than "friendly and communicates well".
That said (from a pompous know-it-all, no less!), the school itself seems pretty awesome and big kudos to them! Just the kind of thing the world needs more of.
I think our definition fits pretty well with ESR's and the definition of "hacker" from the Jargon file[1]:
1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary.
2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming. (Though as we point out, we don't think being obsessive is necessary.)
Also, in ESR's "How to be a hacker"[2] he includes both learning to write and communicate well and sharing what you learn and build with others as requirements for being a hacker.
EDIT: To anyone reading the parent comment without clicking through to the blog post it's excerpting, please note the parent comment ignores the first two criteria we list:
Someone who is intellectually curious. Hackers enjoy tinkering and understanding how things work. They revel in going deeper into things, and love asking questions: How can I make my code easier to debug? What is making my program slow? How does this work?
Someone who enjoys programming. We spend most of our time at Hacker School programming, there aren't grades or tests to make you study, and you don't get a degree or certificate for doing Hacker School, so it's important that you like coding.
You are a marketer/promoter/pusher. Junior programmers coding on fad frameworks at borderline user level are far from hackers in every possible definition of the word.
I hope everyone who bothered to read this far realizes what an ass you just made of yourself by saying that Darius Bacon is "far from a hacker". He is a consummate hacker. When I noticed that he was spending time at Hacker School I was impressed (and a little envious).
You should make the apology you owe him (and HN, for mucking this thread up with utterly inappropriate personal attacks) and then go study his work.
As the author, I'd welcome tips to make it better. (Though efficient implementation is not a priority since the API hasn't settled.)
Both Jamie's and my work have been high-ranked on HN's front page, for what it's worth; and I'd call the Hacker School facilitators hackers by any reasonable standard.
Indeed, his skill for naming repos may be laughable (ex 'optilamb'), but other 1337 hackers (like some dude named Peter Norvig) are under the impression he qualifies modestly as a hacker.
Disclaimer: I'm a Hacker School S'12 alum, but these words are my own only.
I don't believe Nick or any Hacker School facilitator look to revolutionize "hacker." I don't believe they want to get into any semantic argument.
If anything, they're sharing their school of thought on hacking. On the one hand, they indeed have their opinions about programming and what it means to be a "hacker." On the other, they are also openminded to hearing different opinions and expanding their own.
In my observation, they don't intend to redefine anything. They just want to expand an ongoing conversation with others who care about programming.
"An enthusiastic and skillful computer programmer or user."
That's an awful definition of a hacker. Hacking, regardless of definition, was always a subculture. It was never about just being skillful, that's more inline with the modern washed out definition.
Everyone goes in enthusiastic and comes out more skilled. The definition has not been altered. Sure, in three months you can't learn it all, but you learn to keep learning. You go to become a hacker, not because you are one. I think that was the point trying to be made.
DISCLAIMER: I am on the Hacker School bandwagon as a participant myself ;)
"Hacker School made it very clear what their definition of “hacker” is (curious go-getters) and what it is not (pompous know-it-alls)."
"Someone who enjoys sharing what she learns with others. "
"Someone who is friendly and communicates well."
Bandwagon much? Don't go redefining 'hacker' just so you can jump your school on the 'hacking is hot' phenomenon.
From a Google definition: "An enthusiastic and skillful computer programmer or user.", and yes, skillful is a far more important part of it than "friendly and communicates well".
That said (from a pompous know-it-all, no less!), the school itself seems pretty awesome and big kudos to them! Just the kind of thing the world needs more of.