Reading 03: i don't have a cool domain anymore
Blog 3:
I think the Game Hackers from this section really seems like next logical step in development of the “hacker”¬¬¬ archetype. In the first part of the “true hackers”, we had people grinding for the love of the art. In the second section we still had that, however companies and monetary gain started to follow these hardware designers. This section holds true this trend where these folks who are elite hackers start licensing and selling to fit a mass audience of software and computer users. I think the age of the “free” software hacker has declined greatly as people realize the impact and great wealth they can accumulate with commercial software. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, where I don’t think the game development industry would be nearly where it grew from the section if it weren’t for licensing and software sales. For example, looking at all the royalties from Sierra On-Line helped the dev’s realize their potential to go full time making games. A whole industry can’t just be completely propped up by free work. These game hackers are slightly unique however where they are intensely invested in monetization, almost to a point of taking the fun and joy of computing that the other generations of hackers had. Things like copy protection first, though practical, shows what is really going through their minds as they develop. I think this is a necessary evil, however, as certain software it makes sense to pay for and own (as well as keep closed source). Sure, there are open source clones of some programs, but I would absolutely pay for the security and “guarantee” that it works. I think this idea of sales really empowers a lot of software to rise that never would have otherwise. I don’t think you could have a AAA video game in the world of noncommercial software with stinky DRM. The commitment of a DRM or copy protection provides companies and hackers the peace of mind to know they can invest their time into something without it being stolen. This especially scales up whten you think of how many people work on a game like Red Dead Redemption.
I think this hacker ethic can in fact survive in the world of commercial software. I won’t go too into this question as I feel I covered this same line of reasoning in my last blog. However, I think just merely modifying some of the ethic will yield a great compromise and still bode well for the art of computing. I do think that the real world outside of a computer lab has changed hackerism, but for the better. This idea of a hacker is not sustainable outside of a MIT computer lab.
I think that there is no “better” way to be a programmer in this current generation of hacker. Some students and engineers get into this field as a way to succeed in life, empowered by computers, and others come into it not for grades or a job but for the love of it. Surprisingly, I think that these two groups of people I have seen around have meshed well and I think it could spark even more innovation in the field. Having people with other perspectives than just “computers are life” is amazing in this age of commercial software. Though Levy might not see them as a “true hacker”, they certainly are in my book. I don’t understand the judgement of what a “better” programmer is. Sure, more output and cleaner or more efficient code is best for a company. But if two people are 10x’ers why does it matter if one of them is just programming for goals and not for the love of computers in their soul. I honestly find the mentality of loving it from your heart being the best to be a form of elitism especially now. Computing is so ubiquitous, and people of all ages are learning now.
Going off of that, I don’t even think people need to learn programming to have a “hacker” spirit around computers. I think there are plenty of novel ways to use computers these days that doesn’t follow the traditional program. Hacker Culture should be inclusive, and I think it is trending more that way.
As an aside, the culture in things like the On-Line headquarters (aka. the Summer Camp) sounded really awesome. It must have been really cool to be working in a place like that.
~ Sam