Reading 02: The Sell Outs

I found the reporting on Ken Williams to be a bit unsettling. Steven Levy clearly had a bias against Ken’s money making that seemed to seep into the way he described Ken’s technical ability. For instance, the ability to learn a language in two weeks well enough to pass a technical interview on it, seems like the kind of incredible skill that the MIT elitist hackers would have wanted to let someone into their club. However, for all intents and purposes Levy portrays him as a computing fraud. As if he weren’t actually a capable hacker. This kind of thing seemed to be proven wrong time and again. Like when Williams discovered that the trick to putting graphics in video games was writing the images as assembly instructions rather than as whole depictions of the image. It was quite uncomfortable that Levy couldn’t separate Williams’ pursuit of money from his desire to soak up computing information.

It was also concerning because I could imagine Notre Dame producing a lot of computer scientists like Ken. I’ve been reflection about the focus of my education a lot lately, and it seems clear to me that at Notre Dame, our curriculum seems to be inspired by the University’s success as a business school at least a little. The number of required courses which explore low-level computing subjects was in the minority compared to classes which pushed app development or graphics and that all happened at a pretty high level. Honestly, I’m a bit concerned that I am going to leave here where Ken started out- with a keen interest but still having to learn on the fly from project to project which prevents an intimate understanding from forming. I am pretty confident that I will be able to develop myself as an expert in the type of work I want to be doing, but I am aware that this development will likely be a result of my own hobbyist work outside of my actual job. And I think this is the area where the Hacker Ethic survives in its pure, original form in today’s commercialized computing environment.

The level of computing technical overhead has increased tenfold from the age that Steven Levy is reflecting on. The field is much more complex, wide open, and advanced than it was then. Therefore, if someone wants to be a great computer scientist, they are forced to pursue knowledge in their free time. This dedication to hobbyist pursuits to learn more about computing seems to me the ultimate expression of the Hacker Ethic, especially since many of the hobbyist projects go open-source after they’ve been built. So, I would say the Ethic has stayed true while surviving to this day, but probably not in its fullest form. It is clear that the commercial computing industry reigns supreme and they are not fans of free and open information and software. However, it is reassuring that the Ethic lives on in those who pursue hobbyist hacks in their free time.

As for which type of programmer is best: the professional, goal-oriented engineer or the hacker with love for computing in their heart, well, I think the best programmers today have to be both. You have to be grounded, pragmatist to get things done to truly help people. I mean, that was the whole problem with the MIT hackers-they weren’t trying to work towards any clear goal. At the same time, having the passion to pursue hobbyist hacks in your free time is what will make you a more competent programmer. So I would say there’s a clear balance that can be struck, and the two are not mutually exclusive.