Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The powerful hacker culture

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Daniel Lemire has authored a few posts on hacker culture over the last year or so and his take is essentially that the hackers are winning. Compare, he says, the hacker ethic with academia: who is responsible for progress? I quote:

  • Academics are great at self-promotion. Hackers who try the same strategies often fail.
  • Academics are usually not interested in building a new technical process.
  • Successful academics are mostly people who have found ways to get others to work for them.
  • Academics succeed mostly by their mastery of communication. Hackers let their work speak for themselves.

If you want progress, Lemire argues, "you need people who thrive when they solve hard practical problems." Hackers thrive by getting something done. "And once it is done, academics will take the credit."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 16, 2024 01:34 a.m.

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