The Hacker Ethic

Hard Core Hacker

The Hacker Ethic

Access to computers - and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works - should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!
All information should be free.
Mistrust authority - promote decentralization.
Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race or position.
You can create art and beauty on a computer.
Computers can change your life for the better.

Tilt Plot - a new method of representing data

Other quotes from Hackers by Steven Levy, Dell 1984.

"Idiot savant of the microprocessor."
"... hackers hate driving cars - the system of randomly programmed red lights and oddly laid out one way streets causes delays which are so goddamned unnecessary that the impulse is to rearrange signs, open up traffic light control boxes... redesign the entire system."
"The peak hour itself was tremendously intense, but during the hours before, and even during the hours afterwards, a hacker attained a state of pure concentration. When you programmed a computer, you had to be aware of where all the thousands of bits of information were going from one instruction to the next, and be able to predict - and exploit - the effect of all that movement. When you had all that information glued to your cerebral being, it was almost as if your own mind had merged into the environment of the computer. Sometimes it took hours to build up to the point where your thoughts could contain that total picture, and when you did get to that point, it was such a shame to waste it that you tried to sustain it by marathon bursts, alternatively working on the computer or poring over the code that you wrote on one of the offline Flexowriters in the Kluge room. You would sustain that concentration by 'wrapping around' to the next day."
The Right Thing - "very specifically meant the unique, correct, elegant solution ... the thing that satisfied all the constraints at the same time, which everyone seemed to believe existed for most problems." — Bill Gosper.
"It's only incidental that computers execute programs. The important thing about a program is that it's something you can show to people, and they can read it and they can learn something from it. It carries information. It's a piece of your mind that you can write down and give to someone else just like a book." — Gerry Sussman.

see also: The Hacker Dictionary Gus Steele, New York: Harper & Row 1983.

a programmer with a soldering iron,
a hardware engineer with a program patch,
a user with an idea.

   When license fees are too high,
   users do things by hand.
   When the management is too intrusive,
   users lose their spirit.

   Hack for the user's benefit.
   Trust them; leave them alone.

The Tao of Programming by Geoffrey James, 1986.

(I, 2) The Silent Void.

The Tao gave birth to machine language. Machine language gave birth to assembler.

The assembler gave birth to the compiler. Now there are ten thousand languages.

Each language has its purpose, however humble. Each language expresses the yin and yang of software. Each language has its place within the Tao.

But do not program in Cobol if you can avoid it.

(IV, 3) Coding.

A master was explaining the nature of Tao to one of his novices. "The Tao is embodied in all software - regardless of how insignificant," said the master.

"Is the Tao in a hand-held calculator?" asked the novice.

"It is." came the reply.

"Is the Tao in a video game?" continued the novice.

"It is even in a video game," said the master.

"And is the Tao in the DOS for a personal computer?"

The master coughed and shifted his position slightly. "The lesson is over for today," he said.

The Zen of Programming by Geoffrey James, 1988.

(II, 9)

A corporate executive came to visit the development center. Like a general reviewing his troops, he walked the long corridors, stopping here and there to talk with the people that he met. Eventually, he wandered into the office of a programmer, who as it happened was deep in concentration, debugging the operating system.

The executive glanced about the room and noticed a statue of a pig that was perched upon the programmers terminal. "I have always been fascinated by the curios and mementos that programmers collect, "said the executive, "they always seem to have some interesting tale behind them. For example, what is the meaning of that sculpture there?" He pointed at the statue.

The programmer looked up from his terminal, blinked, and then stared at the statue as if he were seeing it for the first time. "It's a pig," he said.

(III, 2)

The greatest mistake made in Computer/Human interface is the denial of the computer. Systems that are backfitted to previous conceptions of the universe are always limited by what has gone before. Computers should not simulate reality - they should transcend it.

(III, 4)

Never make a technical decision based upon the politics of the situation. Never make a political decision based upon technical issues. The only place where these realms meet is in the minds of the unenlightened.

(III, 7)

This is the meaning of the famous parable about Master Ninjei - he could not teach the secret of leadership because his would-be students believed too strongly in the myth of their own power. When an organization is led well, the employees do not even know that they are being led. When the project is finished, they say to themselves: "look at what we have accomplished by our own efforts!"

(III, 8)

The worth of a program cannot be judged by the size of its brochures or by the number of full page adds that appear in popular computer magazines. The louder the noise, the less likely it is that the program will be useful. Truly excellent programs need no advertising; word of mouth is sufficient.

(IV, 2)

Thus spake the master: "Any program no matter how small, contains bugs."

The novice did not believe the masters words. "What if the program were so small that it performed but a single function?" he asked.

"Such a program would have no meaning," said the master, "but if such a one existed, the operating system would fail eventually, producing a bug."

But the novice was not satisfied. "What if the operating system did not fail?" he asked.

"There is no operating system that does not fail," said the master, "but if such a one existed, the hardware would fail eventually, producing a bug."

The novice was still not satisfied. "What if the hardware did not fail?" he asked.

The master gave a great sigh. "There is no hardware that does not fail," he said, "but if such a one existed the user would want the program to do something different, and this too is a bug.

A program without bugs would be an absurdity, a nonesuch. If there were a program without any bugs the world would cease to exist."

(IV, 3)

There are legends to the effect that the Ivory Tower was manned by a legion of fanatical devotees who were persuaded to commit software piracy, murder, and various unethical acts in return for machine time on a Cray-2.

(V, 2)

I programmed three days
And heard no human voices
But the hard disk sang.

(V, 5)

I programmed all night.
Through the window, on my screen,
The rising sun shined.

(V, 9)

The computer center is empty,
Silent except for the whine of the cooling fans.
I walk the rows of CPUs,
My skin prickling with magnetic flux.
I open a door, cold and hard,
And watch the lights dancing on the panels.
A machine without soul, men call it,
But its soul is the sweat of my comrades,
Within it lie the years of our lives,
Disappointment, friendship, sadness, joy,
The algorithmic exaltations,
The long nights filled with thankless toil,
I hear the echoes of sighs and laughter,
And in the darkened offices
The terminals shine like stars.

Computer Parables By Geoffrey James, 1989.

(I, 10)The Diagram.

The master programmer asked a novice programmer to draw a picture of a computer system. First the novice drew a picture of the software, but that did not show the hardware. Then he drew a picture of the hardware, but that did not show the users. Then he drew a picture of the users, but that did not show the purpose. Then he drew a picture of the purpose, but that did not show the software. Finally he gave up in disgust, saying to the master: "That system is too complex for any one diagram. It cannot be understood all at the same time."

The master, hearing this, laughed for a moment and then began to weep. When asked why, he replied: "You think that the computer system is complex, but it is less than a single nangate compared to a grasshopper's eye. How much more complex are the systems of the Earth by which Life is maintained. And the Earth herself is but a single planet among the billions of worlds of space."

The novice said: "I still don't understand why you laugh and cry at the same time."

"Is it not obvious? Here we are, ready to go to war because of the difference between capitalism and communism. Consider - economic theories are, at best, incomplete diagrams of an insignificant aspect of a vast and incomprehensible universe. And yet some men are willing to destroy the Earth because they disagree on some abstract point of doctrine. Is this not worthy of laughter, is this not worthy of tears?"

(II, 3) Two Old Men.

Two old men were sitting on a park bench, talking of old times.

"When I was a young man," the first said, "I was in the Navy and had a girl in every port. When I grew older, I was a salesman and had a girl in every town. When I grew to middle age, I bought the services of many a beautiful prostitute. Now I am filled with sorrow that I soon will die and never again taste the delights of a woman's flesh."

"My life has been different," the second said, "When we first married, my wife and I made love twice an evening, lost in the passion of a first love. As we grew older, we made love less often, but each caress was filled with lingering delight. When we grew to middle age, we made love seldom, but it was as if our souls had become a single being. Now I am filled with joy that I shall love her through the endless eons of Death."

[another quote:

If you want endless repetition, be with a lot of people;
If you want infinite variety, be with only one. ]

(II, 6) The Onboard System.

There was once a warship equipped with a sophisticated computer. One day, the ship shot down an airliner. A representative of the navy said: "Our system is too advanced to make mistakes. Even though the system had never been tested, it was not the system that erred - it was one of the junior officers."

A programmer heard this and could not believe his ears. "Just so might a murderer say, "I am blameless, for it was not I who slew, but my hand.' A computer system consists of three parts: the hardware, the software, and the human. If the human errs, the system has failed."

(III, 1) Two Students.

There was once a student who in his free time dressed in the armored battlegear of old. Then he would gather with others of like mind and together they would imitate the lords and ladies of ancient days.

A second student, a computer science major (as it happened), asked the first student why he went about in fancy dress. The first student replied: "The twentieth century is bland and colorless. You spend your hours amidst cold machines. I seek the beauty and romance of past times."

The computer science major chuckled softly and led the first student into the data center. "Here are the machines that you despise. Are they not as bright as swords? Are they not safe within their armored metal casings? In three hundred years, children will pretend they are the computer scientists of old."

(III, 5) The Working Father.

A child was learning about computer graphics at school. When he came home he discovered his father typing away at a portable computer. "What are you doing?" asked the child.

The father didn't want to be disturbed. "I'm working!" he barked.

The child stared crestfallen at the floor. "I didn't know you could use a computer for work," he said.

(III, 7) The Electronic Mail System {Flame Wars}.

An executive, thinking to make his staff more productive, installed an electronic mail system.

Two weeks later, he had the system disabled. When asked why, the executive said: "Whenever a small disagreement occurred between two employees, the first would send a mail message. The second would read it, write a response, and send a copy to his manager. The first employee would write yet another response and copy the entire building. Soon messages were buzzing about the building like a swarm of frightened hornets. Nobody was getting any work done. When my employees are mature enough to deal with the new technology, I will let them use the electronic mail system again."

(IV, 2) Two Artists.

Two artists were speaking to one another about their craft.

"I make my own pigments," said the first, "I dig minerals from the earth and pound them into powder. I mix it with my spit and save it in a clay pot. When I paint, I use the bark of trees that I felled with my own axe. When I finish a work of art, I know that it is mine."

"I write my own graphics programs," said the second, "I salvage subroutines and algorithms from dusty stacks of magazines. I shape my curves with mathematical formulæ that I have entered on my own keyboard. When I finish a work of art, I know that it is mine."

(IV, 4) Two Computer Users.

In an office there were two computer users. The first user said: "I cannot bear this machine a moment longer. When I enter a command it does not obey. First it acts in one way and then in another. Truly I think it hates me, because it always seems to break when I need it most."

The second user said: "I sit before my computer like a king upon his throne. I issue a command and wait in silence to see what happens. When my wishes are fulfilled, I am pleased. When my wishes are thwarted, I try a different command. I treat my computer as a slave; I do not expect it to be as wise as myself."

(IV, 7) The Programmer's Wife.

There was once a programmer who invented many things, but his ideas were always stolen. The programmer's wife became exasperated and asked: "Why do you never take credit for your ideas?"

The programmer blinked as if awakening from a dream. Then he said: "When I am programming, I am at a nexus. My thoughts become concrete. My ideas transform illusion into reality. The structure of existence is remade before my very eyes. I become a vessel for the creative force of the universe. I am carried aloft as if on the wings of dragons. Why should I care if nobody knows my name?"

(IV, 11) The Sages.

The great sages of history descended from heaven to search for a worthy successor. They immediately fell to arguing about the kind of man they should seek.

Buddha, sitting cross legged beneath a tree, said: "Of a certainty, we must look for a monk. Only a monk can understand the transitory nature of the universe."

Confucius stroked his thin beard. "Monks are concerned only with their own advancement. We should seek a politician, who can make laws that will bring order to society."

Moses crossed his arms over his burly chest. "Politicians are ruled by the love of power. Better that we seek a lawyer, who can interpret the law."

Jesus gave a deep sigh. "Lawyers are often merciless. We should find some great preacher who can educate the masses."

Mohammed's eyes flashed fire. "Talk! Always talk! We need a warrior who will force holiness on mankind."

Lao Tse was standing to one side, taking no part in the argument. The other sages appealed to him for a judgement. "What manner of man should we seek?" they asked.

Lao Tse said nothing, but led them along a winding path.

The path became a road and the road became a highway. They approached a city. Glaring lights and garish signs hid the horizon. Wires crossed overhead like black webs. Automobiles sped past like insane metal insects. The sages held their hands over their ears as the harpy screams of jets broke through the brown and poisonous clouds.

At last they came to a building. Within the building they saw a man sitting before a computer screen.

The sages looked at Lao Tse in disbelief. "A programmer? Have you gone mad?" they asked.

Lao Tse smiled. "Please look more closely. This man sees nothing but the screen in front of him. Surrounded by his computers, he knows only the reality that he has created and yet realizes that it is only illusion. He has gone beyond technology; he has transcended the machine."