From: jackson@sandman.ece.clarkson.edu (Peter Jackson,CH237A,,)
Subject: Re: Where did the hacker ethic go?
Nntp-Posting-Host: sandman.ece.clarkson.edu
Organization: Clarkson University
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From article <1993May1.092058.1@aurora.alaska.edu>, by pstlb@aurora.alaska.edu:
> 

>   I put it to you thus:  Where HAS the hacker ethic gone?  If it still exists,
> where?  And, if it DOES exist, why are those who call themselves "hackers"
> allowing this to perpetuate itself?  Why are they not creating new, innovative,
> interesting ideas to stop the SOS from maintaining its choke hold on the
> computer industry?

Since this was posted on comp.ai, I assume there is an AI angle to this.  Hacking is
what AI students do when they're really supposed to be doing something else, e.g.
thesis research & write up, getting their supervisors' pet programs to run properly,
etc.  No-one gets much glory for hacking, and no-one gets any money out of it.
Producing good free software requires an enormous investment of time & resources that
not many people can, or want to, afford - particularly during a recession.

In addition, over the last 10 years, I think there has been a de-emphasis on producing
running programs in AI research, and a greater emphasis on more formal approaches to
problem-solving.  Students have been proving theorems instead of writing programs.
At a conference a year or two ago, Johann de Kleer suggested that everyone should
'Get back to the keyboard' and write more programs that demonstrate their ideas -
and I have to say I'm inclined to agree.

(I don't claim to be a superhacker, but I don't think that invalidates my remarks.
And I'm sure this isn't the whole story.)


--
Peter Jackson, Dept of Electrical & Computer Eng, Clarkson University
"Opinions expressed are not those of my employer or any other organization"
Second Violin, Fiddling Firefighters Ensemble (Rome Branch)