cbenson@reed.UUCP (Jason E. Elliott) (01/01/85)
About a month ago I posted a question asking what people in netland think 'hackers' and 'real programmers' are. I have received ten good responses and a couple of rather irritating responses. I am, therefore, asking once again what you all think makes a 'hacker' and what makes a 'real programmer'. What qualities do y'all see as distinguishing a 'hacker' from a 'real programmer'. (A 'real programmer' does not have to mean someone who makes a living programming. One papers stated that a 'real programmer' does things like write pattern matching programs that enable space probes to find new moons around planets like Jupiter.) What kinds of things do 'hackers' do with their time and computers? What kinds of computers do 'hackers' own? What is the probability that a 'hacker' will ever be able to make a living in the world of professional programmers? In the same vein: What kind of things, computers, etc. do 'real programmers' do and use or own? How much money do they make, and is it always necessary that they do mundane tasks in order to earn this money? I would really appreciate more response to these (as well as the previous) questions. Please respond by mail. When I have enough data I will post a report summarizing the responses. Thanks in advance... Jason E. Elliott