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The hacker ethos didn't go mainstream. People who don't deserve the moniker started self applying it.

I'm not a hacker, I'm a corporate shill because I work for my own profit within a system that's set up to ensure its own continuity. I'd like to be a hacker, but I have a family to support and am too weak or addicted to lifestyle or scared or realistically-minded to actually commit to what's required to earn the title of hacker. Same with anyone working towards advertising, marketing, consumer data collection. Doesn't matter how intelligently you solve a problem in those fields, ain't no starry eyed kids ever wanted to grow up to make the world a better place by more accurately identifying and individuals preferences on the internet.

Fuck fake hackers. The best thing I've done with my life is being a good husband to a teacher.



I totally agree with you.

The ethos went "mainstream" in the sense that it was fashionable to play the part and be in your words a "fake hacker". And for future historians and those unfamiliar with the jargon, hacker ethos isn't about criminally breaking into computer systems.


amen. all these so-called hacker capitalists either starting a company or working corporate gigs forgot to read the hacker manifesto.




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