Reading01

note i joined the class 08/28/2025 so i missed the first two classes: this reflection is based solely on the reading 🙂

In Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Steven Levy challenges the common negative connotation of the word “hacker,” presenting the notion of a “True Hacker” and the Hacker Ethic. A True Hacker, in Steven Levy’s eyes, is one who embodies the Hacker Ethic fully. The Hacker Ethic, based on the attitudes, actions, and sentiments of the computer-obsessed students in the Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) at MIT in the late 1950s and early 1960s, emphasizes free access to information and computers, rejects authority and bureaucracy (who might try to limit these 18-20-year olds access to new, expensive machinery), and the beauty and artful nature of programming. Most importantly, it highlights the lack of importance of age, credentials, or position when it comes to hacking – the quality of the hacking is the only thing that should spur judgement.

The essence of a True Hacker was embodied by hackers like Peter Samson, Alan Kotok, Peter Deutsch, Steve (Slug) Russell, Ricky Greenblatt, and Bill Gosper. All students at or around the MIT AI Lab, these hackers explored and enhanced the programming of the TX-0 and the PDP-1 with the help of professors like John McCarthy, Tom Stockman, and Marvin Minsky.

Originally slang for an elaborate college prank, the term “hack” was taken over by the TMRC, referring to “a project undertaken or a product built not solely to fulfill some constructive goal, but with some wild pleasure taken in mere involvement” (p.18). This definition correlates directly to many aspects of the Hacker Ethic, specifically the idea that programming is beautiful art and exists not only for utility.

The Hacker Ethic was exemplified time and time again by the MIT hackers I mentioned earlier.For example, Samson and Kotok weren’t allowed to go near the batch-processed 704 IBM. One night, they devised a prank around 4 am when a “priest” (an administrator of punching cards, feeding to the machine, etc) left his post. He returned to find Samson and Kotok holding a broken duplicate of the 704 electrical board they found at an electronic junk shop and told the priest the 704 was completely broken. This prank shows the extent to which these hackers were determined the get in the computer room and defy the authorities stopping them from doing so.

Samson dreamed up more hacks: some simple, some complex, like getting the TX-0 (brought to MIT by Jack Dennis, a former TMRC member) to play music, and getting the Flexowriter to boot up and display “WALRUS” after a Lewis Carroll poem. These hacks, among others, were done purely for his enjoyment of programming and exploring the new machines: echoing the Hacker Ethic once again.

Soon after the TX-0 was given to the MIT lab, the Digital Equipment Corporation donated a PDP-1 to the RLE lab. Kotok and others set out for another hack. They told Dennis they would write an assembler over one weekend – and to Dennis’s surprise, they did it. Just so they could improve the software so they could do even more hacking.

Another example of the hacking done by this group is Russell’s Spacewar. Russell saw Professor Minsky’s Circle Algorithm and eventually his “Tri-Pos: Three Position Display” (nicknamed by the hackers, Minskytron) and wanted to create a game out of the displays. He hacked Spacewar, one of the very first video games. The Hacker Ethic was once again employed – Russell shared all of his code, allowing Samson and the other hackers to race to improve Russell’s original version. They added tons of features/versions, including adding stars and constellations to the background, gravity from a central sun, and the hyperspace feature.

A final example of hacking according to the Hacker Ethic is Greenblatt’s MacHack. After AI skeptic Hubert Dreyfus claimed that computers would not be able to play chess, Greenblatt set off to code a program that would beat a human in a game. When it was finished, Greenblatt invited Dreyfus to play against the computer – and won. This also exemplifies the Hacker Ethic; defying authority, judging hackers by talent not by position, and promoting the idea that computers can change your life for the better.

Prior to reading Steven Levy’s Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, I had an idea of hackers with a negative connotation. I thought of criminals or loners in hoodies in a dark corner on a laptop. Levy’s idea of a hacker completely contrasts this view. In his view, hackers are collaborative, passionate, and creative, looking to improve the world around them.

In light of this new definition of a hacker, I think all people who want to study computer science or software should aspire to be a hacker. These introductory chapters to Levy’s book were inspiring and fun to read; they made me excited about all the coding I’ve done and the productive and accomplished feeling I get when I create something great.

Ultimately, Levy’s idea of a “True Hacker” challenges classic stereotypes set by pop culture and media, and it would do every programmer good to stop and reflect on the original hacker mentality.