Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Dear god, please stop abusing that word.

If we don't it will lose all meaning, in some ways it already has.




Seems to me like you're making comments just for the sake of making comments. Dear god, stop abusing that privilege. First of all, don't tell someone to stop abusing "that word" without mentioning what word you're talking about. Second, if you're making a point, be prepared to back it up. What is "losing all meaning"? In what ways has it already? What the heck are you talking about anyway?? How is your comment benefiting the original poster at all?


>Seems to me like you're making comments just for the sake of making comments.

I'm not. But since it came off that way I will apologize. First for lashing out at you, and second for not being more specific.

The word "Hacker" is being applied to everything and everyone, and it's annoying. As an example, a search for "Hacker" in my RSS feed produces the following headlines (Among others, but I list these as egregious examples.):

Mobile hackers: The future scares us, change it at Everyme

The Distribution Hacker’s Mission: Create an Unfair Advantage

ShowHN: Hacker Tourist - opinionated ecommerce for photographers

Reinvent Retail. Growth Hacker at YC Mobile Startup.

Ask HN Teachers and Edu Hackers : How do you prepare educational materials?

When you start talking about "Hacker photographers" and "Growth hackers" and "Distribution hackers" I have to ask, do you mean "People who are hackers who happen to know marketing/photography/whatever a distribution hacker is supposed to do/etc too." or are we just applying this term to everything so that everyone can feel like they're part of some elite club?

And that's not even getting into the whole "Well you can't just say you're a hacker and expect everyone to go with it." argument.

EDIT: Which, in certain views on that latter point, the word "Hacker" is about an elite club, which only makes the appending of the word to everything just feel like some sort of envy.

(Full disclosure: I do not consider myself a hacker.)


When I mean "hacker", I mean someone who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations. This can be in the field of software, marketing, photography, or any other field. This doesn't mean that they're part of any "elite club", and it definitely doesn't have to be something that annoys you so much. It's just a term used, that's all!




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: