Hacker Core
Written 05 Aug 2004
Eric Sink writes a well thought, excellent counter-point to a certain essay currently making the rounds. The essay, of course, is Paul Grahams Great Hackers paper. While both Eric and Paul make good points for each side of the matter (Eric reasoning from the angle of a business owner, Paul from the angle of a hacker), something Eric said in particular struck me. It was one of those things that make you say something like "whoa".
Eric saysIf Graham is right, a great hacker is someone who believes that his own preferences are more important than doing what is best for the users.
Stated in a more general sense, we have:
a great hacker is someone who believes that his own preferences are more important than others'
Someone who thinks only of himself, who considers his own opinions and preferences as superceding others is not beneficial for any process, group or organisation.