Eric Raymond: Freedom is good
"Hackers are naturally anti-authoritarian. Anyone who can give you orders can stop you from solving whatever problem you're being fascinated by — and, given the way authoritarian minds work, will generally find some appallingly stupid reason to do so. So the authoritarian attitude has to be fought wherever you find it, lest it smother you and other hackers."
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"Authoritarians thrive on censorship and secrecy. And they distrust voluntary cooperation and information-sharing — they only like ‘cooperation’ that they control. So to behave like a hacker, you have to develop an instinctive hostility to censorship, secrecy, and the use of force or deception to compel responsible adults. And you have to be willing to act on that belief."
From How to become a Hacker by Eric Raymond
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by HarryB on -
So why do so many hackers use and heap praise on the spawn of those uber-authoritarians from Cupertino?
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Permalink Reply by Ramindu Sanka Deshapriya on -
Being a hacker shouldn't mean you can't use what the authoritarians are developing. Being a hacker means you're the best at realizing what is the best for you, and selecting the best tool for the job. A true hacker would never let prejudice cloud their judgement, like true authoritarians would.
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