This article was posted to the Usenet group alt.hackers in
1995; any technical information is probably outdated.
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Hacker FAQ (please comment and help fix)
Article: 7604 of alt.hackers Newsgroups: alt.hackers,alt.folklore.computers From: seebs@mangrove.Intran.Xerox.COM (Peter Seebach) Subject: Hacker FAQ (please comment and help fix) Message-ID: 3lucq9$1b7@mangrove.Intran.Xerox.COM Lines: 237 Sender: news@news.wrc.xerox.com Organization: Xerox Intran Operations Date: Wed, 5 Apr 1995 15:26:01 GMT Approved: seebs@intran.xerox.com Status: RO
Enclosed is a very rough draft of a much needed document. The goal for
this document is that it be something you can hand your manager and say
"see? there are other people like me". (You may wish to capitalize
when actually saying it though; bad grammar looks unprofessional.)
This is a first draft. Comments to me at any likely email address.
(seebs@solon.com, seebs@{taniemarie,harmaya}.solon.com, seebs@intran.xerox.com)
---cut here---
So You Have Yourself a Hacker, or, _The Hacker FAQ_
The following list is an attempt to cover some of the issues that will
invariably come up when people without previous experience of the hacker
community try to hire a hacker. This FAQ is intended for free distribution,
and may be copied as desired. It is in an early revision.
This document is copyright 1995 Peter Seebach. Unaltered distribution
is permitted.
Questions and Answers:
Section 0: Basic understanding.
0.0: Won't my hacker break into my computer and steal my trade secrets?
A: No. Hackers aren't, contrary to media reporting, the people who
break into computers. Those are crackers. Hackers are people who
enjoy playing with computers. Your hacker may occasionally
circumvent security measures, but this is not malicious; they just
do it when the security is in their way, or because they're curious.
0.1: Was it a good idea to hire a hacker?
A: It depends on the job. A hacker can be dramatically more effective
than a non-hacker at a job, or dramatically less effective. Jobs
where hackers are particularly good are:
Systems administration
Programming
Design
Jobs where hackers are particularly bad are:
Data entry
More generally, a job that requires fast and unexpected changes,
signifigant skill, and is not very repetitive will be one a
hacker will excell at. Repetitive, simple jobs are a waste of
a good hacker, and will make your hacker bored and frustrated.
No one works well bored and frustrated.
The good news is, if you get a hacker on something he particularly
likes, you will freqently see performance on the order of five
to ten times what a "normal" worker would produce.
This is not
consistant, and you shouldn't expect to see it all the time, but
it will happen. This is most visible on particularly difficult
tasks.
Section 1: Social issues
1.0: My hacker doesn't fit in well with our corporate society. She
seems to do her work well, but she's not really making many friends.
A: This is common. Your hacker may not have found any people around
who get along with hackers. You may wish to consider offering her
a position telecommuting, or flexible hours (read: night shift),
which may actually improve her productivity. Or hire another one.
1.1: My hacker seems to dress funny. Is there any way to impress upon
him the importance of corporate appearance?
A: Your hacker has a very good understanding of the importance of
corporate appearence. It doesn't help you get your job done.
IBM, Ford, and MicroSoft have all realized that people work better
when they can dress however they want. Your hacker is dressed
comfortably. A polite request to dress up some for special
occasions may well be honored, and most hackers will cheerfully
wear clothes without holes in them if specifically asked.
1.2: My hacker won't call me by my title, and doesn't seem to respect
me at all.
A: Your hacker doesn't respect your title. Hackers don't believe that
management is "above" engineering; they believe that
management
is doing one job, and engineering is doing another. They may well
frequently talk as if management are beneath them, but this is
really quite fair; your question implies that you talk as if
engineering is beneath you. Treat your hacker as an equal, and
she will probably treat you as an equal - quite a compliment!
Section 2: Productivity.
2.0: My hacker plays video games on company time.
A: Hackers, writers, and painters all need some amount of time to
spend "percolating" - doing something else to let their
subconscious work on a problem. Your hacker is probably
stuck on something difficult. Don't worry about it.
2.1: But it's been two weeks since I saw anything!
A: Your hacker is working, alone probably, on a big project, and just
started, right? She's probably trying to figure it all out in
advance. Ask her how it's going; if she starts a lot of sentances,
but interrupts them all with "no, wait..." or "drat,
that won't
work", it's going well.
2.2: Isn't this damaging to productivity?
A: No. Your hacker needs to recreate and think about things in
many ways. He will be more productive with this recreation than
without it. Your hacker enjoys working; don't worry about things
getting done reasonably well and quickly.
2.3: My hacker is constantly doing things unrelated to her job
responsibilities.
A: Do they need to be done? Very few hackers can resist solving a
problem when they can solve it, and no one else is solving it.
For that matter, is your hacker getting her job done? If so,
consider it a freebie or perk. Although it may not be
conventional, it's probably helping out rather a lot.
2.4: But my other workers are offended by my hacker's success.
A: Do you really need to have workers around who would rather be
the person getting something done, than have it done already?
Ego has very little place in the workplace. If they can't do
it well, assign them to something they can do.
Section 3: Stimulus and response
3.0: My hacker did something good, and I want to reward him.
A: Good! Here are some of the things most hackers would like to
receive in exchange for their work:
1. Respect.
2. Admiration.
3. Compliments.
4. Understanding.
5. Discounts on expensive toys.
6. Money.
These are not necessarily in order. The 4th item (understanding)
is the most difficult. Try to remember this good thing your hacker
just did the next time you discover he just spent a day playing
xtrek. Rather than complaining about getting work done, write it
off as "a perk" that was granted (informally) as a bonus
for a
job well done. Don't worry; hackers get bored quickly when they
aren't doing their work.
3.1: My hacker did something bad, and I want to punish him.
A: Don't. 30 years of psychological research has shown that
punishment has no desirable long-term effects. Your hacker
is not a lab rat. If you don't like something your hacker is
doing, express your concerns. Explain what it is that bothers
you about the behavior.
Be prepared for an argument; your hacker is a rational entity,
and presumably had reasons. Don't jump on them too quickly;
they may turn out to be good reasons.
Don't be afraid to apologize if you're wrong. If your hacker
admits to having been wrong, don't demand an apology; so far
as the hacker is concerned, admitting to being wrong *is* an
apology, most likely.
3.2: I don't get it. I offered my hacker a signifigant promotion,
and she turned it down and acted offended.
A: A promotion frequently involves spending more time listening to
people describing what they're doing, and less time playing with
computers. Your hacker is enjoying her work; if you want to
offer a reward, consider an improvement in title, a possible
raise, and some compliments. Make sure your hacker knows you
are pleased with her *accomplishments* - that's what she's there
for.
3.3: My company policy won't let me give my hacker any more raises
until he's in management.
A: Your company policy is broken. A hacker can earn as much as
$150 an hour (sometimes more) doing freelance consulting. You
may wish to offer your hacker a contracted permanent consulting
position with benefits, or otherwise find loopholes. Or, find
perks to offer - many hackers will cheerfully accept a discount
on hardware from their favorite manufacturer as an effective
raise.
3.4: I can't believe the hacker on my staff is worth as much as we're
paying.
A: Ask the other staff in the department what the hacker does, and
what they think of it. The chances are that your hacker is
spending a few hours a week answering arcane questions that would
otherwise require an expensive external consultant. Your hacker
may be fulfilling another jobs' worth of responsibilities in
his spare time around the office. Very few hackers aren't worth
what they're getting paid; they enjoy accomplishing difficult
tasks, and improving worker efficiency.
Section 4: What does _that_ mean?
4.0: My hacker doesn't speak English. At least, I don't *think* so.
A: Your hacker is a techie. Your best bet is to pick up a copy
of TNHD (The New Hacker's Dictionary). It can be found as
ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/jarg310.txt.gz (last I checked)
or from a good bookstore. If you have trouble understanding
that reference, ask your hacker if she has a copy, or would
be willing to explain her terms. Most hackers are willing to
explain terms. Be ready for condescension; it's not intended
as an insult, but if you don't know the words, she probably
*has* to talk down to you at first to explain them.
It's a reasonably difficult set of words; there are a lot of
them, and their usage is much more precise than it sounds.
Hackers love word games.
4.1: I can't get an estimate out of my hacker.
A: Your hacker hasn't figured out how hard the problem is yet.
Unlike most workers, hackers will try very hard to refuse to
give an estimate until they know for sure that they understand
the problem. This may include solving it.
No good engineer goes beyond 95% certainty. Most hackers are
good engineers. If you say you will not try to hold him to
the estimate (and mean it!) you are much more likely to get
an approximate estimate. The estimate may sound very high
or very low; it may be very high or very low. Still, it's
an estimate, and you get what you ask for.
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