Wrote my first program in 1964 (machine code for an IBM 1620, because I couldn’t wrap my mind around assembler.) I spent maybe 1-2 years programming for fun in college. Back then, “hacker” meant someone who wrote crappy code; we called ourselves “computer jocks.”

Anyway, I graduated in 1975 and started programming for pay, and I don’t think I’ve programmed just for the heck of it since then. All my programming since then has been directed towards some goal beyond just the program, and my attitudes toward programming have been shaped by the need to get something that actually does what is needed and is reliable in a relatively short time, plus the need to maintain it (and have others maintain it) for years, sometimes decades. “Neat hacks” need not apply (BTDT.)

I am not what these guys (gender intentional) call a “real hacker” and I don’t want to be. And I’m not all that happy with what these “real hackers” turn out. Linux and other “free software” is full of stuff that seems like it was a lot more fun for the developer and his buddies than it is for those of us who just want to get the job done (vim is one of my particular peeves.) Most of that stuff would IMHO be greatly improved if they had to do it on a tight budget (dev time, core, disk, network traffic, CPU cycles, maintenance, configuration, etc.) and had to justify every feature or spec change to a Product Manager, like I’ve spent most of my professional life doing.

Project: http://ratedrforrapist.herokuapp.com
Formal release statement: elizabethyalkut.tumblr.com/post/52475198445/announcing-the-release-of-rated-r-for-rapist