Competition and Collaboration in Male Shaping of Computing: A Study of a Norwegian Hacker Culture

2018 ◽  
pp. 174-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tove Håpnes ◽  
Knut H. Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Susan C. Herring ◽  
Christine Ogan ◽  
Manju Ahuja ◽  
Jean C. Robinson

The “shrinking pipeline” of women who ascend through the ranks in computer science education programs and careers is by now a familiar problem. Women drop out at rates faster than men at all levels of educational and professional advancement, resulting in a gender gap especially pronounced at the highest levels of the computing workforce, and that has not narrowed appreciably at any level in more than 20 years (Camp, 1997; ITAA, 2005; Vegso, 2005). Efforts to move more women into the pipeline at lower levels have met with limited success (cf. the Carnegie Mellon experience as reported by Margolis & Fisher, 2002); girls and women still express less interest than boys and men in studying computer science and pursuing information technology (IT) careers (Bentson, 2000; Vegso, 2005). A reason often cited in the literature is the masculine culture of many computer science programs and IT workplaces, which is perceived by many women as alien and unwelcoming (Bentson, 2000; Spertus, 1991; Turkle, 1988). Even when institutions make efforts to treat women and men equally or accord women special consideration in admissions and hiring decisions, attitudes discouraging women from entering computing persist, both within the institutions and in society at large. Sometimes these attitudes are expressed overtly: Underground “hacker” culture is notoriously antagonistic to women (Gilboa, 1996), and even mainstream computer aficionados respond with resistance and sexist jokes to proposals to recruit more girls and women to study computer science (Slashdot.org, 2005). Moreover, there is a widespread perception that computer experts are socially-isolated “geeks” or “nerds” obsessed with technology, a mode of being that women, who tend to be more socially oriented, find unappealing (Margolis & Fisher, 2002; Turkle, 1988). Fortunately, the situation for computer science does not tell the whole story. In the latter part of the 20th century, the expansion of computing and the Internet fueled the rise of applied IT fields in which technical skills, rather than being developed for their own sake, are increasingly put to use in the service of human needs. Applied fields, such as information science, information systems and instructional technology, have gained strength, and a new interdisciplinary field, informatics, has emerged. At the same time, interest in computer science itself is declining, especially among women (ITAA, 2005; Vegso, 2005). In this article, we explore the possibility that applied IT fields may provide more women-friendly cultures while still focused on technology. The larger question underlying this exploration is: Does applied IT education have the potential to bridge the “gender computing gap”?


Author(s):  
Yu-Wei Lin

This chapter aims to contribute to our understanding of the free/libre open source software (FLOSS) innovation and how it is shaped by and also shapes various perceptions on and practices of hacker culture. Unlike existing literature that usually normalises, radicalises, marginalises, or criminalises hacker culture, I confront such deterministic views that ignore the contingency and heterogeneity of hacker culture, which evolve over time in correspondence with different settings where diverse actors locate. I argue that hacker culture has been continuously defi ned and redefi ned, situated and resituated with the ongoing development and growing implementation of FLOSS. The story on the development of EMACSen (plural form of EMACS—Editing MACroS) illustrates the consequence when different interpretations and practices of hacker culture clash. I conclude that stepping away from a fi xed and rigid typology of hackers will allow us to view the FLOSS innovation from a more ecological view. This will also help us to value and embrace different contributions from diverse actors including end-users and minority groups.


2003 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-196
Author(s):  
Susan B. Barnes
Keyword(s):  

Leonardo ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-381
Author(s):  
Daniel Temkin

This paper explores the author’s Light Pattern project, a programming language where code is written with photographs rather than text. Light Pattern explores programming languages as the most direct conduit between human thinking and machine logic. It emphasizes the nuance, tone and personal style inherent in all code. It also creates an algorithmic photography structured by the programs one writes, but not ultimately computer-generated. The paper looks at connections to both hobbyist/hacker culture (specifically esolangs) and to art-historical impulses and movements such as Fluxus and Oulipo.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
José Carlos Messias Santos

ResumoNão há dúvidas de que a pirataria digital contemporânea é produzida coletivamente por “peers”, no entanto, o título deste artigo não diz respeito apenas às características da pirataria em si – embora elas devam ser retomadas em algum ponto. A escolha de “Peer Piracy” como título denota uma intenção de tratar dos atributos particulares dessas duas formas de apropriação cultural à luz da filosofia política, especialmente os trabalhos de Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Antonio Negri e Michael Hardt. Entendendo que essas são práticas opostas, ou pelo menos contraditórias entre si, do ponto de vista econômico/legal (e talvez ético), esse artigo não pretende juntá-las ou realizar um estudo sobre seu entrelaçamento histórico e político. Pelo contrário, busca-se apontar como essas práticas marcam uma fase de transição do capitalismo global, e, acredita-se, estariam contribuindo, em suas singularidades e oposições, para construção de uma nova constituição econômica, política, social e cultural do presente.Abstract Amidst the many political themes surrounding our contemporary age, one that draws more attention concerns the philosophical and legal discussion about property, especially (but not restricted to) intellectual property and copyright. Actually, it would be no exaggeration to say that the notion of private property as a whole is changing and that this transformations leads also to socio-economical, political and cultural consequences. In Digital Culture – one of the main poles of this scenario in dispute – the hacker and peer-to-peer (P2P) movements can be highlighted as two preponderant elements in the conceptual and quite physical taken of property. Nevertheless, it is necessary to inform that this paper does not intend to advocate in favor of this or that cause, but to show how this is a contemporary situation that must be an object of study in academia. In this sense, the Occupy movements, open software, collaborative economies and hacker groups (such as Anonymous) can be used as examples of the penetration of this thematic in our days. However, they must not be considered isolated cases of insurgency against the capitalist system and its means of production, but as manifestations of a structural change, a status quo modification, in the actual idea of property and its usage. Regarding hacker culture, the reference to our investigation will be a set of works commonly related with the so called cognitive capitalism and its respective influences, largely the French political philosophy. In the case of peer production, beyond the already mentioned bibliography, some authors such as Bauwens et al. were chosen in an attempt to establish a more integrative counterpoint to this cultural and consumption logics. Contemporary digital piracy is obviously peer-based yet the title of this short essay does not regard the characteristics of piracy in itself – although they will be addressed at some point. The choice for “peer piracy” as the title marks our intention to speak about the particular attributes of these two kinds of cultural appropriation. Understanding that these are opposed or at least contradictory practices in an economical/legal point of view, this paper intends not to mingle them together or study how they would be intertwined historically or politically. On the contrary, we seek to indicate how each one of them, in their own singularities, may be used to build a new economical, political and social constitution of the present. Thus, as a way to situate the debate inside this theoretical background, first it is necessary a short summary about what this essay understands for cognitive capitalism and how this conceptual operative fits in the socio-economical transitions of the last 30/40 years.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Boyu Guo

<p>Hacker culture is generally regarded as a subculture, and the public has a high degree of misunderstanding towards hackers. The media reports sometimes depict hackers overly negatively, possibly because hackers could gain a dominant position in the age of information and, therefore, threaten the existing balance of social power distribution. Moreover, those reports, whether intentionally or not, misunderstand the meaning of “hackers”: “Hackers” are people who want to identify and solve problems directly and effectively, but “crackers” are those who cause problems for society.</p>However, it is not merely a problem of media’s misnomer. This research shows that apart from the media distortion of hacker identity, even the hackers with positive intentions still have real potential to become crackers. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to understand why the transition from “hackers” to “crackers” takes place by identifying crucial factors that influence hackers’ behaviors. Specifically, the inherent conflicts between cyberspace and the real world can turn hackers into crackers. Through the research, two major conflicts are identified: the conflict between freedom and responsibility and the conflict between individuality and authority. To support the arguments, the history of hacker culture and specific cases of hacking events are studied and discussed. The research also brings a crucial issue: how do we co-exist with information technology in a society that is increasingly computerized and digitalized? To face this problem, we need to comprehensively understand situations faced by human civilization in the information era. Hacker culture is, therefore, a practical perspective of studying social transformations in the development of technology.


Author(s):  
Luyin Zhao ◽  
Fadi P. Deek

The open source movement can be traced back to the hacker culture in the ’60s and ’70s. In the early 1980s, the tenet of free software for sharing was explicitly raised by Richard Stallman, who was working on developing software systems and invited others to share, contribute, and give back to the community of cooperative hackers. Stallman, together with other volunteers, established the Free Software Foundation to host GNU (Gnu’s Not Unix, a set of UNIX-compatible software system). Eric Raymond, Stallman’s collaborator, is the primary founder of the Open Source Initiative. Both communities are considered the principal drivers of open source movement.


2017 ◽  
pp. 13-64
Author(s):  
Michael Anthony C. Dizon
Keyword(s):  

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