A Conversation for Hackers and Crackers
hmmmm
Bina-baby: Thingite grand-high publicist & Prof of purpology (h2g2 uni of mice) Started conversation Sep 4, 2001
so where do the words 'nerd' and 'geek' fit into this?
hmmmm
Pete, never to have a time-specific nick again (Keeper of Disambiguating Semicolons) - Born in the Year of the Lab Rat Posted Sep 19, 2001
A nerd is someone with little or no social skill. Not all nerds are *computer* nerds - the original nerds, and still a significant proportion, are scientists. ('Nerds' is also a brand nome for a type of sweet, but that has nothing to do with the other meaning.)
A geek was originally a circus performer who bit off the heads of living animals. How this got mutated into a term meaning someone who, in the words of ESR, "has chosen concentration rather than conformity", I'm not sure.
I suppose the difference is that nerds aren't sociable because they find it hard, whereas geeks aren't sociable because they don't want to be.
hmmmm
Bina-baby: Thingite grand-high publicist & Prof of purpology (h2g2 uni of mice) Posted Sep 19, 2001
Thanx for clearing that up Pete (which college?).
Where d'you get all this info from? (or are you secrectly a geek...?)
b-b 
hmmmm
Pete, never to have a time-specific nick again (Keeper of Disambiguating Semicolons) - Born in the Year of the Lab Rat Posted Sep 21, 2001
Hey, look at my Personal Space! I'm not *secretly* a geek!
Though by this definition, I'm not. I don't *want* to be a social misfit...
Oh, and I didn't answer the question fully:
Hackers can be nerds or geeks, or both, or neither. See the section entitled "The Hacker-Nerd Connection" in ESR's article "How To Become A Hacker".
(PS: ESR is Eric Steven Raymond, author of "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", maintainer of the Jargon File, and author of many, many HOWTOs. See link 1, part 2 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A523766)
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hmmmm
- 1: Bina-baby: Thingite grand-high publicist & Prof of purpology (h2g2 uni of mice) (Sep 4, 2001)
- 2: Pete, never to have a time-specific nick again (Keeper of Disambiguating Semicolons) - Born in the Year of the Lab Rat (Sep 19, 2001)
- 3: Bina-baby: Thingite grand-high publicist & Prof of purpology (h2g2 uni of mice) (Sep 19, 2001)
- 4: Pete, never to have a time-specific nick again (Keeper of Disambiguating Semicolons) - Born in the Year of the Lab Rat (Sep 21, 2001)
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