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From: mc68020@gilbbs.UUCP (Tom Keller)
Newsgroups: net.cse
Subject: Re: Value of Computer Science degree
Message-ID: <25@gilbbs.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 28-Feb-86 16:53:49 EST
Article-I.D.: gilbbs.25
Posted: Fri Feb 28 16:53:49 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 2-Mar-86 18:55:04 EST
References: <1404@ames.UUCP> <3367@umcp-cs.UUCP> <1046@milano.UUCP>
Organization: Gil's Place, Santa Rosa CA
Lines: 40
Summary: hackers victims of formality and shortsightedness

In article <1046@milano.UUCP>, wex@milano.UUCP writes:
> Are Universities producing hackers these days?  When I was at UPenn, I was
> disappointed to see how the hacker community was shrinking.  In the classes
> before mine ('84), there were 10-12 hackers in each class.  In my year there
> were about 7, the year after maybe 5, and I didn't see any after that.  At
> the same time, the number of CSE majors was increasing, the number of people
> taking CS courses was skyrocketing, the quality of the staff, faculty and
> facilities were all increasing...
> 
> I wonder if there are any new hackers being produced these days.  Has something
> happened in the colleges or in society to cause this drop?  Certainly the
> rewards are still there (and are even greater in most cases).  But where are
> the hackers?
> 
> Note, there are still many good programmers, theoreticians, etc. coming out,
> but that spark that Charlie mentioned seems to be gone.
> 

   Hackers can only develop in an environment that is conducive to individual
activity and non-structured persuit of self-determined goals.  The current
atmosphere in most CS programs, and at virtually *ALL* college and university
computing centers is not thusly conducive.  In many cases, such acticities
are actively and viciously discouraged.


   Access to resources is becoming more and more limited (see related articles
re: 'billing' practices), while freedom in the academic area is becoming less
available. 

   In essence, the mantle of respectability has fallen upon the CSci arena,
thus raising up the push for conformity.  Too put it bluntly, it stinks!

-- 

====================================

tom keller
{ihnp4, dual}!ptsfa!gilbbs!mc68020

(* we may not be big, but we're small! *)