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05/10/2004 Archived Entry: "Hackerism"

For awhile now, I've wanted to address the over-hyped tropes of "open source," "creative commons," "copyleft," "copyfight," etc. All are important issues. But their circulation throughout Internet culture, and Lessig-oriented rhetoric, has produced a lot of buzzwords with little bite. What does slapping a creative commons license on a website really do? Are you that worried that someone will use your words for other ends? Really? Self importance at play or legitimate concerns?
I've come to call this kind of over-hyped thinking Hackerism. I name it after the so-called hacker spirit documented and celebrated in many publications, and I name it after Diana Hacker, who passed away recently. Diana Hacker's A Writer's Reference (which I assign all the time) has itself become a over-hyped book, a trope on grammar and punctuation circulated throughout first year writing courses with little reference or context. Drawing on both the computer hacker and Diana Hacker, I define Hackerism as the overuse of a concept or practice to the point that its meanings is lost.
Which is not to say that either the hacker spirit (loosely represented in the upsurge of open source styled ideas) or A Writer's Reference are bad. No. They are both useful. But that use has been overdone. Even while their use-value is celebrated and admired, I think the meaning has been diminished. A well known academic blog (of bloggers) demonstrates this concept quite well.
I've been meaning to write all this up as an article, but Hacker's recent death would probably make it an untimely publication for now....
Talk amongst yourselves.