Appendix B: A Portrait of J. Random Hacker
This profile reflects detailed comments on an earlier `trial balloon' version
from about a hundred USENET respondents. Where comparatives are used, the
implicit `other' is a randomly selected segment of the non-hacker population
of the same size as hackerdom.
An important point: Except in some relatively minor respects such as slang
vocabulary, hackers don't get to be the way they are by imitating each other.
Rather, it seems to be the case that the combination of personality traits
that makes a hacker so conditions one's outlook on life that one tends to end
up being like other hackers whether one wants to or not (much as bizarrely
detailed similarities in behavior and preferences are found in genetic twins
raised separately).
General Appearance
Dress
Reading Habits
Other Interests
Physical Activity and Sports
Education
Things Hackers Detest and Avoid
Food
Politics
Gender and Ethnicity
Religion
Ceremonial Chemicals
Communication Style
Geographical Distribution
Sexual Habits
Personality Characteristics
Weaknesses of the Hacker Personality
Miscellaneous