Has the word "hacker" really become so devalued around here that it's now considered something you can "become" from a standing start, by following a six-to-nine-month course of study?
It's like saying, 'after this class, I'm going to be a pro at Photoshop!' Everyone knows you won't, but it's used for motivational purposes to get one started on the track to learning.
Anyways, it's a helpful list, iamelgringo. Thanks.
You're certainly correct. 6-9 months of learning how to build a web app does not a hacker make. A more accurate title would have been: Baby steps to hackerdom by learning the very basics of web programming.
The journey to Rome begins with the first step.
Nowadays it seems to be closer to "programmer"
Problem with the word is it's come to mean "quick and dirty solution". eg someone does a search on google, finds some code and copy and pastes it. This is not hacking.
It's a helpful post. Not sure I agree with all the choices, but I know a few people who are looking to take the next step and can't find any guidelines like these.
Edit:Hacking does not start or even end with coding skills. Hacking is so much more than software that the YC app asks you what have you hacked that is not related to software. Chefs are hackers, so are youngsters who pimp they ride. Hacking is what happens to us when we start asking ourselves too many times "what if?". It just happens that here we answer those questions using ruby/lamp/.net/ajax......
FWIW see: http://www.hacker-dictionary.com/terms/larval-stage