Question:

     Are there Smalltalk "hackers?"

Before you answer - some background.

I have an intense interest in the philosophies
and cultures of computer science, programming, software
development, etc.

A couple of years ago I was on a panel at OOPSLA discussing
the "Object Culture."  James Coplein claims there is no such
thing - he thinks there is a Smalltalk culture and a telecom
culture, but no object culture per se.  I claimed that the 
Smalltalk culture is the object culture and, interestingly
enough, no C or C++ culture.

The stereotypical "hacker" is someone very focused on the machine
and making the machine do his or her bidding.  The "good" is
being the first to discover some nuance of how the machine/system
works and using it in some ingenious fashion.

Smalltalk - like Simula - was always more interested in the world
than the machine.  The latter was a means to various ends but
seldom an end in itself.

I would like to test a hypothesis by asking the members of the
Squeak community - especially the most adept of you - Do you
consider yourself a Smalltalk hacker?  Do you aspire to be one?

Some alternatives are:

     Wizards - know how to weave the spells and make magic happen.

     Bodhisatvas - masters of all, dedicated to helping others
attain the same state of enlightenment (introduces an ethical aspect).

If this question is not of interest for list-based discussion - please
email your replies directly to me - dwest at cs.nmhu.edu

Thanks for tolerating this disruption to the normal business of the
list.

dave west