Those in authority tend to be annoyed by hackers’ general attitude of disobedience. But that disobedience is a byproduct of the qualities that make t… - Paul Graham

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. — C.S.LEWIS

Considering the degree to which conventional-minded people outnumber independent-minded ones, I feel fortunate to have published those two essays on the distinction between the two with as little blowback as I did.

I’ve programmed in all kinds of languages, said the tough old hacker as he eased up to the bar, and it don’t matter which you use... This is nonsense, of course. There is a world of difference between, say, Fortran I and the latest version of Perl or for that matter between early versions of Perl and the latest version of Perl. But the tough old hacker may himself believe what he’s saying. It’s possible to write the same primitive Pascal-like programs in almost every language. If you only ever eat at McDonald’s, it will seem that food is much the same in every country.