Honestly, stop thinking about it so much. The very best programmers in the industry never distance themselves from so-called "mediocre" people because often those "mediocre" people turn out to have a really slick idea once in a while. Instead they take it upon themselves to rise to the top and lead those very same people you would call "mediocre" to do great things. More importantly, those people often, with a little guidance, tend to turn out to be very excellent programmers, even if some of them may not fit in with the hacker culture. In my experience the best programmers have often also been the best leaders. Of the two traits, the ability to lead others to great successes is what has made people like Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds to being considered the best. An arrogant attitude will not take you very far in the hacker culture or a professional career in programming. Do yourself a favor and accept the fact that there are people out there who don't share the same passion for programming that you do, and you'll take yourself a lot further than you would with a poor attitude towards them. -Adam On May 16, 2011, at 10:10 PM, Jason Hsu wrote: > I am seeking a position as a Linux IT consultant, software engineer, or programmer. > > According to Paul Graham and Joel Spolsky, a "hacker-centric" culture tends to be an all-or-nothing proposition. They say that the very best programmers and software engineers are part of an inner circle, and they all follow each other around. If a company develops a "hacker-unfriendly" culture, these top people move elsewhere en masse to another company that is "hacker-friendly". > > The corollary to all this is that companies without this "hacker-centric" culture tend to be mediocre at best and often populated by pointy-haired idiots. None of the top people want to work there, so none of them do, and the negative culture perpetuates itself. > > Given this, which companies have this "hacker-centric" culture? Who are the best people? Are there any any professional organizations? In addition to making Swift Linux the biggest success story since Ubuntu, is there anything else I can do to make sure I am one of these top people? > > More importantly, what can I do to distance myself from the mediocre people and the pointy-haired idiots? I want to avoid being like them, and it would help to stay far, far away from them. Those losers obviously don't see themselves as losers and are probably full of covers and rationalizations, so I know better than to think I can avoid being one by reciting a few mantras every day. > > Given such a sharp divide, I need to make sure I'm on the correct side. If I'm part of the "hacker-centric" culture, I'll be automatically more productive, enjoy my job, and have superior career prospects. If I'm on the wrong side of the divide, it will be like trying to go up a floor on the wrong escalator. > > -- > Jason Hsu <jhsu802701 at jasonhsu.com> > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list