The Hacker Ethic and the Spirit of the New Economy

Nearly a century ago, Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism articulated the animating spirit of the industrial age. Now, Pekka Himanen - together with Linus Torvalds and Manuel Castells - articulates how hackers* represent a new, opposing ethos for the information age. Underlying hackers' technical creations - such as the Internet and the personal computer, which have become symbols of our time - are the hacker values that produced them and that challenge us all. These values promote passionate and freely rhythmic work; the belief that individuals can create great things by joining forces in imaginative ways; and the need to maintain our existing ethical ideals, such as privacy and equality, in our new, increasingly technological society. The Hacker Ethic takes us on a journey through fundamental questions about life in the information age - a trip of constant surprises, after which our time and our lives can be seen from unexpected perspectives.

*In the original meaning of the word, hackers are enthusiastic computer programmers who share their work with others; they are not computer criminals.