] What we haven't had, historically, is an emblem that
] represents the entire hacker community of which all these
] groups are parts. This is a proposal that we adopt one
] - the glider pattern from the Game of Life.

Oh no... ESR invents a logo for hackers. I'm going to say my peace about this now, just so I'm on the record about it, but its really no use. This thing is already on Slashdot. The moderators like it. Think Geek will make a t-shirt. People will buy it. It will become popular. People like to self identify as hackers.

Executive summary: Great implementation of a questionable idea incorrectly presented for the wrong reasons.

I like this logo. Its a good logo. In fact, its probably the best logo that anyone has ever come up with for any hacker culture related thing. Linux Penguins, BSD devils, 2600 emblems.... they are all just a little too dorky. Frankly, this is even cooler then the Industrial Memetics logo. Its timeless and artistically adaptable. I want one.

However, logos that represent a subculture aren't trademarks, they are memes. You can't start a meme by posting to Slashdot. ESR has presented this in exactly the wrong way, just as Dawkins has with "brights." Memes are bottom up and not top down. You make stickers and pass them out and don't tell anyone what it means. You make people see it and want to understand it before you let them in on it, so they think that knowing makes them a part of something. Thats how you hook them. When they think they are a part of something, they'll want to let others know that they are in. In fact, ESR has now ruined any opportunity that there will even be to do this right. This is now the official logo of hackerdom whether people like it or not. And its not going to get adopted by the smart people first. Its going to get adopted by the dumb people. The people who need a t-shirt that says something their reputation doesn't. The real hackers will succumb to this, but only after resisting it. I think there is a real danger here that the dumb people will become so interested in this that it will go through a fad stage and people will simply learn to associate it with stupid. Then it will die.

Furthermore, having a logo is usually an attempt to unite. An attempt to create a cohesive identity. But ESR does not seek to unite, he seeks to divide. As ESR is declaring the logo, he is also drawing lines between who does and does not get to use the logo.

In general, his definition of the word hacker is the one baby boomers prefer, and which is rooted in the value system of that generation, and is mostly tied to the kind of culture which hippies writing software for timesharing systems might produce. He likes unix systems, he doesn't like suits. He wants people to break some of the rules, but he hates people that break other rules. He even invented a term for them. He calls them "crackers," in the same way that a bigot uses the word "nigger."