[Air-l] Cultures of Programming, AoIR pre-conference workshop

Matt Ratto Matt.Ratto at niwi.knaw.nl
Tue Jun 22 02:31:38 PDT 2004


Apologies for cross-postings. Please forward this announcement to anyone
who might be interested. 

We will be holding a preconference workshop, entitled "Cultures of
Programming: Hackers, Crackers, and Openness" at  the upcoming
Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) conference, "Internet
Research 5.0: Ubiquity", 19-22nd September 2004. For more information on
the conference, see (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/cce/aoir/index.html). 

This workshop will provide space for its participants to examine
different aspects of hacker and cracker cultures, with an eye towards
understanding how the history of computing, the identity and narratives
of the hacker/cracker, and the material practices associated with them
help to constitute current developments. It will be held on Saturday,
September 18, from 1-6pm. The day will include both presentations and
round-table discussions. 

Please contact either of the workshop organizers if you are interested
in participating (for email addresses see below). Participants will be
asked to provide a 2-5 page position paper which will be circulated
before the workshop.

For more information, see below or go to
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/cce/aoir/conference.html. 

Internet Research 5.0 
Pre-conference workshop 
Cultures of Programming: Hackers, crackers and openness
Organizers: 

Daniel Pargman, Ph.D., Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
<pargman at kth.se> 
Matt Ratto, Ph.D., Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands <matt.ratto at niwi.knaw.nl>

The concept of "ubiquity" - the theme of this year's AoIR
conference - is connected in many ways to the ideal of "open
computing". Both open and ubiquitous computing are predicated on the
development and commodification of standards and the construction of
large-scale computing infrastructures. Equally, both dreams of computing
carry similar connotations of users as technologically savvy individuals
able to repurpose their built environments in novel ways. A key aspect
of both dreams, then, is the culture and identity of the hacker, seen as
the ultimate user. In addition, ubiquitous and open computing is also
confronted with  the nightmare of the cracker, the unscrupulous
individual able to manipulate and use computing infrastructures for
their own benefit.  
 
With the emergence of free and open source software (FOSS) -  most
notably the Linux operating system - hackers and hacker culture has
during the last decade gained a renewed prominence in the eyes of the
business world and of the larger public. But the notion of the hacker
stretches back to the early days of general-purpose computing and it has
in the subsequent decades morphed and changed in different directions.
There have been both positive and negative evaluations of hackers and of
hacking;  some have understood hacking as a productive blend of the
roles of technology producer and user, while others have focused on how
hacking skills are used to break the copy protection of software, to
invade computer systems and to commit crimes. This activity, known as
cracking, is often differentiated from the more mainstream notion of
hacking although it shares many of the same practices. 

A better understanding of the various identities and practices
associated with the idea of "the hacker" can help us address how
cultures of computing are formulated and maintained. Understanding
hacker cultures - their history, motivation, and material practices -
can help us gain insights not only to the history of computing, but also
a better understanding of what is happening right now and what will
happen on the Internet and in computing in the near future.




Dr Matt Ratto
Networked research and digital information
KNAW-Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science
Joan Muyskenweg 25
Postbus 95110
1090 HC Amsterdam
The Netherlands
tel: (31)(20)462-8719
fax: (31(20)665-8013
http://www.niwi.knaw.nl/en/nerdi2/toon




More information about the Air-L mailing list