Pauline Vos (Senior Software Engineer at MongoDB) reveals how software culture evolved from its counterculture, DIY, and anarchist roots to what we see today.
We explore:
The original hacker mindset and why it mattered
How open source was always political
Why 2017-2018 changed everything
Where to still find real hacker culture (hint: hacker camps, FOSDEM)
The difference between building puzzles vs. building APIs
From Anonymous protests to battle snake competitions, from lockpicking to the lost idealism of the early web - discover what software engineering lost and where you can still find it.
"Open source culture goes back to the 70s... quite a few of them see free information, open information, accessible information as a human right." - Pauline
🔗 Connect with Pauline:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulinepvos
Full episode on YouTube ▶️
Beyond Coding Podcast with 🎙Patrick Akil
OUTLINE:
00:00:00 - The Origins of Software Culture
00:02:13 - The Shift to a Profit-Focused Culture
00:03:48 - The Reality of Production and the Need for Guardrails
00:05:32 - Contrasting Modern Startup Goals with Hacker Culture
00:07:16 - The Role of Architects and Pragmatic Design
00:09:46 - The Anti-Capitalist Roots of DIY Culture
00:11:52 - Open Source: Political Roots and Business Models
00:15:28 - The Thriving and Misunderstood PHP Ecosystem
00:21:23 - Why Open Source Lacks User Experience Professionals
00:23:36 - The Decentralized Web and The Fediverse Explained
00:30:12 - The Web's Original Vision vs. Its Current State
00:33:09 - The Impact of AI on How We Use the Internet
00:36:07 - AI-Generated Code: A Goldmine for Hackers
00:40:47 - "Slop Squatting": A New AI-Related Security Threat
00:43:03 - How to Find and Engage with Hacker Culture Today
00:46:20 - Gamifying Software: Battle Snake, CSS Battles, and the Demoscene
00:50:04 - Final Advice and How to Get Involved