Ever since I first started to to explore the Internet, I’ve come across quite a few writings discussing what it means to be a nerd. The wording is different, and sometimes I’ve even seen pieces completely focused on distinguishing the terms geek, nerd, and dork. The first write-up that I remember reading was a rather adolescent essay called, “The Conscience of a Hacker by somebody with the rather pretentious moniker of, “The Mentor.” Every so often, another piece would show up on Slashdot, many of them from people within the FOSS (Free/Open Source Software) movement, like Eric S. Raymond.
Most of the things I’ve read have been entertaining, for a nerd/geek like myself, but still rather broad and obvious. I came across a new one today (when I should have been finishing my programming project) that I found to be rather insightful. I identified with a number of points that the writer made. I especially enjoyed his comments about “The Cave” that nerds will use as a retreat/workspace. After reading it, I realized that, during the past month, I’ve caught myself spending quite a bit of time trying to turn my bedroom into a suitable Cave.
So, have a look-sie, and get to know your nerd (or yourself) a little better. Not every nerd will fit neatly into this mold, but I think that most of what he has to say is generally applicable.
In case you missed the link, this was the whole reason behind this post.
http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2007/11/11/the_nerd_handbook.html