@conference {537, title = {Open to Grok. How do Hackers{\textquoteright} Practices Produce Hackers?}, booktitle = {OSS2008: Open Source Development, Communities and Quality (IFIP 2.13)}, series = {IFIP International Federation for Information Processing}, volume = {275/2008}, year = {2008}, month = {2008///}, pages = {121 - 129}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, chapter = {10}, abstract = {How do hackers{\textquoteright} practices produce hackers{\textquoteright} identities? In this paper we argue that the association between science fiction and software programs is rooted in hackers{\textquoteright} practices, defining how hackers{\textquoteright} knowledge{\textquoteright} emerge. The mediation is the one of the Heinlein verb {\textquotedblleft}to grok{\textquotedblright}, part of the Jargon file and of the name of a code browser, OpenGrok, the technology mediating the relationship between OpenSolaris developers and the code base. Starting with a description of the peculiarity of the verb {\textquotedblleft}to grok{\textquotedblright}, and its connection with a non-Cartesian view of knowledge, we discuss how the history of OpenGrok and its use by developers make this knowledge part of hackers{\textquoteright} practices and identities, as someone involved in a true, deep understanding of software. }, issn = {978-0-387-09683-4}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09684-1_10}, attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/Open\%20to\%20Grok.pdf}, author = {D{\textquoteright}Andrea, Vincenzo and De Paoli, Stefano and Teli, Maurizio} }