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demigod
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demigod /n./ A hacker with years of experience, a world-wide
reputation, and a major role in the development of at least one
design, tool, or game used by or known to more than half of the
hacker community. To qualify as a genuine demigod, the person must
recognizably identify with the hacker community and have helped
shape it. Major demigods include Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie
(co-inventors of Unix and C), Richard M. Stallman
(inventor of EMACS), Linus Torvalds (inventor of Linux), and
most recently James Gosling (inventor of Java). In their hearts of
hearts, most hackers dream of someday becoming demigods themselves,
and more than one major software project has been driven to
completion by the author's veiled hopes of apotheosis. See also
net.god, true-hacker.
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