Demigod
<person> A hacker with years of experience, a national 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 recognisably identify with the hacker community and have helped shape it.
Major demigods include
Ken Thompson and
Dennis Ritchie (co-inventors of
Unix and
C) and
Richard Stallman (inventor of
Emacs).
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.
[
Jargon File]
