HACKER Q&A
📣 ironmagma

Technology-Based Cults?


Some programming languages and tools seem to have, and this is meant in the most loving way possible, cult-like followings. This probably interests me because any unknown technology of sufficient advancement feels like magic.

I was wondering, do any of you know of a technology where the following actually acknowledges or jokes that it is a cult and leans into it?

Closest thing I know of to this is Temple OS, though I feel like there must be a programming language (maybe one of the lisps?) or library in this kind of mindspace.


  👤 0dayz Accepted Answer ✓
I think hivemind/zealots is a more appropriate word for what you're describing.

From scale 1-10 I would rank:

9 suckless / cat-v

7 KISS community

6.5 *BSD community (they got a 0.5+ for how overly smug they are about it)

6 FOSS community

6 Rust & Go community

3 anti-systemd crowd

The C/C++/Java community would've made the list around 10-15 years ago, these days their zealousness is pretty tame compared what it used to be.


👤 h2odragon
the Perl community used to make some effective jokes about their religious aspects.

"Cult" implies a lack of transparency, and often antisocial motives or at least outcomes; there's probably some of those running that we won't find out about for a while yet.