Heh. These days, a computer science degree is essentially equivalent to a coding degree. But depending on the decade and curriculum, it was traditionally a branch of mathematics and one could theoretically go all the way to PhD while never actually touching a practical computer.

There used to be a saying: Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.

And that is why in this article, ESR has titled it, Things Every _Hacker_ Once Knew. Hackers usually have some sort of passion for the technology itself and want to understand ALL of the practical details and history of a thing. Hackers are _very much_ about computers.