Re:Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now – anyone else noticing t...
by yfiapo on Sunday May 04, 2025 @10:26PM
(#43891448)
The term was used by OpenBSD starting in 1999 for a group of devs getting together for a few days or a week and hacking on specific projects together in person. Not sure about earlier than that but that’s what I still associate the term back to.
Re:Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now – anyone else noticing t...
by esafak on Sunday May 04, 2025 @11:02PM
(#43891593)
I went to a hackathon for teenage girls in an SF library once. No corporate presence.
Re:Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now – anyone else noticing t...
by aziaziazi on Monday May 05, 2025 @01:55AM
(#43892280)
Same experience: hackathon for bike enthusiasts in Belgium and the sponsor only quickly showed up to give prizes. There wasn’t any mini pizzas or coke but i genuinely don’t mind.
Re:Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now – anyone else noticing t...
by distances on Monday May 05, 2025 @05:44AM
(#43893302)
Most of the Hackathons I've seen have been company internal events. Usually two days set off for projects, with demos of the results in the end. Come to think of it, that's probably been the only kind of Hackathon I've ever perticipated.
Re:Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now – anyone else noticing t...
by dabockster on Monday May 05, 2025 @02:21PM
(#43897889)
> I've never lived in SF so maybe it was more of a thing there.
Yeah it's definitely more of an SF/SV thing for sure, if they're even still happening. Seattle had some hackathons and Dubhacks is still a thing (I think?), but they fizzled out by 2019 and Covid ended whatever was left. NYC had some as well, iirc, but they went away too along the same timeline.
Meatspace get-togethers focused on hacking, either for a specific project or for a clique, never used the term "Hackathon". At least in my circles. Those were just "get togethers" or maybe "hacking weekends". But with small caps. I.e., not "Hacking Weekends" or "Hackathons", but "a weekend we're scheduling the purpose of which is to hack on something; i.e., a hacking weekend".
Less of an "event for the public" and more like "a group of friends planning a weekend get-away". I think for one of them we managed to get a few thousand or something from someone's employer to cover some costs. But "sponsorship" would be a strong word.
I've never lived in SF so maybe it was more of a thing there.