Wizard
Those who are able to modify and compile computer source code are known as Wizards and those who can't are "non-wizard". Everyone can become a wizard given the right amount of reading, practice and patience.
Origin
Richard Stallman provided this quote when we asked if free software with restrictions such as blacklists qualifies as free software in July 2019:
"Someone can publish a modified version which works with any web site, and distros can include that. Then non-wizard users will get around those restrictions."
Introduction to wizardry
The following very simple C program will output "Hello world!" to a terminal.
#include<stdio.h>
int main(void)
{ // This is a comment
printf("Hello world!\n");
return 0;
}
This program can be compiled with the GNU C Compiler by running gcc
with the filename and -o
and a output filename:
gcc helloworld.c -o helloworld
You can then execute your new program by running ./helloworld
which will output "Hello world!" and a newline. If you modify the output text "Hello world!" to something else such as "I am now a low-level wizard!" and recompile it then you're a beginner-level wizard. Congratulations.
Famous wizards
Richard Stallman, who wrote the original GCC compiler, is of course a high-level Wizard. Linus Torvalds, author of the Linux kernel, and Eric S. Raymond, who has written software all his life, are also a wizards. Katie, Konqi and Beastie are of course also wizards.
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