> That repo and the programming sock screenshot are both from 2017.
(I'm kinda repeating myself in this thread a bit, sorry but...) I can guarantee you that the anime girls holding programming books has been a thing for at least a decade, so the 2017 creation of that repository doesn't really mean much. Not sure about the programming sock meme but I think it's a bit more recent. However I do think it generates from certain "battlestation threads" on /g/ where people used to post photos of themselves sitting at their PC with those knee-high socks on and the meme kinda spread from there. Way before that screenshot itself.
Thank you. I suspected a common ancestor, but I didn't know what it was.
Makes perfect sense that a meme combining anime and programming would come from 4chan's technology board.
I suppose what made the meme interesting enough to spread is the subversion of the traditional hacker aesthetic. Having a beard voluminous enough to carry The C Programming Language inside everywhere you went was a sign of great experience and wisdom. As a bonus, it also horrified "the suits", who were hackers' natural outgroup.
In the 21st century you just can't annoy the suits the same way because even large corporations don't demand people wear literal suits anymore. Baffling the HN crowd is what passes for iconoclasm these days.
Nah the screenshot started it. Someone posted a similar one to /g and the responses said that it was an esoteric secret that womens socks and underwear made you a better programmer.
(I'm kinda repeating myself in this thread a bit, sorry but...) I can guarantee you that the anime girls holding programming books has been a thing for at least a decade, so the 2017 creation of that repository doesn't really mean much. Not sure about the programming sock meme but I think it's a bit more recent. However I do think it generates from certain "battlestation threads" on /g/ where people used to post photos of themselves sitting at their PC with those knee-high socks on and the meme kinda spread from there. Way before that screenshot itself.