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I'm not a terrorist, but you don't like me, 

I'll mess up your code and your recipes, 

I'll bring software to its knees, 

You can find one like me in all industries.

Who am I?

Hint:

One word, that's one you've definitely already thought of. You may be unfamiliar with it, with a suffix on it.

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  • $\begingroup$ Are you by any chance a NoFX listener? youtube.com/watch?v=byTNVYOVxdQ $\endgroup$
    – MarcDefiant
    Jul 12, 2016 at 10:39
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    $\begingroup$ The NSA/Govt. :D $\endgroup$
    – Overmind
    Jul 12, 2016 at 11:14
  • $\begingroup$ @MarcDefiant, no, but it reminds me of Beastie Boys' 'Girls'. Eh, on second listen (louder), not so much, but pretty good stuff. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jul 12, 2016 at 17:32

6 Answers 6

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Hmmmm, are you an:

Errorist?

I'm not a terrorist, but you don't like me, 

(t)Errorist is not a terrorist, but a play on it.

I'll mess up your code and your recipes, 

Errorist is a person who makes mistakes.

I'll bring software to its knees, 

Errors break code.

You can find one like me in all industries.

An errorist could be found anywhere.

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    $\begingroup$ To my slight surprise it turns out that this really is a word. $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Jul 10, 2016 at 23:45
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    $\begingroup$ Good job! (And for the sake of length...) Good job again! $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jul 10, 2016 at 23:58
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    $\begingroup$ @GarethMcCaughan Any word can become a perfectly cromulent word if enough people use it for long enough. $\endgroup$
    – nitro2k01
    Jul 11, 2016 at 22:05
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The answer is

bug

I'm not a terrorist

Bugs don't kill people

We don't like him

Bugs mess up code and machinery responses.

I'll mess up your code and your recipes, I'll bring software to its knees,

I don't think I need to explain the above lines

You can find one like me in all industries

In all industries there are problems created by certain things which usually call bugs.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ That makes total sense and fits, but I'm a person or a descriptor of a person. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jul 10, 2016 at 18:37
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    $\begingroup$ You're on the right track. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jul 10, 2016 at 22:24
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    $\begingroup$ Something that i can understand :D $\endgroup$
    – Hardik Vaghani
    Jul 11, 2016 at 12:32
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    $\begingroup$ bugs can kill people, just not in the way you're answer is looking at it $\endgroup$
    – Adit Kirtani
    Jul 11, 2016 at 13:49
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    $\begingroup$ Therac25--a bug that killed multiple people. $\endgroup$
    – Loren Pechtel
    Jul 11, 2016 at 23:14
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$\color{black}{\small\textsf{I'm not a terrorist, but you don't like me, }}$
Please please please let me help. Oh, I'm just in the way?

$\color{black}{\small\textsf{I'll mess up your code and your recipes, }}$
Programmers trying to work on the same code is why version control systems have rollback.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.

$\color{black}{\small\textsf{I'll bring software to its knees, }}$
Additional programmers = redundant code = bloatware.

$\color{black}{\small\textsf{You can find one like me in all industries. }}$
Hellloo, busybody. (Only one?)

$\color{black}{\small\textsf{Who am I? }}$
A cook too many in the kitchen.

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    $\begingroup$ I love the explanation, just looking for something a little more simple. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jul 10, 2016 at 22:12
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, but what is the answer here? $\endgroup$
    – The Jokester
    May 13, 2021 at 19:53
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Someone who's not very smart

I'm not a terrorist, but you don't like me,

We don't really appreciate when people are doofuses

I'll mess up your code and your recipes,

...They do.

I'll bring software to its knees,

They don't use computers very well.

You can find one like me in all industries.

Yes, you can. You can.

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    $\begingroup$ even doctors and pilots.... $\endgroup$
    – Jasen
    Jul 10, 2016 at 20:57
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    $\begingroup$ I would say a "plenty-smart" person could be one, although not typically. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jul 10, 2016 at 22:25
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The answer is definitely :

A Hacktivist.

I'm not a terrorist, but you don't like me,

No one likes hackers, and hacktivists enjoy considering themselves as special and above the law without technical terrorism.

I'll mess up your code and your recipes,

Hackers often ruin code on projects they disagree with.

I'll bring software to its knees,

Again, messing with coding / hacking.

You can find one like me in all industries.

People use computers for everything these days, so some hacktivists will show up in any industry that may have some polarizing ideals.

One word, that's one you've definitely already thought of. You may be unfamiliar with it, with a suffix on it.

The word would be "hack", "tivist" being the suffix.

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1
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You are

Bites

I'm not a terrorist, but you don't like me,

snakebite, mosquito bite, dog bite, no one likes being bitten. But, those who bite to attack tend to do so directly, rarely holding hostages or threatening by proxy as a terrorist does

I'll mess up your code and your recipes,

Bytes are a computer term, the smallest unit of measurement. Bites are also small portions of recipes (yanno, mouthfuls). Missing or misplaced or otherwise spoiled bites of either can ruin the code or recipe being used.

I'll bring software to its knees,

software can't run without bytes. If there's not enough the program may run slow or not at all - and if it's damaged or corrupted the software is useless.

You can find one like me in all industries.

This could refer to 'taking bites' out of an industry or business, or someone's work group, that means taking resources from one to strengthen another. It might refer to backbiting, aka politicking, which no industry is without. Or it might be referring to sound bites, which are little blurbs, quotes or sayings in the media - which every industry uses, because publicity is important to public relations, advertisements, and other ways of promoting the industry. Or possibly even 'bite the hand that feeds you' - which is a kind of short sighted selfishness that's common enough to expect of people in any industry.

Who am I?

Bites

Hint

I admit, this was harder - plenty of prefixes, but few suffixes. It might be Biten, which is a family name, or an old dutch word apparently meaning "to split" (alternate spelling *bītaną). Or bights, which is middle english for the plural of a corner, bend, angle, or hollow. There's "byte[]" which is apparently a java programming string-thing (yeah, I dunno). Or else I must admit that the hint has stumped me, sorry.

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