The Internet Explained By People Who Know Nothing About Coding

How much do people really know about the inner workings of the internet they love so much? Turns out… not a whole lot. Want to learn more than these people? Watch Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, speak his words of wisdom. Watch here!

We asked a bunch of people who have never so much as seen an HTML tag a few questions about their beloved internet and some of the things that make it tick. Behold.

1. This is Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit (among other things). What's his unofficial title? Here's a hint:

Vince Talotta / Getty Images

Mayor. Mayor of the Internet. And after all his grassroots work to oppose SOPA/PIPA, to spread the word about net neutrality, and to foster the development of startups worldwide — he earned it.

2. What's the difference between a Black Hat Hacker and a White Hat Hacker?

BH Hackers use their powers maliciously. WHs don't.

3. How do internet browsers work?

As soon as you hit enter after typing "www.poniesponiesponies.com" into your browser, the URL resolves to an IP address via the DNS, or Domain Name System. From there, the router asks the ISP (Internet Service Provider) to retrieve the webpage in question. Boom. Ponies.

4. What does this Unix function do?

That thing is called a Fork Bomb. When run in the Bash shell, it's a process that will continually replicate itself until it depletes all system resources. It's basically a self-destruct button.

5. Who invented the World Wide Web?

It was a British computer scientist named Tim Berners-Lee. In 1989, he implemented the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server via the internet.

6. Why do developers hate tables?

A "table" in this instance refers to an outdated functionality of HTML. It's very limiting in its ability to allow for design changes — an issue that was all but resolved by the introduction of CSS. Tables are a nightmare to deal with, from a developer's standpoint.

7. What is a bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a digital currency in which transactions can be performed without the need for a central bank.

8. Name three programming languages.

There are hundreds of different programming languages. Javascript, C, Cobra, Ruby, Joule, Python — literally hundreds.

9. Which country's flag do these hex colors belong to?

Those colors are red, white, and blue, so you could have said America, France, Australia, England… that was a softball.

10. What are the nicknames that developers use for these symbols?

! - Bang

* - Splat

<> - Waka

^ - Caret

11. What is the Cloud?

The Cloud is decentralized offsite data storage and elastic scalable virtualized hardware. It basically allows people and businesses to have access to a large pool of computing resources that can be utilized in fragments and given back as needed by whatever program is being run.

12. What is net neutrality?

Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites. This principle has been challenged recently, and Alexis Ohanian has been on the front lines, defending it.

Look at you, learning! For more info about Alexis and his amazing efforts to keep the internet an even playing ground...

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All photos taken by Kristin Rossi / BuzzFeed