Why port? Just ssh to a terminal somewhere in your university. Pop open emacs/vim and typset with TeX. I did this with my netbook a couple times. Even let me print the paper.
Absolutely, I currently work with a Ruby guru, the Walking iOS Documentation, Mr Java, a security expert, and Ms Mobile. Personally, my background is robotics. I've never seen a group of people that can tackle a problem better. We are all from different backgrounds as developers, most of us are from different universities too. Age ranges span 22-35 range with a cluster in the 22-25 range. We work really well as a team because we were hired for our ability to communicate effectively and understand problems. I know during my interview I was shocked to see 3 of my team members and 2 of my team leaders in individual interviews (I talked to 14 people that day). These interviews were not so much technical as they were "soft skills" tests to see if I was a fit for the team.
Capybara works pretty well for any web based front end. I'm using it to do some basic automation of websites (scheduling tasks and the like). You write the tests in ruby but honestly it is really simple: http://pastie.org/2476405 is my script for logging in to google voice and sending a text message. If I recall it was simply gem install capybara, a gem install selenium-webdriver and that was it.
Not to sound dismissive but honestly who cares if most hackers have sold out? Who cares if the culture is changing? Hacking was never about a culture, it was about making cool stuff because you feel like it. Hackers don't need cultures, they don't need main stream media attention. The beauty of the "culture" (for want of a better term) is that it is really a culture of one, however you decide to define it is ok. Hacker really is a loose phrase for anyone who makes cool stuff for no other reason than they want to.
This is just my definition but I will admit I missed the 80's and most of the 90's.