I would say very nearly all programmers fit the popular definition of geek just by being programmers. If someone you don't know finds out you're a programmer, they're probably going to classify you as a geek. I think our culture has moved beyond that being automatically negative, however.
If you find yourself in a peer group who still stigmatizes being a geek, just wait until you're a few years older and money becomes the primary status symbol.
"Brogrammers" often try very hard to distance themselves from "geeks" by adopting non-geek hobbies, but still tend to approach them with geek-like obsession. Someone who obsesses over cars, or sports, or beer is still a geek--just a different kind of geek.
I'm sure you've met plenty of fantasy football geeks, car geeks, and beer geeks who would emphatically reject the geek label.
If you find yourself in a peer group who still stigmatizes being a geek, just wait until you're a few years older and money becomes the primary status symbol.
"Brogrammers" often try very hard to distance themselves from "geeks" by adopting non-geek hobbies, but still tend to approach them with geek-like obsession. Someone who obsesses over cars, or sports, or beer is still a geek--just a different kind of geek.
I'm sure you've met plenty of fantasy football geeks, car geeks, and beer geeks who would emphatically reject the geek label.