Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!world!decwrl!apple!amdcad!hoptoad!noe!marc
From: marc@noe.UUCP (Marc de Groot)
Newsgroups: alt.hackers
Subject: Re: i don't wanna be a hacker anymore...
Message-ID: <921@noe.UUCP>
Date: 9 Oct 90 04:31:17 GMT
References: <10035@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU>
Sender: usenet@noe.UUCP
Reply-To: marc@noe.UUCP (Marc de Groot)
Organization: Noe Systems, San Francisco
Lines: 51
Approved: smegma

In article <10035@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU> beaty@animas.colostate.EDU (steve beaty) writes:
>well, i'm tired of people calling me a hacker when what they mean is cracker.
> [ stuff deleted ]
>a modest proposal for a new term:
>grokker: one who is at one with (computers).  one who groks the void type.

Sorry, I don't agree.  What you're doing is playing their game.

This is from the Hackers Conference 6.0 invitation, and is reproduced here
without permission:

		     What's in a name?
    The media has been abusing the term "hacker" for so long now that it's
been very tempting to change the name of this conference.  One of my sons
voiced my feeling quite well when he asked "Why do they say those things,
we're not criminals?"  The steering committee feelds very strongly that
we're not getting together to discuss anything nefarious.  Quite the contrary.
At last year's conference Russell Brand conducted a role playing game where
we were administering systems being invaded, trying to keep crackers out.

   In discussing whether we should change the name of the conference, Lee
Felsenstein persuaded us to leave the name as is.  Excerpting from what Lee
said:

	The most precious thing you have is your name, your metaphors, your
	language.  It has never been wise to change names, metaphors, lang-
	uage when under attack as unpopular.  NO ONE, when they see the
	reversal, concludes anything but "aha! the rats really were as
	advertised! look at 'em run!"  It's as old as blood lust.

	Many people were called before Senator Joe McCarthy.  Some people
	never said they were reds, and sometimes their neighbors didn't
	abandon them.  If these people had turned tail and said, "no, no,
	we're not what they say we are!", I doubt their neighbors would
	have supported them.  Why, after all, support someone who won't
	support themselves?

	I'm a HACKER, and I'll tell YOU what a hacker is!



-- 
Marc de Groot (KG6KF)         |"The all-American boy prefers beauty to brains
Noe Systems, San Francisco    | because he can see better than he can think."
UUCP: uunet!hoptoad!noe!marc  | -Farrah Fawcett
Internet: marc@kg6kf.AMPR.ORG |
-- 
Marc de Groot (KG6KF)         |"The all-American boy prefers beauty to brains
Noe Systems, San Francisco    | because he can see better than he can think."
UUCP: uunet!hoptoad!noe!marc  | -Farrah Fawcett
Internet: marc@kg6kf.AMPR.ORG |