Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!uunet!lsicom2!netsys!len From: len@netsys.NETSYS.COM (Len Rose) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: A Super(cilious)Nova Summary: He's a hacker, She's a hacker, Wouldn't you like to be a hacker too. Keywords: hackers phreaks pirates cu semantics Message-ID: <191@netsys.NETSYS.COM> Date: 7 Oct 90 03:18:28 GMT References: <188@netsys.NETSYS.COM> Reply-To: len@netsys.NETSYS.COM (Len Rose) Organization: Netsys Inc. in Exile Lines: 36 In a previous article, Peter da Silva stands up and thumps his chest: >*Which* hacker community? The hacker community *I* am part of has nothing >to do with: > The computer underground. > Breaking into systems. > Pirating software. > Phreaking. > etc... Right Peter.. I bet you never gave someone a piece of software before.. I suppose you never,ever shared a piece of code with a colleague or an associate.. If you really knew the "hacker community" you claim to belong to, you would know that most of them have done at least 2 of the above at some time in the past. Most hackers of the old school were doing some of the above even before it became illegal. Not because they were morally bankrupt, but that it was part of the _original_ ethic. Destroying data, implanting viruses and worms was not part of that ethic. The pursuit of knowledge and even fun were the only goals... I cannot argue with the issue of the semantic corruption, since I too deplore the negative image it has grown to represent. However, I cannot abide by self righteous hypocrisy. Len