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From: kevin@cornell.UUCP (Kevin Karplus)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Of worms and hackers
Message-ID: <5834@cornell.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-Dec-83 14:23:35 EST
Article-I.D.: cornell.5834
Posted: Thu Dec 15 14:23:35 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 17-Dec-83 01:53:55 EST
References: <448@sdcsla.UUCP>, <159@dual.UUCP>, <703@cbosgd.UUCP>
Organization: Cornell Computer Science
Lines: 46

There are many words for an expert computer programmer, but they have
different connotations. 

hacker: an obsessive programmer.  The word contains no judgement of the 
	quality or morality of what is done, only the quantity.

wizard: someone with special knowledge and skills, capable of doing what
	others cannot.  Plays on the (valid) analogy between programming
	and magic.

guru:	someone with knowledge to share with others.  Often incorrect.

clever programmer: one who is good at and fond of tricks.  Used derogatively 
	by computer scientists.

specialist: someone who knows everything about a small domain.  Usually 
	useless outside that domain.

expert:	an outside judgement.  Usually qualified by "in _____".  Covers a wide
	range of skills and abilities.

authority: a person to cite when trying to win an argument.  A heavy-weight
	expert.

"Specialist", "expert", and "authority" all suffer from being in general use.
"Guru" has a conventional meaning that does not conflict with the jargon.
"Hacker" has no substitute, being emphatically different from "wizard".  I'd
prefer to be a wizard, myself.

The best term I've heard for someone who breaks into systems is "cracker"
(from "safe-cracker").
"Worm", "mole", and "maggot" are not specific enough, and have too many
metaphorical meanings already.
A "password hacker" is someone obsessed with discovering passwords--a form of
cracker, but not the only form.
"Interloper" and "intruder" are useful terms, stating exactly the fault being
criticized, but lack the mystique of jargon.
"Trespasser" is a good word, as is "thief".

-------
Before anyone complains, my placing punctuation out quotes is a deliberate
departure from standard practice.  I put the quotes around the object being
contained, only if the punctuation is part of the object do I include it
inside the quotes.

					Kevin Karplus