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From: bear@kuling.UUCP (Bjorn Sjoholm)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: hackers
Message-ID: <454@kuling.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 7-Aug-87 03:55:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: kuling.454
Posted: Fri Aug  7 03:55:29 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 9-Aug-87 13:31:00 EDT
References: <870724012654.05f@CitHex.Caltech.Edu>
Reply-To: bear@kuling.UUCP (Bjorn Sjoholm)
Distribution: world
Organization: University of Uppsala, Sweden
Lines: 34

In article <870724012654.05f@CitHex.Caltech.Edu) carl@CITHEX.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick) writes:
)
) ) )Another thing: two people can agree completely on the definition of the
) ) )term "hacker" (I suspect my definiton is rather close to Ralph's) and
) ) )disagree on whether that's good or bad.  I don't admire hackers, if for
) ) )no other reason than I think they work (actively or passively) to keep
) ) )technology inaccessible.
) ) 
) ) THIS IS WRONG.  180 degrees off the mark.  Plain and simple.  Not only
) ) are "hackers" (in the good, original sense) against inaccessibility and
) ) security, they work to increase the free flow of information.  One of
) ) the goals of the "hacker ethic" (as stated by Steve Levy in _Hackers_)
) ) is precisely this.  
)
)Consider the following argument:  by strenuously attempting to make technology
)(or data, or computing resources) more "accessible" by breaking into
)installations which do not wish to share such resources, crackers or munchers
                                                          ********
You said it! Crackers DO make technology less accessible,
But not Hackers - that's a totally different thing.

)(a term in common use, at least at Caltech, for antisocial hackers) cause the
)personnel working at such institutions (and at the companies who supply
)software to them; e.g., DEC) to devote much time and energy to working on
)"security".  This a) diverts resources from productive work; and b) does
)indeed lessen the accessibility of technology.

-- I am proud of beeing called a HACKER!

-- 
Bjorn Sjoholm,                  UUCP: bear@kuling.UUCP (...!seismo!kuling!bear)
Computer Science,               ARPA: kuling!bear@seismo.css.gov      
University of Uppsala, Sweden   EARN/BITNET: bear@semax51.BITNET
                                Phone: + 46 18 309841