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Re: [LUG] Hackers
The recent email made me remember the old definition of a hacker. I
think
it was a code writer who tended to let the compiler take the strain.
Or suck
it and see.
(from <http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/H/hacker.html> - credit
where it's due)
hacker: n.
[originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe]
1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems
and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who
prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. RFC1392, the Internet
Users' Glossary, usefully amplifies this as: A person who delights in
having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system,
computers and computer networks in particular.
2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys
programming rather than just theorizing about programming.
3. A person capable of appreciating hack value.
4. A person who is good at programming quickly.
5. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work
using it or on it; as in ‘a Unix hacker’. (Definitions 1 through 5 are
correlated, and people who fit them congregate.)
6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy
hacker, for example.
7. One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming
or circumventing limitations.
8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive
information by poking around. Hence password hacker, network hacker.
The correct term for this sense is cracker.
I think 2600 magazine[1] is often labelled 'cracker fodder' because
quite a few people who buy it, presumably think they're somer 'Uberl33t
h4x0r' who is going to 0wnz the world.
However, I think that most people who actually show up at 2600 meetings
are hacker fodder, in that they're interested in the pursuit of
knowledge and willing to learn.
matt
[1] http://www.2600.com/ or the Exeter meeting: http://www.2600uk.co.uk/
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