I didn't want to hijack the other thread so I am starting a new one. From the other thread:
Ummm No.
That article is totally wrong.
1) MIT's first use is documented here: http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/internet-find/first-recorded-usage-of-hacker-from-mit-paper-in-1963/
2) A "Hacker" is someone who "hacks" their way into a secure system. (phone, computer, etc.)
3) A "Cracker" is someone who breaks the copy protection on a piece of software. (at least when not used as a racial slur lol)
Any attempt to pervert the term "hacker" into a non-pejorative context is done by someone who either has no clue or is too young to have been personally involved over three decades ago.
Then there were these responses:
WTF?
Let me be clear. The term "hacker" may be getting perverted in current times into some warm and fuzzy non-malicious free exchange of thoughts and ideas, but it has been "BASTARDIZED" into that.
Its no different than calling a magazine a clip. "Clip" is more and more acceptable all the time. Using the word "an" in front of any word that starts with an "h" like "history" instead of only words that start with a vowel sound like "hour" and "honor" is totally grammatically incorrect. Its so commonplace it is on most news casts...its wrong but people are ignorant are perpetuate it to the point that it is perverted. That does not make it right. Just accepted.
Hacker is no different. I already posted a link showing that the first reported use of the word was to describe people hacking into phone systems.
I was a hacker from the early 1980s until the early 1990s. We used to use programs we wrote called "war dialers" to dial every phone number in an area code and log which ones were answered by modems. Then we would go back and hack into those systems. We also used them in a similar way to modern "denial of service" attacks where we would use them to tie up a company's phone lines so noone could call in. "We" did a lot of fucked up stuff that I am extremely ashamed of. Stuff that I should have been arrested for. Stuff that I would beat the crap out of my kid for. I was a dumb punk kid that was good at computers and thought I was so much smarter than everyone else. I was unbelievably selfish and narrow minded in my thinking.
Luckily for me I got a wakeup call. It wasn't my house that got raided. I tried to erase all the evidence, but the funny thing is that now with the internet it is so easy to find my old handle and evidence of some of the stupid crap I used to do. I got the hell out of that and did a 180 in my life. Since then I have been trying to be a mature responsible law abiding adult.
So please don't tell me a "hacker" is a cool guy. Its no less ignorant than calling a magazine a clip or using the phrase "an historic". It may be commonly accepted. It is still wrong.
and guys, im not usually one to mince words, but Hackers aren't the guys ya'll are worried about. it is Crackers. they are the malicious types. Hackers are the guys who INVENTED the internet (not al gore LoL) brought us things like UNIX and LINUX and APACHE etc etc. IOW the good guys...
Ummm No.
That article is totally wrong.
1) MIT's first use is documented here: http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/internet-find/first-recorded-usage-of-hacker-from-mit-paper-in-1963/
2) A "Hacker" is someone who "hacks" their way into a secure system. (phone, computer, etc.)
3) A "Cracker" is someone who breaks the copy protection on a piece of software. (at least when not used as a racial slur lol)
Any attempt to pervert the term "hacker" into a non-pejorative context is done by someone who either has no clue or is too young to have been personally involved over three decades ago.
Then there were these responses:
Actually Wolfwood was right. The term 'Hacker' is bastardized to mean someone that wants to do malicious things do you through their computer the same way that 'Liberal' is bastardized to mean Progressive. True hackers are not malicious and are only interested in the free exchange of thoughts and ideas, not taking down your power grid.
Nope. Nice playing though.
WTF?
Let me be clear. The term "hacker" may be getting perverted in current times into some warm and fuzzy non-malicious free exchange of thoughts and ideas, but it has been "BASTARDIZED" into that.
Its no different than calling a magazine a clip. "Clip" is more and more acceptable all the time. Using the word "an" in front of any word that starts with an "h" like "history" instead of only words that start with a vowel sound like "hour" and "honor" is totally grammatically incorrect. Its so commonplace it is on most news casts...its wrong but people are ignorant are perpetuate it to the point that it is perverted. That does not make it right. Just accepted.
Hacker is no different. I already posted a link showing that the first reported use of the word was to describe people hacking into phone systems.
I was a hacker from the early 1980s until the early 1990s. We used to use programs we wrote called "war dialers" to dial every phone number in an area code and log which ones were answered by modems. Then we would go back and hack into those systems. We also used them in a similar way to modern "denial of service" attacks where we would use them to tie up a company's phone lines so noone could call in. "We" did a lot of fucked up stuff that I am extremely ashamed of. Stuff that I should have been arrested for. Stuff that I would beat the crap out of my kid for. I was a dumb punk kid that was good at computers and thought I was so much smarter than everyone else. I was unbelievably selfish and narrow minded in my thinking.
Luckily for me I got a wakeup call. It wasn't my house that got raided. I tried to erase all the evidence, but the funny thing is that now with the internet it is so easy to find my old handle and evidence of some of the stupid crap I used to do. I got the hell out of that and did a 180 in my life. Since then I have been trying to be a mature responsible law abiding adult.
So please don't tell me a "hacker" is a cool guy. Its no less ignorant than calling a magazine a clip or using the phrase "an historic". It may be commonly accepted. It is still wrong.