Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site umcp-cs.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!godot!harvard!seismo!umcp-cs!mangoe From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) Newsgroups: net.cse Subject: Re: Where have all the hackers gone? Message-ID: <1749@umcp-cs.UUCP> Date: Sun, 9-Dec-84 14:35:54 EST Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.1749 Posted: Sun Dec 9 14:35:54 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 11-Dec-84 03:19:29 EST References: <3137@utah-cs.UUCP> Reply-To: mangoe@maryland.UUCP (Charley Wingate) Distribution: na Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD Lines: 21 Summary: Help stamp out hacking I have two comments: (1) When I graduated with my BS, which was back in the "Good Old Days" of lax standards, the general education of Computer Science majors was even worse than that of engineers, and not a whole lot better than education majors. The general level of mathematical sophistication was about that of a high-school junior. English? What's that? Tightening up of standards can only help to improve these problems. And to those of you who advocate college as vocational training, I say, there's a place for you at the Computer Learning Center. (2) My experience is that hacking as a practice is a liability on large projects requiring more than one person. I have no problems with cleverness, or with extreme brilliance; people who won't submit to any kind of supervision and who refuse to coordinate with others almost always build time bombs into the system which go off as soon the author is not around to patch them. One company I know of has found that the best solution for this supposedly essential people is to either force them to conform or to fire them. Charley Wingate umcp-cs!mangoe