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From: BILL@ENGVAX.SCG.HAC.COM ("Bill D. Consoli")
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: hackers
Message-ID: <8707240412.AA09976@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Thu, 23-Jul-87 11:13:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8707240412.AA09976
Posted: Thu Jul 23 11:13:00 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 25-Jul-87 11:41:04 EDT
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Please note that the following has nothing to do with whether I consider the
term "hacker" to be a positive or negative thing.  Being called a hacker
doesn't bother me a bit (I have been called names which are worse) since
the caller probably doesn't understand what he/she is saying anyway.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones..."

But I do have a problem some of the logic I have seen used in defense of the
term, one case in particular.

Ralph Becker-Szendy writes that a hacker is someone who

>- not only thinks that computers make very practical tools,
>- but the also are great fun to play with,

I'm OK so far...

>- even to play with the ones you are not supposed to use (which i
>  don't consider a crime as long as you don't harm anyone),

Really?!  I suppose then that you think it's great fun to break into someone's
house or place of business while they're unaware, just to take a look around.

>- sometimes think its less fun to play with people than with a machine,

This probably comes down to a consideration of the people you play with, and
all I can do is give my own personal point of view, which is that the majority
of my friends are much more desirable company than an 8600.

>- and unfortunately sometimes get carried away and write programs which
>  look completely weird to others. But on the other hand: do you really
>  understand Einstein's general relativity ? Doesn't it look like the
>  mathematical equivalent of spaghetti-code ?

As a matter of fact, I do understand Einstein's general relativity.  But this
doesn't exclude me from understanding your point, which is well-taken.

Now remember, all you hackers ;->, I'm on your side, but the term is going to
mean slightly (sometimes more than slightly) different things to different
people, and we should probably keep that in mind in discussions of this type.

Bill D. Consoli                               "...Sometimes you hate it
Hughes Aircraft Co.                               Sometimes you love it
bill@engvax.scg.hac.com                           Sometimes you don't know
bill%engvax@oberon.usc.edu                        What to think of it..."

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