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From: ivanovic%vaxr.DECnet@LLL-ICDC.ARPA ("VAXR::IVANOVIC")
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: Hackers
Message-ID: <8707171233.AA21062@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Wed, 15-Jul-87 19:18:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8707171233.AA21062
Posted: Wed Jul 15 19:18:00 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 18-Jul-87 13:42:25 EDT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: "VAXR::IVANOVIC" 
Distribution: world
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 22

Keith F. Lynch and Bruce G. Kahler both make approving noises about "hackers".
I have always associated the term "hackers" with persons who

    . commit crimes ( break into machines that are forbidden to them )

    . write code that is incomprehensible to others ( spaghetti code,
    deliberately obscure code, or otherwise unmaintainable code )

    . have a greater facility dealing with computers than with people.

I hope never to be accused of being a "hacker".

The people who design and implement the truely state-of-the-art systems that I
admire greatly ( "I wish I had done that!" ) are called "programmers",
"designers" or "software engineers", but never, never "hackers".

Keith and Bruce are naturally free to use the term "hackers" in any sense
they wish, but at the risk of being misunderstood by a large part of the
population, computer literate as well as computer illiterate.

-- Vladimir
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