CHIASSON@DREA-XX.ARPA (Don Chiasson) (08/22/85)
There has been some discussion on this bulletin board about the
meaning of the word 'hacker'. When in doubt about the meaning of a
word, look it up in the dictionary:
From: "The Hacker's Dictionary" by Steele, Woods, Finkel,
Crispin, Stallman, and Goodfellow; published by Harper
and Row, 1983.
HACKER, noun
1. A person who enjoys learning the details of computer systems
and how to stretch their capabilities--as opposed to most
users of computers, who prefer to learn only the minimum
amount necessary.
2. One who programs enthusiastically, 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. (By the way,
not everything a hacker produces is a hack.)
5. An expert on a particular program, or one who frequently
does work on it. Example: "A SAIL hacker." (This
definition and the preceding ones are correlated, and people
who fit them congregate.)
6. An expert of any kind. One might be an astronomy
hacker, for example.
7. A malicious or inquisitive meddler who tries to discover
information by poking around. For example, a "password
hacker" is one who tries, possibly by deceptive or illegal
means, to discover other people's computer passwords. A
"network hacker" is one who tries to learn about the
computer network (possibly because he wants to improve
it or possibly because he wants to interfere--one can
tell the difference only by context and tone of voice).
-------caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) (08/25/85)
<Hack this Line> For your enjoyment and improbabale edification, look up the definition of "hack" in a fat dictionary. You can be the hit of your department by memorizing the olde definitions. -- Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX ...!tektronix!reed!omen!caf CIS:70715,131 Omen Technology Inc 17505-V NW Sauvie Island Road Portland OR 97231 Voice: 503-621-3406 Modem: 503-621-3746 (Hit CR's for speed detect) omen Any ACU 1200 1-503-621-3746 se:--se: link ord: Giznoid in:--in: uucp Home of Professional-YAM, the most powerful COMM program for the IBM PC