west@sdcsla.UUCP (11/18/83)
<<<void>>> Personally, I think trying to recover the lost innocence of the term ``hacker'' is hopeless. It's become too well known in the press, et cetera. Perhaps a better tack is to come up with a new moniker to replace ``hacker'' for non-criminal use. Something along the lines of "silicon surfer" or "foo-barker/foo-barfer". -- Larry West UC San Diego possible net addresses: -- ARPA: west@NPRDC -- UUCP: ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcsla!west -- or ucbvax:sdcsvax:sdcsla:west
fair@dual.UUCP (Erik E. Fair) (11/29/83)
`Silicon Surfer' ??
That's just wierd enough to catch on. Only problem is that it doesn't
really describe the `software experience' well, just the hardware one...
A hacker until they come up with something better,
Erik E. Fair {ucbvax,amd70,zehntel,unisoft}!dual!fair
Dual Systems Corporation, Berkeley, Californiamark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (12/03/83)
Bad people: hacker password hacker interloper intruder Good people: hacker wizard guru specialist expert authority As you can see, there are lots of unambiguous interchangable names for what we call hackers. Personally, I like "wizard".
tjt@kobold.UUCP (T.J.Teixeira) (12/05/83)
Mark Horton <cbosgd!mark> presents the following lists and suggests
that words in each list are equivalent:
Bad people:
hacker
password hacker
interloper
intruder
Good people:
hacker
wizard
guru
specialist
expert
authority
I believe that the connotative differences between these words is more
than just which word is used where to go to school or work. As has
been previously pointed out, the word "hacker" always had negative as
well as positive connotations. The definition of HACKER from "The
Hacker's Dictionary" (as recently posted to net.jokes by Bill Mitchell
<arizona!whm>) has been used to support this:
HACKER [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] n. 1. A
person who enjoys learning the details of programming systems and
how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users who
prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. 2. One who programs
enthusiastically, or who enjoys programming rather than just
theorizing about programming. 3. A person capable of appreciating
hack value (q.v.). 4. A person who is good at programming quickly.
Not everything a hacker produces is a hack. 5. An expert at a
particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on
it; example: "A SAIL hacker". (Definitions 1 to 5 are correlated,
and people who fit them congregate.) 6. A malicious or inquisitive
meddler who tries to discover information by poking around. Hence
"password hacker", "network hacker".
I feel the aspect of personal enjoyment is lacking in the other
words in the "good people" list. In addition, none of the other words
convey the notion of a hacker being in between good and bad, which is
more evident in the definition of HACK (from the same source):
HACK n. 1. Originally a quick job that produces what is needed, but
not well. 2. The result of that job. 3. NEAT HACK: A clever
technique. Also, a brilliant practical joke, where neatness is
correlated with cleverness, harmlessness, and surprise value.
Example: the Caltech Rose Bowl card display switch circa 1961.
4. REAL HACK: A crock (occasionally affectionate).
v. 5. With "together", to throw something together so it will work.
6. To bear emotionally or physically. "I can't hack this heat!" 7.
To work on something (typically a program). In specific sense:
"What are you doing?" "I'm hacking TECO." In general sense: "What
do you do around here?" "I hack TECO." (The former is
time-immediate, the latter time-extended.) More generally, "I hack
x" is roughly equivalent to "x is my bag". "I hack solid-state
physics." 8. To pull a prank on. See definition 3 and HACKER (def
#6). 9. v.i. To waste time (as opposed to TOOL). "Watcha up to?"
"Oh, just hacking." 10. HACK UP (ON): To hack, but generally
implies that the result is meanings 1-2. 11. HACK VALUE: Term used
as the reason or motivation for expending effort toward a seemingly
useless goal, the point being that the accomplished goal is a hack.
For example, MacLISP has code to read and print roman numerals,
which was installed purely for hack value.
HAPPY HACKING: A farewell. HOW'S HACKING?: A friendly greeting
among hackers. HACK HACK: A somewhat pointless but friendly
comment, often used as a temporary farewell.
[The word HACK doesn't really have 69 different meanings. In fact,
HACK has only one meaning, an extremely subtle and profound one
which defies articulation. Which connotation a given HACK-token
has depends in similarly profound ways on the context. Similar
comments apply to a couple other hacker jargon items, most notably
RANDOM. - Agre]
An example of the distinction in connotations can be found by looking
at the definition of WIZARD:
WIZARD n. 1. A person who knows how a complex piece of software or
hardware works; someone who can find and fix his bugs in an
emergency. Rarely used at MIT, where HACKER is the preferred term.
2. A person who is permitted to do things forbidden to ordinary
people, e.g., a "net wizard" on a TENEX may run programs which
speak low-level host-imp protocol; an ADVENT wizard at SAIL may
play Adventure during the day.
If force to choose, I would agree with Mark that "wizard" is the best
word from the second list (other than "hacker"). It at least has the
potential for acquiring the connotation of enjoying what you are doing
(unlike "specialist", "expert" and "authority") and implies that I can
still *do* things (rather than just explain them which is *my*
connotation for "guru").
Of course, I would prefer to retain the name "hacker". Its main
advantage is the associated noun and verb "hack". After all, whoever
heard of wizing, or a neat gu?
--
Tom Teixeira, Massachusetts Computer Corporation. Westford MA
...!{ihnp4,harpo,decvax,ucbcad,tektronix}!masscomp!tjt (617) 692-6200riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (12/06/83)
Where I grew up in Oklahoma, "hack" was the mucus in the back of your throat, and "hacking" referred to the act of spitting or throwing said mucus at your schoolmates. (As you may have gathered, high-quality entertainment is in short supply in Oklahoma.) Happy hacking! :-)
kevin@cornell.UUCP (Kevin Karplus) (12/15/83)
There are many words for an expert computer programmer, but they have different connotations. hacker: an obsessive programmer. The word contains no judgement of the quality or morality of what is done, only the quantity. wizard: someone with special knowledge and skills, capable of doing what others cannot. Plays on the (valid) analogy between programming and magic. guru: someone with knowledge to share with others. Often incorrect. clever programmer: one who is good at and fond of tricks. Used derogatively by computer scientists. specialist: someone who knows everything about a small domain. Usually useless outside that domain. expert: an outside judgement. Usually qualified by "in _____". Covers a wide range of skills and abilities. authority: a person to cite when trying to win an argument. A heavy-weight expert. "Specialist", "expert", and "authority" all suffer from being in general use. "Guru" has a conventional meaning that does not conflict with the jargon. "Hacker" has no substitute, being emphatically different from "wizard". I'd prefer to be a wizard, myself. The best term I've heard for someone who breaks into systems is "cracker" (from "safe-cracker"). "Worm", "mole", and "maggot" are not specific enough, and have too many metaphorical meanings already. A "password hacker" is someone obsessed with discovering passwords--a form of cracker, but not the only form. "Interloper" and "intruder" are useful terms, stating exactly the fault being criticized, but lack the mystique of jargon. "Trespasser" is a good word, as is "thief". ------- Before anyone complains, my placing punctuation out quotes is a deliberate departure from standard practice. I put the quotes around the object being contained, only if the punctuation is part of the object do I include it inside the quotes. Kevin Karplus
kaufman@uiuccsb.UUCP (12/18/83)
#R:sdcsla:-44800:uiuccsb:3200028:000:33 uiuccsb!kaufman Dec 17 08:57:00 1983 How about "software technician"?
holmes@dalcs.UUCP (Ray Holmes) (12/30/83)
How about "Software Expert".