On Fri, 31 Mar 1995, Wheel of Fish! wrote:
> > cracking... its cracking tools.
>
>
> actually no.. cracking is for 'cracking files'..hacking is for hacking into
> something :)
> >
> > (comments like taht give us hackers a bad name)
> >
> too late.. they did that in the 80's with Wargames *sigh*
>
>
wrong, cracking is illegal entrance into computer files
hacks are creative or elgant solutiion to a problem.
from teh jargon file:
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hacker
n. [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] 1. A person who
enjoys exploring the details of programmable 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 (even obsessively) 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. 5. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work
using it or on it; as in `a UNIX hacker'. (Definitions 1 through 5 are
correlated, and people who fit them congregate.) 6. An expert or enthusiast of
any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker, for example. 7. One who enjoys the
intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations.
8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive information
by poking around. Hence `password hacker', `network hacker'. The correct term
is cracker.
The term `hacker' also tends to connote membership in the global community
defined by the net (see network, the and Internet address). It also implies
that the person described is seen to subscribe to some version of the hacker
ethic (see hacker ethic, the.
It is better to be described as a hacker by others than to describe oneself
that way. Hackers consider themselves something of an elite (a meritocracy
based on ability), though one to which new members are gladly welcome. There is
thus a certain ego satisfaction to be had in identifying yourself as a hacker
(but if you claim to be one and are not, you'll quickly be labeled bogus). See
also wannabee.
Jargon file for cracker:
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cracker
n. One who breaks security on a system. Coined ca. 1985 by hackers in
defense against journalistic misuse of hacker (q.v., sense 8). An earlier
attempt to establish `worm' in this sense around 1981--82 on USENET was largely
a failure.
Use of both these neologisms reflects a strong revulsion against the theft and
vandalism perpetrated by cracking rings. While it is expected that any real
hacker will have done some playful cracking and knows many of the basic
techniques, anyone past larval stage is expected to have outgrown the desire to
do so except for immediate, benign, practical reasons (for example, if it's
necessary to get around some security in order to get some work done).
Thus, there is far less overlap between hackerdom and crackerdom than the
mundane reader misled by sensationalistic journalism might expect. Crackers
tend to gather in small, tight-knit, very secretive groups that have little
overlap with the huge, open poly-culture this lexicon describes; though
crackers often like to describe *themselves* as hackers, most true hackers
consider them a separate and lower form of life.
Ethical considerations aside, hackers figure that anyone who can't imagine a
more interesting way to play with their computers than breaking into someone
else's has to be pretty losing. Some other reasons crackers are looked down on
are discussed in the entries on cracking and phreaking. See also samurai,
dark-side hacker, and hacker ethic, the. For a portrait of the typical teenage
cracker, see warez.
'nuff said...
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