Comments on: What hackers do

By: Alisdair McKenzie

Alisdair McKenzie — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:10:51 +0000

There is a video of a recent (13 March 08) fascinating keynote presentation by Stephen Levy talking, inter alia, about his Hacker book here, http://sourceboston2008.blip.tv/file/845049/ . (unfortunately it cuts off a bit short)

Many of the other presentations from this conference are excellent and well worth watching.

By: Dave Lane

Dave Lane — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:56:54 +0000

Colin, let me join Larry in thanking you for attempting to set the record straight on terminology… Sadly, I suspect it’s too late to loosen in the media’s iron grip on the hacker cliche.

Nonetheless, thanks – right, back to my afternoon’s (non-destructive) hacking.

By: Larry Spitz

Larry Spitz — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:08:16 +0000

Thank you for trying to correct the record on hackers. I started hacking computers in the late 50s wiring plug boards on the IBM 650, a bi-quinary machine.

I first heard the term hacker in the late 70s, and back then it seemed to mean someone engaged in making making advances in the development of computer technology. The term carried implications that this development was unplanned, ad hoc, and was expedient rather than ordered. But there was nothing illegal, immoral or fattening about hacking. Many advances in the state of the art have been demonstrated by hacking a new program.

I believe that hacking got its current nefarious connotation as a result of some reporter(s) just using a term heard while in the company of hackers and not understooding what the real meaning was.

I don’t do much programming any more aside from a few Perl scripts, but I still consider myself a hacker – and proud of it.