This is pretty far wrong in many respects. The history is wrong: Calling John Draper one of the first phone phreaks, and treating him as representitive of the r

This is pretty far wrong in many respects. The history is wrong: Calling John Draper one of the first phone phreaks, and treating him as representitive of the rest, or even claiming he made the discovery that gave him is nickname is just flat out incorrect. Read "Exploding the Phone," by Phil Lapsley, for a more accurate take on phreaking. Secondly, IMHO, those "sillicon valley types," people begging for capital to build new things, aren't dissimilar to the kind of academic environment the word hacker originated in: clever programmers, working on projects, and trying to get grants or investment. But that's not important. Most importantly, the definition of hacker is off. Considering how utterly impossible it is to give a good definition - ask 50 hackers what a hacker is, you'll get 50 answers - you can feel free to argue this. But I believe, as, it seems, do many of you, that being a hacker isn't about power, or counterculture, or anything like that. It's about creativity, ingenuity, intelligent problem solving, and it has an element of playfullness about it, and a certain pride, to say that you built it, that you know that it works, that you can trust it, and a determinedness to make that true, to fix it if it's broken, and improve it if it isn't. To quote Cliff Stoll's exellent book, "The Cuckoo's Egg": "The people I knew who called themselves hackers were software wizards who managed to creatively program their way out of tight corners. They knew all the nooks and crannies of the operating system. Not dull software engineers who put in forty hours a week, but creative programmers who can't leave the computer until the machine's satisfied. A hacker identifies with the computer, knowing it like a friend." Many will disagree. Feel free to write up or link your favorite definition.