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They are not hackers. They are crackers. Real hackers hang out on HN! /edit: what's with the downvotes? wasn't it stated multiple times that the people who br

by leon_ 16y ago

They are not hackers. They are crackers. Real hackers hang out on HN! /edit: what's with the downvotes? wasn't it stated multiple times that the people who break into computer systems are not to be called "hackers" but "crackers"?

jasonkester 16y ago
wasn't it stated multiple times that the people who break into computer systems are not to be called "hackers" but "crackers"? Yes, here. But not in the Wall Street Journal. To everybody in the world bar a few hundred of us here, they are using the correct terminology. It's probably best to let it go.
- marcinw 16y ago
  Many would also argue that the majority of people that hang out here are not "hackers" but instead "developers that (mostly) know how to get shit done." In their eyes, hacking is exploiting a weakness in a system to do something the system was not originally intended or designed to do. But in the end, nobody cares.
  - leon_ 16y ago
    > Many would also argue that the majority of people that hang out here are not "hackers" but instead "developers that (mostly) know how to get shit done." yeah, but why is it called hacker news then?
gruseom 16y ago
It's not that simple. The earliest documented use of "hacker" actually did mean breaking into a (pre-computer) system. Sorry I don't have the citation handy and noprocrast (blessed be its name) is about to kick in on me. But it's been discussed here before. So both uses of "hacker" can claim legitimacy. Perhaps that's as it should be. Maybe we shouldn't try to completely segregate the unauthorized from the creative. I'm tempted to say language knows best. wasn't it stated multiple times that the people who break into computer systems are not to be called [...] Stated by whom? This is the problem with the term "cracker". It's an artificial concoction (like "womyn") designed to make a point. That's why nobody uses it.
- leon_ 16y ago
  > Stated by whom? I assumed it was community consensus to condemn the abuse of the word "hacker" by the media. But maybe HN is too cognitive dissociated from the hacker community to have a productive discussion going on about this topic.

by leon_ 16y ago

jasonkester 16y ago

wasn't it stated multiple times that the people who break into computer systems are not to be called "hackers" but "crackers"? Yes, here. But not in the Wall Street Journal. To everybody in the world bar a few hundred of us here, they are using the correct terminology. It's probably best to let it go.

marcinw 16y ago
Many would also argue that the majority of people that hang out here are not "hackers" but instead "developers that (mostly) know how to get shit done." In their eyes, hacking is exploiting a weakness in a system to do something the system was not originally intended or designed to do. But in the end, nobody cares.
- leon_ 16y ago
  > Many would also argue that the majority of people that hang out here are not "hackers" but instead "developers that (mostly) know how to get shit done." yeah, but why is it called hacker news then?

gruseom 16y ago

It's not that simple. The earliest documented use of "hacker" actually did mean breaking into a (pre-computer) system. Sorry I don't have the citation handy and noprocrast (blessed be its name) is about to kick in on me. But it's been discussed here before. So both uses of "hacker" can claim legitimacy. Perhaps that's as it should be. Maybe we shouldn't try to completely segregate the unauthorized from the creative. I'm tempted to say language knows best. wasn't it stated multiple times that the people who break into computer systems are not to be called [...] Stated by whom? This is the problem with the term "cracker". It's an artificial concoction (like "womyn") designed to make a point. That's why nobody uses it.

leon_ 16y ago
> Stated by whom? I assumed it was community consensus to condemn the abuse of the word "hacker" by the media. But maybe HN is too cognitive dissociated from the hacker community to have a productive discussion going on about this topic.