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On Hacking
- vezzy-fnord 13y agoIt's time that the term "hacker" is considered harmful (yes, I know). "Hacker" and related words with the morpheme "hack" have acquired so many definitions throughout the ages, much of which is the fault of mass media and public ignorance, that plenty of these definitions refer to contradictory concepts, making the word meaningless (or at least to be used with caution). A hacker can be a security hacker or breacher who discoveries and exploits vulnerabilities in systems, usually computers (the mainstream definition). A hacker can be a programmer with a mindset that is supportive of freedom of information, free culture and is constantly looking to refine himself and apply creative solutions to his problems. A hacker can be a guy who hacks off limbs. A hacker can be a creative and playful guy with a knack for finding unorthodox solutions. A hacker can be someone who tinkers with practically anything, including stuff that is unrelated to computers. In addition, a "hack" can mean: an unskilled or untalented person, a charlatan; an inelegant but efficient solution to a problem; an inelegant and inefficient solution to a problem (more accurately a kludge); an elegant and efficient solution to a problem that is unconventional; a particular security breach or exploit; a general subversion of authority or some type of system ("reality hacking" or more accurately culture jamming), a video game cheat and so on. In conclusion, unless someone reclaims the word, it is good to define it specifically beforehand or avoid it altogether. Personally, I'm fine with both hackers as in information security and hackers as in tinkering (a la Hack a Day and so forth).