hax0r this.

Oh deary deary me, here come the same tired old arguments about the definition of 'hacker' that I stopped using usenet specifically to avoid.

But I can't resist adding to the melee, so here goes.

Those of you who have mentioned 'hacker ethics', have drunk the KoolAid of St. Levy. There is no such thing as a common code of 'hacker ethics', this is a pervasive myth, but still a myth. Hang out IRL or online with any group containing people described by themselves or others as hackers, and this will be obvious, although in fairness, there are always a fair amount of wannabes that have also supped the saint's KoolAid, and actively believe that the tenets laid down in the gospel of Levy are real. Some of them don't even realise where they came from, and will vehemently deny even having seen a copy of said gospel. They are known as 'utter wankers'

The *only* reason that any kind of 'hacker' needs in order to do something is "because I can". Any justification beyond that is spurious. I agree totally with the poster who disparages these. Anything past "I wanted to and I can" is just whiny fanboi claptrap. Solo is a great example of this type of idiot "I hacked the pentagon, but I shouldn't go to jail because I was just curious, and curiosity is not a crime". Yeah, seen the movie, STFU.

Saying things like "a real hacker would find the problem and then report it to the sys admin" display a total lack of connection with reality. This assumes that anyone with a certain degree of technical ability will have a highly developed sense of morals that *just so happens* to match your own. Again, this is a pervasive argument, but one that displays a complete misunderstanding of human beings.

Some of the most technically competent people on the planet are quite sociopathic and virulently antisocial. Sad, but true. I mean come on, what type of person does it take to impose their will on a system with no regard for any kind of rules or authority ? Does that sound like the sort of person with a highly developed sense of traditional morals ?

And ninthly, there is NO SUCH THING as as hacker culture, or even subculture, there's just a bunch of fuckwits with stupid names patronising each other rigid and endlessley arguing about the 'true' definition of the word hacker, and the attributes of different colours of hats. This is not the same thing as a culture.

Hackers, love em or hate em, but don't project your own vision of what they should or should be, or how they should or shouldn't behave onto them as a group, hackers hate that, and you'd be wrong 99% of the time anyway. Take tham as you find them.