The non-technical hacker | Hacker News Reader

The non-technical hacker

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28 pointslenkendall22 comments

"The term “hacker” has morphed in meaning over the years. It started off as a way to describe folks trying to circumvent computer security (and it still is), then it became more of a pop-culture reference to web developers in general (still is), and today a term that’s frequently appending other types of specialties and industies."

Stopped reading here. But then read it anyway, so I could see where it was going.

I think that; if you go ahead and read a book like Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution you'll find that the only definition in the article that wasn't there at the start (Or at least implied, replacing the 'web developer' Jab with 'good computer programmer'.) is the security one.

A lot of the coolest hacks done by MIT hackers on their surface had nothing to do with computers, besides a computer being tangentially involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_%28programmer_subculture...

Lets not be so quick to forget that the term hacker originally meant... someone messing around with other people's computer systems without their permission before it took on the benign connotation among computer enthusiasts[1]. The antedating of the term hacker is really quite something.

[1] http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0306B&...

It originally meant a lot of things.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreaker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_%28term%29#Overlaps_and_...

[1]: "The main basic difference between programmer subculture and computer security hackers is their mostly separate historical origin and development. However, the Jargon File reports that considerable overlap existed for the early phreaking at the beginning of the 1970s. An article from MIT's student paper The Tech used the term hacker in this context already in 1963 in its pejorative meaning for someone messing with the phone system.[10] The overlap quickly started to break when people joined in the activity who did it in a less responsible way.[28] This was the case after the publication of an article exposing the activities of Draper and Engressias." - Wikipedia; Tue Nov 6 16:27:58 PST 2012

As someone who works in the security industry, I can tell you that we really get a kick out of every coffeeshop Rails or JavaScript developer who throws together a quick demo over a weekend and calls it "hacking."

I'm well aware of the history of the subculture and that the term precedes infiltration of computer systems. But that doesn't make every night that you stay up late programming a "hacking" session.

But what if you have a cool hair style and listen to electronic music at the same time!? I thought that was the definition of a h4x0r. :)

Clicking on the link to an article titled “The Non-technical Hacker” results in “Error establishing database connection.” An example of truth in advertising?

After this started getting upvoted my blog went down...odd timing.

Try this: https://www.cloudflare.com/features-cdn

Edit: More specifically, try it from the Bluehost cPanel: https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/cloudflare

I installed cloudflare and de-activated the twitter widget that was being attacked. It fixed the issue. Thanks so much for your help!

My children are hackers then apparently

That's an interesting thought actually. Maybe hackers are those who 'kept their child inside'?

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few."

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin

I think at some level, everyone was a "hacker" at some point. This is what kids do, they explore things...this is why kids say some awesomely crazy stuff (that is sometimes correct).

Why/how people lose this is beyond me. I was actually going to post this question earlier,what drives someone to NOT want to explore boundaries? I'm always intrigued by people who are afraid to push the envelope.

I like the old-school definition. When I hear somebody calling himself a hacker, it looks to me like when a teenager powder its face and call himself a vampire. Kid, you are not a vampire. Vampires are horrible creatures that sucks blood. Developers are not hackers, hackers enter your computer to steal stuff from you, and love it. (that said, I'm posting in a site calling "hacker news" heh)

hackers enter your computer to steal stuff from you, and love it

Those are crackers, not hackers.

http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is

(that said, I'm posting in a site calling "hacker news" heh)

That's because pg understands the correct use of this terminology.

>Those are crackers, not hackers.

No, crackers are people that bypass software copy protections.

Arguing about non-formal language definitions is absurd anyway.

>I like the old-school definition.

The definition you've provided is not the 'old-school' definition.

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0306B&...

My blog went down after this started to spread... hmmm.