I like the phrase 'catch and release.' We always worked from the philosophy of 'do no harm.' I can certainly see the top poster's side of things -- there are a lot of issues that I feel much differently about as a near-50-year-old than I did as a teenager. For what it's worth, I was never trying to provide moral authority for hacking in the perjorative sense when I wrote it, I was just venting...

But you're right, the rebellion was the delicious topping on the technical exploration sundae. By the time I outgrew the illegal portion of things, the technical 'hacking' imperative was firmly established in me, and has continued to this day.