\/\The Conscience of a Hacker/\/
by
+++The Mentor+++
Written on January 8, 1986
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers. "Teenager
Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"...
Damn kids. They're all alike.
But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain,
ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what
made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?
I am a hacker, enter my world...
Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of
the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...
Damn underachiever. They're all alike.
I'm in junior high or high school. I've listened to teachers explain
for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. "No, Ms.
Smith, I didn't show my work. I did it in my head..."
Damn kid. Probably copied it. They're all alike.
I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is
cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I
screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me...
Or feels threatened by me...
Or thinks I'm a smart ass...
Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here...
Damn kid. All he does is play games. They're all alike.
And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through
the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is
sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is
found.
"This is it... this is where I belong..."
I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to
them, may never hear from them again... I know you all...
Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They're all alike...
You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at
school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip
through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or
ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us will-
ing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.
This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the
beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying
for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and
you call us criminals. We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek
after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color,
without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals.
You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us
and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.
Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is
that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like.
My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me
for.
I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual,
but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.
+++The Mentor+++
_______________________________________________________________________________
This is a start if you haven't found this. It is been around since 1986
as you can see.
Some agree with it some dont.
On Sat, 2003-12-13 at 10:40, Kris Kerwin wrote:
> Hello all;
>
> I am a freelance journalist and long-time user of Linux and other UNIX
> derivatives.
>
> Currently, I am developing a piece on hackers; moreover, I am attempting to
> <correctly> define that misnomer. It seems that a society afraid has
> incorrectly placed the libel upon a group of people that others cannot
> understand, or simply choose otherwise. I know of many 'hackers' that prefer
> themselves 'crackers', leaving the hacking to those who initially code the
> software that crackers try to break.
>
> The existence of the misnomer, however, does provide for an interesting
> paradox in terms: despite their intrinsic differences, hackers and crackers
> are indeed one in the same, for both are fascinated with the rules of a
> system and with the attempt to make or break their respective equilibria.
>
> Perhaps, then, the art of hacking is not solely about the Alpha and Omega of a
> Digital Creation, but refers rather to the mentality of such an Omnipotent.
> Hacking is about knowing the rules, and using those rules to reach an
> objective. It is as though one is bound in chains, unable to move and avoid
> certain doom. To survive, the prisoner must pick his proverbial lock, rid
> himself of the chains, and wield those chains as weapons. Often, our
> instruments of restraint serve to free us from captors.
>
> >From the Linux community, I am searching for quotes to support my thesis. The
> essay is intended for an audience that is not technically inclined; after
> all, it is an uneducated society that prompted this attempt. The piece will
> take the flavor of the typical compare/contrast often felt in High School
> writings, but with an atypical, often transcendental tone.
>
> Please address all responses directly to me, or carbon copy them to myself in
> addition to this mailing list.
>
> In advance, I thank you for your time, consideration, and aid.
>
> Kris Kerwin
>
>
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