On Sun, 26 Mar 2000, Linux Admin wrote:
> Guys first of all i'm really sorry that i couldn't make it to the
> seminar at VJTI and conduct a lecture which. i was suppose too. Actually
S'Okay, we did okay - I hope.
> we ahd a seriuos dns attack on our internet server at vsnl and that is
dns attack??? Are you sure it wasn't a dos attack?
> where i got stuck from that day till date i have been spending almost
> 10hours in vsnl with their system admionistrators to find out the
> whereabouts of the hacker and try to contact the concerned authorities
^^^^^^^^^^
> and get some legal action being taken in for that person. i really
> apoligise and promise not to disturb any more schedules.
I think you owe us another apology. Please do not use the term hacker to
represent persons who break into computer systems or do anything illegal
with computers. These people are crackers. Because people spread the
word that hackers are bad persons, I cannot tell anyone that I am a hacker
without them looking at me in a bad light.
Let me quote Richard Stallmann here:
I am a hacker. That is to say, I enjoy playing with computers --
working with, learning about, and writing clever computer programs.
I am not a cracker; I don't make a practice of breaking computer
security.
There's nothing shameful about the hacking I do. But when I tell
people I am a hacker, people think I'm admitting something naughty
-- because newspapers such as yours misuse the word "hacker",
giving the impression that it means "security breaker" and nothing
else. You are giving hackers a bad name.
That is an excerpt from a letter to the editor of a newspaper that printed
an article using the word hacker instead of cracker. You can find the
entire letter in the Jargon file.
Without hackers there would be no Internet, no Unix, no Linux, no Freedom
in Software, and no fun in computers. Do not spoil the name of this
community.
Philip
PS: Parag, don't take this too hard. It isn't aimed specifically at you,
but at everyone who has this misconception, or doesn't, but is too lazy or
shy to make amends.
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