[NTLUG:Discuss] SRJ servers hacked and destroyed!

[Steve Baker]

"Daniel L. Shipman" wrote:
> 
> Sorry - I forgot there was a distinction - between the two - hackers &
> crackers - these individuals called themselves hackers - my head has been
> rather clouded with all of this

Some crackers may also be hackers - some hackers may also be crackers.
Some programmers may be either, both or neither hackers/crackers.
Some crackers are not programmers, some hackers are not programmers.

I am a programmer - who likes to be called a hacker - who is emphatically
NOT a cracker and who objects fairly loudly to having the term hacker
bandied about lightly by people who don't understand the jargon.

However, it's a losing battle. Most modern dictionaries define hacker
in the way I'd define cracker - and define cracker as something you
eat with cheese (or pull at Xmas if you are English).

But most non-hackers misuse the term - and quite a few crackers prefer
the term hacker because of the small amount of mystique we TRUE hackers
have accumulated.  Those idiots like mystique.

It's a mess.

I suppose we hackers should pick up another word to describe ourselves - but
we did get there first!

> Please let me clarify that I was NOT simply venting to this group...

I think we mostly understood that.

> The reason I submitted my story to the group is that I believe this is a
> valuable discussion point - all members should become security experts - I
> am looking for help not a flame war

Indeed.  This *is* a good place to ask those kinds of questions.

-- 
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