The hacker culture is a subculture of individuals who enjoy the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming limitations of software systems to achieve novel and clever outcomes. The act of engaging in activities (such as programming or other mediaThe Hacker Community and Ethics: An Interview with Richard M. Stallman, 2002 (gnu.org)) in a spirit of playfulness and exploration is termed "hacking." However, the defining characteristic of a hacker is not the activities performed themselves (e.g. programming), but how it is done and whether it is exciting and meaningful. This culture began back in the 1960s at MIT , where students banded together to release information on the internet they thought should be public information.Often referred to as " computer-science freaks. "  People in hacker culture have a unique desire to practice their skills while simultaneously trying to have fun like children. Definition The term hacker was first coined in the fourteenth century, as a term for someone who did not have a lot of knowledge in something. The Jargon File, an influential but not universally accepted compendium of hacker slang, defines hacker as "A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and stretching their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary." The Request for Comments (RFC) 1392, the Internet Users' Glossary, amplifies this meaning as "A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular."Internet Users' Glossary (Request for Comments 1392), January 1993 The media started using the word "hacker" heavily when Google Maps was released to the public in 2005. People would mess with Google's code to add whatever they wanted to the map, which caught wind with the media and hackers began to have a negative connotation. Hacker vs. Cracker Some common nicknames among this culture include "crackers" who are unskilled thieves who mainly rely on luck. Others include "phreak"which refers to a type of skilled crackers and "warez d00dz"which is a kind of cracker that acquires reproductions of copyrighted software. Furthermore, there are other hackers who are hired to test security, they are called "pentesters" or "tiger teams".%DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% Hackers from this subculture tend to emphatically differentiate themselves from what they pejoratively call "crackers"; those who are generally referred to by media and members of the general public using the term "hacker", and whose primary focusbe it to malign or for malevolent purposeslies in exploiting weaknesses in computer security. As documented in the Jargon File, these hackers are disappointed by the mass media and general public's usage of the word hacker to refer to security breakers, calling them "crackers" instead. This includes both "good" crackers ("white hat hackers") who use their computer security related skills and knowledge to learn more about how systems and networks work and to help to discover and fix security holes, as well as those more "evil" crackers ("black hat hackers") who use the same skills to author harmful software (like viruses, trojans, etc.) and illegally infiltrate secure systems with the intention of doing harm to the system. Definition of "Cracker" in the Jargon File The programmer subculture of hackers, in contrast to the cracker community, generally sees computer security related activities as contrary to the ideals of the original and true meaning of the hacker term that instead related to playful cleverness. The dictionary still defines a hacker as someone who illegally obtains access to some form of digital information. But this culture would argue that there is a clear difference between hackers and crackers. History Activities of playful cleverness can be said to have " hack value " and therefore the term " hacks " came about, with early examples including pranks at MIT done by students to demonstrate their technical aptitude and cleverness. Therefore, the hacker culture originally emerged in academia in the 1960s around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing (gnu.org) Hacking originally involved entering restricted areas in a clever way without causing any major damages. Some famous hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were placing of a campus police cruiser on the roof of the Great Dome and converting the Great Dome into R2-D2.    These sorts of subcultures were commonly found at other college campuses, including the University of California, Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon University , in addition to the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, were particularly well-known hotbeds of early hacker culture. They evolved in parallel, and largely unconsciously, until the Internet, where a legendary PDP-10 machine at MIT, called AI, that was running ITS, provided an early meeting point of the hacker community. This and other developments such as the rise of the free software movement and community drew together a critically large population and encouraged the spread of a conscious, common, and systematic ethos.  The concentration of academic hacker subculture has paralleled and partly been driven by the commoditization of computer and networking technology, and has, in turn, accelerated that process. In 1975, hackerdom was scattered across several different families of operating systems and disparate networks; today it is largely a Unix and TCP/IP phenomenon, and is concentrated around various operating systems based on free software and open-source software development . Before communications between computers and computer users were as networked as they are now, there were multiple independent and parallel hacker subcultures, often unaware or only partially aware of each other's existence. All of these had certain important traits in common:%DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% Creating software and sharing it with each other Placing a high value on freedom of inquiry Hostility to secrecy Information-sharing as both an ideal and a practical strategy Upholding the right to fork Emphasis on rationality Distaste for authority Playful cleverness, taking the serious humorously and humor seriously The Glider, proposed as an emblem of the "hacker community" by Eric S. Raymond .
The hacker culture is a subculture of individuals who enjoy the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming limitations of software systems to achieve novel and clever outcomes. The act of engaging in activities (such as programming or other mediaThe Hacker Community and Ethics: An Interview with Richard M. Stallman, 2002 (gnu.org)) in a spirit of playfulness and exploration is termed "hacking." However, the defining characteristic of a hacker is not the activities performed themselves (e.g. programming), but how it is done and whether it is exciting and meaningful. Activities of playful cleverness can be said to have " hack value " and therefore the term "hacks" came about, with early examples including pranks at MIT done by students to demonstrate their technical aptitude and cleverness. Therefore, the hacker culture originally emerged in academia in the 1960s around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing (gnu.org) Hacking originally involved entering restricted areas in a clever way without causing any major damages. Some famous hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were placing of a campus police cruiser on the roof of the Great Dome and converting the Great Dome into R2-D2. Hackers from this subculture tend to emphatically differentiate themselves from what they pejoratively call "crackers"; those who are generally referred to by media and members of the general public using the term "hacker", and whose primary focusbe it to malign or for malevolent purposeslies in exploiting weaknesses in computer security. Definition The Jargon File, an influential but not universally accepted compendium of hacker slang, defines hacker as "A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and stretching their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary." The Request for Comments (RFC) 1392, the Internet Users' Glossary, amplifies this meaning as "A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular."Internet Users' Glossary (Request for Comments 1392), January 1993 %DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% As documented in the Jargon File, these hackers are disappointed by the mass media and general public's usage of the word hacker to refer to security breakers, calling them "crackers" instead. This includes both "good" crackers ("white hat hackers") who use their computer security related skills and knowledge to learn more about how systems and networks work and to help to discover and fix security holes, as well as those more "evil" crackers ("black hat hackers") who use the same skills to author harmful software (like viruses, trojans, etc.) and illegally infiltrate secure systems with the intention of doing harm to the system. Definition of "Cracker" in the Jargon File The programmer subculture of hackers, in contrast to the cracker community, generally sees computer security related activities as contrary to the ideals of the original and true meaning of the hacker term that instead related to playful cleverness. History Some common nicknames among this culture include " crackers " who are unskilled thieves who mainly rely on luck. Others include " phreak " which refers to a type of skilled crackers and "warez d00dz"which is a kind of cracker that acquires reproductions of copyrighted software. Within all hackers are tiers of hackers such as the "samurai" who are hackers that hire themselves out for legal electronic locksmith work. Furthermore, there are other hackers who are hired to test security, they are called "pentesters" or "tiger teams". Before communications between computers and computer users were as networked as they are now, there were multiple independent and parallel hacker subcultures, often unaware or only partially aware of each other's existence. All of these had certain important traits in common: Creating software and sharing it with each other Placing a high value on freedom of inquiry Hostility to secrecy Information-sharing as both an ideal and a practical strategy Upholding the right to fork Emphasis on rationality Distaste for authority Playful cleverness, taking the serious humorously and humor seriously The Glider, proposed as an emblem of the "hacker community" by Eric S. Raymond. These sorts of subcultures were commonly found at academic settings such as college campuses. The MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the University of California, Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon University were particularly well-known hotbeds of early hacker culture. They evolved in parallel, and largely unconsciously, until the Internet, where a legendary PDP-10 machine at MIT, called AI, that was running ITS, provided an early meeting point of the hacker community. This and other developments such as the rise of the free software movement and community drew together a critically large population and encouraged the spread of a conscious, common, and systematic ethos. Symptomatic of this evolution were an increasing adoption of common slang and a shared view of history, similar to the way in which other occupational groups have professionalized themselves but without the formal credentialing process characteristic of most professional groups. The concentration of academic hacker subculture has paralleled and partly been driven by the commoditization of computer and networking technology, and has, in turn, accelerated that process. In 1975, hackerdom was scattered across several different families of operating systems and disparate networks; today it is largely a Unix and TCP/IP phenomenon, and is concentrated around various operating systems based on free software and open-source software development %DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% .
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This culture began back in the 1960s at MIT , where students banded together to release information on the internet they thought should be public information.Often referred to as
Activities of playful cleverness can be said to have
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computer-science freaks.
hack value
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and therefore the term "hacks" came about, with early examples including pranks at MIT done by students to demonstrate their technical aptitude and cleverness. Therefore, the hacker culture originally emerged in academia in the 1960s around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing (gnu.org) Hacking originally involved entering restricted areas in a clever way without causing any major damages. Some famous hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were placing of a campus police cruiser on the roof of the Great Dome and converting the Great Dome into R2-D2.
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People in hacker culture have a unique desire to practice their skills while simultaneously trying to have fun like children.
Hackers from this subculture tend to emphatically differentiate themselves from what they pejoratively call "crackers"; those who are generally referred to by media and members of the general public using the term "hacker", and whose primary focusbe it to malign or for malevolent purposeslies in exploiting weaknesses in computer security.
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Definition The term hacker was first coined in the fourteenth century, as a term for someone who did not have a lot of knowledge in something.
Definition
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The media started using the word "hacker" heavily when Google Maps was released to the public in 2005. People would mess with Google's code to add whatever they wanted to the map, which caught wind with the media and hackers began to have a negative connotation.
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Hacker vs. Cracker Some common nicknames among this culture include "crackers" who are unskilled thieves who mainly rely on luck. Others include "phreak"which refers to a type of skilled crackers and "warez d00dz"which is a kind of cracker that acquires reproductions of copyrighted software. Furthermore, there are other hackers who are hired to test security, they are called "pentesters" or "tiger teams".
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Hackers from this subculture tend to emphatically differentiate themselves from what they pejoratively call "crackers"; those who are generally referred to by media and members of the general public using the term "hacker", and whose primary focusbe it to malign or for malevolent purposeslies in exploiting weaknesses in computer security.
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The dictionary still defines a hacker as someone who illegally obtains access to some form of digital information. But this culture would argue that there is a clear difference between hackers and crackers.
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Activities of playful cleverness can be said to have
Some common nicknames among this culture include
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hack value
crackers
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and therefore the term
who are unskilled thieves who mainly rely on luck. Others include
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hacks
phreak
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came about, with early examples including pranks at MIT done by students to demonstrate their technical aptitude and cleverness. Therefore, the hacker culture originally emerged in academia in the 1960s around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing (gnu.org) Hacking originally involved entering restricted areas in a clever way without causing any major damages. Some famous hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were placing of a campus police cruiser on the roof of the Great Dome and converting the Great Dome into R2-D2.
which refers to a type of skilled crackers and "warez d00dz"which is a kind of cracker that acquires reproductions of copyrighted software. Within all hackers are tiers of hackers such as the "samurai" who are hackers that hire themselves out for legal electronic locksmith work. Furthermore, there are other hackers who are hired to test security, they are called "pentesters" or "tiger teams".
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Before communications between computers and computer users were as networked as they are now, there were multiple independent and parallel hacker subcultures, often unaware or only partially aware of each other's existence. All of these had certain important traits in common:
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Creating software and sharing it with each other Placing a high value on freedom of inquiry Hostility to secrecy Information-sharing as both an ideal and a practical strategy Upholding the right to fork Emphasis on rationality Distaste for authority Playful cleverness, taking the serious humorously and humor seriously
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The Glider, proposed as an emblem of the "hacker community" by Eric S. Raymond.
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other college campuses, including
academic settings such as college campuses. The MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory,
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, in addition to the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory,
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Symptomatic of this evolution were an increasing adoption of common slang and a shared view of history, similar to the way in which other occupational groups have professionalized themselves but without the formal credentialing process characteristic of most professional groups.
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.
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Before communications between computers and computer users were as networked as they are now, there were multiple independent and parallel hacker subcultures, often unaware or only partially aware of each other's existence. All of these had certain important traits in common:
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Creating software and sharing it with each other Placing a high value on freedom of inquiry Hostility to secrecy Information-sharing as both an ideal and a practical strategy Upholding the right to fork Emphasis on rationality Distaste for authority Playful cleverness, taking the serious humorously and humor seriously
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The Glider, proposed as an emblem of the "hacker community" by Eric S. Raymond