Are you a Hacker?

[WarGamer]

A lot of people use the term "Hacker".

It can be seen as some one who knows about computers or a illegal cracker.
What do you think about the term "Hacker".

[KissCool]

In a new era of hacking it is vitally important for the older generation to keep a sense of ethics and values alive, or we may simple add to the media's 'negative' view of hackers.
It is therefore the reason I have chosen to add an ethics section here.
Hopefully by introducing the many types of hackers in the world you can choose the right type and understand what a true hacker is.
I wont begin with the obvious dictionary defination of a hacker [seeker of knowledge etc.] but try to introduce the attitude of various stereotyped hackers.
However in my opinion real hackers come under no defination and are just people interested in computers regardless of whether they spend years learning the finer points of programming or years gaining root on a lame admins system.

Ennis quote from his Ethics tutorial

[phaza7]

I believe honestly this is not a Hacking forum.

Thou, it can be use to express positive or negative ideologies. I live by no man-made rules or ideas
but it fits your foot wear it.

NewYork, Post -" Young hacker caught stealing government information."

I would hate to read the headlines stating this
&-| *phaza7 wipes his face
Destiny it's your fate U decide

[[WebCarnage]]

I believe honestly this is not a Hacking forum.

I disagree. This is infact a hacking/hacker website. There are even "hacking tools" on this website for download. there are "hacking" related forums, and "hackers" are everywhere in this board...

...how is this not a hacker website?

[P.S. - Having a hacker website, isn't neccessarily a wrong thing, which most people dont' seem to understand]

[SSJVegeta-Sei]

Well put, [WebCarnage]

Personally, I don't think that there's anything wrong with a hacking website, and at AO it's taken one step further - although we DO teach people how to hack*, we also try to teach them to do so ethically, and encourage them not to be stupid about it. I can only hope that our influence has kept at least a few people out of jail. The only problem people actually have is that the term "hacker" has been turned into something evil, which we know is not true.

*crack, phreak, whatever term thou fancieth

SSJVegeta-Sei

[|The|Specialist]

I tend to look beyond the ethics...
Personally I beleave hacking is nothing more than a bunch of guys and gals turning on their PC and programing and whatever happens with these programs are the responsability of the user.

[bimmer]

we agreed before about the term " hacker ", u shouldn't be a bad person for being a hacker.
if u know how to hack is something good.
but if u use these skills for illigal stuff, then u are a bad person.
and the header of each page on this site says it all ( hackers know the weaknesses in your system. shouldn't you ?
i totally agreee with WebCarnage. here you might have the chance to learn all hacking stuff, but on the otherhand we don't accepet any illigal activities as well.

[instronics]

I have posted a thread before quoting the term "hacker" as i believe it is.

|quote|
There is a community, a shared culture, of expert programmers and networking wizards that traces its history back through decades to the first time-sharing minicomputers and the earliest ARPAnet experiments. The members of this culture originated the term `hacker'. Hackers built the Internet. Hackers made the Unix operating system what it is today. Hackers run Usenet. Hackers make the World Wide Web work. If you are part of this culture, if you have contributed to it and other people in it know who you are and call you a hacker, you're a hacker.

The hacker mind-set is not confined to this software-hacker culture. There are people who apply the hacker attitude to other things, like electronics or music -- actually, you can find it at the highest levels of any science or art. Software hackers recognize these kindred spirits elsewhere and may call them "hackers" too -- and some claim that the hacker nature is really independent of the particular medium the hacker works in.

There is another group of people who loudly call themselves hackers, but aren't. These are people (mainly adolescent males) who get a kick out of breaking into computers and phreaking the phone system. Real hackers call these people `crackers' and want nothing to do with them. Real hackers mostly think crackers are lazy, irresponsible, and not very bright, and object that being able to break security doesn't make you a hacker any more than being able to hotwire cars makes you an automotive engineer. Unfortunately, many journalists and writers have been fooled into using the word `hacker' to describe crackers; this irritates real hackers no end.

The basic difference is this: hackers build things, crackers break them.
|quote|

i quote these words since they fit exactly the description of what a hacker really is. The credit of this text should go to its author Eric S. Raymond.

Now to the subject of AO being a hackers site. In my opinion its yes. AO is a very advanced hackers site since we solve OS, Security, network and ethical problems. Do not compare this site to other so called "hacker's" sites, wh3r3 th3y typ3 l33t and **** like that. Most of the people here are admins, techs, programmers, security advisors, and computer lovers which fit the description hackers.

Cheers

[jhgrew]

i completely agree with instronics...what is most important is that we must learn to distinguish between a HACKER and a CRACKER(those with malicious interest)......i mean its almost similar to a connoisuer of good food and a someones who pigs into food...

[johnjoe]

I have been using computers since the late 70's. I have used all kinds of computers, programming languages, databases, architecture you name it. While working for customers or companies many times i have been label "you are a hacker". You want to know my answer is a big :-).... I love to explore how computers works, what type of data is on the databases and so on.

I do not see anything wrong on being a hacker, in fact i see a hacker as a person with a lot of computer knowledge and a desired to learn and learn more and more about other people's computer. A hacker does not damage computers, databases. Does are crackers.

AO is in fact a hacking site, there are a lot of tutorial that talks about hacking. A lot of hackers look at this site for information and information sharing.

My 2 cents.