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What makes one a "hacker"?
@realcaseyrollins I would refer you to the classic "Jargon File".
Which goes back to when hackers were computer scientists, very brilliant people working at the cutting edge, doing the best with the little power and storage that they could access at the time.
It was seen as a badge of Honour, not a negative implication as a break-in artist of somewhat shady character like the media has been implying for many years now.
"The Meaning of ‘Hack’
“The word hack doesn't really have 69 different meanings”, according to MIT hacker Phil Agre. “In fact, hack has only one meaning, an extremely subtle and profound one which defies articulation. Which connotation is implied by a given use of the word depends in similarly profound ways on the context. Similar remarks apply to a couple of other hacker words, most notably random.”
Hacking might be characterized as ‘an appropriate application of ingenuity’. Whether the result is a quick-and-dirty patchwork job or a carefully crafted work of art, you have to admire the cleverness that went into it."
A small quote from: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/meaning-of-hack.html
@realcaseyrollins I remember reading a real nice story - part of the Jargon File.
This was "The Story of Mel, a Real Programmer". These date to a time when a hacker was a highly skilled MIT computer scientist, working in low level languages and squeezing the most from anemic systems.
You got to read this -- but do it when you are rested, and enjoy, It's a great piece.
http://foldoc.org/The%20story%20of%20Mel,%20a%20Real%20Programmer
The whole Jargon File is great fun. I remember another story on it called the Magic switch, also wonderful reading.
@design_RG Will do. I have plenty of homework to dig into tonight!
