From owner-freebsd-chat Mon Sep 11 15:38:28 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mail2.registeredsite.com (mail2.registeredsite.com [209.35.159.13]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1093A37B424 for ; Mon, 11 Sep 2000 15:38:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail.threespace.com ([216.247.134.44]) by mail2.registeredsite.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id RAA24670 for ; Mon, 11 Sep 2000 17:36:17 -0400 Received: from atlanta.threespace.com [24.21.224.204] by mail.threespace.com with ESMTP (SMTPD32-6.00) id AED41359010C; Mon, 11 Sep 2000 18:38:12 -0400 Message-Id: <4.3.2.7.2.20000911182359.00cb24d0@mail.threespace.com> X-Sender: ksmm@mail.threespace.com X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 4.3.2 Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 18:24:52 -0400 To: FreeBSD Chat From: The Classiest Man Alive Subject: Fwd: A.Word.A.Day--hacker Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Glad to see that somebody is finally trying to get it right. >Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 00:03:42 -0400 >From: Wordsmith >To: linguaphile@wordsmith.org >Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hacker >X-RCPT-TO: > >hacker (HACK-uhr) noun > > 1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems > and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who > prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. > > 2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys > programming rather than just theorizing about programming. > > 3. A person capable of appreciating hack value. > > 4. A person who is good at programming quickly. > > 5. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work > using it or on it; as in `a Unix hacker'. > (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who fit them > congregate.) > > 6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy > hacker, for example. > > 7. One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming > or circumventing limitations. > > 8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive > information by poking around. Hence `password hacker', `network > hacker'. The correct term for this sense is cracker. > >[Originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe.] > > "When Emmanuel Goldstein, who runs a hacker magazine called 2600, posted > Johanssen's software on a website, eight media companies (including Time > Warner, parent company of TIME) sued Goldstein ...." > Lev Grossman, Digital Divisiveness, Time, Aug 28, 2000. > >With the growing popularity of computers, the spread of the Internet and Web, >and the success of Linux, terms from hacker jargon are increasingly going >mainstream, though not always in the correct perspective. > >The New Hacker's Dictionary is a fascinating compendium of words from the >worlds of computing, computer networks, and the people who inhabit them. >Last week's citation of Murphy's Law brought enthusiastic responses with >requests for more examples from this book which is available at >http://www.fwi.uva.nl/~mes/jargon . > >This week we have terms from this lexicon that give us glimpses of the hacker >culture. Enjoy this geek-week and remember - hackers, though often maligned, >are good guys, they are not crackers. -Anu > >............................................................................. >It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well. -Rene >Descartes, "Le Discours de la Methode," 1637 > >Send your comments about words to anu@wordsmith.org. To subscribe or >unsubscribe A.Word.A.Day, send a message to wsmith@wordsmith.org with >"Subject:" line as "subscribe " or "unsubscribe". Archives, >FAQ, gift subscription form, and more at: http://wordsmith.org/awad/ > >Pronunciation: >http://wordsmith.org/words/hacker.wav >http://wordsmith.org/words/hacker.ram To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message