The Blair Chronicles

"You can call me...but don't you call me..."

...a "cracker", nope, don't do it. I might squeak by as a "hacker" though?

By definition a "hacker" is what?-

Main Entry: hack·er
Pronunciation: 'ha-k&r
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1: one that hacks
2: a person who is inexperienced or unskilled at a particular activity (a tennis hacker).
3: an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer.
4: a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system.
[courtesy of Merriam's on-line dictionary]

Good- number 3 is correct. This is a positive statement about individuals who are considered to be "hackers", others in the same pursuit would agree. They are the people who go beyond the "norm" to solve computer related problems.

Bad- number 4 is incorrect, which describes a "cracker". Key word in the interpretation is "illegal", and that my friends is the difference between a "hacker" and a "cracker".

The truth- number 2 describes me with one "keyword" change. A person who is (semi)experienced or (semi)skilled at a particular activity (a (semi)hacker).

Bottom line, being a "hacker" is more about attitude. Eric Steven Raymond has done a great job of describing this "attitude" and about what a "hacker" really is. It is not someone who destroys things, infiltrates corporate systems and creates virus infections that we all have to arm ourselves against.

That's what "crackers" do.