Imagine this, you are driving along the road and suddenly you see something
spectacular. Now imagine that you are not allowed to deviate from your course to
check it out. This is what a so-called “hacker” faces. Just imagine that you
saw an injured person on the side of the road. In this analogy you are not
allowed to help the injured person. A hacker is not allowed to explore like
everyone else in the world. A hacker is not allowed to help fix potential
security holes. The term hacker can have many meanings. The most visible to the
public is the person pirating software, and breaking into corporate networks and
destroying information. This is the public misconception of a hacker. Back in
the Unix days, a hack was simply a quick and dirty way of doing something.
Hackers in those days were basically just computer experts. Nowadays hacker
means the same thing as a cracker, a person who pirates software, and malicious
hackers. The media, of course, never prints the good things hackers do. Most
hackers provide a service to companies, by letting the company know about
security holes, before a rival exploits it. Most hackers want nothing more than
to simply learn. A hacker has an extreme thirst for knowledge, but not in the
traditional subjects. Technology, and anything new interest hackers. In fact
most security experts start out but learning and “hacking”. The bad view of
hackers is not completely false. There are hackers out there that will do there
best to harm any system hey can, but most want nothing more than to find the
beauty in system, or network. To hackers vast networks, and the inside of a
firewall that was meant to keep them out, are the most beautiful sights on
Earth. In every aspect of life there are people who exploit others. Murders,
robbers, or any other criminals come from every walk of life. Even hackers have
some, but like the general population, it is a small percentage. Most people
would call the whole Linux community hackers, because anyone who has the
knowledge to run Unix must be a hacker. This show what good hackers can do. The
entire Unix GNU community is run by hackers. They all contribute toward a free
operating system. They all work out the bugs, and then distribute it for free.
Hackers got tired of paying for an OS that did not work well. So they all worked
together Today Linux is one of the fastest growing OS’s on the planet. Many
would say that Linux is buggy simply because its free, but it’s made by the
same people who can get into any computer, or write any program to fit their
needs. All Hackers are not good, but then again, all people are not good. In any
case, the hacker community as a whole, has done many things for end uses. First
of all they help companies make they transactions securer. Second they help
develop new code, and help work the bugs out of old code. And lastly, all
hackers really want to do is learn. Even if it means “breaking in to” a
computer. Most hackers break in simply to learn. Very few will touch any data. A
hackers goal is for the systems administator to never even know that the hacker
was in the system in the first place. The Hacker’s Manifesto by the Mentor, is
a classic example of how hackers feel that the rest of the world does not
understand us. It shows how hackers were once shunned from society and created
their own underground society. In fact 2600 Magazine has been published since
the early eighties. Many articles are in this magazine about how hackers are
merely misunderstood. This is the most famous article: Hackers Manifesto By:
+++The Mentor+++ Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers.
"Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested
after Bank Tampering"... Damn kids. They're all alike. But did you, in your
three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain, Ever take a look behind the eyes
of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what made him tick, What forces shaped him,
what may have molded him? I am a hacker, enter my world... Mine is a world that
begins with school... I'm smarter than most of the other kids, This crap they
teach us bores me... Damn underachiever. They're all alike. I'm in junior high
or high school. I've listened to teachers explain for the fifteenth time How to
reduce a fraction. I understand it. "No, Ms. Smith, I didn't show my work.
I did it in my head..." Damn kid. Probably copied it. They're all alike. I
made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is cool. It does
what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not
because it doesn't like me... Or feels threatened by me.. Or thinks I'm a smart
ass.. Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here... Damn kid. All he does is
play games. They're all alike. And then it happened... a door opened to a
world... Rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins,
An electronic pulse is sent out, A refuge from the day-to-day incompetence is
sought... A board is found. "This is it... this is where I belong..."
I know everyone here... even if I've never met him or her, Never talked to them,
may never hear from them again... I know you all... Damn kid. Tying up the phone
line again. They're all alike... You bet your ass we're all alike... We've been
spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak... The bits of meat
that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been
dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to
teach found us willing pupils, But those few are like drops of water in the
desert. This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, The
beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing, Without paying
for what could be dirt-cheap, If it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, And you
call us criminals. We explore...and you call us criminals. We seek after
knowledge...and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, Without
nationality, Without religious bias... And you call us criminals. You build
atomic bombs, You wage wars, You murder, Cheat, and lie to us, And try to make
us believe it's for our own good, Yet we're the criminals. Yes, I am a criminal.
My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they
say and think, Not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you,
Something that you will never forgive me for. I am a hacker, and this is my
manifesto. You may stop this individual, But you can't stop us all... After all,
we're all alike.