No big deal, but it's Jan 21, 2003

**Govtcheez** · 01-22-2003

>Hackers=GOOD
Crackers=BAD

Oh, I see someone pulled the semantics game out of the closet again.

**codingmaster** · 01-22-2003

WHY?

It's the truth!!!

Hackers=good
Crackers=bad

It's the press, who says always, that Hackers break into computer networks, steal data and destroy the networks.

It's wrong!!!

It was in the early 80's, there was a time, where a lot of hackers changed to the dark side, so they called them self: crackers

But the press used them to call: HACKERS

And that's the big problem!!!

**VegasSte** · 01-22-2003

Seems to me like he is nothing more than a criminal using his computer genius to destroy the work of others!

**Govtcheez** · 01-22-2003

> And that's the big problem

Come off it. Everyone here knows the technically correct fscking definitions, but who cares? Media have basically added a definition of hacker to mean the same thing as cracker. It's the evolution of the language, you tremendous idiot. If enough people believe that's the definition, then that's basically one of the definitions.

> destroy the work of others!

IIRC, there was never any proof that he actually destroyed work, and the vastly overblown sums of money he "cost" companies were in reinforcing their networks and security procedures so it wouldn't happen again. I see no problem with that.

**codingmaster** · 01-22-2003

That's F§CK

**Govtcheez** · 01-22-2003

> That's F§CK

It's the truth - sorry if you don't like it.

**codingmaster** · 01-22-2003

k, I don't share ur opinion, u don't share mine

So, there is nothing, we can talk about!!!

**VegasSte** · 01-22-2003

I think you should both agree to differ and leave it at that before some major flaming occurs!!

**Govtcheez** · 01-22-2003

It's not an opinion, though - it's the way things are. How many words do you think are just adopted into common English because people use them and use them and distort the original meaning a little and use them some more? Plenty. We, as coders and hobbyists and such, are hackers. Sorry to say, so's some 1337 script kiddy who uses subseven.

**Vber** · 01-22-2003

He by himself told that he is not a 'bad hacker' (cracker).
try reading some articles in his site, and after talk here.

**Govtcheez** · 01-22-2003

Hey, check it out, dictionary.com says there's not just one definition!
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=hacker

Unregd · 01-22-2003

Woohoo! A convicted felon is free! What's next? Are we going to celebrate the release of a notorious burglar because he was the best lock breaker in the country? <sarcasm>Yeah, John Kat Burgler burglarized the houses of several of my friends and me, as well. He must have been a genius to slip past my guard dog and use his social engineering skills to get past the human guards at Mr. von Ritschenstupf's. Yeah, the courts could never really "prove" anything; they just locked him up as an example. Now he tells all in his autobiography that's selling like mad. He's my idol.</sarcasm>

In my opinion, the government did go overboard and set him up as an example to other crackers, but he was still convicted of crimes I believe should be crimes. I believe that computer property should not be trespassed on just like with physical property.

**Govtcheez** · 01-22-2003

I'm not defending what he did at all - it was illegal, he freely admits to it (and the book's not his autobiography - the autobiographical chapter got largely cut out). Yeah, he probably should have been thrown in jail for it, but it's the way he was treated in there that was crap - thrown into solitary and kept away from phones because people thought he could launch nukes by whistling into it, denied a bail hearing, etc...

The way it was blown up by the media was really stupid, as well - he was accused of hacking NORAD, which doesn't even have a connection to the outside....

**Scourfish** · 01-22-2003

Originally posted by Govtcheez

The way it was blown up by the media was really stupid, as well - he was accused of hacking NORAD

I hack NORAD all the time. It's pretty easy, all I had to do was type "hack norad" in my command prompt. I even got a "bad command or file name" which means that the command I gave the computer was a bad thing to do.