[thelist] complete: hacking contest
Alan McCoy
a.r.mccoy at larc.nasa.gov
Thu Jul 3 09:35:09 CDT 2003
=> I have to admit, I'm still confused about the distinction
=> between hackers and crackers. All that Zen stuff about what
=> Hackers do really didn't say anything IMHO. What do they do?
=> Most of what was described, e.g., solving problems, coding
=> challenges, are the kinds of things I do every day. So am I
=> a hacker? Is a hacker just a coder/programmer who likes
=> challenges? Or a particularly adept programmer?
A hacker is anyone who can improve upon something using inventive
methods. For example, if I wire my coffee maker to turn on when my alarm
clock sounds, then I've *hacked* my coffee maker.
In the case of programming, a hacker is one who takes on the challenge
to improve (or alter for the better) any code/application. Typically,
the solutions to these challenges involve alternative and inventive
methods of solving the problem.
That's my $0.02 definition.
Alan
More information about the thelist
mailing list