Re: Apple2World Site Down

[Roy and/or Janet Miller <millers@inetnebr.com>]

Does not "cracker" mean "criminal hacker"? Just asking. But you are right, a real
hacker has ethics that would not allow him (or her) to destroy intentionally.

Roy

Paul Schlyter wrote:

> In article <QYgI5.47181$oA2.11433315@typhoon.southeast.rr.com>,
> **** **** <***@***.com> wrote:
>
> > Paul Schlyter wrote in message <8srbk0$6u1$1@merope.saaf.se>...
> >
> >> You won't find any hacker, for the very simple reason that hackers
> >> don't engage in such destructive activities.  Crackers do though, so
> >> if you find the guy (which I hope you'll do), it'll be a cracker, not
> >> a hacker.
> >>
> >> Please be careful to distinguish crackers from hackers.
> >
> > Actually, I find the hacker/cracker debate kinda dumb. If you really need a
> > different name for these "crackers", just ask. I can come up with many,
> > though Roy would probably prefer I do it outside this newsgroup. The polite
> > ones include criminal,
>
> "Criminal" is too vague -- anyone who breaks a law is a criminal.
>
> > vandal,
>
> Vandals do physical damage - crackers rarely do that, their aim is to
> do logical damage.
>
> > idiot,
>
> An idiot is anyone doing something foolish, even if it's perfectly legal,
> so it doesn't apply either.
>
> > and amoral cretin.
>
> That's a value judgement about anyone you severly dislike, and what it
> actually means is VERY vague.
>
> > Feel free to add various bleeps to them as adjectives.
>
> None of your suggestions apply.
>
> A cracker is someone who has at least some amount of hacker abilities
> but who lacks the hacker ethics.  The word "cracker" is NOT
> synonymous to any of your suggested replacements.  You can be a
> "criminal", a "vandal", an "idiot" or an "amoral cretin" with no
> hacking abilities whatsoever - but you cannot be a "cracker" without
> at least some of it.
>
>
> --
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