From: kyle@wam.umd.edu (Kyle Xavier Hourihan)
Subject: Re: Where did the hacker ethic go?
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Lines: 41
NNTP-Posting-Host: rac2.wam.umd.edu

In article <12MAY199322394641@vxcrna.cern.ch> filipe@vxcrna.cern.ch (VINCI) writes:
    .. blah blah .. talking about hackers.. you know ..


Wow!  A new proof for an NP-Complete problem, you guys in Eurpoe
really got your stuff together!


Base Step:  [deleted too bad]

Inductive Step:
>
> But anyway, poor golfers, bad carpenters or bad surgeons are not
> thieves, so your assertion that hacker==thief is unsupported by
> your argument, IMHO. The narrower view that a hacker, when
> associated with the computing environment, is a dishonest
> expert is not so widespread ...

Inductive Hypothesis:
> Therefore I conclude that if you call yourself a hacker, and somebody
> perceives you as a thief, then this person belongs to a very very
> small group that has some computer knowledge, but not enough to know
> the wider (and original) meaning of the word. Of course, one can
> always know this and disregard it nonetheless, then 
> equate hacker to thief, giving substance to Mr. Humpty's assertion,
> even though in a kind of reverse way.

Fodder Step:
> Finally, a true hacker does not name himself/herself one, for this is
> a title that is bestowed by the befuddled sysadmins and users at large.
>To me, a sign of a truly great hacker is to be introduced to someone who
>says "Nahh, I just know a thing or two, people always exagerate..." :-)

>Filipe Santos (english is not my first language, so plse be forgetful of my mistakes!)
Like my mother always said, if you can't say something nice...
  or was that can't say something right?


					- kxh
-- 
This is the signature file what do you think