

The Conscience of a Hacker - subsystem
http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3

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bpatrianakos
Very well written and does a great job of stirring up emotions but when you
really think about it, it doesn't say anything. Just that the author thinks
he's smarter than everyone and that there's nothing wrong with hacking
absolutely but never goes into what he means by "hack", "hacking", or
"hacker".

I could see how it could strike a cord maybe 10+ years ago but today it feels
hollow. The idea that all hackers are smarter than average, bored in school,
and break into things (presumably - that's what I thought he meant) is
something I don't agree with. This isn't the 90's anymore. Hackers nowadays
are as much well rounded, often downright average individuals (sorry to burst
all of our egos) as they are above average and the things he describes. That
stereotype needs to die.

~~~
csixty4
The world has changed a lot since then. It doesn't feel hollow to me, but it
definitely feels like a time capsule, some kind of historic document. Man,
there was a printout of this on my dorm wall. My hair is going gray now. So it
goes.

It was such a different world back then. Linux was new, and most people I knew
bought it on CD-ROMs because it took too damn long to download. But it beat
paying for a copy of Windows or...well, Windows. There was open source
software, but nothing on the scale like you see today. And it was hard to get
information on how things worked. Today, I can download the service manual for
my TV in a handy PDF. Back then, I would have had to know somebody who had a
copy and was willing to photocopy it for me if I paid him a few bucks.

Billy Idol paraphrased The Cyberpunk Manifesto
(<http://www.sterneck.net/cyber/branwyn-cyberpunk/index.php>) when he said
"information is power and currency in the virtual world we inhabit". Back
then, information was scarce. So was access to hardware and software. Not like
today. It's probably cliche to say it, but I have a 1GHz Unix machine in my
pocket. That still blows my mind.

It's much easier to learn how to program now. It's much easier to quench that
thirst for knowledge. And it's much easier to own a decent computer.

I wish this link was presented with more context of what it was like being a
geek in the 90s. Maybe there's a book I can write some day.

~~~
cms07
This was actually the 80s, I believe.

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attheodo
Phrack, even after the official crew gave up contributing to it, is an
exceptional archive of deep and highly technical programming techniques (and
more). I highly recommend to everyone to just go through some of the issues
and read some papers.

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driverdan
Not sure why this is getting posted. Isn't this still mandatory reading for
hackers when they're in middle school?

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switz
Here's a link to an mp3 of Loyd reading it himself along with commentary.

[http://download.2600.com/mediadownload/h2k2.hope.net/media/m...](http://download.2600.com/mediadownload/h2k2.hope.net/media/mentor.mp3)

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holzmann
the author: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyd_Blankenship>

~~~
bitwize
I find it interesting that JARGON defines _hack_ as "to carve furniture with
an axe"; and that the author of the Hacker Manifesto made a living in later
life by selling handcrafted furniture.

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methodin
I'd like to read an updated version of this as such hackers approach 30.

~~~
riffraff
the author is more likely approaching 40, which may be more interesting.

~~~
blhack
He's 47.

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neil_s
I've always known this old document as the Hacker Manifesto

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lowglow
Loved when this was quoted in the Hackers movie. Loved.

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stanonyime
Sounds like Galt's speech in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

~~~
riffraff
Galt's speech is, from what I remember, a 20 pages long ultra-verbose pamphlet
rather than a single page fast paced read like this.

But you are right that both read somewhat like "I am so much better than these
other evil people who don't understand me". But many manifesto-like writings
sound like that. Also lots of stuff written by teen agers/early twenties.

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pcote
> 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.

It's called "curriculum". It's prepackaged knowledge. It's put together in a
predetermined order. It's handed down by an authority figure in a compulsory
way. It's an education style that can shape how student's view learning.

------
protome
aka 'The Hacker Manifesto'

~~~
adamrights
<http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html> ... what sticks with me most
from this: crackers break things and hackers make things.

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caleywoods
Didn't I hear most of this in the Hackers movie that I seem to rewatch time
after time?

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refiammingo
Hackernews before the arrival of the business. 2600

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klrr
Can someone explain was phrack is?

Thanks.

~~~
csixty4
Phrack was a staple of the 1990s phreaker/hacker culture. Phreak + Hack =
Phrack. It dates back to the days when you had to go to a real book store to
get books and magazines, and most didn't carry a big selection of computer
magazines because computers still weren't a mainstream thing yet. Sometimes
you'd find Dr. Dobbs, but that was for people who wore ties to work and drew
Data Flow Diagrams and drank black coffee. Mostly, you'd find fluff about the
latest 486 boxes from name-brand manufacturers and reviews of the hottest CD-
ROM games.

2600 ("The Hacker Quarterly") was a print magazine, but with limited
distribution because carrying a "hacker" magazine was like stocking child
pornography. I got all sorts of comments & questions from the people ringing
up my purchase.

Phrack sidestepped all that with online distribution, since the people they
wanted reading it were already on the Internet and BBSs. They built a
reputation for useful content and good writing. There were many imitators, but
Phrack was the real deal, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next
issue even if I barely understood half of it.

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angersock
Man, hadn't seen that in a while--brings me back. Wonder what the modern
equivalent is, if any.

~~~
goodchild
Obama 2012!

