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Re: Debian Server Compromise -- A Fire Drill ??



On Sat, 06 Dec 2003 03:20:14 +0100, Paul Johnson <baloo@ursine.ca> wrote:
>On Thu, Dec 04, 2003 at 04:57:55PM -0500, ScruLoose wrote:
>> It's "cracker". Not "hacker".
>> http://web.bilkent.edu.tr/Online/Jargon30/JARGON_C/CRACKER.HTML
>
>This is a *very* outdated mirror of The Jargon File, please kick the
>maintainer into updating.

Actually, the author was assuming the person in question was a good guy, so "hacker" is correct. A "cracker" is a redneck from the backwoods in the southern USA. Much less frequently, it is used by programmers who fancy themselves "hackers" to try and persuade the general population that their understanding of English is incorrect, and "hacking" is really a good thing, nothing to do with hatchets. Needless to say, these attempts to change the language, and force political correctness on an unsympathetic population, have had little success. Mostly, they just generate snide remarks when the politically correct person leaves the room.

The proper name for a bad hacker is haXor, dude. :>)

-- Dave




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