Hack and Hacker Defined and the Ethics Thereof
Hack: as a noun, a "project undertaken or a product built not solely to fulfill some constructive goal, but with some wild pleasure taken in mere involvement (Levy, 23)."
The hacker ethic:
- "Access to computers-and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works-should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative (Levy, 40)!"
- "All information should be free (Levy, 40)."
- "Mistrust Authority-Promote Decentralization (Levy, 41)."
- "Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position (Levy, 43)."
- "You can create art and beauty on a computer (Levy, 43)."
- "Computers can change your life for the better (Levy, 45)."
Levy, Steven. Hackers. Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Penguin Books. 1984. 1994.