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It's "losers" not "lusers". Internet dictionaries are free.

You mean, like the Hacker's Dictionary? "Luser" is in there. Even with that spelling.

"Luser" is ancient late-70s/early 80s computer jargon, an insulting word for the computer users, a portmanteau of loser and user. (Not acknowledged in the jargon files, but it originally stems from an anti-drug ad from the late '70s that got played ad nauseum as a public-service announcement on the radio, with the refrain "users are losers and losers are users.")

All nouns can be verbed.

Example: all nouns can be verbed.

Verbing weirds language.

All nouns can be verbed.

Example: all nouns can be verbed.

> But we already HAD a word for that and it was not "hackers" it was con artists..

I think the distinction is in your last three words, "hacking a system".

A con man or fraudster will get a _person_ to hand over their property.
A hacker manipulates a _system_ to have it do something other than what it's supposed to do.
TFA says:

"The group was able to change the DNS records managed by Network Solutions for a number of security companies".

They did a number of companies by exploiting NetSol's SYSTEM, not simply tricking one person, but exploiting
holes in the system that the person what was part of. If you can fairly reliably exploit the system, it's a hack in my opinion whether that's a TCP/IP system, a phone system, a traffic light control system, or system that includes both
computers and human.

However, see also the Jargon File for original meanings of the term:
http://www.dourish.com/goodies/jargon.html
http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_23.html#SEC30

People who are interested in the material will do well regardless. Saying that those who are self-taught and not "academically-shaped" get more respect is, at best, wishful thinking or egotism.

You can take that up with Eric S. Raymond, the social anthropologist who studied hacker culture, and wrote this in Appendix D of the Hacker Dictionary, titled Portrait of J. Random Hacker. By all means, go ahead and tell him it was wishful thinking and egotism. Let me know how that goes.

The Hacker Dictionary does not even offer a pretense of objectivity - to suggest that a non-systematic summary of a straw poll on Usenet groups he frequented is sufficient for a 'social anthropologist' to draw sweeping conclusions about Hackers certainly seems like egotism. Generalising his own personal characteristics and views as being the views of all hackers is pretty much par for the course for ESR.

People who are interested in the material will do well regardless. Saying that those who are self-taught and not "academically-shaped" get more respect is, at best, wishful thinking or egotism.

You can take that up with Eric S. Raymond, the social anthropologist who studied hacker culture, and wrote this in Appendix D of the Hacker Dictionary, titled Portrait of J. Random Hacker. By all means, go ahead and tell him it was wishful thinking and egotism. Let me know how that goes.

If only. I got it from The Jargon File.

Sounds like hacking to me.

I do not think this word means what you think it means.

Don't feel bad, though. Thanks to popular (if technically incorrect) culture, the uninformed masses just lump everything to do with the extreme ends of computing, both good and bad, under the title "hacking".

cracking /n./

The act of breaking into a computer system; what a cracker does. Contrary to widespread myth, this does not usually involve some mysterious leap of hackerly brilliance, but rather persistence and the dogged repetition of a handful of fairly well-known tricks that exploit common weaknesses in the security of target systems. Accordingly, most crackers are only mediocre hackers.

hacker /n./

[originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] 1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. 2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming. 3. A person capable of appreciating hack value. 4. A person who is good at programming quickly. 5. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it; as in `a Unix hacker'. (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who fit them congregate.) 6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker, for example. 7. One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations. 8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive information by poking around. Hence `password hacker', `network hacker'. The correct term for this sense is cracker.

The term `hacker' also tends to connote membership in the global community defined by the net (see network, the and Internet address). It also implies that the person described is seen to subscribe to some version of the hacker ethic (see hacker ethic).

It is better to be described as a hacker by others than to describe oneself that way. Hackers consider themselves something of an elite (a meritocracy based on ability), though one to which new members are gladly welcome. There is thus a certain ego satisfaction to be had in identifying yourself as a hacker (but if you claim to be one and are not, you'll quickly be labeled bogus). See also wannabee.

The Jargon File

The New Hacker's Dictionary

The too long, didn't read version: hackers are Good Guys, crackers are (generally) Bad Guys. Calling crackers hackers is giving them unintentional, and often unwarranted, praise. Also, stop watching crappy movies.

Hey man, nowhere did I say you weren't a geek (and for that matter, neither did I say that I am). I am fully aware someone is capable of being a douche bag and a geek. A couple hints, tho:

I noticed your UID before I posted. Like I said, I can accept you are a geek. However, if you are trying to convince us that you aren't a douche bag, waving your e-peen around isn't the best tactic. Similarly, getting all 'Grammer nazi' about a honest typo isn't going to win you any points. Taking a simple joke personally and lashing out is VERY douche-y.

I am well aware of the origins of the term 'troll'. You don't seem to realise that trolling (fishing term) can involve one or several hooks; from that point of view, each post I make would be a hook, regardless how narrow the prospect for catching anything. In any case, you present a false dichotomy: a post can be both a troll and flamebait. (For the record, I claim that it is neither; I was as far from inflammatory as I could be while still making my case.)

I don't think that listening to bluegrass make you 'hip' on Slashdot (or possibly /anywhere/). I also don't think that having the MP3s from 'Fade to Bluegrass: A Metallica Tribute' should entitle you to say that you listen to bluegrass. I may be wrong about this - from ESR's jargon file: "Hackers, as a rule, like music and often develop musical appreciation in unusual and interesting directions." One way or the other, it doesn't change the fact that claiming catholic tastes in that fashion is something a douche bag would do.

It is entirely possible that our conflict here is due to some overreaction. Perhaps when you thought you were called a liar, you flew off the handle a bit. To set your mind at ease, here is an assurance: I for one do not believe you to be a liar at all. I think you are /exactly/ the kind of person who would do everything you claimed.

Finally, sir, if you so desire I will gladly hand in my card to you. I have no desire to be part of any club to which you belong.

If you are a writer or journalist, don't say or write hacker when you mean cracker. If you work with writers or journalists, educate them on this issue and push them to do the right thing. If you catch a newspaper or magazine abusing the work `hacker', write them and straigten them out (this appendix includes a model letter).

The New Hacker's Dictionary

CC.

The cycle of moving from a central processor to specialized ones and back has been seen before. Could this be a sign of this type of change? From the jargon file: http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_18 .html#TAG411

Favorite hacks (none as good as that story)

Needed a silent server for a friend's house that took up no additional room. Built out a P3 underneath his monitor stand using nothing but screws, rubber bands, and paper / tape for ducting. It was utterly silent and even relatively safe. And it only took up room that he wasn't accessing anyway.

Needed to re-wire a computer, but the lighting in the room was bad for peering inside of cases, and the flashlight was out of batteries. So I disconnected the power supply from the motherboard, wired the 5v rail to the flashlight, and turned the PSU on.

Someone at an old ISP I used to work for had a server that simply had no power button. We had to bridge the pins with a screwdriver to get the thing on. This was quite nerve-wracking the first time, as nobody had the schematics for the mobo anymore and were quite sure what was supposed to attach where.

Not strictly computer related, but I had an old Nokia whose batteries had worn out, and I wasn't happy with the charges for the possible replacements. So I cut the battery in half, and removed the old, dead cells. Then I soldered an array of 16 AA NiMH batteries in a combination of serial and parallel (to get the voltage right) onto the old charging circutry, and taped that to the back of the phone with black electrical tape. Talk time was about 24 hour straight, and you could go for about 2 weeks without recharging. On the down side, you get stopped at every airport security terminal.

And not at all related to me, though I wish it was, is the great Jargon File story about the magic MIT switch.

It's a huge generalization to say that "geeks aren't fit" and that wasn't what the article was saying but seems to be prevalent in the comments. If I consider my workplace there is a full range of geeks in coexistence from the super-athletic to the morbidly obsese - it's a personal thing. In fact, a high percentage of the people who I would consider the most technical are also the ones that play Soccer, go mountain biking, run marathons and spend time in the company provided gym. At least where I am, being a geek != being unfit. Being a geek, however, is time consuming - trying to fit geekiness in with all these other activities in addition to reading ./ doesn't always leave a lot of time for sleep and correct posture. Also, see the Jargon File for another generalization on geek physical activities: http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_55 .html#SEC62

Just like JCL(IBM's job control lanaguage). Read the New Hackers Dictionary description of JCL. An excerpt:

"Most programmers confronted with JCL simply copy a working file (or card deck), changing the file names. Someone who actually understands and generates unique JCL is regarded with the mixed respect one gives to someone who memorizes the phone book"

About sums up my opinion of ANT.

This is a documented phonominom.

We had some 3Com cards at work that had special hardware on them to offload the encryption. They were expensive and when I ran tests with them I couldn't manage to get them to provide any better performance than a run of the mill Ethernet card. On the other hand, I'm not sure the drivers were ever quite working right either.

When did programming in conventional non-COBOL languages cease to be fun? In fact, I've never hear someone describe COBOL programming as fun (cf. COBOL fingers). I've even had fun using FORTRAN, as it was the only way to use a cool plotter, and, later, a parallel supercomputer.

Besides, people who try to express things precisely in English are called lawyers, and we don't want to become that, do we?

Ah, yes.
It seems that we need to review
The Story of Mel.

I'll post it here from several places,
So that the good people of /.
(and the other people of /.)
Don't wipe out a single server (yeah, right!)

http://www.cs.utah.edu/~elb/folklore/mel.html
http://www.wizzy.com/andyr/Mel.html
http://www.science.uva.nl/~mes/jargon/t/thestoryof mel.html
http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_49 .html

and, of course, many other places.

A great story I feel appropraite to this topic. Enjoy :)

Real Programmers write in FORTRAN.

http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_ 49 .html

This is known as the cycle of reincarnation.

The letter was worded like the old joke, "Do you still beat your wife?" There was no way to answer the question without incriminating yourself.

One succinct way of responding is "mu".

Hacker's Dictionary: mu

Well, I'd say so. 30 seconds of searching on google revealed the exploit with a really good explanation of the problem and solutions to protect yourself. As well as an OpenSSH exploit.

From the file:
HOW TO PROTECT: There are a few ways. If you have a statically linked login, then you are safe. setuid programs ignore LD_PRELOAD so one you have logged in, you cannot subvert the system.

You can patch telnetd to wipe all but a few env variables. There are many widely pieces of available code to demonstrate this.

A little personal history might be in order to help explain my position.

• I've been using Navigator because I like it, and because I don't want to encourage MS too much. For a long time, Netscape was the big shot, and I was in the 'cool' crowd. Then IE got better, and better, and bundled, and bundled, while Netscape didn't get better (or bundled), and I was a minority. Now IE is used by, what, 74% of the surfers? Whatever the ~exact number, Navigator (or the standards) are not thought of when many people make web pages, so I miss those 'new and improved features'. I don't blame MS for feature-creep (too much), because that's what Netscape did before, that's where HTML 3.2 came from, and that is where some innovation on the web comes from.
• I like speed, so for a long time, I didn't update my browser, knowing bloat would slow my old machine. (I started with Netscape 3.0, Win 3.1, on my 486DX 80 MHz, 16MB RAM, 256KB of video RAM, and 500MB drive in 1996. I bought a Pentium 233MMX, 80 MB, 2MB video RAM, 2 GB drive in 1998. Not a speed demon.) But I began to worry about bugs and exploits, and some pages not loading properly, so I began updating my browser.
• Last year when I switched from Netscape Mail to Eudora because of PGP support, I tried to find a copy of the most recent Navigator as a stand-alone browser. Too bad for me. So I tried using Navigator 4.0x, but I can't see PNGs, plugins are hard to deal with, and it just doesn't let me do as much as more recent versions of Netscape. So I use Netscape 4.5, 4.7, 4.7x. I'm not happy, but at least everything works.

But Mozilla is there to save me! Hurray! Three cheers to RMS, ESR, GNU, FSF, BSD, and every other acronym who is working to make software free and high in quality!!

• So I get M16 and test it. Bugs, but it works. Why don't I see images, is it just me? Slow, but it might just be my old 233MHz/80MB RAM/Win98. And it's standards compliant. Woohoo!
• Hey, Netscape 6, PR1, cool. Bugs, but it works. I still don't see GIFs. Oh, well.
• M17, even better. Still no images. I can live.
• Netscape 6, PR2. Arrrgghhh!! It crashed right after the install. The install felt like a 56k, not my T1. Where is that uninstall, get it off of my machine.

I feel let down. Maybe unreasonably, but that's how I feel. Why do I have problems with two consecutive versions of Netscape? I updated 4.73 to get rid of the problems, but wound up with problems. I like Mozilla, but it's in beta, so I don't want to rely on it.

BTW, I'm in MS for two reasons:

1. I'm a student in Mechanical Engineering, and the popular engineering software is written for MS, (AutoCAD had cut support for Unix before Linux became popular) and I need MS to work for school.
2. I'm a student in Mechanical Engineering: and I have no time, I tried RedHat on another partition, but it wasn't worth 30% of my 2 gig drive when I only used it a few times a week to learn/play.

Side rant: I had to install VBScripting to use 'Windows Update', to get 'Critical Security Updates'!! Talk about irony, install and enable VBS to update Security!

Louis Wu

"Where do you want to go ...