When I first began searching for a UNIX which would run on PCs back in the late 80s, I contacted SCO and asked them to send me some literature. About a month later, some stuff landed at my door step which had little to do with what I wanted to know. Accompanying the stuff was a SCO packing list which was printed on what looked like ditto master paper (for those of you too young to remember what ditto masters were, think bottom most copy of your Fed Ex label, the one where you have to press the pen down real hard to get anything to come out).
The packing list output itself was of COBOL vintage.
I'm a quick learner so have been ininterested in SCO since then.
My use of the term 'hacker' during the 80s was someone who codes fast to get something done quickly without necessarily doing a good job of design or thinking through all consequences of the hack.
Real programmers don't hack -- they design, then they implement.:-)
However, that being said, hacking is fun and sometimes necessary. But most programs have far more hacks in them than they should.
Oh, by the way, the recent pejorative use of the term 'hacker' to describe people who hack into systems via devious means is a perfectly normal evoluation of lanaguage. Most words in English have several meanings, some of which end up having little to do with one another. The is no single meaning for the verb 'to hack' or the noun 'hacker', rather there are two or three current usages.
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When I first began searching for a UNIX which
would run on PCs back in the late 80s, I
contacted SCO and asked them to send me some
literature. About a month later, some stuff
landed at my door step which had little to do
with what I wanted to know. Accompanying the
stuff was a SCO packing list which was printed
on what looked like ditto master paper (for those
of you too young to remember what ditto masters
were, think bottom most copy of your Fed Ex
label, the one where you have to press the pen
down real hard to get anything to come out).
The packing list output itself was of COBOL
vintage.
I'm a quick learner so have been ininterested
in SCO since then.
:-)
I go back to the 70s, the AI hype and all that.
My use of the term 'hacker' during the 80s was someone who codes fast to get something done quickly without necessarily doing a good job of design or thinking through all consequences of the hack.
Real programmers don't hack -- they design, then they implement. :-)
However, that being said, hacking is fun and sometimes necessary. But most programs have far more hacks in them than they should.
Oh, by the way, the recent pejorative use of the term 'hacker' to describe people who hack into systems via devious means is a perfectly normal evoluation of lanaguage. Most words in English have several meanings, some of which end up having little to do with one another. The is no single meaning for the verb 'to hack' or the noun 'hacker', rather there are two or three current usages.
Cheers,
Dennis
http://oceanpark.com