Hackers: Robin Hood like heroes
By: Jonathan Livers
Eng. 102
Michael D. Benton
As I scourer around the internet I find two particular definitions that catch my eye amongst the rest. One stating “one who gains unauthorized access to computer records, files, and programming script” one which we are all familiar with. But the other portrayed hackers as an artist who uses their talents for the production of trite work. I for one believe that both may be correct, but the word hacker has been used since the early 50’s and throughout the years the word has become an outlawed victim.
A book that I best found to depict these classifications was Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy. In the beginning of the book he doesn’t make hackers out to be criminals, but the masterminds of the present computer world. He list names and descriptions of people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Peter Samson, and Richard Stallman. All of which have defined the word “hacker” for several years. (Levy 13-17)
Years ago unauthorized access meant no student was able to use the computer without going through a superior first, which could take up to several days. Therefore members like Peter Samson of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) would go into the lab after hours and study the wiring and programming out of shear interest, without supervision he was free to explore the world of computers on his own, and if ballsy (in fear of corrupting the entire system) he could try his own programming. Hacking wasn’t illegal; it was just against the rules. But as a once wise man said, rules are meant to be broken. By Peter Samson breaking into the lab at night to do his own work, he has help to contribute to some of the first programs set up by Autodesk and NASA, a couple names you may have heard of.
Inside these old machines are hundreds of wires, nothing simple like today’s laptop which is nothing more than a notebook which we fold open and go to work. Early computers were massive, the size of refrigerators, not something you could carry in a knapsack, they could possibly take up to an hour to boot (start up) and take several minutes to type in the desire information for the program to work.
Those hackers were our genius. Which brings me to my next quarrel with the word hacker. In today’s society hacking is illegal, but is it? Again, the definition still stands to this day, one being to access computers without knowledge, and the other to be some sort of an artist. I feel that people get the words hacking and piracy mixed up. As long as the software is allowed access to by anyone, then they shall freely roam the script of any software. Piracy is the giving out of any script freely without the programmer’s permission or knowing so. Most hacker’s today work for specific companies which allow them to hack their software to find any loop holes and minor corrections that need to be made. Hacking is a profession in my book. Piracy on the other hand, I can understand, sites like piratebay.org allow people who have cracked a program to free base the software to be downloaded all over the web, which is high illegal. So next time your find yourself about to take the word hacker in vein, remember, hackers were our robin hood, they took from the authorized and gave knowledge to our future.
Citation Page
Levy, Steven. Hacker’s heroes of the computer revolution. 1st. 1. New York: O'Reily Media inc., 2010. 13-17. Print.
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