Date: 14 Aug 2000 02:01:17 +0200 From: Juergen Nickelsen <jnickelsen@acm.org> To: Ben Smithurst <ben@FreeBSD.ORG> Cc: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in>, doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: hacker v/s cracker Message-ID: <x7g0o8btiq.fsf@goting.jn.berlin.snafu.de> In-Reply-To: Ben Smithurst's message of "Sun, 13 Aug 2000 17:32:19 %2B0100" References: <20000813201719.A4355@physics.iisc.ernet.in> <20000813173219.X48327@strontium.scientia.demon.co.uk>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Ben Smithurst <ben@FreeBSD.ORG> writes: > Rahul Siddharthan wrote: > > > What is the freebsd policy on using the word "hacker"? Most old world > > "hackers" seem to prefer the term "cracker" for people who break > > into systems. FreeBSD has a -hackers list which is obviously not > > for vandals, but the security section of the handbook also refers to > > people who break in as "hackers". Is that appropriate? > > It certainly isn't. I'll change that to "attackers" unless anyone > objects, since that's used a lot elsewhere in the security section and > in the security(7) man page. "Intruder" is also user a lot, but I think > "attacker" sounds more appropriate. Personally I try to keep using the word "hacker" in the Jargon File sense. This is in my context (I am a networking consultant in a company in Germany) sometimes difficult, as "hacker" is there often used for the attacker or intruder, and I don't always want to burden the discussion by beginning with a proper definition of the word "hacker" and why I want to use it this way and not the other. On the other hand, in documents I write I always use the words "attacker" or "intruder" (or their German equivalents, respectively) because this avoids any ambiguity and fits the level of style of these documents better. [Please CC me as long as necessary -- I don't read freebsd-doc.] -- Juergen Nickelsen To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?x7g0o8btiq.fsf>