Editing Hacker culture (section)

==Uses==
While using ''hacker'' to refer to someone who enjoys playful cleverness is most often applied to computer programmers, it is sometimes used for people who apply the same attitude to other fields.<ref name="ESR_howto">{{cite web
|url=http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html
|title=How To Become A Hacker
|access-date=2008-03-16
|last=Raymond
|first=Eric
|author-link=Eric S. Raymond
|date=2008-01-08
|publisher=Thyrsus Enterprises
|archive-date=2006-12-19
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061219163441/http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref> For example, [[Richard Stallman]] describes the silent composition ''[[4′33″]]'' by John Cage and the 14th-century [[palindrome#Music|palindromic]] three-part piece "Ma Fin Est Mon Commencement" by [[Guillaume de Machaut]] as hacks.<ref name=on_hacking /> According to the Jargon File,<ref name="J_F_hacker" /> the word ''hacker'' was used in a similar sense among radio amateurs in the 1950s, predating the software hacking community.

=== Programming ===
''[[The Boston Globe]]'' in 1984 defined "hackers" as "computer nuts".<ref name="dyer19840506">{{Cite news |url=http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/Articles/globe84.html |title=Masters of the Game |last=Dyer |first=Richard |date=1984-05-06 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970607204921/http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/Articles/globe84.html |archive-date=1997-06-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In their programmer subculture, a hacker is a person who follows a spirit of playful cleverness and loves programming. It is found in an originally academic movement unrelated to computer security and most visibly associated with [[free software]], [[Open-source model|open source]] and [[demoscene]]. It also has a [[hacker ethic]], based on the idea that writing software and sharing the result on a voluntary basis is a good idea, and that information should be free, but that it's not up to the hacker to make it free by breaking into private computer systems. This hacker ethic was publicized and perhaps originated in [[Steven Levy]]'s ''[[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution]]'' (1984). It contains a codification of its principles.

The programmer subculture of hackers disassociates from the mass media's pejorative use of the word 'hacker' referring to computer security, and usually prefer the term 'cracker' for that meaning. Complaints about supposed mainstream misuse started as early as 1983, when media used "hacker" to refer to the computer criminals involved in [[The 414s]] case.<ref>{{cite newsgroup|newsgroup=net.misc|author=Joe Wilson|date=19 September 1983 <!--13:50:25 EDT-->|title=for hack ( er ) s who want to complain to CBS|url=https://groups.google.com/group/net.misc/msg/5f706369944b69d6|access-date=28 July 2016|archive-date=5 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605161725/http://groups.google.com/group/net.misc/msg/5f706369944b69d6|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the programmer subculture of hackers, a computer hacker is a person who enjoys designing software and building programs with a sense for aesthetics and playful cleverness. The term hack in this sense can be traced back to "describe the elaborate college pranks that...students would regularly devise" (Levy, 1984 p.&nbsp;10). To be considered a 'hack' was an honor among like-minded peers as "to qualify as a hack, the feat must be imbued with innovation, style and technical virtuosity" (Levy, 1984 p.&nbsp;10) The [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] [[Tech Model Railroad Club]] Dictionary defined hack in 1959 (not yet in a computer context) as "1) an article or project without constructive end; 2) a project undertaken on bad self-advice; 3) an entropy booster; 4) to produce, or attempt to produce, a hack(3)", and "hacker" was defined as "one who hacks, or makes them". Much of TMRC's jargon was later imported into early computing culture, because the club started using a [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[PDP-1]] and applied its local model railroad slang in this computing context. Initially incomprehensible to outsiders, the slang also became popular in MIT's computing environments beyond the club. Other examples of jargon imported from the club are 'losing' ("when a piece of equipment is not working")<ref name="Levy" /> and 'munged' ("when a piece of equipment is ruined").<ref name="Levy" />

Others did not always view hackers with approval. [[List of MIT fraternities, sororities, and ILGs|MIT living groups]] in 1989 avoided advertising their sophisticated [[Project Athena]] workstations to prospective members because they wanted residents who were interested in people, not computers, with one fraternity member stating that "We were worried about the hacker subculture".<ref name="garfinkel19890203">{{cite news | url=http://simson.net/clips/1989/1989.TechRev.Athena.pdf | title=Students Log on to ATHENA | work=Technology Review | date=Feb–Mar 1989 | access-date=25 January 2016 | author=Garfinkel, Simson L. | pages=7–10 | author-link=Simson Garfinkel | archive-date=9 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409003140/http://simson.net/clips/1989/1989.TechRev.Athena.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref>

According to [[Eric S. Raymond]],<ref>Eric S.Raymond: [http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/hacker-history/hacker-history.html A Brief History of Hackerdom] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220005644/http://catb.org/~esr/writings/hacker-history/hacker-history.html |date=2015-12-20 }} (2000)</ref> the Open Source and Free Software hacker subculture developed in the 1960s among 'academic hackers'<ref>{{cite book |first=Eric Steven |last=Raymond |author-link=Eric S. Raymond |chapter-url=http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/ch20s06.html |title=The Art of Unix Programming |chapter=Reasons to Believe |date=19 September 2003 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |access-date=6 September 2015 |archive-date=18 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718221051/http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/ch20s06.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> working on early [[minicomputer]]s in [[computer science]] environments in the United States.

Hackers were influenced by and absorbed many ideas of key technological developments and the people associated with them. Most notable is the technical culture of the pioneers of the [[ARPANET]], starting in 1969. The [[PDP-10]] AI machine at MIT, running the [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]] operating system and connected to the ARPANET, provided an early hacker meeting point. After 1980 the subculture coalesced with the culture of [[Unix]]. Since the mid-1990s, it has been largely coincident with what is now called the [[free software movement|free software]] and [[open source movement]].

Many programmers have been labeled "great hackers",<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html | title=Great Hackers | author=Graham, Paul | year=2004 | author-link=Paul Graham (computer programmer) | access-date=2015-09-06 | archive-date=2015-09-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906064309/http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html | url-status=live }}</ref> but the specifics of who that label applies to is a matter of opinion. Certainly major contributors to [[computer science]] such as [[Edsger Dijkstra]] and [[Donald Knuth]], as well as the inventors of popular software such as [[Linus Torvalds]] ([[Linux]]), and [[Ken Thompson (computer programmer)|Ken Thompson]] and [[Dennis Ritchie]] ([[Unix]] and [[C (programming language)|C programming language]]) are likely to be included in any such list; see also [[List of programmers]]. People primarily known for their contributions to the consciousness of the programmer subculture of hackers include [[Richard Stallman]], the founder of the free software movement and the [[GNU project]], president of the [[Free Software Foundation]] and author of the famous [[Emacs]] text editor as well as the [[GNU Compiler Collection|GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)]], and [[Eric S. Raymond]], one of the founders of the [[Open Source Initiative]] and writer of the famous text [[The Cathedral and the Bazaar]] and many other essays, maintainer of the [[Jargon File]] (which was previously maintained by [[Guy L. Steele, Jr.]]).

Within the computer programmer subculture of hackers, the term hacker is also used for a programmer who reaches a goal by employing a series of modifications to extend existing [[source code|code]] or resources. In this sense, it can have a negative connotation of using inelegant [[kludge]]s to accomplish programming tasks that are quick, but ugly, inelegant, difficult to extend, hard to maintain and inefficient. This derogatory form of the noun "[[Hack (technology slang)|hack]]" derives from the everyday English sense "to cut or shape by or as if by crude or ruthless strokes" [Merriam-Webster] and is even used among users of the positive sense of "hacker" who produces "cool" or "neat" hacks. In other words, to "hack" at an original creation, as if with an axe, is to force-fit it into being usable for a task not intended by the original creator, and a "hacker" would be someone who does this habitually. (The original creator and the hacker may be the same person.) This usage is common in both programming, engineering and building. In programming, hacking in this sense appears to be tolerated and seen as a necessary compromise in many situations. Some argue that it should not be, due to this negative meaning; others argue that some kludges can, for all their ugliness and imperfection, still have "hack value".

In non-software engineering, the culture is less tolerant of unmaintainable solutions, even when intended to be temporary, and describing someone as a "hacker" might imply that they lack professionalism. In this sense, the term has no real positive connotations, except for the idea that the hacker is capable of doing modifications that allow a system to work in the short term, and so has some sort of marketable skills. However, there is always the understanding that a more skillful or technical logician could have produced successful modifications that would not be considered a "hack-job". The definition is similar to other, non-computer based uses of the term "hack-job". For instance, a professional modification of a production sports car into a racing machine would not be considered a hack-job, but a cobbled together backyard mechanic's result could be. Even though the outcome of a race of the two machines could not be assumed, a quick inspection would instantly reveal the difference in the level of professionalism of the designers. The adjective associated with hacker is "hackish" (see the [[Jargon file]]).

In a very universal sense, hacker also means someone who makes things work beyond perceived limits in a clever way in general, without necessarily referring to computers, especially at MIT.<ref name=what_is >{{cite web |url=http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is |title=What Is a Hacker? |work=How To Become A Hacker |publisher=Thyrsus Enterprises |author=Eric Steven Raymond |year=2001 |access-date=2008-10-18 |archive-date=2006-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061219163441/http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is |url-status=live }}</ref> That is, people who apply the creative attitude of software hackers in fields other than computing. This includes even activities that predate computer hacking, for example [[reality hacking|reality hackers]] or [[urban spelunker]]s (exploring undocumented or unauthorized areas in buildings). One specific example is clever pranks<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hacks.mit.edu/ |title=MIT Gallery of Hacks |publisher=Hacks.mit.edu |access-date=2013-11-30 |archive-date=2008-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081107072658/http://hacks.mit.edu/ |url-status=live }}</ref> traditionally perpetrated by MIT students, with the perpetrator being called hacker. For example, when MIT students surreptitiously put a fake police car atop the dome on MIT's Building 10,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1994/cp_car/ |title=IHTFP Hack Gallery: CP Car on the Great Dome |publisher=Hacks.mit.edu |date=1994-05-09 |access-date=2013-11-30 |archive-date=2013-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131128141117/http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1994/cp_car/ |url-status=live }}</ref> that was a hack in this sense, and the students involved were therefore hackers. Other types of hacking are [[reality hacking|reality hacker]]s, [[Wetware (brain)|wetware]] hackers ("hack your brain"), and [[media hacker]]s ("hack your reputation"). In a similar vein, a "hack" may refer to a [[mathematics|math]] hack, that is, a clever solution to a mathematical problem. All of these uses have spread beyond MIT.

=== Ethical Hacking ===
[https://www.csoonline.com/article/563681/what-is-ethical-hacking-getting-paid-to-break-into-computers.html CSO Online] defined ethical hacking as going into devices and computer systems belonging to an organization, with its explicit permissions, to assess and test the efficacy of the organization's cybersecurity defenses. Generally, organizations engage the services of ethical hackers either through third-party cybersecurity firms or under contract. Their main job is to identify and fix security gaps before threat-actors find them and exploit them. This proactive approach to cybersecurity testing leads to significant cost savings for organizations.

Ethical hacking is the process of software engines running real-world cyber threats to assess the survivability of a company's digital structure. Ethical hackers play the role of cyber attackers by executing assessments, penetration tests, and modeling tactics, techniques, and procedures used by threat-actors. This careful examination provides an organization with the identification of weaknesses in its security systems, enabling the organization to employ necessary measures towards fortifying its defense.

Cyber-attacks can have significant financial implications for a company. In such cases, the organizations could have been saved from these gigantic financial losses by identifying and fixing the vulnerabilities discovered by an ethical hacker. Moreover, for smaller organizations, the impact can be even more dramatic as it can potentially save the business's very existence.

Furthermore, the act of ethical hacking also molds the larger hacker culture. Hacking skills, traditionally associated with breaking the law, have changed dramatically with the emergence of ethical hacking. Ethical hacking helped legitimize hacking skills which can now be talked about publicly. This shift challenges the stereotypical perception of hackers as criminals, allowing for greater emphasis on their positive contributions to cybersecurity. Ethical hacking has drastically changed the public perception of hackers. Rather than viewing persons with hacker skills as perpetrators of cybercrime, they can be viewed as part of the solution in fighting against cybercrime. The ethical hacker with knowledge and expertise stands as guardian to the digital assets, working beforehand alongside organizations to build up a more secure online landscape.

Ethical hacking is not only a proactive defense for organizations but also brings about the desired cultural revolution within the realm of the hacking fraternity. Ethical hacking, on its part through focusing on the constructive application of hacking skills, has become an integral activity in the collective effort towards fortification of cybersecurity and redefining hackers' image in the public eye.

=== Home computing enthusiasts ===
{{main|Hacking of consumer electronics}}
In yet another context, a hacker is a computer hobbyist who pushes the limits of software or hardware. The home computer hacking subculture relates to the hobbyist home computing of the late 1970s, beginning with the availability of [[MITS Altair]]. An influential organization was the [[Homebrew Computer Club]]. However, its roots go back further to [[amateur radio]] enthusiasts. The amateur radio slang referred to creatively tinkering to improve performance as "hacking" already in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://hackswiki.com/ |title=hacker |work=The Jargon Lexicon |access-date=2008-10-18 |archive-date=2015-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806020812/http://hackswiki.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

A large overlaps between hobbyist hackers and the programmer subculture hackers existed during the Homebrew Club's days, but the interests and values of both communities somewhat diverged. Today, the hobbyists focus on commercial [[ROM hacking|computer and video games]], [[software cracking]] and exceptional computer programming ([[demo scene]]). Also of interest to some members of this group is the modification of computer hardware and other electronic devices, see [[modding]].

[[File:Bending.jpg|thumb|A [[DIY]] musician probes the circuit board of a synthesizer for [[Circuit bending|"bends"]] using a jeweler's screwdriver and alligator clips.]]
Electronics hobbyists working on machines other than computers also fall into this category. This includes people who do simple modifications to [[graphing calculator]]s, [[video game console]]s, electronic [[musical keyboard]]s or other device (see [[CueCat]] for a notorious example) to expose or add functionality to a device that was unintended for use by end users by the company who created it. A number of [[techno]] musicians have modified 1980s-era [[Casio SK-1]] sampling keyboards to create unusual sounds by doing [[circuit bending]]: connecting wires to different leads of the integrated circuit chips. The results of these DIY experiments range from opening up previously inaccessible features that were part of the chip design to producing the strange, dis-harmonic digital tones that became part of the techno music style.
Companies take different attitudes towards such practices, ranging from open acceptance (such as [[Texas Instruments]] for its graphing calculators and [[Lego]] for its [[Lego Mindstorms]] robotics gear) to outright hostility (such as [[Microsoft]]'s attempts to lock out [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]] hackers or the [[digital rights management|DRM]] routines on [[Blu-ray Disc]] players designed to sabotage compromised players.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}})

In this context, a "hack" refers to a [[Computer program|program]] that (sometimes illegally) modifies another program, often a video game, giving the user access to features otherwise inaccessible to them. As an example of this use, for [[Palm OS]] users (until the 4th iteration of this [[operating system]]), a "hack" refers to an extension of the operating system which provides additional functionality. Term also refers to those people who cheat on video games using special software. This can also refer to the [[iOS jailbreaking|jailbreaking]] of [[iPhone]]s.

=== Hacker artists ===
{{see also|Fractal art|algorithmic art|interactive art}}
Hacker artists create [[art]] by hacking on [[technology]] as an [[Media (arts)|artistic medium]]. This has extended the definition of the term and what it means to be a hacker. Such [[artist]]s may work with [[graphics]], [[computer hardware]], [[sculpture]], [[music]] and other [[sound|audio]], [[animation]], [[video]], [[software]], [[simulation]]s, [[mathematics]], reactive [[Sense|sensory]] systems, text, [[poetry]], [[literature]], or any combination thereof.

[[Dartmouth College]] musician [[Larry Polansky]] states:
{{quote|Technology and art are inextricably related. Many musicians, video artists, graphic artists, and even poets who work with technology—whether designing it or using it—consider themselves to be part of the 'hacker community.' Computer artists, like non-art hackers, often find themselves on society's fringes, developing strange, innovative uses of existing technology. There is an empathetic relationship between those, for example, who design experimental music software and hackers who write communications [[freeware]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060721013203/http://www.the-open-space.org/osonline/polansky/singing.html Singing Together, Hacking Together, Plundering Together: Sonic Intellectual Property in Cybertimes] by Larry Polansky</ref>}}

Another description is offered by [[Jenny Marketou]]: 
{{quote|Hacker artists operate as [[culture]] hackers who manipulate existing techno-[[semiotics|semiotic]] structures towards a different end, to get inside cultural systems on the net and make them do things they were never intended to do.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thing.net/~jmarketo/interviews/cornelia.shtml |title=Cornelia Sollfrank |publisher=[[Thing.net]] |date=2000-07-25 |access-date=2011-07-01 |archive-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629002519/http://www.thing.net/~jmarketo/interviews/cornelia.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

A successful software and hardware hacker artist is [[Mark Lottor]] (mkl), who has created the 3-D light art projects entitled the [[Cubatron]], and the [[Big Round Cubatron]]. This art is made using custom computer technology, with specially designed [[circuit board]]s and programming for [[microprocessor]] chips to manipulate the [[LED]] lights.

[[Don Hopkins]] is a software hacker artist well known for his artistic cellular automata. This art, created by a [[cellular automata]] computer program, generates objects which randomly bump into each other and in turn create more objects and designs, similar to a lava lamp, except that the parts change color and form through interaction. Hopkins Says: {{quote|Cellular automata are simple rules that are applied to a grid of cells, or the pixel values of an image. The same rule is applied to every cell, to determine its next state, based on the previous state of that cell and its neighboring cells. There are many interesting cellular automata rules, and they all look very different, with amazing animated dynamic effects. '[[Conway's Game of Life|Life]]' is a widely known cellular automata rule, but many other lesser known rules are much more interesting.}}

Some hacker artists create art by writing computer code, and others, by developing hardware. Some create with existing software tools such as [[Adobe Photoshop]] or [[GNU Image Manipulation Program|GIMP]].

The creative process of hacker artists can be more abstract than artists using non-technological media. For example, [[mathematician]]s have produced visually stunning graphic presentations of [[fractal]]s, which hackers have further enhanced, often producing detailed and intricate graphics and animations from simple mathematical formulas.

<gallery>
file:Bubbles2.gif|''Bubbles'' was created using watercolors, then scanned into a computer. Colors were then manipulated using a software imaging tool.
file:Sunrise-lile.gif|''Sunrise'' was created using pen and ink, then scanned into a computer and colored with a software imaging tool.
file:Hills7p.gif|''Rolling Golden Hills of California'' was created using pencil, scanned, and then painted with a software imaging tool.
file:Bransleys fern.png|''[[Barnsley's fern]]'', a fractal fern computed using an [[iterated function system]]
file:Animated fractal mountain.gif|A fractal that models the surface of a mountain
</gallery>

==== Art ====
{{Div col|colwidth=13em}}
* [[Burning Man Festival]]
* [[Computer art]]
* [[Computer music]]
* [[Digital art]]
* [[Demoscene]]
* [[Electronic art]]
* [[Electronic art music]]
* [[Electronica]]
* [[Experiments in Art and Technology]]
* [[Generative art]]
* [[Internet art]]
* [[Maker movement]]
* [[Media art]]
* [[Robotic art]]
* [[Software art]]
{{div col end}}

==== Hacker art mentions ====
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061031100214/http://www.aec.at/en/archives/festival_archive/festival_catalogs/festival_artikel.asp?iProjectID=8537 "Vector in Open Space"] by Gerfried Stocker 1996.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120528092810/http://switch.sjsu.edu/nextswitch/switch_engine/front/front.php?artc=222 Switch|Journal] Jun 14 1998.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061025010850/http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_07.16.98/news_views/eyenet16.html Eye Weekly] "Tag – who's it?" by Ingrid Hein, July 16, 1998.
*[http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=1999-07-05-003-10-NW-LF Linux Today] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709085309/http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=1999-07-05-003-10-NW-LF |date=2011-07-09 }} "Playing the Open Source Game" by {{ill|Shawn Hargreaves|pl}}, Jul 5, 1999.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060202114820/http://library.cant.ac.uk/e-resources/rbs-art.htm Canterbury Christ Church University Library] Resources by Subject – Art & Design, 2001.
*[http://www.steim.org/steim/workshops.php?id=3&b=1&r=0 SuperCollider Workshop / Seminar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928134337/http://www.steim.org/steim/workshops.php?id=3&b=1&r=0 |date=2007-09-28 }} Joel Ryan describes collaboration with hacker artists of Silicon Valley. 21 March 2002
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150912172219/http://www.xminc.com/mt/archives/2003_09.html Anthony Barker's Weblog on Linux, Technology and the Economy] "Why Geeks Love Linux", Sept 2003.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070122132507/http://art.ntu.ac.uk/performance_research/birringer/daplit3.htm Live Art Research] Gesture and Response in Field-Based Performance by [[Sha Xin Wei]] & Satinder Gill, 2005.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180201075340/http://www.technonerdz.org/2014/10/hackers-everything-there-is-to-know-about/ Hackers, Who Are They] "The Hackers Identity", October 2014.