From: synman@ramparts.com (Lot 47) Newsgroups: alt.hackers Subject: The OFFICIAL alt.hackers FAQ Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 23:00:03 -0900 Organization: Biocyber Research Associates Lines: 139 Approved: Um-hum Message-ID: References: <6ad2l2$cs1$1@news2.digex.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: liv1-37.transport.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit x-no-archive: yes x-sun-charset: US-ASCII X-Newsreader: Yet Another NewsWatcher 2.3.4 Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!news-xfer.siscom.net!streamer1.cleveland.iagnet.net!qual.net!iagnet.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!207.97.14.174!europa.clark.net!209.69.36.218!news1.ispnews.com!news8.ispnews.com!synman alt.hackers FAQ I donıt think GCıs auto-posting works so hot anymore... So I took it upon myself to help it out, just this one time... 47 OB Hack- [ kinda lame, but...] I needed a 12v hot wire in the middle rear of my van for a TV. but it is heavily upholstered and fitted out. No way to fish a wire, and the lights in the rear valance piece are recessed and the wiring was drawn up too tight to splice in a ŒTı. Solution? I stuck piece of same gauge wire in a Scotch-lock, unscrewed one end of the valance, reached up behind with the Scotch-lock in a pair of mini needlenose pliers, slid the S-L along the taut hot wire as far as I could readh, the snapped the S-lock shut. The tail end of the pigtail, I tucked up under the valance, leading to my new TV installation, and reattached the end of the valance. (I tolı ya it wuz lame...) ***************************************************************** This FAQ is being auto-posted to alt.hackers. I am keeping a copy of it on this web site for archival purposes. Its purpose is to let readers know what alt.hackers is about. It was last changed on October 24, 1995. -- Greg Corey (gregc@msn.fullfeed.com) ***************************************************************** 0) What's a hacker? This is kind of like asking a Zen Buddhist "What is Zen?", or asking Louis Armstrong "What is jazz?" A hacker is someone who hacks. What is a hack? There's a pretty good attempt at a definition of a "hack" in the Jargon File/New Hacker's Dictionary (WWW to http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon.html or buy the book ISBN# 0-262-68069-6) or read abridged exerpt below. However, one thing is crystal clear: hacking, as the word is used here, is *not* about breaking things. The media has used "hacker" to mean someone who breaks into computer systems for 10+ years. They are using the word incorrectly. Those people are correctly called "crackers". Some people, usually teenagers but some older, still believe the media's incorrect definition and apply it to themselves thinking they are some sort of glorious outlaw hacker. These people are sadly misguided. Perhaps someday they will figure out what hacking is really about. Perhaps reading this newsgroup will help. If you see someone posting a crack and calling it a hack, you might send them a copy of this FAQ or simply ignore them. If you ARE one of those people, I suggest you try the newsgroups alt.crackers, alt.cracks, alt.2600, or alt.cracking.files as those are typical cracker groups. *****Abridged exerpt from the Jargon File***** hack

1. n. Originally, a quick job that produces what is needed, but not well. 2. n. An incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed. 4. vt. To work on something (typically a program). In an immediate sense: "What are you doing?" "I'm hacking TECO." In a general (time-extended) sense: "What do you do around here?" "I hack TECO." More generally, "I hack `foo"' is roughly equivalent to "`foo' is my major interest (or project)". "I hack solid-state physics." See Hacking X for Y. 6. vi. To interact with a computer in a playful and exploratory rather than goal-directed way. "Whatcha up to?" "Oh, just hacking." Additional note from the jargon file: Hacking might be characterized as `an appropriate application of ingenuity'. Whether the result is a quick-and-dirty patchwork job or a carefully crafted work of art, you have to admire the cleverness that went into it. An important secondary meaning of hack is `a creative practical joke'. 1) What's the newsgroup for? It's for reporting what you have hacked on lately. No hack too big or small. Basically there are only two rules. Rule One is that EVERY POSTING SHOULD HAVE SOME MENTION OF A HACK IN IT! Rule Two is that YOU SHOULD NEVER POST A TEST MESSAGE! Rule One: Discussion and requests for assistance are only allowed if you also contribute a report of something you hacked. This one rule is not enforced, but I encourage everyone to ignore people who violate it, or if you must, remind them of the rule via email instead of via further inappropriate postings. Some posters refer to their hack as an OBligatory HACK, hence the acronym. If you wish to discuss a topic without the OBHack, please post your message to alt.hackers.discuss. If alt.hackers.discuss is not carried by your system, please ask your newsmaster to carry it. Rule Two: Do not post test messages to alt.hackers. Post test messages to alt.dev.null. Do not even post *local* test messages, since you stand a good chance of being surprised by what your news system thinks is "local". Posting a test message without a hack is a guaranteed bozo indicator. Do you want your introduction to this group to make you look like a bozo? If you don't have a hack to post, wait until you do and then work on posting that. As a rule, most people here are not impressed by an OBHACK of "this post", so try to have at least a small hack to share before you try to post unless you went through something unusually hard to post. To cut down on mindless violations of these rules, the group is self-moderated - marked as moderated, but with no moderator's address. Anyone who can figure out how to approve a message is welcome to post. I'm not going to post the (trivial) instructions for actually doing it, and I'm not going to answer Email requests for instructions either. There are several trivial ways, so if you try one and it fails don't start whining, start hacking! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE use the usenet group alt.dev.null to test posting on. It is set up exactly the same way as alt.hackers and alt.hackers.discuss. As an additional note, users from AOL and other "canned" online services may have to work harder than most to post here due to AOL (and other services') restrictions on usenet posting. Please don't whine about it, just make it your first OBHack to be one of the few to post from AOL and then start hacking! One final note. Email requests for information on how to become a cracker or a hacker will be ignored.