Hacking v/s Cracking

I'm against all crackers!

Ok guys I'm sometimes really fed up of some journalists who confuse hackers with crackers.
In my opinion, hackers are people who make stuff and are curious about the way those things work. They try to create and share effective and smarter ways of making stuff work like robots, software, etc.
But some people confuse "hacking with "cracking". There are people who exploit their knowledge of hacking to do unlawful stuff, blah blah blah.
Why don't these guys just go away somewhere who call themselves as hackers? They are a shame to the hacking community.
We guys are building interesting stuff and sharing, but these crackers just spoil our name by telling themselves as "hackers"
Don't you think that people should also be taught about what "hacking" really means?
Thanks for reading! :slight_smile:

What if you do both?

Slightly more seriously, the English language is defined through use and there's not much you can do to stop it changing (sadly). If you want a static language try Latin or French.

It's not the journalists. It't the way mass media work. Are you aware of these links:

http://www.chomsky.info/articles/199710--.htm

I think this is pretty much to the point.

The mass media do not make money by being precise. And they are definitely not pro education. This would counter their profitability goals.

Udo

I commented on this over at DesignSpark. Thing is, since Hanckers aren't necesarily crackers, but "hacker" is often used in reference to a cracker, hackers should just start using a new word to describe them, I suggested a few silly one's, one of which is "Inventineer".

Just a thought.

Divyanshu:
We guys are building interesting stuff and sharing, but these crackers just spoil our name by telling themselves as "hackers"
Don't you think that people should also be taught about what "hacking" really means?

As has already been noted, this discussion has been going on for a very long time - well over 20+ years, I'm pretty certain.

Furthermore, I still believe in the credo that the only way someone can legitimately call themselves a "hacker", is when one of their peers in the world of hacking recognizes them in such a manner (when someone notes you are a "wizard" - you know you have made it).

Lastly - "hacking" means many things to many people; there honestly isn't one set definition. This whole discussion became tiresome a long time ago; I am surprised people still care nowadays (might as well be arguing PC vs. Mac vs. Amiga - oops, now I've done it!)...

XD

Crackers has taken on a pretty low meaning nowadays, and because of the craziness with identity theft early last decade I don't think this will ever change. On the upside, to those who know what it means you get kudos; to those who don't, they don't care much anyway.

Its a bit late now, hackers means bad guys and crackers are something you pull at Christmas. Way back (eighties) I was proud to call myself a hacker, not anymore.