The Hacker's Code of Ethics

      Levy (1984) suggests that there is a "code of ethics" for hacking which, though not pasted on the walls, is in the air:

 

• Access to Computers - and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works - should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!

   

• All information should be free.

   

• Mistrust Authority - Promote Decentralization.

   

• Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.

   

• You can create art and beauty on a computer.

   

• Computers can change your life for the better.

   

 

Reference:

Levy, Steven. 1984. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 458 pp.

 

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Last updated 97/02/24
J.A.N. Lee.