Fun and flames
Hi all,
Boy I MUST be nuts to comment on the flames around JOK3R request for info, but
here goes.
First of all, this is one of the best communities of programmers I have ever
seen. The list has an impressive number of people who are knowledgeable and who
are willing to help. I sometimes regret there it is hard for beginning and
middle level programmers to contribute, but that is not due to any desire or
practice on the part of anyone -- it seems to be just an indirect effect of the
"culture" of the list. And I am as much to blame, as I read the list, but fail
to offer much. Ah well...
To the point, then. As a faithful reader of the list, I have noticed flames
flare up and, due to general maturity, fade away before lasting harm is done.
In the process, there have been interesting insights into the individuals on the
list. For a while the neutral personality-free communications are suspended,
the curtain goes up, and we apprehend strong characters back there beyond the
hardware and wires. Within the always-to-be-remembered limits of the purpose of
the list, this is all to the good -- who wants to live in an inhuman world?
I have some ideas I can share about hackers, crackers, and vandals. Among some,
especially professional programmers, judgment of them has gone far beyond
opinion and has become a defensive redoubt from which to destroy the enemy. I
sympathize. The reality is, though, there is a wide range of approach to
software. Like literature, there is everything from subtle influence to
plagiarism. And all the while this has been true, there has been the greatest
growth of ideas and productivity in the shortest time of any technology.
Microsoft has been, ah, borrowed from by millions and it is one of the largest
and richest companies on earth. Is Bill a billion poorer than he would have
been? One weeps at the injustice.
Does someone use shareware without paying? Have you done this? Have you, in
your young days, borrowed a friend's copy of program X and loaded it on your
machine? Tch tch. Have you ever investigated a means to do a destructive
thing, realized you could do it, then turn away from doing it, because the
knowing was what attracted you, not the doing of harm?
I have not much sympathy for software publishers who are so lustful for money,
their customers and products are manipulated to that end. You see such products
-- they try to lock you in to their software world, using "proprietary" as a
means of isolating the customer from other options. Then they are kind enough
to offer yet another product to fix the limitations of the first. An on and on
until you are sealed in a Microsoft or Adobe world with no access to the
creativity of other publishers or (especially) freeware.
If the cracker breaks the nag, or whatever they do, it is to be expected. It is
a challenge. Most people who can afford the software will pay a reasonable
price for it, especially if there is real support and upgrade savings. (Treat
the customer right and he will treat you right.) Sometimes cracking is
laudable, as when years ago, a fellow figured out how to circumvent protection
on a Commodore product (GEOS) that prevented a user from making a backup of his
own copy of the software! (The publisher offered to do it for $10!)
None of this commentary is meant to give approval to the malignant person, who
gains a sick thrill from damaging another person or his property or his regard
for himself.
This topic has many levels, twists, turns, subtleties. No one is going to
convince another of the True Path. For myself, I try to keep a balance, without
sacrificing my ability to make a decision if it is needed. I will point out
that we deal freely with each other without knowing if we share the same
world-view and values. Just think how little we would talk if we waited to be
sure the other person had the Right Ideas as we, of course, do.
--DB James (Quark)
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