[1] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

hacker ethic n. 1. the belief that information-sharing is a powerful
   positive good, and that it is an ethical duty of hackers to share their
   expertise by writing open-source code and facilitating access to
   information and to computing resources wherever possible. 2. the belief
   that system-cracking for fun and exploration is ethically ok as long as
   the cracker commits no theft, vandalism, or breach of confidentiality.

   both of these normative ethical principles are widely, but by no means
   universally, accepted among hackers. most hackers subscribe to the
   hacker ethic in sense 1, and many act on it by writing and giving away
   open-source software. a few go further and assert that _all_ information
   should be free and _any_ proprietary control of it is bad; this is the
   philosophy behind the gnu project.

   sense 2 is more controversial: some people consider the act of
   cracking itself to be unethical, like breaking and entering. but the
   belief that `ethical' cracking excludes destruction at least moderates
   the behavior of people who see themselves as `benign' crackers see also
   samurai, gray hat. on this view, it may be one of the highest forms
   of hackerly courtesy to a break into a system, and then b explain to
   the sysop, preferably by email from a superuser account, exactly how
   it was done and how the hole can be plugged -- acting as an unpaid and
   unsolicited tiger team.

   the most reliable manifestation of either version of the hacker ethic
   is that almost all hackers are actively willing to share technical
   tricks, software, and where possible computing resources with other
   hackers. huge cooperative networks such as usenet, fidonet and the
   internet itself can function without central control because of this
   trait; they both rely on and reinforce a sense of community that may be
   hackerdom's most valuable intangible asset.


see also:
gnu samurai gray hat superuser tiger team usenet 
fidonet 

[2] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

hacker ethic
     
         1. the belief that information-sharing is a
        powerful positive good, and that it is an ethical duty of
        hackers to share their expertise by writing free software and
        facilitating access to information and to computing resources
        wherever possible.
     
        2. the belief that system-cracking for fun and exploration is
        ethically ok as long as the cracker commits no theft,
        vandalism, or breach of confidentiality.
     
        both of these normative ethical principles are widely, but by
        no means universally, accepted among hackers. most hackers
        subscribe to the hacker ethic in sense 1, and many act on it
        by writing and giving away free software.  a few go further
        and assert that all information should be free and any
        proprietary control of it is bad; this is the philosophy
        behind the gnu project.
     
        sense 2 is more controversial: some people consider the act of
        cracking itself to be unethical, like breaking and entering.
        but the belief that "ethical" cracking excludes destruction at
        least moderates the behaviour of people who see themselves as
        "benign" crackers see also samurai.  on this view, it may
        be one of the highest forms of hackerly courtesy to a break
        into a system, and then b explain to the sysop, preferably
        by e-mail from a superuser account, exactly how it was done
        and how the hole can be plugged - acting as an unpaid and
        unsolicited tiger team.
     
        the most reliable manifestation of either version of the
        hacker ethic is that almost all hackers are actively willing
        to share technical tricks, software, and where possible
        computing resources with other hackers.  huge cooperative
        networks such as usenet, fidonet and internet see
        internet address can function without central control
        because of this trait; they both rely on and reinforce a sense
        of community that may be hackerdom's most valuable intangible
        asset.
     
        1995-12-18
     
     
see also:
gnu samurai superuser tiger team usenet fidonet 
internet address 

Hacker Ethic >> H Words
Hacker Ethic, definition of term: Hacker Ethic
hacker+ethic_pag1.html

Hacker >> H Words
Hacker, definition of term: Hacker
hacker_pag1.html

Ethic >> E Words
Ethic, definition of term: Ethic
ethic_pag1.html

Hacker Humor >> H Words
Hacker Humor, definition of term: Hacker Humor
hacker+humor_pag1.html