full-disclosure - Re: Call For Participants For A Research Study Of Hacker Culture

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Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 10:55:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Thomas Holt <researchonhackers@...oo.com>
To: Simon Richter <Simon.Richter@...yros.de>
Cc: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk
Subject: Re: Call For Participants For A Research Study Of
	Hacker Culture

Sorry for any confusion.  
I am referring to hacker in the context of an individual with a strong interest in technology who uses their skill in unique or innovative ways (in essence, the definition provided by TNHD).  How did that knowledge base develop, what furthered your interests, and how do you apply your knowledge?
I am not interested in script kiddies, crackers, and lamers who are only out to perform malicious attacks and want to brag about their experiences without actually understanding the mechanics behind what they have done. 
I hope that clears things up, though if there is still any confusion please let me know. 
Thanks,
Tom

----- Original Message ----
From: Simon Richter <Simon.Richter@...yros.de>
To: Thomas Holt <researchonhackers@...oo.com>
Cc: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk
Sent: Friday, December 8, 2006 12:39:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Full-disclosure] Call For Participants For A Research Study Of Hacker Culture

Hello,

Thomas Holt wrote:

> The purpose of this research is to understand 
> the ways that people become interested in computers and hacking, their 
> motives for hacking, and how they apply their skills in different 
> settings.  This study will also consider individuals’ conceptions of 
> hacking and experiences in hacker culture.

[...]

> I am not a law enforcement agent nor connected with any law enforcement 
> agency and am not looking to hear crazy stories about how you hacked 
> NASA.  If you have, great, but I realize there is more to hacking than 
> simple media conceptions of the hacker as a criminal.  Instead, I am 
> interested in understanding hacking from the hackers’ point of view.

It is not clear how you understand the term "hacker". In your opening 
paragraph, it basically describes someone who is interested in "how 
things work" (which is close to the definition given in The New Hacker's 
Dictionary), in the closing it appears to describe people engaged in 
illegal activity (whom TNHD calls "crackers").

So the question is, are you researching the motivation for gaining 
knowledge about technology, or are you researching the motivation for 
illegal activity in a technology setting (which is not really related to 
knowledge gathering, as can be seen by the vast numbers of "script 
kiddies" out there)?

If this is about the former, I might have a few pointers for you.

    Simon

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