From: seanman...@aol.com (SeanMangan) Subject: america online Date: 1997/10/12 Message-ID: <19971012032701.XAA09676@ladder02.news.aol.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 279694967 X-Admin: n...@aol.com Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Newsgroups: alt.2600 This was originally a letter to 2600, which i've posted here in full. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- Dear 2600, I am of a generation that will see the golden years of the internet as we become interested in. This letter is mainly in response to a letter from Viral Tonic in issue fourteen, volume one. This letter was about America Online. So many people have these wacked out views of the service. The people in the little group i am in have it harder than anyone else. Magus made a good point; hackers today do have a certain bias... the major biases today are AOL users, and age. I am 13. I will admit to that, because it does_not_matter. There is no age, there is no race, there are ONLY minds, period. That's what people should understand. What is a hacker, in your eyes? Publicly, i've never really called myself a hacker, because of my age and AOL, my isp. So? I've made many, many posts to alt.2600, i've done what i can to help people, i've read what's available, and i've even sent a couple articles your way. And right now, I believe my voice should be heard, there is so much wrong with "hacker" culture, and I believe it needs to be addressed... Viral Tonic wrote "First off, if you were any kind of hacker, you wouldn't have gone with AOL". Well, I ask to you, what is a hacker? A hacker, in the minds of most people I've talked to who don't have the certain bias many letters to 2600 are written in, is anyone with a love of technology, an understanding of people, and the will to learn. Information is available. I've seen those who really try to learn shunned by people under this certain bias. Hacking is something that means nothing if you (1) refuse to accept the culture that goes with it (2) you can't accept the younger people (like me) who are trying to learn. It sux. people are regarded as "newbies" or "lamerz" by alt.2600, by hacker web pages, etc. etc. BECAUSE OF THE SIMPLE FACT that they went with AOL as an ISP. Yes, AOL's service has stupid, stupid rules and regulations. Yes, AOL's service does block you out from sending email to certain domains and most likely, Yes they do monitor everything you do in one way or another. They're a bloated system. So is AT&T, so is Pacific Bell, so is Microsoft. Have you ever seen masses of people ridicule you for using a pay fone or running windows? no. Hackers today have a certain coldness to them. In the 80's in the day's of the great MIT hacks, there was a culture to it. Maybe it's because I've grown up around MIT; knowing some of the people; maybe it makes this culture mean more to me. Viral Tonic tells us that if we want to be a hacker, we have to "learn C and get a substantial understanding of some sort of UNIX OS." and that's where I REALLY REALLY get mad. Hacking is nothing more than a love of computers. that's the belief so many people created their web pages and magazines, and earlier in the history of hackers BBS systems for. That's what is dying. Perhaps dead... Culture is gone, accept at the places like MIT, the places where people work together regardless of the fact that they WILL have different oppinions. THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER. PERIOD. being on AOL does not make you a "loser". So? i'm on AOL. I could just as simply have sent this mail from any other domain. it's not that hard, is it? (hoping that 2600 will print my article on that...) Well, maybe my ideals are different than anyone elses, but I really really believe that there is something wrong. so many "warez pups" and "3l33t warez d00dz" have taken over "hacker" culture. it sux. It really sux. its whats wrong; people who don't tYp3 1i|Semi Colon<\ (AKA Silicon Dragon) ]/>Semi Colon<\[ ]/>"There are only minds."<\[ ]/>"Cogito, ergo sum."<\[