                                                The Hacker's Ethic

Sadly, due to the traditional ignorance and sensationalizing of the mass media, the once-noble term hacker has become 
a perjorative.  Among true computer people, being called a hacker is a compliment. One of the traits of the true hacker 
is a profoundly antibureaucratic and democratic spirit. That spirit is best exemplified by the Hacker's Ethic. This ethic 
was best formulated by Steven Levy in his 1984 book Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Its tenets are as follows:

     o Access to computers should be unlimited and total. 
     o All information should be free. 
     o Mistrust authority - promote decentralization. 
     o Hackers should be judged by their hacking not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position. 
     o You create art and beauty on a computer. 
     o Computers can change your life for the better. 

The Internet as a whole reflects this ethic.
