|
|
|
|
|
|
|
via computer. During the two decades that followed, other networks grew and connected to the ARPANET. Eventually software gave most of these a common address space; the resulting super-network, called 'Internet' or simply 'the net', links thousands and thousands of computers worldwide. The ARPANET itself no longer exists as a distinct entity. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The result is a worldwide hackers' community, now two decades old. In some ways the community serves as a geographically dispersed think tank; people use it to share ideas and software. One good recent example of this was during the great cold-fusion flap of 1988; many of the papers on both sides of the dispute were available on the net long before making print. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
But the net also has a social importance non-hackers tend to miss. I have many friends that I have never met face to face or talked to on the telephone. I feel I know them quite well, though, because I've had extended conversations with them through the computer. (I had one friend through the computer who worked in the same building that I did, but I never knew he was deaf until I chanced to meet him face to face several months later!) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When you walk up to the terminal of a time-shared computer, the first thing you do is to 'log in', that is, tell the computer who you are. As a result everyone acquires a login name, which you need to know to communicate with another hacker via computer. A login name serves in much the same way as a CB 'handle'. Login names are often used as nicknames, pronounced if possible and spelled if necessary. My wife and I met at MIT, and she still calls me "Gliss" because my login name was GLS. "Guy" still sounds very weird to her, even after N years of marriage. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On the net, people are usually known by their logins and addresses. Thus, I have many friends whom I know only by login name; I have no idea what their real names are. Once, at a wedding, I ran into a good hacker friend who was also a guest there. I recalled his login name instantly, but was embarrassed that I couldn't immediately remember his real name in order to introduce him to a third person. It was 'swapped out' (see swap). A more egregious example: when Barbara and I got married, we sent out wedding invitations of the usual sort without considering the consequences. One hacker friend was completely puzzled: "Barbara Kerns Guy Steele Who are these people???" His girlfriend looked over his shoulder and said, tentatively, "Guy Steele isn't that Quux?" This was someone I knew quite well, but he knew me only by that handle. Some hackers actually prefer to be called by their login name and seldom use their given ('mundane') names (Richard Stallman, aka RMS, is a well-known example). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In these and other ways, the working and social life of the hacker revolves primarily around the computer. This is not to say that hackers have |
|
|
|
|
|