Meta: "Crackers and Worms" Articles

[Barry Margolin]

In article <7019 at cdis-1.uucp> tanner at cdis-1.uucp (Dr. T. Andrews) writes:
>As a native of God's Own Country, I must object to the use of the
>term "cracker" to refer to electronic burglars and vandals.  I expect
>that our neighbours to the north would similarly take offense.

Pardon my ignorance, but what does it mean in your society?  And which
of the many "God's Own Countries" are you referring to, anyway?

In my opinion, the term "cracker" has several things going for it.
First, it rhymes with "hacker", a related word (a cracker is often a
malicious hacker).  What a cracker does is "crack open" computer
systems.  And a cracker is similar in ways to a safecracker, someone
who breaks into safes.

Barry Margolin
Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar at think.com
{uunet,harvard}!think!barmar