Cynicism and real hacker ethics (Score 1)

The gloom-and-doom and the 'Hacker' gaffe and other things.... this all dismays me.

Back when I did serious work (1997 or so), IT guys (LOTS of them former hackers and PC-geeks) had an informal code of ethics, which came down from the 'Hacker Dictionary' guys long, long ago. To reiterate:

'Hackers', while perfectly willing to use any means to tear apart and re-verse engineer software, hardware of any kind, etc. were ethically constrained from causing damage through their knowledge. Harassment of the powers that be, yes. The presentation of unpleasant facts, yet.

BUT, exploitation of knowledge for personal gain, definitely NOT. This doesn't just mean writing viruses, cracking systems for profit, breaking copyrights protection, etc.

Personally, I also took it to mean that one should not cynically exploit the ignorance of the public (and your bosses!) to line your own pockets. I put this in the category of war-profiteering or worse. I believe people in the medical professions might be familiar with this situation all so.

I got OUT of IT because I felt it was my mission to make the systems I was resposible for useful and secure; moreover, I spent a large part of each day trying to educate my users so that my job would be easier. I COULD have milked the job and told my people some bullshit that fed their mushroom-ness. I could have done the same to my bosses. I'd probably still be there and pulling in 60-70K a year, too.

Professional ethics used to mean something in the wider geek community. I don't believe that paranoia and greed will destroy it from within, but...