Date: 16 Mar 1993 08:23:00 -0800 (PST)
From: James Still <still@KAILUA.COLORADO.EDU>
Subject: File 8--Bruce Sterling on GEnie (#5.20)

((In CuD's #5.20 GEnie interview with Bruce Sterling, it is
reported:))

><[Guest] BRUCES> Generally I go with the cop definition, since
it's the one
in
>greater public usage, meaning a [hacker is a] computer trespasser.
><[Katie] DANTECH> I wonder if you think there's any way we can
reclaim the
>term?
><[Guest] BRUCES> Reclaim the term "hacker?"  Sure.  About the same
time
that I
>reclaim the term "cyberpunk."  Ha ha ha ha!

Everyone wants to return to some construct of the 'good ole days.' 
We
are going through a transition period where the semantics of the
word
'hacker' is changing rapidly and no longer means the same thing as
it
did in the sixties.  The sixties also produced 'ska reggae' and the
first skinheads;

Jamaican and East Indians who migrated to Britain and created a
whole
genre of brotherhood and anti-racism.  These ska skinheads sparked
a
wave of rude boy counter-culture leading to dub reggae (what most
people think of when the word 'reggae' is mentioned) and Post-Mod
bands like The Who and The Jam.

Unfortunately British fascists twisted the skinhead movement in the
70's and adopted its look and feel for their youth brigades that we
now think of when we hear the word 'skinhead.'  Does this mean that
the original ska skinheads of the 60's have lost their legitimacy?
Hardly, we just have to remember them in the context of what
skinheads
were *then* and not get caught up in the twisted meaning of the
word
*now*.

If we can stop playing 'Spin the Nostalgia Wheel' to reclaim our
so-called 'hacker' definition of the 60's, and realize that
everything
changes, *especially the meaning of colloquial words* we'll be
better
off.  The world is changing too fast to patent for those of us
enamored with the past to attempt to hold onto it.  Let's move on
and
create a better future in cyberspace, inventing words when
necessary,
and knowing when to leave them behind when obsolete.

------------------------------

From: Pat <prb@ACCESS.DIGEX.COM>
Subject: File 9--Re:  The White House Communication Project (#5.18)

Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253