The computer enthusiasts question of all questions. I find myself being asked this question more and more lately. Well, if you want to know the truth, there isn’t a straight answer. So here’s my take. It holds true to myself and I don’t promise that it will hold true to anyone else who considers themselves a hacker. To me a hacker is someone who looks in to the deep inner workings of the system. A hacker doesn’t have to be a good programmer, they only need to possess a desire to learn. Over time, any lack of ability can be built up by delving in deeper and deeper until you get to the bottom of the system itself. The only problem with this is no one can ever truly get to the bottom, its like an endless mystery waiting to be unfolded before you. I don’t know if any of this makes sense, and frankly I don’t really care.
When I attack a problem, first I look at what is wrong, then I try to find the why. Only when you can find the why can you truly hope to solve the problem. A hacker is someone who endlessly strives to find the why something doesn’t work. And when they find it, they fix it. If it works, a hacker is still not satisfied. A hacker next looks for the How. How can this be made better. How can this be more efficient. How can it be faster. Of course its a viscious cycle only fit for true computer masochists. Punishing ourselves religiously in order to learn something new or find a better way to do something. You see, it’s the pride of finding a way to do something better or ridding something of a problem. Its the excitement you get when you learn about a new way to bypass a security system. It’s all these things. And hackers get off on it.
As for the reason, well there are many reasons. Some do it for money, some do it for religious, and some political. There are even hackers who do it just for fun. Its a trade that requires you to enjoy what your doing to do it well. Staying interested is what allows you to keep your focus. Every frustration you get from something not going right is merely another challenge. Sometimes things must be learned via trial and error. The thing is, if you don’t do it, you can never really learn and you can never really understand what it means to hack, what it means to be a hacker.
I know much of this post is incoherent, but it’s really a tough topic to truly describe. I hope you forgive me for that. If you don’t, thats fine by me, I tried, its the least that i can do.
