Another Vista rant

[jscheuer1]

"All you white people's crackers!"

- Chris Rock (loosely, from a comedy routine)

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Ethical_Hacker

Why would we need an Ethical Hacker if they were all good? The terms 'cracker' and 'hacker' (as applied to the realm of computers) are so relatively new to the language that I am of the opinion that context is required to understand the author's or speaker's meaning. I think I gave sufficient context. Otherwise, you wouldn't have known that it didn't agree with your view of its meaning.

Merriam Webster:

Main Entry:
hack·er
Pronunciation:
\ˈha-kər\
Function:
noun
Date:
14th century
1 : one that hacks
2 : a person who is inexperienced or unskilled at a particular activity <a tennis hacker>
3 : an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer
4 : a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system

Main Entry:
crack·er
Pronunciation:
\ˈkra-kər\
Function:
noun
Date:
15th century
1chiefly dialect : a bragging liar : boaster
2: something that makes a cracking or snapping noise: as a: firecracker b: the snapping end of a whiplash : snapper c: a paper holder for a party favor that pops when the ends are pulled sharply
3plural : nutcracker
4: a dry thin crispy baked bread product that may be leavened or unleavened
5 ausually disparaging : a poor usually Southern white bcapitalized : a native or resident of Florida or Georgia —used as a nickname
6: the equipment in which cracking (as of petroleum) is carried out
7: hacker 4

Which would support cracker as an evil hacker, but through actual usage I have many times seen it used by folks who only crack games. The access and cracking in that case isn't illegal or particularly bad. Distributing the results is, perhaps. But that part is neither hacking nor cracking. Hacker, what I used, is still an adequate description of the individuals I was referring to, given my context. My meaning wouldn't even have been lost if you included both ethical and evil hackers. The old systems are of less interest to both class of hacker.

As for the matter we are actually discussing, I doubt that there are any reliable stats on it. It is my opinion that a prudent user with a legacy OS that he or she is used to, is much better off than a monkey in a room with XP or Vista running and connected to the internet.

[Twey]

The access and cracking in that case isn't illegal

DMCA.

It is my opinion that a prudent user with a legacy OS that he or she is used to, is much better off than a monkey in a room with XP or Vista running and connected to the internet.

Well, I suppose so, if "used to" extends to writing or downloading third-party security patches.

Hacker, what I used, is still an adequate description of the individuals I was referring to, given my context.

But "person," or in fact "mammal," would also have been so, given this context.

[jscheuer1]

Hacker, what I used, is still an adequate description of the individuals I was referring to, given my context.

But "person," or in fact "mammal," would also have been so, given this context.

That is simply in error. Those words are too broad, even given the context. Their unsuitability there would be due to their not having any particular connection to the context. Most mammals don't hack. In fact, most persons don't either. You are putting too fine of a point on the semantics here. Virtually everyone reading it, including yourself knew what I meant. Those (if any) who did not, would probably not have been helped by my using the word 'cracker'.

For those in doubt, had I used either word, it could have been looked up in the dictionary, and by choosing from the available definitions, taking into account the context, an adequate meaning could have been arrived at.

[djr33]

Hacker is used commonly for anyone who alters or gains access to a nonstandard element of a program/setup/computer/etc.

Hack is used frequently as slang for "make work cheaply" as well now, in some cases no even in regard to computers.

As much as "Kleenex" is now a word, so is hacker in that sense.

And as with that, "Kleenex brand" would specify the 'official' meaning as opposed to colloquial in all but official documents and hacker would need to be specifically denoted as a limited (albeit 'correct') usage as one can assume that this forum is more toward colloquial (in most cases, at least to the majority of users posting questions).

[Johnnymushio]

quite a debate going on...

[lainlives]

Hey i hate vista, what can i say, it dont run diablo, red alert, command and conquer, or even doom2, it dont run many of my compilers for consoles, even the ps2 compiler, but otherwise if the driver issue gets fixed it may be a nice os

[jscheuer1]

Hey i hate vista, what can i say, it dont run diablo, red alert, command and conquer, or even doom2, it dont run many of my compilers for consoles, even the ps2 compiler, but otherwise if the driver issue gets fixed it may be a nice os

Perhaps a more appropriate title for this thread would have been:

Hand Cranked Vista

.

[tech_support]

Again, like what I said from my other post.

I can't believe everyone's blaming Micro$oft/Windows for basically anything. It's all up to the end user. If he/she decides to visit crack, ****, and other stupid sites, obviously they'll get some sort of a virus.

This same thing applies to Linux. If Linux were more popular, and home users started to use it, virus makers/hackers will just send an e-mail saying "make your linux faster!" and point the link to some bash script.

I would think it'll be easier to hack Linux than Windows, actually. It's just that Windows is so much more popular, that the hackers will go for the biggest target.

Don't believe me?

Where do terrorists go if they want to plant a bomb. Middle of the desert? Or in the middle of a busy shopping center.

[Johnnymushio]

i have vista basic. i was reading about vista sp1 coming out.

is it free to upgrade or do i have to purchase it?

sorry, im used to win 98, i dont know what service packs are that well.

[tech_support]

No, you don't need to buy it. (Why do you need to buy security updates anyway? )