Hacker Culture

I had a meeting with Weez earlier this week regarding my independant study, the fog through which she has graciously agreed to guide me. She mentioned something that struck me, but I didn't mention it at the time, so this will be news to her as well. (Hi, Professor Oyzon!)

A little background: I'm creating a web application (PHP) with a database backend (MySQL). At one point during our back-and-forth Professor Oyzon asked, "Is it hackable?" I started to answer, but as an afterthough I asked her to clarify instead. I was glad I did; her question revolved around malicious hacking (often "cracking"), while my answer would have revolved around the hacker's definition of hacking.

The difference is not insignificant. Had I not stopped myself, I would have asserted that it was indeed hackable, with well-commented code and an easy-to-understand structure. But, no, she wanted to know if it was secure, resistant to cracking. Which it is, or at least will be as I write more code. I don't hold it against her, of course. She was only using the popular definition.

Just a PSA about some jargon, I guess. Carry on.