Marcel Legros - Play the Game of Life

A hacker is an inquisitive explorer of computer systems and networks. All hackers have the strong desire to learn how things work by taking them apart and then putting them back together in new or interesting ways. They are compulsive programmers - solving software and network problems for the sheer thrill of discovery. Hackers collaborate freely, and build upon each other’s work. The very heart of hacking is built upon openness, collaboration, and rapid discovery.

These principles are the foundation for open source software - programs that are free to use and modify. You can make any changes you like to the source code and even sell your software, but you must provide all of your source code to the community for free as well. Here is a very short list of technology created by the hacking community in the open source domain:

• The Internet
• Usenet
• The UNIX operating system. Do you use a Mac computer? It operates on a proprietary version of UNIX.
• Sendmail (Email)
• The Linux operating system - a derivative of UNIX. Everything from BMW automobiles to Sony PSP’s use Linux to operate.
• Apache web servers, the PHP scripting language, and MySQL databases form the bulk of all worldwide web services.
• Firefox and Mozilla browsers

A hacker is not destructive, does not create viruses, steal property, or break into systems for ill intent - hackers call those people ‘crackers.’ Many crackers call themselves hackers but are not. Crackers are vandals and dim-witted criminals. Unfortunately popular media uses the word ‘hacker’ when they are describing an internet criminal. This is an insult to a hacker and the hacking community at large.

If you’re interested in hacking and why it’s so important we embrace it today, read “How to Be a Hacker” by Eric Steven Raymond. Visit Fravia’s “Web Searchlores,” for a wealth of knowledge.

Playing John Conway’s Game of Life

What does “Play the Game of Life” have to do with hacking? When I was 12 years old, I read an article in “Omni Magazine” about a software game created by John Conway. He called it “Life.” It isn’t really a game, but a simulation of cellular life on a grid of squares. He devised a simple set of rules to determine how each cell behaves:

1 Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbours dies, as if by loneliness.
2 Any live cell with more than three live neighbours dies, as if by overcrowding.
3 Any live cell with two or three live neighbours lives, unchanged, to the next generation.
4 Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbours comes to life.

The player places a few cells on the grid however she likes, then starts the program. The screen comes to life as cells expand, contract, pulsate, reproduce and fly around almost like little amoeba under a microscope. The most famous little ‘life’ form is called the “Glider.”Hackers have adopted the image of the “Glider” as their emblem, as suggested by Eric Steven Raymond. I adopted a humorous version of it for this blog.

Hacking God

John Conway’s discovery was profound - a simple set of rules can result in complex, lifelike behaviour. The game of life shaped a generation of curious seekers and it affected me deeply. It’s like the hand of god is touching the computer screen. Does our universe operate this way? Is our life guided by a simple set of rules that determines how our existence unfolds? I believe that life and the nature of God can be hacked with the heart, just as software and science is hacked with the mind. Patterns of order exist in our seemingly chaotic lives, if we look for them.

Take things apart and put them back together. Sometimes you’ll break things, and sometimes you’ll improve them. Share your discoveries and give them away for free to the open community. Build solutions to common problems. Improve your world for the benefit of others. That’s what hacking, and life is all about.