Vatican Praises 'Hackers' for 'Theological' Values

The Vatican is known more for illuminated manuscripts and orthodoxy than LED screens and Web wizardry, but now a Vatican-approved publication is expressing support for computer hackers. The Vatican's definition of a hacker, however, is an old-school one that distinguishes hackers from "crackers," who use computers to wreak havoc in cyberspace. The article praises such hackers—who dismantle things only to put them back together in an improved way—as being creative, sharing, and committed. "Under fire are control, competition, property," notes the article. "It's a vision that is of a clear theological origin."

The author also singles out Wikipedia as an example of what people can accomplish online through collaboration. To create the "biggest collaborative encyclopedia of Internet it is estimated that it took around 100 million hours of intellectual work, which is the equivalent of the time the citizens of the United States spend watching advertising on TV in a single weekend," he writes. You can read more about the article at Forbes. (More Vatican stories.)