Ethics

[linus]

Do you have a system of ethics that you apply to your Work?

I am very interested in this topic. This may, of course, evolve into more of a philosophical discussion than a technical one, but where do you draw the line?

Even if we don't delve into our personal ethical systems, it is vitally important to understand those of others so as to be able to reverse them, when necessary.

Do you have any examples of ethical systems? Or examples on how ethical systems can be exploited?

Thank you for your time

[kw]

In my university studies I have had a course labeled 'technology assessment'.. This basically means discussing with people, and think about it yourself, all the consequences your actions will have in the future. Try to see it from both ends, and see whether the people that support it can defeat the people that are against it in a big discussion.. Or if you don't have people that will discuss it, just do it for yourself obviously, weigh the pros against the cons.. And make sure you can truly justify what you are doing, instead of simply rounding the results off towards what you would *like* to do.
This is what I mostly do when Im ever in doubt what to do. Even though I was taught to think this way, I do believe it is a nice way of reasoning, and perhaps it will help you as well :)

-Kwazy Webbit

[The_Thinker]

First of all, hello to all.

I believe that an ethical system is a must-have for each and every individual, especially RE involved ones, as they are the ones that really want to know how things work, and in their quest for knowledge must have a set of binding rules to keep them from missusing the information they received. I find that by reading The Mentor's "Conscience Of A Hacker" one can find atleast the basics that an individual must have in the ethical domain.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Better not :)

[lost404]

This is kinda to clear my conscience, to set it straight..

First and foremost, there's the question of trust.. whom do i trust? And who can trust me?

Well, to keep things simple, as long as you don't screw me over, i'll be fair to you. This isn't as ez to follow as it sounds, since some situations can get tricky.. like, when a person who you formerly trusted breaks a trust indirectly, like in a situation where he chooses his own interests over the interests of the group you both were together in.. This has sometimes led me to conflicting choices, either to accept the 'betrayal' and write it off as the natural development of our relations, or mark it as something 'bad' and likely to happen again, but next time more severely..

Generally same ethics that work one-on-one relationships also work in groups, but not always.. and then it's the choice of group vs personal relations.. which ties are stronger..

Then, there's me as sys/net admin. As i'm thinking of having a career in that area, i've been studying about it, and that has led me down different paths. The whole issue of security & privacy is very messy for me. I can, for example, kill someone's connection without feeling any quilt, as long as i know what i'm killing it for. I could also save individuals users web usage statistics, just the same, without feeling wrong. But, it's obviously wrong for me to read someone's mail, log his irc/msn conversations or anything of the like.

Now, what's the difference between those actions? Well, the more individual the 'harrasment' on my part gets, the more repulsive it is for me.

I've made it my business not to know others business, lately. I've for example, for the added security, began using switches instead of hubs, etc.

It's OKAY to harass a user if he's getting on my nerves, like turning towards me with his wishes for more bandwith, to kill anothers connection, spy on him or smth equally nasty. But it's not okay to totally leave him without a choice, of seeing the right path. I find myself constantly educating people, about what they should do and not.

Then there's some irc ethics.. that maybe apply elsewhere. You see, there's the whole 'Anonymity' issue, people beliving that their actions may not have consequences just because it's hard to find out who caused them. A more direct problem with this, is that people can mess up their relationships without fully realizing what they're doing.

The typical evolution goes from extremely emotional irc-n00b to what the person really is like in the real world.

And again, i find myself constantly lecturing people NOT to call each other names, flood, say "I love you" to every possible nick they see ( and try to have a romance w/ them, if the other party seems willing ) and etc.. as this is bound to lead to a shitload of problems, which are VERY real, and not 'someone elses' problem at all..

Sure, the medium is just gr8 for meeting new people, but let's not overdo it. Some common sense can be helluva hard to find in irc @ times. Thus, it might seem like the world is just full of clueless morons.

And what about copyright? Oh, well.. no offence, but i don't give a shite.. Most of the time. Too much stuff is getting patended, and i don't like it.. too bad there's a legal side to it..

And the Free*? Yes, good, and let's keep it free..

I'm all for making money any way you can, but hell.. you're obviously not missing out any of your meals because of this, and well.. why should i? I try to keep my money any way i can, it's up to you to get it from me any way you can.. all is fair, bothways..

Abuse? Well, as long as you're not having any moral dialemmas yourself.. it's okay. For example, it's very OKAY to tease a newbie whole day w/ bogus unix commands, just so you can make him think on his own and google some.. it's also okay to let others work for you, as long as they are willing to do it..

Ah well, that's about it.. hopefully i feel better now.. since i do kinda feel bad about all the 'abuse' i've done while learning tcp/ip

[DarthFisher]

Hmmmmmmm......

Ethics.

Don't do it to me if you don't want it done back.

DarthFisher