Hacker's ethic

Richard Stallman, who founded the Free Software Foundation, defines free software through four essential freedoms:

The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Steven Levy suggests that there is a "code of ethics" for hacking which, though not pasted on the walls, is in the air:

Access to Computers - and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works - should be unlimited and total.
Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!
All information should be free.
Mistrust Authority - Promote Decentralization.
Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.
You can create art and beauty on a computer.
Computers can change your life for the better.

Reference: Levy, Steven. 1984. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 458 pp.

http://www2.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/hackethic.html