# Building 'Hacking'? (Repairman Jack novel) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-hacking-repairman-jack-novel/192284 "2003-08-01T03:18:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-hacking-repairman-jack-novel/192284/1 "2003-08-01T03:18:26Z")
A question from one of F Paul Wilson’s ‘Repairman Jack’ novels I read last year (might have been ‘Conspiracies’), but it’s a completely factual question. In the novel, the main character meets up with a friend who ‘hacks’ buildings after discovering his ‘mark’ on the foundation stone/plaque of a high-rise office building. Using his friend’s help, he then traces an old route through ventilation ducts, crawl spaces and other nooks and crannies to get to his destination. I’m not talking about cat-burglers; the way it was written was as an analogy to the old hacker vs cracker terminology from computer security. At the time I brushed it off, but it does seem what someone with too much free time and rockclimbing experience would do. Are people stupid enough to risk being caught for B&E to try it? Does this happen in real life? It seems like something a bored rockclimber would do for fun. Is there really an underground network of people who enjoy breaking into buildings just for the thrill and challenger of exploration? Or am I just reading too much into it? ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-hacking-repairman-jack-novel/192284/2 "2003-08-01T03:21:09Z")
Oh, B&E = Breaking and entering ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-hacking-repairman-jack-novel/192284/3 "2003-08-01T03:46:38Z")
Yes, this does really go on. At MIT (both my dad and sister are alums) there’s a proud tradition of “hacking” which has a couple of meanings, including going into all those places that the administration would really rather that you didn’t. Steam tunnels, sneaking into buildings after hours, climbing onto the roof of the Green Building (we got stuck up there for hours, lying flat on the roof of a hut waiting for building maintenance to leave so that we could sneak out again), etc. At MIT this often seems to go hand in hand with some elaborate practical jokes (another meaning of “hack”), as in “Hey Chancellor, not only did some students sneak into the secure file room last night but they left a VW bug inside there.” When I was at the U of Illinois (late 80s/early 90s) there was a persistent rumor about being able to travel through the steam tunnels so one night we did it - found a manhole cover, pried it open and four of us wandered around for hours seeing where we could go. In the tunnels was much grafitti dating as far back as the 70s left by other adventurous folks, so we definitely weren’t the first people to try it. ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-hacking-repairman-jack-novel/192284/4 "2003-08-01T03:47:52Z")
Well, there’s urban spelunking (which I won’t link to because I seem to recall some argument about legality last time it was discussed here), which could count as tresspassing most of the time. But that’s just exploring, without the crawling through air ducts. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-hacking-repairman-jack-novel/192284/5 "2003-08-01T04:43:39Z")
The Jargon Dictionary is the definitive source for such information; it includes an excellent definition of [hack](http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/h.html#hack). Meaning 9 is the one you’re looking for, **Squirrel**. “Hack” is a complex and profound concept, but central to it is exploration achieved through a combination of cleverness and determination. You can see why those who brought this meaning to it object to its hijacking by the media and the general public to refer to malicious and destructive behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-hacking-repairman-jack-novel/192284/6 "2003-08-01T09:34:27Z")
Thanks guys! Never realised that it’s really been done before. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-hacking-repairman-jack-novel/192284/7 "2003-08-01T13:00:51Z")
One of the scariest places I have ever been was the tunnels beneath CalTech in Pasadena. And there were stairs going _down_ from there to a _lower_ level! The tunnels are in two major groups, and the connection between them, known as the “North-South Crawl,” is a nasty, scary, dirty, cramped crawlspace. I’ve seen it…but wouldn’t enter it for anything less than life-or-death! In comparison, the ring of steam tunnels beneath U.C. Irvine are clean, well-lit, and not much more than “moody.” (Can’t even call 'em “eerie.”) But what do you expect from some place that close to Disneyland? Trinopus