Levy argued that although they had not met, members of all three generations shared a single set of six values, a “hacker ethic”:

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.