Like m any other form s of art, hacking was often m isunderstood. The few who got it form ed an inform al subculture that rem ained intensely focused on learning and m astering their art. They believed that inform ation should be free and anything that stood in the way of that freedom should be circum vented. Such obstructions included authority figures, the bureaucracy of college classes, and discrim ination. I n a sea of graduation-driven students, this unofficial group of hackers defied conventional goals and instead pursued knowledge itself. This drive to continually learn and explore transcended even the conventional boundaries drawn by discrim ination, evident in the MI T m odel railroad club's acceptance of 12-year-old Peter Deutsch when he dem onstrated his knowledge of the TX-0 and his desire to learn. Age, race, gender, appearance, academ ic degrees, and social status were not prim ary criteria for judging another's worth—not because of a desire for equality, but because of a desire to advance the em erging art of hacking.