SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA - HACKERS armed with laptop computers, camping tents and dreams of software glory invaded Yahoo during the weekend as the Internet pioneer opened its strategy and its doors to outside developers.

The 'hackathon' was as much a symbol of Yahoo rising from the ashes of a burned-out courtship with US technology colossus Microsoft as it was a chance for software wizards to work their magic on Yahoo's platform.

The approximately 300 hackers that swept onto the firm's campus in Sunnyvale, California, had the first chance to tinker with the inner workings of Yahoo online offerings such as its globally popular free email.

Yahoo earlier in the week outlined a shift to an 'Open Strategy' that it believes will jazz-up the website and lead to meshing offerings from hot online properties such as Amazon and iTunes with its web pages.

'Open is a really important strategy for us,' Yahoo Developer Network head Chris Yeh told AFP as hackers fuelled up on pizza, keg beer and caffeine-based energy drinks for all-night software writing sessions.

'It is a new course for the ship. Our ability to turn Yahoo from a company that owns and operates its own sites to a company that lets other people in on the action is a critical growth moment. This is really exciting.'

Breaking down walls between websites where people store digitised photos, videos, messages, and musings is a trend that's overdue, according to Internet users and developers.

'It's something that really needs to happen,' Developer Ryan Moore said as he worked on a hack in a purple-and-yellow armchair overlooking sand volleyball courts. 'It's the way everything ought to work.'

Yahoo announced plans to revamp its homepage in coming months to allow people to customise homepages with mini-applications, including those crafted by third-party developers and vetted by Yahoo.

'Jerry (Yang) and I are dedicated to keeping that spirit of openness and innovation alive, but we know that we can't come up with all the great ideas ourselves,' Yahoo co-founder David Filo wrote in a 'Hack Day' message.

Hackers, bring it on
Hackers working alone or in teams set up camps in booths or tables in URL's Cafe in the heart of Yahoo's campus while others retreated to classrooms or stuffed chairs on the second floor of the two-story building.

'This is the Yahoo that you know; that you've always dealt with,' said Mr Moore, who attended the company's first and only other US hack day in 2006.

Some broke from coding intermittently through the night to nap in tents pitched in a grassy courtyard or play classic arcade videogames including Pac-Man and Galaga.

Musically inclined hackers tested their skills on faux instruments playing pretend rock stars in the Rock Band video game.

Nearly 50 'hacks' were completed by the time the event wrapped after dark on Saturday.

'The people here from Yahoo are psyched, excited,' Mr Yeh said. 'It's a great event. It is one of the things we can rally about as a company.' -- AFP