

I don't want to be called a hacker - stephenhacking
http://ashwinramesh.net/?p=50

======
onion2k
Sometimes the dictionary definition isn't enough to understand the meaning of
a word in a new context. "Hacker", up to about a decade ago, certainly meant
"an expert at solving problems with a computer", but that meaning is not what
people are referring to now. The dictionary hasn't caught up with modern
parlance yet. Today's meaning is more along the lines of "A person whose
expertise in a subject allows them to do things in new and innovative ways."
To be described as a "<something> hacker" is a compliment.

~~~
stephenhacking
I agree. The dictionary needs an update, but attaching the suffix to
everything is just a tad annoying. My cousin told me that somebody asked her
to "hack the computer" when she wanted her to just turn the darn thing on!

------
barbs
I remember reading a definition for a hacker that was something along the
lines of "someone who modifies something to do something that it was not
originally intended to do".

It was better worded than that, and might not be entirely accurate, but I
liked it.

~~~
ocfx
Was it Eric Raymond?

~~~
barbs
Not sure. I have read his Hacker HowTo before, but looking now, I can't find
that definition:

[http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-
howto.html#what_is](http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is)

I have a feeling it was someone on HN actually...

------
bhaisaab
Who cares? I think it's a matter of acceptance, people have come up with
different meaning of words which get adopted around the world before the
formally land into a widely accepted dictionary etc. Hacker before the culture
started, meant a person who hacks (chops wood?), but now has different
meaning.

We could create some 'xyz' word and if everyone starts using it, it becomes
acceptable; that does not mean you flame early adopters, there are many words
people would just throw around (such as fck :P), I guess they use they
creative/poetic license and get away :P

------
chatman
Hacking means "playful cleverness". A hacker is a person who employs playful
cleverness in things he/she does. He/she may or may not be a programmer.

------
__--__
People do that because the word "hacker" denotes status among geeks. There's
also no solid criteria for it, so anybody can call themselves a hacker and
immediately raise their social profile without worrying about being called
out.

------
stephenhacking
Server down. I'm not a hacker, so I need to sit down and figure this out :)

~~~
stephenhacking
A mysql reset seems to have fixed it.

