

Ask HN: What's with people postfixing 'hacker' to random words? - asto

Growth hacker, product hacker etc. I'm seeing so much of this lately. Has the meaning of the word hacker changed yet again to be something else? Is it cool to be referred to as a hacker in popular culture now? (or are we all still members of a criminal enterprise who breach computer security with a few random taps on a keyboard)
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pilot_pirx
It makes as much sense (maybe even more) as talking about a "Code Guru" (guru
being in fact a religious teacher) or "Code Ninja" (or "C++ Ninja, Database
Guru or whatever combination). Language is something flowing and changing. The
term "hacker" made it's way into everyday language, partly in the
misunderstood way of something illegal, partly in the more correct way of
somebody with great knowledge and creativity about something. In my view it
was always part of the hacker culture to use this word to show respect towards
any kind of great achievement, especially technically related, but I would
even accept a great musician to be called a "music hacker". Movies, Comics and
SciFi stories have done their own part to made it known (and in parts
misunderstood)) widely and all the media hype about Nerds we have seen the
last decade or so.

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brackin
A hacker isn't something that is part of a criminal enterprise that breaches
computer security, that would be a Cracker. I think 'hacking' can be used in
other contexts and makes sense. I wouldn't say the meaning has changed as it
was always blurred but people are using it in some places where it may not
make much sense.

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asto
The criminal enterprise bit was my poor attempt at a joke :-)

But really, I have a feeling 'hacker' is going to be a Che Guevara. Random
people proudly wearing it without the faintest clue of what it stands for!

