

The word "Hacker" - Negative to Positive - iamyoohoo

3-4 years ago when I started programming right out of school, the word Hacker used to have a negative connotation. I always wanted to call myself that but people would say "Hackers are people that just hack things together and cannot build scalable solutions" and programmers are ones that build real solutions. Glad to see that is changing now. <p>I didn't agree then - I don't now. Do you ?
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alex_c
Is it changing?

I think it still holds the same connotation (that's in the rare cases where
hacker isn't already taken to mean someone who breaks into computers). Which
is why I cringed when startup news changed to hacker news.

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Goladus
I have a few definitions of hacker, and consider it a fairly nebulous word.

1\. Someone who has attained a level of mastery of the art of making a
computer do what you want.

2\. Someone who loves doing (1), even if they aren't a "master"

3\. A programmer who tends to use creative solutions with little regard for
convention. This can sometimes be negative.

My definition of programmer is:

1\. Someone who writes computer programs

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brlewis
I essentially agree with them.

Programmers are people who know what they're doing, like janitors.

Hackers are people who don't know what they're doing and are trying to figure
things out, like scientists.

Code that shows you didn't know what you were doing is a hack.

Code that shows an innovative way to do something is a cool hack.

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s_baar
I never call someone a "hacker" because people have such strong opinions about
it. If you use it in a community where people aren't as progressive about it
then you just look silly.

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donna
the interpretation of words depend on each generation's intention. Hacker
seems more aggressive and progressive for today's frontier; programmer seems
old school...

