hacker

n. [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] 1. A person who
enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch
their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the
minimum necessary. RFC1392, the Internet Users' Glossary , usefully
amplifies this as: A person who delights in having an intimate understanding
of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in
particular. 2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who
enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming. 3. A
person capable of appreciating hack value. 4. A person who is good at
programming quickly. 5. An expert at a particular program, or one who
frequently does work using it or on it; as in a Unix hacker. (Definitions 1
through 5 are correlated, and people who fit them congregate.) 6. An expert
or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker, for example. 7.
One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or
circumventing limitations. 8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to
discover sensitive information by poking around. Hence password hacker ,
network hacker. The correct term for this sense is cracker. The term hacker
also tends to connote membership in the global community defined by the net
(see the network. For discussion of some of the basics of this culture, see
the How To Become A Hacker FAQ. It also implies that the person described is
seen to subscribe to some version of the hacker ethic (see hacker ethic ).
It is better to be described as a hacker by others than to describe oneself
that way. Hackers consider themselves something of an elite (a meritocracy
based on ability), though one to which new members are gladly welcome. There
is thus a certain ego satisfaction to be had in identifying yourself as a
hacker (but if you claim to be one and are not, you'll quickly be labeled
bogus ). See also geek , wannabee. This term seems to have been first
adopted as a badge in the 1960s by the hacker culture surrounding TMRC and
the MIT AI Lab. We have a report that it was used in a sense close to this
entry's by teenage radio hams and electronics tinkerers in the mid-1950s.

