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The actual definition is in the dictionary and this is how it would be described in a legal sense as well. hack·er 1.a person who uses computers to gain unaut
by BigChiefSmokem 8y ago
The actual definition is in the dictionary and this is how it would be described in a legal sense as well.
hack·er
1.a person who uses computers to gain unauthorized access to data.
INFORMAL
an enthusiastic and skillful computer programmer or user.
- rhizome 8y agoI would reverse those as to which one is formal and which is informal.
- supermw 8y agoWhat year were you born? Because it's pretty clear there must be a generation of programmers who never grew up with the whole hacker mythos of the 90s or early 2000s. Some people's only experience with the word "hacker" is a person who makes cool nice things with code. There was a time many ages ago when the word "hacker" was reserved only for the most dangerous and reckless breed of computer programmers.
- ethbro 8y agoI think you might have your timelines a bit reversed. Afaik: From the 1960s to early-80s, it meant someone who creates. From the mid-80s to mid-00s, it meant someone who breaks into systems (driven by media reporting on FBI prosecution of the first network-enabled cyber crimes). From the mid-00s to now, it seems to be turning the corner again (co-mingled with the rise of maker culture).