: In article <1993May12.193454.29823@hal.com>, bobp@hal.com (Bob Pendleton) writes...
: >From article <1993May7.235404.22590@pony.Ingres.COM>, by mwmeyer@Ingres.COM (Mike (wading through the muck and) Meyer):
: >>    This is getting pretty silly. First off, "Hacker" is an obsolete term.
: >>    Doesn't matter what it used to mean, today it means "thief."
: >> 
: >> It only means "thief" if you want it to mean that.  To me, it means

:   [Lots of context wickedly omitted by myself :-) ]
: > 
: >Anyway, if I say "Joe is a hacker" to most english speaking people who
: >know the word they'll probably think he is either a poor golfer or a
: >bad carpenter. But there are very very few people who will think he is
: >a good and clever programmer. :-)
: > 
: >If you chose to call yourself by a term that means "thief" don't be
: >surprised when people think you are a thief. Even if you don't agree
: >with that definition of the word.
:       ^^^  ^^^^^^^^^^ 
:  [....] The narrower view that a hacker, when
:  associated with the computing environment, is a dishonest
:  expert is not so widespread, I'm my opinion, at least with the
:  people involved with the field. IMHO the wider meaning is not
:  obsolete at all, no matter how much the lay press would like it to
:  be!  [....]

:  Therefore I conclude that if you call yourself a hacker, and somebody
:  perceives you as a thief, then this person belongs to a very very
:  small group that has some computer knowledge, but not enough to know
:  the wider (and original) meaning of the word.  [....]

Unfortunately, the general public has a very narrow view of the deep, dark
recesses of the art of computing.  What little they do see is from the view
given to them by the media.  From what I have seen from the media, 'hacker'
is not a proper way by which to refer to a respected person.

I, on the other hand, know what 'hacker' means from those who consider
themselves such.  Following is the definition from "Jargon File 2.9.10".
(This is also known as the "Hackers Dictionary".)  The definitions are
arranged in order of decreasing frequency of usage:

   :hacker: [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] n.
     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.  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'.  See {cracker}.

     The term 'hacker' also tends to connote membership in the global
     community defined by the net (see {network, the} and
     {Internet address}).  It also implies that the person described
     is seen to subscribe to some version of the hacker ehic (see
     {hacker ethic, the}).

     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 {wannabee}.

   :hacker ethic, the: n.  1. The belief that information-sharing
     is a powerful positive good, and that it is an ethical duty of
     hackers to share their expertise by writing free software and
     facilitating access to information and to computing resources
     wherever possible.  2. The belief that system-cracking for fun
     and exploration is ethically OK as long as the cracker commits
     no theft, vandalism, or breach of confidentiality.

     Both of these normative ethical principles are widely, but by no
     means universally) accepted among hackers. Most hackers subscribe
     to the hacker ethic in sense 1, and many act on it by writing and
     giving away free software.  A few go further and assert that
     *all* information should be free and *any* proprietary
     control of it is bad; this is the philosophy behind the {GNU}
     project.

     Sense 2 is more controversial: some people consider the act of
     cracking itself to be unethical, like breaking and entering.
     But this principle at least moderates the behavior of people who
     see themselves as `benign' crackers (see also {samurai}).  On
     this view, it is one of the highest forms of hackerly courtesy
     to (a) break into a system, and then (b) explain to the sysop,
     preferably by email from a {superuser} account, exactly how it
     was done and how the hole can be plugged --- acting as an
     unpaid (an unsolicited) {tiger team}.

     The most reliable manifestation of either version of the hacker
     ethic is that almost all hackers are actively willing to share
     technical tricks, software, and (where possible) computing
     resources with other hackers.  Huge cooperative networks such as
     {USENET}, {Fidonet} and Internet (see {Internet address})
     can function without central control because of this trait; they
     both rely on and reinforce a sense of community that may be
     hackerdom's most valuable intangible asset.

:  Finally, a true hacker does not name himself/herself one, for this is
:  a title that is bestowed by the befuddled sysadmins and users at large.
: To me, a sign of a truly great hacker is to be introduced to someone who
: says "Nahh, I just know a thing or two, people always exagerate..." :-)

Note that the above definition does not preclude a hacker from describing
limself (meaning: himself/herself) one, but simply says that it is better
not to do so.  There are many who do not know the meaning of 'hacker'.  So,
in order to defend the true meaning of the word, it is sometimes necessary
to borrow on the reputation of a known (respected) hacker around the
workplace.  (This means that 'hacker' is defined in terms of some well-known
and respected person.)  Sometimes, there may only be one such person.

: >No matter what Mr. Dumpty says, language doesn't work that way.
:  Actually it does, you just have to get adequate press coverage... :-)

Language works anyway that we want it to work.  The purpose of language is
to communicate.  To oversimplify: As long as communication is taking place,
then language is working.
