The Whole "Hacker vs. Cracker" Silliness
Anyone that has been around the security space for oh, say five minutes knows that there is a vocal subcommunity of folks who call themselves "hackers" who claim to not be what is the common definition of the word, i.e. they don't break into systems, they break systems. They are constantly whining and complaining about the definition of "hacker" vs. "cracker" which is their word for what most people call "hackers."
Silly.
So "crackers" and the Press have conspired to co-opt the word "hacker" for the masses. Who wouldn't? Maybe "hackers" should have given "crackers" a better name, rather than one that refers either to dry snack food or a racial slur. What do you expect?
The good news is that you are not alone, oh poor misunderstood hackers of the world. "Word co-opting" is not a new phenomenon. The fact is, words have changed their meaning since the beginning of time, and contrary to anyone's assertions, word definition IS a "majority rules" exercise. Here are a few examples (taken from here):
Word Original Meaning
awful deserving of awe
brave cowardice (as in bravado)
counterfeit legitimate copy
girl young person of either sex
guess take aim
knight boy
luxury sinful self indulgence
neck parcel of land (as in neck of the woods)
notorious famous
nuisance injury, harm
quick alive (as in quicksilver)
sophisticated corrupted
tell to count (as in bank teller)
truant beggar
Words change. Get over it. If hackers want to feel like elite technical gods, then they should come up with a new one that has a secret society along with it.
9:34:35 AM 
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