OT: Re: "Hacker" vs "Cracker" et al.

[Patrick O'Callaghan]

On Fri, 2013-03-15 at 18:47 -0400, Doug wrote:
> On 03/15/2013 06:25 PM, Frank Murphy wrote:
> > On Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:21:07 -0700
> > Richard Vickery <richard.vickeryrv at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Does this mean that you just let them adulterate the term?
> > You would have to re-write current popular culture.
> > Language and it's use change, by it's very usage.
> >
> Language is fickle. Gay used to mean happy-go-lucky;
> nuke used to mean to drop an atom bomb on; transistor
> still is a three-wire device made (usually) of silicon, used
> for amplifiers and switches, but in common usage it means
> a radio; nice was once pejorative.  And we used to have
> "gotten" and, a little earlier, "shaven" but our verbs are
> regularizing themselves whether we like it or not.
> So whether you like it or not, hack usually connotes
> unlawful intrusion on a computer. Ce la vie!

I think you mean "C'est la vie", ...

Anyway, I still refer to talented programmers as hackers in a
non-perjorative sense because there isn't a good one-word alternative.
Geeks doesn't cut it because there are lots of geeks who don't program.

poc