SYSMGR%UK.AC.KCL.PH.IPG@AC.UK (07/24/87)
I always believed that "Hacker" was derived from "Hack". The latter word
refers to the sort of journalist who can churn out whatever the paper's
editor wants at a moments notice, with little regard for literary merit
or morality. Whether this is good or bad clearly depends on where you
stand.
The extension of this word to programmers and their art is pretty obvious.
Also, the confusion as to whether the term is complementary or derogatory
clearly arises from the ambivalence of the original meaning.
I have on our system a most entertaining document of uncertain origin but
wide circulation, entitled "Real programmers don't write PASCAL" . I would
suggest that "Real Programmer" can be used as a modern replacement for
"Hacker" in the complementary sense, and that "Hacker" is best reserved
for people who treat your computer like a new brand of Pacman machine,
or worse. I also think that there should be two words, one for the
harmlessly inquisitive hacker and the other for the computer-literate
vandal/wrecker/thief/con-man. Any suggestions?
BTW, the opposite of "Real programmer" is "Quiche eater": the sort of
person who can write 10000 lines of beautifully structured PASCAL without
actually accomplishing anything remotely useful.
Nigel Arnot (Dept. Physics, Kings college, Univ. of London; U.K)
Bitnet/NetNorth/Earn: sysmgr@ipg.ph.kcl.ac.uk (or) sysmgr%kcl.ph.vaxa@ac.uk
Arpa : sysmgr%ipg.ph.kcl.ac.uk@ucl-cs.arpa