3 ms·

> only hackers read source-code maybe I'm behind the times, but is 'hacker' now colloquial to mean 'anyone who codes'? Plenty of normal software engineers / de

> only hackers read source-code maybe I'm behind the times, but is 'hacker' now colloquial to mean 'anyone who codes'? Plenty of normal software engineers / devs, who are by no means 'hackers' (myself included) read the source code.

Tepix 6y ago
Inside the community, a hacker (as opposed to "cracker" or "security hacker") is someone who uses technology in a creative way.
- fullstackchris 6y ago
  so what do we call undesirables like anonymous and so on?
  - nuclearnice1 6y ago
    "cracker" or "security hacker"
  - denni9th 6y ago
    "crackers" or "security hackers". I'm sure most people on this site would consider themselves to be some form of "hacker", after all, this is "Hacker News".
- hwdug8278 6y ago
  My understanding of hacker is specifically someone who exploits vulnerabilities in code. Regular programmers are like building architects, hackers are like people holding up a mask so that the facial recognition powered NEST lock will let them inside the building.
kyle-rb 6y ago
You're actually too far ahead of the times. http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/ http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/
galaxyLogic 6y ago
Every programmer of course reads some source-code because they must read their own source-code. But such a programmer might use an Open Source library without reading its course. Whereas if you are truly hacker you are interested in how things work and you would more likely be reading such source. I agree that definition of "hacker" is somewhat vague but mostly people understand it the same way depending on context. I assume that reason dedicated programmers are called hackers is that earlier the the word "hack" referred to writers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_writer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_writer What the hack, there's even a pub called "Old Hack" https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g188644-d10512851-Reviews-The_Old_Hack_Pub-Brussels.html https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g188644-d10512...

Tepix 6y ago

Inside the community, a hacker (as opposed to "cracker" or "security hacker") is someone who uses technology in a creative way.

fullstackchris 6y ago
so what do we call undesirables like anonymous and so on?
- nuclearnice1 6y ago
  "cracker" or "security hacker"
- denni9th 6y ago
  "crackers" or "security hackers". I'm sure most people on this site would consider themselves to be some form of "hacker", after all, this is "Hacker News".
hwdug8278 6y ago
My understanding of hacker is specifically someone who exploits vulnerabilities in code. Regular programmers are like building architects, hackers are like people holding up a mask so that the facial recognition powered NEST lock will let them inside the building.

kyle-rb 6y ago

You're actually too far ahead of the times. http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/ http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/

galaxyLogic 6y ago

Every programmer of course reads some source-code because they must read their own source-code. But such a programmer might use an Open Source library without reading its course. Whereas if you are truly hacker you are interested in how things work and you would more likely be reading such source. I agree that definition of "hacker" is somewhat vague but mostly people understand it the same way depending on context. I assume that reason dedicated programmers are called hackers is that earlier the the word "hack" referred to writers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_writer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_writer What the hack, there's even a pub called "Old Hack" https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g188644-d10512851-Reviews-The_Old_Hack_Pub-Brussels.html https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g188644-d10512...