4 ms·

First recorded usage of “hacker” (2008)

55 points by legrande 5y ago

dang 5y ago
Past related threads. I think there have been others, and it would be great if anybody found them so we could have a complete list. First Recorded Usage of “Hacker” (2008) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19415484 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19415484 - March 2019 (18 comments) First Recorded Usage of "Hacker" (2008) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7795673 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7795673 - May 2014 (8 comments) First Recorded Usage of word "Hacker" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2170897 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2170897 - Feb 2011 (1 comment) First recorded usage of “Hacker” from MIT paper in 1963 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=324032 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=324032 - Oct 2008 (3 comments) First Recorded Usage of "Hacker" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=289215 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=289215 - Aug 2008 (12 comments) The Orignal Hackers were Black Hats. - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152565 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152565 - April 2008 (9 comments)
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dang 5y ago
As people in the subculture already know, the "the first known recorded usage of the word “hacker” in the tech sense" (to quote from the OP) was not this one, but the Tech Model Railroad Club dictionary of 1959, which not only used the word but defined it [1]: HACK: 1) something done without constructive end; 2) a project undertaken on bad self-advice; 3) an entropy booster; 4) to produce or attempt to produce, a hack. I emailed Shapiro a few years ago and he conceded not only that the TMRC reference was earlier, but more importantly, that he was "probably wrong about 'hacker' originally having malicious connotations" [2]. Since he was the originator of the malicious-origin theory, or at least its most authoritative proponent (see [3] for an old example), that pretty much clears things up. [1] http://www.gricer.com/tmrc/dictionary1959.html http://www.gricer.com/tmrc/dictionary1959.html [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19416623 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19416623 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152627 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152627
- reaperducer 5y ago
  Few people remember TMRC, or that model railroading it is pretty much the genesis of modern electronic computing. Today, model railroads are considered baby toys by many computer enthusiasts, even though doing a complicated layout correctly is more technically challenging than what 90% of HN people do for a day job. I'm old enough that I've seen the popular meaning of "hacker" flip from good to evil and back a number of times. When I was first introduced to it, it was mischievous, not evil. In the 70's I remember it being applied to people who would take other people's public domain programs, put their own names on them, and sell them at user group meetings and in the small ads in the back of computer magazines. By the 80's, it was applied to creative youngsters doing clever things with home computers. I'm not sure where it is today.
  - shadowofneptune 5y ago
    I feel that the word has fallen out of favor due to its usage in media. It means someone is either an operative for a foreign government, or Nedry from Jurassic Park. Neither is particularly flattering. I'm not sure what would term replaces the positive form of 'hacking' now. Hobbyist programming? Recreational programmimg? Do side projects mirroed on GitHub count as a hack?
  - the_af 5y ago
    > model railroading it is pretty much the genesis of modern electronic computing I didn't know this! Is there anything I can read about the relationship between model railroading and the genesis of modern computers? Edit: found it in other comments: Hackers by Levy.
- scoot 5y ago
  I'm struggling to see the connection between this definition and the modern day non-black hat one. If anything, it's completely the opposite. "1)" above sounds more related to yak shaving. A hack on the other hand, far from being "without constructive end", based on "bad self-advice", or causing chaos ("entropy"), has a definite constructive end-goal, and is achieved through the clever application of knowledge, tools or technology to achieve an end result for which these where not originally intended. Sure, it could be considered a shortcut, or a temporary solution, but still one with a definite goal in mind. I note the commentary in [1] which seems to reframe the term to fit a more recent definition that that in the original TMRC definition.
tehchromic 5y ago
No link because people who like to read about hackers might be offended? Ok
- Maursault 5y ago
  Here you go, generally regarded as the first hacker ever arrested[1], though the preferred term is phreak, I think phreaks are technically a subset of hackers. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper
  - plapsley 5y ago
    Draper was definitely not first hacker ever arrested, but perhaps "first hacker sentenced to prison." (Ralph Barclay, inventor of the blue box used for phone phreaking, was arrested in 1961 or so, almost a decade before Draper came on scene. When I interviewed him I said, "You were the first!" He laughed and responded, "Well, first to get caught, maybe.") http://explodingthephone.com/docs/dbx0575.pdf http://explodingthephone.com/docs/dbx0575.pdf or more generally http://explodingthephone.com/search.php?q=barclay&sort=relevance http://explodingthephone.com/search.php?q=barclay&sort=relev...
- raldi 5y ago
  What do you mean by “no link”?
peter303 5y ago
The oldest MIT hack I just looked up online is dates 1926. It means an elaborate practical joke. Often it is redecorating some part of MIT campus in a clever way. Occasionally it extends to rivals like Harvard and CalTech. I perpetrated a few in my day.
- ghaff 5y ago
  There's a book called Nightwork from MIT Press that sort of covers the history of hacks and related. (I think I have a couple photos in the original edition and I was involved in a fairly minor one.)
- whymauri 5y ago
  Here's an image of one of my favorite pre-WW2 hacks (1936): https://mitadmissions.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/car_2.jpg https://mitadmissions.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/car_2.j... They later set the car on fire.
vehemenz 5y ago
My dad grew up in Boston in the 50s. The word for auto tuners and hotrodders back then was "hacker". Jay Leno and Tom and Ray Magliozzi are probably the most famous hackers from that time. Maybe there was a general sense of "hacking" in the dialect that predated the hotrodding scene, but if not it seems like a fairly natural extension of the idea.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Johnythree 5y ago
The term "Hacker" dates from way before the world of computer enthusiasts. Back in the day, electronic and radio builders were known as "hackers". There was even a well advertised electronics component shop called "Hardware Hackers". It always saddened me that the term hacker was hijacked by the sensationalist media to refer to an antisocial element.

55 points by legrande 5y ago

dang 5y ago

Past related threads. I think there have been others, and it would be great if anybody found them so we could have a complete list. First Recorded Usage of “Hacker” (2008) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19415484 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19415484 - March 2019 (18 comments) First Recorded Usage of "Hacker" (2008) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7795673 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7795673 - May 2014 (8 comments) First Recorded Usage of word "Hacker" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2170897 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2170897 - Feb 2011 (1 comment) First recorded usage of “Hacker” from MIT paper in 1963 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=324032 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=324032 - Oct 2008 (3 comments) First Recorded Usage of "Hacker" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=289215 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=289215 - Aug 2008 (12 comments) The Orignal Hackers were Black Hats. - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152565 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152565 - April 2008 (9 comments)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dang 5y ago

As people in the subculture already know, the "the first known recorded usage of the word “hacker” in the tech sense" (to quote from the OP) was not this one, but the Tech Model Railroad Club dictionary of 1959, which not only used the word but defined it [1]: HACK: 1) something done without constructive end; 2) a project undertaken on bad self-advice; 3) an entropy booster; 4) to produce or attempt to produce, a hack. I emailed Shapiro a few years ago and he conceded not only that the TMRC reference was earlier, but more importantly, that he was "probably wrong about 'hacker' originally having malicious connotations" [2]. Since he was the originator of the malicious-origin theory, or at least its most authoritative proponent (see [3] for an old example), that pretty much clears things up. [1] http://www.gricer.com/tmrc/dictionary1959.html http://www.gricer.com/tmrc/dictionary1959.html [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19416623 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19416623 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152627 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152627

reaperducer 5y ago
Few people remember TMRC, or that model railroading it is pretty much the genesis of modern electronic computing. Today, model railroads are considered baby toys by many computer enthusiasts, even though doing a complicated layout correctly is more technically challenging than what 90% of HN people do for a day job. I'm old enough that I've seen the popular meaning of "hacker" flip from good to evil and back a number of times. When I was first introduced to it, it was mischievous, not evil. In the 70's I remember it being applied to people who would take other people's public domain programs, put their own names on them, and sell them at user group meetings and in the small ads in the back of computer magazines. By the 80's, it was applied to creative youngsters doing clever things with home computers. I'm not sure where it is today.
- shadowofneptune 5y ago
  I feel that the word has fallen out of favor due to its usage in media. It means someone is either an operative for a foreign government, or Nedry from Jurassic Park. Neither is particularly flattering. I'm not sure what would term replaces the positive form of 'hacking' now. Hobbyist programming? Recreational programmimg? Do side projects mirroed on GitHub count as a hack?
- the_af 5y ago
  > model railroading it is pretty much the genesis of modern electronic computing I didn't know this! Is there anything I can read about the relationship between model railroading and the genesis of modern computers? Edit: found it in other comments: Hackers by Levy.
scoot 5y ago
I'm struggling to see the connection between this definition and the modern day non-black hat one. If anything, it's completely the opposite. "1)" above sounds more related to yak shaving. A hack on the other hand, far from being "without constructive end", based on "bad self-advice", or causing chaos ("entropy"), has a definite constructive end-goal, and is achieved through the clever application of knowledge, tools or technology to achieve an end result for which these where not originally intended. Sure, it could be considered a shortcut, or a temporary solution, but still one with a definite goal in mind. I note the commentary in [1] which seems to reframe the term to fit a more recent definition that that in the original TMRC definition.

tehchromic 5y ago

No link because people who like to read about hackers might be offended? Ok

Maursault 5y ago
Here you go, generally regarded as the first hacker ever arrested[1], though the preferred term is phreak, I think phreaks are technically a subset of hackers. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper
- plapsley 5y ago
  Draper was definitely not first hacker ever arrested, but perhaps "first hacker sentenced to prison." (Ralph Barclay, inventor of the blue box used for phone phreaking, was arrested in 1961 or so, almost a decade before Draper came on scene. When I interviewed him I said, "You were the first!" He laughed and responded, "Well, first to get caught, maybe.") http://explodingthephone.com/docs/dbx0575.pdf http://explodingthephone.com/docs/dbx0575.pdf or more generally http://explodingthephone.com/search.php?q=barclay&sort=relevance http://explodingthephone.com/search.php?q=barclay&sort=relev...
raldi 5y ago
What do you mean by “no link”?

peter303 5y ago

The oldest MIT hack I just looked up online is dates 1926. It means an elaborate practical joke. Often it is redecorating some part of MIT campus in a clever way. Occasionally it extends to rivals like Harvard and CalTech. I perpetrated a few in my day.

ghaff 5y ago
There's a book called Nightwork from MIT Press that sort of covers the history of hacks and related. (I think I have a couple photos in the original edition and I was involved in a fairly minor one.)
whymauri 5y ago
Here's an image of one of my favorite pre-WW2 hacks (1936): https://mitadmissions.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/car_2.jpg https://mitadmissions.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/car_2.j... They later set the car on fire.

vehemenz 5y ago

My dad grew up in Boston in the 50s. The word for auto tuners and hotrodders back then was "hacker". Jay Leno and Tom and Ray Magliozzi are probably the most famous hackers from that time. Maybe there was a general sense of "hacking" in the dialect that predated the hotrodding scene, but if not it seems like a fairly natural extension of the idea.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Johnythree 5y ago

The term "Hacker" dates from way before the world of computer enthusiasts. Back in the day, electronic and radio builders were known as "hackers". There was even a well advertised electronics component shop called "Hardware Hackers". It always saddened me that the term hacker was hijacked by the sensationalist media to refer to an antisocial element.