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

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?