I think PG puts the definition of a "hacker" in the best way I have ever read To the popular press, "hacker" means someone who breaks into computers.

I think PG puts the definition of a "hacker" in the best way I have ever read To the popular press, "hacker" means someone who breaks into computers. Among programmers it means a good programmer. But the two meanings are connected. To programmers, "hacker" connotes mastery in the most literal sense: someone who can make a computer do what he wants—whether the computer wants to or not. http://www.paulgraham.com/gba.html http://www.paulgraham.com/gba.html