This is clearly a case of semantic disputes. Hacker in the MIT definition of the word emphasizes cleverness and playfulness, and I think this is how most peopl

This is clearly a case of semantic disputes. Hacker in the MIT definition of the word emphasizes cleverness and playfulness, and I think this is how most people (including the HN crowd here) usually mean to use the word. I should note that the term 'kernel hacker' has more or less developed on its own, separately, as a phrasal noun. One could very well argue that the definition of 'hacking' extends to sloppy implementation methods, so calling the logic in the submitted post 'nonsense' may be going a little overboard here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(programmer_subculture) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(programmer_subculture)