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Earliest recorded usage of the term "hacker" in a technology context: ---- 1963 The Tech (MIT student newspaper) 20 Nov. 1 Many telephone services have been c

by ig1 12y ago

Earliest recorded usage of the term "hacker" in a technology context: ---- 1963 The Tech (MIT student newspaper) 20 Nov. 1 Many telephone services have been curtailed because of so-called hackers, according to Prof. Carlton Tucker, administrator of the Institute phone system. … The hackers have accomplished such things as tying up all the tie-lines between Harvard and MIT, or making long-distance calls by charging them to a local radar installation. One method involved connecting the PDP-1 computer to the phone system to search the lines until a dial tone, indicating an outside line, was found. … Because of the “hacking,” the majority of the MIT phones are “trapped.” --- (I wrote an article on this many years ago http://imranontech.com/2008/04/01/the-origin-of-hacker/ http://imranontech.com/2008/04/01/the-origin-of-hacker/)

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hitchhiker999 12y ago
Yep, sorry guys - I know I'll get crap for this, but: The word is the clue as it implies 'invasive force'. Any other meaning is only going to be accepted when enough of you agree 'it is so'. The original meaning (and I've always known it as such, 30+ years) is perfectly outlined by the paragraph above. It does not refer to white-hat stuff. The original word is 'hack': cut with rough or heavy blows. hack off the dead branches a rough cut, blow, or stroke. he was sure one of us was going to take a hack at him" (in sports) a kick or hit inflicted on another player. a cut or gash. a tool for rough striking or cutting, e.g., a mattock or a miner's pick. I'm going to catch shit for this. Can't we all just get along? :) EDIT: Fine down-vote me you evil b'stards - b'stard is a person without married parents :)
- nl 12y ago
  Actually, that definition matches the other usage, too: people force a system to do things it isn't supposed to do; they "hack" at it until it works. (But I agree that "hacker" has meant invading systems as long as it has meant anything else)
  - hitchhiker999 12y ago
    Fair enough: It will ultimately depend on what the majority decide on. It's all just another perspective I guess.
  - deleted 12y ago
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- mncolinlee 12y ago
  You rightly should catch the said substance for this. It's a misuse of the etymology. Hack does refer to cutting with rough or heavy blows. Centuries ago, "hackers" referred to people who made rough-shod furniture with an axe. That was a hack back then. In WW2, "hackers" were mechanics in the US Navy who hacked off the broken parts of airplanes to weld together the working parts of broken planes. That was also a hack. The planes were referred to as "hack jobs." History is littered with examples using exactly the meaning you cited that are quite the opposite of nefarious. The very essence of Maker culture is about the old definition of "hacker."
  - hitchhiker999 12y ago
    O bugger... ok then, I give up :)

by ig1 12y ago

deleted 12y ago

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hitchhiker999 12y ago

Yep, sorry guys - I know I'll get crap for this, but: The word is the clue as it implies 'invasive force'. Any other meaning is only going to be accepted when enough of you agree 'it is so'. The original meaning (and I've always known it as such, 30+ years) is perfectly outlined by the paragraph above. It does not refer to white-hat stuff. The original word is 'hack': cut with rough or heavy blows. hack off the dead branches a rough cut, blow, or stroke. he was sure one of us was going to take a hack at him" (in sports) a kick or hit inflicted on another player. a cut or gash. a tool for rough striking or cutting, e.g., a mattock or a miner's pick. I'm going to catch shit for this. Can't we all just get along? :) EDIT: Fine down-vote me you evil b'stards - b'stard is a person without married parents :)

nl 12y ago
Actually, that definition matches the other usage, too: people force a system to do things it isn't supposed to do; they "hack" at it until it works. (But I agree that "hacker" has meant invading systems as long as it has meant anything else)
- hitchhiker999 12y ago
  Fair enough: It will ultimately depend on what the majority decide on. It's all just another perspective I guess.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
mncolinlee 12y ago
You rightly should catch the said substance for this. It's a misuse of the etymology. Hack does refer to cutting with rough or heavy blows. Centuries ago, "hackers" referred to people who made rough-shod furniture with an axe. That was a hack back then. In WW2, "hackers" were mechanics in the US Navy who hacked off the broken parts of airplanes to weld together the working parts of broken planes. That was also a hack. The planes were referred to as "hack jobs." History is littered with examples using exactly the meaning you cited that are quite the opposite of nefarious. The very essence of Maker culture is about the old definition of "hacker."
- hitchhiker999 12y ago
  O bugger... ok then, I give up :)