You are missing my point. The issue is that there are two different meanings of the word hacker. Nobody disputes the meaning of "woman" or "black". To the gene

You are missing my point. The issue is that there are two different meanings of the word hacker. Nobody disputes the meaning of "woman" or "black". To the general public, a hacker is someone who breaks into a computer system with bad intentions. We are offended because the general public doesn't understand that we mean something different with the term "hacker". I'm suggesting to just adopt the meaning of the word that the general public uses, especially when talking to the general public. This way we can avoid misunderstandings. However, it would be even better to just use more specific terms. "Hacker" is such a catch-all term with different meanings for everyone. For example: If someone performs an elaborate practical joke, call them a "prankster" instead of "hacker". When you talk about a lab with a bunch of 3D printers, call it a "makerspace" instead of "hackerspace". And when you quote someone about the latest vulnerabilities in OpenSSL, just call them a "security expert". No one will be offended, everyone will understand what you are trying to say, problem solved. But I understand that many hackers like to call themselves hackers, and they like the secretive-undergroundish tone that comes with it, and they will continue to use it and they'll continue to be offended when mainstream media use the term in a different way.