hacker: noun.
[originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe]
- A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and
how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer
to learn only the minimum necessary.
- One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys
programming rather than just theorizing about programming.
- A person capable of appreciating
hack value.
- A person who is good at programming quickly.
- An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work
using it or on it; as in `a Unix hacker'.
(Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who fit them congregate.)
- An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker,
for example.
- One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or
circumventing limitations.
- [deprecated]
A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive information by poking
around. Hence `password hacker', `network hacker'.
The correct term for this sense is
cracker.
from the Jargon File,
version 4.3.1 (29 Jun 2001)