bendsley

They aren't called "hackers". They're official term is "crackers".

Just FYI.

The meaning of the term, when used in a computer context, has changed somewhat over the decades since it first came into use (when it was simply used as a verb for 'messing about' with, 'I hack around with computers'), as it has been given additional and clashing meanings by new users of the word.

Currently, "hacker" is used in two main ways, one pejorative and one complimentary: in popular usage and in the media, it generally describes computer intruders or criminals; in the computing community, it describes a particularly brilliant programmer or technical expert (for example: "Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, is a genius hacker."). The latter is said by some to be the "correct" usage of the word (see the Jargon File definition below).

The mainstream media's usage of the term may be traced back to the early 1980's (see History below). At the time in 1983 of the first national media use of the term to refer to computer intruders, even those in the computer community refered to such activity as "hacking", although this was not the exclusive use of the word. Due to the increasing media use of the term exclusively in the criminal connotation, the computer community began to differentiate the terminology they used at about that time, coining several alternative terms for such criminal activities, while retaining the legitimate and more common performed activities under the core meaning of "hack". As network news use of the term pertained primarily to the criminal activities, the mainstream media and general public have not followed suit. Through the present the mass media routinely describe computer criminals at all levels of technical sophistication as "hackers", and does not generally make use of the word "hacker" in any of its non-criminal connotations.

As a result of this difference, the term is the subject of some controversy. The pejorative connotation is disliked by many who identify themselves as hackers, and who do not like their label used negatively. Many users of the positive form say the "intruder" meaning should be deprecated, and advocate terms such as "cracker" or "black hat" to replace it. Others prefer to follow common popular usage, arguing that the positive form is confusing and never likely to become widespread. It should be noted however, that the positive definition of hacker was widely used as the predominant form for many years before the negative definition was popularized.

Sorry for this, I just wanted to set the record straight.

And by the way, I hate it in basketball when they do that too. Pisses me off.

__________________
"You hear the one about the fella who died, went to the pearly gates? St. Peter let him in. Sees a guy in a suit making a closing argument. Says, "Who's that?" St. Peter says, "Oh, that's God. Thinks he's Denny Crane."