[hobozilla]

I had to stop reading at:

"In 2009, an anonymous hacker (or group of hackers) going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto unveiled the first entirely digital currency"

In what sense was Satoshi a hacker? Even the modern use of "hacking out code" is a stretch here.

Also, it clearly was not the first digital cash. e-Gold and many others predate it.

[iamphilrae]

Technically, I believe that has always been the definition of a hacker, even back in the 80’s. Since then it’s been movies and popular culture that have got it wrong. I believe that what most people think of a hacker, i.e someone who digitally breaks into a system, is actually a ‘cracker’.

[arglebarnacle]

I think it's time to stop fighting this fight--nobody I know, even among the security/tech literate, uses the word cracker. We may just have to live with the fact that "hacker" means two easily conflatable things, at least until another term actually catches on for one or the other.

[FooHentai]

Kinda a hard angle to pursue given the name of this site.

[decentralised]

I think hacker is the right term to use for someone who can pick up existing systems and modify their behaviour to suit other purposes, be it for fun or profit. Think back to ESR and RMS type of hacker.

[ska]

This is true to the original meaning of "hacker", and may well have been intended that way.