The original (computing/model railroad-context) meaning of "hacker" goes back to the 1960s at MIT.
The corrupted 1980s popular media meaning was "criminal". (I cast no aspersions here)
The 2000s PG/HN meaning was an attempt to point toward 1960s MIT, which was probably well-intended (and poorly received at the time), but has failed to convert the popular media, and perhaps has morphed into some gross sticky goo including VCs and tech bros.
The original (computing/model railroad-context) meaning of "hacker" goes back to the 1960s at MIT.
The corrupted 1980s popular media meaning was "criminal". (I cast no aspersions here)
The 2000s PG/HN meaning was an attempt to point toward 1960s MIT, which was probably well-intended (and poorly received at the time), but has failed to convert the popular media, and perhaps has morphed into some gross sticky goo including VCs and tech bros.