Definition of Hack

by Kin Lane on 01/10/2012

I’m spending a lot of time traveling around the country going to hackathons. I find myself constantly explaining what the term hack means.

I’m blown away by the number of people, even in the tech industry that still see hack as a negative term. At the AT&T hackathon in Las Vegas , I encountered quite a few hardware folks in town for CES, attending the event. I was asked by one guy, “Are all these people trying to hack someone’s network?”.

So, as part of my 2012 hackathon roadshow, I will take on trying to rebrand the term. Currently, these are the common definitions of the word hack:

To cut or chop with repeated and irregular blows: hacked down the saplings
To break up the surface of soil
To alter a computer program
To gain access to a computer file or network illegally or without authorization
To cut or mutilate as if by hacking
To cope with successfully
To chop or cut something by hacking
To write or refine computer programs skillfully
To use one's skill in computer programming to gain illegal or unauthorized access to a file or network
To cough roughly or harshly
A rough, irregular cut made by hacking
A tool, such as a hoe, used for hacking
A blow made by hacking
A rough, dry cough