SirKnightTG
forum member
While there have been a few different definitions of what a hacker is (the media/Hollywood likes to portray a "hacker" as someone doing bad things), technically while looking at the more correct definition any one who writes tunes for a car is a hacker. Anyone who modifies the hardware of the car (or just swapping parts even, bolt ons, etc) is a hacker as well. We are all hackers actually.
"A hacker is a person who heavily modifies the software or hardware of their own computer system", taking from wikipedia, and all of us in the computer industry already knows and agrees with this. Even though this definition says computer system, it actually means the same for anything. Cars, motorcycles, boats, phones, etc. Hacking is the process of modifying any kind of device/machine/system to suit your own goals or needs.
Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and GNU, says "hacking means exploring the limits of what is possible, in a spirit of playful cleverness." This holds true in the realm of racing, hot rodding, etc too. This definition of hacking actually existed as it is before computers anyway. It's quite universal really. Here's Richard's page where he talks about "hacking" that's actually a good read: http://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html
Now this FRPP guy probably is using the "black hat" version of "hacker" implying bad things, but the truth is we are all hackers here. But instead we're the "white hat" flavor.
Keep on hackin'!
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