hack

hackingprogramming

Originally, an inventive or elegant solution admired for its cleverness, not a break-in.

In its first sense, from the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club and early MIT culture, a hack is a clever, often playful feat of engineering. The intrusion meaning came later and now dominates headlines, but the older sense, ingenuity for its own sake, is the root of "hacker" as a badge of pride.

Also known as: hacking, hacker, kludge

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