> hackers (in the MIT/HN sense of the word).
As someone at Berkeley who's been to many events at MIT, I feel like the definition of Silicon Valley/West Coast "hacker" is very different from the MIT hacker.
As someone at Berkeley who's been to many events at MIT, I feel like the definition of Silicon Valley/West Coast "hacker" is very different from the MIT hacker.
SV/West Coast has largely adopted the same term, albeit in a much looser sense.
Hack was then used by MIT's TMRC of which many members became involved with/helped build the AI-lab. The first third of Hackers (http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Anniversar...) gives a good perspective on the evolution.
But all that is pretty immaterial to the question at hand. Both hacker subcultures are probably intended as the target of intimidation.