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The original term hacker came from the MIT Model Railroad Club. It came from when they "hacked" together some phone switching equipment to control the relays on their model railroad. Someone who used something other than its original intended or imagined purpose for some cool new innovative purpose.

SV/West Coast has largely adopted the same term, albeit in a much looser sense.

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MIT "hack" comes from the pranks and unauthorized adventuring that many undergraduates came to enjoy on campus. (eg. http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/misc/best_of.html)

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.

Yes, I've actually read the book, that's why I thought it came originally from the TMRC as one of the many slang terms or jargon they came up with.

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