Along the same lines, can we stop calling all coding "hacking". Unless you are accessing features of an API that it doesn't intend you to access, you are not hacking.
The second sentence is not supported by any of the historical uses of the word "hacking", whether it's the original one (a vaguely defined definition involving deep knowledge and stretching the limits of computing systems) or the debased one ("breaking into computers"). Many of the earliest 'hacks' occurred well in advance of any defined APIs for anything but are still clearly recognizable as hacks (e.g. some of the clever tricks in HAKMEM, for example). Dividing a number by a constant but multiplying by a magic number is a hack, for example, but no API has been violated here.
That's a shame, because recognizing the distinction between "mere coding" and "hacking" would be a good idea.
I'm with you on this one - but this is a pretty unpopular opinion on "Hacker" News. Just let the kids call themselves hackers if it makes them feel better.
It's a pretty fine idiot filter, too. If someone introduces himself as a hacker you know directly where to put him :)
