It is hard to write a simple definition of something as varied as hacking, but I think what these activities have in common is playfulness, cleverness, and exploration. Thus, hacking means exploring the limits of what is possible, in a spirit of playful cleverness. Activities that display playful cleverness have "hack value".


Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman (ed. 2002)


It is hard to write a simple definition of something as varied as hacking, but I think what these activities have in common is playfulness,...

It is hard to write a simple definition of something as varied as hacking, but I think what these activities have in common is playfulness,...

It is hard to write a simple definition of something as varied as hacking, but I think what these activities have in common is playfulness,...

It is hard to write a simple definition of something as varied as hacking, but I think what these activities have in common is playfulness,...