IMHO, the authority on the word "hacker" is the jargon file, http://catb.org/jargon/html/H/hacker.html

It is a pity that the author not only fails to reference any of the experts, but is also limiting the meaning of the word to computer programming and cracking.

It is important to recapture the term hacker and bring it back to what it truly means.

Here, I can completely agree, even though I would not see the "true meaning" of the term in that article.