BORN TO PROGRAM: The members of the eXperimental Computer Facility (XCF) have a history of elitism and competition. While a passion for programming has replaced a high skill level as criteria for membership, the group says that the spirit of competition is still dominant. Photo by Angela Privin.

eXperimental Computer Facility’s proud present and impressive past

While the term “hacker” has earned an unsavory connotation (thanks in part to its depiction in movies and all the bad press), the real definition of the term is quite innocuous, say members of the eXperimental Computer Facility (XCF) at Berkeley.

“Hacker used to just mean someone who was good with computers,” says EECS senior and XCF member Walter Rader.