Olivet University - Olivet Institute of Technology

Pictures from the Tech Model railroad Club at MIT, late 1950

Open source is tightly entrenched in the Hacker Ethic. The term hacker is defined today as a person who enjoys exploring details of programmable systems which was traced in the late 1950’s MIT’s computer culture. Several members of the Tech Model railroad Club or TMRC, grouped and formed the nucleus of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. These individuals were so into how systems worked. And the word HACK had long been utilized in describing elaborate college pranks devised by MIT students. But TMRC members used the term to describe a task instilled with innovation, style and technical intelligence which led to projects taken not merely to complete beneficial goals but also with some intense creative interest which was called a Hack.