There's another very large subgroup you're missing: the hackers that build things (even for $0) because they're fun/cool, not because they solve a specific annoying problem/inefficiency.
Thank you for pointing that out. I updated my comment to include that group. Personally, my motivation comes from the part of me that feels compelled to fix things that are inefficient, but I love being a part of a community that builds useful/fun/cool things & each of us are driven by our own motivations.
“hacking” is the challenge of making something work in ways it was never intended - for example unlocking a car with wireless entry using a laptop and DIY electronics instead of the normal car key.
Doing it to your own car is obviously very different from stealing someone else’s, however it’s not illegal to “hack” your own car. The theft part is what gets you in trouble.
Hacking seems to have taken on so many different meanings.
I've always known hacking as a term specifically related to bypassing security in digital systems. Think Matthew Broderick gaining access to government networks via a phone line. This was hacking that would always get you in trouble if caught.
I'm not quite sure when "hacking" was repurposed as a term for using something in a way it wasn't intended ("life hacks" or "kitchen hacks", etc).
Now hacking is about challenging social norms? I'm very lost at this point, in an "old man shakes fist at clouds" kind of way.
