The New Hacker's Dictionary

By Guy L. Steele Jr. and Eric S. Raymond

Book Overview

This is a compendium of the slang used by computer hackers. Although it is organized in reference form, it is not a mere technical dictionary or handbook of terms; it offers the reader a guide to the hacker's world, its myths, heroes, folk epics, in-jokes, taboos and dreams. This new edition contains almost five times as many entries as its predecessor, and in addition to detailing of hacker slang (terms like bagbiter, quux, double bucky and frobnitz), also includes some lessons in hacker jargon construction. Appendices include a selection of classic items of hacker folklore and humour, a composite portrait of J. Random Hacker assembled from the comments of over 100 respondents, and a bibliography of nontechnical works that have either influenced or described the culture.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262680696
• ISBN13: 9780262680691
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Mit Pr
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Worth having

I would normally not consider buying something named "The New Hacker's Dictionary", as the first thing that comes to mind is "drivel for the stupid masses". However, I must say that I was wrong. The "dictionary" is actually by an author who is obviously familiar with the computing days of old - the definitions aren't idiotic new-age garbage, but rather words that most "hackers"/"computer nerds" will recognize - while the regular folk will not. The book doesn't discuss words like "click", "webpage" and any other "popular" computing terms - instead it's words like "foobar", "warez d00dz", "flipflop", etc...If you're at all interested in classic computing culture, this book is something I feel every computer nerd should have (you fit the description if, among other things, you like monty python and your idea of the perfect evening is spending it at home programming, with occasional breaks to watch the X-Files). If you're a soccermom, or a script/warez kiddie, this book is not for you. You probably won't understand it, and will certainly not appreciate it.

Yeah you can get it free on the internet...

It is really nice to be able to peruse this book in the flesh rather than on the computer screen and if you frequently are looking at the HTML version then you will not be dissapointed by this book. If you have never read this book then do a quick web search and check out the HTML version first.

Imminent Death Of The Net Predicted

Blargh. Ignore the twinks and their burbling flamage - the yellow book is a moby frob and the source of all good bits. The 3rd Ed has the X nature. It is a region in an otherwise flat entity which is not actually present, fnord, a brain-dump suitable for neep-neeps. So screw the manglers, marketroids and pseudo-suits, kill that point-and-drool interface, and plug into the screaming tty.It is a Good Thing.

Definitely not a disappointment......

Thsi book is a very good reference tool for any aspiring hacker and for the veteran as well. It does an excellent job breaking down the words and dialect making it easy to understand. It also functions for a good laugh when leafing through coming across words such as "Automagically", "Infinite Monkey Theorem", and so on.

simply the best!

This book has become a first level reference for me! It is hilarious, insightful and clever. I have a copy of each edition, and I will keep buying them as long as they are forthcoming.