The New Hacker's Dictionary - 3rd Edition [Paperback]

Eric S. Raymond (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 1996

This new edition of the hacker's own phenomenally successful lexicon includes more than 100 new entries and updates or revises 200 more. Historically and etymologically richer than its predecessor, it supplies additional background on existing entries and clarifies the murky origins of several important jargon terms (overturning a few long-standing folk etymologies) while still retaining its high giggle value...SAMPLE DEFINITION: :hacker: n. [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] 1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. 2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming. 3. A person capable of appreciating {hack value}. 4. A person who is good at programming quickly. 5. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it; as in 'a UNIX hacker'. (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who fit them congregate.) 6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker, for example. 7. One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations. 8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive information by poking around. Hence 'password hacker', 'network hacker'. The correct term is {cracker}. The term 'hacker' also tends to connote membership in the global community defined by the net (see {network, the} and {Internet address}). It also implies that the person described is seen to subscribe to some version of the hacker ethic (see {hacker ethic, the}). It is better to be described as a hacker by others than to describe oneself that way. Hackers consider themselves something of an elite (a meritocracy based on ability), though one to which new members are gladly welcome. There is thus a certain ego satisfaction to be had in identifying yourself as a hacker (but if you claim to be one and are not, you'll quickly be labeled {bogus}). See also {wannabee}.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This third edition of the tremendously popular Hacker's Dictionary adds 100 new entries and updates 200 entries. In case you aren't familiar with it, this is no snoozer dictionary of technical terms, although you'll certainly find accurate definitions for most techie jargon. It's the slang and secret language among computer jocks that offers the most fun. Don't know what the Infinite-Monkey Theorem is? Or the meaning of "rat dance?" It's all here. Most people don't sit down to read dictionaries for entertainment, but this is surely an exception.

Review

"A sprightly lexicon." William Safire, New York Times Magazine

"For anyone who likes to have slippery, elastic fun with language, this is a time for celebration.... The New Hacker's Dictionary... is not only a useful guidebook to very much un-official technical terms and street tech slang, but also a de facto ethnography of the early years of the hacker culture." Mondo 2000

"My current favorite is `wave a dead chicken.' New to you? You've waved a dead chicken when you've gone through motions to satisfy onlookers (suits?), even when you're sure it's all futile. Raymond's book exhilarates.... The New Hacker's Dictionary, though, is not for skimming. Allot, each day, a half hour, severely timed if you hope to get any work done." Hugh Kenner, Byte

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 547 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; third edition edition (October 11, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262680920
• ISBN-13: 978-0262680929
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #204,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Computers & Internet
  • #50 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Slang & Idioms

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and very funny May 17, 2000

By Mike Christie

Format:Paperback

If you can remember playing "Adventure" on a teletype, this book is for you. And if you're in college, hoping for a job in computing when you graduate, this book is for you too. It's an anarchic compendium of the anarchic vocabulary, habits, and style of the programming profession.

The New Hacker's Dictionary is mostly arranged as a set of alphabetical entries, but there are a couple of excellent appendices, on hacker folklore and on the hacker lifestyle and habits. (Hacker is used here in its original sense of someone who enjoys and is good at programming--Raymond has included both "hacker" and "cracker" as entries, of course.) The entry on folklore is simply hilarious; I wish I could just include Guy Steele's "more magic" story here, but I'll just have to tell you to buy the book.

The entries are a real mixture. Many, such as "indent style", go beyond just defining the term: this entry gives examples of the four major C styles and mentions the holy wars (another entry . . .) which have occurred over them. Some are quite current: Easter egg, kluge, Trojan horse; others are arcane or dated, but still interesting: NeWS, CP/M, chiclet keyboard. All the entries are interesting and well-written.

Newcomers to the field may find a good deal of enlightenment here, and old-timers will find a lot of memories. My own favourite entries relate to the old text-based game Adventure, which I encountered on a CDC machine in 1981. "I see no <X> here." "Plugh!" "Xyzzy!" *Sigh* It almost makes me miss those old teletypes.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Guide to Online Jargon June 5, 1998

By [e-mail]

Format:Paperback

The Jargon File, on which this book is based, has been the definitive guide to online jargon pretty much since there was an online to create jargon about. You may want another book to spell out acronyms and decipher industry-speak, but if you've been thrown in with a bunch of real geeks for the first time and can't understand what seems to be a language of its own, this book is better than Berlitz.

Even people for whom 'foobar' is not a foreign word will enjoy the essays and jokes in The New Hacker's Dictionary, and there's bound to be a phrase or two you can learn from the nerd subculture down the hall.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Recursion (n.). See recursion. October 19, 2000

By Primoz Peterlin

Format:Paperback

Perhaps we should start by telling what this dictionary isn't. First, it has nothing to do with breaking into computer systems and similar illegal activities which any layman would usually associate with hackers. It teaches you that hacking is not the correct name for breaking into computers, though. Second, it is not a dictionary of IT terminology. You can probably do your IT job quite well without knowing what a foobar is. And third, it is not a dictionary of the current cyber slang. The main reason for this is probably the fact that Eric Raymond is well beyond his teenage years.

Altogether, I don't even think The New Hacker's Dictionary fits the category of a reference work. Instead I'd dare to call it literature in the form of a dictionary, much like the classical Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, or The Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams. Sure, many entries can be used as reference, although a lot of them actually refer to historic software and hardware items like ITS, PDP-10 or LISP machines. The New Hacker's Dictionary not the dry, encyclopedic style of dictionary - entries are written in an opinionated, juicy style. The humorous side of the dictionary - a work of a witty, creative hacker mind picking names for things - certainly vastly outweighs its practical side.

So is this book for you? Yes, if the legendary MIT AI lab hacker scene fascinates you. Although LISP machines are gone, it's perhaps still affecting your computing environment more than you think. For example: Linux, the free Unix clone, is built on top of the GNU project, which descends directly from the MIT AI lab hacker scene. And finally, is there any point in buying a printed book, if the complete text is available on Raymond's web site so you can read it on-line? I'd say it is. You see, it's not particularly convenient to take your computer into the bath tub.