The New Hacker's Dictionary, third edition

by Raymond, Eric S.

• ISBN13: 9780262680929
• ISBN10: 0262680920
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-10-11
• Publisher: The MIT Press

Summary

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}.

Table of Contents

Confessions of a Happy Hacker	ix
Guy Steele
Hacker in a Strange Land	xv
Eric Raymond
Preface to the Second Edition	xix
Preface to the Third Edition	xxi
Introduction	1	(8)
How Jargon Works	9	(17)
How to Use the Lexicon	26	(7)
The Jargon Lexicon	33	(473)
Appendix A: Hacker Folklore	506	(16)
Appendix B: A Portrait of J. Random Hacker	522	(9)
Appendix C: Helping Hacker Culture Grow	531	(2)
Bibliography	533	(5)
Contributors	538