Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (1994) [pdf]

temarium.com

20 points·da02··8 comments

Flagging this, I don't think HN should be used to link to copyrighted books.

Agree. Maybe the article could link to the first two chapters posted on gutenberg instead? (My impression is that gutenberg is fairly scrupulous on copyright matters): http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/729

A very enjoyable read, although with hindsight, the portrait of RMS as the last of a dying breed on a doomed quest was hilariously off. It's a good reminder, though, that whatever his foibles, RMS was a key catalyst for free software.

A few years ago, I was thrilled to see Peter Samson, one of the heroes of _Hackers_, in the flesh, demonstrating a PDP-1 at the computer history museum.

Isn't this a pirated copy of this book?

I'm no lawyer, but I highly suspect something illegal is going on here: "All rights are ours. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by conscience. For information address Doubleday, New York, New York."

Back in the early 90s, they didn't publish books in a digital version like this. So someone must have taken great care to create this file and then give it away to the world.

Sure looks like it.

If you like stories like this and listen to podcasts, you might want to listen to Darknet Diaries (https://darknetdiaries.com). It covers true stories from hackers and stories about cyber crime.

From a similar era, I always liked Cliff Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg".

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