Topic: A great book rediscovered (Read 3597 times)

Demosthenes · « **on:** July 07, 2004, 09:50:51 AM »

I'd like to get on a soapbox for a minute here and recommend a book to those of you that have never read it, or even to those of you who read it once a long time ago and may have forgotten about it.

The book I'm talking about is Hackers: Heroes Of The Computer Revolution[/b], by Steven Levy.

I received my first copy of this book back in 1985 as a birthday present. Considering what I was doing back then with much of my free time, it was perfect timing.

In early 1985 I was spending most of my time after school either working on coding/hacking anything I could think of on computers in my junior high school computer lab -- which at the time was filled with old Apple ][e's -- or coding/hacking anything I could think of on my own computer at home, a diminutive and underpowered Commodore VIC-20.

It was an incredible experience and I was continually fascinated more and more the more I learned. I found joy and entertainment in writing programs, reverse-engineering other programs and games, coming up with games of my own, and figuring out ways of using what seemed like such powerful tools of technology. A few friends of mine and I spent countless hours figuring out by trial-and-error how to get the Apple ][e computers to sing and dance, and whatever I figured out there, I would port backward into language my VIC-20 could understand and see if I could replicate the results.

I had no idea that what I was doing was really "hacking" in the original sense of the term, and I had no idea that I was not the only one to be so overwhelmingly hypnotized by the endless possibilities computers and technology offered.

When I got a paperback copy of "Hackers: Heroes Of The Computer Revolution", I didn't really know what to think... I thought at first it was a novel, and a thick one at that (the original paperback version of this book was 480 pages in length).

It sat on my bookshelf in my room for months before I looked more closely at it.

When I finally did crack it open and begin reading, I was in awe. This was a history of people that were doing just what I was doing. They valued the things I valued. They paved the way for the rest of us to have an easier time of accessing technology and the Hands On Imperative was sacred to them.

I devoured this book, and I shared it with my friends at the time. This Steven Levy guy got it.

He put down in black and white what we had never really been able to express in words.

The Hacker Ethic[/size]

Access to computers - and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works - should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On-Imperative!
All information should be free.
Mistrust authority -- promote decentralization.
Hackers should be judged by their Hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.
You can create art and beauty on a computer.
Computers can change your life for the better.[/list:u]
That was in 1985. At that pivotal time in my youth, that book, combined with my own insatiable thirst for understanding, changed my life, or at least my point of view on a lot of things.

"Hackers", as a book, is more than just a brief history of technology from the early 1950's to the early 1980's... it's a manifesto that diagrams ideals that have far-reaching implications, even 20 years after its initial publication in 1984.

I lost my original copy of this book years ago. And it was out of print for years.

Levy was able to work out a new deal with a publisher last year, however, and it's back in print, and I bought a new copy and just finished reading it again, almost 20 years after the first time it held my attention with an iron grip.

It is even more relevent today than it was 20 years ago. It reads like a prophetic guide to the rise of open source. It makes one think that it is inevitable that with the proliferation and ubiquitousness of technology, personal computers, and more and faster ways of sharing information that free software, free ideas -- not secret, proprietary, hidden -- will be the way things will be.

Steven Levy wrote back in 1984 about programmers writing code and letting other programmers look at it, improve on it, and distribute it. He wrote about people being appalled and disgusted by the idea of not distributing or allowing access to source code for applications, games, or other programs.

He was writing about something that hadn't happened yet (the Open Source movement), and yet had been going on since the beginning.

I think we're living in a brief island of closed source dominance in a sea of free information.

Read this book.

MISTER MASSACRE · « **Reply #1 on:** July 07, 2004, 11:46:58 AM »

Quote from: Demosthenes

Read this book.

You got it, chief!

pbsaurus · « **Reply #2 on:** July 07, 2004, 05:42:19 PM »

Amazon says it's already on my wishlist which means that my chances are poor that I'll receive it. (click the link to figure out why I say this...)

The_FOO · « **Reply #3 on:** July 08, 2004, 12:58:11 PM »

Quote from: pbsaurus

Amazon says it's already on my wishlist which means that my chances are poor that I'll receive it. (click the link to figure out why I say this...)

Greedy much?

Anonymous · « **Reply #4 on:** July 08, 2004, 01:00:29 PM »

PB, If I ever win a shit load of cash, I'll buy every single item on that list.

The_FOO · « **Reply #5 on:** July 08, 2004, 01:04:32 PM »

Quote from: TheJudge

PB, If I ever win a shit load of cash, I'll buy every single item on that list.

For yourself?

pbsaurus · « **Reply #6 on:** July 08, 2004, 01:57:19 PM »

Quote from: TheJudge

PB, If I ever win a shit load of cash, I'll buy every single item on that list.

Dude you're the best!

pbsaurus · « **Reply #7 on:** July 08, 2004, 01:58:26 PM »

Quote from: The_FOO

Quote from: pbsaurus
Amazon says it's already on my wishlist which means that my chances are poor that I'll receive it. (click the link to figure out why I say this...)

Greedy much?

I wouldn't call it greed. I'd just say that I'm a great communicator. If I actually expected to receive everything on the list, then I'd be greedy.

Anonymous · « **Reply #8 on:** July 08, 2004, 02:04:00 PM »

Quote from: pbsaurus

Quote from: TheJudge
PB, If I ever win a shit load of cash, I'll buy every single item on that list.

Dude you're the best!

Thanks! I'm just not sure what I gonna do with all that crap! OMFGLOL!!11

I gues I could give it to.... say... oh... PB!

What does PB stand for any way?

Pepered Bacon?
Pink Ballon?
Prostitute Banger?
Pizza Burger?
Perfume Bearer?
Pigeon Basher?

pbsaurus · « **Reply #9 on:** July 08, 2004, 02:24:23 PM »

Dude, I already told you the answer is out there somewhere. Or was that somewhere else? Anyway it's in one of those places...

Anonymous · « **Reply #10 on:** July 08, 2004, 02:41:08 PM »

Oh I know what the answer is. I'm just playing.

EDIT: Nice subtle hint dude!

pbsaurus · « **Reply #11 on:** July 08, 2004, 05:12:57 PM »

Quote from: TheJudge

Oh I know what the answer is. I'm just playing.

EDIT: Nice subtle hint dude!

Phhhhheeeewww! *wipes sweat from brow* I was beginning to doubt your stalker powers there

Anonymous · « **Reply #12 on:** July 08, 2004, 08:22:49 PM »

Don't be silly! I also know everything I need to know about Trent! OMFGLOL!!11

Demosthenes · « **Reply #13 on:** July 09, 2004, 08:12:30 AM »

Anonymous · « **Reply #14 on:** July 09, 2004, 08:13:37 AM »

LOL!

Don't worry, all I needed to know about Trent is that his name is Trent.

hackess · « **Reply #15 on:** July 09, 2004, 08:29:06 AM »

You frighten me.

Anonymous · « **Reply #16 on:** July 09, 2004, 08:33:52 AM »

I know.

The_FOO · « **Reply #17 on:** July 14, 2004, 02:07:35 PM »

Demo found this: http://www.sch57.msk.ru/~khim/hackers/

Everyone enjoy.

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