5 ms·

PG's Hackers & Painters is O'Reilly's $10 ebook deal today

65 points by dreyfiz 16y ago

GiraffeNecktie 16y ago
WTF? Why are we retweeting on HN?
- rbanffy 16y ago
  Because I didn't catch the original tweet. Thanks to this a couple other people who would benefit from the book will read it. And Tim and Paul will make some money out of it.
  - duck 16y ago
    Yeah, and I think this is a perfect example of a valid retweet for HN. Most aren't, but this is from the source and includes the discount code.
mdg 16y ago
It should be free. Spain did win the WC after all. Just sayin'
- TrevorBurnham 16y ago
  All of the essays from the book are available at http://paulgraham.com/essays.html http://paulgraham.com/essays.html, though with some differences. (Some have different titles as well.) It's a great opportunity to use Readability,
  - mdg 16y ago
    http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail164.html http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail164.html and http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail657.html http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail657.html also.
qeorge 16y ago
Good book. Recommend taking advantage of this deal if you haven't yet read it, its a easy read that will get the gears turning.
- tomh- 16y ago
  Is there new content compared to whats available for free online anyway?
  - qeorge 16y ago
    A lot of similar material appears in both the book and in his essays posted online, but there's also some unpublished stuff in the book as well. As to the ratio, I couldn't say. But as with Hacker Monthly, I find reading a print edition to be a new experience anyway, even if I've read the online text beforehand.
acangiano 16y ago
I'll always be fond of this book because, directly or indirectly, it changed my life.
jacquesm 16y ago
A funny if not totally consistent counterpoint: http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm
- pvg 16y ago
  At a minimum, it is no less 'consistent' than the original which has the glaring disadvantage of not being funny at all.
- jon_dahl 16y ago
  I always found this counterpoint article fatuous. To which I'd add, what hackers and painters don't have in common is everything else. The fatuousness of the parallel becomes obvious if you think for five seconds about what computer programmers and painters actually do. Computer programmers cause a machine to perform a sequence of transformations on electronically stored data. Painters apply colored goo to cloth using animal hairs tied to a stick. How many programmers sit down and say "It's time to do some electronic data transformations"? How many painters say "Time to push some paint"? PG is right that programming is a fundamentally creative activity, and so are the visual arts. Plenty of programmers forget that. It's not that the medium is irrelevant, but then again PG isn't claiming complete identity between programming and painting. (Personally, I prefer the analogy of programming to either writing or music composition, because the writing connection is quite strong. http://www.infoq.com/presentations/dahl-programming-minimalism http://www.infoq.com/presentations/dahl-programming-minimali... if you're interested.)
  - pvg 16y ago
    Is your criticism really "fatuous? no YOU'RE fatuous!"? That comes across as a little, well, petulant. The point is not about what programmers or painters or line cooks say when they get down to work - it's whether any insight-bearing parallels can be drawn between them. The important thing being insight-bearing, rather than insecurity-assuaging.
Revisor 16y ago
Direct link to the book, skipping the tweet http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781449389550/ http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781449389550/ Or at Amazon.com for $12.23 http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer/dp/1449389554/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1278947858&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer/dp...
- strick 16y ago
  FYI the kindle edition is always $9.99 and available at the Amazon link above.
  - jayliew 16y ago
    yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I already have a Kindle, and it makes more sense for me to do long form reading on my Kindle.
- dreyfiz 16y ago
  I posted the tweet because it contains the discount code.
grinich 16y ago
It's also on Scribd for free. You can download the PDF as well. http://www.scribd.com/doc/47180/Paul-Graham-Hackers-And-Painters http://www.scribd.com/doc/47180/Paul-Graham-Hackers-And-Pain...
- andrewtj 16y ago
  Gotta wander off on a tangent here — scribd is a beautiful site! I'm probably the last one around here to find out since this is the first time I've looked at their site since they dropped Flash (which I ignored) but wow, what a difference — if you found scribd not to your taste and haven't been back since, it's time to revisit it.
  - dreyfiz 16y ago
    Yes, scribd is great now. I used to hate it. I recently Googled the Blueprint CSS cheat sheet and...not bad, Scribd! No Flash! http://www.scribd.com/doc/12850249/Blueprint-CSS-framework-version-08-cheat-sheet http://www.scribd.com/doc/12850249/Blueprint-CSS-framework-v...
dantheman 16y ago
It's only $12.23 on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer/dp/1449389554 http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer/dp... for the dead tree version.
jlangenauer 16y ago
I got the real dead-tree edition of Hacker & Painters that someone left in the book exchange rack at the Green Tortiose Hostel in SF. Just another reason I love that place.

65 points by dreyfiz 16y ago

GiraffeNecktie 16y ago

WTF? Why are we retweeting on HN?

rbanffy 16y ago
Because I didn't catch the original tweet. Thanks to this a couple other people who would benefit from the book will read it. And Tim and Paul will make some money out of it.
- duck 16y ago
  Yeah, and I think this is a perfect example of a valid retweet for HN. Most aren't, but this is from the source and includes the discount code.

mdg 16y ago

It should be free. Spain did win the WC after all. Just sayin'

TrevorBurnham 16y ago
All of the essays from the book are available at http://paulgraham.com/essays.html http://paulgraham.com/essays.html, though with some differences. (Some have different titles as well.) It's a great opportunity to use Readability,
- mdg 16y ago
  http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail164.html http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail164.html and http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail657.html http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail657.html also.

qeorge 16y ago

Good book. Recommend taking advantage of this deal if you haven't yet read it, its a easy read that will get the gears turning.

tomh- 16y ago
Is there new content compared to whats available for free online anyway?
- qeorge 16y ago
  A lot of similar material appears in both the book and in his essays posted online, but there's also some unpublished stuff in the book as well. As to the ratio, I couldn't say. But as with Hacker Monthly, I find reading a print edition to be a new experience anyway, even if I've read the online text beforehand.

acangiano 16y ago

I'll always be fond of this book because, directly or indirectly, it changed my life.

jacquesm 16y ago

A funny if not totally consistent counterpoint: http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm

pvg 16y ago
At a minimum, it is no less 'consistent' than the original which has the glaring disadvantage of not being funny at all.
jon_dahl 16y ago
I always found this counterpoint article fatuous. To which I'd add, what hackers and painters don't have in common is everything else. The fatuousness of the parallel becomes obvious if you think for five seconds about what computer programmers and painters actually do. Computer programmers cause a machine to perform a sequence of transformations on electronically stored data. Painters apply colored goo to cloth using animal hairs tied to a stick. How many programmers sit down and say "It's time to do some electronic data transformations"? How many painters say "Time to push some paint"? PG is right that programming is a fundamentally creative activity, and so are the visual arts. Plenty of programmers forget that. It's not that the medium is irrelevant, but then again PG isn't claiming complete identity between programming and painting. (Personally, I prefer the analogy of programming to either writing or music composition, because the writing connection is quite strong. http://www.infoq.com/presentations/dahl-programming-minimalism http://www.infoq.com/presentations/dahl-programming-minimali... if you're interested.)
- pvg 16y ago
  Is your criticism really "fatuous? no YOU'RE fatuous!"? That comes across as a little, well, petulant. The point is not about what programmers or painters or line cooks say when they get down to work - it's whether any insight-bearing parallels can be drawn between them. The important thing being insight-bearing, rather than insecurity-assuaging.

Revisor 16y ago

Direct link to the book, skipping the tweet http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781449389550/ http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781449389550/ Or at Amazon.com for $12.23 http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer/dp/1449389554/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1278947858&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer/dp...

strick 16y ago
FYI the kindle edition is always $9.99 and available at the Amazon link above.
- jayliew 16y ago
  yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I already have a Kindle, and it makes more sense for me to do long form reading on my Kindle.
dreyfiz 16y ago
I posted the tweet because it contains the discount code.

grinich 16y ago

It's also on Scribd for free. You can download the PDF as well. http://www.scribd.com/doc/47180/Paul-Graham-Hackers-And-Painters http://www.scribd.com/doc/47180/Paul-Graham-Hackers-And-Pain...

andrewtj 16y ago
Gotta wander off on a tangent here — scribd is a beautiful site! I'm probably the last one around here to find out since this is the first time I've looked at their site since they dropped Flash (which I ignored) but wow, what a difference — if you found scribd not to your taste and haven't been back since, it's time to revisit it.
- dreyfiz 16y ago
  Yes, scribd is great now. I used to hate it. I recently Googled the Blueprint CSS cheat sheet and...not bad, Scribd! No Flash! http://www.scribd.com/doc/12850249/Blueprint-CSS-framework-version-08-cheat-sheet http://www.scribd.com/doc/12850249/Blueprint-CSS-framework-v...

dantheman 16y ago

It's only $12.23 on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer/dp/1449389554 http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer/dp... for the dead tree version.

jlangenauer 16y ago

I got the real dead-tree edition of Hacker & Painters that someone left in the book exchange rack at the Green Tortiose Hostel in SF. Just another reason I love that place.