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The Hacker Shelf: Collection of free books for the intellectually curious
- christudor 11y agoInteresting, but very first book I clicked on led to a 404 error. http://hackershelf.com/book/274/rails-deep-dive/ http://hackershelf.com/book/274/rails-deep-dive/ Then the very next book I clicked on had another 404 error. http://hackershelf.com/book/90/big-fat-rails/ http://hackershelf.com/book/90/big-fat-rails/ ...
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- roryokane 11y agoThe books are community-curated. Those books were added in 2012. I searched for updated links to those two books and updated their entries; you should be able to read those books now.
- 0hn0 11y agomore free e-books for developers: http://www.eduhub.io/b/free-programming-books http://www.eduhub.io/b/free-programming-books
- taoufix 11y agoThe first book I clicked on is not free. http://hackershelf.com/book/129/97-things-every-programmer-should-know/ http://hackershelf.com/book/129/97-things-every-programmer-s...
- DanBC 11y agoThat was mentioned three years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3589963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3589963 The site appears to use a loose definition of free.
- okal 11y ago> "loose definition" How so? I state quite explicitly what sort of content is welcome. If the contents of the book are available for free from a site controlled by the author(s) or publisher, it is free enough for the purposes of the site. If you care enough and find a book that doesn't meet that standard, you can flag it, and I can have a look to confirm this.
- jamessantiago 11y agoThis looks to be the main content of the book: http://programmer.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Contributions_Appearing_in_the_Book http://programmer.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Contri...
- yitchelle 11y agoTrue. but on the other hand, it is a good list of books for the HN crowd. That in itself makes this site a good resource. Lets focus on the positive here...
- okal 11y agoIt is http://programmer.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Contributions_Appearing_in_the_Book http://programmer.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Contri... If it isn't, all you need to do is flag it.
- talnet 11y agoOh.. yeah 333_jlo
- helly 11y agoReading is hard for me. I would love to find something like this for audio books.
- pbhjpbhj 11y agoCode listings in audio books are going to be, er, interesting. I remember seeing a video of a blind coder's set up and the audio was incredible - really fast and hard to tune in to. I think there's a service idea here - something to hook people up to others who want to read a book and are prepared to read it out aloud and record it. Build a library of books. Audio books tend to be edited mind you.
- gshrikant 11y ago>> I think there's a service idea here - something to hook people up to others who want to read a book and are prepared to read it out aloud and record it. Build a library of books. You mean something like Librivox? [1] [1] https://librivox.org/ https://librivox.org/
- pbhjpbhj 11y agoLol, yes! Except that I was envisaging some way to suggest a book (and by extension vote for a book) so a volunteer could choose a book that was in demand. Also I didn't figure copyright in to the equation; Librivox is for public domain works it seems.
- millzlane 11y agoRelevant video: https://vimeo.com/116986391 https://vimeo.com/116986391 (Why programming manuals aren't on audiobook)
- marincounty 11y agoI had a hard time reading computer and technology books. They are getting much better, but a few years ago, when reading some books in this field; I felt like I was reading a 500 plus page phone book. That said, I haven't looked at the list, but most books have gotten much better at conveying the information. When I wanted to understand front and backend website developement, I downloaded the free courses in computer science colleges(MIT, and Harvard) through ITunes. I would listen to the lectures while exercising. They helped me a lot. I slowly got used to the lingo, and it all started to kinda make sense. I still gave a long way to go, but at least when I pick up a book now; it's not like I'm reading Latin. The posters at this site have pointed me in the right direction more times than I can count. If I wanted to get the "skinny" on the latest technology; many times I go straight to the comments. (If I wrote a computer/technical book; I would try to include an audio version--if funds permitted? Reading is not easy for myself either! You are not alone. Oh yea, I'm surprised more technical subjects are not written in well thought out comic book form? I'm not looking for elaborate artwork, but a few visuals go a long way. Teach Youself Visually publications are a favorite go to of mine-- when I do buy a book in this field.)
- douche 11y agoI've picked up number of decent free ebooks from here: https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning/ https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning/ You do have to check it every day, because it's always a different book. I've also picked up a few decent books from https://www.syncfusion.com/resources/techportal/EBooks https://www.syncfusion.com/resources/techportal/EBooks
- discordianfish 11y agoProbably stating the obvious, but making this HTTPS (only) would be great. Not sure when I signed up the last time for something via http..
- phn 11y agoCool resource, seems awesome to find tech related stuff. However, and more related to the title than the website really, the intellectually curious should broaden their reading material to an area outside of what they do for a living. Broaden the perspective, open the mind and all that jazz.
- okal 11y agoThat was my hope 1198 days ago when I started the website https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3589963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3589963 :-) I would have titled it "Free Computer Books" otherwise. If you know of any books that fulfill the "free" condition, that would appeal to a curious mind - however you choose to define that, then feel free to submit them.
- avinassh 11y agoThis repo maintains list of free programming books - https://github.com/vhf/free-programming-books https://github.com/vhf/free-programming-books
- philippnagel 11y agoI think "intellectually curious" is a bit misleading. True, most of us here are mostly interested in technology. But intellectuality is a broader term. What about philosophy, management, etc.? These all belong together in a broader sense and I would love to see a (digital) library combining these fields.
- robobro 11y agoYeah, I have a giant collection of free philosophy books that could use a good place like this to call home :(
- pknerd 11y agoShare please?
- navait 11y agoI cringe every time I see phrases connecting hackers to intellectuals. Most people in software I know are intelligent, but being smart does not make you intellectually curious. There are quite a few people I would consider hackers who have zero interest in a intellectual life beyond technology. That's not to say they should if they aren't interested. But "intellectual" should mean more than just hacker-esque knowledge. I fear labeling your own in group as always intellectual leads down the path of believing everyone else is not worth listening to.
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- Dewie3 11y agoI think the title quite clearly means hackers that happen to be intellectually curious. If technology and such is too narrow for you, I guess that's a fair point. We might as well go into how "smartness" is narrowly seen as the only metric which programmers are judged by, while we're at it.
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- EliRivers 11y agoAt risk of teaching people to suck eggs, and at risk of speaking to people whose regional public library system has been defunded to the point of non-functionality; inter library loans are a beautiful thing. My local library (in the UK) will fetch me a book from any participating library in the UK or Ireland and loan it to me for a month, for two pounds and fifty pence (a bit under four dollars at current exchange rates). They'll extend the loan if I ask and the owning library doesn't mind. Over the past year, I've had books from university libraries up and down the country, big chunky tomes from the British Library, and books from regional library systems that happened by chance to hold a copy of whatever I was looking for. Basically, any time I come across a book I want to read, I pitch over to www.worldcat.org and see if any library in the UK holds a copy. If someone does (and sometimes it's just one library), I make an inter library loan request and a week later it's in my hands. I've been shot down twice; once when the book was subsequently found to no longer exist in the single library listed on worldcat, and once when the university library said it was in too high demand and would I mind asking again in July when the demand would have dropped. I've had technical manuals, obscure novels, expensive books that I wanted to get my hands on for a few weeks to see if I'd use it or enjoy it enough to buy my own copy, some really niche books on the shipping industry, stupidly expensive books of compiled data, all sorts. Two pounds fifty for a month's loan is an absolute bargain.
- henrikeh 11y agoFor the Danish, the same (but free) service exist at http://bibliotek.dk http://bibliotek.dk
- faizshah 11y agoIn the US you can get access to worldcat at a lot of university, community college, and public libraries to get interlibrary loans from many different participating institutions. I have gotten so many obscure technical books on loan using this service, like "Bipartite Graphs and their Applications" (it's a good read). The only problem is if you forget to renew the book you have to pay the fine at the institution it's on loan from. :( https://www.worldcat.org/ https://www.worldcat.org/
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- beyti 11y agoI think it receives some performance issues right now. But content is nice. I maybe wrong but, couldn't see a favicon. it would be nice imho, to motivate bookmarking.
- artumi-richard 11y agoOpen access science books http://www.intechopen.com/books http://www.intechopen.com/books
- evantahler 11y agoI got a masters degree in Entertainment Technology (Video Game and Theme Park Design) from CMU. They have started publishing books and articles related to their research all for free, and in various formats: http://press.etc.cmu.edu http://press.etc.cmu.edu Perhaps this type of nerdy content might interest you.
- anatoly 11y agoIt's crazy to prefer free technical books just because they're free. If you're reading a math textbook, or a CS textbook, or any but the most fluffy programming book, then you're giving it so much of your time and attention that any cost up to $100 is meaningless next to how much one book is better or worse than another. I see people living in the First World and saying things like "I wanted to learn calculus from this very well-recommended book, but it costs $50, so I got this reprint of an older textbook for $15". You're basing your choice of the guide to challenging material that you predict will be tough to understand on the cost of a dinner and a movie. Textbooks are not commodities! Some of them are really good and others are really bad and it depends on the student, too. It isn't always that the more expensive one is better, to be sure. Often it's just the opposite. I'm saying you should just forget about price altogether and choose based on sampling/reviews/recommendations. Things may be difficult for someone truly in dire poverty, or someone living in a poor country where $50 is more like the month's earnings. Those people should just go to gen.lib.rus.ec and download everything.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoOk using a Calculus book as an example was not helpful. They are indeed a commodity. There are dozens of new ones printed every year; they contain the same centuries-old truths in different words. E.g. if you found a really good one, would you throw it away and buy a 'new' one every year? Of course not.
- codingdave 11y agoYou could use those exact same points to argue the opposite conclusion - every book is different, as is every student. Why not try the free ones first to see if you are able to learn from them, before shelling out 100 bucks? If the free one fails you, then go ahead and buy another.
- melling 11y agoBecause time is your most precious commodity.
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- signa11 11y ago| ?popular=1 nice :)
- Bladegunner 11y agoJust putting this here for people who want free non-technical books. https://www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org
- Sharma 11y agoInteresting, in the past 3 years, this same link/post has appeared multiple times on the front page. https://hn.algolia.com/?query=hackershelf.com&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?query=hackershelf.com&sort=byPopular...
- SANDIP123SONDD 11y agoGaana.com Hacked, Millions of Users' Details Exposed http://haktuts.blogspot.in/2015/05/gaanacom-hacked-millions-of-users.html http://haktuts.blogspot.in/2015/05/gaanacom-hacked-millions-...
- Plough_Jogger 11y agoInternet Archive (May 7 2015) Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20150507073902/http://hackershelf.com/browse/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150507073902/http://hackershel...
- McUsr 11y agoThanks a lot. :) Well, I can see a couple of books here I wish I had time to read at the moment. I don't mind reading up on a topic in one book, and then later on switching to another more authorative one, should I feel I need to. However, there is always some luck involved in this. Some books covers what you need, others don't, whether they are authorative on the subject or not.
- roneesh 11y agoI want to echo something suggested here already, but it's important: make libraries a part of your life.
- anvarik 11y agoI think HN has bombarded the site, it is down...
- skillachie 11y agoLegal free technical books are very relevant for those that might not be able to purchase them. Promo:Feel free to upload and organize your ebooks using BookFusion [https://bookfusion.com https://bookfusion.com]. Our Android and IOS apps coming soon. Along with curated list of free technical eBooks
- mcguire 11y agoI notice that "Natural Language Processing" and "natural language processing" in the index are different.
- rjcz 11y agoThe same with "UNIX", "Unix" and "unix" (sic!).
- JesperRavn 11y agoThe problem with this list is that a large proportion of programming texts are available free online. So in most cases it's easier to find the book your interested in, then search for a similar book with a free version. This list would be better off with some explicit theme rather than claiming to be a list of all interesting free books, which is impossible.
- mVChr 11y agoBug note: if you're browsing by popular and add a book to your shelf, the page is kept in the query string but the popular=1 is lost so you jump to that page of date sort instead.