samizdat /sahm-iz-daht/ n.
[Russian, literally "self publishing"] The process of
disseminating documentation via underground channels. Originally
referred to underground duplication and distribution of banned
books in the Soviet Union; now refers by obvious extension to any
less-than-official promulgation of textual material, esp. rare,
obsolete, or never-formally-published computer documentation.
Samizdat is obviously much easier when one has access to
high-bandwidth networks and high-quality laser printers. Note
that samizdat is properly used only with respect to documents
which contain needed information (see also hacker ethic) but which are for some
reason otherwise unavailable, but not in the context of
documents which are available through normal channels, for which
unauthorized duplication would be unethical copyright violation.
See Lions Book for a
historical example.
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samurai n.
A hacker who hires out for legal cracking jobs, snooping for
factions in corporate political fights, lawyers pursuing
privacy-rights and First Amendment cases, and other parties with
legitimate reasons to need an electronic locksmith. In 1991,
mainstream media reported the existence of a loose-knit culture
of samurai that meets electronically on BBS systems, mostly
bright teenagers with personal micros; they have modeled
themselves explicitly on the historical samurai of Japan and on
the "net cowboys" of William Gibson's cyberpunk novels. Those interviewed claim to
adhere to a rigid ethic of loyalty to their employers and to
disdain the vandalism and theft practiced by criminal crackers as
beneath them and contrary to the hacker ethic; some quote
Miyamoto Musashi's "Book of Five Rings", a classic of historical
samurai doctrine, in support of these principles. See also sneaker, Stupids, social engineering, cracker, hacker
ethic, and dark-side
hacker.
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sandbender n.
[IBM] A person involved with silicon lithography and the
physical design of chips. Compare ironmonger, polygon pusher.