In computer slang, J. Random Hacker is an arbitrary programmer ( hacker).
A mythical figure like the Unknown Soldier; the archetypal hacker nerd. This term is one of the oldest in the hacker's jargon, apparently going back to MIT in the 1960s. may originally have been inspired by ' J. Fred Muggs', a show-biz chimpanzee whose name was a household word back in the early days of TMRC, and was probably influenced by ' J. Presper Eckert' (one of the co-inventors of the electronic computer)".
— "A Portrait of J. Random Hacker", the Jargon File [1]
"J. Random Hacker" is a popular placeholder name in a number of books and articles in programming. [2] [3] J. Random Hacker even authored a book about ease of malicious hacking, Adventures of a Wi-Fi Pirate. [4] Also, J. Random Hacker was a main developer of I2P software.
Over time, J. Random X has become a popular cliché or snowclone in computer lore, with more types of " random" (meaning "arbitrary") categories of people, such as "J. Random Newbie", [5] J. Random User, [6] or J. Random Luser.
See also
- Alice and Bob, placeholder names often used when discussing computer security
- Acme Corporation, placeholder name often used to describe a company
References
- ^ Appendix B. A Portrait of J. Random Hacker, from the Jargon File
- ^ The Art of Unix Programming by Eric S. Raymond, p. 457
- ^ Beginning Python, by Peter Norton et al., p. 322
- ^ J. Random Hacker, Adventures of a Wi-Fi Pirate (2005) ISBN 1-930919-62-X
- ^ The Art of Unix Programming by Eric S. Raymond, Section "The tale of J. Random Newbie"
- ^ TCP/IP Clearly Explained, by Peter Loshin, p. 116