Just for fun

What Hacker News says

1. hungryhobbitFeb 2026
   Actually, that's exactly how it started: read Linus Torvalds' "Just for Fun".
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2. LorenDBMar 2025
   Also worth a read: Just for Fun

   https://www.amazon.com/Just-Fun-Story-Accidental-Revolutiona...

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3. cdzmJul 2023
   I can't think of examples that match all your criteria. Some books that do come to mind:

   * Linus Torvalds and David Diamond - Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary (2002) A personal account of the history of Linux. Not many technical details nor (any?) illustrations.

   * Katie Hafner, Mathew Lyon - Where Wizards stay up Late A history of the internet. Some technical details, but not a lot. Not many diagrams, and it does stop in the 90s. Covers the internet and therefore networking

   * Noam Nisan, Shimon Schocken - The Elements of Computing Systems: Building a Modern Computer from First Principles The Elements of Computing systems Not a lot of history, but does describe how computers work in a bottom up fashion. Includes diagrams. No networking. It is more of a project book because as you can "build along" a computer, starting from nand gates. Covers both hardware and software.

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4. xkriva11Apr 2023
   I add some:

   It's behind you, the making of a computer game (https://bizzley.42web.io/?i=1)

   Rebel Code (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289947.Rebel_Code)

   Just for Fun (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/160171.Just_for_Fun?from...)

   The Computer - My Life (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/594610.The_Computer_My_L...)

   Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18699137-cataloging-the-...)

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5. pallas_athenaApr 2023
   "Just for Fun" by Linus Torvalds & David Diamond.

   I read it a long time ago and still remember "On the Meaning of Life", as given in the introduction:

   Basically it is short and sweet. It won’t give your life any meaning, but it tells you what’s going to happen. There are three things that have meaning for life. They are the motivational factors for everything in your life––for anything that you do or any living thing does: The first is survival, the second is social order, and the third is entertainment. Everything in life progresses in that order. And there is nothing after entertainment. So, in a sense, the implication is that the meaning of life is to reach that third stage. And once you’ve reached the third stage, you’re done. But you have to go through the other stages first.

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6. jjiceApr 2023
   If you're interested in Linux history, check out Just For Fun by Linus Torvalds himself. It's written in 1999 if I recall, which is so much closer to Linux's inception than it is to today, so it's so interesting to hear thoughts and predictions about Linux at the time.

   Super cheap book. I think I got my copy for $4 on ebay.

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