< PRIME NETWORK

REQUIRED READING

KNOWLEDGE IS THE ONLY REAL CURRENCY
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root@prime:/library$ ls -la
total 24
drwxr-xr-x  root  root  4096 CYBERPUNK/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 271pp 1984 neuromancer.txt
$ cat neuromancer.txt
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NEUROMANCER — William Gibson (1984)
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The book that invented cyberpunk. Case, a washed-up hacker, gets one last job in cyberspace. Every sci-fi hacker trope started here.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 480pp 1992 snow_crash.txt
$ cat snow_crash.txt
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SNOW CRASH — Neal Stephenson (1992)
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Pizza delivery for the Mafia, sword fights in the Metaverse, and a linguistic virus. Stephenson predicted VR, crypto, and gig economy in one novel.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 210pp 1968 do_androids_dream_of_electric_sheep.txt
$ cat do_androids_dream_of_electric_sheep.txt
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DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? — Philip K. Dick (1968)
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The book behind Blade Runner. What does it mean to be human when androids are better at empathy than people?
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 455pp 1995 the_diamond_age.txt
$ cat the_diamond_age.txt
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THE DIAMOND AGE — Neal Stephenson (1995)
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Nanotechnology, neo-Victorians, and an interactive book that raises a girl. Education as the ultimate hack.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 199pp 1986 burning_chrome.txt
$ cat burning_chrome.txt
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BURNING CHROME — William Gibson (1986)
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Short stories including 'Johnny Mnemonic' and the title story. Where the 'console cowboy' archetype was born.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 375pp 2002 altered_carbon.txt
$ cat altered_carbon.txt
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ALTERED CARBON — Richard K. Morgan (2002)
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Consciousness as software, bodies as hardware. A murder mystery where death is just an inconvenience for the rich.
drwxr-xr-x  root  root  4096 HACKING/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 326pp 1989 the_cuckoos_egg.txt
$ cat the_cuckoos_egg.txt
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THE CUCKOO'S EGG — Cliff Stoll (1989)
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An astronomer tracks a 75-cent accounting error to KGB hackers. The first great cybersecurity detective story, all true.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 413pp 2011 ghost_in_the_wires.txt
$ cat ghost_in_the_wires.txt
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GHOST IN THE WIRES — Kevin Mitnick (2011)
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Mitnick's own story of social engineering, phone phreaking, and being the FBI's most wanted hacker. The legend, in his own words.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 519pp 1984 hackers_heroes_of_the_computer_revolution.txt
$ cat hackers_heroes_of_the_computer_revolution.txt
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HACKERS: HEROES OF THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION — Steven Levy (1984)
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From MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club to Apple. The origin story of hacker ethics and culture.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 270pp 2005 the_art_of_intrusion.txt
$ cat the_art_of_intrusion.txt
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THE ART OF INTRUSION — Kevin Mitnick (2005)
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True stories of hackers breaking into casinos, corporations, and governments. Each chapter is a masterclass in creative thinking.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 267pp 2011 kingpin.txt
$ cat kingpin.txt
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KINGPIN — Kevin Poulsen (2011)
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Max Butler: white hat by day, cybercrime kingpin by night. The story of the dark web's most ambitious credit card operation.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 448pp 2014 countdown_to_zero_day.txt
$ cat countdown_to_zero_day.txt
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COUNTDOWN TO ZERO DAY — Kim Zetter (2014)
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The full Stuxnet story. How a computer virus became the world's first digital weapon against a nuclear facility.
drwxr-xr-x  root  root  4096 SYSTEMS/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 488pp 2008 hacking_the_art_of_exploitation.txt
$ cat hacking_the_art_of_exploitation.txt
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HACKING: THE ART OF EXPLOITATION — Jon Erickson (2008)
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The book that teaches you to think like a hacker. Buffer overflows, shellcode, networking — hands-on with actual code.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 480pp 2012 the_linux_command_line.txt
$ cat the_linux_command_line.txt
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THE LINUX COMMAND LINE — William Shotts (2012)
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The terminal bible. If you live in the shell, this is your field manual.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 576pp 1994 tcpip_illustrated_vol1.txt
$ cat tcpip_illustrated_vol1.txt
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TCP/IP ILLUSTRATED VOL 1 — W. Richard Stevens (1994)
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The networking bible. Stevens makes packet headers feel like poetry. Every network engineer's desert island book.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 320pp 2011 the_tangled_web.txt
$ cat the_tangled_web.txt
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THE TANGLED WEB — Michal Zalewski (2011)
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Web security from the browser's perspective. Why everything is broken and always will be.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1232pp 2016 practice_of_system_and_network_admin.txt
$ cat practice_of_system_and_network_admin.txt
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THE PRACTICE OF SYSTEM AND NETWORK ADMINISTRATION — Limoncelli et al (2016)
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The sysadmin's bible. How to run infrastructure that doesn't page you at 3 AM.
drwxr-xr-x  root  root  4096 MIND/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 220pp 2025 the_freedom_blueprint.txt [AUTHOR'S PICK]
$ cat the_freedom_blueprint.txt
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THE FREEDOM BLUEPRINT — Erik Anderson (2025)
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Building wealth through automation, AI, and systems thinking. The playbook for engineering your freedom.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 195pp 2026 the_autonomous_engineer.txt [AUTHOR'S PICK]
$ cat the_autonomous_engineer.txt
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THE AUTONOMOUS ENGINEER — Erik Anderson (2026)
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From code to career autonomy. How to build self-sustaining systems and businesses as an engineer.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 195pp 2014 zero_to_one.txt
$ cat zero_to_one.txt
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ZERO TO ONE — Peter Thiel (2014)
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Contrarian thinking about startups. Build something new instead of copying what exists. The best business book that's actually short.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 352pp 1999 the_pragmatic_programmer.txt
$ cat the_pragmatic_programmer.txt
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THE PRAGMATIC PROGRAMMER — Hunt & Thomas (1999)
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Timeless advice for software engineers. 'Don't repeat yourself' and 'be a catalyst for change' started here.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 499pp 2011 thinking_fast_and_slow.txt
$ cat thinking_fast_and_slow.txt
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THINKING, FAST AND SLOW — Daniel Kahneman (2011)
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How your brain actually makes decisions (hint: badly). Essential for anyone trying to build systems that outsmart human bias.
"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."
— Steve Jobs