samurai
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
samurai
n 1: a Japanese warrior who was a member of the feudal military
aristocracy
2: feudal Japanese military aristocracy
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Samurai \Sa"mu*rai`\, n. pl. & sing. [Jap.]
In the former feudal system of Japan, the class or a member
of the class, of military retainers of the daimios,
constituting the gentry or lesser nobility. They possessed
power of life and death over the commoners, and wore two
swords as their distinguishing mark. Their special rights and
privileges were abolished with the fall of feudalism in 1871.
They were referred to as "a cross between a knight and a
gentleman".
[Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
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}.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
samurai
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
modelled 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 {Stupids}, {social engineering}, {cracker}, {hacker
ethic}, and {dark-side hacker}.
[{Jargon File}]
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