# PoC||GTFO by Alchemistowl

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/poc-gtfo/

7 people recommended PoC||GTFO by Alchemistowl in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 5 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

4 of the 7 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Paged Out Issue #8 [pdf]”.

**Verdict:** A technical zine of reverse engineering and hacking articles that readers say captures the joy of classic computing magazines; the printed compilation has a bible-style binding.

Summary written by Claude from 7 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Fills gap left by classic magazines (2 comments in the sample): "Between the two of them, they kinda/sorta make up for my lapsed 2600 subscription" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46161104)) "capture the feeling of joy of programming that Dobbs and BYTE used to have" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47703251))
- Well-made printed bible-style edition (2 comments in the sample): "printed in the "bible style" binding with finger cutouts, ribbon bookmark and everything" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47080046)) "I have the paperback 'bible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47075268))
- Deep, rewarding technical content (2 comments in the sample): "once you dive in, you will never regret taking the effort to fully grok" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47308432)) "I consider PoC || GTFO the forefront of OS research, personally" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49445929))
- Strong polyglot and exploit research (1 comment in the sample): "If you like polyglot files, see https://www.alchemistowl.org/pocorgtfo/" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074790))

## Other magazines people recommend

- [Paged Out](https://hackerapproved.com/p/paged-out-issue-sharp-8/): 40 recommend, 3 mixed, 7 criticize
- [Byte magazine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/byte-magazine/): 30 recommend, 11 mixed, 2 criticize
- [The New Yorker](https://hackerapproved.com/p/new-yorker/): 23 recommend, 3 mixed, 8 criticize
- [Dr. Dobb's Journal](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dr-dobb-s-journal/): 12 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "PoC||GTFO by Alchemistowl", https://hackerapproved.com/p/poc-gtfo/ (7 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.