PoC||GTFO
PoC||GTFO by Alchemistowlby Alchemistowl
Shares rank 5 of 9 magazines by recommenders
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.
7 people recommended PoC||GTFO by Alchemistowl in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
4 of the 7 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Paged Out Issue #8 [pdf]”.
Summary written by Claude from 7 comments.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- mixed feelings
- 1
- warn against or regret it
- 0
The record
Recommended in 5 of 12 months
In 5 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 5 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- 4 of its 7 recommenders came from one threadNeeds half or less, not met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 7 of the 9 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fills gap left by classic magazines
“Between the two of them, they kinda/sorta make up for my lapsed 2600 subscription”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Paged Out” “capture the feeling of joy of programming that Dobbs and BYTE used to have”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Dr. Dobb's Developer Library DVD 6” Well-made printed bible-style edition
“printed in the "bible style" binding with finger cutouts, ribbon bookmark and everything”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “Paged Out Issue #8 [pdf]” “I have the paperback 'bible”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “Paged Out Issue #8 [pdf]” Deep, rewarding technical content
“once you dive in, you will never regret taking the effort to fully grok”
Comment from 9 Mar 2026 in “Z80 Sans – a disassembler in a font (2024)” “I consider PoC || GTFO the forefront of OS research, personally”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Actually Queryable Executables” Strong polyglot and exploit research
“If you like polyglot files, see https://www.alchemistowl.org/pocorgtfo/”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “Paged Out Issue #8 [pdf]”
Other magazines people recommend
The four most recommended other magazines, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paged Out | 40 | 3 | 7 | 85% | 6 | — | — |
| Byte magazine | 30 | 11 | 2 | 94% | 7 | — | — |
| The New Yorker | 23 | 3 | 8 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Dr. Dobb's Journal | 12 | 1 | 1 | 92% | 4 | — | Approved |
| PoC||GTFOby AlchemistowlThis page | 7 | 1 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 9 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I consider PoC || GTFO the forefront of OS research, personally”
“capture the feeling of joy of programming that Dobbs and BYTE used to have”
“once you dive in, you will never regret taking the effort to fully grok”
“printed in the "bible style" binding with finger cutouts, ribbon bookmark and everything”
“I have the paperback 'bible”
“If you like polyglot files, see https://www.alchemistowl.org/pocorgtfo/”
“Between the two of them, they kinda/sorta make up for my lapsed 2600 subscription”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.