Date: Sat, 03 Jul 1999 13:26:30 -0700 From: Janie Dykes <jkn33@pangeatech.com> To: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> Cc: "G. Adam Stanislav" <adam@whizkidtech.net>, Bill Fumerola <billf@chc-chimes.com>, haodongpan@netease.com, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: how to start to be a hacker? Message-ID: <377E71F6.8877ED47@pangeatech.com> References: <Pine.HPP.3.96.990702075306.20843F-100000@hp9000.chc-chimes.com> <377DB95C.448E4227@softweyr.com> <19990703113140.B220@whizkidtech.net> <377E4C45.522F3E78@softweyr.com>
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When scouring through the threads - this one in particular caught my attention. In my experience, which is still very new, I think all of you make excellent points. For the most part, the novice/average person, believes that hackers are malicious, destructive individuals. A huge number of computer users are misled and misinformed about the true definition of the term 'hacker'. This is unfortunate - if those people could spend some time reading the brilliant posts to this list, they might realize that we are not all 16 year olds, hiding behind the glow of the monitor, reading their email and stealing their passwords and credit card information and posting it on IRC. I have a point. :] The first time I experienced that curiosity - I got a little carried away. eh hem I learned that my skills, which included aptness and dexterity, had been misdirected. Upon my awakening, I was blessed with my mentor. He challenged me to use my skills productively. In retrospect, I learned [the hard way] and gained some experience with some help from my mentor [some of you may know Peter Mountain - BRU2000]. All in all, there are many contributing factors to becoming a hacker. I rarely post to this list - so I hope that my lengthy post doesn't offend. So on that note - I will continue observing the minds at work. Thanks for the opportunity to post - Janie Dykes Wes Peters wrote: > > "G. Adam Stanislav" wrote: > > > > On Sat, Jul 03, 1999 at 01:18:52AM -0600, Wes Peters wrote: > > > > > You either are a hacker, or you are not. It is not something someone else > > > > > can teach you. > > > > > > > > This deserves a FAQ entry. What an awesome response. > > > > > > But it's certainly NOT something that you just are, either. You have to > > > have talent, but you also have to have experience. This is most often > > > done by a mentor. > > > > If you have the innate curiosity mentioned in my message, you will obtain > > experience whether you have a mentor or not. Experience is best obtained > > by trying things. It cannot be imparted by anyone else (although, it can > > be encouraged). > > And, in some cases, disasters averted. I think all of us here have seen > a few graphic examples lately of what happens when the mentoring process > doesn't work. > > I think being a hacker is a combination of talent, ethics, and experience. > I've known talented and experienced programmers who weren't hackers, > either because they didn't have the innate curiousity you mention or > because they were ethically challenged and used their skills to steal, > cheat, and destroy, which are *not* part of the hacker ethos. Hackers > create, crackers steal and destroy. > > But I'm certain you new that. ;^) > > -- > "Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?" > > Wes Peters Softweyr LLC > http://softweyr.com/ wes@softweyr.com > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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