Date: Sat, 03 Jul 1999 18:11:08 -0600 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: "Brian F. Feldman" <green@unixhelp.org> Cc: Janie Dykes <jkn33@pangeatech.com>, freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: how to start to be a hacker? Message-ID: <377EA69C.6729DB43@softweyr.com> References: <Pine.BSF.4.10.9907031750190.40035-100000@janus.syracuse.net>
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"Brian F. Feldman" wrote:
>
> On Sat, 3 Jul 1999, Janie Dykes wrote:
>
> > 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
>
> *cough* Care to explain that comment?
Trust me, greenie, those of us who a FAR from 16 wish we weren't. ;^)
You're obviously not the wastrel Janie is talking about here. THEY're
all over at SlashDot calling me names. ;^)
> > 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.
One of the important aspects of being a hacker is discipline, both
self-discipline and team discipline when working with others. Both
are learned behavior for the typical hacker type; something you have
to develop an admiration for before you are even willing to try it
yourself.
A certain amount of discretion is called for as well, which can ONLY
be learned by experience. In the meantime, a good mentor can help
by giving advice (and/or an occasional butt-kicking) to avoid doing
something REALLY stupid.
These two traits are certainly not unique to hacking, that's why
mentoring is a concept as old as the children of Adam and Eve. In
fact, I've found it to be MUCH more important in other occupations,
like motorcycling, sailing, and chemistry. ;^)
> > In
> > retrospect, I learned [the hard way] and gained some experience with
Preferably without losing any body parts?
> > 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.
No problem, you're always welcome. Do try to keep the quoting to a
minimum. ;^)
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
http://softweyr.com/ wes@softweyr.com
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