How to Become a Hacker 97
F2F sent us linkage
to a bit written by ESR called How to Become a Hacker.
The best quote is "being able to break security doesn't make you a hacker more than being able to hotwire cars makes you an automotive engineer. "
FOO! (Score:1)
Dear Eric Raymond, and other hacker wannabees. (Score:1)
(We used to call these works ``free software'', but this confused too many people who weren't sure exactly what ``free'' was supposed to mean. Many of us now prefer the term ``open-source'' software).
Eric, most people are exactly sure what free means. Free software means free software. With free software, you have freedom to share with your fellow hackers and lusers.
It's true that Open source does not mean free software.
Personally I will never use the term open source, because many people (including myself) are not exactly sure that "open source software" means exactly the same as free software.
Free means true freedom- open doesn't mean free, because it is more limited than free.
Eric: Realize that Apple doesn't care about hackers, they care about profit and success.
Defending L0pht/CDC... (Score:1)
Frankly, I think that having said coding skills and sense of purpose tends to come about from having that "specific kind of attitude". I do respect L0pht/CDC and their hacking skills. I think they have all of the hacker qualities you mention. Just listen to talk they gave at Beyond Hope [hope.net] in 1997 regarding the theory behind the operation of L0phtcrack. (Here is the RealAudio talk [2600.com].)
Hacker != Cracker (Score:1)
described what a hacker really is. I consider
myself a hacker in the tradition he described and
I'm proud to be one although I haven't done anything as grand as create the protocols the internet runs off of. Even so I have to be careful who I say the word hacker in front of. There are so many people out there who think that a hacker is someone like Kevin Mitnik(sp?). I've had 1 person threaten to turn me into the police when I describe myself as a hacker. Of course this person know less than nothing about computers and that vacuum where knowledge should belong is filled with fear and paranoia. I'm not doing anything illegal so I've really got nothing to worry about, but it's still insulting to have someone threaten you like that. It's really a shame that the term hacker has been mis-associated with a computer criminal. I just don't know of any other word that describes what it is to be someone like me (or us) so well. The word cracker doesn't really do a very good job at describing the sociopaths that cause so much trouble. Trasher or Thrasher seems more descriptive to me. Maybe I'll start calling them that.
"Old School"? Interesting choice of words... (Score:1)
Crackers, under the guise of hackers, claim knowledge through first hand experience. But most modern "hackers" read antiquated text files and break into systems without seeming to have a real understanding of what they are doing. You may defend yourself saying those are just the script kiddies but it seems to me that most of the Cracker/Phreaker/Anarchist/etc. "culture" is made up script kiddies.
Now, you mentioned the l0pht. The l0pht is a great group and I respect what they do. The l0pht members are, as far as I am concerned, hackers. When I say hackers I use it to mean hobby computer scientists or hobby computer researchers -- not saying that people with degrees in CS or CE, Computer Engineering, aren't hackers but I'm digressing.
I think your argument of "Before ESR published his 'Hackers Dictionary'..." is fairly weak. It could be applied also to the l0pht: Before the Black Crawling System [the BBS that the orginal members of the l0pht were a part of] no one knew Brian Oblivion, mudge, Weld Pond, etc. Or Before l0pht.com no one knew Brian Oblivion, mudge, Weld Pond, etc.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Nick Shane
nshane@mindless.com
"Just another Anonymous Coward"
Old and too Goody Goody: The Dark Side (Score:3)
newsgroups before slashdot even existed.
The problem I have with this article is that it seems too idealistic to me. It sounds like whoever wrote it was running for a popularity contest too. Deny it all you want, but hacking has a dark side too. Many people are drawn to hackerdom through alienation from society. The alienation gives them the time and energy to learn how machines work. They may do things that society considers bad, eg. use someone's machine without permission. As they associate with supposed true hackers they may make the transition to the light side.
Unfortunately, many get used to ignoring society's apparently silly rules. Of course, the supposed light side hacker denigrates these dark siders as crackers and lately, script-kiddies. However, I think the hackers have more in common with the script-kiddies than other types, such as suits.
I'm sure there are many hackers that will claim they have always been on the light side and have never even thought about cracking. On the other hand, there are many "crackers" out there that are much better hackers than the happy masses, ie. Katz
I'd love to hear some comments from the belittled script-kiddies and crackers.
AC
Old and too Goody Goody: The Dark Side (Score:3)
I'm sure there are many hackers that will claim they have always been on the light side and have never even thought about cracking. On the other hand, there are many "crackers" out there that are much better hackers than the happy masses, ie. Katz :), that claim to hack.
You could think this, but you'd be wrong. :)
I went to a business meeting with my boss the other day (I was the token geek), and to get there we rode the train to the site. On the way there, we chatted a bit and the conversation turned to why the meeting was important.
As I listened to my boss go on about finding ways to reduce moral hazard and adverse selection in the insurance product, it occurred to me that the sorts of tradeoffs he was making were very similar to the tradeoffs I make when designing a program. And his personal motivation for the deal was to make it easier for ordinary people to manage financial risk, which is very similar to what motivates a lot of people to write free software.
He has the hacker nature, though he wouldn't be able to write a program to save his life, because he wants to increase the number and power of the tools other people have. It's important to him to expand the choices people have.
On the other hand, when I was in school I once knew a person who could be called a cracker. (As it happens, the feds agreed and he was convicted of wire fraud. Then he was expelled from the university, and I lost track of him.)
Though I could usually understand the technical details of what he did, I never liked him very much. He was into computers because they were mysterious to most people. He saw them as a source of "secret knowledge", and he was always trying to use his knowledge to belittle other people and to make them afraid of him. For example, if someone asked him for help, he tried to hide the details of what exactly he did to make them dependent on him.
He did not have the hacker nature; he valued mystery as a source of power, and did not want to reduce other peoples' helplessness or ignorance.
Hacking is about expanding the scope of choice, for yourself and for others. This is why good design is so important to hackers -- a well-designed program is one that can be used for many purposes, even ones the original creator did not envision. A functional program solves a problem; a beautiful program solves a whole class of problems.
spelling... (Score:1)
spelling... (Score:2)
I don't know about this ESR guy... (Score:1)
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Umm. (Score:1)
And those write-ups do fill a very important part of the open-source community needs.
I guess it depends on how the person is breaking security. If you're boring your own hole, or painstakingly mapping the cracks in the wall -- I'd say you're dedicated and talented enough, in a lot of cases, to be called a hacker -- if you don't cause any damage, and if you then turn around and disemminate the information so it may be fixed. (Points if you write the patch yourself.)
On the other hand, if you're just taking advantage of the time between discovery and patch, and not actually doing any work yourself? Go home to mommy.
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It'll never happen (Score:1)
annoying phenomenon of people using "hacker" where
they ought to use "cracker" is here to stay.
Reason: It's been popularized, assimilated by the
pop culture. Say "hacker" and 99% of people out
there will think of someone who breaks into
computers. Say "cracker" and they'll think you're
trying to talk about white people.
My advice: Get used to it. It's not the end of the
world if hacker means cracker. It's not going to
change, so it's not worth getting excited over.
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Umm. (Score:1)
1) I saw this around a year ago.
2) I disagree. While a script kiddie is most definitely not a hacker, being able to break security does in fact make one a hacker. Somebody who can sift through thousands of thousands of lines of kernel code finding bugs in the way the kernel reassembles fragmented packets is a hacker by any definition of the term. And as an added bonus, the write-ups of the security flaws can be viewed as glorified bug reports.
Re: Umm. (Score:1)
Secondly, the L0pht writes many extremely useful security programs, many of which are used by system administrators (you don't think script kiddies are the ones paying $100 to register L0phtcrack, do you?).
Whether or not you accept them as "hackers" is irrelevant. They have the knowledge, the skill, and the love of code that any true hacker should possess. I'd consider many of these "crackers," as you call them, to be more of "hackers" than your average contributor of 10 lines of code to the Linux kernel.
You too can be a star... (Score:1)
Well, at least it's not sponsored by Ed McMahon or made as a Star Search, or something totally silly like that. Some useful information. Prevents a bit of rampant script-kiddie attacks, if it's disseminated right. (Oh, yeah, it's on
A good word "hacker" (Score:1)
This article brings closer the moment when people stop mixing the word "hacker" with the word "cracker".
HACKERS (Score:1)
I think that more than anything, it's a mindset that makes a hacker. Does it piss you off when you can't solve a problem that should be simple? Have you ever passed up sex to finish solving such a problem? Have you ever jubilently screamed "YES!!" when some new hardware/software product that you've been waiting for gets released? Do you prefer to do things the hard way just to see if you can do it? Do your friends ever ask you "Why" whan you tell them about your current project? Do you come into work late, but then stay even later?
If you have answered yes to most of these questions you're probably a hacker.
Hackito Ergo Sum.
LK
Old? (Score:1)
Anyhow, I don't mind, because I meant to bookmark this a while back...
Tim Berners-Lee was right when he created the web as a personal mnemonic device, when I forget where something is, someone else remembers it for me, wonderful!
spelling... (Score:1)
hell, I could be the greatest programmer of all time, I could solve the halting problem durring my lunch hour and release an open source program to demonstrate the solution for all others to see and use, but if my documentation was poorly edited I guess I just couldnt be a hacker
I mean common, lets go a bit easier on the spelling impaired here!
a prize to the person who responds to this intelegently without correcting any spelling errors!
Eric....what a guy (Score:1)
truth on the wire how refreshing can't complain, argue or dispute it. Definately a lock. Am so sick and tired of the "bad rap". so if a hacker is bad what are we? what do you call the terminally obscessed?
This is old news... (Score:1)
By putting it in the "News" section implies that this is "New".
Great Intro Article by ESR... (Score:1)
:-)
It may seem a bit simple for some, and others my not agree with everything ESR said. but I think it's a good starting point.
Kojo
You don't need Linux/Unix to be a hacker (Score:1)
I believe that I have the know-how to be a hacker. I have 20 years programming experience, I know how to write device drivers for several OS's, I know a few different kinds of assembly language, and I work on BIOSes. However, I don't exactly have the attitude of a hacker, since I'm not really as involved in hacking as I used to be. So I don't call myself a hacker. But if I really wanted to ignore my wife and hack away on my OS/2 machine, I could and then I would be a bona-fide hacker.
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Timur Tabi
Remove "nospam_" from email address
Hackers (Score:2)
I've heard people claim that kind of thing before. Mostly, the people who do are wannabees who want to have a pretense to call themselves hackers without doing the work.
But the real hackers have just a few things in common: Experience, understanding, common sense, intelligence, and the ability for logical reasoning. And, not a single one of them sat down and instinctively knew LISP the first day they saw a computer. It takes work. It takes dedication. It takes practice.
The term is a badge of respect. I don't call myself hacker (I'm not ready for that), but I know quite a few, and I know them when I see them.
looks like a good read. (Score:1)
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Scott Miga
Great Intro Article by ESR... (Score:1)
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
Ego Gratification and /. Scores (Score:2)
At the same time, I also feel that the system is working because it means that someone else thought my ideas were worth reading. After all, I couldn't vote my own score higher even if I were a moderator, nor would I want to if I could. Part of being an intelligent person means being critical of one's own ideas, and being willing to admit when you've said something stupid, because it's going to happen sooner or later.
The payoff comes when you achieve the respect you deserve for writing something that is truly useful. Before the new moderators, all of my posts (good and bad) would be buried among all of everyone else's posts (good and bad). It was almost not worth bothering to post because with 250 or more posts for the more inflammatory topics, even if I felt I had something really useful to say, it would get buried in the noise. Now, I can post anyway, and if peer review deems it good, it shoots to the top, and I feel good. I also benefit when reading slashdot, because I get to see the best of what everyone else has to offer first.
To some extent, I think this is the trap ESR has fallen into: if he truly follows the beliefs that he's written, then he deserves to be called a hacker just as much as any of us, but for him to seek out the spotlight (and especially to seek out getting his name in print as some sort of Open Source guru) can only blind him to his true position in the community, whatever that may be.
Yes, it was an ego boost the first (and only) time someone asked me if I was "the" Jake Hamby, but it's not something I expect to hear any time soon, nor am I seeking that out. I hope to find myself in a position in the next few years where more people will know my name, but only through writing more (and cooler) software, not because I want to get my name out there (before you ask, no I haven't yet written any software worth mentioning).
It's a slippery slope, and to tie this to another slashdot thread, I think that in the balance between getting the recognition one deserves for doing cool stuff and indulging oneself in shameless self-promotion, people like CmdrTaco, Bruce Perens, and Linus Torvalds fall on one side, and people like ESR, RMS, and Jon Katz fall on the other.
Either way, they're not nearly as bad as this guy [salonmagazine.com]. Follow the link to read a Salon mag story about an author of a crummy sci-fi book who, upset because his book was being trashed in viewer comments on amazon.com, retaliated by logging in under several fictitious identities, giving himself five stars and glowing reviews to boost the average! Even more shocking, rather than hiding in shame over such a dastardly act, he turns around and writes a Salon article saying exactly what he did, without even bothering to apologize for it in any way. Unbelievable.
Old but still a great read! (Score:3)
While ESR spends some time posturing about "open source" vs. "free software", and writes some comments about ego gratification that, while true in general, seem to be much more true for people like ESR and RMS than, say, Linus, it's worth its weight just for the lucid analysis of the core beliefs shared by all hackers, but very few non-hackers:
The rest of the essay's advice may find itself looking rather dated ten years down the road (Python and Linux could easily find themselves replaced by something better), but those five core beliefs will never be obsolete.
drop the fscking pretense (Score:1)
No..... (Score:1)
spelling... (Score:1)
Anyway, what if the solution to the halting problem had a call to DestroyWorld and your comment read something like this:
bsd call kept for bakwards compatabillitey (where you weren't watching your spelling and typed 's' instead of 'a')
Well, that's just begging for some BSD coder to muck with that. Always knew that a fateful combination of your bad spelling and Berkeley would be the end of us. ;)
If I had known... (Score:1)
I by no means consider myself a whats looked on today as a hacker. I cant program for shit, i dont break into places, and i dont spend my saturday nites dumpster diving behind Lux Bond & Green looking for CC receipts. To me, its the attitude thats important.
drop the fscking pretense (Score:1)
l0pht/cDc are more crackers than hackers. I respect them and their work. But it takes more than coding skills and a purpose to be a hacker. It takes a specific kind of attitude.
Eric....what a guy (Score:1)
.
Eric....what a guy (Score:1)
Eric has been courting corporations to use "open source" for quite some time now - selling the idea, as it were. While this isn't bad in and of itself, witness the squabbling over who gets to represent the "community" on the issue of Business v. The Hackers, part i.
Eric wound up in a messy trademark-dispute, Richard Stallman has gone off the deep end with his insistence on the GNU/Linux designation, and Linus Torvalds is insisting on world domination.
Why is it all our leaders have a perpensity to self-destruct once they become popular?
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Old and too Goody Goody: The Dark Side (Score:1)
How to be a Hacker... (Score:3)
2) Appeal to users of "Free" software by stating that "Open Source" really means the same thing.
3) Irresponsibly manage the term "Open Source(tm)", by endorsing non-free software under its name.
4) Misrepresent yourself to the community and businesses by implying that you own the trademark and domain for "Open Source(tm)".
5) Write a paper on "How to be a Hacker" stating that hackers prefer the use of "OS(tm)" over "Free".
6) Promote yourself tirelessly.
Sorry all... (Score:2)
For all of you that have already seen it - there are many more people who need to know this stuff.. It is as important, as it's entertaining..
Or maybe you will not read K&R just because it was written so long ago???
Cheers
Do as I say...Not as I do! (Score:1)
Do as I say...Not as I do! (Score:1)
Let me say this...I don't disagree with everything ESR says and I appreciate what he has done for Linux, but I hope his 15 minutes is almost up. Power corrupts and anyone seeking such power is probably already handicapped in that regard. What was the quote from one of the Hitchiker books, "Politicians are rarely able or competent and those that are would never be a politician" (or something like that.) The message is always more important than the messenger. I am not saying ESR should run and hide, just be aware that he is under the microscope and following his own statements, this community won't put up with baloney.
Do as I say...Not as I do! (Score:3)
"If you aren't the kind of person that feels this way naturally, you'll need to become one in order to make it as a hacker. Otherwise you'll find your hacking energy is
sapped by distractions like sex, money, and social approval."
Words fail me.
And this is the best yet:
"Beware: hackers distrust blatant ego in their tribal elders, so visibly reaching for this kind of fame is dangerous. Rather
than striving for it, you have to sort of position yourself so it drops in your lap, and then be modest and gracious about your status."
Maybe ESR should take some of his own advice. So what he is saying is, "instead of being open about my agenda, I should be sneaky and underhanded and usurp the power of the leaders...yes,yes this will work!" I think he should have said that the community will decide who their leaders are and consider yourself lucky if you are appointed. Maybe that should be unlucky because you will undoubtedly be torn limb from limb by some luser on Slashdot;-)
I think this man is as contrived as anyone using this article would be. The way he talks about if you are in the culture and if you are called a hacker, than you *are* a hacker makes me ill. Yeah man, I want to be in the *in* crowd!?! I have always been an outsider and will always be an outsider. The view is much better and there is a lot more room and freedom out here. I don't need anyones lame labels.
Eric Raymond sounds like an intelligent man, but no Obi Wan Kenobi is he.
Never reinvent the wheel? Damn. I bought Wheel //+ (Score:3)
While I have enjoyed tremendously the process of writing an application in which every single line was mine, boy would I have hated it if I found out that someone else wrote the same damned program...
This article was my first taste, too (Score:1)
I clicked to that article from some site (I forget which) easily over a year ago. I think it would have been late '97 even, or at least early '98. It was the first time I ever crossed paths with the linux community.
I clicked it because the title looked interesting. Having never heard of linux before, I probably wouldn't have clicked something called "The spirit of the Linux community".
I also ended up 'residing' here on /. after that article caught my interest in Linux and I slowly found my way around this corner of the web. That is truly a great document, if for other reason that it is a very effective recruiter. The word 'hacker' does have considerable esteem attached to it, no matter which interpretation you prefer.
Hacker (Score:1)
Coding is the engineering of the modern age. Just as many cultures revered fine engineering(the Romans and Greeks), so does ours revere coding. We coders may not yet have the status of famous Architects and Designers, but our time is comming. Programming is the tool that will solve tommorrows pressing questions. The human Genome project, Space flight, Tissue engineering and so on, all rely heavily on computers, and in particular, code. Our ability to model our world is directly tied to our ability to manipulate it. Computers are the tools to help model, and coders are the ones that make it possible(No offense to you EE's out there, we have love for you too). Anyhow, perhaps I digress from my original thought. To make a long story short, I thought the article was well written, and presents a true picture of what it means to be a hacker.
Master Switch out
that's OK; some more info on the site dates (Score:1)
becoming a hacker (Score:1)
Eric....what a guy (Score:2)
about time (Score:1)
The popular press, never much on correct usage, loved having a special term to refer to bad guys who broke security. They should instead be referred to as crackers, or perhaps jackers (thinking of two different, but equally amusing equivalents to the activities they pursue.)
Many of us have been hackers since before the birth of many in the press. Technological arenas routinely define jargon in their areas of specialization. If we choose to formalize the meaning of hacker, it would seem to be our privilege.
Great Intro Article by ESR... (Score:1)
me too
HACKERS (Score:1)
If you have answered yes to most of these questions you're probably a hacker.
I once had a sexual fantasy (in the shower, no less) about proving that P=NP. Does that count?..
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Fetchmail (Score:1)
Old? (Score:1)
Old news! (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
spelling... (Score:1)
I think he was probably referring to those dreadfully annoying people who WriTe EvERytH1nG lIke tHis AnD think they're rEAlLy c00l.
Geez, I'm starting to annoy myself.
ESR is a hacker? (Score:1)
for (Open(TM) Source(TM) Software(TM))(R).
Stuff that matters (Score:1)
erm... (Score:1)
Not to mention many great coders (and authors of my favorite ORA books) lurk about on IRC and I am at times overwhelemed that I can so easily interact with them its like being able to talk to your favorite celebrity when you have the guts to just approach them.
as for the article itself *bleh*, kids if you want to be a hacker go out to your mailbox... depending on how many days its been since you'll find a number of AOL disks, install it and then visit your favorite video store and rent Hackers: The Movie... you'll do alright.
erm... (Score:1)
I don't know about this ESR guy... (Score:1)
1. He _seems_ to be seeking out the spotlight.
2. He _seems_ to have a bit of an "us and them" attitude.
Maybe I'm out to lunch on this one, but much of what I've seen in the media of late seems to support my views.
Also, anybody see a resemblence to his stated beliefs and the views of Ayn Rand as evidenced in her book "Anthem?"
J
HACKERS (Score:1)