| Q: | How do I tell if I am already a hacker? |
| A: | Ask yourself the following three questions: Do you speak code, fluently? Do you identify with the goals and values of the
hacker community? Has a well-established member of the hacker
community ever called you a hacker?
If you can answer yes to all three of these
questions, you are already a hacker. No two alone are sufficient. The first test is about skills. You probably pass it if you
@@ -552,7 +548,7 @@
bones is that not every hacker is a gatekeeper. Gatekeepers have to
have a certain degree of seniority and accomplishment before they can
bestow the title. How much is hard to quantify, but every hacker knows
-it when they see it. |
| Q: | Will you teach me how to hack? |
| A: | Since first publishing this page, I've gotten several requests a
+it when they see it. |
| Q: | Will you teach me how to hack? |
| A: | Since first publishing this page, I've gotten several requests a
week (often several a day) from people to "teach me all about
hacking". Unfortunately, I don't have the time or energy to do this;
my own hacking projects, and working as an open-source advocate,
@@ -569,19 +565,18 @@
ignored. Secondly, don't dare ask for a reply to
an ISP account that's different from the account you're sending from;
we find people who do that are usually thieves using stolen accounts,
-and we have no interest in rewarding or assisting thievery. |
| Q: | How can I get started, then? |
| A: | The best way for you to get started would probably be to go to a LUG
+and we have no interest in rewarding or assisting thievery. |
| Q: | How can I get started, then? |
| A: | The best way for you to get started would probably be to go to a LUG
(Linux user group) meeting. You can find such groups on the LDP General Linux
Information Page; there is probably one near you, possibly
associated with a college or university. LUG members will probably
give you a Linux if you ask, and will certainly help you install one
-and get started. |
| Q: | When do you have to start? Is it too late for me to learn? |
| A: | Any age at which you are motivated to start is a good age. Most people
+and get started. |
| Q: | When do you have to start? Is it too late for me to learn? |
| A: | Any age at which you are motivated to start is a good age. Most people
seem to get interested between ages 15 and 20, but I know of
-exceptions in both directions. |
| Q: | How long will it take me to learn to hack? |
| A: | That depends on how talented you are and how hard you work at
-it. Most people who try can acquire a respectable skill set in eighteen
-months to two years, if they concentrate. Don't think it ends there,
-though; in hacking (as in many other fields) it takes about ten years
-to achieve mastery. And if you are a real hacker, you will spend the rest
-of your life learning and perfecting your craft. |
| Q: | Is Visual Basic a good language to start with? |
| A: | If you're asking this question, it almost certainly means you're
+exceptions in both directions. |
| Q: | How long will it take me to learn to hack? |
| A: | That depends on how talented you are and how hard you work at it. Most
+people can acquire a respectable skill set in eighteen months to two
+years, if they concentrate. Don't think it ends there, though;
+if you are a real hacker, you will spend the rest of your life
+learning and perfecting your craft. |
| Q: | Is Visual Basic a good language to start with? |
| A: | If you're asking this question, it almost certainly means you're
thinking about trying to hack under Microsoft Windows. This is a bad
idea in itself. When I compared trying to learn to hack under Windows
to trying to learn to dance while wearing a body cast, I wasn't
@@ -604,27 +599,27 @@
vendor's libraries, widgets, and development tools. In general, any
language that isn't fully supported under at least Linux or one of the BSDs,
and/or at least three different vendors' operating systems, is a poor
-one to learn to hack in. |
| Q: | Would you help me to crack a system, or teach me how to crack? |
| A: | No. Anyone who can still ask such a question after reading this FAQ
+one to learn to hack in. |
| Q: | Would you help me to crack a system, or teach me how to crack? |
| A: | No. Anyone who can still ask such a question after reading this FAQ
is too stupid to be educable even if I had the time for tutoring.
Any emailed requests of this kind that I get will be ignored or
-answered with extreme rudeness. |
| Q: | How can I get the password for someone else's account? |
| A: | This is cracking. Go away, idiot. |
| Q: | How can I break into/read/monitor someone else's email? |
| A: | This is cracking. Get lost, moron. |
| Q: | How can I steal channel op privileges on IRC? |
| A: | This is cracking. Begone, cretin. |
| Q: | I've been cracked. Will you help me fend off further attacks? |
| A: | No. Every time I've been asked this question so far, it's been
+answered with extreme rudeness. |
| Q: | How can I get the password for someone else's account? |
| A: | This is cracking. Go away, idiot. |
| Q: | How can I break into/read/monitor someone else's email? |
| A: | This is cracking. Get lost, moron. |
| Q: | How can I steal channel op privileges on IRC? |
| A: | This is cracking. Begone, cretin. |
| Q: | I've been cracked. Will you help me fend off further attacks? |
| A: | No. Every time I've been asked this question so far, it's been
from some poor sap running Microsoft Windows. It is not possible to
effectively secure Windows systems against crack attacks; the code and
architecture simply have too many flaws, which makes securing Windows
like trying to bail out a boat with a sieve. The only reliable
prevention starts with switching to Linux or some other operating
-system that is designed to at least be capable of security. |
| Q: | I'm having problems with my Windows software. Will you help me? |
| A: | Yes. Go to a DOS prompt and type "format c:". Any problems you are
-experiencing will cease within a few minutes. |
| Q: | Where can I find some real hackers to talk with? |
| A: | The best way is to find a Unix or Linux user's group local to you and
+system that is designed to at least be capable of security. |
| Q: | I'm having problems with my Windows software. Will you help me? |
| A: | Yes. Go to a DOS prompt and type "format c:". Any problems you are
+experiencing will cease within a few minutes. |
| Q: | Where can I find some real hackers to talk with? |
| A: | The best way is to find a Unix or Linux user's group local to you and
go to their meetings (you can find links to several lists of user
groups on the LDP site at
ibiblio). (I used to say here that you wouldn't find any real hackers on IRC,
but I'm given to understand this is changing. Apparently some real
hacker communities, attached to things like GIMP and Perl, have IRC
-channels now.) |
| Q: | Can you recommend useful books about hacking-related subjects? |
| A: | I maintain a
+channels now.) |
| Q: | Can you recommend useful books about hacking-related subjects? |
| A: | I maintain a
Linux Reading List HOWTO that you may find helpful. The
Loginataka may also be interesting. For an introduction to Python, see the introductory
-materials on the Python site. |
| Q: | Do I need to be good at math to become a hacker? |
| A: | No. Hacking uses very little formal mathematics or arithmetic.
+materials on the Python site. |
| Q: | Do I need to be good at math to become a hacker? |
| A: | No. Hacking uses very little formal mathematics or arithmetic.
In particular, you won't usually need trigonometry, calculus or
analysis (there are exceptions to this in a handful of specific
application areas like 3-D computer graphics). Knowing some formal logic
@@ -639,7 +634,7 @@
up a copy of Raymond Smullyan's book What Is The Name Of
This Book?. Smullyan's playful logical conundrums are very
much in the hacker spirit. Being able to solve them is a good sign;
-enjoying solving them is an even better one. |
| Q: | What language should I learn first? |
| A: | XHTML (the latest dialect of HTML) if you don't already know it.
+enjoying solving them is an even better one. |
| Q: | What language should I learn first? |
| A: | XHTML (the latest dialect of HTML) if you don't already know it.
There are a lot of glossy, hype-intensive bad
HTML books out there, and distressingly few good ones. The one I like
best is HTML: The
@@ -649,7 +644,7 @@
but it's harder to learn and (in my opinion) less well designed. C is really important, but it's also much more difficult than either
Python or Perl. Don't try to learn it first. Windows users, do not settle for Visual
Basic. It will teach you bad habits, and it's not portable off
-Windows. Avoid. |
| Q: | What kind of hardware do I need? |
| A: | It used to be that personal computers were rather underpowered and
+Windows. Avoid. |
| Q: | What kind of hardware do I need? |
| A: | It used to be that personal computers were rather underpowered and
memory-poor, enough so that they placed artificial limits on a hacker's
learning process. This stopped being true in the mid-1990s; any machine
from an Intel 486DX50 up is more than powerful enough for development
@@ -661,16 +656,16 @@
cards; some machines have Windows-specific hardware that won't work
with Linux. There's a FAQ on hardware compatibility; the latest version is
-here. |
| Q: | I want to contribute. Can you help me pick a problem to work on? |
| A: | No, because I don't know your talents or interests. You have
+here. |
| Q: | I want to contribute. Can you help me pick a problem to work on? |
| A: | No, because I don't know your talents or interests. You have
to be self-motivated or you won't stick, which is why having other
people choose your direction almost never works. Try this. Watch the project announcements scroll by on
Freshmeat for a few days.
When you see one that makes you think "Cool! I'd like to work on
-that!", join it. |
| Q: | Do I need to hate and bash Microsoft? |
| A: | No, you don't. Not that Microsoft isn't loathsome, but there was a
+that!", join it. |
| Q: | Do I need to hate and bash Microsoft? |
| A: | No, you don't. Not that Microsoft isn't loathsome, but there was a
hacker culture long before Microsoft and there will still be one long after
Microsoft is history. Any energy you spend hating Microsoft would
be better spent on loving your craft. Write good code — that will
-bash Microsoft quite sufficiently without polluting your karma. |
| Q: | But won't open-source software leave programmers unable to make a living? |
| A: | This seems unlikely — so far, the open-source software
+bash Microsoft quite sufficiently without polluting your karma. |
| Q: | But won't open-source software leave programmers unable to make a living? |
| A: | This seems unlikely — so far, the open-source software
industry seems to be creating jobs rather than taking them away. If
having a program written is a net economic gain over not having it
written, a programmer will get paid whether or not the program is
@@ -678,7 +673,7 @@
"free" software gets written, there always seems to be more demand for
new and customized applications. I've written more about this at the
Open Source
-pages. |
| Q: | Where can I get a free Unix? |
| A: | If you don't have a Unix installed on your machine yet,
+pages. |
| Q: | Where can I get a free Unix? |
| A: | If you don't have a Unix installed on your machine yet,
elsewhere on this page I include pointers to where to get the most
commonly used free Unix. To be a hacker you need motivation and
initiative and the ability to educate yourself. Start now... |
