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? > 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/ > > w...@softweyr.com > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majord...@freebsd.org > > with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majord...@freebsd.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message > Brian Fundakowski Feldman _ __ ___ ____ ___ ___ ___ gr...@freebsd.org _ __ ___ | _ ) __| \ FreeBSD: The Power to Serve! _ __ | _ \._ \ |) | http://www.FreeBSD.org/ _ |___/___/___/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majord...@freebsd.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
