Where would you start? (question for the programmer / hacker)

If you were a beginner again, where would you start, what would you do differently, and what would you start learning first, etc?

...If your goal was to become a great programmer / hacker?

I am a 17 year old male who has a lot of time on his hands, plus, an eagerness to learn. However, there is just this small issue of not knowing where to start and what to start with - hence the above question.

open a terminal... start reading man pages of differen commands..
then try to do something creative using those commands..
It will help you a lot...

That does not seem very entertaining. My problem is this: I'd like to know how to program and be an awesome hacker, but I don't have the motivation to go through all the tedious steps in getting there.

Can I get by this?

I found an online ebook that looks good:

"Programming from the Ground Up" By Johnathan Bartlett

Should I read it? It teaches one about Linux and Assembly. Is this a good book for someone who's starting out?

So... Here's what I need: more info and something that'll inspire me. Is that too much to ask for?

Thanks for all your help.

There's 2 kinds of "hackers" one is a true hacker who starts out with an passion or hobby writing code and spends all his/her time doing it or constantly trying news ways of overloading or testing to uncover bugs or weakness for certain software. These people are the quiet group never boastful or revealing too much about themselves, this group the authorities take seriously.

The other is what they call a "script kiddie" ie someone who is lazy, doesn't like to write any code but like to looks for tools available on internet like sniffers or join forums try to use somebody's idea, like to brag a lot how good they are - script kiddies mostly loners or nobody trying to be somebody.

The only final outcome for a "Awesome Hacker" is prison. Do something that will affect a lot of people in the world and the FBI will send someone to pick you up .... bring lots of of KY, you gonna need it for your prison pals.

Almost right, really there are 2 kinds of "hackers":

  • White-Hat hackers: these people like to tinker with technology, they want knowledge and are ready to share it. If something doesn't perform as expected, they seek ways to make it do that. Those are the kind of people who founded the Open Source movement.
  • Black-Hat hackers: pretty much like the above, only that they specialize in security technology, and are somewhat reluctant to share their knowledge, mostly because of the next 2 groups

Then there are "The Others"

  • Crackers: sometimes hackers, most often not. They seek to exploit technology for their own means, most often using tools made by hackers, but they have considerable knowledge themselves. Media usually means to this type when referring to hackers.
  • Scriptkiddies: they use the tools they find on the web, without any knowledge of how they work, and no interest. Those are the graffiti-sprayers of the net.

Are you speaking from personal experience, or are you just repeating a common misconception?

Hacking and Coding aren't easy, and most people take the entertainment from the things they learn, and yes, this includes books, man pages, and source code of others.

My ideas:

  • Learn to use UNIX (Linux, *BSD, and OpenSolaris come to mind as they are free [as in speech, not as in beer])
  • Learn the command line
  • Start learning C. The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie is still the best starters book IMO
  • Start with small coding projects, like a simple alarm clock, and move up. If you need something, look for libraries that provide what you need, and learn how to use them.
  • Keep learning: I can't stress this enough. If a tool (language, program, algorithm) doesn't do what you need it to, switch it. Learn a new language (most programmers are fluent in 2-3, and can get by on 6-12 more), take a new look at things (Bubble-Sort is nice and simple, but deadly slow for large structures)

This means, simply you can't get there. It's by sheer hardwork, enthusiasm many have reached that level.

Get a book.
Get a terminal.
Practice, practice, practice with interest ...

Aren't there ways of covering ones tracks, being undetectable, etc...? I like movies like Sneakers. Life is different from the movies, but some of it is the same. Watching these kinds of movies gets me motivated, but then when I go to study and realise how much there is to learn, I start to lose that motivation.

I wish I started learning this stuff when I was much younger.

Is there anything out there that will give me the motivation that I need to start learning about these things, and most importantly, sticking to it and not giving up? Unfortunately, as history proves, I tend to be one of those people who starts things, gets bored, and then quits. I need to change.

Great, thanks! I already have a C++ book. I started learning C++ last year, read about 50 pages... Anyway, I'm going to try again. Any more tips? By the way, I've never been too interested in learning... Is there anything that will help me with this?

Well, I have to believe that it's possible. Are there strategies for developing the enthusiasm to learn this?

Anyway, I'm starting on Friday (C++). Until then, I plan to read things that will motivate me. I need to change and that's why I choose to learn to program / hack.

Thanks for all your help, everyone. If there's anything else, let me know. Thanks!

Will my post show up? (testing)

---------- Post updated at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous update was at 05:08 PM ----------

Hmmm... My original post hasn't shown up yet.

My recommend starting point is to ask yourself why you want to be an "awesome hacker". If you do a little googling you will find (its commonly accepted anyway) it takes 10000 hours to become an expert in anything. I'm not trying to intimidate you or anything I'm just trying to emphasize that becoming an "awesome hacker" won't happen overnight, or even in a month. If you don't love computers then I would recommend putting your time an energy into something else. The 10000 hours has a catch 22. They have to be using and/or deliberately learning the skill you are trying to master. I think the best starting points for you would be reading "Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor your Wetware". After that I would learn procedural programming in any language (not assembly) alongside Comptia A+ certification exam objectives. I would recommend going to college and getting a job in the IT industry as your next steps after that.

To motivate you a bit look up the following people and read about how they got where they did:

Linus Torvalds
Bruce Schneier
Larry Wall

Being a hacker is a "ZERO SUM" game, there's no ultimate reward in it there's only prison. Penalities are stiff even if you don't go to prison, yes there are some who do get away but they are small ones, but as move on to bigger things the law will take interest in them. Once this happens it's like a heat seeking missile, no escape.

Take Kevin Mitnick, the most "Awesome Hacker" of the 90's and biggest computer criminal in the USA at the time of his arrest. Eventually the law caught up with him and went to prison, upon his release the only thing he can do to earn a living is to be a "security consultant" to work for the system he rebelled against what an irony, oh yeah he also wrote a book so that's 2 things he could do to earn a living, so you want to go to prison?

Btw it's a fact that people do get raped and sodomized in prisons, usually the strong will prey on the weak and guards look the other way, this is not a misconception. I don't need experience to know because these things do leak out in the news, for a 17yr old who goes to prison, it's going to be fresh meat.

Channelnewsasia.com

prison-rape

you must be living under a rock to not know this, misconception erh .. want to go to prison then?

I didn't see the post about not getting caught. The people on this board are Professional developers, DBAs, administrators, etc. I would highly recommend taking the advice people are giving on here and staying far away from criminal activities because in the long run you will be in prison. If you like computers go to college and/or get a job working with computers and work your way up in the field.

please do not hack my netwrok , I have only linux and UNIX :smiley:

OT : first of all leran how to help someone , you must build not destruct

Learn C. Not C++, C. Once you've grasped the fundamentals of C you'll be in a better position to understand some of the reasons C++ is the way it is, without that background it seems utterly arbitrary.

[edit] Oh, you meant "hacker" as in the Hollywood kind that doesn't really exist, not a self-motivated programmer/developer who creates useful things that challenge the computing world in positive ways. Whatever... There's better things to do with your time than petty vandalism, littering, and grand theft.

What ever happen to this guy he in the big house or quit???

Just would like to know if he got his dream?

:smiley: