[aklug] Re: Basic Linux information

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009, Kevin Miller wrote:

> Maybe I'm just being self-serving, but I'd love to see many more *users*
> for a couple of reasons:
> 1: Fewer botted machines means less spam/exploits that I have to filter.
> 2: Hackers are users before they're hackers. Nobody's born w/it.

Point #1 I can certainly sympathize with, but I honestly don't think we have
the feature set, ease of use, and prevalently available store-bought
software to make converting users a feasible strategy. That kind of a
supported and enticing ecosystem is still years off.

Point #2 I both agree and disagree with. Some hackers were perhaps users
before they were hackers, and most of us, if we were so inclined, can
acquire the skills to become hackers. But, I'd wager that there's a
significant portion of the actively coding hacker community that picked up
an OS, tore it apart in sheer curiosity, and decided to build on it from
there. Personally, the only difference I see between real hackers and those
that just aspire to be one is personal initiative. They both have the
curiosity, but only the real hacker is willing to invest the time to
experiment via trial & error to figure out how things really work.

Unfortunately, I don't see as much personal initiative anymore. People want
to be told. And, ironically, they quickly forget it since the knowledge
wasn't hard won.

> But maybe the solution isn't more documentation (there's a ton of it
> already on the net, a good percentage outdated), but rather some general
> documentation and some pointers on learning how to dig deeper for
> oneself. It's like the old adage: build a man a fire and you warm him
> once. Set a man afire and you warm him for the rest of his life. Or
> something like that...

:-) <sniff> I smell smoke...

         --Arthur Corliss
           Live Free or Die
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Received on Wed Sep 16 22:43:13 2009