Teema 10 - Võrkude rikkusː vabast tarkvarast vaba kultuurini

 Review on Eric S. Raymondi Hacker-HOWTO.

 

The poem is nice, it describes the path you should follow to become a hacker perfectly. Learn from the best, practice, and become a professional yourself.
To be recognized as a hacker and gain respect, I think it is natural to believe you should always share your precious knowledge and in turn preserve other’s knowledge. To achieve your dreams, you cannot give up. Even if you must perform the same task repeatedly, you continue. It may be boring, but it will pay off in the end.
I do believe however, that as much as you can develop your own instinctive hostility towards censorship and so on, you cannot break the law. In my opinion the law should always be respected. Practice and dedication are key for success.
Python is a very good choice when it comes to learning your first programming language, however, C# or C++ can be much more powerful. The article is a bit outdated from my point of view, Java may still be commonly used within most operations, but more and more are moving away from it. Running a Linux machine is common for hackers, as it is very powerful.
I do not believe learning HTML is necessary, nor building your own homepage. Websites are very easy to make these days following templates. A decent ability to understand and speak the English language is a must have.
Testing and writing your very own open-source software will get you a lot of credibility within the world of hackers. Then publishing your acquired information is key to take your ‘fame’ to the next level. I would say it is mandatory in this current day and age to adequately run or moderate a news group.
I believe you should indeed not be cocky, but rather take a modest approach and stay in the shadows at first, until slowly you will start to gain respect and become well known within the community for your contributions.
I like the term ‘geek’ more than ‘nerd’, as you have all the right to be proud of your independence. Many ‘hackers’ live quite a lonely life these days, in contradiction to Raymond’s statement I do believe having friends or at least several people to talk to on a daily basis (not through the online world, but in person) is a must in order not to become a ‘no lifer’.
Discipline is key to achieve anything, if you got the will and dedication, you will get there eventually. Be friendly, yet cautious. Use a mysterious nickname. He is absolutely right that you should never post anything that’s full of spelling mistakes or grammar errors, it will hurt your status once you become a recognized hacker.