[Tutor] i want to learn to hack

[Remco Gerlich]

On Thu, Feb 15, 2001 at 08:23:17AM -0500, Ryan Smith wrote:
> how do i hack?

That depends on what you mean. If you mean breaking into computers, that is
called "cracking", is not the subject of this list, and is a sad thing
for kids who have nothing better to do. No help from us there.

The first two meanings of the verb 'hack' that the Jargon File gives:
1.n Originally, a quick job that produces what is needed, but not well.
2.n An incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming piece of work that
    produces exactly what is needed.

In general, it's a style of programming, very informal, but very fanatical.
A lot of the best open source software came into being because someone
started programming something cool, and continued for a few nights. Hacking
is fun.

As a start, I'd say you read
- ESR's "How to become a Hacker FAQ" at
  http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html
  Or maybe you read that and then came here.
- If you're not a programmer yet, I suggest you start with Alan Gauld's
  online book http://www.crosswinds.net/~agauld/
  to learn programming, using Python.
  
This list is for beginning Python programmers, to ask questions. So if you
have any problems with that part, you're welcome to ask here :).

-- 
Remco Gerlich