ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT: 

There is a difference of opinion on whether the experienced should help the
novice.  There are those who believe that the experienced should finally start
teaching the inexperienced, while others say that they should stop tutoring and
leave the novice to ponder by themselves without any help or interference, just
like the first members of the community had to do when they began their quest.
These people believe that a newbie should not have any advantages that they did
not have.  No one helped THEM, since there was no one at that time who knew
enough.  By the end of this document, you will understand why teaching or not
teaching a novice can effect their outcome and role  in the scene.  Perhaps i
have already said too much.

In this guide, I will not give you technical instructions.  I will not tutor
you or instruct you.  However, what I will do instead is steer you in the right
direction and guide you to the CORRECT path if you decide to pursue one.  I hope
that by the end you will be determined to walk the correct path.  If this is
true, I will no longer be able to help you, and you will be alone. 

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                               'THE PATH' 

I resent the word 'hack'... in this document I have written it only once. 
I will not mention it again, or any of its derivations.  It will be obvious
when I am referring to the people who practice it, unless I am specifically
talking about someone else.  An individual who practices it will be referred to
as 'one'.
Now you should ask: But why do I restrain myself from using this word?

But the answer to this you probably already know.  How many times have you
heard this word used by the media?  How many times have you heard this word in
the same context with 'crime', 'criminals', 'theft', 'destruction', 'terrorism'? 
The media has brainwashed the public and they have substituted the real meaning
of this word with a false one.  This word has been abused and raped by the media
and its profiteering whores.  The word has suffered senseless abuse, and no
matter how much anyone tries, the public will never learn.  If one says it
in public, he/she will automatically inherit all the bad prejudged properties
that are the luggage of this word.  They go where it goes.  Whenever you hear
someone brag and brag about it(like the media), I assure you... they don't know
what they are talking about.  They don't know what it is, what its about, and
who are the people that are involved.  The word, seems to carry certain
preconceptions about it.  It is associated with evil, terrorism, anarchy, crime.
Truly, it has been mistaken for many things.  Why?  Because the media has a
tendency to twist the meaning of this word.  And the public follows the media
blindly.  Why does it twist the meaning?  To make us the criminals!  We make
their money, because we are the story they sell. 

There is nothing that I can say or show you that will make this word and its
TRUE meaning clear enough for you.  The best way for you to learn is to get
involved in the scene.

WHAT IS THE SCENE? 

The scene is anywhere where knowledge is unrestricted, where information is
free to flow, where no secrets are being kept, where people meet to exchange
ideas and knowledge, to converse and learn.  In the 80s the scene used to be a
collection of telephone numbers to BBSs.  Out of mutual distrust, a global net
was born, that we now call the Internet.  The internet gave birth to web sites,
message boards, ftp sites, and suddenly the scene became much larger, and much
more complicated.  The scene truly changed. 

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE SCENE? 

It is dying.  Many older masters left the scene and joined the corporations to
embrace the profit.  Others have been, sadly, assimilated to work for the feds,
and are now working against the scene.  Many have become administrators and
computer security consultants and are now helping the agents.  Some are in
prison, but still hold on to their values, and believe.  The scene is now
shallow in experience.  All that is left are documents and data collected from
the old masters.  But few can understand or interpret these mystical documents.
The community was once rich in joy and excitement.  It was full of knowledgeable
and resourceful people binded together by a common interest and the will
to learn.  But now all those values and ideals seem to have deteriorated.  When
the most experienced masters left, they took with them the vital will to learn
and understand.  Our community now lacks spirit AND experience. 

Today many groups and individuals fight against each other, exposing all of us
to a greater threat.  The feds profit from our wars.  Why do we fight?  It is in
our nature.  We struggle to expose one another and prove who is better.  If one
is caught, we are all at risk.

HOW CAN I BENEFIT THE SCENE? 

You can benefit the scene in many ways.  You can embrace it, learn its ways.
Understand and think.  Learn and practice.  Listen, but be patient.  Never get
angry if someone wont teach you the first time you ask him/her.  With
experience, comes paranoia.  The experienced do not share knowledge with those
who are irresponsible with power, or with those who are not familiar to them or
are new to the scene.  Have patience.  Be in the scene long enough, and soon
everything will connect together.  Benefit the scene.  Many are able writers.
Write FAQ's, documents.  Teach.  Understand the scene, know your group.  But
never join a group to gain respect or admiration because you are in it.  Join a
group to form new friendships and the chance to learn more and practice what
you have learned.  Earn your position or your groups name.  Actions speak
louder then words.  But never destroy, harass or annoy others.  Explore.  Learn
by exploration and gain experience, but always remember to cover your tracks.
When you have enough experience construct something that will simplify a process
or benefit the scene and its individuals, and then give it away for free to
everyone.  By demonstrating generosity, you will earn your name and title.

Once you leave the scene, do not take all the answers with you, instead leave
them behind for the next generation.  They will ask the same questions you once
asked, and wonder why you did what you did. 

WHY AM I DOING THIS? 

Now that you have read so far, you are ready and deserve to understand the most
consequential thing about this wisdom that you wish to acquire.

*It was never about using this knowledge to commit crimes, or gain respect, or
to show off, or to hurt anyone or anything.* 

It is about the process of learning that is responsible for development of
character and personality in an individual.  It is about being with people who
demonstrate similar abilities and bear identical values.  Along this path there
are certain rewards.  You will find opportunities to bond with people.  Don't
miss these opportunities, as some of these people will prove to be your life
long allies.  You will uncover rewards and understand my advice:
Never believe or trust all you hear;  Think quickly, but talk slowly;  When
you lose, do not forget the lesson;  Before breaking the rules, make sure you
understand them and the risks involved;  Great achievements sometimes involve
great risks.  Share your knowledge!  It will be a way for you to achieve
immortality.  One must first gain wisdom.  It is time for you to start. 

HOW DO I START? 

In my life I have encountered two kinds of people.  Those who get a small taste
of what the scene is like, directly search for a fast way to appear to have
learned and earn their stay.  Once there, they leech scripts and newest exploits
to harass others in order to feel smart.  The other kind does not directly seek
the scene and its respect but rather has a natural interest that will push an
individual forward without any need for material gain, respect, title, name or
bragging rights.  This kind of an individual is able to wake up one morning and
realize what he has become along the way.  In his path one was never tempted
by sudden urges to show off power fed by wisdom and knowledge.  One never
ran someone else's scripts and programs to show off.  Instead one read good
code and wrote good code.  One worked on all operating systems, understood their
advantages and disadvantages.  Many languages were familiar to him.  When one
would think of a program, he would not consider it and confine it in terms of
one language, but remember it in terms that are common to all languages.
Naturally, his mind worked globally and universally, never confined to one
language but to infinite possibilities of all.  You must abandon your hope of a
fast and easy way, because there is none.  Forget about your mission, forget
about why you are reading this.  Instead, develop an interest and pursue it.
Disregard your wish to become one, but never neglect your wish to learn.
By doing this you will never risk taking the easy way.  Those who do, cant 
see past the confines of their limited knowledge and are now called 'lamers'
and 'code kiddies'.  They try to get into the scene too quickly, and soon
believe they are a part of it.  They believe that what they know is all there
is to it.  But they will never be as powerful or resourceful as you could be.
They will never contribute to the community and never fully experience it or
understand it.  There are so many of them.  So many.  Now you understand why
the scene is so shallow.  But every time one of them stops and asks: "hey wait
a minute... I would like to know more about this tool that I am using.  Who
made it and how?, How can it be improved and made more powerful, or faster
or better?".  Every single time an individual stops and asks these questions
that come purely from his own interest, there is still hope! 
Fate plays tricks on us all, and we can never know what can become of us or
others.  Maybe this individual will become a demigod tomorrow?  Maybe not...;
the point is that he should be helped.  His questions should not remain
unanswered, because tomorrow he may be the one providing answers. 
When do YOU start? Don't rush, there is ample time to do all.  Read books. 
Try different operating systems.  Establish a kind of an experience that
will help you connect new pieces of information you obtain.  It takes many
years, even with interest and devotion.  Those who lack either only wish to
convey knowledge for others to know that they understand.  Do not get trapped
in this.  I never said it was easy, it takes a lifetime. 

WHERE DO I BEGIN? 

Begin to learn languages.  Learn HTTP so you can contribute to the scene.
Learn C, so you can understand Unix.  Don't use Visual Basic to code nice GUI
to run your scripts.  By doing this, you provide tools for lamers.  Once you
understand languages, think in similar terms of all languages, but use
individual ones to interpret your thoughts in different ways. Escape from Dos
and Windows, and get Linux.  Learn how to manipulate it, and make it do what
you want it to do.  Notice its power and flexibility.  Get to know shells, and
understand some basic networking.  Now, it will be time for you to wander
the net in search of what you want.

About the net: 
The net has many parts, it has usenet, www, irc, message groups, mailing lists,
ftp's, gopher telnet and others.  From experience you will be able to tell
which ones will benefit you the most, and which ones will be the least
accessible to you.

Avoid IRC, it is equivalent to an addiction.  Its a place where lamers beg for
scripts and newest exploits, and OPs show off by providing to them.  You will
learn nothing here.  Avoid web sites with flaming skulls and other garbage.
They are made by lamers for other lamers to use.  All that you will find here
are ancient tools, that no one on that site can understand or explain to you.
You will learn nothing there either.  Instead look for things that astonish you
the least.  Look for plain text, because plain text is what you want.  Here,
you will learn the most.
Read! Download RFCs (request for comments). Know each one by heart.  Read FAQ's
written by other members of the community.  I can not advise you which ones to
read and which ones to ignore.  There is always a controversy and debate about
this topic.  You will have to read and judge them yourself.  They are indeed all
helpful and useful, but useful to whom? a 'lamer'? a 'code kiddie'?, a criminal?
or someone else, someone beyond all this.  Get books, unix manuals, books on
protocols, everything you can get your hands on.  Never throw away anything.
You never know what might come in handy one day.  But don't use books to learn
programming.  To code well, one must read well written code and write efficient
code.  Imitate the masters.  There is no better way to learn.  Seminars wont
help you, books wont help you.  You may study programs written by masters, but
never use someone else's tools!  Write your own tools, understand how they are
made, how they work and what concepts they involve.  Don't distribute them to
those who will abuse them, but to the few who are willing to learn, just like
you.

SHOULD I VISIT CONS? 

Get to know the physical part of the scene.  Go to cons.  Know where they are
and when.  Cons are always good places to meet new people, and learn new things.
Find out about cons as well.  Don't worry about not knowing anyone.  With time
you will.  Remember the names of the speakers, they have been around for a long
time.  They can give you advice.  Knowledge does not necessarily have to be your
ticket in, but the WILL to learn could be.  Be kind, and respectful to others.
If you are lucky, they may provide you with great help, when you are ready. 

CONCLUSION 

Remember:  If you are just starting, don't go out on the net right now and
leech txts, rfcs, manuals and other technical handbooks because you probably
wont understand them.  You will get stuck.  And then the easiest escape is to
use pre made tools and scripts.  But what are these good for if you cant
understand them?  The only thing left to do is harass others and feel smart for
having the power that tools provide.  But this power you cant even understand.
You cannot recreate it, improve it or learn its unique concepts.  Your knowledge
will be confined and you will have no more will to learn.  This is exactly how
lamers are born.  Learn programming.  Learn Unix.  Read material for you level
of understanding. Dont rush.  Leave everything else for later, when you are
ready.  Attend comp.sci at some university for a couple of years.  Turn your
hobby into a career.  Get paid for what you like to do, but never work against
the scene.  Return to it later and observe how it has changed. 

KNOW THE SCENE 

Know the people in the community.  Know the names of people who invented great
things and then gave them away for free to benefit mankind.  Know the names of
people who sold out, and those who embraced the media to sell for money.
Know the names of those who are now in prison held without a trial.
Know those who have written great documents and remember their words.

I have given you all the advice I can.  The fate of the community now rests on
                                     YOU.

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                                                        Voya [voya@idirect.ca]
