Q: Will you teach me how to hack?
Since first publishing this page, I've gotten several requests a week from people to "teach me all about hacking". Unfortunately, I don't have the time or energy to do this; my own hacking projects take up 110% of my time.Even if I did, hacking is an attitude and skill you basically have to teach yourself. You'll find that while real hackers want to help you, they won't respect you if you beg to be spoon-fed everything they know.Learn a few things first. Show that you're trying, that you're capable of learning on your own. Then go to the hackers you meet with specific questions.
Q: Would you help me to crack a system, or teach me how to crack?
No. Anyone who can still ask such a question after reading this FAQ is too stupid to be educable even if I had the time for tutoring. Any emailed requests of this kind that I get will be ignored or answered with extreme rudeness.Q: Where can I find some real hackers to talk with?
The best way is to find a Unix or Linux user's group local to you and go to their meetings (you can find links to several lists of user groups on the LDP page at Sunsite).(I used to say here that you wouldn't find any real hackers on IRC, but I'm given to understand this is changing. Apparently some real hacker communities, attached to things like GIMP and Perl, have IRC channels now.)Q: What language should I learn first?
HTML, if you don't already know it. There are a lot of glossy, hype-intensive bad HTML books out there, and distressingly few good ones. The one I like best isHTML: The Definitive Guide.But HTML is not a full programming language. When you're ready to start programming, I would recommend starting with Python. You will hear a lot of people recommending Perl, and Perl is still more popular than Python, but it's harder to learn.C is really important, but it's also much more difficult than either Python or Perl. Don't try to learn it first.
