How To Become A Hacker

Eric Steven Raymond

Thyrsus Enterprises

Copyright © 2001 Eric S. Raymond

Table of Contents

Why This Document?

What Is a Hacker?

The Hacker Attitude

  1. The world is full of fascinating problems waiting to be solved.
  2. No problem should ever have to be solved twice.
  3. Boredom and drudgery are evil.
  4. Freedom is good.
  5. Attitude is no substitute for competence

Basic Hacking Skills

  1. Learn how to program.
  2. Get one of the open-source Unixes and learn to use and run it.
  3. Learn how to use the World Wide Web and write HTML.
  4. If you don't have functional English, learn it.

Status in the Hacker Culture

  1. Write open-source software
  2. Help test and debug open-source software
  3. Publish useful information
  4. Help keep the infrastructure working
  5. Serve the hacker culture itself

The Hacker/Nerd Connection

Points For Style

Historical Note: Hacking, Open Source, and Free Software

Other Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

A sample image

The Glider Emblem

A sample table

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