How To Become a Hacker by Shams

Part 1 of 3: Learning Basic Hacking Skills

1. 
   1
   Run Unix. Unix is the operating system of the Internet. While you can learn to use the Internet without knowing Unix, you can't be an Internet hacker without understanding Unix. For this reason, the hacker culture today is pretty strongly Unix-centered. A Unix like Linux can run along side Microsoft Windows on the same machine. Download Linux online or find a local Linux user group to help you with installation.^[1]
   • A good way to dip your toes in the water is to boot up what Linux fans call a live CD, a distribution that runs entirely off a CD without having to modify your hard disk. This is a way to get a look at the possibilities without having to do anything drastic.
   • There are other operating systems besides Unix, but they're distributed in binary— you can't read the code, and you can't modify it. Trying to learn to hack on a Microsoft Windows machine or under any other closed-source system is like trying to learn to dance while wearing a body cast.
   • Under Mac OS X it's possible to run Linux, but only part of the system is open source — you're likely to hit a lot of walls, and you have to be careful not to develop the bad habit of depending on Apple's proprietary code.
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   Write HTML. If you don't know how to program, learning basic HyperText Mark-Up Language (HTML) and gradually building proficiency is essential. What you see when you look at a website of pictures, images, and design components is all coded using HTML. For a project, set out to learn how to make a basic home page and work your way up from there.
   • In your browser, open the page source information to examine the HTML to see an example. Go to Web Developer > Page Source in Firefox and spend time looking at the code.
   • You can write HTML in a basic word processing program like Notepad or Simple text and save your files as "text only," so you can upload them to a browser and see your work translated.^[2]
   • You'll need to learn to format tags and learn to think visually using them.^[3] "<" is used to open a tag and "/> is used to close it. "
     " is the opening for a line of paragraph code. You'll use tags to signal anything visual: italics, formatting, color, etc. Learning HTML will help you to understand better how the Internet works.
3. 
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   Learn the language of programing. Before you start writing poems you have to learn basic grammar. Before you break the rules you have to learn the rules. But if your ultimate goal is to become a hacker, you're going to need more than basic English to write your masterpiece.^[4]
   • Python is a good "language" to start off with because it's cleanly designed, well documented, and relatively kind to beginners. Despite being a good first language, it is not just a toy; it is very powerful, flexible, and well-suited for large projects. Java is an alternative, but its value as a first programming language has been questioned.^[5]
   • If you get into serious programming, you will have to learn C, the core language of Unix. C++ is very closely related to C; if you know one, learning the other will not be difficult. C is very efficient with your machine's resources, but will soak up huge amounts of your time on debugging and is often avoided for that reason, unless the efficiency of your computer is especially important.
   • It is probably a good idea to use a good starting platform such as Backtrack 5 R3, Kali or Ubuntu 12.04LTS