Very well written and does a great job of stirring up emotions but when you really think about it, it doesn't say anything. Just that the author thinks he's smarter than everyone and that there's nothing wrong with hacking absolutely but never goes into what he means by "hack", "hacking", or "hacker".<p>I could see how it could strike a cord maybe 10+ years ago but today it feels hollow. The idea that all hackers are smarter than average, bored in school, and break into things (presumably - that's what I thought he meant) is something I don't agree with. This isn't the 90's anymore. Hackers nowadays are as much well rounded, often downright average individuals (sorry to burst all of our egos) as they are above average and the things he describes. That stereotype needs to die.
Phrack, even after the official crew gave up contributing to it, is an exceptional archive of deep and highly technical programming techniques (and more). I highly recommend to everyone to just go through some of the issues and read some papers.
Here's a link to an mp3 of Loyd reading it himself along with commentary.<p><a href="http://download.2600.com/mediadownload/h2k2.hope.net/media/mentor.mp3" rel="nofollow">http://download.2600.com/mediadownload/h2k2.hope.net/media/m...</a>
> we've been spoon-fed baby food at
school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip
through were pre-chewed and tasteless.<p>It's called "curriculum". It's prepackaged knowledge. It's put together in a predetermined order. It's handed down by an authority figure in a compulsory way. It's an education style that can shape how student's view learning.