Message-ID: <001e01c3ecb2$0d110960$9500a8c0@sohohouse.com>
From: andrew at auliya.org (Andrew)
Subject: Gee Why don't you teach then! Help out the community.

> I think we can learn just fine by ourselves, thanks.
> There is no worry of some 'art' being lost when security 
> experts die off. The talented ones will always learn with or 
> without the help of others - is this not one of the things in 
> the very definition of a hacker? Claiming there is some need 
> for teaching is rather silly. Did the current old timers need 
> constant mentoring to get to their current level of 
> knowledge? No. Then why should a younger generation of 
> hackers? It is my belief that this kind of thing can only be 
> taught effectively by oneself, anyway.

I disagree here, but only in a limited sense - I think that a mentor can
be valuable for someone, without it degenerating into a spoon-feed.
Also, there's no question that the sheer number of hosts, networks, new
technologies, and new attack methods has risen sharply in recent years.
What's wrong with getting some help? If we don't know the past, we're
doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

I think assessing the present generation in the same terms as the last
is not acknowledging the non-linear development of the technology. I
wouldn't be - and haven't been - ashamed to accept the help of my elders
and betters, and I think the image of self-learning often portrayed is
slightly mythic.

Just my opinion, best wishes,

Andrew

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