Re: authentic hackers still do it for the love ... (was: Hell Camp: It never pays enough)

[coderman <coderman () gmail com>]

On Dec 1, 2007 9:12 PM, Goebbels Amadeus <paul.goebbels () freemail hu> wrote:
> ...
> Have you ever considered your future in their hands? You've
> been working for 50 years, your liver and kidneys start failing,
> creating visible symptoms, stains in your skin. You can't handle
> life in the same way anymore. For what? What have you done in
> those 50 years but serving another man to become more wealthy
> and over powered. The approaching day of your death and its
> mere vision strikes you like a burning iron blade.
> ...
> talented youth started emerging and dedicated passionately to
> fulfill its curiosity. Day after day, spending countless hours
> in front of a machine. Understanding it's inner design and
> details, breaking it apart and reassembling it the way it wasn't
> meant to be assembled.
>
> [a parable of looking for filthy lucre in a trade of love, only to
>  to discover that these dark funds have tainted the joy and
>  purity of a process and lifestyle that once brought fulfillment]

sooner or later every authentic hacker discovers that you must
separate work from play.  when you try and mix them both you
betray the joy and fulfillment of hacking for a paycheck, and it
never pays enough.

the ability of a person to deny and downplay this reality will
determine their ability to abide the infosecwhore industry.

as captain of their own independent ship they can insulate
themselves from much of this whoreish taint, but sooner or
later a labor for lucre will destroy the love.

no need to preach, the authentic hacker will discover this
on their own accord sooner or later.  it is inevitable.

for those of you on the cusp of this realization and ready to
start anew, do it.  abandon ship.  find a comfy admin or analyst
position with decent benefits and a wage that pays the mortgage.

adopt that pseudonym and rediscover the joy of hacking for its
own sake.  the rewards are still there, worth more than a dollar
can provide...

---

as with any broad categorization there are exceptions to this rule.
there is a minuscule minority that has found an amalgamation
sufficiently lucrative and deeply enjoyable without compromising
on any personal integrity.

to these people i say: you lucky fucks!
may i find such fortune one day...

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