Where to Start

[yasgur99]

Okay, so for my first post, I'm sure that I'm going to get hate because I should have search bared this and my answer is all over, but I did that already, and I have some more specific questions. So I am literally brand new to everything, a complete n00b. I know that I need to learn a programing language first, but which one? I will learn whatever best. I have tons of time on my hand. Secondly, I've been coming across that I need to get a Unix. I'm on a Mac, so I was thinking that I either need to partion my hard drive or put it on a usb. Which do you guys recommend? Secondly, why Unix. What does it allow me to do that terminal does not?

Now that you guys have given me some direction on where to begin, I was wondering what the next steps are. I understand that I need to head in a certain direction. I guess I'm looking to just explore and have fun. If you have any recommendations based on how you started, or what you are currently pursuing that would be interesting to hear about. I understand that there are different types/fields of hacking. Where is a good place to start. I guess I'm looking for fun for now, but I'm young, so honestly the direction I could go in could be job potential, or just a hobby, or even just to cause mischief.



I look forward to reading your responses, and again, I hope that I am not sounding like an asshole on my first post.

[HTH]

A) Learn Assembly Language and if you can stomach it Verilog HDL, if you wanna kinda half ass it and start easier learn C.
B) You want linux actually, I would say if youre just starting to install gentoo or maybe arch linux.
C) after that youll wanna learn the TCP IP stack really well, pay close attention to stuff like token rings and Alohanet. 

[Spacecow]

Well you're gonna want to start with a language like C or C++ so you can really hit the ground running and get to the fun start quicker. After that comes the ASM (x86_64 and ARM) and some other fun stuff like prolog, IO and haskell. As for OS, there's no real better choice then windows (despite what all the freetards will tell u) so I would check out some quality Powershell. The ingenious programmers at microsoft created a scripting language that also leverages the power of the .Net framework so you can automate all your windows tasks just as well as any linuxfag could (suck on that stallman). But for the sake of completeness you should at least learn to navigate a unix OS which is why I would recommend a member of the BSD family of OSes! I am a personal fan of Dragonfly BSD but NetBSD/OpenBSD is kewl too. As for networking and networking protocols, you'll want to learn about the TCP/IP stack but my advice would be to study other network technologies like IPX and SCTP which will set you apart from the crowd (besides TCP/IP is a pretty shit network stack tbh). Now go my child and remember, may the force be with you always.

[N00bHacker]

I'm not as experienced with hacking etc as a lot of the other users on this forum, however I started learning C before starting with x86 And if you don't want to partition your harddrive, I would suggest using VirtualBox instead I've done that for a couple of classes and it works really well.

[HexEngineer]

1. In my opinion just pick one, but build strong base on it. I'm not programming guru, but i've spend a lot of time on C and now I apply this knowledge on every programming language. However you can start with everything python, ruby, java... But at some point you will need to get your hands durty with C and some kind of ASM.
2. You don't need to, you can use vm fusion, virtual box...
3. Why unix? It's open-source and it's used for the most servers, they usually run on Linux of FreeBSD.

[yasgur99]

Thanks for all the answers. I decided to learn C first and then go from there

[shome]

My suggestion is to take advantage of some of the free-education portal's out there (google 'eDX' ) run by harvard, MIT, etc, and enroll yourself in an intro to computer science course, and start from the bottom. Keep things simple, and remember this isn't a marathon. Go easy on yourself, and try to do atleast one thing each day to keep yourself in the right lane going forward in your pursuit of knowledge.

We live in an amazing age where alot of information is in front of us.
 
As for the programming part. I, myself am working with Python. It's pretty fast, it has alot of statements and methods that are easy to implement, but most importantly, it teaches you to be productive. I won't speak contrarily to what others are saying, and there is no one way to do things, but I haven't really gone too much lower than Python 'stack-wise' but definitely look forward to doing so.

Things will make sense over time. Try some of those free knowledge-base classes, read read read, buy a TCP/IP handbook, and most importantly. Read this if you haven't already:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html

[d4rkcat]

As for OS, there's no real better choice then windows (despite what all the freetards will tell u) so I would check out some quality Powershell. The ingenious programmers at microsoft created a scripting language that also leverages the power of the .Net framework so you can automate all your windows tasks just as well as any linuxfag could (suck on that stallman).

Are you actually being serious or trolling? Wow.
It's hard for me to tell because you mixed good advice with absolute bullshit.
ingenious programmers? LMFAO
10/10 gr8 b8 m8 you got me.

As for OP, I think hacking is more a state of mind than anything.
You have to be persistent, and ready to accept failing 99% of the time and still not give up.
Accept that the only way to learn is to try, and failing is better than doing nothing.
Don't be afraid to experiment. As others have said spin up VM's and snapshot them, then you can mess with everything without fear, because you just rewind to the snapshot when it gets fucked.
Finally read alot, I mean ALOT, there is a never ending amount of new material and you could never finish reading new stuff.
Make sure you read the 'right' stuff, there is alot of crap information on the internet which will actually harm your knowledge rather than improve it.
Accept that you are a 'noob'. This is the only way to learn.
If you tackle a topic with the mindset that you are 1337 you are far less likely to progress in your learning.
The minute you start to feel like you know everything/alot about computers go and read some really technical complicated whitepapers or code and let the humble wash over you.
For me, the more I read the more of a noob I feel, and this is good.

Finally being part of a good community that share similar interests to you is very important. I can count on one hand the amount of people I know in real life I can talk to about the things we talk about on here.

Cheers and good luck man, hope to see you around the forums or IRC.