HACKER STAGES v1.03 r26MAR2000
     by Elf Qrin (http://www.ElfQrin.com)
     First version written: 22JAN2000
     Thanks to Mikkkeee for checking out the English language.

     Latest version available from:
     http://www.ElfQrin.com/docs/HackerStages.html
     Other language versions: Italian 


     A human being who aims to become a hacker will typically pass through
     these stages: 

        1.Mundane person
          He basically doesn't know anything about the hacking scene, even if
          he may have a computer and Internet access. The only things he
          knows about hackers is that they break computer systems and are
          criminals. Some of them write for the newspapers. 

        2.Lamer
          One who confuses the hacking scene with different realities such as
          the warez scene. He has a very poor knowdlege of the whole thing,
          and try to impress mundane people with big words. His greatest
          achievement is to put a trojan (wrote by someone else, and of which
          he is totally clueless about how it works) in someone else's computer
          during an IRC or ICQ chat and delete their files.
          People that succeed in becoming hackers usually pass this stage
          very quickly, or might skip it at all. 

        3.Wannabe
          A Wannabe hacker found out that hacking is much more than
          breaking into someone else's computer and it's rather a philosophy,
          or a way of life. He just wants to know more, and starts to read
          hacking tutorials, and searches the Net for serious hacking-related
          stuff. 

        4.Larva
          Also referred as Newbie, a hacker in his larval stage learns the basic
          techniques of hacking, discovers his firsts exploits, and might try to
          break into someone else's system, just to make sure he figured how
          to do that. However, at this stage he knows he shouldn't damage the
          system nor delete anything, if it's not strictly necessary to cover his
          tracks. 

        5.Hacker
          It is hard to say when the final stage of hacker has been reached,
          since there's always something new to learn and to discover (for
          collecting information and exploring the boundaries is the same
          essence of a hacker), but it's probably more something you feel.
          After all, being a hacker is more a state of mind, and if you are not
          born hacker, you'll never be such. 

        6.Ueberhacker
          This is an unusual character, probably inspired to Nietzsche's
          uebermann ("overman"). It appears on a document titled "A Guide to
          Internet Security" by Christopher Klaus, dated December 5th, 1993,
          where the author suggests how to fool hackers thanks to some
          "social engeneering", gaining thus the status of "Ueberhacker". 


     Special skills: 

     A hacker may achieve great experience and skills in a specific field or
     subject (such as an operating system or an application), and get the
     following titles: 

        1.Wizard
          One who has a very great knowledge about a certain subject. 

        2.Guru
          He knows about everything about a certain subject, including
          undocumented features, and developed some tricks to go over its
          supposed limits. If the subject is an application, he probably knows
          more about it than its creators. 


     Other characters of the hacking scene: 

          Dark-side hacker
          This term derives from George Lucas' "Star Wars". A Dark-side
          hacker, just like Darth Vader, is "seduced by the dark side of the
          Force". It has nothing to do with the common idea of "good" and
          "bad", but it's closer to the idea of "legal" and "chaotic" in
          Dungeons&Dragons: a Dark-side hacker has the same skills of any
          hacker, but his "dark" mind makes him a dangerous element for the
          whole community. 

          Malicious hacker
          One who damages someone else's system for pure stupidity or
          evilness, with nothing to gain from his actions. 


     There are still some more characters -- such as crackers and warez d00dz
     -- that could be considered as side characters of the hacking scene.
.