Where else but college are you going to have a chance to learn about the theory of how things work? I mean, yes you can pick it up on your own, but once you are in industry you are a lot less likely to have the time to learn the background, and get the theory.
That said, theory is theory and it ain't likely to make you rich until you can apply it to something. But the trap of not having the background is that you are stuck operating the tools.
Kind of like the difference between a construction worker and an engineer. The construction worker actually knows how to make things work, but the engineer should know why they work.
I guess with computers it is still just a matter of what you actually can do with it, and when it comes to actually making something all that time spent theorizing doesn't necessarly help.
I suppose the I picked school because I am a theorist at heart. But for others, industry would be more fun.
i know that UCB logo is being developed by my professor Brian Harvey. I suggest the books that he's writen, I haven't seen them myself, but the man is a very excellent teacher. At UCB he teaches begining computer science in scheme because The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Abelman and Sussman is so damn good.
Some friends of mine thought that it would be cool to setup a redhat box with at their school district. Zipity fast line and an administrator who was interested in samba made it seem both fun and possible.
So the machine sat there and was played with, and various stuff. Then some script kiddie found his way in. With a 'Rewt' kit and some time all of a sudden the machine no longer was under the control of my friends but someone who was creative enough to pick a uid of 420.
The point: Even a linux box can be filled with security holes and even on a linux box something like bo can run (port 31337 now allows anyone to telnet in and doesn't even require a login for root access).
I don't really mind people developing these root kits or bo or whatever exploits they care to come up with, but I don't like people screwing around with other peoples machines as these exploits invariably lead to. Now that my friends know about the various holes they are ready to reinstall and start patching holes, but if the machine were something serious they'd be screwed.
With various holes know, we (the comunity of computer users, and the comunity in general) should make sure that they are fixed. As well we should make sure that these exploits are not exploited by the corporations or anyone else.
Slashdot Mirror
Where else but college are you going to have a chance to learn about the theory of how things work? I mean, yes you can pick it up on your own, but once you are in industry you are a lot less likely to have the time to learn the background, and get the theory.
That said, theory is theory and it ain't likely to make you rich until you can apply it to something. But the trap of not having the background is that you are stuck operating the tools.
Kind of like the difference between a construction worker and an engineer. The construction worker actually knows how to make things work, but the engineer should know why they work.
I guess with computers it is still just a matter of what you actually can do with it, and when it comes to actually making something all that time spent theorizing doesn't necessarly help.
I suppose the I picked school because I am a theorist at heart. But for others, industry would be more fun.
Oren
So Brian's web page:
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh
Some friends of mine thought that it would be cool to setup a redhat box with at their school district. Zipity fast line and an administrator who was interested in samba made it seem both fun and possible.
So the machine sat there and was played with, and various stuff. Then some script kiddie found his way in. With a 'Rewt' kit and some time all of a sudden the machine no longer was under the control of my friends but someone who was creative enough to pick a uid of 420.
The point: Even a linux box can be filled with security holes and even on a linux box something like bo can run (port 31337 now allows anyone to telnet in and doesn't even require a login for root access).
I don't really mind people developing these root kits or bo or whatever exploits they care to come up with, but I don't like people screwing around with other peoples machines as these exploits invariably lead to. Now that my friends know about the various holes they are ready to reinstall and start patching holes, but if the machine were something serious they'd be screwed.
With various holes know, we (the comunity of computer users, and the comunity in general) should make sure that they are fixed. As well we should make sure that these exploits are not exploited by the corporations or anyone else.
peace
watch out for the conspirisy of tall men