Clandestiny
November 18th, 2001, 21:29
Hiya
Lord Soth made a point here that I feel bears acknowledgement... The point being that it is *sometimes* difficult to discern a genuine query for help from a disguised crack request. This is especially true with some of the newbie posts. After all, a newbie is by definition, the newest beginner to a field and may yet lack the vocabulary of our RCE trade. Consequently, even with a desire to learn, there is often a burden placed on the newbie's shoulder's to prove he/she is not a "lamer". The fact that not every one who visits this forum has a strong command of the English language makes matters even more difficult.
Having taught myself literally from the ground up, I can attest to the level of prerequisite knowledge facing a beginner in this field. Though its been nearly a year and a half since I first began RCE, I can still remember my first few "cracks"...Y' know, the infamous "change je to jne" (executed without even the knowledge of what an API was). LOL, I still can't believe that I actaully cracked a prog without even knowing what an API was! ...But that little half-blind taste of cracking was enough to inspire me to continue on and actually *learn* something by key-genning that self-same application I'd already cracked (took me 2 whole months of communing with the ASM manual for that first key-gen
) Did my ignorance automatically qualify me as a "lamer"? Does the fact that my first crack was made with the intent to pirate a piece of software still qualify me as a "lamer"?
Clearly, I have learned much from that point and I have been fortunate enough to find a few friends along the way to mentor me through my newbiehood. Indeed, more recently I'm finding my interest in "cracking" evolving more towards pure "reverse code enginering" and programming than simply removing protections from shareware. I suppose my point with this is that the ignorance and attitudes we begin with do not have to be the ones we end up with. Its too easy to become arrogant and cynical as we progress... I have to check my own reactions sometimes. I have to consciously remember where I began and how much further I have yet to travel on this quest for knowledge.
I absolutely do not condone the proliferation of crackz, warez, or serialz on this vast web of ours. But with that said, how many of us got into RCE because we wanted / needed to crack an application for our personal use? Realistically speaking,, how many of us took our *initial* interest in cracking from a facination with the arcane, abstract, theoretical world of academia? I'd hazard to say VERY few individuals here would make that claim. Rather, cracking is more a hands-on, learn-by-the-seat-of -your-pants, slightly illicit thrill that hopefully becomes a stepping stone to the more "legit" persuits of pure reverse code engineering, programming, and data security. Like it or not, there is a symbiotic relationship between crackers and protectors.
As such, I have to take the defense of Oskar. Given the proliferation of crackz and serialz, I'd have to say that demonstrating a desire to crack an application oneself over searching for a ready-made crack indicates a desire to learn. Probably many of us began our interest in RCE in a similar fashion. I personally did not percieve the above post as a blatant crack request, but my criticism lies in *how* the query for help was phrased. As they say, its all in *how* you ask the question... And asking a question while openly admitting a desire to pirate the software in question is a poor judgement call given our current legal problems with trialware.org and such... I'd not suggest deleting posts like this, but perhaps asking the author to revise them.
Well, thats it folks... No flames intended. Just my few cents worth of thoughts...
Best Regards
Clandestiny
