Only Unix for hacker?

[sanddbox]

Anyone who wants to be a Technology Security Analyst who limits themselves to OS choice is insta-fail: Learn and be proficient in all of them.

Except OS X, of course.

[s0fa]

Hey people,
I've listened very often, that you should have Unix on your system to become an hacker, windows or other stuff is nothing for that? Is that right or can I become a hacker with windows:-P?

What is your definiton of "Hacker" I give you some possible examples (Thank you Wikipedia for bringing me through my exams!):
* Hacker (computer security) or cracker, who accesses a computer system by circumventing its security system
* Hacker (programmer subculture), who shares an anti-authoritarian approach to software development now associated with the free software movement
* Hacker (hobbyist), who makes innovative customizations or combinations of retail electronic and computer equipment
* Media hacker, innovative user of digital media
* Reality hacking, activism through legally dubious disruption of digital media
If you would be so kind to answer this questions I can share my (My personal, there lays no truth in it, it's just my opinion!) thoughts about it.

Anyone who wants to be a 'hacker' is insta-fail: Refer to yourself as a Technology Security Analyst.

The following question is meant seriously - why not? I'm talking of personal researches, projects and so on, not of professional business. (Therefor, I would agree with you!)

[tremor77]

Anyone who wants to be a Technology Security Analyst who limits themselves to OS choice is insta-fail: Learn and be proficient in all of them.

Except OS X, of course.

I think we should make it an HTS prerogative (sp?) to hack Mac. Simply because I'm sicking of seeing snobby mac users posting on tech blogs when people raise questions about various security threats on win/lin - every 10th comment or so a guy goes... "Get a Mac and all your problems will be solved! Also.. wear Birkenstocks and Patagonia, it's eco-friendly. Vote Ralph Nader!"

Just for once I'd love to see a headline... Millions of Mac users hacked - their computers are now only capable of watching this video on loop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCDn3JngfH8 or as an expensive beer coaster.

[insomaniacal]

I too have high contempt for Apple and the majority of Snobby and ill informed Mac users. That's not to say it's a horrible Operating System, I've yet to extensively use it, but as it has no clear-cut benefits and costs astronomically more than using alternatives, I've no reason to pick it up.

I was actually sidetracked a few days ago in biology class when we were watching a video on HIV and how it constantly replicates itself imperfectly, and I thought about how great it would be if someone wrote a similar virus catered towards Mac OSX, and it became prominent. If anything it would finally tone down the retarded socially acceptable elitist status from Apple fanboys.

[s0fa]

I was actually sidetracked a few days ago in biology class when we were watching a video on HIV and how it constantly replicates itself imperfectly, and I thought about how great it would be if someone wrote a similar virus catered towards Mac OSX, and it became prominent. If anything it would finally tone down the retarded socially acceptable elitist status from Apple fanboys.

There was such a worm some years ago, his name was something like "AKIKAZE" or another japanese word. It spreaded itself over a cross-platform framework, sadly I don't remember many things out of it's coverage in the public media.

[fashizzlepop]

Many security gurus say macs are easier to get into then PCs.

Personally I like Macs. They're nice machines. Super expensive though.

[Pythous]

Meh, I don't think that mac's are as bad as so many people make them out to be. The hardware is impressive (even thought you can get better hardware much cheaper), and after using OSX fairly extensively, I don't actually think that it's that bad considering what the people that buy it are looking for.
It would never be my choice OS, and every time I see a mac fanboy I want to shoot them, but macs contain their niche market, (clueless computer users with a lot of money), pretty well.

I dislike Apple as a company; but you've got to give them credit for releasing OSX as an easy to use, closed platform, that can only (legitimately) be installed on a mac's decent hardware. I think that the main reason that they get so much crap from hackers and the like is because of the kind of mac users who post something about how "that wouldn't happen if you just bought a mac" on every forum where somebody has a problem with windows.

[fashizzlepop]

on every forum where somebody has a problem with windows.

Nearly every forum has someone booing windows, mac, and/or linux. There's no escape.

[insomaniacal]

Meh, I don't think that mac's are as bad as so many people make them out to be. The hardware is impressive (even thought you can get better hardware much cheaper), and after using OSX fairly extensively, I don't actually think that it's that bad considering what the people that buy it are looking for.
It would never be my choice OS, and every time I see a mac fanboy I want to shoot them, but macs contain their niche market, (clueless computer users with a lot of money), pretty well.

I dislike Apple as a company; but you've got to give them credit for releasing OSX as an easy to use, closed platform, that can only (legitimately) be installed on a mac's decent hardware. I think that the main reason that they get so much crap from hackers and the like is because of the kind of mac users who post something about how "that wouldn't happen if you just bought a mac" on every forum where somebody has a problem with windows.

The machines themselves might not be horrible, but the fact that repairing them yourself is practically impossible is enough to qualify them as broken as sold, not to mention OS X has a history of gaping security holes that get fixed (on average) slower than Window's equivalents.

I for one, do not dislike Apple because of the fanboys. There's arrogant 13 year olds that claim switching to Linux will solve all your Windows Woes as well. The overpriced hardware, poor security practice (and subsequent false advertising), arrogant nature (Iphone 4 is revolutionary? Really?), hypocrisy (They claim to support innovation, yet everything is closed source and you can't even write code to run on your hardware, looking at Iphone specifically). The fact that they've managed to win over most of the population with their minimalistic propaganda that insults the intelligence of the average watcher is just the icing on top of the cake.

[s0fa]

I don't dislike Apple because of the Fanboys, although I had a lot of discussions with some girls ("It's white and shiny, get off with your ugly notebook!") and I-wanna-be-in-people ("It's cool, I don't use it often but .. hey, did I say that Macbooks are cool?"), but these, people are absolutely enerving to me. I like to discuss with people in a friendly, argumentative way - maybe it's getting emotional sometimes, but rational arguments are still the things that count most. Ever tried to discuss with an Apple-User? Horrible! Most of the contra-arguments against a MacBook or something else have been brought and I would never buy one - but if I would win a MacBook or an iMac I would not say no. On one hand it would be some new technology & some new system for me to explore, and on the other hand some things are pretty good - for example the keyboard (I typed at one once .. lovely, in contrast to that my Sony Notebook is a keyboard from around 1990.) or the very high qualitative display.

We're getting Off-Topic, aren't we?