Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Author Topic: Hacking Through A History of Computers: Learning through Experience  (Read 742 times)

Lectorog

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Hacking Through A History of Computers: Learning through Experience
« on: December 17, 2012, 05:31:08 pm »
I have a box. It is a slightly old but fully functioning computer. I also have a keyboard, screen, mouse, and appropriate connectors.

I would like to learn about a computer first-hand, by dissecting the interface between the hardware and the user. For this it would be best to start with the basics, at the oldest and simplest operating systems and their associated programs.

Then I would like to progress through time. Follow the advance of computers. Take it by steps, rather than learn everything about modern computers right now.

So I would like suggestions. What kinds of systems can I load onto this box to mimic history? When is a sufficient time period to start this history? Will this approach work effectively; considering modern hardware? Any suggestions are welcome (as is any discussion that could possibly come about).
Logged

Jimmy

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Hacking Through A History of Computers: Learning through Experience
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2012, 06:15:11 pm »
I don't really understand your goal to be honest. You want to learn how to hack a computer from the early '90s?

I suppose you could start with MS DOS. A fair bit of the skills to use this system effectively will serve you well later. You could probably try your hand at creating your own customized Linux box too.

If your goal is knowledge for its own sake, a pure intellectual exercise for personal entertainment, this might be useful. However the skills you're going to learn here won't be of any great use against the systems of today.

If your goal is to simply learn hacking skills, you're better off looking elsewhere. http://www.hackthis.co.uk/ has a step-by-step program that will teach you hacking skills from zero up to better enable you to understand the common security flaws in the digital environment of today.
Logged

Lectorog

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Hacking Through A History of Computers: Learning through Experience
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2012, 06:20:39 pm »
Not necessarily hacking in the standard sense focusing on security, just gaining a familiarity with these systems in a more entertaining, independent way, without being overwhelmed with what I perceive to be the complexity of today's systems. If that hasn't changed much, though, I suppose I could just dive into modern equipment.

That site you linked does look neat, if not what I'm looking for. I'll check it out, thanks.
Logged

Tellemurius

  • Bay Watcher
  • Positively insane Tech Thaumaturgist
    • View Profile
Re: Hacking Through A History of Computers: Learning through Experience
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2012, 09:50:07 pm »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language
first code anyone should know before C
Logged

Jimmy

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Hacking Through A History of Computers: Learning through Experience
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2012, 04:56:19 am »
Quote from: lovepescio on December 20, 2012, 04:18:11 am
I'm trying to find forum that have really great advice on what's in fashion and what the best makeup is..
Below are some self posted photos of the users of this forum.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Source: Show us YOUR dwarven beard!

Wherever you hoped to find the information you seek, I doubt it will be here.
Logged

Starver

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Hacking Through A History of Computers: Learning through Experience
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2012, 05:40:39 pm »
My facial hair cannot compete with that particular cohort, so presented,.

But, ignoring for now that I'm not sure that what you ask is so simple, I'd have said get into Assembler and perhaps even learn how to use debug (probably still there in the latest version of Windows, although it's not LFN-aware in any way up to XP) with the hex-pairs.  Its a big ask, but you can poke and peek video memory, keyboard input, serial ports, etc, (assuming the OS doesn't mediate too destructively, and anti-viruses don't have a cow with your attempts..  But get yourself a good pre-Win95 DOS and you won't have those problems).  The book I once learnt from[1] even got me writing my own bootloader to the HDD...  But there's not really a market for yet another OS (well, BeOS started a few year later, but never got to be as mainstream as the Linux kernel).


Hmmm, an idea forms.  PIC programming.  Simple circuit board, simple processor.  Right now I'd suggest PIC over Arduino over Raspberry Pi, (chucking those other two "basic" platforms in for reasons I can't easily exaplain) but the Arduino might substitute better. (The RP is 'the' thing at the moment, but as yet I've not tried that out, and don't know if there's the same electronics-level interfacing possible.)

Anyway, the idea is you get an idea of the electronics involved.  Maybe not what's within the chips, but trying to work out how to feed a higher bandwidth of data into a chip than its input pins nominally allows is an educational experience. ;)


If soldering irons are not your bag, and you've got as much information about the program-side part of the computer operation as you think you need, I can't easily give you "how a chip works" help, but you might want to look at (and implement an interpreter for?) an actual esolang interpreter.  Learn the trials and tribulations of juggling a program from the inside, and if you write it as a "hardware simulator", you're in!



[1] Forgotten a lot of it.  Do not ask me to dive straight back in. ;)
Logged