Eight Circles of UNIX-fu
[Author Unknown]

Level Description and features:

beginner

• was given a login and password by someone else
• was shown how to log in and list directories, but wonders what is next
• might know "cat" because it's a real word
• has yet to learn how to exit vi without rebooting
• still asks questions in online help forums like "how do I become a hacker?"
• still titles his questions in online help forums in useless ways like "Question" or "Problem"

novice

• remembers that "ls" will produce a directory listing
• can save and exit vi, but calls it "vye"
• has heard of "C" but doesn't really know "A" or "B" yet (and wonders why no one mentions them as much)
• has had his first bad experience with rm, but doesn't know it
• is wondering how to read his mail
• is wondering how to move a directory
• is unaware of hidden files
• is wondering why the person next to him seems to like Unix so very much

user

• uses vi and nroff, but inexpertly
• insecure with the concept of a terminal
• has had his second bad experience with rm and knows it
• has heard of regexps but has never seen one
• has figured out that "-" precedes command options
• has attempted to write a "Hello World" program in C and afterward decided to stick with pascal
• thinks that dbx is a brand of stereo component
• knows how to read his mail and is wondering how to read the news
• still asks questions that have obvious answers, but thinks twice about it
• has heard of something called man pages

knowledgeable

• uses nroff with no trouble, and is beginning user to learn tbl and eqn
• uses grep to search for fixed strings
• has changed his command prompt about 330,000 times
• has figured out that mv(1) will move directories
• uses tar, but has a lot of tarballs with no hidden files
• is aware that hidden files exist
• has learned that "help" doesn't help
• still uses color in his terminals
• somebody has shown him how to modify existing C programs
• once used sed to do some text substitution
• has seen dbx used but does not use it himself
• thinks that make is only for wimps
• has actually seen a man page, but finds them about as useful as having a third testacle
• starting to get the idea about searching for the answer to questions before asking them
• might be able to successfully install Redhat/Mandrake Linux

expert

• uses sed when necessary
• uses macro's in vi, uses ex when neccesary
• has a high post count on some UNIX forum somewhere
• write sh scripts occasionally
• write C programs using vi and compiles with cc
• has figured out what "&&" and "||" are for
• thinks that human history started with "!h"
• uses Google as if it were "The Oracle" in The Matrix
• has configured a firewall using an open source OS
• makes use of man pages more frequently than ever before...starting to actually like them
• has actually answered a question or two on an open forum
• depending on temperament, is thinking of doing a stage-1 install of Gentoo Linux, or is already using Debian

hacker

• uses sed and awk with comfort
• uses undocumented features of vi
• write C code with "cat >" and compiles with "!cc"
• uses adb because he doesn`t trust source debuggers
• can answer questions about the user environment
• writes his own nroff macros to supplement standard ones
• write scripts for Bourne shell (/bin/sh)
• knows how to install bug fixes
• has transcended Gentoo/Debian and is on to LFS or OpenBSD -CURRENT

guru

• uses m4 and lex with comfort
• writes assembly code with "cat >"
• uses adb on the kernel while system is loaded
• customizes utilities by patching the source
• reads device driver source with his breakfast
• can answer any unix question after a little thought
• uses make for anything that requires two or more distinct commands to achieve
• has learned how to breach security but no longer needs to try
• created his own liveCD and is working on an embedded OS

wizard

• writes device drivers with "cat >"
• fixes bugs by patching the binaries
• can answer any question before you ask
• writes his own troff macro packages
• can revisit a 2-page Perl script he wrote 2 years ago and still understand what it does
• is on first-name basis with Dennis, Bill, and Ken