Re: [MacPerl] Stupid newbie question

[Matthias Ulrich Neeracher <neeri@iis.ee.ethz.ch>]

A remark at the beginning: Newbie questions differ from other questions less
in their contents than in the fact that their authors give them titles such
as "Newbie question" instead of a meaningful title.

miker@mind.net (Michael Robinson) writes:
>Can anyone suggest some good references for someone interested in beginning
>to learn CGI/PERL?

*****
MacPerl CGI Micro-FAQ:

1) Is it possible to develop CGI scripts for MacHTTP using MacPerl?

Yes. You'll need the MacHTTP CGI Script extension, which is available
in ftp://err.ethz.ch/pub/neeri/MacPerl/ as "PCGI". The latest version,
"PCGI_06Feb96.sit.hqx", is largely compatible with the Unix CGI
specification. This file will also contain a small example.

2) Are there any books on CGI authoring?

Go to any technical bookstore. You won't be able to swing around a cat
by its tail without hitting a CGI book.

If you prefer to find a book without cruelties to animals, here's a
few books that I've read or have been mentioned by others.

-----
   Charlie Stross, "The Web Architect's Handbook", Addison-Wesley 1996

   Compact and hype free, discusses many issues related to WWW site
   construction. 
----
   Christian Neuss and Johan Vromans,
   "The Webmaster's Handbook, Perl Power For Your Web Server"
   International Thomson Computer Press, 1996
------
***

>Also, I have a book, "Teach yourself UNIX" by Reichard and Johnson, MIS
>Press and I want to know more about, well I guess you call it hacking. Can
>anyone point me toward some references to get started?

A good idea is to accumulate approximately $200,000 that one has no good use
for. That's how much it has (so far) cost Randal Schwartz, one of the coauthors
of the Perl book, to defend himself against (probably bogus) charges of
"hacking".

Another great idea is to have a life that one does not find to be very
rewarding, like Kevin Mitchnick, who must have spent approximately the last 15
years with a bit of hacking and the rest divided between prison time and being
a fugitive.

Seriously, though, pursuing an active interest in breaking into other people's
machines is a technically, financially and socially unrewarding activity. If
you are merely curious how UN*X security works (and fails), hang out on
comp.security.unix.

Matthias

-----
Matthias Neeracher   <neeri@iis.ee.ethz.ch>   http://www.iis.ee.ethz.ch/~neeri
  "Johannes Scotus Eriugena, the greatest European philosopher of the 9th
   century, said that if reason and authority conflict, reason should be
   given preference. And if that doesn't sound reasonable to you, you'll
   just have to accept it..."