The Unix Hierarchy

beginner

• insecure with the concept of a terminal
• has yet to learn the basics of vi
• has not figured out how to get a directory
• still has trouble with typing <RETURN> after each line of input

novice

• knows that `ls’ will produce a directory
• uses the editor, but calls it `vye’
• has heard of `C’ but never used it
• has had his first bad experience with rm
• is wondering how to read his mail
• is wondering why the person next to him seems to like Unix so very much.

user

• uses vi and nroff, but inexpertly
• has heard of regular-expr.s but never seen one.
• has figured out that `-‘ precedes options
• has attempted to write a C program and has decided to stick with pascal
• is wondering how to move a directory
• thinks that dbx is a brand of stereo component
• knows how to read his mail and is wondering how to read the news

knowlegable user

• uses nroff with no trouble, and is beginning to learn tbl and eqn
• uses grep to search for fixed strings
• has figured out that mv(1) will move directories
• has learned that “learn” doesn’t help
• somebody has shown him how to write C programs
• once used sed to do some text substitution
• has seen dbx used but does not use it himself
• thinks that make is a only for wimps

expert

• uses sed when necessary
• uses macro’s in vi, uses ex when neccesary
• posts news at every possible opportunity
• write csh 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’

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 std. ones
• write scripts for Bourne shell (/bin/sh)
• knows how to install bug fixes

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

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
• is on first-name basis with Dennis, Bill, and Ken