How you know you’ve made a difference <p>I received this a few seconds ago in my mailbox. It’s not especially unusual for me to get wow-you-changed-my-life email, I see two or three in a typical month, but this one is…well, I’ll say a bit more <em>intense</em> than usual. Also, 34 is an unusual age; they tend to be teenagers. Sender’s name masked and one bit turned into a live link. Otherwise unedited, typos and all. </p> <blockquote><p> I just finished reading your [<a href="http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html">Hacker HOWTO</a>] for the second time in as many<br /> days. All of my life I have wanted to be a programmer. I have never<br /> done it. I dealt with the failure of that by downloading cracked<br /> software and telling myself that I was a “hacker.”</p> <p>When I clicked on the link to your guide, my intention was to get<br /> started on the road towards what I envisioned a hacker to be.</p> <p>By the end of your guide, I was wallowing in humiliation. I felt…<br /> well basically I felt like a jack ass. I never even knew what a<br /> hacker was. I wasn’t even a cracker, just some poser with no<br /> ambition.</p> <p>Your guide showed me that any of my few contributions to the cracker<br /> community were meaningless, juvenile ploys for attention with no<br /> progressive merit. They won’t matter in 6 months because I haven’t<br /> ‘built’ anything.</p> <p>After reading your guide, I began to research and really appreciate<br /> the open source community. I saw that the degree of separation<br /> between us wasn’t to huge of a gap and I realized that I could,<br /> through dedication and hard(but fun) work, be part of something that<br /> is growing and giving. A place where individual contributions aren’t<br /> lost in the grand scheme of things, but help shape that scheme.</p> <p>I am 34 years old and I have no problem admitting to you that your<br /> guide made me feel like a complete ass. It also directed me to an<br /> ideal I will be proud to contribute to.</p> <p>For that, I thank you Sir.</p> <p>XXXXX XXXXXX </p></blockquote> <p>I replied by quoting “I saw that the degree of separation between us wasn’t to huge of a gap” and said “I’m glad you got that far. Good luck on your journey.”</p> <p>And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you know your life has made a difference.</p>