Chatgpt and Me - A retrospection
My first contact with computers were when i was little, around 6 years old (in kindergarden or earlier). My dad showed how to use our computer, a IBM 286, for playing video games. When it finished booting, it shows this screen:
Dad showed me how to type “games” or something, which shows a menu screen with all the installed games. I could start one by typing in its number, and enter. He told me he made this screen by himself. I was fascinated already.
Are there any other games which are hidden? What else is… “there”? Somehow i learned the ancient secret codes to unlock that big beige box. Commands like “cd”, “dir”, “move”, and later “ATH0”. I explored the box. What files are where, what did they contain. What could i do with them. The more i was looking, the more i was finding, its like exploring an ocean.
IRQ,… Concepts like batch scripts, himem and disk sector sizes.
ChatGPT: My new serial controller for my joystick in IBM XT 386 does not work. Do i have to reconfigure the IRQ with these jumpers? ChatGPT: How can i make DOS use all my 1MB of RAM? Just show my the config.ini ChatGPT: Explain me the structure of the file system in DOS, and how i can navigate it. List the most important files.
Around 1998 i installed Linux from a CD attached to a magazine. It was like upgrading my computer to a room-sized supercomputer. “ls”, “vim”, “gcc”. Concepts like IPC, TCP/IP, kernel modules.
It was like learning a thick ancient spellbook. It was hard, there was no Internet. Books were expensive and often shit. I was getting my knowledge from physical magazines and friends.
“How did you learn how to fix the problem by reconfiguring the IRQs?” “How did you learn to use vim?” “Who taught you to configure an apache server?” “You can code perl?” “You connected all these computers by yourself?”
Idk man, i just knew. Or, i just figured it out somehow.
ChatGPT: I want to serve a perl script via cgi-bin in Apache. How do i need to configure this? ChatGPT: How do i connect to the gopher service? ChatGPT: I have multiple devices connected with a 10-BaseT network using TCP/IP, but only one modem. How can i give all of them internet access? ChatGPT: Give me an example of Linux masquerading config
Still wondering whats “there”, i found the internet. A vast network of computers, each making available services, files and web sites. It was nost just an ocean anymore, it was like space - like space exploration in Star Trek TNG.
ChatGPT: The nmap tool has different scan modes. Explain them to me, and their advantages and disadvantages. ChatGPT: I get a segfault when i attempt my buffer overflow. What could be the reasons?
Games Games Games
Socket, ip, port