Yes, I did stuff that wasn't quite legal. Yes, I tried scriptkiddie tools. Yes, I compiled dubious sourcecode. Yes, I ran into trouble getting some of that stuff to work. Yes, I asked questions. Yes, I read books. Yes, I followed courses. Yes, I got burned. Yes, I learned. This process just keeps on repeating itself like a never ending loop.

NO, I never ever posted the source for some exploit and asked how to compile it. That's just to lame (heck, the instuctions are right there! Can it be any easier?).

As said before, if you just asked how an assembler worked or how to use one, everybody would have been happy to help.