The biggest problem with this question is the breadth of the term 'hacker'. Hackers tend to clump into whatever projects they are currently working on. Try starting off in places like #ubuntu and other projects (that interest you!) that are very newbie friendly. Master a topic and try helping other newbies with that topic. It takes time but my personal experience is the best way to be involved in the 'hacker' culture is to be recognized as someone who brings value and contributions back to the group, regardless of the size of those contributions.
But the whole point is to have a general place with lots of people where all things hacker could be talked about, I spend some time on topic-specific IRC channels but I don't want to talk about python or arch all day, I wanted a channel that was about the community
For s sense of community, perhaps your local hackerspace has a channel that can help. If you don't have a local hackerspace, consider starting one, or at least occasionally participating in something less local.
