A stranger from the land of Woot came to Master Foo as he was
eating the morning meal with his students.
“I hear y00 are very l33t”, he said.
“Pl33z teach m3 all y00 know”.
Master Foo's students looked at each other, confused by the
stranger's barbarous language. Master Foo just smiled and replied:
“You wish to learn the Way of Unix?”
“I want to b3 a wizard hax0r”, the stranger
replied, “and 0wn ever3one's b0xen”.
“I do not teach that Way”, replied Master Foo.
The stranger grew agitated. “D00d, y00 r nothing but a
p0ser”, he said. “If y00 n00 anything, y00 wud t33ch
m3”.
“There is a path”, said Master Foo, “that
might bring you to wisdom”. The master scribbled an IP address on
a piece of paper. “Cracking this box should pose you little
difficulty, as its guardians are incompetent. Return and tell me
what you find”.
The stranger bowed and left. Master Foo finished his meal.
Days passed, then months. The stranger was forgotten.
Years later, the stranger from the land of Woot returned.
“Damn you!” he said, “I cracked that box, and
it was easy like you said. But I got busted by the FBI and thrown
in jail”.
“Good”, said Master Foo. “You are ready for
the next lesson”. He scribbled an IP address on another piece
of paper and handed it to the stranger.
“Are you
crazy
?” the stranger
yelled. “After what I've been through, I'm never going to break
into a computer again!”
Master Foo smiled. “Here”, he said, “is the
beginning of wisdom”.
On hearing this, the stranger was enlightened.