Master Foo and the Unix Zealot
====
A Unix zealot, having heard that Master Foo was wise in
the Great Way, came to him for instruction. Master Foo said
to him:
"When the Patriarch Thompson invented Unix, he did not
understand it. Then he gained in understanding, and no
longer invented it."
"When the Patriarch McIlroy invented the pipe, he knew
that it would transform software, but did not know that it
would transform mind."
"When the Patriarch Ritchie invented C, he condemned
programmers to a thousand hells of buffer overruns, heap
corruption, and stale-pointer bugs."
"Truly, the Patriarchs were blind and foolish!"
The zealot was greatly angered by the Master's words.
"These enlightened ones," he protested, "gave us the
Great Way of Unix. Surely, if we mock them we will lose
merit and be reborn as beasts or MCSEs."
"Is your code ever completely without stain and flaw?"
demanded Master Foo.
"No," admitted the zealot, "no man's is."
"The wisdom of the Patriarchs" said Master Foo, "was that
they knew they were fools."
Upon hearing this, the zealot was enlightened.
