In the Before Times, when I didn't have direct Linux experience yet, I was telnetted into my university's computer lab (as a non-root user) to do homework. I ne

In the Before Times, when I didn't have direct Linux experience yet, I was telnetted into my university's computer lab (as a non-root user) to do homework. I needed a newer version of GCC, and was resourceful enough to download, compile, and install it. A few days later I got called into the comp sci department to explain why I was hacking the shared server. I didn't know enough then to articulate how much I honestly didn't do anything malicious, but the sysadmin had evidence that I'd written files all over the place. I denied knowingly doing anything, but he had the proof. I was nearly on the edge of tears afterward out of fear of getting suspended for hacking. It was made clear that this was absolutely on the table. I told a much more experienced friend what happened and he investigated. He dragged the sysadmin to the dean's office and told everyone loudly that the sysadmin was a dipshit who had made all of /usr world-writeable for who-knows-why, and from my shell history, it was clear that my `make install` of gcc had put it in /usr/local, the default --prefix. I'd "written files all over the place" because GNU tools default to installing in /usr/local, the sysadmin had deliberately made that possible, the logs showed that I'd done nothing more than download, build, and install an appropriate educational tool, the sysadmin was a dumbass and ought to quit, I was blameless, and that better be the end of it or it was going to get publicly embarrassing. My friend was the right kind of asshole to march into that meeting on my behalf: smart enough to prove that he was right, and aggressive enough to make it clear that the other party was undeniably wrong. I'm still grateful to him for that day.