on april 1, 2000,
freshmeat.net added a new subsection - l33t.freshmeat.net. it proclaimed:
d1s eeZ d4 f00tur3 h0m3 0ph d4 n00est fr3$hm34t subs3ct10n.
j00 k4n s3nd0rz y4 l33t scr1ptZ, cr4ckZ, s3r14lZ 4nd r00t k1tZ t0 d4 f0ll0w1ng 3-mM3tt^H^H^H^H^Hm41L 4ddr3zZ: l33t@freshmeat.net.
1n d4 m34nt1m3, c0nt1nu3 0v4h 4t d4 m41n s1t3 fr3shm34t.n3t!!!!!!!1111
While mostly just a joke, i think this sheds some light on the use of l33t sp34k and l33tness in general - freshmeat is a (fairly) legitimate/serious organization, but they know that l33t sp34k is funny when used ironically by non-hax0rz.
s0 d0n't d3l4y@#%!@# b3 l33t t0d4y@!#^%!@ 0r 3y3 w1ll d3str0y j00!@$@! h0h0h0h0h0@#%@#!