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<TITLE>CDNE Chapter 3 - The Grass-Roots of Hacker Culture</TITLE>
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<p><font size=+2 face="Times New Roman"><b>Chapter 3<br>
THE GRASS-ROOTS OF HACKER CULTURE</b></font> </p>
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<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>The</b> <b>grass-roots</b>
of hacker culture consisted of amateur radio and electronics hobbyists,
who built their own microcomputers using the very first mail-order kits.
Radio amateurs have been around since 1915, and they are organized in
several camps. The most puritan insist that the telegraph key and Morse
code are still the best tools for international communication. Others
prefer radio telephony, i.e. voice transmissions. Still others have tried
amateur TV, and some fiddle around with data communication by radio. Radio
amateurs are found in any city worth its name, and many have turned to
data transfer through the Internet, where they explore yet another means
of communication. In a sense, the radio enthusiasts became the first hackers,
even before MIT.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">The radio amateurs, as
opposed to the hackers, seldom attracted young people to any great extent.
In Sweden, part of the reason is that you have to be sixteen years old
and become certified to use shortwave radios. The average Swedish youth
can't afford the courses and testing required for radio certification.
Some mess around with radio anyway, and are known as radio pirates. Broadcasting
amateur radio without certification is not a big deal, as long as you
don't cause problems. You have to be careful to stick to the correct frequencies;
broadcasting on bands that are reserved for specific purposes, such as
emergency or military channels, carries a risk of being traced and fined.
</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">To keep track of what frequencies
to use to avoid trouble, radio amateurs soon began cooperating internationally.
This became the first </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>virtual
society</i></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">, which transcended
geographic boundaries but was limited by technology.<br>
</font> </p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Radio amateurs embody
a great deal of the culture that would later be adopted by the hackers:
a fascination with technology (machines), and a fascination with interpersonal
communication. Some are constantly on the lookout for new, cool equipment
(gadget freaks). Others only want to find ways to communicate with other
people as efficiently as possible, and try to improve existing systems
(evolutionists), and some feel that they've mastered an aspect of technology
and simply stay with it (these are sometimes called conservatives). Finally,
there are those that most amateurs do not want anything to do with: the
people that think that broadcasting pirate radio is the most awesome thing
in the world, and who use technology as a means of rebelling against society.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">The early computer-oriented
electronics hobbyists initially gathered around the very first personal
computer: the </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Altair 8800</b></font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman">, which was introduced as a mail-order
kit in 1975. The computer got its name from a planet in a Star Trek episode,
and sold in such large quantities that some of the enthusiasts formed
their own user groups. They were invariably electronics hobbyists, and
often professional engineers. Virtually all of them were adults, but they
were struck by the same technical fascination with programming that kept
the university hackers awake all night and made them forget everything
but the machines. </font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">The most
active user group was the </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Homebrew
Computer Club</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> in San Fransisco.
One of its members was </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Steve
Wozniak</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">, a dedicated hacker
who was to build the </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Apple
II</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> computer. His friend
</font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Steve Jobs</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
successfully marketed it in 1977 as the first real personal computer.</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> Homebrew
Computer Club's Swedish counterpart was called </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>PD68</b></font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman">, which catered to happy engineers
and others who found microcomputers fascinating.<br>
</font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Personal Computers for
a Broad Market<br>
</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">In 1978, the Swedish companies
Luxor and Scandia Metric contracted with </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Data
Industrier AB</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> (DIAB) to
build a computer called </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>ABC80</b></font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman">. DIAB manufactured the chips, while
Luxor built the case, monitor, and keyboard. Despite its monochrome display
(which required a special monitor), the ABC80 was a quality machine. As
with its contemporaries Apple II and Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80, the established
American computer industry considered these computers virtually useless.
IBM displayed no interest whatsoever. The current trend was toward manufacturing
minicomputers such as Digital Equipment's enormous DEC, since the industry
giants (spearheaded by IBM and Digital) projected a global need for about
50 large computers in the year 2000. Users would connect to these computers
through terminal networks.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">It is unclear what prompted
Luxor and Scandia Metric to produce a computer for the regular consumer.
Most likely, the chief engineers observed personal computing trends in
the U.S., where the Apple II and TRS-80 had entered mass-production, and
somehow persuaded the management to approve such a venture.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">ABC80 became a great success
among Sweden's early computer enthusiasts, who had been waiting a long
time for a real computer (previous computers had been very expensive and
directly imported from the U.S.). Now there was one - and to top it off,
it was Swedish! In 1981, it was succeeded by the ABC800. </font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">In
1980, electronics hobbyists, engineers, and other enthusiasts formed </font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>ABC-klubben </i></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">(the
ABC Club) under the leadership of the legendary </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Gunnar
Tidner</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">. The ABC Club showed
an interest in computer communications from the start, and at the end
of that year it opened </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>Monitorn</i></font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> (The Monitor), which probably was
Sweden's first non-profit BBS. It ran thanks to a program written by Tidner
himself. For the rest of the 80's, most new Swedish BBS's were named </font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>X-Monitorn</i></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
(such as Örebro-Monitorn, Eskilstuna-Monitorn, etc.) as a tribute
to Tidner's breakthrough. The club still has a "monitor" that's
used as an internal switchboard for all kinds of things.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">The ABC Club grew exponentially
as personal computing in Sweden became all the rage it was in the U.S.
It became a center for debating the technology of ABC computers as well
as data communications in general. In 1985, through a contract with the
QZ Computer Center in Stockholm, the ABC club gained access to a DEC-10
computer. On this machine, the members started a central BBS (a "real"
conferencing system) with several discussion groups. The BBS, named </font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>Q-Zentralen</i></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
(The Q-Zentral) ran on QZ's KOM-system, and resembled past and present
networks such as U.S.A.'s Usenet and Prodigy, or England's Compunet.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Many of the pioneers of
the future electronic Sweden were found on Q-Zentral's discussion groups:
</font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Sven Wickberg, Anders Franzén,
Henrik Schyffert, </b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">and</font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b> Jan-Inge Flücht.<br>
</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">It was not until the early
80's, after the introduction of small, cheap computers, that any real
changes in personal computing took place. It was no longer necessary to
know how to build your own equipment; therefore, anyone who could afford
it could have access to their own computer (albeit not very advanced).
Overnight, an array of personal computers appeared, in the U.S. as well
as Europe: Sord, Atari 800, Sol, Texas TI-99A, Vic-20, Spectravideo, etc.
Most remained on the market for only a few years before production was
halted and/or their manufacturers went bankrupt. </font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">In
Sweden, only three survived the competition: </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Sinclair
ZX-80</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> (thanks to its low
price), </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>ABC-80</b></font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> (because of its industrial applications
and strong support from the ABC-Club), and </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Commodore
64 </b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">(which will be referred
to as the </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>C64</b></font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman">), simply because it was the most
technologically advanced home computer of the time. Even the first PC's
hit the market in early 1981, but they commanded such exorbitant prices
that no normal person would consider them personal computers. In America,
the </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Apple II, Atari 800,
Commodore PET, </b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">and</font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b> C64</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
were the main survivors. Apple II, in particular, was to the U.S. as the
ABC-80 was to Sweden. To this day, there are resilient Apple II-fanatics
who still use their late 70's computers, just like Sweden has its resilient
ABC-80 users (some of which make up the heart of the ABC80 Club).</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Initially, most European
hackers were of the same kind as the American ones: old radio amateurs,
engineers, or electronics enthusiasts who dreamed of using a </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>real
</i></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">computer such as VAX or
IBM (those lovely, gray, refrigerator-looking things) instead of simple
home computers. The hacker culture from MIT in the 60's, and its extension
of the radio amateurs' philosophy, were considered an ideal; a real hacker
was a person who wrote programs that did something useful (or appeared
to do something useful), or who had mastered electronics and could modify
their computer to the amazement of their friends. The most fortunate computer
clubs had been able to start their own BBS's on a used minicomputer purchased
from some company. The hackers that had gotten started on ABC80, minicomputers,
and electronics were generally shocked and somewhat disgusted by the culture
that emerged in the mid-80's through the invasion of the C64 (this will
be discussed in the chapter 5, </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>Subculture
of the Subcultures</i></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">). Many
of those hackers have now obtained a PC, and consider writing shareware
programs and other real "hacks" to be a noble art.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Hackers of this sort also
started the alternative computer network </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>Fidonet</i></font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman">. In San Francisco, amateurs </font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Tom Jennings</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
and </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>John Madill</b></font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> devised a system in which different
BBS's called each other according to a specific pattern, and through skillful
coordination managed to provide coverage as broad as the Internet's. The
main difference was that electronic mail had longer delivery times, and
there were no permanent connections; the mail was distributed through
substations, just like in an old-fashioned postal system. The network
also allowed for globally accessible discussion groups. In the beginning
of 1985, the Swedish Fidonet was started in Karlstad by </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Conny
Johnsson</b></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Because of the increased
affordability of the Internet, many think that Fidonet has become obsolete.
Far from everyone agrees - Fidonet is a true amateur creation, while the
Internet has mainly been constructed by academicians. However, for a long
time there have been bridges connecting the two networks, enabling their
respective users to send mail to each other. </font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Personal
computing became a public concept, and many teenagers received their first
computer in the mid-80's. Most futuristic parents who bought a computer
probably hadn't expected their children to spend as much time on the computer
as they did, but this was a result of a marketing glitch. Personal computers
were marketed as office systems to be used for financial, word processing,
and database applications, for all of which they turned out to be quite
useless. Apparently, it was simpler to find a recipe in a cookbook than
to boot up the computer and look through some database which took five
minutes to load. The only "useful" tasks that the machines could
perform efficiently were word processing and simple calculations, which
was something that few people were familiar with or could appreciate.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">The only adults who really
used their computers were almost exclusively technicians or technology
fans, who could stay up all night and fight with their ABC80 to make it
do one thing or another. Many were electronics hobbyists that modified
the computer to suit their own wants and needs. (I belong to the wave
of youths who were completely captured by the ABC computers around 13
or 14 years of age; for many in my generation, those machines became a
ticket to the electronic world).</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">It would be until the
90's before the personal computer really got its breakthrough as a popular
appliance - but when it came, it came with a vengeance. It is only recently
that IBM PC's have become common in the home. If it hadn't been for the
Altair 8800, Apple II, Atari 800, and ABC80, it would never even have
occurred to IBM to manufacture PC's. The previous trend had been toward
building mainframes: mammoth boxes that consumed several kilowatts per
hour, and generated so much heat that they needed a separate cooling system
to be able to operate. The idea of one computer for each user </font>
<font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>was and remains</i></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
a hacker's notion, which goes all the way back to MIT, where many late
nights were spent working alone on a PDP-1.</font></p>
<p align=left><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Had these microcomputers
not emerged, the industry would still be working on their 50 supercomputers
that were to provide computing power for the entire world. Without the
microcomputer, modern information systems such as the </font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><i>Client-Server
</i></font> <font size=3 face="Times New Roman">model (in which a coordinated
network of computers distribute tasks and information between them) would
never have been invented.</font> </p>
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