XPost: alt.folklore.computers   
   From: spam@mouse-potato.com   
      
   "Alex"  writes:   
   > Just curious if anyone else see's this from my point of view.  For true   
   > hobbiests short of falling under some corporate envelope what else is   
   > there to do?   
      
   The Internet is not just the web and the mail.  There are other   
   protocols and other applications.  Right, sometimes it looks like   
   there's nothing else, you there's still a lot of hobby value in there.   
   Nowaday, with the explosion of opensource software, you have more   
   opportunities to have fun.  20 years ago, only searchers had access to   
   licensed unix sources.  Nowadays, any kid can read and modify linux or   
   *BSD (including Darwin: you can hack the OS underlying MacOSX!).   
   There are also other kind of OS, and emulators of older or different   
   hardware.  If you want to hack VM on IBM 360, you can! (search for the   
   hercules emulator).  If you want to hack on more modern OS, try   
   coyotos, or Movitz (a Common Lisp on bare ix86 to write kernels in).   
   To mix in the network, have a look at cluster stuff.  Or MMORPG   
   (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Games), kind of like an "improved"   
   BBS  ;-)  Or have a look at opencroquet.org   
      
   You can still have fun with computers and the Internet!   
      
   --   
   "Specifications are for the weak and timid!"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)