My first computer was a Commodore 64. Back in those days it seemed
everybody believed in open source and free software, because many
programs, games etc, were in basic and easy to customize. Also we
rarely went to someone's house without taking our latest programs and
blank disks. When we got there we'd copy each other's newest
programs. Yes I know it's now considered piracy but we were kid's and
hadn't even heard of licensing or piracy. And of course I don't
defend that type of behavior now. The best thing about that time
though was how people shared knowledge. If you heard a someone was
having trouble with their computer you'd hurry to help. If you
learned how to do something on your computer you shared your new found
knowledge with everyone you knew and they did the same. By the
eighties it seemed everyone started having a different attitude.
You'd see someone had done something cool on their machine, "Hey how
did you do that?". You'd usually get a response like, "I figured it
out on my own, you figure it out". One of the things I like about
Ubuntu/Linux is that it reminds me of the old day. Software is open
source and usually free (without piracy) and people are willing to
help and to share their knowledge.

One last note: I don't miss putting my favorite game in the dataset
of my C 64 and waiting for a half hour while the game was loaded. I
found that game recently and now it takes seconds to load on my P III.