--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For the first time, individual hackers…" description: "\"For the first time, individual hackers could afford to have home machines comparable in power and storage capacity to the minicomputers of ten years ea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/eric-s-raymond-5007_capable_for-the-first-time-individual-hackers-co_814999.jpg" --- # For the first time, individual hackers could afford to… ![“For the first time, individual hackers could afford to have home machines comparable in power and storage capacity to the minicomputers of ten years earlier - Unix engines capable of supporting a full development environment and talking to the Internet.” quote by Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/eric-s-raymond-5007_capable_for-the-first-time-individual-hackers-co_814999.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/eric-s-raymond-5007_capable_for-the-first-time-individual-hackers-co_814999.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/eric-s-raymond-5007_capable_for-the-first-time-individual-hackers-co_814999.jpg) > “For the first time, individual hackers could afford to have home machines comparable in power and storage capacity to the minicomputers of ten years earlier - Unix engines capable of supporting a full development environment and talking to the Internet.” [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early personal computers became powerful enough for individuals to develop software and connect online, matching the capabilities of older minicomputers. **In simple terms:** Home PCs reached minicomputer power. Key Takeaway Leverage affordable tech for innovation. Themes technology innovation accessibility computing history Mood optimistic reflective Type historical inspirational When to use this quote - software engineering - education - entrepreneurship - home labs Key Concepts personal computing digital democratization software development Questions to Reflect On - What new possibilities does this access enable? - How does this shift affect collaboration? A Different Perspective Limited resources still restrict some advanced tasks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Cybersecurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cybersecurity/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Hackers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hackers/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [In early 1993, a hostile observer might have had grounds for thinking that the Unix story was almost played out, and with it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/in-early-1993-a-hostile-observer-might-have-had-grounds-for-thinking/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [If Unix could present the same face, the same capabilities, on machines of many different types, it could serve as a common software environment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/if-unix-could-present-the-same-face-the-same-capabilities-on-machines/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [“The history of Unix should have prepared us for what we’re learning from Linux (and what I’ve verified experimentally on a smaller scale by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/the-history-of-unix-should-have-prepared-us-for-what-we-re-learning/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [What I actually admire in Perl is its ability to provide a very successful abstraction of the horrible mess that is collectively called Unix.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/what-i-actually-admire-in-perl-is-its-ability-to-provide-a-very/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [Huh? Windows was designed to keep the idiots away from Unix so we could hack in peace. Let's not break that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-christiansen/huh-windows-was-designed-to-keep-the-idiots-away-from-unix-so-we/) Tom Christiansen > [I came of technical age with UNIX, where I learned with power-greedy pleasure that you could kill a system right out from under yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-ullman/i-came-of-technical-age-with-unix-where-i-learned-with-power-greedy/) [Ellen Ullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-ullman/) > [Obviously, the person who had most influence on my career was Ken Thompson. Unix was basically his, likewise C's predecessor, likewise much of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-ritchie/obviously-the-person-who-had-most-influence-on-my-career-was-ken/) [Dennis Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-ritchie/) > [The mass culture of childhood right now is astonishingly technical. 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Anderson > [In my experience, telling someone to switch Unix shells for ease of use is like telling him to switch cigarette brands for his health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-espinosa/in-my-experience-telling-someone-to-switch-unix-shells-for-ease-of/) Chris Espinosa > [Unix is a junk OS designed by a committee of PhDs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-cutler/unix-is-a-junk-os-designed-by-a-committee-of-phds/) Dave Cutler > [Unix gives you just enough rope to hang yourself - and then a couple of more feet, just to be sure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-allman/unix-gives-you-just-enough-rope-to-hang-yourself-and-then-a-couple-of/) [Eric Allman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-allman/) > [Unix is back in vogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murphy-j-foster-jr/unix-is-back-in-vogue/) Murphy J. Foster, Jr > [“VI was predecessor to hundreds of word processing systems. By now, Unix folks see it as a bit stodgy—it hasn’t the versatility of Gnu-Emacs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-stoll/vi-was-predecessor-to-hundreds-of-word-processing-systems-by-now-unix/) [Clifford Stoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-stoll/) ## More by Eric S. Raymond > [The Wesnoth devs are good but not exceptionally so, and we're weighed down by a crappy implementation language (C++). Nevertheless our productivity, in terms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/the-wesnoth-devs-are-good-but-not-exceptionally-so-and-we-re-weighed/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [“We’re proving not only that we can do better software, but that joy is an asset.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/we-re-proving-not-only-that-we-can-do-better-software-but-that-joy-is/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [The workstation-class machines built by Sun and others opened up new worlds for hackers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/the-workstation-class-machines-built-by-sun-and-others-opened-up-new/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [It is widely grokked that cats have the hacker nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/it-is-widely-grokked-that-cats-have-the-hacker-nature/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [“If (as is generally accepted) over 75% of a typical software project’s life-cycle costs will be in maintenance and debugging and extensions, then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/if-as-is-generally-accepted-over-75-of-a-typical-software-project-s/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [The combination of threads, remote-procedure-call interfaces, and heavyweight object-oriented design is especially dangerous... if you are ever invited onto a project that is supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/the-combination-of-threads-remote-procedure-call-interfaces-and/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/lisp-is-worth-learning-for-the-profound-enlightenment-experience-you/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [You cannot motivate the best people with money. Money is just a way to keep score. The best people in any field are motivated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/you-cannot-motivate-the-best-people-with-money-money-is-just-a-way-to/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [“The Linux world behaves in many respects like a free market or an ecology, a collection of selfish agents attempting to maximize utility which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/the-linux-world-behaves-in-many-respects-like-a-free-market-or-an/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [“The reason this is a serious issue is that both the pool of users and the pool of talent available to be recruited into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/the-reason-this-is-a-serious-issue-is-that-both-the-pool-of-users-and/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [A security system is only as secure as its secret. Beware of pseudo-secrets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/a-security-system-is-only-as-secure-as-its-secret-beware-of-pseudo/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [Today I am one of the senior technical cadre that makes the Internet work, and a core Linux and open-source developer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/today-i-am-one-of-the-senior-technical-cadre-that-makes-the-internet/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [“The behavior of retailers when a vendor folds is very revealing. It tells us that they know something the vendors don’t. What they know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/the-behavior-of-retailers-when-a-vendor-folds-is-very-revealing-it/) [Eric S. 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