Ham and Software - Communities of Creativity?

lgreco asks: "I've been thinking about the similarities between the community of early ham radio operators and software developers. Both communities produced a lot of useful technologies that found applications beyond the scope of a 'just a hobby'. Ham radio operators built their own equipment and experimented with modulation and propagation techniques. The results of their efforts today are used in a variety of radio communication applications, from cell phones to marine radios. Similarly, hackers developed concepts of computing that are now universally accepted tools of productivity. Both communities share an enthusiasm for technical creativity and up until recently there was even some overlap between the two groups. Are there any interesting stories about the creativity of either groups (that relate to the other group perhaps) that should be recorded and documented?"

Comments

Re:Out of the loop

[confused one]

No self respecting Ham radio operator would set foot inside a Radio Shack.

Both groups restrict members

[Simonetta]

Both the Ham radio and the Open Source groups restricted public participation and benefit by requiring the mastery of obsolete and difficult knowledge skills.
The Hams required mastery of Morse code long after there was no real use for it in order to get an operator's broadcast license. The Open Source Computer group expected its adherents to master difficult and obsolete Unix command line syntaxes and structures long after the easier GUI interface was widely accepted.
The Ham radio lure was cheap and random long-range communication. This function has been replaced by cheap global e-mail. The open source lure was cheap and powerful computer programs and access. That function has been replaced by cheap and global Microsoft Windows.

Let the shitstorm begin!