One of the things that really got a hook in me was the idea that software would be used for tyranny, that the people in charge of the software would then be in charge of me. An old friend, 6, quipped that in the future you would need a license to own a compiler. Free software concepts were thus incredibly appealing. I remember when the US government flirted with regulating cryptography domestically. People on Usenet sold "This shirt is a munition" Ts with #RSA code printed. Clipper was a joke.