I was a former (minor) member of groups like ACiD, iCE, CIA (though I never released with them).

The cross-pollination between the hackers / college coders / warez pirates / digital artists was real. A lot of big company CEOs got their start in those days.

It was mostly just about exploring and connection, and as the BBS scene faded to irc chats (efnet, freenode, etc), that whole mixed-scene kept growing for quite awhile.

Now everything is for sale.

Nice, I was in ACiD's orbit too, my BBS was a TOXiC Net affiliate before the scene wound down.

That's the thing I miss the most about the scene, the cross-pollination. You'd distro a pack and learn something about a whole other scene, or help somebody mod their board and they'd become co-sysop of yours. That whole era is definitely why I wound up becoming a programmer.