As both an original Homebrew Computer Club member, and open source proponent (I was part of the original GNU WebChat? project in 1995, and have enjoyed using Linux since 1994), I'd say the most stunning similarity between Homebrew and today's Open Source movement is the spirit of freely sharing information and ideas. At Homebrew code was often shared freely, just as we did with schematics and information about group chip buys.
If you are interested in more detailed information about the Homebrew Computer Club see http://www.bambi.net/bob/homebrew.html
Best wishes,
Bob Lash
Is there a modern version of the Home Brew Computer Club ? There seem to be lots of computer clubs where people talk about how to use computers, or how to program computers, or even how to assemble computers from subsystems. But is there anything on how to assemble computer boards from chips and solder, build robots, that sort of thing ?
-- DavidCary
Using FPGAs to simulate CPUs http://rdrop.com/~cary/html/computer_architecture.html#FPGA
free circuit designs http://opencollector.org/