Not taking sides here, but the private sector couldn’t have done it because laws specifically prevent them.
Colour scheme: blue on white
This. https://youtu.be/3KXF423TEwY?si=n8ExMrJJRQQHLjIP
This is the early internet - a self hosted, bunch of regular people just doing stuff for stuff’s sake.
Also https://www.cockeyed.com - decentralized, zero budget fun.
In some ways, the low-medium technical barrier was perfect. If you could do some basic html or PHP, you were a creator.
I think that’s the gimmick - it’s like a spot the difference once you’ve done the puzzle and are still in Minnesota with nothing else to do.
Sure, but if we’d started 20 years ago it would have taken 20 years to build!