Finding a 27-year-old easter egg in the Power Mac G3 ROM

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Discovery and “Computing Archeology”

  • Commenters frame this as “computing archeology”: people deliberately trawling ROMs, binaries, and old systems for hidden content using hex editors, debuggers, and pattern/string searches.
  • Some emphasize that the article itself fully explains the “how”; others marvel that anyone spends time on this at all, pointing to communities devoted to uncovering unused game content and hidden assets.

OS Size, Bloat, and AI Models

  • Discussion branches into why modern OSes are so large compared to classic Mac OS.
  • One view: higher-resolution assets, bundled translations, dual-architecture support (x86 and ARM), and now on-device AI models all inflate size.
  • Another counters that on some systems languages are optional downloads and questions how much core OS imagery really weighs.
  • A concrete breakdown on macOS shows gigabytes consumed by AI models, fonts (notably emoji), printer drivers, loops, and linguistic data.
  • There’s disagreement over whether this is a meaningful problem on 256GB SSDs and whether AI assets are preinstalled or downloaded only with consent.

Easter Eggs: Fun vs Professional Risk

  • Many express affection and nostalgia for Easter eggs, seeing them as proof that real humans built these systems.
  • Others argue strongly against them in commercial products: they add undocumented code paths and potential bugs, complicate security audits, and can threaten schedules and contracts (e.g., government requirements, “Trustworthy Computing” era).
  • Some note that past corporate bans (Apple, Microsoft) were driven by security, reliability, and optics, not jealousy.

Jobs, Apple Eras, and Cultural Shift

  • Debate over Steve Jobs banning Easter eggs: some see it as killing whimsy; others cite earlier efforts to credit teams and argue the ban was pragmatic (risk, recruiting/poaching, seriousness).
  • Several reminisce fondly about Apple’s “interregnum” years (mid‑80s–mid‑90s): quirky hardware, HyperCard, OpenDoc, strong UI/UX culture, and a “cozy, whimsical” classic Mac feeling later lost under macOS and today’s iPhone‑centric, services-driven Apple.

Humanization, Credit, and Modern Process

  • Easter eggs like signed ROM images are seen as a way for “small people” to leave their mark, contrasting with executives taking public credit.
  • Others respond that modern products involve thousands of contributors; any selective credits are inherently exclusionary and politically fraught.
  • Compliance, audits, secure SDLC, Agile, and constant deadline pressure are cited as making secret features nearly impossible: undocumented artifacts trigger IT controls, SOC findings, and HR issues.

Learning Reverse Engineering

  • Reverse engineering is described as hard but approachable. Old console and PC games are recommended as starting points: simple hardware, immediate visual feedback, and rich tooling and documentation.
  • Commenters encourage readers that many such old systems still hide “low-hanging fruit” like this ROM Easter egg, especially with modern tools like Ghidra.

Nostalgia for Old Easter Eggs and Small Teams

  • People share memories of classic Mac and Windows-era Easter eggs (secret about boxes, mini-games, hidden images, credits screens) and lament their disappearance.
  • There’s a recurring wish to “bring them back,” tied to broader nostalgia for smaller, more personal teams and less sterile, more playful software.