by Tina Velgos | by Tina Velgos |
The Cathedral & The Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary |
 |
Understand open source and hacker culture without picking up
a book for Dummies!
|
|
| Freedom and open source technology! If you've wanted to delve into open source or if
you don't understand what the big deal is about open source, Eric Raymond's The Cathedral
& The Bazaar is required reading for you! My favorite part of the book? Raymond's "How to Become a Hacker" Appendix, which totally defines hackers and "the hacker attitude". "The basic difference is this: hackers build things, crackers break them," says Raymond. "Hackers solve problems and build things, and they believe in freedom and voluntary mutual help," according to Raymond. That, and hackers (and creatives) should never be bored or stuck in "stupid repetitive work". Oh, the humanity! This revised and expanded O'Reilly paperback (also available in a $24.95 hardcover) is surprisingly refreshing to read. Self-proclaimed "hacker philosopher" Eric Raymond evangelizes with the best of them. He goes head-to-head as he delves into the behavior and culture of computer hackers. The book consists of his essays (many originally published on the Internet) as he makes predictions, addresses the economics of open source and considers it a "competitive weapon" in today's world. He makes his points crystal clear in his detailed analysis and constructive criticism. Whether exploring the "History of Hackerdom" (including "pre-history among the Real Programmers and the glory days of MIT hackers") or discussing theories of "the cathedral" commercial world versus Linux's "bazaar" world, readers are sure to grasp Raymond's analogies and insights into the future of software. Raymond also does an in-depth on ownership regulation and control of open source software with his oh-so-subtle implication of "property rights homologous to the Lockean theory of land tenure" in the hefty chapter called "Homesteading the Noosphere". Harry Potter isn't the only one sporting a magic cauldron! Raymond's "The Magic Cauldron" goes "beyond geeks bearing gifts" and vents common myths about program development funding and software price structuring. Whether you're reading Raymond's "game-theory analysis" of open source cooperation stability or his nine models for "sustainable funding" of open source development (two non-profit, seven for-profit), this chapter is a must-read--especially Raymond's "Life After the Revolution" conclusion in which he dabbles in a mythical world of software "once the open-source transition is complete". Are programmers doomed? Will the industry collapse? Only the shadow knows.... No book like this could be complete without an obligatory chapter, "Revenge of the Hackers." Here, Raymond recalls 20 years "of marginalization" as he describes the year after the eruption of open-source software into the mainstream (1998) and examines some interesting trend curves of what's down the road. Sure, this book intentionally leaves many questions unresolved. As the book promises, within the next three to five years, Raymond and his band of hell-bent hackers will be "changing the world" through the open-source war on software. This tech book is insight into Raymond's amazing evolving journey and truly a gift to the tech world. |
