Synopses & Reviews
Open source provides the competitive advantage in the Internet Age. According to the August Forrester Report, 56 percent of IT managers interviewed at Global 2,500 companies are already using some type of open source software in their infrastructure and another 6 percent will install it in the next two years. This revolutionary model for collaborative software development is being embraced and studied by many of the biggest players in the high-tech industry, from Sun Microsystems to IBM to Intel.The Cathedral & the Bazaar is a must for anyone who cares about the future of the computer industry or the dynamics of the information economy. Already, billions of dollars have been made and lost based on the ideas in this book. Its conclusions will be studied, debated, and implemented for years to come. According to Bob Young, "This is Eric Raymond's great contribution to the success of the open source revolution, to the adoption of Linux-based operating systems, and to the success of open source users and the companies that supply them."The interest in open source software development has grown enormously in the past year. This revised and expanded paperback edition includes new material on open source developments in 1999 and 2000. Raymond's clear and effective writing style accurately describing the benefits of open source software has been key to its success. With major vendors creating acceptance for open source within companies, independent vendors will become the open source story in 2001.
Synopsis
Subtitled "Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary", this book explores Open Source, and the billions of dollars that have been made and lost based on the ideas in this book. Its conclusions will be studied, debated, and implemented for years to come. This book is a must for anyone who cares about the future of the computer industry or the dynamics of the information economy.
About the Author
Eric Raymond is an Open Source evangelist and author of the highly influential paper "The Cathedral and the Bazaar".
Table of Contents
Dedication; Foreword; Preface: Why You Should Care; Revision Notes for the Second Edition; Chapter 1: A Brief History of Hackerdom; 1.1 Prologue: The Real Programmers; 1.2 The Early Hackers; 1.3 The Rise of Unix; 1.4 The End of Elder Days; 1.5 The Proprietary-Unix Era; 1.6 The Early Free Unixes; 1.7 The Great Web Explosion; Chapter 2: The Cathedral and the Bazaar; 2.1 The Cathedral and the Bazaar; 2.2 The Mail Must Get Through; 2.3 The Importance of Having Users; 2.4 Release Early, Release Often; 2.5 How Many Eyeballs Tame Complexity; 2.6 When Is a Rose Not a Rose?; 2.7 Popclient becomes Fetchmail; 2.8 Fetchmail Grows Up; 2.9 A Few More Lessons from Fetchmail; 2.10 Necessary Preconditions for the Bazaar Style; 2.11 The Social Context of Open-Source Software; 2.12 On Management and the Maginot Line; 2.13 Epilog: Netscape Embraces the Bazaar; Chapter 3: Homesteading the Noosphere; 3.1 An Introductory Contradiction; 3.2 The Varieties of Hacker Ideology; 3.3 Promiscuous Theory, Puritan Practice; 3.4 Ownership and Open Source; 3.5 Locke and Land Title; 3.6 The Hacker Milieu as Gift Culture; 3.7 The Joy of Hacking; 3.8 The Many Faces of Reputation; 3.9 Ownership Rights and Reputation Incentives; 3.10 The Problem of Ego; 3.11 The Value of Humility; 3.12 Global Implications of the Reputation-Game Model; 3.13 How Fine a Gift?; 3.14 Noospheric Property and the Ethology of Territory; 3.15 Causes of Conflict; 3.16 Project Structures and Ownership; 3.17 Conflict and Conflict Resolution; 3.18 Acculturation Mechanisms and the Link to Academia; 3.19 Gift Outcompetes Exchange; 3.20 Conclusion: From Custom to Customary Law; 3.21 Questions for Further Research; Chapter 4: The Magic Cauldron; 4.1 Indistinguishable From Magic; 4.2 Beyond Geeks Bearing Gifts; 4.3 The Manufacturing Delusion; 4.4 The Information Wants to be Free Myth; 4.5 The Inverse Commons; 4.6 Reasons for Closing Source; 4.7 Use-Value Funding Models; 4.8 Why Sale Value is Problematic; 4.9 Indirect Sale-Value Models; 4.10 When to be Open, When to be Closed; 4.11 Open Source as a Strategic Weapon; 4.12 Open Source and Strategic Business Risk; 4.13 The Business Ecology of Open Source; 4.14 Coping with Success; 4.15 Open R&D and the Reinvention of Patronage; 4.16 Getting There From Here; 4.17 Conclusion: Life after the Revolution; 4.18 Afterword: Why Closing a Drivers Loses Its Vendor Money; Chapter 5: Revenge of the Hackers; 5.1 Revenge of the Hackers; 5.2 Beyond Brooks's Law; 5.3 Memes and Mythmaking; 5.4 The Road to Mountain View; 5.5 The Origins of Open Source; 5.6 The Accidental Revolutionary; 5.7 Phases of the Campaign; 5.8 The Facts on the Ground; 5.9 Into the Future; Chapter 6: Afterword: Beyond Software?; How to Become a Hacker; Why This Document?; What Is a Hacker?; The Hacker Attitude; Basic Hacking Skills; Status in the Hacker Culture; The Hacker/Nerd Connection; Points For Style; Other Resources; Frequently Asked Questions; Statistical Trends in the Fetchmail Project's Growth; Notes, Bibliography, and Acknowledgements; A Brief History of Hackerdom; The Cathedral and the Bazaar; Homesteading the Noosphere; The Magic Cauldron; For Further Reading:; Colophon;