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Title: Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary by Linus Torvalds, David Diamond ISBN: 0-06-662072-4 Publisher: HarperBusiness Pub. Date: 08 May, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.88 (59 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Looks Like a Penguin!
Comment: This book is in fact the "bio" of Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, an operating system (OS) that has been described as an "alternative" to Windows for PC users. In it, Linus describes his early years, how he mostly loved to play with computers, spending hours and hours on an old Commodore, and then a Sinclair PC, and so forth. After saving up to buy a better PC, he describes how he tried to install Minix, a form of the Unix OS on his machine and ran into so many frustrations he decided to create his own OS, which eventually became Linux. He describes that process, as well as his "flame war" over the Internet that he encountered with Andrew Tannenbaum, the Minix creator. Another thing I noticed from this book is how Linus doesn't look at himself as any kind of "hero" or "amazing person" just because he created something so many computer folk use as their OS of choice. Essentially, Linus comes off for the most part as just another average guy, even if this "average guy" created something quite amazing and became the most famous example of "Open Source software."
Interesting story from the "Linux creator" himself, as to how Linux first came to be and what it is today, as well as about the man himself.
Rating: 3
Summary: Great Subject, Average Book
Comment: As a huge fan of Linus Torvalds and The Linux Revolution, I waited in great anticipation for this book. Although at face value the book is pretty good, I expected a lot more. We got to hear some things on Linus' world view and his background, but we would've been better rewarded with a more in depth analysis of the state of the wired and computer world, and how computing can be improved through deep proliferation of Linux. A case needs to be made for Linux on the desktop. Otherwise, Linux will be relegated to the server market too much, and The Revolution will never get televised for mass market appeal and conversion.
I truly believe Linux is the best and most meaningful OS today for a variety of technical, conceptual, and professional reasons, and Torvalds would be well advised to step outside his comfort zone and be slightly more self promoting to the mass market. Indeed, some of Gates' success is based on shameless self promotion and some excellent books that educated and informed the public. You have to fight fire with fire beyond the silo of the Tech/IS crowd.
If you want to read a great book on Open Source, read Eric Raymond's visionary The Cathedral and the Bazaar. Raymond isn't as wildly anti-establishment and eccentric as GNU and UNIX guru Richard Stallman, and he's not as self effacing as Torvalds.
Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting reading for geeky (and not so geeky) folks
Comment: Linus Torvalds, as most geeks and many non-geeks know, is the person behind Linux, the operating system. This book provides a soap box for Linus to talk about what has driven him (computers, programming) towards his goal. He did not intend to create a phenomenal operating system; rather, he was content adding features to his terminal emulator until the fine day that it started to grow into an operating system. In the early '90's I remember reading a posting from him on the MINIX bulletin board; the posting urged readers to download and install Linux, his new operating system based on Unix (I never quite got down to doing that, but I did follow his work including his visit to Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, where I worked during the early-mid 90's.) The book is an interesting read for me since I readily subscribe to the open/free software, extreme programming, open source movement. Reading about Linus' travails with Andrew Tannenbaum (an extremely well known Computer Science personality) and their exchange on the merits of micro-kernel vs. macro- kernel architectures is very interesting. I am not sure non-computer literate folks (non-geeks) would find this as interesting. What they will find interesting is Linus' philosophy that the world constantly moves towards entertainment with a short detour through survival and forming of societies. Case in point: industrial revolution started as a means for humans to survive in a dangerous planet, evolved into humans forming societies to channel it and has now morphed into a quest for entertainment. Computers are no different -- started off as few people depending on them for their survival (the 'anointed ones' behind glass windows), evolved into the formation of soceities (bulletin boards, newsgroups, chat rooms) and are now used for entertainment. Maybe he has something there.
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Title: The Cathedral & the Bazaar (paperback) by Eric S. Raymond ISBN: 0596001088 Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates Pub. Date: 15 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution by Glyn Moody ISBN: 0738206709 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 15 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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Title: Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution (O'Reilly Open Source) by Chris Dibona, Mark Stone, Sam Ockman, Open Source (Organization), Brian Behlendorf, Scott Bradner, Jim Hamerly, Kirk McKusick, Tim O'Reilly, Tom Paquin ISBN: 1565925823 Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software by Sam Williams ISBN: 0596002874 Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman by Richard M. Stallman, Lawrence Lessig, Joshua Gay ISBN: 1882114981 Publisher: Free Software Foundation Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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