- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (Mar 8 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0596002874
- ISBN-13: 978-0596002879
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 14.9 x 2.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 494 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#788,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #37 in Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Communication > Technology & Society
- See Complete Table of Contents
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
In 1984, Richard Stallman launched the GNU Project for the purpose of developing a complete UNIX-like operating system that would allow for free software use. What he developed was the GNU operating system. (GNU is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not UNIX,'' and it is pronounced guh-NEW. Linux is a variant of the GNU operating system.) This biography traces the evolution of Stallman's eccentric genius from gifted child to teen outcast to passionate crusader for free software. To Stallman, free software is morally vital, and for the past two decades he has devoted his life to eradicating proprietary source codes from the world. Savvy programmers revere Stallman; Bill Gates reviles him. Much of the fascination with Stallman lies in his messianic zeal, which Williams, a freelance writer specializing in high-tech culture, has attempted to capture here, drawing on a number of interviews with the unconventional Stallman, his associates, fans, and critics. The result is an esoteric and uneven work whose audience will likely be limited to the army of programmers drawn to Stallman's worthy cause. Buy accordingly. Joe Accardi, Harper Coll. Lib., Palatine, IL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
A mesmerizing biography of one of the most influential people in computer science. -- Ben Rothke, Unixreview.com, March 2002
A nuanced, detailed picture of Stallman that includes much that will be new even to close followers of the free-software movement. -- Andrew Leonard, Salon.com, April 2, 2002
The book is a great read for geeks, enlightening us on our heritage. -- Penguinista.org
This is a book that moves with economy through the life of the world's most famous hacker. -- Marc Rotenberg, EPIC, April 2002
A nuanced, detailed picture of Stallman that includes much that will be new even to close followers of the free-software movement. -- Andrew Leonard, Salon.com, April 2, 2002
The book is a great read for geeks, enlightening us on our heritage. -- Penguinista.org
This is a book that moves with economy through the life of the world's most famous hacker. -- Marc Rotenberg, EPIC, April 2002
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth Reading,
By Derek Snider (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Free as in Freedom [Paperback]: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software (Hardcover)
While other reviews here are highly critical, this book has received wide distribution and readership, and therefore has become required reading.Being a relatively short book (little over 200 pages), it is an easy read, and allows a decent glimpse into RMS' history and life. RMS has played a phenomenally important key role in the creation and preservation of free software, namely through the creation of the Free Software Foundation, the GNU Public License and also through the wealth of important projects the FSF has produced. He is the true messiah of free software, and while his ideals in general may not be unique, he pioneered the freedom movement in digital form which has expanded beyond software alone and into content as well (see also the Electronic Frontier Foundation -- eff.org).
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book on a very interesting personality,
By Digital Puer "digital_puer" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Free as in Freedom [Paperback]: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software (Hardcover)
This is a good book on Richard Stallman, the man behind GNU. Prior to reading this book, I had never even seen what he looks like, yet his work and dedication have had a great impact on my professional and academic career (I've been using GNU tools and compilers since my undergrad days in the early 1990s). It's good to finally place a face and personality with GNU.The book itself provides a good story on Stallman, but the writing is poor. There are a modest number of typos throughout the book (come on now, couldn't the author have at least run ispell on the document?) as well as a few astounding grammatical errors. Furthermore, the author doesn't do a very good job placing dates with most of his facts. The introduction to the printer incident -- evidently a defining moment in Stallman's life -- is not even given a year. This is important, for the events that methodically unfolded in Stallman's life motivated him greatly. With this in mind, the author fails to convey much time-continuity with his writing; in particular, he shifts back and forth between the present and the past without regard for even stating what year he's discussing. Finally, a short, concise timeline of events as an appendix or something would have been nice. All in all, this is a very good book about Stallman and his motivations for free software. If you've ever used GNU tools, compilers, or GNU/Linux, then you owe it to yourself to read this book and understand how these pieces of software got into your hands.
5.0 out of 5 stars
You don't have to like him but you must respect him,
By
This review is from: Free as in Freedom [Paperback]: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software (Hardcover)
I really didn't have high expectations for this book, I figured it would be nothing more than a historical account of the accomplishments of RMS, I was dead wrong. "Free as in Freedom" looks at RMS from a personal and technical level. From his beginnings as an awkward boy in NYC, all the way to rise of the free software movement. I figured this book would be written from extremely pro-gnu standpoint, but I was pleasantly surprised to find an objective account of Richard's issues with the open source movement.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs
- Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > High-Tech
- Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > Biographies
- Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > Hacking
- Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Information Theory
- Books > Computers & Internet > Operating Systems > Linux
- Books > Computers & Internet > Programming
- Books > Computers & Internet > Software
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Communication > Technology & Society
- Books > Science > Technology > Social Aspects
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
