- Paperback: 344 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books; New edition edition (Jun 20 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0738206709
- ISBN-13: 978-0738206707
- Product Dimensions: 23.7 x 14.7 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #413,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Everyone in computing has heard of Linux--hundreds of millions use it every day. Every Net user accesses Linux systems dozens of times during any Net session. Yet, because people associate products with companies, Linux--with its thousands of largely anonymous volunteer developers and free availability--is a difficult fit with our world view.
Rebel Code puts Linux into historical and social contexts. Based largely on interviews with the main players and precise historical data (Linux kernel releases are dated to the second), it traces "free software" from its early '80s origin--with Robert Stallman's founding of the GNU Project--and takes it as far as the end of 2000--with GNU/Linux becoming a worldwide phenomenon that runs handheld PDAs, PCs and Macs, IBM mainframes, and the world's biggest supercomputers.
Glyn Moody charts every milestone in the development of the Linux kernel, from Linus Torvalds's first installation of Minix. As importantly, he follows the progress of major "free software" projects (essential to the success of GNU/Linux) from Emacs and GCC to Sendmail and XFree 86, and finishes with KDE and Gnome.
The end result is a curiously exciting and compulsively readable tale that compares with Tracy Kidder's book, The Soul of a New Machine. It's endlessly fascinating, and you'll be up reading well past your bedtime. --Steve Patient, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
The open source saga has many fascinating chapters. It is partly the story of Linus Torvalds, the master hacker who would become chief architect of the Linux operating system. It is also the story of thousands of devoted programmers around the world who spontaneously worked in tandem to complete the race to shape Linux into the ultimate killer app. Rebel Code traces the remarkable roots of this unplanned revolution. It echoes the twists and turns of Linux's improbable development, as it grew through an almost biological process of accretion and finally took its place at the heart of a jigsaw puzzle that would become the centerpiece of open source. With unprecedented access to the principal players, Moody has written a powerful tale of individual innovation versus big business. Rebel Code provides a from-the-trenches perspective and looks ahead to how open source is challenging long-held conceptions of technology, commerce, and culture.
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First Sentence
Outside, a louring Seattle sky broods over the clumps of squat white buildings scattered around an extensive campus in constant expansion. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Outside, a louring Seattle sky broods over the clumps of squat white buildings scattered around an extensive campus in constant expansion. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Must read!,
By
This review is from: Rebel Code: Linux And The Open Source Revolution (Hardcover)
The book gives a complete history of open source development starting from the earlier days of RMS and Linus. The strong point of the book is that the depth of coverage on open source history is unmatchable. My most favourite chapters are the ones that describe the early development of Linux and the history of Perl. Reading the book gives the impression that author's bias against the RMS-style free-software. Also the author gives enough hints of his dislike for Microsoft's style of proprietary software. And towards the end, as the author starts explaining linux' entry into the corporate place, the book tends to be a bit dragging. Overall, a must read for any open source enthusiast.
5.0 out of 5 stars
For My Hubby,
By Tamara A. Braun (Port Deposit, MD) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution (Paperback)
I bought this book for my husband so he'll have to review it!
4.0 out of 5 stars
How it came to be...,
By The Duke (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution (Paperback)
I very much enjoyed this book. Mr Moody writes well and entertainingly about the origins of the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Movement. The historic characters in the drama are well drawn and engaging. Time and again I'd remark 'So, that's where he/it came from!' as Moody traced the origin of Apache or Samba or Alan Cox. I was very much reminded of the excellent history of the PC 'Fire in the Valley' that traces the origins of the PC industry to where we find it today. I would recommend Rebel Code to someone interested in GNU/Linux and the inner workings of how it came to be. This is a book for the tech historian, not necessarily the hacker.If I were to fault the book it would be that is is 3 years old. As such it misses the effect of the tech bust/recession on the Linux movement, and the growing successes it has achieved recently from the third world (e.g. China's Red Flag distribution) to supercomputing. I can only hope Mr. Moody will correct this fault with another edition.
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