Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary (O'Reilly Linux)
Hardcover, 288 pages
English language
Published July 10, 1999 by O'Reilly.
The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary (abbreviated CatB) is an essay, and later a book, by Eric S. Raymond on software engineering methods, based on his observations of the Linux kernel development process and his experiences managing an open source project, fetchmail. It examines the struggle between top-down and bottom-up design. The essay was first presented by the author at the Linux Kongress on May 27, 1997 in Würzburg (Germany) and was published as part of the same‑titled book in 1999. The illustration on the cover of the book is a 1913 painting by Liubov Popova titled Composition with Figures and belongs to the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery. The book was released under the Open Publication License v2.0 in 1999.
The essay titled “Revenge of the Hackers” alone is a great read that lays out how Open Source branded and shifted away from Free Software.
Lots of great context and insights behind the power of the bazaar (open source) vs. the cathedral (closed source), even ~23 years after the revised edition of the book was written.
This is in a sense a time capsule. While a lot has changed since its first publication, Eric got right about the most important part: the bazaar as a development model will eventually win as it is the only reasonable move.
Tiems, kam įdomi atvirojo kodo hackerių filosofija, požiūris į programavimą, taip pat - geras būdas suprasti, kas motyvuoja geriausius iš geriausių. Ras kažką sau ir programuotoja ir kadrų skyriaus vadovas.
Mano pabraukimai: www.goodreads.com/notes/6641952-cathedral-and-the-bazaar/3567103-light-bringer
It's kind of funny to read, because there are so many cornerstones of techno-libertarian ideology presented in the essays. At the time the essays were written it was probably all kind of new and exciting, but nowadays those positions are kinda hard to defend.
The parts about Linus Torvalds are gold, as it's argued that he's such a sweet and agreeable person. And it's also pointed out how not attacking the authors and speaking softly are core skills when working in a Bazaar-like environment. I guess we all can safely call bullshit on those points, c.f. arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/linus-torvalds-on-why-he-isnt-nice-i-dont-care-about-you/
All in all I'd say it's a good read if you want some historic context of the OSS movement, otherwise you can safely skip it.
