基本信息·出版社：HarperBusiness ·页码：340 页 ·出版日期：2000年07月 ·ISBN：0066620503 ·条形码：9780066620503 ·版本：第1版 ·装帧：精装 · ...
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Free for All: How Linux and the Free Software Movement Undercut the High-Tech Ti |
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Free for All: How Linux and the Free Software Movement Undercut the High-Tech Ti |
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基本信息·出版社：HarperBusiness
·页码：340 页
·出版日期：2000年07月
·ISBN：0066620503
·条形码：9780066620503
·版本：第1版
·装帧：精装
·开本：32开 Pages Per Sheet
·外文书名：完全免费
内容简介 Publisher Comments:
Linux: Poised for World Domination?
A revolution is sweeping the software world — one that threatens to pull even the mighty Microsoft Corporation from its throne. Bill Gates and his company's rule over the software industry through their tight control of Microsoft Windows is facing their biggest challenge ever — a new competitor that can't be bought, coopted, or manipulated with any of the traditional tools of corporate power. Its name:
Linux.
"Free for All" is the story of a group of dedicated software hackers from around the world who, in their spare time, created an "open" operating system that rivals and in many ways surpasses Microsoft's.
Peter Wayner, a writer whose coverage of technology appears frequently in the "New York Times" and "Salon" magazine, tells a fascinating tale of how a simple idea creating and giving away an "open" operating system that people can change and customize — sparked a grass-roots movement among programmers and revolutionized the software business."Free for All" goes behind the scenes, telling us about the creators and users of Linux. Along the way you will meet the leaders of this revolution, including Richard Stallman, who founded the free software movement, Linus Torvalds, the coding genius and Stallman disciple, who became the master and coordinator of the evolving system (and named it after himself), and many others who aided and nurtured the growing free software movement. You'll learn how and why they gave their code away for free, threatening the Redmond, Washington, giant's hegemony and spawning a whole new industry of Linux-related companies and software.
You will also learn where the Linux movement is going and how it islikely to affect the high-tech industry and, ultimately, the computers you use at home and on the job. As fresh and exciting as today's headlines and tomorrow's IPOs, the story of Linux is just beginning. Here is Act I.
Review:
"After reading Wayner's Free For All, I was impressed with his keen grasp of the burgeoning Open Source movement, as well as the excellent style of writing."
--Jeff "Hemos" Bates, Slashdot
Review:
"Here is one place is the history, present, and future of the Linuxand the Open Source movement--- from its humble beginnings as anacademic curiosity to a future that may challenge Microsoft's position of dominance. Peter Wayner has done a service by weaving together the technical, political, and economic threads into a tapestry that is understandable by all, geeks and suits alike."
-Simson Garfinkel, columnist at the Boston Globe
Synopsis:
A technology writer for the "New York Times" takes a riveting look at the rise and popular acceptance of Linux and how free software is changing the nature of business and wealth.
Description:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [317]-323) and index.
Amazon.com
Can you get rich selling free software? It's a question that's got Wall Street excited, computer makers curious, and Bill Gates nervous. Peter Wayner's Free for All explores the history of open-source programming, its emerging threat to Microsoft, and its struggle to retain its ideals in the face of big money.
Like Eric Raymond's The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Free for All outlines the arguments for leaving software source code open and free for anyone to tinker with. But Wayner's account delves deeper into the politics of the movement, reading like a high-tech soap opera. Brash and colorful characters populate the pages: Richard Stallman, the quasi-communist coder who has done as much to inspire open source as he has to alienate big business; Linus Torvalds, the self-effacing grad student whose talent for organizing the work of others resulted in the bombproof operating system Linux; and libertarian techno-philosopher Eric Raymond, whose passion for free source code is matched only by his passion for the freedom to own guns. Each has a different vision of what it means to collaborate on software development, and their clashes over the "rules" of a largely unregulated process have created fault lines that run deep.
But what may ultimately prove more challenging than these differences, says Wayner, is the open-source movement's own success. As big names like IBM and Dell court the largely volunteer community, and companies like Red Hat produce stock-option millionaires, uncomfortable questions arise. "Getting people to join together for the group is easy to do when no one is getting rich," says Wayner. "What happens when more money starts pouring into some folks' pockets? Will people defect? Will they stop contributing?" Wayner leaves the question open, and only time will provide the answer. In the meantime, Free for All offers as thorough and engaging an account of the open-source movement--and the pitfalls in its path--as readers are likely to find anywhere.
--Demian McLean
From Publishers Weekly
Necessity remains the mother of invention-or so it seems judging by this intriguing history of the free software movement. A self-confessed nerd who covers technology for the New York Times, Wayner starts by describing how computer programmers who wanted to tinker with proprietary source code were frustrated by the "no trespass" signs posted on operating systems like UNIX, Apple, DOS and Windows. They ultimately formed a grassroots movement that retaliated by building independent systems. Once they achieved their goal, they were determined to keep the source code open to all, following the tradition of academic research labs. As soon as these hackers developed a simple operating system, a worldwide network of interested programmers contributed free time and ideas to make it run smoothly on all manner of machines. One of the major results of this experiment in intellectual freedom is Linux (named after its originator, Linus Torvalds), an operating system that many claim is more stable, more adaptable and more accessible (and infinitely less expensive) than the current commercial leaders. That may explain why it's used in more than 50% of the Web servers on the Internet. Wayner writes in hushed tones of the exclusive group (almost all men) who worked on Linux out of the simple desire to play in the guts of the machine. But if anybody thinks that these are a bunch of harmonious code-lovers, Wayner's tales of nasty flame wars between the founding fathers and of turf battles petty enough for Dynasty reveal that even nerds are not above a little mud wrestling. Illus. not seen by PW. Agents, Daniel Greenberg, James Levine Agency. Author tour; 15-city NPR radio tour. (July)
About the Author
Peter Wayner reports on technology for the New York Times and Salon magazine. The author of eight professional computer books, including Disappearing Cryptography.He holds a Ph.d. from Cornell University, and an A.B. from Princeton, where he majored in mathematics.He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Book Dimension
Height (mm) 235 Width (mm) 155
作者简介 Peter Wayner covers technology for the New York Times, is the editor of www.flyzone.com, and also writes professional computer books. A bonafide nerd, he holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University, and an A.B. from Princeton, where he majored in mathematics. He lives in Baltimore, MD.
目录 Acknowledgments
1.Battle
2.Lists
3.Image
4.College
5.Quicksand
6.Outsider
7.Growth
8.Freedom
9.Source
10.People
11.Politics
12.Charity
13.Love
14.Corporations
15.Money
16.Fork
17.Core
18.T-Shirts
19.New
20.Nations
21.Wealth
22.Future
Glossary
Bibiography
Index
……
