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The open source saga has many dramatic chapters.
It is partly the story of Linus Torvalds, the master hacker
who would become chief architect of the much-heralded 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. And finally, it encompasses the life's work
of the brilliant and bizarre Eric Raymond, and hacker extraordinaire
Richard Stallman, plus a cadre of colorful characters who
created and defined the open source software movement.
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.
A high-velocity account of the transformation
taking place in computing, Rebel Code chronicles
the emergence of "free" software as a viable alternative
to not just Microsoft's Windows 2000, but to all proprietary
software. From the inside out, it describes how open source
began as the mantra of a small group of idealistic backers
and blossomed into the all-important slogan for progressive
business and computing. Rebel Code also examines
how Linux, backed by IBM, HP, and Oracle, has impossibly
found its way onto tens of millions of PCs worldwide and
spawned multi-billion dollar IPOs.
With remarkably direct access to the key
players, Glyn Moody succeeds in writing the definitive chronicle
of the free software movement. Unusually candid observations
from Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman, Larry Wall, Brian
Behlendorf, Michael Tiemann, Eric Raymond, and many others
who helped invent and defend open source, allow Moody to
capture the vision and the drama behind one of the most
significant business trends in recent history. 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 changing and challenging all
corners of business.
Glyn Moody is a London-based writer who
has tracked, used, and written about Linux nearly since
its inception. He has published major features on it in
Wired, Computer Weekly, and New Scientist,
and has also written for The Economist and The
Financial Times.
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