The Cathedral and the Bazaar 49
| The Cathedral and the Bazaar | |
| author | Eric S. Raymond |
| pages | 268 |
| publisher | O'Reilly and Associates |
| rating | 9/10 |
| reviewer | Michael Sims |
| ISBN | 1565927249 |
| summary | Several of ESR's essays on open source and Linux; dressed, stuffed, and garnished |
Raymond is intelligent and literate, and makes his arguments about the benefits of open source in ways that are calculated to convince corporations that there's more money to be made with open code than closed in many situations. He's one of the relatively few people who can write first-hand accounts of long-running, successful open source projects, and can write authoritatively about the hacker community in the early days of the internet.
The essays make good reading, if you're into computers and software at all. Sometimes there are people who are good at something who nevertheless can't write about it. Bill Gates is probably a good example - he's good at what he does, but he sure as hell can't convey his knowledge. I've read Andy Grove's book about his management experiences, and I wasn't impressed by it either - again, it seemed like there was someone who knew how to do something but couldn't explain it (and haven't we all had teachers like that?).
Raymond is not only a gifted hacker, but an excellent writer as well. He manages to convey information about the culture one has to manage, which turns out to be very good way to teach someone how to manage it; or at least it was for me, anyway.
These essays are pretty much required reading, I would say, for anyone running a software company today. If you want to set up an open source project, there's no better information available. The early history of hacking is interesting and of course he's got a good handle on how and why Linux has been so successful.
The only difficulty I have in recommending the book, in fact, is that it's available at no cost on ESR's website. Yes, the essays are all material that's previously been available - indeed, I'd read several of them before. Supposedly they've been revised and expanded for the book - I'm not going to scan them line-by-line to check - but certainly the ideas expressed in the essays haven't changed from the web versions. Frugal readers might easily decide that free documents off a website make better reading than a purchased book.
On the other hand, a book is easier to read than a web page in most cases. And you can't give webpages as holiday presents to your pointy-haired boss who wants to keep your company's code totally closed. So perhaps there's a market for it after all...
The book contains the essays "A Brief History of Hackerdom", "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", "Homesteading the Noosphere", "The Magic Cauldron", "The Revenge of the Hackers", and "How to Become a Hacker".
Pick this book up at fatbrain.
I'll get it anyway (Score:2)
1. ESR will be in Dublin on Thursday, and I don't feel like having him sign my Palm III.
2. I don't want to use my palm in the bath (so to speak).
3. It looks cool on the bookshelf.
I don't want to start that whole 'books vs virtuality' again, just thought I should mention that I enjoy both.
2 reasons to buy (Score:1)
2. Money for ESR. Remember, this is a _gift_ culture. If he can't feed his family from books, he's going to find some other (possibly not programming) way to do it. Buy the book and kick a few bucks his way.
--
Nice to See this! (Score:1)
But, when it comes to dead trees versions, they have a tendancy to take it more as 'truth' than finding a copy of ESR's essays online at a Linux site. Everyone should buy a copy of this book for Christmas - and give it to the local PHB. Of course, the problem is still to get them to read it, rather than having it on thier shelf as part of the most current wave of 'in vouge' management books. While ESR and his essays are not perfect, TC&TB is excellent.
And personally - I'm going to get myself one for my bookshelf. Not particularly for reference or anything, but instead, so those who enter my office can tell what I support.
I agree (Score:1)
I purchased the "dead tree" version because I sit behind a computer all day long and would prefer to read things like this on the train, or in my living room, rather than at my desk... My employer is probably also glad I bought the book :)
Needless to say.. it's an excellent read.. esp. if you haven't read them before.. Plus the book is cheap ($28.50 CDN taxes and shipping incl from chapters.ca).
Re:2 reasons to buy (Score:1)
You don't need that. I found 40 feet of ethernet cable laying in a clump next to my desk works out just fine.
Nitpicky (Score:2)
I'm not sure I agree with 2. We should buy the book on its merits. If it was well written and interesting, then fine. But I think it is a little dangerous to buy something just because ESR wrote it.
What I get out of ESR's writing is that it is possible to live, make money and feed your family as part of the open source community. Guys like Alan Cox find coding jobs. ESR is living as a consultant and writer. If he succeeds, it shows the OSS model is a success. If we all run out and buy it just because ESR wrote it, it only shows that we really like Eric
(This isn't a flame, I just find hero worship kind of scary)
Dana
ESR will be in Dublin on Thursday... (Score:1)
Off topic I know
I'm assuming you mean Dublin, Ireland, not Dublin Wyoming or whatever
Re:I'll get it anyway (Score:1)
I really need to get my head out of this coding...
The reason to buy the book (Score:2)
Title Sounds like a CS Lewis Story? (Score:3)
And my favorite sound bite would be "Oh Edmund! You killed him! How simply horrid!"
Leading you can drive a truck through . . . (Score:1)
This is the first time i've seen ORA try and do a first run hardcover. Picked it up to flip through (having read most of it already online).
This is a really nitpicky comment, but who the hell typeset this thing? It's awful: huge type + leading (the space between lines) is so wide you could drive a truck through it. I'm figuring they did this to pump up the # of pages so it would feel more substantial in the hand. As it is, reading this thing would give me a headache.
Oh, well, it would have made a really nice, _slim_ volume.
Maybe I'll pick it up in paperback --- if they reset that godawful type..
=moJ
- - - - - -
swagmag.com [swagmag.com]
Re:ESR will be in Dublin on Thursday... (Score:1)
As you may/may not know already Trinity Netsoc have invited open-source
guru, Eric S. Raymond to deliver a talk entitled 'Freedom, Power and
Software' and to sign copies of his new book 'The Cathedral & the Bazaar'.
The talk will be happening on the 25th November in the Walton Theater
(Arts Bulding) at 19:00. Entry is 1 quid for non-member/students and 3
quid for non-member/corporates. A drinks reception will follow in Doyles
pub.
Once again, O'Reilly kicks ass... (Score:1)
Re:ESR will be in Dublin on Thursday... (Score:1)
The talk starts at 7pm on Thursday, with reception to follow in Doyle's Pub.
And the book signing is after the talk. See this page [netsoc.tcd.ie] for more details.
not overnight and great to have in hardcopy (Score:1)
second it's great to get a chance to have esr in archival format -- this book is not disposable like so many bidnez and techie books. after many of our pages have succombed to bit-rot, the book will be in many ways fresh and at the same time historical.
go eric go
Eric Raymond: Male Prostitute? (Score:3)
It would be interesting to see this scenario played out in a court of law:
Judge: The defendant stands accused of soliciting money for sex. How do you plead?
ESR: Your honor, I plead not guilty! My family was starving! My septuplets were crying out from pain of hunger! It was either this or *shudders* accept that position at Microsoft.
Judge: I see your point. Case dismissed. You are free to go.
-A.P. (note for the humor-impaired: this was meant to be taken lightly)
--
"One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad
The book or the web... (Score:2)
But I do plan on buying it, as has been mentioned, so I can give it out for Xmas to PHBs and non-initiated...makes for a nice gift, supports the people that give their time to OSS, and makes people know what I support.
Besides...I like ESR
Vox
Re:Nitpicky (Score:1)
What I think kmcardle [mailto] is saying is that those who read and benefitted from the essay should consider buying the book, even if having it on dead trees isn't strictly necessary.
Slander: Books and Webpages (Score:1)
> I can no longer distinguish between webpages and books.
Books are horrid media. You _must_ be on crack if
you can not distinguish the two.
Moderators: Don't forget to mark this one down
for truthfulness.
Re:Nitpicky (Score:2)
--
The critical review of the key ideas of the book (Score:2)
http://www.softpanorama.org/OSS/second_look_on_th
Here is the abstarct of the paper:
Although this review is to a certain extent a reaction to publishing of The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary (O'Reilly) this paper is to large extent can be considered as a continuation of my paper Open Source Software Development as a Special Type of Academic Research. One of the important aspects of the first part of my paper was critique of the description of the Open Source software (OSS) as a revolutionary phenomenon and argumentation that it is better should be considered as another form of a scientific community. In this paper I would like to concentrate on the Cathedral and the Bazaar (CatB) itself and try to provide an overview of the weaknesses of the paper (the idea of inapplicability of Brooks' Law, the idea that "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow", the view of the source code as the best thing after sliced bread, etc.) as well the more coherent demonstration of the fact that that the bazaar metaphor is internally contradictive and that in some parts Linux can be considered belonging to the Cathedral model, while Microsoft can be considered belonging to the Bazaar model. Complex nature and pitfalls of status competition is discussed. Along with critique of CatB views, more objective picture of the status competition in the OSS environment is provided.
Contents
Introduction
Some vulnerabilities of the key ideas of the Cathedral and the Bazaar
Brooks' Law is no longer applicable in the Internet environment
"Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow"
Does Linux belongs to the Cathedral model or to the Bazaar model ?
Does OSS development model automatically provide the best results?
What is really new in the Linux development model ?
Idealized description of the status competition in the Internet-based developer communities
Hierarchical structure and corresponding distribution of political power in the OSS environment
The possibility of unfair status hierarchies (favoritism)
Poisoning of the peer review process
The danger of overload and burnout
The fear of exclusion as a motivational factor
The possibility of wrong status achievement lines
The role of the press
- Nikolai Bezroukov
Great stealth publicity for Open Source (Score:3)
With the recent publicity and interest in Open Source, people are starting to wonder what it's all about, so if they see a book about the origins of Open Source and the Internet written by one of the original hackers in the creation of the internet, they are quite likely to be interested in buying and reading it.
It will be good to set the record straight that the Web and Internet were created with Open Source software, and were not invented by Microsoft (as Bill Gates keeps trying to assert).
Most non-hackers will be amazed that something as cool as the Internet is based on Open Source software, that cost nothing but the programmers' time and is free to all who want to use it. Okay, we could argue that internet access is not entirely free as there is the ISP subscription and some also have to pay metered connection charges, but that's another debate.
J.
Re:Slander: Books and Webpages (Score:1)
Re:ESR will be in Dublin on Thursday... (Score:1)
(Someone who works in the very real Dublin, California.)
Bad Reviews? (Score:1)
It's /. bias (Score:1)
The reality is that any story praising the Open Source God will get printed. Anything remotely hinting at the slightest sign of critism will get moderated down to -1000.
So, we have the geek world nerding away on /. looking at banner ads for stuff they cant afford whilst the real world simply ignores it.
/. does a great job of giving a site exposure. And the folk at ZD and others milk it for all its worth.
Psst; watch this get moderated down.
Re:Revenge of the hackers? (Score:2)
It was ESR's second essay in Open Sources, and you can read it here [oreilly.com].
--
QDMerge [rmci.net] 0.4!
Re:It's /. bias (Score:2)
Vox
Re:The critical review of the key ideas of the boo (Score:1)
A great resource. It is sad that the OSS community doesn't really believe in critical thinking - instead it exists almost purely on hate. Hate of MS most of all.
The paper above explains many things about what we see around us, and why Linux is so successfult, and why it is not really what ESR dreams about.
ESR has good ideas sometimes, but he is no god, and not a good philosopher. He has few good ideas on how the world works - or why.
Re:Bad Reviews? (Score:2)
Will ORA issue a 2d edition... (Score:2)
Christopher A. Bohn
Re:Slander: Books and Webpages (Score:2)
Re:Bad Reviews? (Score:1)
Because it's no fun to review a book that sucks.
Because it's no fun to see your book reviewed that way.
-russ
Re:The critical review of the key ideas of the boo (Score:1)
Brooks's Law is no longer applicable in the Internet environment.
That is not Raymond's allegation: He claims that debugging is parallelisable in open source. Brooks's famous observation was, of course, that development cannot be parallelised. Raymond nowhere challenged this latter assertion.
-- Rick M.Critic to the critic (Score:1)
--