Open source provides the competitive advantage in the Internet Age. According to the August Forrester Report, 56 percent of IT managers interviewed at Global 2,500 companies are already using some type of open source software in their infrastructure and another 6 percent will install it in the next two years. This revolutionary model for collaborative software development is being embraced and studied by many of the biggest players in the high-tech industry, from Sun Microsystems to IBM to Intel. The Cathedral & the Bazaar is a must for anyone who cares about the future of the computer industry or the dynamics of the information economy. Already, billions of dollars have been made and lost based on the ideas in this book. Its conclusions will be studied, debated, and implemented for years to come. According to Bob Young, "This is Eric Raymond's great contribution to the success of the open source revolution, to the adoption of Linux-based operating systems, and to the success of open source users and the companies that supply them." The interest in open source software development has grown enormously in the past year. This revised and expanded paperback edition includes new material on open source developments in 1999 and 2000. Raymond's clear and effective writing style accurately describing the benefits of open source software has been key to its success. With major vendors creating acceptance for open source within companies, independent vendors will become the open source story in 2001.

世界各地成千上万的程序员提供了可免费使用的源代码：这就是被称为Open Source的软件革命的精神。如今，Open Source的领袖们第一次聚集到一起，讨论他们所开创的这个软件产业的未来前景。本书中的这些短文透析了Open Source的工作方式、其成功的原因，以及Open Source将去向何方。对于致力于Open Source项目的那些程序员来说，Open Source是一种新的信仰；这项运动的精神领袖们为这些程序员描绘了一幅美好的前景。对于将Open Source软件集成到企业运作中的那些公司来说，Open Source揭示了开放式开发如何能够构建出更好的软件，并揭示出企业如何利用这些免费的软件来取得商业竞争上的优势。对于今天的程序员来说，下面这些计算机高手是他们的偶像，这些人开发出了很多软件，包括：世界上最流行和Web服务器软件——Apache；除Redmond之外增长最快的操作系统——Linux；世界上最好的编辑器——Emacs；以及世界上最流行的脚本语言——Perl 对于企业的管理层和投资方来说,这场革命的先驱们带来了一种全新的经济模式,如Red Hat公司的总裁;Cygnus公司的合伙创始人；Netscape公司客房服务部的副总裁；以及Mozilla.org的管理者。从Eric Raymond到Bruce Perens，从Tim OReilly到Richard Stallman，这些梦想家们正在使得Open Source革命站在高科技产业的最前沿。随着本书的第一次印刷，读者将能够看到他们对当今现状的分析，以及对未来的展望。

哲人石丛书·当代科普名著系列。 一场革命——在未来甚至可能将强大的微软公司拖下王位的革命——正在横扫软件领域。比尔·盖茨通过Windows系统对软件产业的统治，正面临有史以来最强有力的挑战。一个无法用任何传统的公司霸权模式收买、控制或打击的全新的竞争对手已横空出世。它的名字就叫：Linux。 本书讲述的是一群来自世界各地，具有奉献精神的软件高手们，利用业余时间，开发一套堪与微软的Windows系统相媲美的“开放”操作系统的故事。作者通过妙趣横生的讲解，向读者介绍了这样一套任何人都可以免费下载使用的操作系统，是如何在程序员中间激起一场平民运动，并在软件产业界引发一场革命的。 本书走进幕后，向我们展示了这场革命众多领袖人物的风采，其中包括自由软件基金会的创始人理查德·斯托尔曼和Linux的缔造者利努斯·托瓦尔兹。你可以从中了解到他们如何以及为何要免费发布自己编写的代码，从而威胁到大公司的霸权，并催生出一个从事Linux产品开发的全新产业。 Linux的故事刚刚开始。这里拉开的就是这部传奇故事的第一幕。

The intersection of ethics, law, business and computer software is the subject of these essays and speeches by MacArthur Foundation Grant winner, Richard M. Stallman. This collection includes historical writings such as The GNU Manifesto, which defined and launched the activist Free Software Movement, along with new writings on hot topics in copyright, patent law, and the controversial issue of "trusted computing." Stallman takes a critical look at common abuses of copyright law and patents when applied to computer software programs, and how these abuses damage our entire society and remove our existing freedoms. He also discusses the social aspects of software and how free software can create community and social justice. Given the current turmoil in copyright and patent laws, including the DMCA and proposed CBDTPA, these essays are more relevant than ever. Stallman tackles head-on the essential issues driving the current changes in copyright law. He argues that for creativity to flourish, software must be free of inappropriate and overly-broad legal constraints. Over the past twenty years his arguments and actions have changed the course of software history; this new book is sure to impact the future of software and legal policies in the years to come. Lawrence Lessig, the author of two well-known books on similar topics, writes the introduction. He is a noted legal expert on copyright law and a Stanford Law School professor.

开源软件是当今计算机工业界最具活力的领域，例如Linux这个公开了源代码的UNIX 操作系统在服务器市场上已经与许多大公司的产品分庭抗礼，而且日趋上风。Tim O＇Reilly 先生曾说过一句名言：“开源软件是计算机工业最宝贵的财富”。 　　这部著作收录了全球各位著名的开源软件运动的先锋（Brian Behlendorf，Larry Wall， Linus Torvalds，Tim O＇Reill

This text interweaves biographical snapshots of GNU project founder Richard Stallman with the political, social and economic history of the free software movement. Starting with how it all began - a desire for software code from Xerox to make the printing more efficient - to the continuing quest for free software that still exists today. The goal of the book is to document how Stallman's own personal evolution has done much to shape notions of what free software is and should be. Like Alan Greenspan in the financial sector, Stallman has assumed the role of tribal elder in a community that bills itself as anarchic and immune to central authority. This book looks at how the latest twists and turns in the software marketplace have done little to throw Stallman off his pedestal. Discover how Richard's childhood and teenage experiences as well as his years at Harvard and MIT made him the man he is today. The book's narrative style includes many quotes from Richard and his mother about his life, education, and work providing a look at RMS and Free Software Foundation (FSF). Throughout the book are insights from FSF supporters, detractors, the early MIT hackers, and those who knew him in high school and college. If anything, the current software marketplace has made Stallman's logic-based rhetoric and immovable personality more persuasive. In a rapidly changing world people need a fixed reference point, and Stallman has become that reference point for many in the software world.

为什么微软公司的管理层晚上睡觉的时候会担心一个长发的、名叫Richard Stallman的反叛高手？为什么世界最聪明的程序员都尊敬地将此人称为“St.Ignucius”?这样一个倔强的、少年老成的男孩是如何迷恋于开发出能打败软件巨人的优秀产品的？本书就将跟随着这位古怪天才的革命之路，看看他如何从一个孤僻的开才到流浪十年，最终成为受人尊敬又饱受非议的改革者。通过全方位地接触Stallman、他的家庭、追随他的程序高手和业界勾勒了了一位改变了世界的自由斗士的肖像。没有人会对这位备受争议的自由软件基金会的创始人无动于衷。作为优秀的程序员，MacArthur天才奖获得者，自称自闭症边缘人士，Stallman是这场通过彻底改变软件游戏规则来击败微软件的斗争中的开路先锋。对于Stallman来说，自由软件只是一种精神上的需要。自从1980年遇到非免费的打印机软件开始，他就将自己的一生投入到消灭私有代码的斗争中去。在救世主意愿的驱使下，再加上他世界级的编程水准，以及不可思议的号召力，Stallman的自由运动获得了每一位程序员的支持。1983年，Stallman发布了GNU Maniffesto，发起了一个大胆的项目，目的是开发出一种免费的用于替代Unix操作系统的产品。而且他在他自己的软件许可（即GPL，General Public License）中插入copyleft一词，从而他向传统的知识产权系统发起了挑战。微软公司的首席技术官员Craig Mundie称此举是“对独立商用软件构成的根本性破坏。”这本煽动性的编年史以一种新的视角让其崇拜者和反对者重新认识这位神秘的高科技罗宾汉，让读者重新理解他当初要重塑软件产业未来的诺言。资深自由作者Sam Williams花了很多年的时间来研究高技术产业的未来，特别关注了软件开发问题。他为Upside Today和BeOpen.com等出版物撰写固定的专栏。他还是Arguing A.I.:The Battle for Twenty-First Century Science一书的作者。

理查德·马修·斯托曼（Richard Matthew Stallman，简称RMS）是自由软件之父，他是自由软件运动的精神领袖、GNU计划以及自由软件基金会的创立者。作为一个著名的黑客，他的主要成就包括Emacs及后来的GNU Emacs、GNU C 编译器及GDB 调试器。他编写的GNU通用公共许可证（GNU GPL）是世上最广为采用的自由软件许可证，为copyleft观念开拓出一条崭新的道路。 本书用叙事体的风格，讲述了理查德·斯托曼的成长经历和传奇人生。本书记录了斯托曼从一名黑客成为自由软件的倡导者，并发起自由软件运动的成长经历。作者通过接触斯托曼本人、他的家庭、追随他的程序高手以及IT产业界，以全新的视角和丰富的笔触，塑造了这位软件产业界的“罗宾汉”的形象；由此也帮助读者了解他所倡导的自由软件运动的缘起、理念和发展历史。

本书分为五章，详细地介绍了关于一场革新的便笺、前言：生活的意义、一个书呆子的诞生、大鼻子的孩子、外公的计算机、芬兰的严冬、我的家族、中学时代、长大成人、爱洗桑拿的国家、一种操作系统的诞生、昨天的电脑、上大学、从UNIX开始、第一台386和终端仿真、编程的美妙、开始编程、长腿的终端仿真器、寻求网上帮助等。