“…After more than three years of silence, an elusive
consortium calling itself the DevTeam had just released a new build
of the fantasy role-playing game Nethack, version 3.3.0.”
“The post might seem especially odd for a site that usually
devotes any game coverage to eyeball extravaganzas like Quake III.
After all, Nethack has been around for nearly 15 years and doesn’t
require a soundcard, a 3D graphics card or even a VGA monitor.
Indeed, the entire game is usually played with graphics no more
ambitious than ASCII text.”
“But as any hacker worth the title will tell you, Nethack is
still one of the best games ever made. What’s more, it’s one of
the best open-source games ever made — meaning anyone who cares
can grab ahold of the game’s source code and make changes and
improvements. The player’s guide is even authored by none
other than open-source ontologist Eric S. Raymond, perhaps best
known for his essay, “The Cathedral and the Bazaar,” in which he
argues that the open-source software methodology produces
technically superior software — a line of thought that is
intellectual kindling for the Linux firestorm now raging through
Wall Street.”