Linux.com: Book Review: Rebel Code: Inside the Linux and Open Source Revolution

“The question is, how did Stallman do it? And more importantly,
what took place in the time period from the proposal, “information
wants to be free,” through seeing the adoption of this ideal by
behemoths such as IBM?”

“In his book Rebel Code: Inside the Linux and Open Source
Revolution, Glyn Moody attempts to answer these questions while
chronicling the revolution Richard Stallman started. Published by
Perseus Publishing, this book has an attractive dust cover with
penguins interspersed with 0’s and 1’s, certain to grab the
attention of any computer enthusiast or Linux user. According to
the cover, “Glyn is a London based writer who has tracked, written
and used Linux since nearly its inception.” It becomes immediately
apparent to the reader that Moody has done his homework.”

“Rebel Code takes a moment to introduce the main characters
before backtracking to the foundation that was laid years before.
Moody rightfully acknowledges Levy’s Hackers and proceeds to fill
in the years between Hackers and the rise of Linux and most
importantly, what Stallman and the GNU project did during those
years from 1984 to 1991.”

“Moody’s painstaking research of newsgroups, mailing lists, and
interviews with the personalities of the GNU/Linux revolution pays
off. Rebel Code touches upon everything from the rise of the World
Wide Web and the web browser, coining the term “Open Source,” to
the history and importance of Samba, to Netscape’s and IBM’s
decision to join the Cause. Rebel Code is a complete and very
accurate history and “Who’s who?” of personalities, history, and
projects that have put Linux and free software in the position they
are in today.”

Complete
Story