The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary

by Eric S. Raymond

The proprietary-Unix players proved so ponderous, so blind, and so inept at marketing that Microsoft was able to grab away a large part of their market with the shockingly inferior technology of its Windows operating system.

stroking them whenever they sent in patches

60% to 75% of conventional software projects either are never completed or are rejected by their intended users.

I found myself leading a parade that featured cheeky placards and an American flag and a rather large plastic penguin, booming out “May the Source be with you!”

Linux will continue to lead the way, the sheer size of its developer community overpowering the higher average skill of the open-source BSD people and the tiny HURD crew. ISV

Hackers (and creative people in general) should never be bored or have to drudge at stupid repetitive work, because when this happens it means they aren’t doing what only they can do — solve new problems. This wastefulness hurts everybody. Therefore boredom and drudgery are not just unpleasant but actually evil.

Visual Basic is especially awful. The fact that it’s a proprietary Microsoft language is enough to disqualify it, and like other Basics it’s a poorly-designed language that will teach you bad programming habits.

I’m having problems with my Windows software. Will you help me? Yes. Go to a DOS prompt and type “format c:”.