Revolution OS

From Driscollwiki

Moore, J.T.S. (2001). Revolution OS. Wonderview Productions, LLC.

Contents 1 ESR 2 Homebrew Computer Club 3 Distinguishing hackers from others 4 Hackers' drive to fix, open and fix 5 GNU founding myth 5.1 Losing control of terms 5.1.1 Free software 5.1.2 Hacker 6 Linux founding myth 7 Hacker entrepreneur 8 Open Source Def Rights 9 Linux user groups (LUG)

ESR

Upon meeting Craig Mundie "Some big mucky muck at Microsoft" "What do you do?" "New york type, guy in a suit looking at a scruffy hacker" "I'm your worst nightmare"

Homebrew Computer Club

Gates "open letter to hobbyists"

• Volume 2 Issue 1
• "a hobby computer"
• "a hobby market"

Not an open letter to hackers

• Is there a hacker market?
• Do hackers buy software?
• Is this letter a fair address to hackers of the time?

Distinguishing hackers from others

• "Hackers and hobbyists"
• "Hackers and programmers"

Hackers' drive to fix, open and fix

• What context?
• Why did hobbyists develop differently?
  • There was no hacker market? There was academic
  • Consider distinction of "real world" in the jargon file
• GNU founding vision (CS labs) is not Linux vision (home computing)

GNU founding myth

• (AT&T) UNIX is "useless to the community"
• Sharing, freedom
  • Free speech, beer distinction
  • Software freedoms enable users to "form a community"
• Utility
• Replacing the utilities of UNIX piece-by-piece
  • Missing kernel
• gcc, gnu c compiler
  • tiemans from cygnus
  • augustin, VA linux
    • working off of DEC and Sun machines at Stanford
    • downloading software for DEC + Sun machines from GNU
• GPL
  • copyleft hack
  • defensive move
• "One big hack"
  • Clever way to change society for the better

Losing control of terms

Free software

• "Free" ambiguity
• Re-termed to interface with
  • Businesses
  • "Real world"
• Ported to "open source"
• Did this tension clarify Free Software?
  • RMS: "Community", "Freedom"
  • Perens: "FS camp is scared by commercialization"
    • Resistance to mainstreaming

Hacker

• Security

Linux founding myth

• Torvalds wants to mimic lab computing environment (hacker) on home computer (hobbyist)
• Taking a proven approach to monolithic kernel design
  • GNU Hurd microkernel was difficult to debug and they never completed it
• Was linux kernel a hobbyist project?
  • GNU a hacker project?
• RMS: "Linux filled a gap in the GNU system"
• LT: "Programs take advantage of linux, linux takes advantage of them ... especially
• Linus was inspired by free software and the gpl
  • Embedded in hacker myth ("x has to be there. it's unix. it's the law.")
• Augustin: Emphasis on grad students WORKING AT HOME
  • Sun SPARCStations at Stanford (~$7000)
  • Home computer (~$2000) 1-2x speed, 1/4 price
• Emphasis on "distributions", collections of free software
  • ESR, 1993, acquiring first CDROM distribution

Hacker entrepreneur

• GNU/Linux businesses from ERL
• Tiemans, Cygnus, Consulting, services
  • Introducing competition to the software support marketplace
• RMS: "Community" is of greater worth than the profits of software
• LT: Linux commercialization allows people to "get paid" to work on something they enjoy

Open Source Def Rights

What constitutes "open source"?

• Free distribution
• Source attached
• Derivations permitted
• Integrity of author's source code
• No discrim against ppl or groups
• No discrim against fields of endeavor
• Distributable license
• License not specific to the system
• License can't contaminate other software
• + List of compatible license (GPL, BSD)

Linux user groups (LUG)

• Building social networks
• Linux has hobbyist clubs
  • Why no hacker, gnu clubs?
• F2F relationships, installfests
  • Manifest in Windows Refund Day
  • Widespread consumer activism