Challenging conventional ideas on business and innovation
10/23/2000
It was just a computer operating system created by a weary graduate student/hacker named Linus Torvalds. How did it come to be a competitor to Microsoft's ubiquitous Windows? Free for All: How Linux and the Free Software Movement Undercut the High-Tech Titans chronicles the evolution of Linux and the open source software movement. Wayner, a frequent contributor on technology issues to the New York Times and Salon magazine, delves into the hacker culture that is inextricably linked to the emergence of the free software movement. Characterized by cooperation and sharing without regard for profit, this culture fostered a product that challenged the industry standard. The open source phenomenon defies conventional ideas on innovation and business, and Wayner's account is a compelling and thought-provoking examination of its rise.