The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric S. Raymond

[madman118]

I picked this book up while tearing through the library looking for a C reference book. Anyway to make a long story short he uses a really interesting analogy to compare open and closed source software development. Open source being similar to a bazaar, with no formal structure but still quite prosperous. And closed source as a stone walled cathedral with a very strict hierarchy. There's lots more great stuff in there, and It's a great book for anybody looking to get into or even understand open source software development.
Anybody else read it?

[Barrucadu]

I've read it online, though I want a hard copy at some point.

[t0p]

It's a classic. Meaning very, very old. But still valid in parts.

I wouldn't bother buying a hard copy though. It isn't something I'd want to re-read too often.

[speedwell68]

It's a classic. Meaning very, very old. But still valid in parts.

Hasn't it been updated several times since it was originally published.

[handy]

You will find the movie Revolution OS, available on google vid'.

The movie has a pile of key players in the development of GNU/FOSS/& Linux involved, it really is a great movie to watch, it goes hand in hand with the book.

Eric Raymond is in the first frames. :D

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7707585592627775409#

[Edit:] Eric Raymond talks about the book in the documentary also.

[Keyper7]

Anyway to make a long story short he uses a really interesting analogy to compare open and closed source software development. Open source being similar to a bazaar, with no formal structure but still quite prosperous. And closed source as a stone walled cathedral with a very strict hierarchy.

Calling the bazaar model open-source and the cathedral model closed-source is misleading. Both are free software models and therefore open-source. The difference being that in the bazaar model you have a repository available during the entire development process and in the cathedral model you release the source along with each release.

It's more about the code being available widely and early than simply being available.

But yeah, excellent book. It was the book that ultimately convinced the Netscape developers to start the Mozilla project.