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<H1 ALIGN=CENTER>The Cathedral and the Bazaar</H1>
<img src="/~esr/graphics/esr1d.png"
align=left
alt="Giving the original Cathedral and Bazaar paper at Linux Kongress, May 1997">
This directory gives you access to almost all of the contents of my
evolving book, <cite>The Cathedral and the Bazaar</cite>. Enjoy --
but be aware that I have sold O'Reilly the exclusive commercial
printing rights.<P>
Note 1: Unfortunately, flat-text and Palm Pilot versions are
temporarily unavailable while problems with the DocBook utility set
are resolved.<P>
Note 2: The organization of this portion of my site changed
drastically in August 2000 when I converted all the masters to DocBook
and pulled all the major components of the book into a common project
directory. URLs pointing to individual papers probably broke.<P>
The papers composing this book (like their topic) are still evolving
as I get more feedback. I made extensive revisions and additions for
the first edition of the book <cite>The Cathedral and the
Bazaar</cite>, and expect to continue adding and revising in future
editions. Even if you've heard me do the stand-up version, you may
want to reread it.<P>
These papers are not `finished', and may never be. Publishing a theory
should not be the end of one's conversation with the universe, but the
beginning. I welcome feedback, suggestions, and corrections and will
incorporate them into future versions.<P>
If you like these papers, you will probably also enjoy my
<a href="/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html">How To Become A Hacker</a> FAQ
(also in the book).<P>
<HR>
<H1>Introduction</H1>
Due to an annoying technical problem with DocBook, you can only
download the DocBook <a href="introduction.sgml">SGML</a> for this
part.<P>
<HR>
<H1>A Brief History of Hackerdom</H1>
My thumbnail sketch of the history of the hacker culture, maintained
since about 1992. I revised, expanded, and HTMLized
for the O'Reilly collection of my essays. The definitive history
of the hacker culture remains to be written, probably not by me.<p>
Here's the <a href="hacker-history/">HTML</a>. You can also
download the original <a href="hacker-history.sgml">SGML</a> or <a
href="hacker-history/hacker-history.ps">Postscript</a>.<P>
<H2>Translations</H2>
<UL>
<LI><a
href="http://www.cs.ucsd.edu/~ycheng/Hacker_History/big5/hacker-history.htm">Chinese (Big 5)</a>
<LI><a
href="http:://www.cs.ucsd.edu/~ycheng/Hacker_History/gb/hacker-history-8.html">
gb coded</a>
<LI><a
href="http://www.linux-france.com/article/these/hackers_history/fr-a_brief_history_of_hackerdom.html">French</a>.
<LI><a href="http://epsenewsc.gee.kyoto-u.ac.jp/JF/JF-ftp/euc/history.euc">
Japanese</a>
<LI><a href="http://www.kazan.lug.ru/articles/esr/hacker-hist.html">
Russian</a>.
</UL>
<HR>
<H1>The Cathedral and the Bazaar</H1>
Here's the <a href="cathedral-bazaar/">HTML</a>. You can also
download the DocBook <a href="cathedral-bazaar.sgml">SGML</a> or <a
href="cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar.ps">PostScript</a>.<P>
You can download RealAudio recordings of the stand-up version of this
talk from the Kongress. I have ISDN-rate samples (9 meg) that you can
<a href="kongress.ram">stream</a> or <a
href="linux1.d50.ra">download</a>. I used to have a 28.8K-sample
version here, but that turned out to be truncated halfway through.<P>
This paper influenced Netscape's decision to release Communicator 5.0
in source, and there are hopeful signs that it may be launching a
long-overdue reliability revolution in the software industry. You can read
<a href="http://www.opensource.org/history.html">the story so far</a>.<P>
<H2>Translations</H2>
<UL>
<LI><a href="http://catb-bg.sourceforge.net">Bulgarian</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.linux.org.tw/CLDP/doc/Cathedral-Bazaar.html">Chinese (Big-5)</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.laisen.dk/opensource/cathedral-bazaar.html">Danish</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.opensource.nl/bazaar.html">Dutch</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.linux-france.org/article/these/">French</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.phone-soft.com/RaymondCathedralBazaar/catb_g.0.html">German</a>.
<LI><a href="http://howto.hellug.gr/howto/pub/html/cathedral-bazaar.html">Greek</A>.
<LI><a href="http://www.apogeonline.com/openpress/doc/cathedral.html">Italian</a>.
<LI><a href="http://tlug.linux.or.jp/docs/cathedral-bazaar/">Japanese</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Union/3590/pt-cathedral-bazaar.html">Portuguese</a>
<LI><a href="http://kldp.org/root/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar.html">Korean</a>.
<LI><a href="http://tfm.profm.ro/diverse/cath/2frames.html">Romanian</a>.
<LI><a href="http://labpar.fcfm.buap.mx/~jsoto">Spanish</a>.
<LI><a href="http://home.swipnet.se/swi">Swedish</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.thai.net/navigate/cathedral14.html">Thai</a>.
</UL>
<H2>Commentary and Argument</H2>
Forrest J. Cavalier III has attempted to elaborate some of CatB's
central ideas in <a href="http://www.mibsoftware.com/bazdev/">Some
Implications of Bazaar Size</a>. Randy Boring has <a
href="http://www.mibsoftware.com/bazdev/0015.htm">replied</a>.<P>
Clay Shirky has expanded on the value of rapid evolution and the
design of systems that encourage it in an excellent paper, <a
href="http://www.shirky.com/OpenSource/evolve.html">In Praise of
Evolvable Systems</a>; also in <a
href="http://www.shirky.com/OpenSource/view_source.html">View Source:
Lessons from the Web's Massively Parallel Development</a><P>
The first critique of this paper to appear, <a
href="http://www.remarque.org/~turner/bazaar-not.html">When a Bazaar
is Not a Bazaar</a>, was thought-provoking but (IMO) basically
wrongheaded. There is <a
href="http://www.alt.net/~lk/cathedral-bazaar.html">better
commentary</a> available, and a very thoughtful critique in <a
href="http://www.illuminata.com/public/content/cathedral/intro.htm">Beyond
the Cathedral, Beyond The Bazaar</a>. <a
href="http://www.cwareco.com/linux_storm.html">The Linux Storm</a>
attempts to situate this paper within a larger analysis.<P>
If you think reading a ludicrously bad critique might be entertaining,
see Nikolai Bezroukov's paper in First Monday. There is a link to it
in <a href="../response-to-bezroukov.html">my response</a>.<p>
Ko Kuwabara's <a
href="http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_3/kuwabara/">Linux: A
Bazaar at the Edge of Chaos</a> comments perceptively on both CatB and
HtN, and further develops some analysis from a point of view rooted in
evolutionary biology and chaos theory. Kuwabara's grasp of economics
is weak; he falls for the `path-dependence' myth, and seems to suffer
from some neo-Marxist misconceptions about what capitalism is.
Fortunately these errors do not affect a really excellent and
illuminating discussion of how Linux bears on the collective-action
theories of Mancur Olson et. al.<p>
There is even an insanely funny parody of CatB,
<a href="http://missoula.bigsky.net/oxymoron/midgetturd.html">The
Circus Midget and the Fossilized Dinosaur Turd</a>. My sides hurt
after reading it.<P>
<HR>
<H1>Homesteading the Noosphere</H1>
In this paper, I examine in detail the property and ownership customs
of the open-source culture. Yes, it does have property customs -- and
rather elaborate ones too, which reveal an underlying gift culture in
which hackers compete amicably for peer repute. This analysis has
large implications for anyone interested in organizing large-scale
intellectual collaborations.<P>
Here's the <a href="homesteading/">HTML</a>. You can also download
the DocBook <a href="homesteading.sgml">SGML</a> or <a
href="homesteading/homesteading.ps">PostScript</a>.<P>
<H2>Translations</H2>
<UL>
<LI><a href="http://linux.okstation.com/raymond/homesteading/">Chinese</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.laisen.dk/opensource/homesteading.html">Danish</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.linux-france.org/article/these/">French</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.phone-soft.com/raymondhomesteading/htn_g.0.html">German</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.apogeonline.com/openpress/doc/homesteading.html">Italian</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.post1.com/home/hiyori13/freeware/noosphere.html">
Japanese</a>.
<LI><a href="http://www.geocities.com/jagem/noosfera.html">Spanish</a>.
</UL>
<H2>Commentary and Argument</H2>
Fare Rideau has developed some
<A HREF="http://www.tunes.org/~fare/articles/">
thoughtful criticism</A> of this paper (and <a
href="http:/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/">The Cathedral and the
Bazaar</a>) from an anti-IPR point of view. I incorporated some of
his analysis into the 1.9 version of the paper.<P>
Russ Allbery has also
<a href="http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/writing/homesteading.html">
commented perceptively</a> on the material.<P>
I have written an essay of <a href="fame.html">fame, ego, and
oversimplification</a> to counter some misinterpretations of HtN.<P>
Lars Risan has written an excellent paper called
<a href="http://www.uio.no/~lrisan/Linux/identity_games.html">
The Identity Games of Hacker Culture</a>. He builds on some ideas in
HtN to propose an account of the social instincts behind cooperative
hacking that relates them to sexual selection and what he calls
``complementary identity games''. This is an impressive piece of
thinking and analysis, the first to my knowledge that begins from my
approach via evolutionary biology but goes genuinely beyond HtN to
propose explanations that were not implicit in my model.<P>
Pat Gratton has tried to fit the hacker psychology as described in HtN
into the conceptual scheme of Jane Jacobs's <cite>Systems of
Survival</cite>; see his page on <a
href="http://www.grist.org/articles/00.10.19_Idealist_Syndrome.html">
Idealist Ethical Syndrome</a>.<p>
<HR>
<H1>The Magic Cauldron</H1>
This paper analyzes the economics of open-source software. It
includes some explosion of common myths about software production
economics, a game-theoretical account of why open-source cooperation
is stable, and a taxonomy of open-source business models.<P>
Here's the <a href="magic-cauldron/">HTML</a>. You can also download
the DocBook <a href="magic-cauldron.sgml">SGML</a> or <a
href="magic-cauldron/magic-cauldron.ps">Postscript</a>.<P>
<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/cb/"><IMG ALIGN=RIGHT
SRC="/~esr/graphics/cb.s.png" ALT="CatB Book Cover" WIDTH="123"
HEIGHT="190"></a> This paper is not `finished', and may never be.
Publishing a theory should not be the end of one's conversation with
the universe, but the beginning. I welcome feedback, suggestions, and
corrections and will incorporate them into the paper. A change log is
included at the end of the paper.<P>
If you like these papers, you will probably also enjoy my
<a href="/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html">How To Become A Hacker</a> FAQ
(also in the book).<P>
<H2>Translations</H2>
Sebastien Blondeel <blondeel@clipper.ens.fr> is working on a
translation of this paper.<p>
Diego Rodrigo has done a <a
href="http://members.xoom.com/drodrigo/magic-cauldron/magic-cauldron.html">
Spanish translation</a>.<p>
There is a <a
href="http://www.post1.com/~hiyori13/freeware/magicpot.html">
Japanese translation</a> by YAMAGATA Hiroo, the same person who did
the excellent Japanese translation of CatB.<p>
There is a
<a href="http://www.oreilly.de/opensource/magic-cauldron/cauldron.g.01.html">
German translation</a> by Reinhard Gantar.<p>
There is an <a
href="http://www.apogeonline.com/openpress/doc/cathedral.html">Italian</a>
translation.<p>
<H2>Commentary and Argument</H2>
I'm not yet aware of any commentary focused on this paper.<p>
<HR>
<H1>The Revenge of the Hackers</H1>
In this essay, I continue the historical narrative into current events.<P>
Here's the <a href="hacker-revenge/">HTML</a>. You can also download
the DocBook <a href="hacker-revenge.sgml">SGML</a> or <a
href="hacker-revenge/hacker-revenge.ps">PostScript</a>.<P>
<HR>
<H1>Afterword</H1>
This is the Author's Afterword from the book.<P>
Here's the <a href="afterword/">HTML</a>. You can also download
the DocBook <a href="afterword.sgml">SGML</a> or <a
href="afterword/afterword.ps">PostScript</a>.<P>
<HR>
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<P><ADDRESS>Eric S. Raymond <A HREF="mailto:esr@thyrsus.com"><esr@thyrsus.com></A></ADDRESS>
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