The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group For the Bookshelf Major Keary

The Cathedral and The Bazaar

The The Cathedral and The Bazaar is one of a growing number of titles that deal with important non-technical topics in which all computer users should take an interest. The term, non-technical, means that the authors of such texts are not delving into code, how hardware works, or how a particular program is put together; "computer users" is employed in its very widest sense to include everyone from scientific researchers through to those who confine themselves to Web browsing or playing games.

There are issues of ethics, performance, privacy, and of the social impact of computer technology at large. There is also a need to record events surrounding the development of technologies; apart from the desirability of having a historical record, there is much to learn from the way things were done - or not done. For example, we might not have been able to enjoy free access to the Web if it had not been for the determination of Tim Berners-Lee, a lesson well worth studying. These titles examine issues and record events.

The term hacker is often used in such literature, and one has to appreciate its intended meaning. "The term 'hacker" has taken on a pejorative meaning because of the much publicised activities of 14-year-olds trying to break into the computers of major corporate and government institutions. In the Linux community, it was a term of respect" [Under the Radar]. Hackers are people who "compete for prestige by giving time, energy, and creativity away" [The Cathedral and The Bazaar].
 
So, getting back to The Cathedral and the Bazaar - first published in 1999 and is now in its second edition - which contains several essays, one of which has become a classic piece of writing and gives the book its title. Eric Raymond, a passionate advocate for open source software, makes an interesting and persuasive analysis of the Linux phenomenon, laying down a number of what he calls `lessons'. I think 'Raymond's Laws' would be more appropriate.
 
If you want to understand what drives the open source movement, and why it is attracting a wide support base - even amongst commercial software vendors - this is essential reading. It is not a glib presentation, nor lectern-thumping by some off-beat evangelist; the essays are well-written (and well annotated for the literati) using language that does not require more than an intelligent interest in the subject. Eric Raymond is a remarkably skilled social observer and deserves to be widely read.
 
One of the book's examples of commercial benefit flowing from open source software is worth repeating. A large network equipment vendor gave two of its programmers the task of writing a distributed print-spooling system for use on the corporate network. The application was very successful, but the programmers realised that it was likely "to rot (that is, . fall out of sync with real-world conditions) . [and the company] was persuaded to release the print-spooler software as open source". The result was that a community of users grew up and many of its members became co-developers, keeping the software current even when the original developers moved on.

Anyone who has a care for the future of the computer and computer software industry, or how knowledge will be controlled (and even misapplied) should read this book.

Under the Radar
 
Written by Robert Young (CEO of Red Hat) and Wendy Rohm (a journalist, and author of The Secret Case Against Bill Gates), this is an account of how open source worked-and is still working-in the development of Linux. It is a very well written account of how Red Hat started as a home-based business to its listing as a public company. A 'good read' and a fascinating record of the events, the book is a great source of quotes, such as, "The world does not need more technology-it needs better solutions". Apart from those interested in the open source movement, students of business administration should find the accounts of Red Hat's financial negotiations useful reading.

Young and Rohm: Under the Radar ISBN 1-57610-506-7  Published by Coriolis,  197 pp., hardcover,  RRP $55.00 incl. GST

How the Web Was Born 

This is a detailed and authoritative account of the foundations, birth, and development of the World Wide Web that focuses on the ideas and efforts, and the people involved. I found the style engaging: the authors strike an remarkable balance between technical detail and plain language in a narrative that quietly captures the reader's attention. In what seems to be one of those politically correct euphemisms, it is "highly accessible"; in short, one does not need a university degree or some special technical background.

There are some delightful snippets to be found along the way, such as that Amstrad is an acronym for Alan Michael Sugar TRADing.
 
The authors of How the Web was Born are well qualified to write on the subject. Dr James Gillies is a science writer/editor at CERN. A theoretical physicist, his doctorate was awarded for experimental work carried out at CERN; he later became Head of Science at the British Council in Paris for five years, returning to CERN in 1995. Robert Cailliau has been at CERN since 1974; he worked as head of CERN's Office Computing Systems Group before joining Tim Berners-Lee in the Web project in 1990.
 
What, one may ask, is CERN? It is an acronym for Conseil Euopéen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, otherwise known as the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and is located in Switzerland.
 
As the authors observe, if it had not been for CERN Tim Berners-Lee's idea would have had nowhere to go. 
The Web did not just happen. Its creator had put a lot of personal time and effort into preliminary design before beginning the process of seeking resources from CERN. Later on he struggled, successfully, to prevent it from becoming a commercial product.
 
The book traces the development of networking and packet switching, the Internet (then ARPANET), and many of the other threads that were finally woven into what we now take for granted. There were other information management initiatives, such as Hyper-G, which is now known as HyperWave and is used in some large intranets in Europe and North America, and they are described.
 
Apart from the detailed narrative, there is an interesting timeline chart, a list of acronyms and abbreviations (that reveals there is another DELPHI: Detector with Lepton, Photon and Hadron Identification), a 'cast of characters' (brief biodata covering the people mentioned in the text), notes, a biblio-graphy, and an extensive index.
 
This is a definitive history, not just of the Web, but of an era and a wide range of important technological developments. It should be in every library as an information resource that is unlikely to be matched. And it's a great story well told.

Gillies and Cailliau: How the Web was Born ISBN 0-19-286207-3 Published by Oxford,  372 pp.,  RRP $32.95 incl. GST

E-Motional Business

E-Motional Business examines the subject of how humans and technology co-exist in the e-business world. Written by Nicola Phillips, a consultant and author on innovation and change, the book makes eye-catching use of typographic design. It certainly attracts attention, but I'm not sure that it makes the text any more readable. Even if you are not particularly interested in the subject matter, the graphic design is worth examining.

The author makes much use of quotes from other people - some of whom some readers will find obscure - that provides a handy pool to draw on for one's own presentations. Her own writing, just as that of McLuhan, is eminently quotable; her paragraphs are free standing, articulate statements. In a discussion of the practice of harvesting information about visitors to Web sites she writes, 
"Of course, E-commerce companies call this part of the relationship-building process. I am not aware of many long-term relationships that are built by one of the parties collecting data on the other without them knowing".
 
The book is not presented in academic style; it is a series of pithy observations and opinions about a world that is enveloping all of us-but more particularly, corporate employees-whether we like it or not. If you work in what is becoming known as e-business, this is essential reading.
 
Anyone with an interest in the social impact of digital technology should read this book. It is worth considering for business management course reading, and teachers and students of graphics communications should find the design an interesting subject for discussion.

Nicola Phillips: E-Motional Business ISBN 0-272-65019-X Published by FT.com,  211 pp. with index,  RRP $39.95 incl. GST

The Death of Privacy

Database Nation - The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century, written by Simson Garfinkel, is about the technology-led erosion of privacy. Even though the author is addressing an American audience, his message is universal.
 
The picture presented in the book is disturbing, and much of the problem stems from computer-related technologies-particularly the capacity to store and retrieve massive amounts of data. It is not just governments, but private organisations that engage in the harvesting of private information.
 
Garfinkel's book is a timely reminder of what is happening, and where we are headed unless ordinary people exercise vigilance. Government and corporate intrusion need to be controlled, but use of private information for criminal or malicious purposes also poses a serious threat. The author alerts us to the dangers and proposes some counter measures.
 
The scope of his revelations is remarkable, revealing an army of (largely corporate and government) snoopers who are busily recording information about citizens in various databases, and how the establishment looks after its own. President Bush (the father, not George W.) put through the Video Privacy Act 1988 following disclosure of the video rental record of one of his judicial appointees. Of immediate interest to computer users is a discussion of how your computer can be turned against you.

Simson Garfinkel: Database Nation ISBN 0-596-00105-3 Published by O'Reilly,  312 pp.,  RRP $42.95 incl. GST

  Reprinted from the June 2001 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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