In The Beginning

In the Beginning...Was the Command Line; Neal Stephenson (Avon Books; 1999; ISBN 0-380-81593-1; cover artist unknown).

I started re-reading this just yesterday as I wanted some of Stephenson's humor but did not feel like starting to read or re-read one of the door stoppers that he usually writes. A funny, and short (for his usual length, this is more like a chapter than a whole book) trip down computer culture and technology with looks at Apple and Microsoft, shades of Unix, and even mentions of companies now lost (or at least lost to the public eye) such as Next and Be.

Humorous stuff, some good observations about culture in general and something to read while you are wondering if you'll be laid off today. Well, maybe not the third for most of the audience. Go to my link, above, and you'll even find the book online (free).

Maybe it is time to visit Eric S. Raymond again.

(Heavens. Reading some of Stephenson's stuff makes me realize how much trouble Microsoft is in...I mean, if my mother is asking me if a Linux-based computer is the way she should go...maybe it is time for the Mothership to activate those alarms that Stephenson talks about that say IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH IN MARKET SHARE, BREAK GLASS.)