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Summary: A successful method for collaborative innovation
Review: Having struggled for many years to force developers to use software development processes that were intrinsically limiting and disheartening because they did not allow people to do what they new to be right. I was tremendously relieved to see how software can come together using this style of development. Not only does it work it also makes people feel proud of their work and committed to producing high quality deliverables.The sooner software development professionals accept that their vocation is a craft and will never be an engineering discipline the better for all of us. When we start to treat developers with the respect deserved by craftsmen and give them the autonomy they desire we will start to see software that actually does what it is supposed to do with a high level of quality. This book talks about these issues and many more. If you develop software you cannot afford to ignore it. But more importantly this book talks about a successful method for collaborative innovation. Which should exite anyone who needs to harness creativity.
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Summary: Open source is a joke...
Review: I don't see how or why this author is so big in the Open Source community. This collection of his opinions is uneducated and insufferable. Why should we take for gospel what he writes? The book's essays have no sense of cohesion (what's with the essay on how to be a hacker? If I were a programmer, I'd care, but I'm not so why is it in here?). His first few essays summarize the book: Hacker: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy. Was hugely disappointed that O'Reilly saw fit to publish this.
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Summary: I could not put it down!
Review: I read it in one evening. It was extremely well written. Eric Raymond is a hacker with a tremendous command of the English language. He imparts information and his beliefs in a way that even non-geeks should understand. I gave it to my boss and he was fascinated also. This book is an important work that juxtaposes the traditional "Cathedral" style of software development (i.e. Microsoft) with the contemorary "Bazaar" style in which open source software is written (i.e. Linux). It explains how hackers all over the world somehow came together to form a formidable revolution of open source software. Linus Torvalds started it. Eric Raymond explained it. Long live the revolution! I have been using Linux for 2 years so I am partial of course. But ask yourself - Why would you pay for mediocre software, created by good people with bad deadlines, when you can get better software, created by good people for the love of it, for free, that is better supported?
Rating: 
Summary: Great read
Review: I read this last weekend, and it was very interesting to see where Linux is going. We can't always pay for commercial software in Mexico, so we use Linux alot. Viva open source!
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Summary: Excellent - I'm reading it for the second time
Review: I recommend this book highly! It seemed to fill in a lot of holes that I had with the whole free / open source movement. The book it very easy to read and I even said the wife would like it, but if it has the word "computer" in it she stays away. Don't make the same mistake she is the book is a easy read and kept my interest, so much so I'm going through it agian, something I usally only do for highly technical books, this is just enjoyable reading.
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Summary: Great read, even for non-techies
Review: I was required to read this book for a college course and thought, "Oh great, another long, boring book with a language so technical that I'll be lost for sure." That wasn't the case, however. The Cathedral and the Bazaar is a quick, easy, informative, and excellent read for anyone remotely interested in the internet community. I was amazed at the complex set of rules that govern hackers' "gift culture" society, and how much many of us rely on the fantastic world of open-source software. Also, anyone who doesn't yet know the difference between "good" and "bad" hackers (or didn't even know there was a difference) will soon find out by reading this book. The open-source software community is a fascinating place, and this text is definately worth a look.
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Summary: These essays are very insightful
Review: I'll admit at the top that I haven't read this book, but I have read the essays that make it up. If you haven't read them on-line or care to keep a copy for yourself, get this book. ESR creates a compelling description of what propels the Open Source movement forward. I learned a lot by reading these essays. This is essential reading if you are at all interested in linux or the open source community.
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Summary: Murky intrigue
Review: I'm a linux newbie, and I found this book to be revealing and intriguing, but often murky as well. I like the way the author gets down to business in regard to what computing is all about: program languages talking to hardware. He explains how hackers (as opposed to crackers) have been playing with computers before there were PCs or Macs. Having worked as a PC\LAN technician for the past eight years, I found Raymond's hacker viewpoint to be a unifying thread through the current maze of operating systems, networking and hardware. Because his explanations aren't vendor-specific, I don't have to spend days poring over manuals and web pages - just hours. Additionally, Raymond's explanation of the open source movement and its relation to the information tech industry cuts through the fog of white papers and propaganda from Microsoft, Novell, Cisco, etc. For example, I didn't realize that 60% of the internet servers actually run on Apache software. The only drawback to this book is that Raymond himself can be foggy. His writing style can lapse into long collections of words like: "Most people have an intuitive model of cooperative behavior that goes much like this. It's not actually a good diagnosis of the economic problems of open-source, which are free-rider (underprovision) rather than congested-public-good (overuse). Nevertheless, it is the analogy I hear behind most off-the-cuff objections." What the hell does that mean, Eric? Surely, clarity is a virtue to be cultivated in both programming AND documentation. It's worth noting that Mr. Raymond is the most obscure when discussing business and financial implications of the open source movement. Still, the book has helped me a lot, which is why it rates four stars.
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Summary: Good book, very excellent points
Review: It's a very good book, it's a book that I'd recommend to all the (major) hackers that I know. I'm sure that this is quite obvious, in that this book is mainly good reading for hackers or hackers-to-be, but I would just like to restate that you would most benefit from this book if you also already have an open source project, or is thinking of open sourcing a project that you have running.
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Summary: Well done -- even better in print.
Review: Not being a highly-technically minded person myself but having been a spectator of the open source phenomenon for the last several years, I found this collection to be enjoyable as well as quite interesting and informative reading. Having read the original essay online (go find the URL yourself), I enjoy the portability and ease of use to the eyes, that comes with the offline version.
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