Just for Fun

Just for Fun - What a freak, the computer world has revolutionized (Original Title: Just for Fun - The story of an accidental revolutionary ) is the title of a book by Linus Torvalds and David Diamond on the history and development of the operating system kernel, Linux, and which constitutes a kind of biography Torvalds. The original English edition appeared in 2001.

The book begins with the first experiences with computers, which made Torvalds as a child, talks about the first contacts with UNIX and very detailed about the first steps on the way to the new operating system. However, many questions will be answered, including how it came to the Linux name or why Torvalds decided to publish the system under the GPL, so that quotes from this book are often found when these issues are discussed ( See also History of Linux).

Is interrupted the narrative flow of parts of different length about conversations between the authors or activities during writing, which are unlike the rest of the book is written from the point of view of Diamond. He tries to draw a picture of the private man Torvalds and his family.

There are issues in many different languages ​​(including Finnish and Swedish). It was on the bestseller list of TIME.

Expenditure

English editions

  • Hardcover: ISBN 0-06-662072-4
  • Paperback: ISBN 0-06-662073-2
  • Audio cassette ( abridged): ISBN 0-694-52539-1
  • Audio CD ( abridged): ISBN 0-694-52544-8

German editions

  • Hardcover: Hanser Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-446-21684-7
  • Dtv Paperback: 6th edition, 2010, ISBN 3-423-36299-5

Reviews

  • Ingrid rated Hielle of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the intention of Linus Torvalds, " to make a book that would make him even in the drafting and the reader in the reading fun," " a " fun book, as " successful".
  • For Mark Mathys of Scientific American, the book is " certainly not tailored for geeks, but for the interested layman ." Mathys praises that a " good index " is present, but commented that a bibliography commands.
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