This week we feature an interview with Glyn Moody, the author of the very popular book, Rebel Code. What I learned from reading this book was that Linux and Open Source powers 80% of the e-mail and 60% of the websites. And I also learned that free software has a completely different definition from what people that write books think and network administrators. This book covers the entire history of Linux and Linus Torvald the original creator. It also interviews fifty other pioneers, all key players that have made major contributions, keeping the Rebel Code alive. Regardless of your preferred computer operating system, this book will help you understand the evolution of Linux and its impact on other systems. I liked this book and contacted Glyn Moody and asked him several very direct questions about his motivation for writing it and where he sees the future of Linux and its supporters.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
The title Rebel Code is a very powerful title, how did you come up with it.

Glyn Moody:
I agree it's a great title - and I can say this in all modesty, because it was my editor who came up with it.  I don't know where she got it from.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
What first interested you about Linux?

Glyn Moody:
I have been writing about the Internet since early 1994 - in fact my weekly column on the subject has been going over eight years without a break now.  Inevitably, if you spend much time exploring the Internet, you soon bump into GNU/Linux and open source.

Since, to my shame, I hadn't really encountered the ideas of free software before that, I was naturally intrigued by this completely alternative approach to software development.  The more I looked into it, the more amazing the story became, especially in terms of free software's contribution to the Internet itself.  The combination of unusual dynamics with a tangible achievement was something that cried out for further investigation.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
Do you think Linux's popularity is attributed to Microsoft's unpopular marketing practices?

Glyn Moody:
I think that this is becoming more of a reason following the recent changes in Microsoft's licensing approach, which have outraged many people in the business world.  But before that, I think the main drivers of GNU/Linux's popularity have been quite different, and go to the heart of why it is an important phenomenon, and not just the latest flash in the pan like push technologies or portals.

I believe that programmers were particularly attracted by the emphasis on quality and stability - in stark contrast to Microsoft's marketing-driven approach.  Basically, GNU/Linux is good code that simply gets better. Moreover, it gets better because the source is freely available, and anyone can contribute.  Again, both of these aspects appeal strongly to most programmers' sense of the "doing the right thing", and to the belief that people should be judged by their achievements, not who they are, or who they work for.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
Technology is typically driven by capitalism. The need for advancement is dependant on creating new market shares. If all software was free open source, do you think that hardware and software would grow at a much slower speed, and if not why?

Glyn Moody:
Capitalism has become the main driving force for technology only relatively recently.  Taking a broader perspective, you can see that technology was driven in many other ways in the past: for example, sheer necessity in the early days of mankind, and later on, by the need to develop better weapons etc.  And even today, capitalism is only part of the story.  Indeed, one of the things I wanted to get across in my book was the extraordinary range of motivations for writing free software.

For example, one comparison I make is with artists.  Typically musicians, say, are not driven to create simply by a desire to get rich.  History is full of examples of musicians at all levels creating simply for the love of creation.  Some may get rich in the process, but the ones who do not often manage to create despite their poverty.

Similarly, in the world of software, I can foresee the day when most software is written by people because they enjoy hacking code - as with open source.  Many people will still earn a living writing software, just as many musicians manage to earn a living playing or writing music, but some probably won't earn as much as they do today.

Programmers who do want to earn well will simply gravitate to those parts of the software industry that are prepared to pay well - just as some composers turn to film music or writing top ten hits.  This would probably involve writing the kind of programs that many coders would consider too boring.  So there will be a spectrum of programmers, some of whom do it
for love, others purely for money, and most in between.

Hardware is different, because it is generally capital intensive. The dynamics of open source do not really apply here, and I don't expect hardware to take this route.  However, Moore's Law and the rest will ensure that hardware costs continue to fall to the point where they are effectively zero in comparison to the cost of managing the hardware and software (even when the latter is free).  This is another reason why programmers will still get paid - not so much to write software as to tweak it when it doesn't work well in a particular situation.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
Many Microsoft Certified Professionals have felt betrayed in reason years by Microsoft's decision to retire the NT 4 MCSE to help market their new product line. How much of an influence do you think this has been on Linux's recent up surge?

Glyn Moody:
I think it is all part and parcel of Microsoft's arrogance that is simply giving programmers yet another reason to try alternatives.  The main reasons people are turning to GNU/Linux are that it is fine software, it is completely open, and it gives users control over their own destiny. Even the nominal zero price tag is marginal compared to these, and so is a sense of betrayal felt by programmers.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
What kind of influence has Sun Microsystems made on Linux if any?

Glyn Moody:
Sun's case is fascinating.  In the early days it was pretty hostile to GNU/Linux - especially when people started porting it to the Solaris platform.  More recently, it has seen its market share eroded by the uptake of GNU/Linux on the Intel platform.  But it has also noted that GNU/Linux is the only serious alternative to Microsoft Windows.  As a result, it has slowly but surely shifted its position, until we have now the situation where there is even something called Sun Linux.

But Sun still has a long way to go before it fully accepts the impact of GNU/Linux on its business model.  However, I predict that eventually it will have to do an IBM in this respect: it will fully embrace GNU/Linux as its main operating system, and gradually add features from Solaris into Sun Linux.  Either Sun becomes an open source company - as IBM is fast doing - or it will simply wither away just as Novell's networking withered in the face of the open TCP/IP standards.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
What kind of feedback have you gotten from loyal Linux users?

Glyn Moody:
One of things I was most worried about when writing Rebel Code was that there might be some tidal wave of outrage that I had got things wrong, or misrepresented the community in some terrible way.  After all, the GNU/Linux flamers are not famous for restraining themselves in this respect.

In the event I was lucky: aside from a couple of emails pointing out typographical errors and tiny slips, all of the feedback I have received - from the highest levels of the free software world to the broad base of users - has been extremely positive.  I think the main reason for this is that Rebel Code is largely based on the words of the main figures themselves - I interviewed over 50 people for the book - rather than reams of my boring personal opinions.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
A lot of people have contributed to the success of Linux without any expectations of financial reward. In your opinion, why?

Glyn Moody:
As I've indicated above, I think that writing software has a lot in common with other kinds of creativity.  Research has shown quite clearly that offering people financial rewards to carry out creative tasks actually reduces the quality of the work they produce - they feel that they are being used in some way.  They will produce better work for no payment because they can do things as they want to and derive pleasure and satisfaction from a job well done.

In my view, the fact that free software taps into this explains both why the code that is produced is so good - everyone wants to do their best - and why open source has become so successful of late.  As I wrote in Rebel Code, by drawing on the best in people, this approach naturally produces the best.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
If there were one point that you wanted to convey to your readers, what would it be?

Glyn Moody:
Perhaps that the triumph of free software is inevitable.  It is inevitable because, as I've said, it draws on the best in people, rather than simply trying to buy them with salaries or stock options.  It is inevitable because its open nature means that you don't have to re-invent the wheel, you can build on the achievements of your predecessors.  It is inevitable because not even Microsoft can compete against a movement that is not based on money.  It cannot undercut free software's price, it cannot buy the company, it cannot use legal threats (since there's no one to threaten).

In a sense, the recent court settlement of the Anti-Trust case makes that inevitability even clearer.  Microsoft has effectively been given carte blanche to continue its corporate bullying, to undercut competitors through bundling, and all the other corporate tricks.  This means that conventional players like IBM and Sun cannot compete if they play by Microsoft's rules.  The only way they can win is to change the rules - by adopting open source, as IBM has done largely, and as Sun must do.

Ironically, what Microsoft probably sees as a great victory in the courts is the worst thing that could happen to the company.  Now that it can act in an almost completely unfettered fashion, it will abuse its dominant position all the more: it will feel able to treat its users and the programmers that have committed to its products in an even more arbitrary manner. The arguments for going open source will become irresistible.

TheNetworkAdministrator:
Why should anyone read Rebel Code?

Glyn Moody:
Because it tells the full, amazing story of how a bunch of brilliant coders changed the world - and had fun doing so.

I would like to thank Mr. Moody for taking the time to answer our questions and wish him luck on his book. If you would like to purchase this book and help support the cause, click on this link to Amazon.com