Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary by Linus Torvalds and David Diamond

I cruised through this book, partly because I enjoyed it and partly because my daughter was sick and I spent lots of time holding her (and reading) while she slept. The first half, which covers the time period from Linus’s childhood through the early years of Linux, was my favorite part because it told his not-so-typical story in a very relatable way. It’s inspiring that curiosity and determination took him all the way from typing for his grandfather to developing a world-class operating system.

(It’s also good to know that I’m not the only one who gets grumpy when interrupted in the middle of a computer problem and can’t seem to let go of those problems until they’re solved. 😬)

The rest of the book deals with Linux’s (and Linus’s) rise to prominence and contains many interesting insights into Linus’s thoughts about software development and life in general. It’s definitely an interesting read, especially if you’re aware of both the practical and idealogical sides of free and open source software.