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> I bought the Hackers Dictionary by Eric S. Raymond That hurts a bit to read. Raymond is/was a huckster who took the original Hackers Dictionary, a communal M
by username223 4y ago
> I bought the Hackers Dictionary by Eric S. Raymond
That hurts a bit to read. Raymond is/was a huckster who took the original Hackers Dictionary, a communal MIT project, and made some edits. He went on to annoy the Linux community with his CML2 antics around the build system. Lisp/MIT, BSD, and Linux all have their own histories, a mixture of forgettable drama and fundamental difference.
- mlyle 4y ago> a communal MIT project, and made some edits The Jargon File had been dead and dated for nearly a decade when he picked it up. His maintenance and publication was an important part of making this content relevant and accessible to future generations. Eric Raymond's work is a mix of good and bad-- like you could say about anyone.
- eob 4y agoOh interesting -- I didn't know any of the above Raymond controversy (or even really who he was; the name just is etched in my brain from that book) As a guy who found the Jargon File via that book, I'm grateful he did it. But I can see how publishing an edit of an online forum would ruffle a lot of feathers: 30 years later you get guys like me attributing it all to him.
- mlyle 4y agoThe introduction makes it pretty clear the sourcing: http://catb.org/jargon/html/revision-history.html http://catb.org/jargon/html/revision-history.html (This appears in the printed book, too). Most of the criticism of his stewardship of the jargon file and the publication as N.H.D. by MIT Press comes after other controversies.