4 ms·

Code Rush - Netscape Mozilla Documentary 1998 - 2000

65 points by kreutz 14y ago

Urgo 14y ago
Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u404SLJj7ig http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u404SLJj7ig
phenylene 14y ago
If you liked that documentary, here's more: http://www.clickmovement.org/coderush http://www.clickmovement.org/coderush Comes with lots of extra footage: http://clickmovement.org/code_rush_footage_nods http://clickmovement.org/code_rush_footage_nods
- cuero 14y ago
  Thank you!
keyle 14y ago
Even though most of the non-tech people on camera made little sense, I thought this was a great documentary. It shows how people trade health for little reward in the end. And so many people just go flying under the radar, while they are the real people behind the products we use today. It's all about the entrepreneurs these days, what happened to those C++ hackers working long into the night? Ah that's right, they don't look great on magazine covers.
- codemac 14y ago
  Oh, those hackers are still hacking, on C and C++ and a few other languages. All of these cloud technologies? All of this high performance storage, networking, virtualization? It's not written in ruby... I think the difference is that you're on Hacker News, run by a startup accelerator. It's in their interest (albeit unintentionally as far as I can tell) to create a culture/cult around the value of being the founder, not the hacker.
MikeCapone 14y ago
I wish there was more documentarians around, following anyone doing something interesting. Not sure how to help make that happen, but there are so many projects that I would love to see how they were developed, even if years later. For example: I'd love if documentarians followed Elon Musk around..
wslh 14y ago
Is it available to download from a torrent?
- gkoberger 14y ago
  Yup. And it's been released under a Creative Commons license, so it's completely legal: http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5003144/ http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5003144/
GFKjunior 14y ago
My favorite part: "Not all companies succeed, some fail to embrace change. This is the way technology in the free market works. The software industries success has not been driven by government regulation but by freedom and the basic human desire to learn, to innovate, and to excel." ~Bill Gates
MikeCapone 14y ago
Are there any other good documentaries about the dot-com bubble era that people here would recommend? I've only seen Startup.com: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256408/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256408/ As a younger person who lives thousands of miles away from Silicon Valley, I'd love to see more video from that time. I read tons about it, but reading and seeing are different things. AS the end of Code Rush, the investment banker who talks about how in a couple years physical banks might not be around and how the GAP shouldn't be renovating its store but rather invest more money in its website said so much about the kind of mania that took place at the time. I'd love to see more.
- petercooper 14y ago
  It's not a movie but I'd definitely recommend the book about the Boo.com fiasco: http://www.amazon.com/Boo-Hoo-Dot-Com-Story/dp/0099418371 http://www.amazon.com/Boo-Hoo-Dot-Com-Story/dp/0099418371 .. I believe it was Europe's biggest dot com era implosion and you can almost see why from page one. An enjoyable read.
- majani 14y ago
  There's e-dreams, a movie about kozmo.com. It's available on you tube.
- taterbase 14y ago
  We live in public may be what you're looking for.
- mrcalzone 14y ago
  Riot on (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427783/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427783/) is not from Silicon Valley, but a fascinating story about the Finish dot-com company Riot-E. "The company was such a spectacular failure that it was the subject of the award winning documentary Riot On!."
Of_Prometheus 14y ago
Thank you for this. Frankly, my knowledge of Netscape's inner workings was so minuscule, that this documentary taught me 90% of what I now know. Two things jump out: 1. Netscape was, then, where Firefox is perceived to be now, and where Chrome will be in the future: "Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can." (atrb. Jamie Zawinski) Browsers (et al.) start out light and fast, and as they gain more users, expand to incorporate their needs, until they, themselves, become the bloated behemoths which they replaced. 2. Later on, Zawinski remarks that perhaps the internet will turn into television, where it is controlled by a powerful minority, and states that there are already precedents. More than a decade later, with the likes of Google and Facebook, it doesn't appear that one's fear of that development can rest. The players have changed, but the game remains the same.
petercooper 14y ago
If you like this sort of thing, Fog Creek released their 2005 Aardvark'd documentary for free on YouTube last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NRL7YsXjSg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NRL7YsXjSg .. not balls off the wall exciting but an interesting look at a team of interns developing a product.
- derrida 14y ago
  "Sort of thing" for classes of things like computers, coders and offices. Otherwise Code Rush and Aardvark'd are not comparable. I suggest Aardvark'd is not worth the time. Code Rush is of interest both historically & for it's insight into the values and attitudes of some damn effective programmers (these people practically made the web accessible for all in a few short years).
keithpeter 14y ago
53:36: "This could all turn into television again. It could all be controlled by a small number of companies who control what we see and hear..." Nice catch, thanks for posting this.
nsfmc 14y ago
There's a really nicely annotated version on waxy.org http://waxy.org/2009/07/code_rush_in_the_creative_commons/ http://waxy.org/2009/07/code_rush_in_the_creative_commons/ if you haven't watched code rush yet, the annotations are really a fantastic addition to it and i'd suggest starting there instead. edit/comment: the annotations are mostly useful, if like me, you want to rewind to some particular scene when showing part of the film to a friend. i found them pretty useful, but, ymmv :)
vermasque 14y ago
Highly recommended. Gives a "behind-the-scenes" feel. I like JWZ's comment about how he won the "startup lottery."

65 points by kreutz 14y ago

Urgo 14y ago

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u404SLJj7ig http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u404SLJj7ig

If you liked that documentary, here's more: http://www.clickmovement.org/coderush http://www.clickmovement.org/coderush Comes with lots of extra footage: http://clickmovement.org/code_rush_footage_nods http://clickmovement.org/code_rush_footage_nods

cuero 14y ago
Thank you!

keyle 14y ago

Even though most of the non-tech people on camera made little sense, I thought this was a great documentary. It shows how people trade health for little reward in the end. And so many people just go flying under the radar, while they are the real people behind the products we use today. It's all about the entrepreneurs these days, what happened to those C++ hackers working long into the night? Ah that's right, they don't look great on magazine covers.

codemac 14y ago
Oh, those hackers are still hacking, on C and C++ and a few other languages. All of these cloud technologies? All of this high performance storage, networking, virtualization? It's not written in ruby... I think the difference is that you're on Hacker News, run by a startup accelerator. It's in their interest (albeit unintentionally as far as I can tell) to create a culture/cult around the value of being the founder, not the hacker.

MikeCapone 14y ago

I wish there was more documentarians around, following anyone doing something interesting. Not sure how to help make that happen, but there are so many projects that I would love to see how they were developed, even if years later. For example: I'd love if documentarians followed Elon Musk around..

wslh 14y ago

Is it available to download from a torrent?

gkoberger 14y ago
Yup. And it's been released under a Creative Commons license, so it's completely legal: http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5003144/ http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5003144/

GFKjunior 14y ago

My favorite part: "Not all companies succeed, some fail to embrace change. This is the way technology in the free market works. The software industries success has not been driven by government regulation but by freedom and the basic human desire to learn, to innovate, and to excel." ~Bill Gates

MikeCapone 14y ago

Are there any other good documentaries about the dot-com bubble era that people here would recommend? I've only seen Startup.com: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256408/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256408/ As a younger person who lives thousands of miles away from Silicon Valley, I'd love to see more video from that time. I read tons about it, but reading and seeing are different things. AS the end of Code Rush, the investment banker who talks about how in a couple years physical banks might not be around and how the GAP shouldn't be renovating its store but rather invest more money in its website said so much about the kind of mania that took place at the time. I'd love to see more.

petercooper 14y ago
It's not a movie but I'd definitely recommend the book about the Boo.com fiasco: http://www.amazon.com/Boo-Hoo-Dot-Com-Story/dp/0099418371 http://www.amazon.com/Boo-Hoo-Dot-Com-Story/dp/0099418371 .. I believe it was Europe's biggest dot com era implosion and you can almost see why from page one. An enjoyable read.
majani 14y ago
There's e-dreams, a movie about kozmo.com. It's available on you tube.
taterbase 14y ago
We live in public may be what you're looking for.
mrcalzone 14y ago
Riot on (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427783/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427783/) is not from Silicon Valley, but a fascinating story about the Finish dot-com company Riot-E. "The company was such a spectacular failure that it was the subject of the award winning documentary Riot On!."

Of_Prometheus 14y ago

Thank you for this. Frankly, my knowledge of Netscape's inner workings was so minuscule, that this documentary taught me 90% of what I now know. Two things jump out: 1. Netscape was, then, where Firefox is perceived to be now, and where Chrome will be in the future: "Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can." (atrb. Jamie Zawinski) Browsers (et al.) start out light and fast, and as they gain more users, expand to incorporate their needs, until they, themselves, become the bloated behemoths which they replaced. 2. Later on, Zawinski remarks that perhaps the internet will turn into television, where it is controlled by a powerful minority, and states that there are already precedents. More than a decade later, with the likes of Google and Facebook, it doesn't appear that one's fear of that development can rest. The players have changed, but the game remains the same.

petercooper 14y ago

If you like this sort of thing, Fog Creek released their 2005 Aardvark'd documentary for free on YouTube last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NRL7YsXjSg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NRL7YsXjSg .. not balls off the wall exciting but an interesting look at a team of interns developing a product.

derrida 14y ago
"Sort of thing" for classes of things like computers, coders and offices. Otherwise Code Rush and Aardvark'd are not comparable. I suggest Aardvark'd is not worth the time. Code Rush is of interest both historically & for it's insight into the values and attitudes of some damn effective programmers (these people practically made the web accessible for all in a few short years).

keithpeter 14y ago

53:36: "This could all turn into television again. It could all be controlled by a small number of companies who control what we see and hear..." Nice catch, thanks for posting this.

nsfmc 14y ago

There's a really nicely annotated version on waxy.org http://waxy.org/2009/07/code_rush_in_the_creative_commons/ http://waxy.org/2009/07/code_rush_in_the_creative_commons/ if you haven't watched code rush yet, the annotations are really a fantastic addition to it and i'd suggest starting there instead. edit/comment: the annotations are mostly useful, if like me, you want to rewind to some particular scene when showing part of the film to a friend. i found them pretty useful, but, ymmv :)

vermasque 14y ago

Highly recommended. Gives a "behind-the-scenes" feel. I like JWZ's comment about how he won the "startup lottery."