Revolution OS
Revolution OS | |
---|---|
Directed by | J. T. S. Moore |
Written by | J. T. S. Moore |
Produced by | J. T. S. Moore |
Starring | Richard Stallman Linus Torvalds Eric S. Raymond Bruce Perens |
Edited by | J. T. S. Moore |
Music by | Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli |
Release date | 2001 |
Running time | 85 min |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Revolution OS is a 2001
Directed by J. T. S. Moore, the film features interviews with prominent
Synopsis
The film begins with glimpses of Raymond, a Linux
Torvalds describes the development of the Linux kernel, the GNU/Linux naming controversy, Linux's further evolution, and its commercialization.
Raymond and Stallman clarify the philosophy of free software versus communism and capitalism, as well as the development stages of Linux.
Michael Tiemann discusses meeting Stallman in 1987, getting an early version of Stallman's GCC, and founding Cygnus Solutions.
Larry Augustin describes combining
Brian Behlendorf, one of the original developers of the Apache HTTP Server, explains that he started to exchange patches for the NCSA web server daemon HTTPd with other developers, which led to the release of "a patchy" web server, dubbed Apache.
Frank Hecker of
The film also documents the scope of the first full-scale
Much of the footage for the film was shot in Silicon Valley.
Screenings
The film appeared in several film festivals including
Quotes
I bumped into him (Craig Mundie of Microsoft) in an elevator. I looked at his badge and said, "Ah, I see you work for Microsoft."
He looked back at me and said, "Oh yeah, and what do you do?"
And I thought he seemed just some sort of a tad dismissive, I mean here is the archetypal guy in a suit looking at a scruffy hacker. . . so I gave him the
thousand yard stare and said, "I'm your worst nightmare."
Giving the Linus Torvalds award to the Free Software Foundation is sort of like giving the Han Solo award to the Rebel Fleet.
. . . and I realised he (Steve Ballmer) had read my document and understood it, and was now telling the press about this. Now, if you're like just a guy on the net who's not doing this for a job at all and you sort of write a manifesto and it spreads out through the world, and a year later the Vice President of Microsoft is talking about that, you'd think you were on drugs, wouldn't you? But that's what really happened.
Think of Richard Stallman as the great philosopher and think of me as the engineer.
Reception
Every review noted the historical significance of the information, and those that noticed found the production values high, but the presentation of history mainly too dry, even resembling a lecture. Ron Wells of Film Threat found the film important, worthwhile, and well thought out for explaining the principles of the free software and open source concepts. Noting its failure to represent on camera any debate with representatives of the proprietary software camp, Wells gave the film 4 of 5 stars.[2] TV Guide rated the film 3 of 4 stars: "surprisingly exciting", "fascinating" and "sharp looking" with a good soundtrack.[3]
On the negative side, The New York Times faulted the film's one-sidedness, found its reliance on jargon "fairly dense going", and gave no recommendation.[5] Internet Reviews found it "a didactic and dull documentary glorifying software anarchy. Raging against Microsoft and Sun. . .", lacking follow-through on Red Hat and VALinux stock (in 2007, at 2% of peak value), with "lots of talking heads".[6] Toxicuniverse.com noted "Revolution OS blatantly serves as infomercial and propaganda. Bearded throwback to the sixties, hacker Richard Stallman serves as the movement's spiritual leader while Scandinavian Linus Torvalds acts as its mild mannered chief engineer (as developer of the Linux kernel)."[7]
To Tim Lord, reviewing for
See also
- The Code – another documentary film about Linux
- Pirates of Silicon Valley
- Open source
- Linux
- Free software movement
- Copyleft
- The Cathedral and the Bazaar
References
- ^ Community Articles: Interview: Frank Hecker Openoffice.org. Louis Suárez-Potts, May 1, 2001. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- ^ Revolution OS Film Threat. Ron Wells, February 21, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
- ^ Review - Revolution OS TV Guide.com. 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- Daily Variety. Scott Foundas, March 1, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- New York Times. Stephen Holden, February 22, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-22
- ^ Revolution OS (2001) InternetReviews.com. Steve Rhodes. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- ^ Introduction to Linux 101 ToxicUniverse.com. John Nesbit, April 07, 2004. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- ^ Revolution OS Review Slashdot.org. Tim Lord (timothy), April 19, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
External links
- Official website
- Revolution OS at IMDb
- Revolution OS at AllMovie
- Revolution OS Slashdot (20 April 2002)
- Revolution OS at Rotten Tomatoes
- Revolution OS at Metacritic