Rating: Summary: Dumb Review: A stupid, propogandistic and self indulgant documentary about Richard Stallman and Eric Raymond. Linus is a good guy, but these other folks are just demagogues of the computer age. I particularly find their hacker interpretation of history insulting. It ignores all the hardworking professional engineers and programmers who really did invent computers and operating sytsems, and makes us think that scruffy hackers at MIT did anything that mattered.
Rating: Summary: Dumb Review: A stupid, propogandistic and self indulgant documentary about Richard Stallman and Eric Raymond. Linus is a good guy, but these other folks are just demagogues of the computer age. I particularly find their hacker interpretation of history insulting. It ignores all the hardworking professional engineers and programmers who really did invent computers and operating sytsems, and makes us think that scruffy hackers at MIT did anything that mattered.
Rating: Summary: Surprisingly Entertaining, Informative and Fun! Review: Being a geek, I bought this assuming it was going to be a dry documentary on the history of Linux, but I would enjoy it anyway. I was amazed at how well done this movie is. Not only does it document the general history of Open Source and Free Software issues, but it provides a great story of conflict between 'good' (Free Software and Open Source) and 'evil' (Proprietary Software). I watched this with my girlfriend who is a non-geek and she was able to follow along very easily and enjoyed the movie as much as I did. She even wanted to make the switch to Linux after watching.The pace is quick, and one of the best aspects of the movie is the music. It helps keep the movie fun and light-hearted, yet provides an intelligent 'edge' at the same time. All of the interviewees have very unique and dynamic personalities; they are the type of thinkers you don't generally meet everyday. Richard Stallman in particular has some of the most convincing comments in the film, and by the end, I was quick to pop in the second disc to see the bonus interviews with him. Overall, I think this is a film which anyone who uses a computer on a regular basis should watch. We need to not take Microsoft for granted and realize there are alternatives that don't try to control what we do. This is one of the best movies I've seen.
Rating: Summary: Surprisingly Entertaining, Informative and Fun! Review: Being a geek, I bought this assuming it was going to be a dry documentary on the history of Linux, but I would enjoy it anyway. I was amazed at how well done this movie is. Not only does it document the general history of Open Source and Free Software issues, but it provides a great story of conflict between 'good' (Free Software and Open Source) and 'evil' (Proprietary Software). I watched this with my girlfriend who is a non-geek and she was able to follow along very easily and enjoyed the movie as much as I did. She even wanted to make the switch to Linux after watching. The pace is quick, and one of the best aspects of the movie is the music. It helps keep the movie fun and light-hearted, yet provides an intelligent 'edge' at the same time. All of the interviewees have very unique and dynamic personalities; they are the type of thinkers you don't generally meet everyday. Richard Stallman in particular has some of the most convincing comments in the film, and by the end, I was quick to pop in the second disc to see the bonus interviews with him. Overall, I think this is a film which anyone who uses a computer on a regular basis should watch. We need to not take Microsoft for granted and realize there are alternatives that don't try to control what we do. This is one of the best movies I've seen.
Rating: Summary: The Real Truth about Open Source Review: Forget everything you've read in the mainstream press; this is the real deal. Interviews with Richard Stallman, Eric Raymond, Bruce Perens, and Linus Torvalds himself. If you really want to understand what Linux and Open Source are all about, watch this video.
Rating: Summary: The Real Truth about Open Source Review: Forget everything you've read in the mainstream press; this is the real deal. Interviews with Richard Stallman, Eric Raymond, Bruce Perens, and Linus Torvalds himself. If you really want to understand what Linux and Open Source are all about, watch this video.
Rating: Summary: Preachy Review: I am no fan of Microsoft, but this movie stinks, needs to be more documentary, less ranting interviews, tell us the history, the startup, the challenges etc......
Rating: Summary: Good Intro to Free/Open Source Communities Review: It comes with 2 DVDs, the first one is the Revolution OS movie and the second one contains interviews and bios of those well known anti-microsoft gangs like Richard Stallman, Eric Raymond, Linus Trovalds, etc. In the first DVD, it's not really a movie but a kind documentary film. No subtitle but closed caption is supported. Unlike Starup.com movie, this film gets a bunch of well-known gangs who devote themselves to the free & open software revolution to talk about 'how' the free software and open source evolve and 'why' it is getting more & more attention from industrial leaders. It also highlights some companies betting on Linux and open source getting rich at IPO during the Internet bubble, but not forgets to conveying audiences the message that most of those instant millionaires were broke overnight after the bubble busted. If you're not familiar with open source or free software, I recommend you should put on the disc#2 and watch the Bios section first. Since the movie in disc#1 embeds a lot of people talking and comments, you may find confusion of who & what. In disc#2, besides the bios and some interviews, interestingly, it also includes the first version of the famous well-known paper written by Eric Raymond, 'Cathedral and Bazaar'. This paper actually played a very critical role on Netscape's direction to the open source world. You can read it from your TV screen, and press your remote 'back' and 'fore' to flipping pages. Although this is convenience for people who do not have computer and read the paper on TV screen, you may find it's quite annoying to flipping and reading twenty something screen pages on your TV. After a while you may feel dizzy. Unfortunately, the DVD does not come with a PDF or other softcopy version of this famous paper in the open source world. If you are interested on how Netscape went to the open source path, there's another good documentary film called 'Code Rush' from PBS, you may also want to check out. Overall, this is quite informative, knowing how the free/open software revolution begins and the reasons behind it. If you want to have a good intro of this open source communities, this is a pretty good choice.
Rating: Summary: The interesting world of open-source and linux Review: It is not often when you find a truly amazing and intriguing documentary but this is it! True, it is about Linux and it's history, but that does not mean you have to be a computer "geek" to enjoy it, although I'll admit it would help you understand it more. Everything is so well done, from the interviews, to the cinematography, and even to the research that went into the movie. I had know idea that Linux was even that big or part of this phenomenal computer movement, but know I feel completely versed about it! This is a must see for anyone, especially if you have an interest in computers.
Rating: Summary: The interesting world of open-source and linux Review: It is not often when you find a truly amazing and intriguing documentary but this is it! True, it is about Linux and it's history, but that does not mean you have to be a computer "geek" to enjoy it, although I'll admit it would help you understand it more. Everything is so well done, from the interviews, to the cinematography, and even to the research that went into the movie. I had know idea that Linux was even that big or part of this phenomenal computer movement, but know I feel completely versed about it! This is a must see for anyone, especially if you have an interest in computers.
|