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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
A good way to think of this book: a treatise for kids that grew up in the GUI and getting them to understand the importance of proper syntax. On the shell. Because that's where the hotness is at.
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
Neat, but a little dated now. Has some nice ideas about coders vs. non-coders. The idea of the book is great but the way it plays out ends up horribly dated. Needs rewriting every year to be really relevant.
Too bad it's outdated. Still, a nice peek inside Stephenson's attitude to humming metal boxes called computers. The popculture metaphor was interesting, if a bit too flowery and excessive.
Funny(?) thing is, after reading Stephenson's preferences with regard to operating systems, I got an instant realisation that he'd probably like Mac OSX. And guess what, he's using it since 2004...
Funny(?) thing is, after reading Stephenson's preferences with regard to operating systems, I got an instant realisation that he'd probably like Mac OSX. And guess what, he's using it since 2004...
Out of date in many ways now, this essay still has plenty to say, even if it is something of a relic with its mentioning of computer systems from the 80's.
Every single computer scientist, software engineer, UI designer, etc should read this thing.
I wanted to read this to learn more about Linux and I learned some, but not as much as I wanted. I didn't like Stephenson's snotty attitude about how people use computers.
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Over 10 years since the essay was written the world is a much different place from an OS perspective. Apple, a dying enterprise became briefly the most valuable company in the world. We moved from the platform of cheap hardware to the palmsize computers as Android and iOS devices have changed rewritten the world. Instead of command lines and GUIs we now add Touch interfaces. Still interesting to look at and remember a interesting transformation point in the history of computers.
Even though its a very small book, its very slow and becomes quite boring pretty
quick.
Its like a "command line is great" rant repeated again and again.
quick.
Its like a "command line is great" rant repeated again and again.