What is The Cathedral and the Bazaar about?

The Cathedral and the Bazaar is an influential essay and book by Eric S. Raymond that examines software engineering methods by comparing top-down and bottom-up design models. It is based on Raymond's observations of the Linux kernel development process and his management of the fetchmail project. The work became a foundational text for the open-source software movement.

What we know

• The Cathedral and the Bazaar was written by Eric S. Raymond. [1, 2, 3]
• The essay examines the struggle between top-down and bottom-up design in software development methods. [2]
• The work is based on Raymond's observations of the Linux kernel development process and his experience managing the fetchmail project. [2]
• The essay was first presented at the Linux Kongress on May 27, 1997, in Würzburg, Germany. [2]

Where to go next

• whoWho is Eric S. Raymond?
• a case in pointWhat was the fetchmail project?
• how we knowHow does Linux kernel development work?
• the bigger pictureWhat is The Magic Cauldron essay?
• whenWhat is the history of open-source software?
• an unexpected connectionHow is a 1913 modernist painting connected to open source software?The cover of the book edition features a 1913 painting titled Composition with Figures by Russian artist Lyubov Popova.

Sources

• [1]The Cathedral and the Bazaar (Wikidata Q467363) · CC0 1.0
• [2]The Cathedral and the Bazaar · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Eric S. Raymond · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Bazaar (disambiguation) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]The Magic Cauldron (essay) · CC BY-SA 4.0