the.world.is.flat-第19部分

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free　to　anyone。　In　return；　every　user　who　comes　up　with　an　improvement…a　patch　that　
makes　this　software　sing　or　dance　better…is　encouraged　to　make　that　patch　available　
to　every　other　user　for　free。　
Not　being　a　computer　geek；　I　had　never　focused　much　on　the　open…source　movement；　but　
when　I　did；　I　discovered　it　was　an　amazing　universe　of　its　own；　with　communities　of　
online；　come…as…you…are　volunteers　who　share　their　insights　with　one　another　and　then　
offer　it　to　the　public　for　nothing。　They　do　it　because　they　want　something　the　market　
doesn't　offer　them；　they　do　it　for　the　psychic　buzz　that　comes　from　creating　a　
collective　product　that　can　beat　something　produced　by　giants　like　Microsoft　or　IBM；　
and…even　more　important…to　earn　the　respect　of　their　intellectual　peers。　Indeed；　
these　guys　and　gals　are　one　of　the　most　interesting　and　controversial　new　forms　of　
collaboration　that　have　been　facilitated　by　the　flat　world　and　are　flattening　it　even　
more。　
In　order　to　explain　how　this　form　of　collaboration　works；　why　it　is　a　flattener　and　
why；　by　the　way；　it　has　stirred　so　many　controversies　and　will　be　stirring　even　more　
in　the　future；　I　am　going　to　focus　on　just　two　basic　varieties　of　open…sourcing：　the　
intellectual　commons　movement　and　the　free　software　movement。　
The　intellectual　commons　form　of　open…sourcing　has　its　roots　in　the　academic　and　
scientific　communities；　where　for　a　long　time　self…organized　collaborative　
communities　of　scientists　have　come　together　through　private　networks　and　later　the　
Internet　to　pool　their　brainpower　or　share　insights　around　a　particular　science　or　
math　problem。　The　Apache　Web　server　had　its　roots　in　this　form　of　open…sourcing。　When　
I　asked　a　friend　of　mine；　Mike　Arguello；　an　IT　systems　architect；　to　explain　to　me　
why　people　share　knowledge　or　work　in　this　way；　he　said；　〃IT　people　tend　to　be　very　
bright　people　and　they　want　everybody　to　know　just　how　brilliant　they　are。〃　Marc　
Andreessen；　who　invented　the　first　Web　browser；　agreed：　〃Open…source　is　nothing　more　
than　peer…reviewed　science。　Sometimes　people　contribute　to　these　things　because　they　
make　science；　and　they　discover　things；　and　the　reward　is　reputation。　Sometimes　you　
can　build　a　business　out　of　it；　sometimes　they　just　want　to　increase　the　store　
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of　knowledge　in　the　world。　And　the　peer　review　part　is　critical…and　open…source　is　
peer　review。　Every　bug　or　security　hole　or　deviation　from　standards　is　reviewed。〃　
I　found　this　intellectual　commons　form　of　open…sourcing　fascinating；　so　I　went　
exploring　to　find　out　who　were　those　guys　and　girls　in　the　mail　room。　Eventually；　
I　found　my　way　to　one　of　their　pioneers；　Brian　Behlendorf。　If　Apache…the　open…source　
Web　server　community…were　an　Indian　tribe；　Behlendorf　would　be　the　tribal　elder。　I　
caught　up　with　him　one　day　in　his　glass…and…steel　office　near　the　San　Francisco　airport；　
where　he　is　now　founder　and　chief　technology　officer　of　CollabNet；　a　start…up　focused　
on　creating　software　for　companies　that　want　to　use　an　open…source　approach　to　
innovation。　I　started　with　two　simple　questions：　Where　did　you　come　from？　and：　How　
did　you　manage　to　pull　together　an　open…source　community　of　online　geeks　that　could　
go　toe…to…toe　with　IBM？　


〃My　parents　met　at　IBM　in　Southern　California；　and　I　grew　up　in　a　town　just　north　
of　Pasadena；　La　Canada；〃　Behlendorf　recalled。　〃The　public　school　was　very　competitive　
academically；　because　a　lot　of　the　kids'　parents　worked　at　the　Jet　Propulsion　
Laboratory　that　was　run　by　Caltech　there。　So　from　a　very　early　age　I　was　around　a　
lot　of　science　in　a　place　where　it　was　okay　to　be　kind　of　geeky。　We　always　had　computers　
around　the　house。　We　used　to　use　punch　cards　from　the　original　IBM　mainframes　for　
making　shopping　lists。　In　grade　school；　I　started　doing　some　basic　programming；　and　
by　high　school　I　was　pretty　into　computers。。。　I　graduated　in　1991；　but　in　1989；　in　
the　early　days　of　the　Internet；　a　friend　gave　me　a　copy　of　a　program　he　had　downloaded　
onto　a　floppy　disk；　called　'Fractint。'　It　was　not　pirated；　but　was　freeware；　produced　
by　a　group　of　programmers；　and　was　a　program　for　drawing　fractals。　＇Fractals　are　
beautiful　images　produced　at　the　intersection　of　art　and　math。＇　When　the　program　
started　up；　the　screen　would　show　this　scrolling　list　of　e…mail　addresses　for　all　
the　scientists　and　mathematicians　who　contributed　to　it。　I　noticed　that　the　source　
code　was　included　with　the　program。　This　was　my　first　exposure　to　the　concept　of　
open…source。　Here　was　this　program　that　you　just　downloaded　for　free；　and　they　even　
gave　you　the　source　code　with　it；　and　it　was　done　by　a　community　of　people。　It　

started　to　paint　a　different　picture　of　programming　in　my　mind。　I　started　to　think　
that　there　were　some　interesting　social　dynamics　to　the　way　certain　kinds　of　software　
were　written　or　could　be　written…as　opposed　to　the　kind　of　image　I　had　of　the　
professional　software　developer　in　the　back　office　tending　to　the　mainframe；　feeding　
info　in　and　taking　it　out　for　the　business。　That　seemed　to　me　to　be　just　one　step　
above　accounting　and　not　very　exciting。〃　
After　graduating　in　1991；　Behlendorf　went　to　Berkeley　to　study　physics；　but　he　quickly　
became　frustrated　by　the　disconnect　between　the　abstractions　he　was　learning　in　the　
classroom　and　the　excitement　that　was　starting　to　emerge　on　the　Internet。　
〃When　you　entered　college　back　then；　every　student　was　given　an　e…mail　address；　and　
I　started　using　it　to　talk　to　students　and　explore　discussion　boardsthat　were　starting　
to　appear　around　music；〃　said　Behlendorf。　〃In　1992；1　started　my　own　Internet　mailing　
list　focused　on　the　local　electronic　music　scene　in　the　Bay　Area。　People　could　just　
post　onto　the　discussion　board；　and　it　started　to　grow；　and　we　started　to　discuss　
different　music　events　and　DJs。　Then　we　said；　'Hey；　why　don't　we　invite　our　own　DJs　
and　throw　our　own　events？'　It　became　a　collective　thing。　Someone　would　say；　'I　have　
some　records；'　and　someone　else　would　say；　'I　have　a　sound　system；'　and　someone　else　
would　say；　'I　know　the　beach　and　if　we　showed　up　at　midnight　we　could　have　a　party。'　
By　1993；　the　Internet　was　still　just　mailing　lists　and　e…mail　and　FTP　sites　＇file　
transfer　protocol　repositories　where　you　could　store　things＇。　So　I　started　collecting　
an　archive　of　electronic　music　and　was　interested　in　how　we　could　put　this　online　
and　make　it　available　to　a　larger　audience。　That　was　when　I　heard　about　Mosaic　＇the　
Web　browser　developed　by　Marc　Andreessen。＇　So　I　got　a　job　at　the　computer　lab　in　the　
Berkeley　business　school；　and　I　spent　my　spare　time　researching　Mosaic　and　other　Web　
technologies。　That　led　me　to　a　discussion　board　with　a　lot　of　the　people　who　were　
writing　the　first　generation　of　Web　browsers　and　Web　servers。〃　


（A　Web　server　is　a　software　program　that　enables　anyone　to　use　his　or　her　home　or　
office　computer　to　host　a　Web　site　on　the　World　Wide　Web。　Amazon。com；　for　instance；　
has　long　run　its　Web　site　on　Apache　software。　
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When　your　Web　browser　goes　to　www。amazon。com；　the　very　first　piece　of　software　it　
talks　to　is　Apache。　The　browser　asks　Apache　for　the　Amazon　Web　page　and　Apache　sends　
back　to　the　browser　the　content　of　the　Amazon　Web　page。　Surfing　the　Web　is　really　
your　Web　browser　interacting　with　different　Web　servers。）　
〃I　found　myself　sitting　in　on　this　forum　watching　Tim　Berners…Lee　and　Marc　Andreessen　
debating　how　all　these　things　should　work；〃　recalled　Behlendorf。　〃It　was　pretty　
exciting；　and　it　seemed　radically　inclusive。　I　didn't　need　a　Ph。D。　or　any　special　
credentials；　and　I　started　to　see　some　parallels　between　my　music　group　and　these　
scientists；　who　had　a　common　interest　in　building　the　first　Web　software。　I　followed　
that　＇discussion＇　for　a　while　and　then　I　told　a　friend　of　mine　about　it。　He　was　one　
of　the　first　employees　at　Wired　magazine；　and　he　said　Wired　would　be　interested　in　
having　me　set　up　a　Web　site　for　them。　So　I　joined　there　at　10　an　hour；　setting　up　
their　e…mail　and　their　first　Web　site…HotWired　。。。　It　was　one　of　the　first　ad…supported　
online　magazines。〃　
HotWired　decided　it　wanted　to　start　by　having　a　registration　system　that　required　
passwords…a　controversial　concept　at　that　time。　〃In　those　days；〃　noted　Andrew　Leonard；　
who　wrote　a　history　of　Apache　for　Salon。com　in　1997；　〃most　Webmasters　depended　on　
a　Web　server　program　developed　at　the　University　of　Illinois's　National　Center　for　
Super…computing　Applications　（also　the　birthplace　of　the　groundbreaking　Mosaic　Web　
browser）。　But　theNCSA　Web　server　couldn't　handle　password　authentication　onthe　scale　
that　HotWired　needed。　Luckily；　the　NCSA　server　was　in　the　public　domain；　which　meant　
that　the　source　code　was　free　to　all　comers。　So　Behlendorf　exercised　the　hacker　
prerogative：　He　wrote　some　new　code；　a　'patch'　to　the　NCSA　Web　server；　that　took　care　
of　the　problem。〃　Leonard　commented；　〃He　wasn't　the　only　clever　programmer　rummaging　
through　the　NCSA　code　that　winter。　All　across　the　exploding　Web；　other　Webmasters　
were　finding　it　necessary　to　take　matters　into　their　own　keyboards。　The　original　code　
had　been　left　to　gather　virtual　dust　when　its　primary　programmer；　University　of　
Illinois　student　Rob　McCool；　had　been　scooped　up　（along　with　Marc　Andreessen　and　Lynx　
author　Eric　Bina）　by　a　little…known　company　in　Silicon　Valley　named　Netscape。　
Meanwhile；　the　Web　refused　to　stop　growing…and　
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kept　creating　new　problems　for　Web　servers　to　cope　with。〃　So　patches　of　one　kind　or　
another　proliferated　like　Band…Aids　on　bandwidth；　plugging　one　hole　here　and　
breaching　another　gap　there。　
Meanwhile；　all　these　patches　were　slowly；　in　an　ad　hoc　open…source　manner；　building　
a　new　modern　Web　server。　But　everyone　had　his　or　her　own　version；　trading　patches　
here　and　there；　because　the　NCSA　lab　couldn't　keep　up　with　it　all。　
〃I　was　just　this　near…dropout；〃　explained　Behlendorf。　〃I　was　having　a　lot　of　fun　
building　this　Web　site　for　Wired　and　learning　more　than　I　was　learning　at　Berkeley。　
So　a　discussion　started　in　our　little　working　group　that　the　NCSA　people　were　not　


answering　our　e…mails。　We　were　sending　in　patches　for　the　system　and　they　we