Who
are computer hackers? What is free software? And what does the
emergence of a community dedicated to the production of free and open
source software--and to hacking as a technical, aesthetic, and moral
project--reveal about the values of contemporary liberalism? Exploring
the rise and political significance of the free and open source software
(F/OSS) movement in the United States and Europe, Coding Freedom
details the ethics behind hackers' devotion to F/OSS, the social codes
that guide its production, and the political struggles through which
hackers question the scope and direction of copyright and patent law. In
telling the story of the F/OSS movement, the book unfolds a broader
narrative involving computing, the politics of access, and intellectual
property.
