In the Beginning... Was the Command Line
| Author | Neal Stephenson |
|---|---|
Publication date | 1999 |
| ISBN | 978-0380815937 |
In the Beginning... Was the Command Line is an essay by Neal Stephenson which was originally published online in 1999 and later made available in book form (November 1999, ISBN 978-0380815937). The essay is a commentary on why the proprietary operating systems business is unlikely to remain profitable in the future because of competition from free software. It also analyzes the corporate/collective culture of the Microsoft, Apple Computer, and free software communities.