This is the book written by Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux. For those of you that don't know, Linux is a free, open source operating system. Most hardcore computer geeks out there are using Linux. And because the entire OS is open source, you can make your own changes! Now that's just plain awesome.

Linus talks first about how he started playing with computers when he was very young. He began writing programs very early, and by the time he was in college he was writing his very own operating system - just for fun! He posted all of his progress in an online forum, and people would try it out and give him suggestions. Sometimes, people would even write their own sections of code, and Linus could add it to his operating system without having to write the code himself. This is how Linux was born. People from all over the world were writing code to help Linus's OS grow. With computer scientists helping him, the small project eventually became a robust, efficient operating system.

As Linus tells the story of his operating system, he talks about several other things - his childhood, family, wife & kids, and even his theory on the meaning of life! He has also convinced me that writing open source programs is the way to go. If you write programs and allow people to change the source code, people will make their own improvements - they can stand on the shoulders of giants and see farther. Because everyone can improve it, open source is the best way to further the technology as a whole.

Linus is a surprisingly good writer! I was expecting lots of dry computer geek stuff, but instead his book is unbelievably funny! By mixing his humor in throughout the book, Linus makes this book a very fun read.