Two Bits is a book about the free software movement, explained in terms that an academic can understand. The author tries to steer around debates about what exactly constitutes an example of Habermas' public space. But the very fact that he needs to make excuses about that indicates something about his intended audience. I didn't make it very far in this book. There's stuff in here I didn't know. I didn't know some details about how UNIX "escaped" from AT&T while under development there. And that was interesting. But not worth slogging through explanations of free software, explanations aimed at people who
(a) don't already know a bunch about free software and
(b) are really eager to argue about whether or not the internet is an example of Habermas' public space.
I gave up on this one.
