I just recently finished reading Just For Fun, a biography of Linus Torvalds by David Diamond and Linus Torvalds.  It provides an excellent insight into the ideology of the of the biggest names in open source programming.  Torvalds life is told in a very light hearted style with comical self-deprecating comments on his ‘nerdiness’.

I was surprised to find that Torvalds was not the “all software should be open” zealot I had expected him to be.  In fact, his politics lined up more with a libertarian point of view than a communist (in the true sense of the word) point of view.  Sure, he has and sees problems with greedy companies fighting for their intellectual property tooth and nail, but he also sees the flip side and feels that ultimately it should be an individuals choice about what to do with their IP.

If you have at all been involved in developing open source software, or using it, _Just For Fun _offers a great insight into how and why it is created.