A critical factor in its success was that the X developers were willing to give the sources away for free in accordance with the hacker ethic, and able to distribute them over the Internet.

Berkeley hackers liked to see themselves as rebels against soulless corporate empires.

The workstation-class machines built by Sun and others opened up new worlds for hackers.

Good programmers know what to write. Great ones know what to rewrite (and reuse)

Smart data structures and dumb code works a lot better than the other way around.

Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow (e.g., given a large enough beta-tester and co-developer base, almost every problem will be characterized quickly and the fix obvious to someone).

If you have the right attitude, interesting problems will find you.

You cannot motivate the best people with money. Money is just a way to keep score. The best people in any field are motivated by passion.

Prototype, then polish. Get it working before you optimize it

The easiest programs to use are those which demand the least new learning from the user

When I hear the words "social responsibility," I want to reach for my gun.

Life' wrote a friend of mine, 'is a public performance on the violin, in which you must learn the instrument as you go along.

I could have been an architect, but I don't think I'd have been very happy. Nearly all modern architecture is a silly game as far as I can see.

I gripped the stapler even harder and felt like a fool planning to battle a crazy man with a stapler that even, I suddenly remembered, contained no staples. Well, strike that line of defense.

I love shocking people.

The Methodists love your big sinners, as proper subjects to work upon.

No man can be a conservative unless he has something to lose.

Like the Bible, Stanislavsky's basic texts on acting can be quoted to any purpose.

You're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.

The risk from terrorism remains acute and the private market cannot continue to operate without a government backstop.

I have never been comfortable being the front man.