Just for Fun

I had a long phone conversation with one of my remarkable friends yesterday, Doc Searls. Doc does a lot of remarking. Much of it as senior editor of the Linux Journal and as co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto. We were talking about fun, and Doc, being the passionate visionary that he is, started making some very deep connections between fun and, of all things, Linux.

Three hours later, I get an email from him with a summary of our conversation that he's prepared for publication in today's edition of Suitwatch. There's some really remarkable stuff batted around in this piece. You'll have to actually read it to discover just how batted it all is. As usual, I prefer to jump to the conclusion:

"...my mind returned to something that could hardly be more fundamental to Linux itself, and that's the motivation for its creation in the first place. We also see it in the persistent engagement of its creator in the evolution of the operating system and in the community of engaged minds that constantly improve it.

That founding motivation is expressed in the title of Linus' own book about his life and Linux: Just for Fun."