I am solely responsible for what has gone into this paper, and any errors or misconceptions. However, I have welcomed comments and feedback and used them to improve the paper -- a process which I do not expect to end at any predefined time.
10 April 1998: Version 1.2 published on the Web.
12 April 1998: Version 1.3. Typo fixes and responses to first round of public comments. First four items in bibliography. An anonymously contributed observation about reputation incentives operating even when the craftsman is unaware of them. Added instructive contrasts with warez d00dz, material on the `software should speak for itself' premise, and observations on avoiding personality cults. As a result of all these changes, the section on `The Problem of Ego' grew and fissioned.
16 April 1998: Version 1.7. New section on `Global implications' discusses historical tends in the colonization of the noosphere, and examines the `category-killer' phenomenon. Added another research question.
27 April 1998: Version 1.8. Added Goldhaber to the bibliography. This is the version that will go in the Linux Expo proceedings.
26 May 1998: Version 1.9: Incorporated Fare Rideau's noosphere/ergosphere distinction. Incorporated RMS's assertion that he is not anticommercial. New section on acculturation and academia (thanks to Ross J. Reedstrom, Eran Tromer, Allan McInnes, and others). More about humility, (`egoless behavior') from Jerry Fass and Marsh Ray.
11 July 1998: Version 1.10: Remove Fare Rideau's reference to `fame' at his suggestion.
21 November 1998: Version 1.14: Minor editorial and stale-link fixes.