Editing Revolution OS (section)

== Reception ==
Every review noted the historical significance of the information, and those that noticed found the production values high, but the presentation of history mainly too dry, even resembling a lecture.  Ron Wells of ''[[Film Threat]]''  found the film important, worthwhile, and well thought out for explaining the principles of the free software and open source concepts.  Noting its failure to represent on camera any debate with representatives of the proprietary software camp, Wells gave the film 4 of 5 stars.<ref>[https://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=1820 Revolution OS] ''[[Film Threat]]''. Ron Wells, February 21, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-23.</ref>  ''[[TV Guide]]'' rated the film 3 of 4 stars: "surprisingly exciting", "fascinating" and "sharp looking" with a good soundtrack.<ref>[https://tvguide.com/movies/revolution-os/review/135794 Review - Revolution OS] ''[[TV Guide]].com.'' 2002.  Retrieved 2007-04-22.</ref>
''[[Daily Variety]]'' saw the film as "targeted equally at the techno-illiterate and the savvy-hacker crowd;" educating and patting one group on the head, and canonizing the other, but strong enough for an "enjoyable" recommendation.<ref>[https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117917117.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 Revolution OS] Review. ''[[Daily Variety]]''.  Scott Foundas, March 1, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-22.</ref>

On the negative side, ''[[The New York Times]]'' faulted the film's one-sidedness, found its reliance on jargon "fairly dense going", and gave no recommendation.<ref>[http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?_r=2&title1=&title2=Revolution%20Os%20%28Movie%29&reviewer=Stephen%20Holden&v_id=261234&pdate=&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes&oref=slogin&oref=login Heroes and Villains on a Cyberbattlefield] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017031844/http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?_r=2&title1=&title2=Revolution%20Os%20%28Movie%29&reviewer=Stephen%20Holden&v_id=261234&pdate=&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes&oref=slogin&oref=login |date=2015-10-17 }} ''[[New York Times]]''.  Stephen Holden, February 22, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-22</ref>  
''Internet Reviews'' found it "a didactic and dull documentary glorifying software anarchy. Raging against Microsoft and Sun.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.", lacking follow-through on Red Hat and VALinux stock (in 2007, at 2% of peak value), with "lots of talking heads".<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/reviews/325/32591.html Revolution OS (2001)] ''InternetReviews.com''. Steve Rhodes.  Retrieved 2007-04-22.</ref>   ''Toxicuniverse.com'' noted "Revolution OS blatantly serves as infomercial and propaganda. Bearded throwback to the sixties, hacker Richard Stallman serves as the movement's spiritual leader while Scandinavian Linus Torvalds acts as its mild mannered chief engineer (as developer of the Linux kernel)."<ref>[http://www.toxicuniverse.com/review.php?rid=10005579 Introduction to Linux 101] ''ToxicUniverse.com''. John Nesbit, April 07, 2004. Retrieved 2007-04-22.</ref>

To Tim Lord, reviewing for ''[[Slashdot]]'', the film is interesting and worthy of viewing, with some misgivings: it is "about the growth of the free software movement, and its eventual co-option by the open source movement.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. it was supposed to be about Linux and its battle about Microsoft, but the movie is quickly hijacked by its participants."  The film "lacks the staple of documentaries: scenes with multiple people that are later analyzed individually by each of the participants" (or indeed, much back-and-forth at all). Linux itself and its benefits are notably missing, and, "[w]e are never shown anyone using Linux, except for unhappy users at an [[Installfest]]." The debate over Linux vs Windows is missing, showing the origin of the OS only as a response to proprietary and expensive [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] and [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] software and hardware, and its growth solely due to the Apache web server. And Lord notes that the film shows, but does not challenge Torvalds or Stallman about their equally disingenuous remarks about the [[GNU/Linux naming controversy|"Linux" vs "GNU/Linux" naming issue]].<ref>[http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/19/1255213 Revolution OS Review] ''Slashdot.org.'' Tim Lord ''(timothy)'', April 19, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-22.</ref>