For those of you who don't read BoingBoing.net:
'In the beginning was the command-line' is a really good essay that touches upon the different cultures that OS'es have become. We all feel like we belong to some sort of tribe, but ours isn't called 'The Comanches' or 'The BlackFoot', but instead it's called .NET, java, Mac, Windows, Linux, GNU, ...
Read it online (via BoingBoing.net)
With Neal Stephenson's permission, this guy has annotated In the Beginning was the Command line and posted it online for everyone to see. I think this is a great example of how works can evolve and be improved upon. Unfortunately, In the Command Line has not been 'set free', but it's great that the author was able and willing to give permission for this development.
http://home.earthlink.net/~android606/commandline/index.html
Another interesting read by Neal Stephenson is 'Mother earth, mother board', about global communication backbones in the internet-age. You can read it online here: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass.html