Eric S. Raymond

Eric S. Raymond, American computer programmer and author

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Born: December 4, 1957
Age in 2026: 69
Zodiac sign: Sagittarius
Birth year: 1957

About Eric S. Raymond

Eric Steven Raymond (born December 4, 1957), often referred to as ESR, is an American software developer, open-source software advocate, and author of the 1997 essay and 1999 book The Cathedral and the Bazaar. He wrote a guidebook for the Roguelike game NetHack. In the 1990s, he edited and updated the Jargon File, published as The New Hacker's Dictionary. Raymond began his programming career writing proprietary software, between 1980 and 1985.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Eric S. Raymond was born

Eric S. Raymond was born in 1957. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1957

#1 song"All Shook Up" – Elvis Presley
Top movieThe Bridge on the River Kwai
Top TV showGunsmoke
Best-selling bookOn the Road – Jack Kerouac

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentMilwaukee Braves win the World Series
Top headlineSoviet Union launches Sputnik — Space Race begins
Technology milestoneSputnik 1 becomes first artificial satellite in orbit
Defining fadHula hoops (early buzz)
Notable inventionFrisbee
World population2.87 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
Sports championMilwaukee Braves (World Series)
Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
U.S. population171.2M

1957 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Eric S. Raymond's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1957	2026
Gas	$0.31	$3.45/gal
Average home	$12,200	$435,000
Average income	$6,700	$67,500
Minimum wage	$1.00	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.51	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	171.2M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.