The Maintenance of Everything
The Maintenance of Everything by Stewart Brandby Stewart Brand
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 22 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
People recommend it for its compelling case for maintenance and its history of engineering and service, and for its pleasant physical design.
People recommend it for its compelling case for maintenance and its history of engineering and service, and for its pleasant physical design.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Engineering and service history
“You would probably like this chapter about the "rightness" struggle between engineering and service at Xerox.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “The gap in shared understanding of LLM capability is widening” “It's fascinating — especially the early chapter(s) about the approaches of Henry Royce of Rolls-Royce”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Stewart Brand – Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One” Compelling case for maintenance
“One of my favorite pieces of writing on this topic”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Ford rehires 350 engineers after AI fails to preserve expertise or train juniors” “Stewart makes a compelling case for it.”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “Stewart Brand – Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One” Pleasant physical design and cover
“The books are also physically really pleasant to hold and look at.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Stewart Brand – Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One” “The cover art is such a master stroke.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Stewart Brand – Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Cliff Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| The Maintenance of Everythingby Stewart BrandThis page | 10 | 2 | 83% | 4 | — | Approved |
What people said
11 of the 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“You would probably like this chapter about the "rightness" struggle between engineering and service at Xerox.”
“For similar ideas (not specific to software), check out”
“One of my favorite pieces of writing on this topic”
“Reading Brand's quick little life changer kept me going with surprisingly few cuss fits”
“It's fascinating — especially the early chapter(s) about the approaches of Henry Royce of Rolls-Royce”
“It left out just about everything and OP lists some extremely notable ones.”
“Really the book should have been designed to be long lasting/repairable.”
“The cover art is such a master stroke.”
“The books are also physically really pleasant to hold and look at.”
“And he's documenting it thoroughly.”
“Stewart makes a compelling case for it.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.