From: jcmorris@jmorris-pc.MITRE.ORG (Joe Morris)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: O'Reilly's technical books -- science fiction?
Date: 11 May 1999 15:57:09 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
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The following posting showed up today in rec.arts.sf-written; it's
too good not to repost here.

Background: a currently-active thread in r.a.sf-w is discussing the
miserable quality of cover art (according to some observers).  Somehow
the animal pictures that O'Reilly uses on the covers of its well-known
series of (primarily UNIX) documentation came up, prompting the
following posting and reply...

Joe Morris

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From: Frossie <frossie@jach.hawaii.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: SF Covers...Why so bad?
Date: 10 May 1999 18:52:10 -1000
Organization: United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT)

avram@bigfoot.com (Avram Grumer) writes:

> In article <7h4gnr$ste$1@hole.sdsu.edu>, etomlins@rohan.sdsu.edu
> (tomlinson) wrote:
> 
> > The best series of covers:  those of the O'Reilly "Nutshell"
> > books.
> 
> Ah, who can forget those classics of SF, Jim O'Reilly's "Nutshell
                                          ^^^^
                                          Tim :-)

> Universe" stories.  The Learning Pearl, the Terran Corridor
> Police/Interplanetary Patrol, the madcap misadventures of Awk and Sed, the
> Dynamic Hyper-Temporal Missions League,...

<howl> 

<quick glance at shelf>

... you forget the Red Shirt trilogy: Essential Spaceship
Administration (young Red Shirt's eventful sojourn at the Academy),
PGP: Pretty Good Phasers (Red Shirt proves himself in combat) , and
Practical Uniplanetary Security, (Red Shirt gets promoted to local
Governor).

Gives that Honor Harrington woman a run for her money....

Frossie
-- 
Joint Astronomy Centre, Hawaii            http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/~frossie/

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