Re: Humor

[Eric Ray <ejray -at- IONET -dot- NET>]

--- "Higgins, Lisa R." <eilrh -at- EXCHANGE -dot- WCC -dot- ATT -dot- COM> wrote:

>My one and only experience with a "Dummies" book was when I was
>desperately looking for information on some little Unix tidbit that
>wasn't covered in Unix in a Nutshell, so I borrowed a coworker's Unix
>for Dummies, and found the term in the glossary. It said, "Oh, you don't
>need to know THIS." or something of the sort.

>Of course, they were wrong. I did need to know. That is why I looked it
>up in the glossary.

However, you have to consider the audience. O'Reilly books,
like Unix in a Nutshell, are designed for the technical
or potentially technical. A Dummies book isn't the place to
escalate if you can't find it in Unix in a Nutshell. That's
like not finding something in your Collegiate Dictionary
and checking in a pocket dictionary for the same term. You
might find it, but it's not likely to be satisfying. Dummies
books aren't designed to be a comprehensive reference.

The glossary terms are ONLY in the Dummies glossary if
they're used in the text, and lots of stuff isn't used in the
text. Actually, some of the books (like the HTML Quick
Reference ;-) are limited enough in scope that they can
cover most of the topic. Something like UNIX is so broad
that a Dummies book would have to skip over tons of stuff.

Eric
who with his wife just finished the HTML for Dummies Quick
Reference and who is in the middle of two more Dummies books.


******************************************************
Eric J. Ray                            ejray -at- ionet -dot- net
TECHWR-L Listowner                        918-744-4025

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