What were they thinking?

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Got in this morning, read through my mail, checked on the latest work-related emergencies, then hit some of my favorite news sites. One spot I check on a regular basis is LinuxDevices.com. It's for folk who want to keep track on how Linux is being used throughout the electronics industry. One of the entries that caught my eye was a blurb about a new book Robert Love has published, the cover of which you may observe below. Which finally brings me to my point.

What were they thinking when they decided to put a Rube Goldberg non-flying machine on the front cover of the book? I guess somebody thought this was cute, but I cringe to look at it because it subtly and unfortunately implies two ideas; that programming Linux is poor and Linux itself is a Rube Goldberg collection of software subsystems wrapped up as a distribution. As the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. But I'll probably wait until it arrives at a regular brick-and-mortar book store rather than rush right out and order it online. Just so I can look it over to make sure the contents are better than the cover. Even if it is written by Robert Love.

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