gaining ground ?

[dbbolton]

let me explain this: i live in a very rural area. a place where most people haven't even heard of linux, let alone use it. i went to the mall recently (and, to demonstrate just how rural my area is, 'the mall' is a 45 minute drive away from my house; no traffic) and rummaged through the bookstore- borders express. you know, like a real border's, but smaller. and no coffee.

i was startled by the number of linux books they had. i don't mean linux for dummies, either. there was even one huge paperback devoted entirely to ubuntu, pity i can't remember the title.

does this seem strange to anyone else ?

[Hendrixski]

Nope. Linux has mostly been for nerds, and nerds read more than the average person.

Did you buy any of those books? I have a few LINUX books myself. Learn something new everyday.

[eriefisher]

Actually there are several books just for Ubuntu. One from Marcel Gagne-Moving to Ubuntu and another by Jono Bacon(I forget the title) and several others too.

[dbbolton]

Nope. Linux has mostly been for nerds, and nerds read more than the average person.

Did you buy any of those books? I have a few LINUX books myself. Learn something new everyday.
ARE YOU CALLING ME A NERD ?????

:)

actually, i would have bought the ubuntu book if it were less than $50
considering that a sizeable majority of ubuntu questions can be answered on this forum for free. i think, there is, however, a sense of security that comes with being able to hold printed, physical information in one's hand.

[mustang]

I was actually surprised as well. I went to Barnes & Nobles for the first time in a long time and I noticed that they have a whole section dedicated to linux. I also saw the thick orange covered ubuntu book as well.

[tbroderick]

does this seem strange to anyone else ?

Nope. Try comparing the number of GNU/Linux books with the number of Windows or OS X ones at the store.

[Hendrixski]

ARE YOU CALLING ME A NERD ?????

:)

actually, i would have bought the ubuntu book if it were less than $50
considering that a sizeable majority of ubuntu questions can be answered on this forum for free. i think, there is, however, a sense of security that comes with being able to hold printed, physical information in one's hand.

It's a compliment!

well, not everyone who uses Linux is a nerd, a lot of regular business people are using it now just to get stuff done. They're definitely not nerds.

I bought an Ubuntu book 2 months ago. It comes in handy once in a while, you get more background information than you would from a forum. If you don't want to read about LINUX, then read about Open Source in General. "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" is a great book by Eric Raymond. You can read Linus Torvalds autobiography called "Just for fun". or Steven Webers "The Success of Open Source". :) Well worth a 45 minute trip to the bookstore.

[dbbolton]

there were far more microsoft-oriented books. i jokingly pointed out that books like "windows made simple" or "xp for dummies" are actually just covers of blnk notebooks. that might not make sense

you have to consider that there was a copious amount of books on programs for windows too