Writing a review of a book you don't like is hard

Story: Book Review: Beginning Ubuntu LTS Server Administration: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition by Sander van VugtTotal Replies: 1
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Steven_Rosenber

Apr 14, 2009
4:05 PM EDT
I sympathize with the reviewer of this Ubuntu server how-to book. Many a time I've agonized over writing a bad review.

Sometimes it's easier to just NOT review a poor book/CD/distro, but many times writers have to bite the proverbial bullet and give something the slam it deserves.

I still have a hard time with it ...
caitlyn

Apr 14, 2009
4:25 PM EDT
I have written my share of hardware reviews and distro reviews as most folks here know. I have written one overwhelmingly negative review of a netbook and I took a long time agonizing about whether to even publish it. In the end I did and there were no adverse consequences.

OTOH, I have written almost entirely mixed reviews of Linux distros. None are perfect, all have flaws, and all have some strong points. In some cases the folks associated with the distro reacted favorable and took any criticism as fair comment and constructive. In a couple of cases with equally mixed reviews the community around the distro went into attack mode. Some people are completely intolerant of criticism or a different opinion and can get downright nasty about it.

So, yeah, Steven is right. Writing a negative review is a tough one.

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