gallusrostromegalus:

mia7437:

mia7437:

THIS pisses me off- not because of the truth behind that statement, but because these would have been PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE intro to programming textbook covers and yet???? what the fuck is this???

Wha??? I????

this isn’t 4th yr ancient civ????

Birds????????

@gallusrostromegalus your opinion???

OK, my dad is a programmer and uh, helped built the internet, and there is an explanation for the Bird at least-

Way back in Ye Olden Days, when people learned how to program via hardcopy books  there was a splendid programmer named Tim O’Riley who wanted to share the good word of Unix with everyone, but was having a hard time selling his books in stores- After all, what DO you put on the cover of a programming textbook?  After consulting with a graphic designer, they decided to start putting elaborate pen-and-ink animal portraits on the covers, and the choice was a rousing success-  the animals really stood out in the middle of early-70′s proto-vaporwave covers:

If you know a programmer older than 60, they have at least 20 of these books somewhere in their house.  Guaranteed.   Here’s a more complete version of the tale (with Lessons Learned) 

Their distinctiveness has created possibly THE NERDIEST joke images ever, the Fake O’Riley Book.  My favorites include:

And My Personal Favorite:

So the bird, at least, is continuing a grand Traditon of Programmers Love Animals And Also Complaining About Programming.

I got no fukken clue about the bananas tho.