[kurthr]

Yeah, that's how I remember it too. NR was a great reference in the 80s, but then some time (after the 2nd edition '92) things started to change and now they've changed a lot.

First, I think the publishers started to see that there was money to be had as the copyright/left wars took off and the book left academia (where you weren't going to get any money suing them anyway).

Second, as the web grew (late 90s) "programmers" started just copy-pasting "code"/html from wherever they liked without understanding or attribution, and that is something that still exists today... although I hope that more people recognize it as a problem to be stamped out.

So now, NR is somewhat of a relic that oldsters remember as a useful tool, and a new generation see as another symbol of a problem they're trying to get rid of. It's really both.