And critique of the work is expected when the quality of the work is the question. But all the problems here are about conduct, which doesn't seem to get through.
Since it's talking about the defaults, I'm reading it to mean that there are many unnecessary features that you can remove by tweaking the configuration.
I did the same thing. I didn't have internet back then, so I assume I also got the knowledge to do this from magazines. Also, lots of time on my hand back then, so probably dove deep into various weird manuals.
Many physical bookstores have web pages where they sell e-books as well. Find the store that serves what you want, instead of finding faults with the ones who don't and going with the huge sell-everything-store.