Our 100th Issue
Our 100th Issue
![](/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/linux-magazine.com/issues/2009/100/our-100th-issue/joe_casad_new.png/427599-1-eng-US/joe_casad_NEW.png_medium.png)
Dear Linux Magazine Reader,
"… emerging magazines compete fiercely in the jungle of reader expectations. Many startup magazines collapse within the first year due to the pressures of circulation quotas, budgets, and deadlines."
My eyes fall upon these words as I read through the welcome column from the 50th issue of this magazine. When I wrote that column, I wanted to point out that, even though four years is a relatively short time in the life of an adult human, it is actually quite a significant milestone for a new magazine. Many magazines don't even get past the first year.
When you start a magazine, you are gambling that:
- a need for your publication exists,
- you can find the right authors and get them to deliver the right content,
- you can explain what you are doing to readers and advertisers, and
- you can bring all the hundreds of pieces together on the fly every month and ship the issue to the printer without a catastrophic train wreck.
Even one of these four conditions is often enough to put chalk in your hair. The effect of all four together, operating in and out of phase with each other, has brought down many a promising pub. The magazines that survive for years, riding out recessions, staffing changes, and shifting market attitudes, are usually really good at their game.
The 50th was actually only my third issue with this magazine, and I recall it as quite an interesting rhetorical challenge to invoke a profound sense of mythic historical significance when I had only been with the pub for three months. But that was many folios ago. Now that we've reached our 100th issue, I really do feel a momentous sense of awe at the passing of time.
If you count backwards from 100, you will find that the first issue of this magazine appeared more than eight years ago, which means we have already survived the Dot Com bust and the long steady contraction of the IT industry, not to mention the current financial panic. The fact that I have been around for over half those issues myself – and have actually written 53 of these little columns – seems practically impossible.
In one sense, I know that we are doing well because Linux is doing so well. As new users discover Linux, they look to the newsstand for guidance. Even though we tend to focus on advanced topics, we often receive mail from beginners who choose our magazine because they just happen to like our approach. In another sense, our techie aesthetic might have a certain timelessness that protects us from some of the ravages of the business cycle. But the main reasons for our success are that we have excellent authors, a great professional staff, and a smart, energetic community of readers who let us know what they want and seek us out on all those thousands of magazine racks around the world.
Thanks to all of you for giving us this chance to play a role in telling the story of Linux.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.