Write Access
Write Access

DVD Case
I'm sorry to see you have decided to drop the DVD case and have decided to include the DVD within the magazine. I think that it is a bit of a con trick to advertise this as a "green" decision, when we all know that it is purely a cost cutting exercise on your part.
I have been a subscriber for some time now and I have all your DVDs stored in my collection, so I do not like this change.
Ian Pawson
LM
We assure you that this change to an internal DVD wasn't a light-hearted decision. We can imagine that readers who keep a complete set our our DVDs in a collection might see this as a disruption. You are correct that this change to the DVD was, in part, a cost-cutting measure; however, the same can be said for the entire Green IT movement. Part of the point of Green IT is that saving resources also saves money.
In this case, the savings allow us to protect our subscription rate and cover price in a time of fluctuating exchange rates and rising shipping costs, but this change is also something we have had on our minds for a long time because, yes, we really are concerned about conservation. Many readers might not be aware of the waste endemic in the magazine distribution process. As a result of newsstand returns, a large portion of magazines sent to the newsstand aren't even sold (nearly half in our case, and we actually perform better than the industry standard return rate, which is more like 2/3).
Consider, also, that some of our readers buy the magazine for reading only and don't even keep the DVDs. Some readers install the DVD and dispose of the disc; other readers keep the DVD in the case for a few months (until a new version comes out) and then throw it out. The result is that, although the DVDs themselves are widely used and appreciated by our readers, according to our estimates, only about 10-20 percent of the DVD cases are actually permanently employed for their intended purpose.
Bookmarks
I read with great interest the Workspace column titled "Saved For Later" in the September, 2008 issue of Linux Magazine. The article describes the OpenOffice Bookmarks Menu extension.
On page 86, Dmitri writes, "After pressing OK twice and creating a dialog called Bookmark Dialog (..), you are done." He could just as well have said, "After building your own whitebox, you are done."
The instructions need a more step-by-step approach. I eventually figured out this cryptic instruction.
Then, I typed in Listing 1 and 2 and ran into a show-stopping error. Line 21 in Listing 1 gives an error that says the object is not defined.
I presume that this is because of some kind of editing mistake.
Rob Solomon
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.
News
-
PipeWire 1.0 Officially Released
PipeWire was created to take the place of the oft-troubled PulseAudio and has finally reached the 1.0 status as a major update with plenty of improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Rocky Linux 9.3 Available for Download
The latest version of the RHEL alternative is now available and brings back cloud and container images for ppc64le along with plenty of new features and fixes.
-
Ubuntu Budgie Shifts How to Tackle Wayland
Ubuntu Budgie has yet to make the switch to Wayland but with a change in approaches, they're finally on track to making it happen.
-
TUXEDO's New Ultraportable Linux Workstation Released
The TUXEDO Pulse 14 blends portability with power, thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU.
-
AlmaLinux Will No Longer Be "Just Another RHEL Clone"
With the release of AlmaLinux 9.3, the distribution will be built entirely from upstream sources.
-
elementary OS 8 Has a Big Surprise in Store
When elementary OS 8 finally arrives, it will not only be based on Ubuntu 24.04 but it will also default to Wayland for better performance and security.
-
OpenELA Releases Enterprise Linux Source Code
With Red Hat restricting the source for RHEL, it was only a matter of time before those who depended on that source struck out on their own.
-
StripedFly Malware Hiding in Plain Sight as a Cryptocurrency Miner
A rather deceptive piece of malware has infected 1 million Windows and Linux hosts since 2017.
-
Experimental Wayland Support Planned for Linux Mint 21.3
As with most Linux distributions, the migration to Wayland is in full force. While some distributions have already made the move, Linux Mint has been a bit slower to do so.
-
Window Maker Live 0.96.0-0 Released
If you're a fan of the Window Maker window manager, there's a new official release of the Linux distribution that champions the old-school user interface.