Our 100th Issue
Our 100th Issue

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
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
MNT Seeks Financial Backing for New Seven-Inch Linux Laptop
MNT Pocket Reform is a tiny laptop that is modular, upgradable, recyclable, reusable, and ships with Debian Linux.
-
Ubuntu Flatpak Remix Adds Flatpak Support Preinstalled
If you're looking for a version of Ubuntu that includes Flatpak support out of the box, there's one clear option.
-
Gnome 44 Release Candidate Now Available
The Gnome 44 release candidate has officially arrived and adds a few changes into the mix.
-
Flathub Vying to Become the Standard Linux App Store
If the Flathub team has any say in the matter, their product will become the default tool for installing Linux apps in 2023.
-
Debian 12 to Ship with KDE Plasma 5.27
The Debian development team has shifted to the latest version of KDE for their testing branch.
-
Planet Computers Launches ARM-based Linux Desktop PCs
The firm that originally released a line of mobile keyboards has taken a different direction and has developed a new line of out-of-the-box mini Linux desktop computers.
-
Ubuntu No Longer Shipping with Flatpak
In a move that probably won’t come as a shock to many, Ubuntu and all of its official spins will no longer ship with Flatpak installed.
-
openSUSE Leap 15.5 Beta Now Available
The final version of the Leap 15 series of openSUSE is available for beta testing and offers only new software versions.
-
Linux Kernel 6.2 Released with New Hardware Support
Find out what's new in the most recent release from Linus Torvalds and the Linux kernel team.
-
Kubuntu Focus Team Releases New Mini Desktop
The team behind Kubuntu Focus has released a new NX GEN 2 mini desktop PC powered by Linux.