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Comment Re:Slashdot (Score 2) 62

Well, let's wait and see. When we started this, Slashdot was chock full of the same comments: print is dead, nobody will back you, you'll be gone in three months, etc. etc. etc. Here we are almost a year later, successful and growing, so we're not worried about what the naysayers think. And I don't think Linux has become a boring infrastructure OS. There's been a boost of interest in open source and open platforms since the NSA/PRISM etc. revelations, and the Raspberry Pi is getting loads of people into Linux as well. I'd say it's actually the most exciting time for Linux and FOSS, but then I would say that, wouldn't I :-)

Comment Re:Slashdot (Score 3, Informative) 62

Well, our 3,200+ (and growing) subscribers have a different view, clearly. Not everyone has the time or inclination to search around the web, and while there's certainly lots of very good content out there, "it's like drinking from a fire hydrant" as the old quote goes. Our readers like a montly dose of Linux-related features, tutorials, interviews and reviews, neatly packaged up into one bundle, from a team they can trust. Sure, the market for computer magazines is much smaller today. But there clearly is a market, otherwise we wouldn't have raised £127,000 in a crowdfunding campaign and have a very satisfied readership (only three subscription cancellations since we started!). And of course some of the reviews on that page are a bit dated -- it's from nine months ago! But the tutorials should still be useful, and everyone is welcome to update them and share with the community.

Comment Re:PDF? PDF??? (Score 5, Interesting) 62

We (the editorial staff) use FOSS to make the magazine content: in my case Vim, AbiWord, Gimp etc. We're all geeks and not designers, so we hired one, and her tool of choice is InDesign. We would like to move over to Scribus at some point though -- and possibly even fund some missing features that we'd need to make the magazine!

Submission + - Crowdfunded Linux Voice Magazine Releases First Issue CC-BY-SA

M-Saunders writes: Linux Voice, the crowdfunded GNU/Linux magazine that Slashdot has covered previously, had two goals at its launch: to give 50% of its profits back to the community after one year, and release each issue's contents under the Creative Commons after nine months. Well, it's been nine months since issue 1, so the whole thing is now online and free to share. Readers and supporters have also made audio versions of articles, for listening to on the commute to work.

Submission + - Eben Upton Explains The Raspberry Pi Model A+'s Redesign

M-Saunders writes: It's cheaper, it's smaller, and it's curvier: the new Raspberry Pi Model A+ is quite a change from its predecessor. But with Model Bs selling more in a month than Model As have done in the lifetime of the Pi, what's the point in releasing a new model? Eben Upton, a founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, explains all. “It gives people a really low-cost way to come and play with Linux and it gives people a low-cost way to get a Raspberry Pi. We still think most people are still going to buy B+s, but it gives people a way to come and join in for the cost of 4 Starbucks coffees.”

Submission + - Lead Mir Developer: "Mir More Relevant Than Wayland In Two Years"

M-Saunders writes: Canonical courted plenty of controversy with it announced Mir, its home-grown display server. But why did the company choose to go it alone, and not collaborate with the Wayland project? Linux Voice has an interview with Thomas Voss, Mir's lead developer. Voss explains how Mir came into being, what it offers, and why he believes it will outlast Wayland.

Comment Re:If (Score 2) 56

We only have one page of news per month. We're not competing with the internet for speed -- we're aiming to have the best quality technical content. "Getting information off the internet is like drinking from a firehose." Sure, there's a huge amount of useful stuff out there, but it can be hard to find it all. Those who are happy to trawl through it may not want our magazine, but those who like a monthly dose of features, tutorials, interviews and other content can get it with us.

Submission + - Print Isn't Dead: How Linux Voice Crowdfunded A New Magazine

M-Saunders writes: The death of print has been predicted for years, and many magazines and publishers have taken a big hit with the rise of eBooks and tablets. But not everyone has given up. Four geeks quit their job at an old Linux magazine to start Linux Voice, an independent GNU/Linux print and digital mag with a different publishing model: giving profits and content back to the community. Six months after a successful crowdfunding campaign, the magazine is going well, so here is the full story.

Submission + - Damian Conway On Perl 6 And The Philosophy Of Programming

M-Saunders writes: Perl 6 has been in development since 2000. So why, 14 years later, hasn't it been released yet? Linux Voice caught up with Damian Conway, one of the architects of Perl 6, to find out what's happening. "Perl 6 has all of the same features [as Perl 5] but with the rough edges knocked off of them", he says. Conway also talks about the UK's Year of Code project, and how to get more people interested in programming.

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