
Linux Journal Ceases Publication - voidmain0001
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/linux-journal-ceases-publication
======
muxator
The publishing situation is so bleak, and the saddest part is that the higher
the quality, the deeper the problems.

Does anyone know how lwn [0] is doing? It's one of the latest very high
profile publications remaining as of now.

[0] [https://lwn.net/](https://lwn.net/)

~~~
tannhaeuser
> _The publishing situation is so bleak ..._

And yet we cheer at every progress made in Web technology.

~~~
jasonkostempski
If web standards had prevented the tracking abilities advertisers currently
have, i think there would have been plenty of money still in paper based ads
because they wouldn't be any "worse" than web page ads. Things seem to be
slowly moving towards preventing some of it without users having to be
proactive about it. That's progress I can cheer for.

------
voidmain0001
LJ generously offered me two options as a subscriber with issues owed: 1\. "In
true community spirit, Linux Pro Magazine has offered our subscribers six free
issues of their magazine, a publication we at Linux Journal have always
admired. In our time of need, they were the first ones there for us, and we
are thankful for their gracious offer." 2\. "We also just finished up our 2017
archive today, which includes every issue we’ve ever published, including the
first and last ones. Normally we sell that for $25, but obviously you will get
it for no cost."

------
exikyut
PSA: I found an archive link amongst the comments
([http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/linux-journal-ceases-
pub...](http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/linux-journal-ceases-
publication#comment-3642365235))

It's being sold for $11.99.

Here's the purchase link: [http://lj.mybigcommerce.com/linux-journal-
archive-1994-2017/](http://lj.mybigcommerce.com/linux-journal-
archive-1994-2017/)

Apparently it's HTML-format. No mention is made of whether it includes images
or how big the download is. My suspicion is that it's pure-text, which is
really sad.

If anyone wants to look into scraping the site, I wouldn't mind jumping on
board. (Suffice to say that... not everything submitted into the Web Archive
is let back out.)

~~~
sitkack
I made the mistake and never bought the Doctor Dobbs Developer DVD and it
isn't available anywhere. I even wrote the new owners of Doctor Dobbs, they
had no original.

[http://www.drdobbs.com/tools](http://www.drdobbs.com/tools)

Luckily the Internet Archive has nice collection, but it isn't the same as the
content of the DVD.

If you are in Seattle, the living computer museum has a small nook sized
library with some really old issues.

[https://archive.org/search.php?query=Dr+Dobb%27s](https://archive.org/search.php?query=Dr+Dobb%27s)

~~~
exikyut
Some quick poking around found

\-
[http://collaboration.cmc.ec.gc.ca/science/rpn/biblio/ddj/Web...](http://collaboration.cmc.ec.gc.ca/science/rpn/biblio/ddj/Website/)

\-
[https://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22ddj_dvd6%22](https://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22ddj_dvd6%22)

and

\- [https://www.mail-
archive.com/cctech@classiccmp.org/msg02278....](https://www.mail-
archive.com/cctech@classiccmp.org/msg02278.html)

I'm unsure if this is what you're referring to though.

~~~
sitkack
I think that torrent hasn't had any seeders in a really long time.

~~~
sitkack
Dr Dobbs Developer DVD-5 is available at the Internet Archive,
[https://archive.org/details/DrDobbsDVD5](https://archive.org/details/DrDobbsDVD5)

------
josteink
While I think this is sad, it’s been clear where the wind is blowing for quite
some time.

Lots of equivalent publications (PC format, Amiga format, etc) called it quits
long ago. Surely it must be more than a decade ago?

Amazing how a magazine for a “free” culture somehow managed to postpone the
inevitable(?) closure for so long really.

~~~
dajohnson89
makes you wonder, what is next?

------
Crontab
Publishers have it hard but tech publishers especially so - considering all of
the free sources of information on the Internet. Between online documentation,
blogs, forums, and tutorials, one can generally find the information they are
looking for if they seek it hard enough.

All that said, there is something to be said for a well written article or
book by someone with a command of language and a love for teaching.

~~~
pmlnr
Interestingly I'm finding it harder and harder to find good howtos. Most of
them offer too little, too specogic topic, or vaguely generic examples.

~~~
emmelaich
Yeah, the tldp is way out of date but still comes up high in web searches.

I use Fedora/Centos/Redhat mostly and I find the best quality docs are on

    
    
        arch linux wiki
        Fedora site
        stackexchange
        Ubuntu answers
    

You can also get the official Redhat docs if you sign in. I'm pretty sure it's
free.

------
lovelearning
Did they ask for contributions before going bankrupt but not get much, or did
they never ask?

I feel these tech magazines should be more open and transparent about their
finances and horizons, so that people who feel like contributing can start
doing so at the right time.

~~~
tyldum
When they went from paper to digital only everyone knew it was just a matter
of time. My paper sub had like a year left at that point and I was granted a
multi year digital sub instead. It didn't have time to expire even. They
played very nice with paper subscribers, and that might ultimately have killed
them. To be honest I kinda stopped reading when they went digital as the
content at that point felt geared towards newbies and not tech people.

------
mrbill
I miss "Sys Admin". It and LJ were two of my favorite magazines.

~~~
vram22
Yes, SysAdmin is another one I used to like. Also that reminds of me on Unix
Review, another good one. See my other comment about DDJ and CUJ in this
thread.

~~~
mrbill
UnixWorld was another.

[https://www.engadget.com/2007/04/16/blast-from-the-
past-1993...](https://www.engadget.com/2007/04/16/blast-from-the-
past-1993-unix-world-magazine-cover/)

~~~
vram22
Can't remember whether I had seen UnixWorld earlier or not. Thanks. Will check
it out.

------
usr1106
Linux foundation could support them, they have big corporations and big money
behind them. Big corporations also need good employees from this magazine's
readership, so it wouldn't be wasted money even economically.

------
ausjke
long time subscribers here(10+ years), also subscriber to lwn.net for many
years, both are great. this is a sad story. I loved LJ's kernel korner and its
four-embedded-linux series a few years back. Linux is getting more and more
widely used, while google gives you many info and it is still meaningful for a
magazine such as LJ to exist.

i remember at one time lwn.net was asking for life support, since then it
seems to be doing well, maybe LJ can do the same? I tend to think LJ needs
rethink about its content, that could be voted by its potential subscribers as
well.

------
akulbe
This makes me sad. I _love_ Linux Journal.

~~~
mooreds
"loved", unfortunately.

Unfortunately, lots and lots of quality publications will continue to go out
of business. When information becomes radically more free to distribute, the
economics of publishing are upended.

~~~
ianai
Information is so free that the noise to signal ratio is trash. It’s worth
paying for a solid channel.

Somehow I feel a model marrying journalism and industry certification could
work. Ie if you read and do some examples from every magazine then every 3
years you’re very likely to pass a certification test from the magazine.

------
lisper
I have paper copies of the first few years of LJ, including issue #1. Does
anyone want them?

~~~
sitkack
send them to the Internet Archive, or the Computer History Museum.

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anfractuosity
Awh that's a shame.

I used to like picking that up from Borders, although after Borders closed I
don't remember seeing it in the UK.

------
watersb
Linux Journal actually helps me every time, every month. I have been a
subscriber for a long time.

------
davidw
Sad news - I remember reading that regularly back in the day.

------
chris_wot
Can’t they donate their archives to archive.org?

------
_arvin
:(

------
bobcallme
This is great news! I stopped reading Linux Journal once they went all
digital.

~~~
DougN7
I'm not sure I'd call it great news. But I too have stopped reading a few
magazines that went all digital. There is just too much other digital
competition when I've got a browser open. But when I'm sitting at breakfast
and what to read something physical, there was very little competition (I
don't like getting iPads sticky, so don't use them when eating!).

~~~
robotbikes
I subscribed for a couple of years but regrettably didn't have the time to
read each episode because of competing digital distractions. Print has a cost
but also a permanence that digital mediums can't compete with. Even though
Linux Journal had really great DRM free access to all of their magazines while
I was a subscriber after my subscription lapsed I didn't have access and
hadn't bothered to download them.

If I tried I'm sure I could get them elsewhere, which is the odd state of
media these days. Anyone can get it for free but it means something to
actually participate in supporting it.

I've actually been thinking of buying physical copies of music albums partly
for nostalgia but also because it would provide a greater sense of investment
in the music and actually listening to it.

