[Ipg-smz] Fw: [Ipg-l] Linux Journal Shuts Down

[Swapnil Bhartiya]

On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 2:01 PM Jonathan Corbet via Ipg-smz <
ipg-smz at netpress.org> wrote:

>
> > I'm no fan of Lunduke, but it's incredibly unfair to blame him for Linux
> > Journal shutting down.
>
> That's pretty much what I came here to say.
>
I meant to say that they hired someone who was part of the problem and not
the solution.  If they don't know to hire good people, they are doomed to
fail.

>
> Besides, we know that the real problem is cheapskate Linux users:
>
>         https://betanews.com/2019/08/08/linux-journal-dies-again-rip/
>
> Now that's what I call quality journalism...
>

I would disagree with the article. The publishing industry is going through
a transformation. Many major publishing houses have shut down or got
acquired. IDG's was acquired, the whole fleet of CIO and the rest was laid
.. there are many more examples. eWeek is another example. Prior to Trump
news organizations were in trouble. His madness has kinda pumped new life
into 'journalism'. So, the failure of LJ has nothing to do with the fact
that Linux users are cheap stake, its about business model. You have a
sustainable model for LWN and all you have is Linux users. The problem is
the demography these publications target - these are mostly students,
enthusiasts or nutcases who want to go off the grid. These publications
actually play a role in spreading that mentality that 'copying is not
theft' or paying is evil, technology is not a tool it's a religion and
mostly they bash Microsoft, Apple and everyone else... They cultivated that
culture, now the chickens are coming home. You can't commercialize your
product if this is your target audience. That is why I stopped covering and
caring about 'consumer desktop Linux users. I know there is a heavy market
for pageviews. Every Ubuntu of Mint coverage will get thousands of page
views, but what kind fo audience will that be? Not the kind I want to hang
outwit. So I stopped caring about them.  I ditched the fan following I
gained over the years and walked away from them. I don't want them. That
said, there is a market for 'Linux'. These are pro users. Developers. But
that market is kinda dominated by LWN and you are doing an excellent job
there. You also have Linux users, but you have the cream. You will harvest
what you sow.

> If you hear of any of the writers looking for work writing advanced
> > Linux/open source/developer articles, please send them my way.
>
> Give them a nudge in my direction while you're at it :)
>
> jon
>
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