Fwd: Re: [Fsfe-uk] Free Software Magazine

[Tom Chance]

From the project leader / main editor, in response to MJR's comments which 
were echoed in a few other posts.

----------  Forwarded Message  ----------

Subject: Re: [Fsfe-uk] Free Software Magazine
Date: Friday 28 Jan 2005 07:57
From: Tony Mobily <address@hidden>
To: Tom Chance <address@hidden>

Hi Tom,

Could you please forward this email to the FSFE mailing list?


About printing in different countries: I think the idea of "delegating"
the printing is great. Unfortunately, you need *numbers* for that. I
had planned to print in the US and the UK, but only once we have enough
subscribers in the UK to justify the printing costs.

 >Public library budgets are getting squeezed and periodicals are usually
 >one of the first things to go, especially ones aimed at people thought
 >to be affluent, such as IT workers. There's also the recurring arrival
 >cost of paper magazines. I think you might have more luck offering
 >libraries an online service containing the articles, maybe backed up
 >with annual CD copies, but that's just from what I pick up working
 >with libraries. I've not done market research on that.

Thanks for the hint!

 >I have to agree with Alex that the anti-US pricing doesn't encourage UK
 >subscribers.

I know, but we didn't have a choice: sending magazines overseas from
the US is expensive...

 >I also don't understand why I have to wait 10 days after
 >the US have their paper copies before getting a PDF one.

...?
"The magazine will be shipped to you 10 days after it has been posted
to our subscribers, on the 25th of each month."

We basically assumed that on average a magazine will take 10 days to
get to subscribers by snail mail. This means that online subscribers
and paper subscribers will receive FSM more or less at the same time!

 > Why aren't they
 >trying to save paper, ink, and so on?

Yes :-)

 > At least, it would be good to
 >see the reason why on the "subscribe" page, rather than just a figure
 >apparently fallen from the sky.

See above...

 >Of course, myself, I'd like to know the copyright terms, as no articles
 >in issue 1 are under a free software licence

...?

Welcome to the first Free Software Magazine by Tony Mobily
FREE: verbatim only copying license

Format Wars by Marco Fioretti
FREE: verbatim only copying license

XML: the answer to everything? by Kay Ethier, Scott Abel
FREE: Creative commons

Free file formats and the future of intellectual freedom  by Terry
Hancock
FREE: GNU Free Documentation license

Creating Free Software Magazine by Tony Mobily
FREE: GNU Free Documentation license

Mac OS X: Welcome to the jungle  by Chris J. Karr
FREE: Creative commons

The magic of live CDs  by Harish Pillay
FREE: Creative commons


Every engineer’s checklist for justifying free software by Malcolm D.
Spence
FREE: Creative commons


Smarter password management  by John Locke
FREE: Creative commons


The content tail wags the IT dog by Daniel James
NON-FREE

Motivation and value of free resources by Aaron E. Klemm
FREE: GNU Free Documentation license


It’s all about freedom by Christian Einfeldt
FREE: GNU Free Documentation License

The Commons by David M. Berry
FREE: Creative commons


Let’s not forget our roots  by Tom Chance
FREE: Creative commons


Richard Stallman’s blog by Richard Stallman
FREE: verbatim only copying license


There is ONE non-free article in the magazine, and 14 free ones.

 > and it only has two articles
 >I think give enough permission to let me use it to promote free

software

 >or the magazine to other techs working with my customers.

I have the feeling you might have read Issue 0, rather than Issue 1.
Issue 0 was created in October, and didn't have many articles - it was
just a "test drive" for us.

 > It's tricky
 >to class it as a "useful" purchase for helping me advocate free

software.

Please do read Issue 1 and let me know if it's any more useful...

 >If it's an "informative" or "entertaining" purchase, I'd prefer copies
 >as an easier text format than PDF, so I can read them on different
 >devices.

It's a little awkward to embed figures in text documents. Also, most
modern devices handle HTML - the magazine is online in HTML format as
well.

  I think it's also a much more crowded part of the market:
 >I already buy several other things to keep me informed.

OK.

 >Seeing the logo of agressive DMCA- and swpat-user Adobe all over the
 >sample issue is also discouraging. It makes me wonder about the

editor's

 >knowledge.

Are you talking about the PDF logo, which is generally recognised by
internet users in the world for PDF files?
If you have a better alternative, please send it to me! I will change
it immediately.

 > Reading his intro with the claim of "we're the first" also
 >made me wonder.  Wasn't there a Free Software Magazine from China a
 >couple of years ago?

Maybe I should change that "first" into "second".

Bye,

Merc.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Tony Mobily
Author of "Hardening Apache" (Apress)
"...this book can save you pain, humiliation, and hair loss" --
Mitchell Pirtle, PHP Magazine 05/2004

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